3 Tips For Staying Healthy Around Christmas Time

To read about my 3 tips for staying healthy around Christmas time and my list of the not so healthy “health” food that abounds, check out my interview here with Vie Active – luxury, high-performance activewear brand based down the road in Bondi.

Happy holidays and get some sun, sea and surf!

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Banana Date Walnut Loaf

Here’s a great way to use up 3 over ripe bananas! Kids will love it and I love that it contains no concentrated sweeteners at all- just dates and bananas. Plus it’s gluten-free (and grain-free if you consider that buckwheat is technically a fruit and not a grain). Enjoy as a nutritious snack (with an inch of butter of course!), a dessert to tack on at the end of a meal or as part of your brekky. 

Ingredients:

3 small ripe bananas (approx 400-500g, weighed unpeeled) plus optional extra ½ banana, sliced, for decorating 
125g butter or coconut oil
245g (1 1/3 cup) activated cinnamon buckwheat
4 eggs
2 drops Young Living cinnamon oil or 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
2 drops Young Living nutmeg oil or ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup, 190g, dates (weigh with seeds in then remove), roughly chopped 
1 cup, 90g, roughly chopped activated walnuts (I break them apart with my hands) plus extra for decorating

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius.  Grease a loaf tin with olive oil and line it with baking paper on the base and all sides. 

Process activated buckwheat in a nut grinder or Thermomix (speed 9, 20 secs) until it resembles a soft fine flour and add it to a large mixing bowl.

Beat the eggs with stick blender, or process in a food processor or Thermomix (speed 6, 20 secs) until fluffy and add to the large mixing bowl.

Process butter and banana in food processor or Thermomix (speed 6, 20 secs) and add to the large mixing bowl.

Add cinnamon, nutmeg, dates and walnuts to the large mixing bowl and stir well to combine.  

Pour mixture into the loaf tin and decorate the top with a scattering of walnuts and sliced banana if desired.

Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Bake for extra 10 minutes if baking 2 loaves. 

Allow to cool somewhat before removing from tin whe and place onto a serving platter or cutting board. 

Serve as is or toasted under the grill element and then smear with butter if desired. 

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days before refrigerating.

Xmas Trading Hours & My Grown-Up Xmas Wish List

While the kids and I will be away visiting family from 23-31 Dec, my assistants will be manning the fort in my absence. Just text me any orders and I will co-ordinate with them for you to collect from my workshop in Waverley.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all my clients, customers, retailers and followers of my blog for all your wonderful support over 2014. It has meant that I have been able follow my passion and do what I love to do: make nutritious and delicious food, share it, talk about it, show you how and why to make it, debunk the confusion surrounding nutrition and help you on your journey towards robust health.

2015 is set to be an exciting year with the launch of some new products, getting my cookbook off the ground, expanding to further shops and conducting regular cooking classes on some new topics as well as the golden oldies.  My aim is to focus more on food coaching and to that end I am working with a holistic GP (Dr Min Yeo) and naturopath/herbalist (Anthia Koullouros) so that our mutual clients are provided with an integrated service with my focus being on culinary/dietary support and nutritional theory /myth-busting. To that end, if you’re confused about what on earth you should be eating, how to shed some extra kilos, what to eat for fertility and lactation, how to perform your best if you’re an athlete, how to overcome fussy eaters, have digestive or gut issues, want to curb your sugar (or other processed food) addiction,  or need help with meal planning or sourcing wholefoods at the most affordable prices, I encourage you to come and see me. Click herefor more information.

My wish for 2015 is a place where:

• school canteens offer healthy, nutritious and delicious food for growing bodies so our kids can function properly and perform their best
• kids are not offered junk food as a reward or treat from teachers or well-meaning adults
• hospitals offer nutritious food to enable speedy and robust recovery of patients
• schools offer kids the choice of standing or sitting at their desks (this has started with one school in Melbourne)
• kids are encouraged to spend most of their play-time outside in sunshine in nature
• more people walk or cycle to school, work or shops
• people are fully aware of what they are eating and the effect it has on their body so that they can make an informed choice
• people understand that the health of our food starts with the health of our soil and oceans
• farmers who are committed to ethical and sustainable farming practices are paid and revered like rock stars

Granted, the above is a pipe-dream that I probably won’t ever see realised in my life time let alone 2015 but I like to dream big and maybe, just maybe, if we work together small yet meaningful increments can be made.

In the words of the Dalai Lama…..

Here is a 2 minute video I whipped together showing the culinary highlights of star anise organic wholefoods in 2014- I hope you enjoy it!

http://flipagram.com/f/NGOYO1HWSh

Wishing you all happy holidays, much love Soulla x