Paleo Affogato

There isn't much I miss when it comes to standard western food. However when we were on holiday we had an extra special treat of Affogato with vanilla ice cream. I really enjoyed it at the time but afterwards, having been dairy free for ages - not so fun! 

Some I came up with this treat, Paleo Affogato with coconut ice cream!

Ingredients:

Nice Cream - coconut ice cream, vanilla bean

Espresso shot

Simple Tasty Cold Killing Juice

Feel a cold or sore throat coming on? Try these sharp juice to kill those nasty bugs in your throat and body!

Twice daily and along with a nutritious diet, you shouldn't get any worse! I have always used this as our "medicine" at the first signs of sickness with the kids and myself. Works a treat!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
3 large carrots
1 apple
Half a lemon
Chunk of fresh ginger

Method: 
Use a juicer to juice and drink quickly

             Simple Tasty Nutrition (c) 2014

Primal Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

These muffins are grain and dairy free.

Ingredients:

1 cup almond meal

6 tablespoons coconut flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

3/8 teaspoon baking soda (just less than a 1/2 teaspoon)

2 tablespoons honey or coconut sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil melted

2 medium ripe bananas mashed

2 eggs

1/2 coconut milk

8 squares of 70% chocolate cut into chips

Method:

Preheat oven at 180 degrees C

Combine dry ingredients and mix well

Mix together bananas and wet ingredients 

Combine wet and dry indredients then stir in chocolate chips

Place into 12 silicon muffin cups

Bake for 20 minutes until brown on top

 

                  2014 (c) Simple Tasty Nutrition

The Paleo Baby - Teething much?

Isabel is 6 months old and the introduction to Paleo baby foods has given me a few things to think about. What foods to introduce first, in what quantities and combinations. And then there is teething! I never gave my son the wheat based Rusks that everyone seems to use and he loved his dummy with a bit of teething gel on it. But Isabel won't have a bar of dummies so that option is out. I googled Paleo teething sticks and got mostly nut based options, which I'm not keen to start for a while! And then someone out there suggested a piece of stick/twig/wood, which I quickly decided wasn't for me. 

Then the obvious came to mind. A bone! It works a treat. Check out Isabel below, loving her bone :)

Paleo School Lunch Ideas

I often get asked what I give my son for lunch. It definitely is a bit more trickey doing Paleo lunches for preschool or school because your kids look at what everyone has and wants it. The reality of sugar. So I try to make lunch as appealing as possible, the best meal of the day. It doesn't always work but I give it my best go! Many parents will tell you that the lunch box often comes home full, so we always get our son to eat it when he gets on home. Without the distractions, it usually gets eaten.

Here are a few pictures of what Elias has had for lunch over the past month.

He has had everything from Paleo pizza, pork patties, quiche, chicken nuggets, salmon fritters, chicken and kumara hash and boiled eggs with salami. All with some kind of vegetables and then a piece of fruit on the side. You may need a cold pack in the lunch box to keep it chilled until lunch.

I hope this gives you some lunch inspiration for your children!

Paleo Peppermint Chocolate Recipe

These little gems often make my day! A fantastic treat for you and your non-Paleo friends. No one will complain if you bring these out at a party! 

Ingredients:

5 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

4 Tablespoons 100% Cocoa

1-2 Tablespoons Honey

3 Tablespoons Almond Butter

1/4 cup desiccated Coconut

1 teaspoon peppermint essence.

Method:

Place all ingredients in a double boiler, glass dish over saucepan with boiling water. Stir until melted and combined. Pour into ice cube trays and freeze for a couple of hours. Keep in freezer until you want to eat them. They taste best when they have been at room temperature for about 5 minutes. Melt in your mouth.

Can leave out nut butter for nut-free option.

Makes 20.

But how much exercise do I need to do?

Want the simple answer - how much exercise do you need to do to lose weight?

You have always been told that weight loss is a simple equation - energy in versus energy out. Eat less, exercise more. It's simple. You are overweight because you don't have enough self control - right!? Come on, really, if it was that simple - most of us would be lean mean running machines. So why aren't we?

Answer the following questions:
A calorie is a calorie, no matter where is comes from - correct?
I just have to eat less and exercise more, yes?

The fact of the matter is that it's not that simple. All calories are not created equal. The food groups of protein, fat and carbohydrates all have different biological and hormonal responses in your body. When you eat protein, your body responds differently from when you eat fat, and very differently again when you eat carbohydrates. Dr Robert Lustig, author of 'Fat Chance and Sugar: the bitter truth' states "that our bodies react to some calories differently than others. Specifically he believes that sugar calories alter our biochemistry to make us hungry and lazy in ways that fat and protein calories do not. As a result he says that the availability of sugar in the western diet is making people sick and obese".

So why am I rabbiting on about protein, fat and carbs? I thought the topic of this blog was exercise.... My point is that you can't exercise a bad diet (or nutrition, I hate the word diet). Successful weight loss is approximately 80% nutrition and the rest is made up of genetics and exercise.

Does that mean I don't need to exercise?? HECK NO! Exercise has a long list of positive health benefits and I highly recommend you move your body on a daily basis. You should exercise in a way that you find fun and enjoyable. Go for a walk, play with the kids at the beach, going cycling or mountain walking with friends.


At Simple Tasty Nutrition I recommend the following exercise plan: 

Move frequently at a slow pace for at least 2 hours per week. Eg, walk, yoga and play

AND (if you are physically able....)

Lift heavy things - Go to gym - Complete short intense exercise sessions at least 1 time per week, no more than 3 times. 5 to 30 minutes per session.

If you read my exercise plan above and think, umm - I exercise way more than that. I recommend you check out the following to make sure you are on track....

Are you exercising too much? Check out this post by Robb Wolf about exercise addiction and how this can effect your health  HERE