This warm hug of the dessert world uses buckwheat instead of wheat flour and although it tastes sinful as all heck, in reality it is loaded with antioxidants, iron, magnesium and calcium from heaps of cacao, and manganese, more antioxidants and flavonoids, more magnesium, fibre, protein and phosphorous from the buckwheat, without any refined sugar or gluten or nuts. I honestly can not describe the pure levels of excitement I felt ripping this baby out of the oven and dipping a spoon in the gooey middle!!!
​
Next time I'll be trying hazelnut flour for this one as I'm obsessed with gianduia, that perfect nutella marraige of chocolate and hazelnut, but for this recipe I used mild-tasting buckwheat flour for its abundant health properties. You can use any which flour your heart desires!

Ingredients:
~1 cup buckwheat flour( or gluten-flour of your choice)
~2/3 cup coconut milk
~1/3 cup coconut oil
~1/3 cup cacao
~1 egg, beaten with a fork
~1 tsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar (dont panic, you wont taste it! Its part of the magical volcanic rising effect of the cake)
~1/2 cup 100% maple syrup or honey
~1/4 tsp bicarb
~1/2 tsp baking powder

Sauce part of the self-sauce ingredients:
~1/4 cup cacao
~1 cup boiling water
~1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

Method: Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. In a large bowl, mix together all pudding ingredients minus the sauce until properly and completely combined. Pour into a lined cake or loaf tin or individual ramekins or ceramic mugs if youre desperate.

In a seperate bowl (i used a gravy boat to make it easy to pour. A jug will make your life easier in this step), combine all sauce ingredients and whisk well until combined and tasting like heaven's nectar. Now carefully and slowly pour your sauce into the centre of your pre-prepared puds. It will float on top for a bit but dont dispair, it melts down to the pudding middle during the cooking process. Arrange your puds onto an oven tray and bake for half an hour (individual portions will take slightly less time than one giant puddy). Once baked, carefully remove from the oven mitt, grab a spoon and abscond to a quiet corner of the house to experience your magical creation, guilt-free and in peace 😇

This recipe is so simple to whip up and is dense and filling thanks to its vital healthy fats and protein, as well as providing vitamin E, vitamin C, magnesium and antioxidants. Perfect for afternoon tea! She's gluten-free, Refined sugar free and packed with protein for sustained energy 💪💪💪

Ingredients:
~3 cups almond flour. I'm one of those smug thermomix cult members so I made my own out of activated almonds. Try making your own too! Just whizz the heck out of your almonds in the food processor. Homemade almond flour brings an even richer nuttier flavour
~3 tsp baking powder
~1/2 tsp sea salt
~1 cup full fat natural yoghurt. My favourite is Jalna biodynamic natural
~1/2 cup 100% maple syrup or honey
~1 Tbsp vanilla paste
~3 pastured organic eggs
~1/4 cup coconut oil
~zest of 1 lemon plus extra to decorate
~juice of half a lemon

Icing: Full fat natural yoghurt with a tablespoon or 2 of honey, and lemon zest mixed through

Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius. In a big bowl, mix almond flour, baking powder and salt. In a seperate bowl, whisk your eggs, yoghurt, honey (or maple), melted but not hot coconut oil (or else you'll cook your eggs!)vanilla and lemon juice and zest. Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients, then fold the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing well! Once completely combined, pour into a lined cake or loaf tin. Bake that baby for 45 minutes or until lightly browned and a skewer or sharp knife goes in and out cleanly. Leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes, turn out onto a plate, allow to cool completely, then ice with yoghurt icing 😍😍😍

🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋
Second-hand stole this recipe from my sister-in-law Sherie via my mumsy so I guess its a bona fide family tradition now!

These tasty little nuggets are able to be made in bulk and frozen down, or kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. They are great for the kidlets or as a snack, bringing protein and good fats and vitamin C and fibre and selenium and antioxidants AND they taste like little bitty lemon cheesecakes! And theyre vegan! Over-acheiving little balls of goodness. HERES HOW:

Ingredients (makes approx 35 balls; serving size is 2 balls so this is literally weeks worth of yum snacks):

~2 cups raw cashews
~2 cups dessicated coconut
~zest of 2 big lemons
~juice of 1 lemon (add extra if youre a spicy mama and like it tangy)
~2 tsp organic vanilla bean paste or if youre wealthy and fancy, scrape a vanilla pod in there
~2 small pinches of sea salt
~4 Tbsp raw honey or 100% maple syrup
~ extra coconut for rolling in (the balls, not yourself)

Method:
Add each ingredient to a food processor, blitzing each time you add an i gredient until well combined. If you added extra juice and it is quite a 'wet'mix, pop into the fridge for 5 or 10 minutes until able to be rolled between the palms of your hands into wee balls, about a heaped teaspoon shall do nicely. Roll in extra coconut and refrigerate. Enjoy!

Baste your meats in this one to take things from 1 to 11/10! Some tomatoes pan-fried in this for Sunday breakfast would be amazing too.

Ingredients:
~750g meat of choice. This time Ive used some organic pastured chicken thighs (6 of them)
~100ml extra virgin olive oil
~1 cup loosely packed oregano (you could switch in any green aromatic herb here. Parsley or chervil would work, coriander and chilli would be lovely)
~3 cloves garlic
~ 1 Lemon, skin cut off and roughly chopped
~2 Tbsp unfiltered apple cider vinegar
~ sea salt and pepper to taste
~OPTIONAL full fat natural yoghurt to serve

Method: In a food processor, blitz olive oil, garlic, lemon, oregano, apple cider vinegar and salt and pep pep into a fine paste. Have a taste - SO FRESH, SO ZINGY!!!!! 😍 🍋😍🍋😍
Pop your meat into a big container, pour your marinade on and massage the whole lot into one another until well rubbed and covered. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinade for at least a couple of hours, or overnight if you have the time. Cook the meat on a medium-low heat over half an hour or so, so the marinade doesnt burn. Pair with your favourite veg or in my case, fresh salad greens straight from the garden. Add a spoonful of natural yoghurt if you like 👍

Okie dokie girls (this one is specifically targeted at my ladies today, but definitely applicable to men too!) this has been prompted by a few too many borderline undiagnosed eating disorders in my clinic recently, and something that really bums me out! I'm not trying to be righteous; any one of my girlfriends (and boyfriends! And my brothers! I've complained to anyone who will listen) will tell you that in previous years, I have HATED literally everything about my body. I've been every different kind of weight range while on the PCOS hormonal roller coaster, and I'm here to tell you that I still hated my body when I was at my skinniest! The self-loathing does not leave when you get to your goal weight, or even below that. I still have days when I bemoan my broad bricklayers shoulders, my humungous hips and chunky thighs, thick ankles, weird toes, pick a body part and I will tell you what I hate about it! BUT in more recent times I've been working on my perfect body, and man, my body is PERFECT! So here are my tips for getting to appreciate your perfect body too:

-Be grateful. Everything is relative. I got broad shoulders. Really broad shoulders. They are the genetic legacy of my beautiful angel of a grandfather, and they suited him really well, but on me, if I wear anything that isn't strictly tailored, I look like a poorly disguised man (and not in a good way). But do you know that these shoulders are invaluable for lifting 30kg bags of horse feed well above head height? And backpacking unhindered throughout the entire world? And can carry 2 children or one medium sized adult very easily? And thank heavens for my stout little chunky legs! They are not the mile long legs of a Victoria's Secret model; and thank god, because these legs have walked across more countries than I care to number; including 5-day hikes through the Peruvian Andes, 6000m above sea level; they keep me firmly on my horses, I still have both of them, and they create the perfect pedestal for my ass. Be grateful for every single part of your perfect body. And it is perfect. Right bloody now. Stop bemoaning what you don't have. Your body is working so hard to maintain a healthy equilibrium and keep you happy and healthy! It is your very best mate so stop being mean to it and calling it fat (please).

-Don't speak negatively of another woman, but especially of her physical appearance. In fact, start paying everybody compliments. There is no doubt in my mind at all that when you comment negatively about another person's physical appearance, that that has a negative affect on your own self esteem. No doubt. It serves no one. It doesn't make you feel better or a better person. All it does is create a really awful method of comparison between you and her. Start paying perfect strangers random compliments in the supermarket. Both of you will walk away with happy hearts. Negativity on others breeds negativity in yourself. I truly believe that.

Practice being grateful for your body for allllllll the magical things it does for you every day, and start projecting positivity about your own and other people's physicality. Do it for a month and you will know in your heart that you and your body are indeed perfect!

Paper on the pan (and fish on the paper)! People always look at me real strange when they see me cook fish (and sometimes vegetables) on a layer of baking paper in the pan. Is it so it is low-fat? NO! Y'all know I love my fats, and I add coconut oil on top of the paper to cook it in. I do it to stop it from burning easily! Fish is so delicate and so easy to mess up. Don't overlook your fish guys !

As ALWAYS, buy local, sustainable fish (I posted a while ago about how to make the best possible choices when buying seafood a while back now).

Fish cooked in coco oil with homegrown Vietnamese basil, habanero chilli and garlic and lemon juice added after cooking. Served with homegrown veg sautéed in coco oil and garam masala. Too yum for words