Good Morning! I hope this finds you all well. I have had a lovely productive week and I must admit I am super excited about putting the Christmas tree and decorations up with the kids over the weekend! It’s always a beautiful, fun, chaotic few hours with Christmas Carol’s playing and us all singing and dancing! Have you got your tree up yet? 

Yesterday I had a friend (my Sons Godfather) come and take the twins for a couple of hours to have a play which allowed me time to myself….I considered having a long soak in the bath with a book or watching a movie…but me being me and as tempting as it was, I had energy and so I had other plans…I painted a feature wall in the kids playroom, I make some chicken bone broth, some nut free bliss balls and this nut and seed brittle…..I realised I had put this recipe on Facebook but not on here and sometimes it’s time consuming to find old posts on Facebook, so hopefully you can all find this easier here….it’s a favourite recipe of ours that we enjoy often! I hope you love it also! Enjoy! 

nut and seed brittle

Preheat oven to 160c and line a lamington tray with baking paper.

In a bowl place 1/2 cup slivered almonds, 1/2 cup whole hazelnuts, 1/2 cup pistachios, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup pepitas, 1/4 cup sesame seeds, 1/8 cup flaxseeds, 1/8 cup chia seeds and 1/2 cup rice malt syrup. Mix well. It is quite sticky but be patient it WILL mix.

Place it into the lamington tray and use a wet teaspoon to flatten it out. Bake for 15 minutes at 160c. Turn heat down to 110c and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before cutting – YUM!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend full of love, laughter and of course some great food!

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

nut and seed brittle

Good Morning! I hope this finds you all well and having a great week so far. 

As a family we are additive free and refined sugar free. My Miss 9 is Gluten Free and at the moment due to a health program she is doing she is grain free – and at school they are nut free …. it makes ‘snacks’ quite challenging! I created this for her yesterday and when she came home from school she was SO excited….actually all 4 kids were excited…Miss almost 3 snuck 4 pieces when I wasn’t looking and later came up to me and asked ….’yummy chocolate mummy, me, 1, 2, 3, 4….more????” ….ha ha! I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as my kids did! 

choc mint fudge

15 medjool dates

2 cups desiccated coconut

½ cup pepitas

2 tblspns drinking chocolate or cacao

1 tblspn chia seeds

1 tblspn maple syrup

6 drops peppermint oil (food grade!) 

Line a square 20cm cake tin with baking paper.

In a food processor place all of the ingredients except for the peppermint oil. Process for 60-80 seconds until thoroughly mixed and fudge like.

Add the peppermint oil and process for another 10 seconds.

Use your fingers to push the mixture into the lined cake tin evenly. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cutting into squares.

Store in the fridge in an airtight container.

Note: I used a large food processor with a double S blade. 

On a personal note I would like to have a ‘proud Mumma’ moment – my Miss 11 loves (SO much) Physie and it has been her Physie Dream to make the National Finals (top 18 in Australia) … I am thrilled for her that she acheived that dream on the weekend….there were cheers and happy tears all round! Her smile when she marched out in that final said it all – when we collected her that night she said “Mum I have never talked to God so much – he really did answer my Prayers today” – Bless her! 

Kisses from Dad! – I LOVE this photo!

Kisses from me!

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week….chat again soon….I am off to write up these Christmas orders that you guys have been loving! Only a few days left of the Christmas Specials  on my website here so don’t miss out!

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

choc mint fudge

Bone Broth

Good Afternoon! I hope this finds you well and that you are having a lovely week so far.

I have to tell you I have jumped on the ‘how great is bone broth’ band wagon and I am excited to share my recipes with you…..my family are loving me for it (I am sure their insides are loving me also!!!)

I heard how great it is a while back from Alexx Stuart and saw Jo from Quirky Cooking sending people to Alexx’s page often to learn more about it. So I made some Beef broth which was enjoyed by my family a lot. A while later I was told by my Miss 9′s health specialist how wonderful bone broth is and how she/we should be having it daily so I came home to make some Chicken broth…which was LOVED!  I have been making it on a weekly basis since then…and always have a stock pile in my freezer! Perfect for a those days when I don’t feel like cooking!
I have heard mixed reports of how long you should cook it for….I have tried it for 48hours down to 4 hours….the difference is the longer I cook it for the more ‘jelly’ it gets. The two most important aspects from all I have researched is ensuring you get good quality chemical free organic bones and don’t miss the cooking in the oven step!

The health benefits for having bone broth on a regular basis is wonderful and if the link from Alexx above has not convinced you, check out this next link all about Gut Health from Naughty Naturopath Mum!

Here are my recipes….enjoy!

Beef Bone Broth (slow cooker version)

1kg beef bones

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 carrots

4 celery stalks

1 brown onion

small bunch of rosemary

small bunch of flat leaf parsley

2 bay leaves

good pinch sea salt

water

Place beef bones in a large baking tray and cook in the oven on 220c for 1 hour.
Add the bones to your slow cooker with the apple cider vinegar, carrots, celery stalks, brown onion, rosemary, flat leaf parsley, bay leaves and the himalayan salt. Cover with water and put on low for 48 hours.

Remove bones, vegetables and herbs and discard. Strain the liquid well and you are left with gorgeous and nutritious beef bone broth. Once this cooled it went like Jelly.

Dinner….Chicken broth with fresh home-grown kale and curly carrot!

Chicken Bone Broth (stove top)

2kg chicken wings

4 carrots

4 celery stalks

2 brown onions

3 kale leaves

medium bunch thyme

medium bunch rosemary

2 bay leaves

2 tblspns apple cider vinegar

good pinch sea salt

6 litres water

Place chicken bones in a large baking tray and cook in the oven on 200c for 1 hour.
Add the bones to a large saucepan with the rest of the ingredients (make sure that everything is covered with the water).

Place the lid on the saucepan and cook over a medium – low heat for 4 hours.

Remove bones, vegetables and herbs and discard. Strain the liquid well and you are left with gorgeous and nutritious chicken bone broth. Once this cooled only the top layer went like jelly.

Chicken cooked and ready to go….

….all in the pot ready to cover with water….

I can almost smell this….YUM!!!!!!!!

I have been serving the broth for breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner….really any meal! As is (just the broth) or for something more filling I throw in some raw salad or vegetable ingredients or leftover cooked brown rice. You can really use it anyway you like, depending in your taste buds….the main thing is….have it often….your body will thank you for it!

Have a wonderful rest of the week….talk again soon!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

 

Bone Broth

almond and macadamia nut butter

Good Afternoon! I hope this finds you all well and that you had a lovely weekend. 

I had a fun weekend and was blessed that the rain stopped for few hours – just enough time for me to overcome a HUGE fear of mine….bridges and heights….all in one….and I Climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge with Bekah (Hubbys Cousin from Texas USA) and my Miss 11! WOW! What an experience and what a view! If you ever get the chance…I say DO IT! I have to say though I did ‘almost’ chicken out….as we were getting all strapped in I almost asked to go back and not go ahead but I looked at my Miss 11 and saw her excitement and knew that I had to push through my fear and just do it….I really am glad that I did! 

me with my Miss 11 – right at the top of the bridge!

half way up….breathtaking….

Anyway….back to food….I have a yummy favourite recipe to share with you today…..a simple recipe and a staple in our pantry these days….I hope you love it!

almond and macadamia butter

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw macadamias

pinch sea salt

optional: 1 tblspn maple syrup or honey

In a large food processor place the almonds and macadamias. Process the nuts using an “S DOUBLE BLADE” for 10-12 minutes or until smooth and creamy. You will need to scrape down the sides a few times during this process.

Be patient when making this – at first it just looks like crumbs and I was tempted to add liquid of some sort but PLEASE don’t! Keep going and it will soon start to resemble nut butter.

Once your nut butter has reached its desired consistency add the pinch of salt and taste to see if you would like to add the maple syrup / honey – mix well and pour / spoon into airtight glass jars.  

Simple as that! 

Other options: I have tried this nut butter many different ways. I have tried soaking / activating the nuts first, just raw (as in the recipe) and then I have also tried toasting them first. I didn’t find a difference in the taste with the soaking /activating verses raw. The processing time did change slightly.

Toasting the nuts first in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes made the nut butter taste amazing and this way is my personal preference. It all comes down to individual taste.

Serve as you would normal nut butters on toast, sandwiches, crackers…. or if you are like my kids, they love it best on apples for afternoon tea!

Note: times may vary depending on your food processor. 

Almond and Macadamia butter on top of apple slices, sprinkled with chia seeds or additive free choc drops for an afternoon tea treat!

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week!

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

almond and macadamia nut butter

Raw update ....

Good Afternoon! I hope this finds you well and that you have had a lovely week.

First off I would like to announce and congratulate Charlotte Wainwright for being the lucky random winner of the Healthy Chart Give-away. Thank you to all who entered this competition!

I have been asked quite a few times recently how my RAW diet is going, so I thought it was time I did a post on it.

For those that are new to my page you can read about the start of my RAW journey back on 1st May this year – HERE.

Due to health reasons my trusted Naturopath suggested I heal myself by going 100% strict RAW (not RAW VEGAN) for 3 months – so for the months of May, June and July and some of August (until my appointment) I did. Here is another update I did along the way. After 3 months the results were great and I was allowed to introduce some Seafood and Eggs on top of the RAW which I was thrilled about – that was my eating challenge for the next 3 months. 

Next week marks that second 3 months of this journey and I am excited and nervous to see how my results come back and where I go next. I can say with honesty that I haven’t stuck to it 100% like I did the first 3 months. Things like making ‘runny’ fried eggs instead of my allowed ‘soft boiled eggs’ or eating prawns (which wasn’t on my list of allowed seafood)  or having a little hommus on holidays were my major down falls. I stuck to what I should have 95% of the time – so tried not to feel too guilty for indulging in these things I wasn’t meant to.

My saviour once again has been green juices! I make a huge batch of a morning which makes 4-5 serves for me to enjoy throughout the day. I normally have 3 and the family share the rest. My ‘general’ green juice is normally a combination of red or green apple, lemon, orange, ginger, carrot, cucumber, kale, baby spinach and sometimes beetroot. I always add Maca and Super Red and Green Powder – I find a juice with this gives me a lot more energy throughout the day. If I am making one just for hubby and the kids I add tomato and / or banana but I am allergic to them both so don’t add them to mine.

Early in the morning I enjoy a coffee on rice milk and a Superfood Bar (the coffee was approved by my Naturopath and the bar is RAW).

Around 9am once everyone else has had breakfast and the big girls have gone to school etc I have my green juice and sometimes an egg. I boil eggs most days to use for lunch, breakfasts and snacks and I just take one out for me whilst its still soft and leave the others in for another few minutes.

For lunch I generally have another green juice (I told you I love them!) or a salad of whatever I feel like at the time.

This salad is something that I eat often as it makes a huge batch and I can eat it as is, or with egg on top or fish. My family love this salad also.

Beetroot Salad topped with raw Macadamias and a delicious soft boiled egg.

In a food processor place  2 medium beetroot, 2 large carrots, 1 red or green apple, 2 long stalks celery, 1 long telegraph cucumber, 1/2 bulb large fennel, 1/2 bunch coriander. It took about 8 second (I used a double S blade) – Top with a handful of raw macadamias and a soft boiled egg.

Dinners are generally a bigger salad and I am allowed certain seafood 3 times a week – I always make sure I have it – my favourite is Salmon so I generally treat myself to that! I love making up different salads with not only ‘normal’ salad ingredients but nuts and fruit too. I treated myself the other day to some ‘goat fetta’ after buying some at the Hunter Valley Wineries – a gorgeous addition to a salad!

Salmon cooked on the BBQ with a salad of baby spinach, kale, cucumber, walnuts, mango and marinated goats feta.

 Snacks are fruit (I LOVE all the fresh Summer fruit like Mangoes and Nectarines that are out now), raw nuts, vegetable sticks (sometimes with avocado dip) and ‘energy balls’ ….. these are something that are constantly in my fridge! I also make apple and sweet potato chips often in my dehydrator. 

I certainly feel better and all my symptoms I had before going on the RAW diet have gone which is wonderful. I sleep well, I am maintaining a healthy weight, I have the energy I need to be a Mum of 4 and run my full-time business, I am full and satisfied with what I eat and in general I feel ‘great’. All being well and if I get the choice to go back to eating ‘normal’ (aka more cooked food) I do think I will make an effort to try and be 80% raw still as I feel it has agreed with me so much. It certainly is going to be easier coming into Summer!

me with hubby

What I miss the most: Brown rice, roast pumpkin and crispy stir fry vegetables.
What I don’t miss at all: Meat, Chicken and cakes or sweet things. 

I will be sure to keep you posted with how I go next week! 

Until then…

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

Raw update ....

Good Afternoon! I hope this finds you all well. As I sit here typing this I have to be honest with you all and let you know I am munching away on this recipe that I am just about to share with you …. as my lunch …. and we may have had it for afternoon tea yesterday too ….. it is quite addictive ….when making it my home smells amazing, full of Christmas scents, like cinnamon and orange …. it’s a great recipe to enjoy whilst socialising with family and friends during this warm weather ….  I hope you love it as much as we do!

sweet festive dukkah with cashew and coconut cream

cashew and coconut cream

2 cups raw cashews

1 cup coconut milk

60ml fresh orange juice

2 tspns maple syrup

sweet festive dukkah

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup sesame seeds

¼ cup raw pistachios

¼ cup chia seeds

1 tspn cinnamon

1cm x 5cm piece of orange rind

2 tblspns rapadura OR brown sugar

pinch salt

cut chunks of fruit of your choice to serve (the favourite’s here are red apple, banana and strawberries)

toothpicks or cocktail forks

Place the raw cashews into a bowl and cover with warm water for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the dukkah. In a medium saucepan place the almonds, sesame seeds, pistachios, chia seeds and cinnamon. Toast in pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until golden and fragrant (stir ingredients often so they don’t burn).
Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before continuing.

Place the toasted almond mixture into a food processor with the orange rind, rapadura and salt. Process until a crumble is formed. Place some dukkah into a serving bowl and the rest into an airtight container.

Once the cashews are finished soaking, drain them well and place them into a food processor with the coconut milk, orange juice and maple syrup. Blend well. Place this cashew and coconut cream into a serving bowl and the rest into airtight container and refrigerate.

To serve: use your toothpick to pick up a piece of fruit, first dip it into the cashew and coconut cream and then into the sweet dukkah. Enjoy!

Perfect for a not too sweet dessert or a great replacement for cheese and biccies for ‘happy hour’ ….. or you could be like us and eat it for lunch!

Note: Store the leftover dukkah in a cool, dark place (eg pantry) for up to one month.

The leftover cashew and coconut cream can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days or freeze for 2 months (once it comes out of the freezer and it is defrosted, you may need to put it in the food processer again to smooth it out).  

Tips: Leftover dukkah is beautiful sprinkled over salad, roast vegetables, stir fry vegetables, pancakes or on top of icing on cakes!
Leftover cashew and coconut cream will thicken in the fridge, its great to ice cakes or put a dollop on top of your pancakes!

I hope you enjoy my recipes, I always love hearing from you when you do!

Wishing you a beautiful rest of the week and we will chat again soon I am sure! 

Take Care of You,

Collette x 

Instagram: collette_cutoutthecrap

sweet festive dukkah with cashew and coconut cream

FESTIVE 100's and 1000's - Hopper

I have ordered these Fun and Festive 100′s and 1000′s  just in time for your Christmas baking! (red, green and white all in one jar)

These will be available for a limited time only on my website – so don’t miss out!

Size: 150g Net

Gluten Free

Ingredients: Sugar, maize starch, maltodextrin, natural colours 141 chlorophyll, 160a carotene, 162 beetroot, 163, spirulina

FESTIVE 100's and 1000's - Hopper

Good Morning! I hope this finds you all happy and healthy and that you had a beautiful weekend! 

We had a lovely weekend. My parents live in the Hunter Valley so we dropped our 4 children off to them for the day and hubby, Bekah and I spent the day looking around the wineries, wine tasting, cheese tasting and sight seeing. It really is a beautiful Country we live in! Seen as though I am allergic to grapes I was the designated driver but I still enjoyed the day just as much….we had a lot of laughs and it will add to some lovely memories for Bekah to take back to America with her when she leaves us in a months time.

Sunday was beautiful also, a great Church Service with a beautiful message and then Miss 11 and I hit the shops in the afternoon as she has had a growth spurt and needed a few new things to wear! It’s always lovely spending quality time with my children individually. 

I am excited to share this recipe with you all that I created last week. It was a HUGE hit and it was loved by all….my kids only disappointment was that they couldn’t take it to school as it has macadamia nuts in it….they made up for it though as it was the first thing they asked for when they walked in the door after school, even before taking their bags of their backs! Funny!

I hope you and your family and friends enjoy it also….

slice of coconut heaven

base

1 cup almond meal

10 medjool dates

1 tblspn chia seeds

1 tspn maca powder (optional)

1 tspn coconut oil 

top

1 cup macadamias

3 medjool dates

1 ½ cups desiccated coconut

2 tblspns maple syrup

1 tspn coconut oil

Put all the ingredients for the base into a food processer and process for 1 minute. Use your fingers to push this mixture down firmly into a 20cm square lined cake tin to form the base 

Refrigerate for ½ an hour.

Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the top into a clean food processer. Process for 1 ½ – 2 minutes until reasonably smooth.

Remove base from fridge and spread this top mixture evenly over the base until smooth (once again I used my fingers to do this).

Place in the freezer for ½ an hour then refrigerate until ready to cut and serve. 

Store leftover slice in an airtight container in the fridge.

Note: Times may vary for the food processing steps depending on your processor.

Options: You could sprinkle coconut or chopped macadamias over the top when serving. 

Have a wonderful week and we will chat again soon!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

PS Don’t forget to check out three new things on here – my Christmas Sale – month of November only….

The new AMAZING book I have on here for Sale….

The give-away I have going this week…. HEALTHY CHART …. 

Slice of Coconut Heaven

"Healthy Chart" GIVE-AWAY!

Good afternoon! I hope this finds you well and that you have had a fantastic week!

I am super excited to be able to do a give-away this week for a “healthy chart” which has become a well used  tool for my Miss 9 – so much so that I have got two for the twins put aside for Christmas. They will turn 3, two days before Christmas and whilst I do think they are a little young for it they show so much interest in it daily when Miss 9 uses it so I thought it was a good idea!

We have only had our chart for about 2 months and already I have noticed just how much it has encouraged Miss 9 to be more aware of what she is eating and why I make the choices I do with our diets and healthy eating lifestyle. She is a visual person and doesn’t always like to listen to me! so this really has been wonderful for her!

Here is some more information direct from the “Healthy Chart” website:

How it works

You and your child use your HealthyChart to plan what they will eat, drink and do for the day by placing tiles on the magnetic chart.

Alternatively, children can place tiles on the chart as they progress throughout the day.

By seeing and recording what they are doing, it helps children make better choices and creates less arguing with mum!

At the end of the day, you and your child review how they did. An incentive tile is then placed on the progress chart to motivate them to keep up the good work or to make better choices for the next day.

HealthyChart can also be used as a reward chart too!

I am pleased to say that ONE lucky Cut out the Crap friend will have the chance to win a chart! They are available in two age brackets 4-7 years and 8-11 years — and the lucky winner will get to choose the age bracket chart they would like.

To enter simply comment here on this blog. WHY you think your child would benefit from this…..

ONE lucky winner will be chosen and notified on here AND by email next Friday 15th November!

In the meantime, why not head over and check out their great website and Facebook page!

GOOD LUCK!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

 

 

 

"Healthy Chart" GIVE-AWAY!

baked brie bites with a pomegranate berry sauce

Good Afternoon! I hope this finds you all well and that you are having a wonderful week. Did you celebrate Melbourne Cup yesterday? I celebrated by dressing up and having some friends over for lunch. It was such a wonderful day…..and I love any excuse to dress up and put heels on….so different to my everyday ‘Mum’ clothes! It was a ‘bring a plate’ event which is always great on the host….it means you don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen catering…. and friends don’t ever mind bringing something! For those that are not too confidant in the kitchen or are simply time poor, it is a great way to host a party or simply have friends over ‘just because’ without feeling too daunted.  I supplied drinks and Bekah made this ‘naughty but nice’ baked brie recipe that I am about to share with you. 

Me (right) with Bekah

Instead of the standard Melbourne Cup ‘cash sweep’ – I planned for everyone to bring a ‘pantry’ item valued $5 and we all drew numbers out of a hat….the winner took the lot….it worked out well with 12 of us there….my friend that won got some great pantry goodies!

My twins all dressed up for the ‘horsie party’

This recipe I am sharing today with you is one of Bekah’s favourites that she makes for parties back in America….sadly it is no good for those with food allergies as it does have Gluten and Dairy in it, however with the right brands I was able to make it additive free. I hope you love it as much as my friends did!

baked brie bites with a pomegranate berry sauce

pomegranate berry sauce

470ml pomegranate juice

½ cup rice wine vinegar (or balsamic vinegar)

1 punnet blueberries

1 punnet strawberries – cut into quarters

1 cup rapadura (or brown sugar)

baked brie bites

2 x sheets butter puff pastry – thawed and each piece cut into 16 even squares

2 x 125g brie – each piece cut into 16 even pieces

In a small saucepan place the pomegranate juice, rice wine vinegar, blueberries (all of them except for 10) and strawberries. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Once simmering turn the heat to low and add the rapadura. Stir until the rapadura is dissolved then leave on this low heat for 45-50 minutes – stir occasionally. Be careful not to have the heat too high, as you don’t want it to burn. At the end of the 45-50 minutes the mixture will be thick and syrupy.

Remove from heat and strain mixture through a fine mesh colander. You will be left with the thick pulpy ‘mush’ that I put aside in a container in the fridge to put on pancakes for the kids!
Place the strained syrup back into the small saucepan on a low heat to simmer for 10 minutes. 
Put the spare 10 blueberries into a serving bowl and pour the syrup over the top. Set aside until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 180c and line a large tray with baking paper.

Wrap each piece of brie with one piece if puff pastry – make sure that each piece is sealed completely. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

To serve: Spoon a small amount of sauce onto individual brie bites or use the sauce as a ‘dip’. 

Option: make one large serve – wrap an entire piece of puff pastry around a 125g round of brie and bake for the same time or until golden.  Once cooked, pour syrup over the entire baked brie and share using individual forks!

How great does it look!!!!!?????

Enjoy the rest of the day and I look forward to chatting again soon!

Take Care of You,

Collette x

 

 

baked brie bites with a pomegranate berry sauce