Thursday, 31 October 2013

Peanut Butter, Macadamia and Choc Treats!

Good Morning! I hope this finds you well.


When I am in a ‘mood’ you will often find me creating something in the Kitchen. Around 8 o’clock the other night I was pretty exhausted after a busy day but my mind was rambling and I knew I needed to get into the kitchen, just me, my pantry and my “mood” ….. it turns out well sometimes ….. as this amazing chocolatey and nutty treat is what I came up with! I hope you love it as much as we did, they disappeared here within 24 hours!


peanut butter & macadamia choc drops


Peanut Butter, Macadamia and Choc Treats


120g blanched almonds


¼ cup cacao powder


¼ cup maple syrup OR 3 tblspns rice malt syrup


2 heaped tspns coconut oil


30 x macadamia halves


peanut butter


Line a tray with baking paper. 


In a small processor place the almonds, cacao, maple syrup and coconut oil. Blend until thoroughly mixed (1-2 minutes).


OPTIONAL STEP: Place  this mixture in a saucepan and mix over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes. The mix won’t melt but will change consistency slightly. IF you do this step you will get a firmer consistency – if you do not do this step the mix will spread slightly for flatter treats – the TASTE DOES NOT CHANGE! (see photos for the difference).


Use your hands to make small balls with the mixture (approx 1 heaped tspn each – they don’t have to be perfect).


Squash 2 macadamia halves into the top centre of each one and drizzle with a little peanut butter.


Refrigerate for 1 hour…..then ENJOY!


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The difference between the two options. Left ones are heated in saucepan – right ones were not. They both tasted the same – delicious! 


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GLUTEN, DAIRY, PRESERVATIVE / ADDITIVE FREE!


Wishing you a wonderful weekend. 


Take Care of You, 


Collette x 


PS don’t forget if you haven’t already, head to the homepage of my website and register to get these blogs, recipes and updates sent straight to your email! 


Christmas Sale #1

4 different Christmas Sale packages available NOW on my website! With this one shown here in this photo you get the Large Chemical Maze worth $29 for FREE!



Peanut Butter, Macadamia and Choc Treats!

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Christmas Sale "for Kids"

Christmas Sale – for the month of November only!


In this pack you will get:


1 x Cut out the Crap for Kids Recipe Book $25


1 x Cut out the Crap Calico Bag $3


1 x Nutra Organics Coco-biotics Super Food Bar $4.20


1 x Nutra Organics Red and Green Super Food Bar $4.20


1 x Superfoods for Kidz Kids Super Food Bar $2.50


1 x Yummy Earth Lolly pops $4.45


1 x Yummy Earth Drops $4.45


1 x Loving Earth 35g Luvju Chocolate (flavour may vary) $2.90


TOTAL = $50.70 PLUS $10 postage and handling = $60.70


CHRISTMAS SALE — EVERYTHING IN THIS PACK FOR ONLY $50 (includes postage and handling within Australia only) —- THAT’S A SAVING OF $10.70!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


GET IN QUICK!!!!!!!!!!



Christmas Sale "for Kids"

Christmas Sale Pack - Large Chemical Maze FREE!

Christmas Sale – for the month of November only!


In this pack you will get:


1 x Cut out the Crap Recipe Book $25


1 x Cut out the Crap for Kids Recipe Book $25


1 x Cut out the Crap with Style Recipe Book $25


1 x Large Chemical Maze Book $29


1 x Cut out the Crap Apron $15


TOTAL = $119 PLUS $10 postage and handling = $129


CHRISTMAS SALE — EVERYTHING IN THIS PACK FOR ONLY $100 —- THAT’S A SAVING OF $29!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


GET IN QUICK!!!!!!!!!!


 


 



Christmas Sale Pack - Large Chemical Maze FREE!

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Our family holiday....

Good Morning! I hope this finds you all well. 


As promised the other day, I am here to share with you some highlights from our recent family holiday. Every year we go to the beach for two weeks….one week is just never enough time for me to fully relax and wind down….two weeks is perfect!  


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I love this photo taken of me with hubby by our Miss 11 – I didn’t know she took it until I saw it on the camera later x


We packed our car and a trailer (YES with 2 adults and 4 kids we need a trailer – and this year we had an extra adult with Bekah joining us) and off we went. The kids are quite good travellers …. although Master and Miss almost 3 did take it in turns of asking every 15 minutes “we beach yet?” 


Car snacks: My family always gets hungry or thirsty the moment we get into the car – typical hey! So I always pack plenty of healthy snacks. I packed water for all, super food bars for all (available on my website) an apple each and Loving Earth kale chips. YUM!


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A handbag full on Superfood bars!


What we do: Relax, eat, chase kids, swim, read, fish, chase kids, eat, chase kids and eat…..a typical holiday right??!!


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Just arrived selfie : time to relax x


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There is something about having your feet on the sand – peaceful x


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Love this pic of Bekah and my Miss 9 going for a hike! Yes, that splash of colour is them!


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Picnic time for my family – it was spoilt slightly by an angry and growling HUGE Roo!


What we eat: I really ‘try’ and loosen my attitude with 100% additive free eating when on holidays. I feel that I am in a situation where I simply CAN NOT eat certain food due to my intolerances or I will end up violently ill – additive free is a choice for my family  and whilst, yes, my Miss 9 does react with awful behaviour  (to say the least) when she eats additives (and gluten and refined sugar), she is also a little girl who needs a holiday too. I ordered Pizza for the first night we were there (for her the cheese only one) and a few days later we went to our favourite Gelato shop (where there is even a Sorbet I can have : Mango, Water and Sugar and that’s it) – sadly though Miss 9′s behaviour was horrid (as we expected) after eating the pizza then later the ice-cream, so we pulled the reins back in. It was worth a try and she was happy she got to eat the pizza and ice-cream!
The twins (almost 3) don’t like to sit still for long so we don’t go out to restaurants much and we much prefer a BBQ and Salad on our Verandah watching and listening to the waves in our PJ’s after a long day of fun, playing at the beach. I take up a heap of fresh fruit and veg from home, I take my juicer, my favourite frypan, my can opener and vegetable peeler (I have been caught with dodgy ones before that I can not work!) – I take meat also (frozen and packed in heaps of ice-bricks) as the choice of meat there is not great. 


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Night one: Pizza for my family! Mr twin won’t look at me – he is too busy looking at the Pizza!


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Holiday breakfast for my hubby, toast with avocado, fried egg and fried tomato!


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A pile of fruit an veg I took – gorgeous fresh Kale from my sisters garden!


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Hubby and I snuck off for a Sorbet and Ice-cream!


What we love the most: Hardly any TV or computer time, daily sunshine, lots of laughs, walks, the park, our yearly tradition of Grandpas Breakfast (we dress in something nice and all head out to brekky and Grandpa pays!) being away from the hustle and routine of a busy life,  all the memories we make and of course the number one thing is the quality family time we get to spend together playing and chatting. We were blessed enough that the first week my in-laws came up also and stayed near us as they do every year and my Mum made the long 4 hour drive by herself  on our second week to spend ONE night with us. This warms my heart so much as she only lives an hour from where we live! The kids spending time playing with their Grandparents means a lot to us and SO much to them!


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Off to the movies one night to see “Diana”


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My 3 girls – at Grandpas Breakfast x


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Love this photo! Father and Son fishing! x


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Cuddles for Grandma and Grandpa x


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me with my Mum x


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My family x


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Family: In-Laws, Bekah, hubby, our 4 kids and me :-)


What we miss the most about home: I know this may seem a funny thing to talk about but it helps us come back to reality on the drive home! Hubby and I both agree that we miss our coffee machine (sad I know but I am sure that hubby makes the best coffee in the world!), our bed (so soft and comfy compared to the holiday one) and even more so our bed without sand in it (even though we shower after the beach every day our bed was always full of sand!) and as a family we all missed our Puppy, Matai, who turned ONE on the day we got home (although I am not sure if he wanted to come home as the friends who looked after him spoilt him rotten, gave him loads of cuddles and loved him so much!)


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THIS is why there was sand everywhere!!!!!!


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ONE! Birthday boy!


I hope you have enjoyed seeing the photos and I hope you have a wonderful week. Chat again soon! 


Take Care of You,


Collette x


Instagram: collette_cutoutthecrap


Twitter: cutoutthecrap


Facebook: Cut out the Crap 


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My favourite photo of the holiday – hubby with our twins x


 


 


 



Our family holiday....

Sunday, 27 October 2013

Savoury Mince and Lettuce Wraps

Good Evening! I hope this finds you well!


It has been a couple of weeks since I have chatted to you here via my blog as we have been away on our annual and much needed family holiday! I look forward to sharing some highlights of the holiday with you all later in the week but in the meantime I couldn’t wait to share with you this yummy recipe I created for my family the other night. 


My twins are getting close to 3 years old and so very independent – they have ditched the high chairs and want to sit at the big table like their Mum, Dad and big sisters….


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….with this independence also comes them wanting to feed themselves, for those of you with young children or who have had young children you would know what a messy and joyful learning experience this is….their independence with feeding made them enjoy this recipe even more as ‘yay’ they got to use their hands!!!!


Savoury Mince and lettuce wraps


Savoury Mince and lettuce wraps


Ingredients:


2 cups brown rice


1 tblspn oil


2 cloves garlic – crushed


½ cup pine nuts


500g beef mince


500g chicken mince


2 tblspns mixed dried herbs


2 tblspns cumin


1 tblspns coriander (powder)


1 tblspns sage (powder)


good pinch salt


6 large kale leaves – finely shredded


large lettuce leaves


nashi pear – diced


sweet chilli sauce – optional


Cook brown rice, drain well and set aside.


In a large wok place the oil, garlic, pine nuts, beef and chicken mince and stir fry until the mince is almost cooked.


Add the herbs, cumin, coriander, sage and salt and continue to stir fry until the mince is thoroughly cooked.


Add the kale and cooked brown rice, stir until completely mixed and remove from heat.


To serve: Eat as is, with a side serve of steamed vegetable or my family love it “sang choy bow” style, wrapped up in lettuce leaves with some diced nashi pear and sweet chilli sauce.


Enjoy!


This made enough for 2 adults, 4 children and leftovers for wraps! 


This will be a regular in our home. It was great  for so many reasons (besides the fact it is Gluten, Dairy and Preservative / Additive free) …  it fed so many …. it was quick and easy  to prepare and could be cooked in advance if needed and of course for those of us on a budget it was cheap (we are lucky enough to have some gorgeous Kale still growing). You can hide other vegetable in there if you like and also use mince of your choice. 


Talk again soon, 


Take Care of You,


Collette x 


 


 



Savoury Mince and Lettuce Wraps

Monday, 7 October 2013

Budgeting for meals....

Good Afternoon friends! I hope this finds you all well. 
Last week on Facebook there were a few discussions about budgeting and meal planning. Many COTC friends contact me needing tips on HOW to save money when grocery shopping without buying crap! Here are my tips that I hope help you….. 

I budget for $200 per week for my family of 2 adults and 4 children (Miss 11, Miss 9 and my almost 3 year old twins). This has gone up slightly with another adult in our house (Bekah – hubbys cousin from Texas USA staying with us for a few months).
My dearest part of groceries at the moment is the fact that I have been on a RAW diet for many months and I am now allowed cooked fish 3 times a week so I have been splurging on Salmon each time! I can often spend another $50 on this seafood a week – especially if I treat the entire family to the Salmon 2 nights a week…but I am ok with that! We probably only eat out twice a year at restaurants and almost never buy take-away so I don’t mind spending a little extra for things like Seafood. 

I spend approx $100 per week on fresh fruit and veg. I use ‘Enjo’ for cleaning or I make my own cleaning products. I buy “bulk’ meat. I LOVE Organic but it is not in my budget to bee 100% Organic so I do the best I can with what I have. 

My tips for saving money when buying groceries…..

* Try to buy in bulk – you will spend more money on the day but save $$$ in the long run
* Write a meal plan for the week first and ONLY buy what you need
* Don’t shop when you are hungry 
* Home-made biscuits and cakes are far cheaper than packets – packet anything in general is going to be more expensive – air popped popcorn for example is 1/4 of the price to make your own rather than buy one large pre-made packet or the individual packets
* Farmers markets for fruit and veg I have found is cheaper, fresher and lasts longer 
* Growing fresh herbs saves me a lot! $3 for a ‘sleeve’ of coriander is crazy to me ….. so I have some pots around growing my fresh herbs…. the kids enjoy helping me pick them also!
* Avoid going shopping for food more than you have to – I go once a week and that’s all….how many times do you hear people ducking into the supermarket for milk and ending up spending $50 on things they don’t need!?
* I buy a large yoghurt and put it into a serving bowl or reusable food sachets rather than the individual and more expensive ones – I do this also with tin fruit – check out the “Sinchies” on my website store here!

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“Sinchies” reuseable food pouches

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What a pretty bunch of flowers!!!!! My home grown Kale and Flat Leaf Parsley !!!!!!!

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Home-made Banana Ice-cream – SIMPLY FROZEN BANANAS PROCESSED UP!!!!!! (served in this picture with additive free 100′s and 1000′s also available on my website) SO much better for you AND cheaper than bought ice-cream!

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A cheap dinner and a great way to use up bits ‘n’ pieces of vegetables you have left! Fried rice! Boil up “Basmati Rice”  the  stir fry it with vegetables. This rice has fresh corn, zucchini, sugar snap peas, egg, cabbage and spring onions in it. All the bits I had left before grocery shopping the next day!

I hope this helps! Why not add your tips here for “how you save money when grocery shopping” to help others also! 

Have a GREAT week!

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

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I simply had to share this photo with you…my Miss 9 and my Miss 2 1/2 having a running race! This is their pose when I sat “ready…set…go” …….SO CUTE!!!!!!


Budgeting for meals....