This dish is perfect for those nights that are cooling down, it is warming & wholesome without being stodgy. It is low in carbohydrates, a great source of protein & full of even more amazing digestive health benefits if you make it with delicious bone broth.

Osso Bucco-
4 pieces of Osso Bucco
Punch salt & pepper
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs ground ginger
3 cups stock (I used Bone Broth)
1 cup white wine
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Coconut oil for cooking

Gremolata-
1/2 cup fresh mint
1 bunch (about a cup of chopped) parsley
6-10 anchovies (optional- you can just use a pinch of salt instead)
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
Pinch pepper

For the gremolata- add all ingredients to a little food processor bowl if you have one or a mortar & pestle and blend to a paste consistency. You can add a dash of water if it is too dry.

For the osso bucco- In a bowl add the garlic, ginger, salt & pepper & roll each Osso Bucco in this mix to coat like flour. Heat the coconut oil in your pan (or crockpot if you are using that to cook in) and brown the Osso Bucco on both sides then remove from pan. Add any remaining garlic & ginger from the ‘flouring’ to the pan and the white wine and increase the heat until the wine has reduced by half. Add the tomatoes & stock & bring to the boil. You can now add all this with your Osso Bucco to your slow cooker (or just add your Osso Bucco back into your crockpot), pop it on low & forget about it for at least 5 hrs (prob about 3 hrs in the oven in a crockpot), I left mine for about 8hrs while I was working. Once you are ready to eat you can remove the meat and set aside, pop all the sauces back in the pan & simmer to reduce & thicken the sauce if you like or just use it as it is.

Pile a nice bed of cauliflower mash on your plate, top with the Osso Bucco & some sauce & a nice dollop of gremolata.

Few hot tips for new players…
1. Beetroot stains like a ba$tard so do NOT wear white whilst preparing this.
2. No matter how you try, it will end up all over every surface in your kitchen & look like a massacre has occurred.
3. Your hands probably won’t be normal-colored for days after so just factor that in if you have a hand-modeling job coming up or some such occasion. Obviously, not my problem- I have massive man-sized hands that no one should want to photograph.

Cauliflower is from the same family as broccoli and cabbage, it contains many essential B-complex vitamins and loads of vitamin C. Cauliflower contains several anti cancer phyto-chemicals which have proven benefits against prostate, breast, cervical, colon, ovarian cancers. Beetroot contains loads of folic acid which is essential for normal tissue growth, it contains mineral silica which helps the body absorb calcium & decrease the risk of osteoporosis. It is also a great source of antioxidants & provides potassium, magnesium and iron as well as vitamins A, B6 and C.

1/2 cup grated beetroot
1 cup ‘riced’ cauliflower (chop raw cauliflower into chunks, pop it in the food processor and pulse a few times until it has the consistency of rice)
1 cup coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
1 tbs ground flaxseeds
1 heaped tbs raw cacao
OPTIONAL 1 heaped tbs protein powder (flavorless, vanilla or chocolate)
Stevia, maple syrup or coconut nectar to taste

In a small saucepan add beetroot, cauliflower & milk & bring to the boil, reduce heat & simmer for a few minutes. Add all remaining ingredients & stir well to thicken. Spoon into a bowl, top with berries, cacao nibs or a drizzle of coconut cream & dig in.

Zucchini is low calorie and a great source of fibre. It is rich in vitamin A, flavonoid and poly-phenolic antioxidants such as carotenes, lutein and zeaxanthin. These compounds help scavenge harmful oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species from the body that play a role in aging and various disease process. Carrots are full of beta-carotene which helps to reduce the risk of cancer, low in carbohydrates and full of vitamins C, K and B6. Health-promoting minerals found in carrots include potassium, calcium and manganese.

1/2 cup grated zucchini
1/2 cup grated carrot
1 heaped tbs protein powder (vanilla or flavorless)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pinch cloves
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup coconut milk (or milk of your choice)
1/2 cup chopped nuts & seeds (whatever you like)
1 heaped tbs ground flax or chia
Dash stevia (1 tbs honey or maple syrup as an alternative)
Coconut to serve (optional)

Add the zucchini, carrot, spices & milk to a small saucepan & bring to the boil, reduce to simmer & add all remaining ingredients. Cook for a few more minutes until all heated through and it has started to thicken. Pour into a bowl & eat cold or warm. Top with some coconut yoghurt, strawberries, poached pears or grilled figs would be delicious too!

These protein bars are low carbohydrate, I have snuck some veggies in there to keep me from getting scurvy, high in protein & have some healthy fats as well. I freeze mine as individual bars for the days when I need brekkie or a snack in a hurry. See eggs, I don’t need you.

1 cup grated carrot
1 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated (you could use a tsp or ground ginger instead)
2 cups mixed nuts/seeds (choose whatever you like)
1/2 cup protein powder (vanilla or flavorless)
4 tbs ground flax or chia mixed with 1/4 cup water (or 2 eggs)
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup nut butter, coconut butter or seed butter of your choice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Pinch salt
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coconut (optional)
1/2 tsp stevia powder (or 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup)

Preheat oven to 170C. In a bowl (or I used a food processor) mix zucchini, carrot, coconut oil, water, nut butter, ginger & flax, chia mix or eggs and combine well. Add the spices & protein powder & stevia (or honey) and mix again. Add all remaining ingredients and blend to just combine. Line a cake tin or loaf pan with baking paper and pour the mixture in & flatten out. Bake for about 20-30 mins until cooked, sprinkle with a bit more cinnamon, allow to cool before slicing into bars. These can be stored in the fridge or freezer.

Basil has been hailed for its excellent anti-inflammatory benefits as well as its antioxidant properties that can protect the body from premature aging, common skin issues, and even some types of cancer. Did you know that dill is a very good source of calcium!? It is also a great antibacterial and contains oils that can help neutralize some types of carcinogens.

1 full packed cup chopped herbs (I used a mix of dill, basil & parsley)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 heaped tsp fresh grated ginger
1 avocado
Juice 1 lemon
1 tbs tahini
2 tbs olive oil
Pinch salt & pepper

Blend in your food processor the herbs, ginger & garlic until it is as finely chopped as you can get it. Add the remaining ingredients & blend well until smooth. You can add extra olive oil or even some water or green tea of you want a runnier consistency. I used this to dress my super salad concoction of kale, fennel, grated beetroot, grated carrot, chopped apple, baby tomatoes, capsicum, dried seaweed flakes, celery, cucumber & homemade turmeric sauerkraut. I will certainly NOT get scurvy after that meal!

And here’s my kick a$$ super salad

About 2 months ago I decided to see Sarah a naturopath that had been recommended by a few people I trust. I was a bit ‘meh’ about naturopath’s initially – I am not very receptive to what I thought would be someone telling me to rub basil into the soles of my feet 12 times a day & I’d be cured. I need science people. Lucky for me Sarah is ‘sciency’, does live blood analysis & knows her $hit.

So why? Well we all know I love a good self-experiment, but the reasons this time were many & varied. My guts are not right, I get bloated randomly (or perhaps not so randomly), I tolerate some foods sometimes but not others, I eat amazing nutritious food but I am often tired & lacking energy, but at the same time feel wired. I don’t sleep well though I sleep alot. My skin has gone to $hit in the last 12mths, I have never had pimples & now at the age of 31 I get them? That’s just horse$hit?!?! My hormones are all over the place & I constantly feel stressed over nothing & everything. Wow, I sound awesome. Who wants to hang out with me now?!

I will write a post about my trip/s to Sarah another time but that is all on the up & up slowly so high five to me. One of the things that became apparent through all of this is that my gut is not healthy & I need to support it. No matter how much nutritious food I put in, if my guts cannot break it down & absorb it I am literally flushing a lot of money down the toilet. Did you know that over 70% of your immune system in housed in your gut. Get sick all the time? You probably need to give your guts some love. Enter digestive enzymes.

Think about digestive enzymes like woodchoppers and the food we eat is like big logs of wood. If you are anything like me, you might hoover your food down with barely a few chews. You are essentially swallowing whole ‘logs’ of food. Now these dudes are employed by our bodies to chop down our food into little bits like kindling & allow the nutrients to become available so that we can actually absorb & use them instead of just pooing them straight back out. We have different types of enzymes in our mouth, stomach, large & small intestine that all play different & very important roles. If you are not producing enough digestive enzymes to chop up your food once you eat it you can see symptoms like bloating & gas, feeling full after only a few bites of food & undigested food in your poo, just to name a few. If you don’t break the food own you can’t absorb all the amazing nutrients!

There are a few reasons we might not be producing enough digestive enzymes. Diseases like pancreatic problems & Crohn’s disease will often cause issues but more common reasons include leaky gut, food intolerances & gut inflammation, low stomach acid & very commonly, chronic stress & anxiety.

How can you help get these digestive enzymes cranking? You can take digestive enzyme supplements… I have been taking raw organic apple cider vinegar every morning. About a tablespoon in 1/3 cup of water before breakfast. Apple cider vinegar has about the same pH as stomach acid. We need to have enough stomach acid to allow our bodies to properly start digesting our food and by increasing the amount of acid in your stomach you encourage the pancreas to release more digestive enzymes. Hooray for better digestion, less bloating, better bowel movements & great detoxification.

A few things to note- you want raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar (organic if possible), it should be cloudy. We want raw because it then contains the live cultures & enzymes that make it so effective.

Give it a burl, let me know how you go. That’s me done on digestive enzymes for today. Over & out.

A few things I have decided over my past few months as a meat-eater….1. I love bacon- why the hell have I not had this in my life for the past 15 years? Were you people conspiring agains me!? It was probably the government, or the FBI, or the actual pigs themselves. Anyway, back to bacon. I love it more each time I eat it. If I could marry bacon I probably would. Sorry Trav, but it’s the truth. 2. I really enjoy slow cooked lamb- not so big on cutlets or even just grilled. I like it to be all-fally-apart. 3. Pork is the same- slow cooked or I’m not really interested. 4. Beef I am still working out. I am very ‘meh’ about it, it is still too ‘meaty’ for me but I think I will get there. Beef mince is today’s experiment and I think I like it. Especially with the dipping sauce, I could just drink that gear on its own. Don’t judge me till you make it judgey mcjudger, it is freaking delicious.

1kg beef mince (try & get grassfed or organic)
1 long red chilli, finely diced (seeds removed if you don’t like it too hot)
1 tbs fresh grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 bunch coriander, finely chopped including stems
3 eggs
2 tbs coconut aminos (you could use soy sauce or tamari)
1/2 cup almond meal
Coconut oil for cooking

Dipping sauce

1 tbs nut or seed butter (I used roasted almond butter)
Juice 1 lime
1 tsp fresh chopped chilli
3 tbs coconut aminos
Pinch stevia or tbs honey/maple syrup

For the sauce- I added everything to a jar & shook the cr@p out of it until all the lumps were gone. Done.

For the balls- add all the ingredients to a big bowl and mix well to combine everything. I used my hands because that is just how I roll. I washed them, obviously, no-one wants my dog’s hair in their meatballs. Roll them into little (or big) balls and set aside. Heat your coconut oil in a frypan and cook the balls. It’s not rocket science. You don’t really need me from here. You cook the balls, you dip them in the sauce, you shove them in your mouth. You can thank me later. Enjoy.

These are another version of my Peanut Butter Cups minus the nut butter. They are sugar free & the perfect little morsel to knock that sugar craving on the head. Loaded with healthy fats & low carb. Tell me how much you love me later

3 heaped cups shredded coconut
2 tbs coconut oil
1tbs raw cacao
Few drops peppermint oil
Stevia (or maple syrup to taste)
1/4 tsp vanilla powder or extract

Add the coconut & coconut oil to your food processor & blend until it becomes a runny, smooth liquid. Divide mixture into 3 separate bowls. In bowl 1, add the vanilla powder, mix well then spoon into the bottom of your silicone cupcake moulds- you want about 1.5cm in the bottom of each. Now pop these in the freezer while you do the rest. In bowl 2, add the cacao & a dash of stevia to the coconut butter & mix well to combine the set aside. In bowl 3 add a dash of stevia & a few drops of peppermint oil & mix well. Taste & adjust as required.

Remove the moulds with the plain coconut butter mixture from the freezer, spoon over the chocolate mix and pop back in the freezer for about 15 mins. Once these are set you can repeat with the final peppermint mix so you now have 3 layer chocolate cups. Pop them back in the fridge or freezer to set.

500ml coconut cream
200ml almond milk (or milk of your choice)
2 big tbs crunchy peanut butter (or nut butter of your choice)
1/2 cup dark Choc chips (I used my Coconut Rough without the peppermint)
2 eggs
2 very ripe bananas
Dash stevia or 1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a food processor blend coconut cream, milk, banana, eggs, stevia/ maple syrup, cinnamon & vanilla until very smooth. Allow this to chill completely in the fridge for a few hours then pop it in your ice cream maker. Just before it is done churning add the choc chips & peanut butter and allow to combine. Pour into a container & pop it in the freezer to set for about an hour before serving if you want it to be “scoopable” or else you can eat it straight away if you like it as soft serve.

Inspired by the always talented and lovely Sarah from Ingredients of a Fit Chick, I used her sweet potato muffin recipe and added a few bits of my own. If you haven’t visited Sarah’s BLOG you really must, she loves coconut almost as much as I do so in my eyes that makes her an awesome chick. We’d probably be besties if we lived in the same country. She also has heaps of great recipes and does loads of cool things. You’ll like her.

Wet Stuff
1 cup sweet potato, steamed & puréed/mashed
2 tbs coconut oil/ghee, melted
3 eggs (use flax-eggs for vegan alternative)

Dry Stuff
2 1/2 scoops (90g) of whey protein powder (vanilla or flavorless) (use vegan protein if required)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2-3/4 tsp stevia powder (depending on how sweet you like it or 1/2 cup honey/maple syrup)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla powder (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

Topping
1/2 cup shredded coconut
3/4 cup almond meal (or coconut flour if you want to keep this nut-free)
Dash stevia (or 2 tbs maple syrup/honey)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup egg whites

Preheat the oven to 160C. You will need 3 bowls. Mix all the dry ingredients well in one making sure you get rid of any lumps. Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl until smooth. Mix all the topping ingredients together in a small bowl until well combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until completely combined, try not to overmix this. Spoon this mixture into muffin/cupcake containers so they are about 3/4 full. Spoon the topping onto the top of each muffin and press down gently. Bake for about 10-15mins. They will continue to set a bit as the cool. Don’t overcook them or they will taste like cardboard. Remove from oven & allow to cool slightly, I chucked a blob of ghee on mine while it was still warm. So delicious. Coconut butter or nut butter drizzle would be amaze too. This made 12 cupcake sized muffins. You can freeze these or store them in an airtight container in the fridge…. That’s if they last that long, they taste best fresh out of the oven.