Nutrition has been in the news a lot recently thanks to a certain celebrity chef and his promotion of a paleo diet. I have read the conversations with interest and may have added in a bit of banter myself. In this space I would like to place the science aside (Not that it's not important, but because I don't think it belongs on this recipe sharing personal blog) and think about whether this type of diet fits into your lifestyle or makes sense to you. I guess the main gripe I have is that this celebrity chef is trying to tout it as the only acceptable diet for everyone and that the current dietary guidelines are flawed and should be changed.

I feel paleo diet can work for some people but it's definitely not a diet for everyone. As far as fad diets are concerned this one is probably not as harmful as say, the lemon detox diet. In fact I agree with many of the principles of eating whole unprocessed foods however eliminating food groups for no particular reason just doesn't sit well with me or most of my patients.

I am lucky that I work in a hospital in the sense that most of the people I see aren't on some bizarre restrictive diet. However I have come across some of the more extreme effects fad diets can have.

Recently I saw an elderly lady on a very restrictive diet which had led to her becoming very malnourished. When I spoke to her family about this they were very adamant to change her diet and felt I was certainly pushing her closer to death with my recommendations. No matter how much I listened, explained, demonstrated to them they were certain that they were right and I was wrong.

It makes me wonder if it's a waste of time for me to argue converse with the converted. If consequences of a poor diet were staring at people in the face and they choose to ignore it, what hope do I have when people are only faced with success stories? It disheartens me a little...


Something that does warm me up is weekend breakfast. Recently I've been trying my hand at baked oats, a winter version of my overnight oats. I like to have it when the top is crunchy but the bottom is still soft and creamy. It doesn't need added honey or sugar with the dried and fresh fruit adding sweetness. This recipe is not grain free or dairy free but still very wholesomely good for you. My apologies for the lack of measurements but you can't really go wrong with this one!  

Baked Pear Oats

  
Cooking Time: 15mins
Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

• Oats
• Milk (or other milk alternative)
• Chia seeds
• Nut butter 
• 1/2 pear, thinly sliced
• 1 date cut up into small chunks
• Sprinkle of pepita seeds
• Sprinkle of sultanas

 Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together in an ovenproof bowl. Make sure the milk only just covers the oats.
2. You can either leave it to soak for a few minutes while you get ready then put it in the oven or pop it straight into the oven at 170 degrees celcius. 
3. Remove the bowl from the oven with some oven mitts when the top is crunchy and lightly brown (roughly 15mins)
4. Enjoy!

Blueberry+ chia seeds + peanut butter overnight oats

I've been a little obsessed with overnight oats lately. Coupled with fruits it is bringing me true joy almost every morning before work. As summer fruits are exiting the scene but the summer heat is not, I'm still taking great comfort in a nice cold bowl of oats.

You see previously I'd always put off making overnight oats because I didn't have a cute jar to mix it all up in and leave in the fridge but I didn't even need one! I just mixed it all in a bowl, cover and leave in the fridge overnight. Easy peasy.

This recipe keeps me full for 4-5hrs.

I know.

Insane. 

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are my busiest at work and I just don't have time to have a mid morning snack. Lets just say I've had some embarrassing stomach grumbling moments... (borborygmi is happily my fav word and also the scientific word for stomach rumbles ;))

With the start of 2014 I had jumped on the new years resolution making bandwagon. One of my top resolutions was to be kinder to myself. This meant many things for me: being more active, leaving work on time, taking time out for myself and making sure I'm not frantically hungry while working.

Waking up early in the morning has always been something I struggled with so trying to make a good filling breakfast can sometimes be difficult. Especially when I don't like cereal... Overnight oats all done up the night before has been a saviour on busy mornings. It's made my stomach much more content and meant that I have a clearer mind to better help my patients every morning. Win-win.   

The other great thing about overnight oats is you can dress it up in a bajillion topping combinations. Here's the base recipe to making beautiful overnight oats:

Overnight Oats
Preparation Time: 10mins
Serves: 1


Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla yoghurt
• 2 tsp chia seeds
• 2 tsp nut butter
• Fruit toppings 
• Sprinkle of dried fruit or toasted nuts

 Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together, making sure the oats are adequately covered in liquid. 
2. Cover the bowl and refrigerate. 
3. Top with fruit 

Per bowl: 1545kJ, 15.1g protein, 12g total fat, 2.9g saturated, 45g carbohydrates, 73mg sodium, 7.2g fibre (calculations do not include fruit toppings and dried fruit or nuts)

 
 Cherries + toasted pepitas

 
 Mangoes + lychee + sultanas + peanut butter + chia seeds



Strawberries + blueberries + almond nut butter + sultanas



Flaxseed + berries + chia



Persimmons + flaxseed + peanut butter



Grilled plums + sultanas + almonds + dessicated coconuts + chia seeds


 

Frozen pineapple + almonds + dessicated coconut + chia seeds

Ah weekends. Weekends are the only times when I have time to make a proper breakfast. These days it's been along the lines of oats, congee, cheesy melts and crepes. Oh crepes.

I had a big craving for these thin pancake like creations last weekend but it just wasn't meant to be. The first crepe place I went to had closed down and the second had run out of crepes. How can you run out of crepes!?

By Monday night my dreams of soft crepes filled with chocolate and banana had turned to searches on the Internet. When I saw this recipe I felt myself gasp at the simplicity of the recipe. I got to work right away.

Funny how my best dishes happen in the middle of the night?

When I first had this I immediately exclaimed "THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER MADE!" Yes in the middle of the night. Now that I have calmed down a bit it is definitely still one of the best.

These crepes are soft and delicate and have an unmistakable coconut aroma when cooking. The edges are slightly crispy and I don't know if it's the fat from the coconut in these, but they are so easy to unstick to the pan and flip! I have officially perfected the flip now! I have tried replacing the coconut milk with plain low fat milk and they stuck a little tighter to the non stick pan and were very difficult to flip.



Now lemon curd is one of my favourite things ever. There was a period last year where I was a little obsessed with lemon tarts. Okay maybe a lot obsessed; I made it my mission to find the perfect balance of sweet and tart curd. I trialled a few recipes myself but was never completely satisfied. This lemon curd however is the best yet and it doesn't even need butter!

My brother proclaims it the best thing I have ever made and has been begging me for three days to make a new batch. He licked the bowl of the last batch clean. That's how good it is. And it's so easy! Just put all the ingredients in the pot and mix over a flame.

You may find that the lemon curd may overpower the coconut taste a little and it's fine to have the coconut crepes simply with a bit of sugar and banana or with Nutella cream and strawberries. They also go great with some cream cheese and strawberries. Delicious any way!

Okay enough praise of this recipe! Here it is with a few minor alterations.

Coconut Crepes with Lemon Curd, Banana and Whipped Cream
Adapted from: Taste your Life 

Cooking and Prep Time: 20-30mins
Serves: Makes 12 crepes

• 1 cup cake flour (if you don't have cake flour use all purpose flour)
• ½ cup skim milk
• 350 ml coconut milk
• 2 large eggs 
   

• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• Juice and rind from 1 large lemon and 1 small lime

1. Mix the lemon curd ingredients in a saucepan until well combined. 
2. Place the saucepan on low- medium heat and stir constantly for 5-8minutes. Mix quickly until the mixture starts to thicken and resemble lemon curd.  When it is done, pour into a covered bowl or jar and place in the fridge to cool
3. Mix together all of the ingredients for crepes until well combined.
4. Heat a non stick pan (I used a small 15cm diameter pan). Spray lightly with cooking oil. 
5. When the pan is hot place a tablespoon of the crepe mixture into the pan and swirl around to cover the base of the pan. There should be just enough mixture to make a thin layer of crepe. 
6. When the edges start to brown, run a spatula along the edge of the crepe to loosen it from the pan. If you're brave enough, slide the crepe to one side of the pan, fling pan upwards and flip! Cook until golden brown on both sides. 
7. Don't be discouraged if the first few crepes don't work out! This always happens! Some strange cooking phenomenon where the first crepes and pancakes turn out horribly.  
8. Cover crepes with foil if you're making a few to keep them warm. If you're not using all the batter cover and place in the fridge. Stir the mixture a few times if removing from the fridge. 
9. Whip up a little bit of thickened cream and slice a banana into thin discs. 
10. Place a spoonful of curd, followed by some whipped cream and bananas onto a crepe. Roll it up. 
11. Feel yourself sigh with content at the amazing crepes you've just made.   

Per coconut crepe: Energy: 408kJ, Protein: 3.1g, Fat total: 5.5g, Sat Fat: 4.4g, Carbohydrates: 8.7g, Sodium 23mg  
Per tablespoon curd: Energy: 393kJ, Protein: 3.0g, Fat total: 3.0g, Sat Fat: 1.0g, Carbohydrates: 13.3g, Sodium 26mg  


These are coconut crepes with nutella cream and strawberry filling. To make nutella cream simply whip nutella into thickened cream. So simple, so delicious!

Today was hot in Sydney. It's funny how 33 degrees feels soooo hot after winter but it'll soon feel normal once summer sets in. One of my biggest dilemmas during summer is what to have for breakfast (I'm sure this isn't most people's biggest concern but my life kinda just revolves around food....)

Like I've said before, I often value my sleep more than breakfast making so I'm often having breakfast on the go. Normally it includes a piece of toast or some eggs but as the weather warms up I'm getting turned off hot breakfasts. Now I'll always be a tea drinking hot breakfast kind of girl, but I needed to spruce up my breakfast routine during warmer days! I'm not a cereal or muesli and milk type of person so I needed other ideas!

Now hopefully I don't have to tell you all how important it is to have breakfast especially since I recently saw this article in the newspaper. It highlights how skipping breakfast actually primes your brain into seeking out higher calorie unhealthy foods which is why it makes sense that dieters who eat breakfast are often more successful in the long term at keeping weight off.   

So the following will be my top 10 breakfast ideas during summer to start you off feeling cool and ready for the day.

 1. Fruit smoothie
Slurping down on a homemade smoothie always has me feeling alive on a hot day (but the blender is my least favourite thing to clean up....) My absolute favourite is a blueberry smoothie. All it requires is some frozen blueberries, low fat yoghurt and milk and some ice. Sometimes I like to add a teaspoon of honey but often the fruits are sweet enough. I probably get more calcium into my system during the warmer months as otherwise I love a hot cup of green tea. Be wary of cafe smoothies as often they can be quite large, heavy on the ice cream and full fat dairy. I prefer making my own anyway.

 
 The blueberry smoothie is the purple drink in the background!

2. Yoghurt and Cereal
My second favourite cooling breakfast has to be a nice bowl of yoghurt with some broken up weet-bix and some frozen blueberries. I go through frozen blueberries very quickly during summer and there's always a box in my freezer. I think they are essential! Any type of natural or greek yoghurt goes really well with any type of crunchy cereal.

 

3. Fruit salad 
If you have time chop up some fruit or even do it the night before. It'll be super cool and refreshing and you can even add a dollop of yoghurt on top. If you have more time you can make a fruit and yoghurt parfait just to be a little bit fancy.

 

4. Eggs 
Boil up some eggs the night before and leave it in the fridge. In the morning peel and eat! The sulfur smell may stink up your car or the train but everyone's just jealous that you had breakfast while they didn't ;) If you have time the night before make some frittatas and eat cold the next day. Vegetable frittata's are good as they give you a dose of vegetables before the day's even started.

5. Breakfast muffins 
Now I'm not talking those BIG muffins you can get with your coffee! If you have time over the weekend make up a batch of wholemeal or oat muffins. Keep in the fridge and grab on your way out in the morning. These blueberry and white chocolate ones are pretty tasty! Also shown are some orange and chia seed ones (recipe coming sooooon)



6. Think wholegrain breads 
Instead of toasting my bread I just put some organic peanut butter on it and it's nice and soft rather than crunchy. Also good are wholemeal english muffins or mountain bread wraps. Put an egg with some salad leaves and cheese in a wrap and you've got something neatly packed for one handed eating!

7. Can of baked beans 
This is probably one of my brother's favourite. Nice cold can of baked beans on the weekend with some toast. During winter I like to pour the baked beans into a pan with some herbs and let it simmer. Mmmmmm (See I'm already back to winter breakfasts!)



8. Corn on the cob 
My mum is kind enough to sometimes boil some corn for me in the morning but often it is too hot and it gets left till the next day. So i get a nice cold cob of corn! Delish on their own, high in fibre and of course, a serve of veg!

9. Drink ideas: Cold Milo or Juice 
As I said I'm a hot tea type of person. I drink a LOT of green tea throughout the day. Not just because of the health benefits but because it's so delicious and just warms me up and gets me ready to face anything! However during summer my tea drinking habits make way for cooler drinks. I love a cold glass of low fat milk with a spoonful or milo and other times a small glass of orange juice is also good. I'm not a big proponent of juice as I feel the real fruit is ALWAYS best but somedays it's a nice cold drink to wash down breakfast. Remember though I'm talking a small glass, around 200ml rather than the big Boost juices.

 
This is a new juice that's out from Golden Circle. Pleasant taste with the goodness of probiotics for bowel health.

10. I'm Reeeeeeally in a rush!! 
 If you're looking for packaged foods a cold Up and Go, Belvita biscuits or muesli/nut bar isn't too bad of an option. Of course I always advocate for minimally processed foods but if it's a toss up between nothing and something for breakfast, the something always wins.

As you can see from the list there's a slight trend in terms of what to look out for for breakfast. I always try and add fruits, vegetables, dairy and wholegrains to all my meals, especially breakfast. Look for breakfasts with lots of fibre, protein or both to ensure you feel full for longer. Always choose low GI options for the same reason. You can always mix and match the suggestions I've made. Eg. A cup of milo with a boiled egg and a piece of fruit ensures a good source of protein and fibre but also meets 1 serve of your dairy and fruit requirements for the day!

Let me know below what kind of breakfast you're having! I'll love to have more ideas on what I can make!