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This Sydney Life

~ Mostly Recipes & Musings on Health

This Sydney Life

Tag Archives: Primal

ROCKING Raw Chocolate Banana Smoothie

23 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by Joanna in Food, Sweets

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

AIP, Autoimmune Protocol, Chocolate, Dairy Free, Healthy Drink, Paleo, Primal, Shake, Smoothie, Summer Drink

TSL Choc Banana Smoothie

(Image by TSL)

It’s a wee bit sticky in Sydney at the moment. The sort of heat that has edged just past fabulous and moved towards slightly uncomfortable. At least, that’s how it feels to this little Kiwi.

And, while we’re in the middle of summer down here, many of my fellow AIP bloggers are writing about winter warmers.

The ever so talented Samantha over at Sweet Potatoes and Social Change has just posted about a lip-smackingly gorgeous-looking AIP-friendly Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate recently. And, yes – I did say AIP-friendly.

If there’s no chocolate in Heaven, I’m not going.(Jane Seabrook, Furry Logic Laugh at Life)

And, while I love a hot chocolate just as much as the next girl, the current temperatures in this neck of the woods definitely lend themselves to something a little more cooling…

TSL Choc Banana Smoothie

(Images by TSL)

(Images by TSL)

This is a special treat kind of smoothie. Really, it probably falls more into the ‘shake’ kind of territory. But, on a scale of naughtiness where a big fat portion of chocolate mud cake with whipped cream, ice cream and chocolate sauce is the king, this baby barely even rates a blip on the monitor. And, it tastes REALLY good!

Before I go any further, I should mention that I make this number with raw cacao. Cacao is off the table on the elimination stage of AIP. In the early stages of my AIP caper I discovered that carob is not my friend. For the longest time, I was off all things chocolate. It was a dark period, indeed.

Fortunately, cacao is now back on the menu. Carob and cacao are interchangeable in this recipe.

ROCKING Raw Chocolate Babana Smoothie

  • Servings: 2
  • Time: 5 minutes
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

TSL Choc Banana Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 x frozen bananas
4 x medjool dates, pitted
3 x Tablespoons raw cacao powder or carob powder
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 x cup water
4 x brazil nuts (optional, and only after reintroduction)
2 x large handfuls of ice

Method:

1. Throw your frozen bananas, dates, cacao/carob, coconut milk, water, optional brazil nuts and ice into your blender. Blend until smooth.

E N J O Y !

The EASIEST Vegetable Frittata in the World (Bacon Optional!)

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by Joanna in Food, Nutrition, The Main Event

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

AIP, Autoimmune Protocol, Autoimmune Protocol Reintroduction, Dairy Free, Eggs, Grain Free, Lunchbox Ideas, Paleo, Primal, Quiche

TSL Vegetable Frittata

(Image by TSL)

I’m currently on the Autoimmune Protocol, a nutrient-rich elimination diet that removes foods that irritate the gut, cause gut imbalance and activate the immune system. You can read more about the protocol and why I’m doing this here. This recipe is only suitable for the autoimmune protocol if you have successfully reintroduced eggs. 

I have met a lot of hardboiled eggs in my time, but you’re twenty minutes.(Oscar Wilde)

It seems Sarah Ballantyne and her autoimmune protocol are gaining considerable global traction. And, I can understand why. I’m a believer. It has taken me some time, not to mention a pretty big level of commitment, but I am currently finally free of the autoimmune symptoms that have been plaguing me for 23 years. TWENTY THREE YEARS! That’s pretty amazing…

But that’s not the purpose of this wee post.

One of the best things about undertaking a protocol like AIP, other than the health benefits you hope to achieve, is the support you receive from other people within the ‘AIP Community’ from around the world. There are blogs and Facebook groups, forums and Pinterest boards. And without exception, I have found the people in these groups to be knowledgable, encouraging and understanding. It can be a bit of a lonely road when most of your friends eat a pretty standard diet and you can no longer go out to restaurants, have a coffee or a glass of wine.

And, one of the most common questions asked within these groups is around how to provide food for a family when you are so restricted by the elimination of all potentially inflammatory foods – often for a long period of time. It’s a valid question, especially when there are young children involved.

In this, I am very lucky. LM has totally supported my weird food journey from the first. He’s happy to eat whatever I eat and considers himself my ‘Primary Recipe Tester’. And while its true that the food we eat is full of great flavour and super healthy, we are certainly limited because of the restrictions – particularly by way of spices, nightshades (tomatoes!), nuts and eggs.

1 Dozen Eggs

First you gotta’ crack some eggs…
(Image by TSL)

Raw Frittata

Then, you mix everything together and pop it into a greased dish
(Image by TSL)

Frittata

…and pop it in the oven until its ready!
(Image by TSL)

Regardless of whether we are on the autoimmune protocol or not, Casa TSL is a gluten-free and dairy-free zone*. LM has a violent reaction to cow juice and just feels better when he’s not eating gluten. But, it is fair to say that I feel a little guilty about the fact that his diet is so restricted because of me.

Because of that, even though I’m not eating eggs at the moment, I’ve taken to making him one of these SUPER easy frittatas. It takes no time to whip one up on a Sunday night and its a much healthier alternative to the sandwiches that traditionally fill a lunchbox, with a big hit of protein from the eggs and loads of vegetables.

LM calls this his frittata-ta-ta-ta-ta…. While the base recipe remains constant, I mix it up and throw in pretty much whatever I feel like (read: whatever’s in the fridge). It’s kind of LM’s Potluck Frittata-ta-ta-ta-ta…

The EASIEST Vegetable Frittata in the World

  • Servings: 6 (12 for little people)
  • Time: about an hour
  • Difficulty: easy-peasey
  • Print

TSL Frittata 5

Ingredients

Base Frittata:
1 x large courgette (zucchini), grated and squeezed in a clean tea towel to remove as much moisture as possible
1 x large carrot, grated
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
salt (I use pink Himalayan salt) & freshly ground pepper
12 x happy eggs, beaten
1 x Tablespoon lard or coconut oil

Optional extras:
garlic
Shredded kumara (sweet potato),
cheese (here we use goats curd or sheep’s milk cheese)
onion
chopped bacon or pancetta
leftover roast meat
leftover roast veggies
smoked salmon
broccoli/cauli’ florets
Sliced leeks
Brussels sprouts
wilted spinach/silver-beet/chard
additional herbs

Method

1. Heat your oven to 180°C (fan forced)/360°F. Grease a ceramic dish with your lard or coconut oil (my dish is 19cm square)

2. Crack your eggs into a large bowl. Add salt and pepper. Whisk well.

3. Stir in your grated courgette and carrot, chopped fresh parsley, and any other ingredients.*

4. Pop in the oven for approximately 45 minutes (until the edges are golden brown). The frittata will puff up a little in the oven and then flatten out as it cools.

*this time I added sautéed red onion and pancetta, and a little goats curd

E N J O Y !

*I hope to be able to reintroduce some high quality dairy eventually

 

 

 

Blog Stalking Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by Joanna in Food, Random Stuff

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Clean Eating with a Dirty Mind, Cooking, Dairy Free, dessert, Food Porn, Paleo, Primal, Real Food, Recipe, San Diego, Sea World, Trifle, United States, Wordpress

Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind Header

Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind Header
(Image from CEWADM)

I want to tell you about a fabulous woman. We have never met in the flesh, but I follow her gorgeous blog. It’s called Clean Eating With a Dirty Mind (CEWADM).  I can’t even remember how I found her. Probably through one of my random WordPress searches.

She lives in San Diego. At least, I think she does. She’s irreverent and funny and she conducts amazing experiments with paleo-oriented recipes which she tests on her non-paleo partner and various friends. If they make the grade, she posts them on her blog. I kind of wish I lived in San Diego so she could use me as one of her foodie guinea pigs. San Diego has Sea World, too…

Comic JK

(Image from Comic JK)

Sidebar: For those of you who aren’t aware, LM and I sort of, kind of, follow a paleo-ish diet. With LM’s dairy and shellfish allergies, and my problems with gluten AND a real interest in eating less sugar and less processed food, a sort of paleo/primal/Weston A. Price/’real and traditional food’ hybrid is slowly evolving at Casa TSL.

Paleo Chocolate Pecan and Praline Cookies by CEWADM

Paleo Chocolate Pecan and Praline Cookies by CEWADM
(Image and recipe from here)

That being said, a lot of the recipes in CEWADM fall under the category of ‘sweets’. And, as mentioned, I try not to eat too much sugar. So, for a while, I looked but didn’t touch. The blog was a source of food porn, but I hadn’t tried any of the recipes. All that changed with the Paleo Chocolate Pecan and Praline Cookies. Seriously good. Seriously. Even for non-paleo peeps.

And then, I might just have mentioned that LM’s favourite dessert of all time was trifle. Just in passing, you understand…

Guess what happened? THIS happened…

The oh-so-fabulous Vanessa at CEWADM created a paleo (read: dairy free) trifle recipe for LM. More specifically, she created two trifle recipes for him – a peach crunch number and a raspberry chocolate hazelnut version. HOW COOL IS SHE???

Check it out…

Paleo Trifles by CEWADM

Paleo Trifles by CEWADM
(Image and recipe from here)

Go and check out Vanessa and her fab’ blog, including the special trifle recipe, (here) before she gets her cookbook deal. Trust me – you don’t have to be paleo to appreciate it!

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