tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51027052992014575392024-03-20T04:50:06.324-07:00The Organic ConvertKate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-51144612997561052692012-11-21T00:45:00.000-08:002012-11-21T00:45:57.308-08:00Whole30 Summary - I DID IT!!<br />
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So, guess what??<br />
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YIPPEE!<br />
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Actually, I finished it a week ago but have only just gotten the chance to write about it now. But YIPPEE! I DID IT!<br />
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What an experience. I definitely proved myself wrong by finishing it. With ease too. Huge pat on the back for me!<br />
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So what did I get out of the experience? Did I learn something new about my body? I sure did. A few things actually. I'll dot point them to make our lives easier...<br />
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<li>I FELT GREAT. Seriously. No joke. I would wake up every morning during the last 15 days with energy and ready for the day. My poor (enlightened in my eyes!) boyfriend had to adjust to a bubbly girlfriend every morning when all he wanted to do was just sleep in. It's a hard life for some. </li>
<li>My stomach went flat. And my abs showed up for a change. The occasional bloat had disappeared (it used to be permanent until I cut grains out of my diet), and a layer of abdominal fat decided to vanish. I wont lie - I happily lifted up my shirt to confirm this pretty much 200000 times a day.</li>
<li>I became less hungry. The need to snack reduced every day as I had large meals with lots of ample protein and fats to fuel me through the day. THOUGH, I have a confession to make. There were maybe 2-3 days where I ate dried fruit as a snack. Worst mistake ever. They just made me so hungry and want to snack more and more. And then some more. Lesson learnt - dried fruits are a no go zone.</li>
<li>I subconsciously cut back on my exercising (excluding the 37km charity walk!!) but noticed my muscles began to show a bit more. I was clearly losing all that excess fat around my limbs (I am quite skinny as it is but this was a nice bonus to finally see some definition!).</li>
<li>My skin cleared a little but not completely. I began a new cleansing routine using organic and all natural products halfway through so not quite sure how influential the diet has been. </li>
<li>'Cleansing' was much more regular. I think this contributed most to my flat stomach. </li>
<li>I actually really enjoyed having 3 square meals planned every day. I loved being so organised and it was exciting to try new meals that I normally wouldn't make. The highlights were a prawn and mushroom pesto pasta (with zucchini noodles) and veggie latkes. Delicious. Visit my Instagram account (@organiconvert) for photos of all my meals!</li>
<li>Seeing the meals as 1, 2 and 3 instead of breakfast, lunch and dinner helped me to challenge the thinking of 'conventional' breakfast, lunch or dinner meals. I had steak for breakfast, eggs for lunch, salad for dinner. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, fish and chips for dinner. Anything for any meal. Because they are all simply meals to fuel my body - they are just eaten at different times of the day. Hey I got some weird looks from the housemates but meh...</li>
<li>I went the first half without eating or drinking much fermented foods. Never again. I felt a bit blah one day and ended up on the toilet. It couldn't have been food that had made me sick so I thought maybe there is something missing from my diet that I need. So I had some kombucha and felt so much better. It may not have been the cause for my once off sickness, who knows!? But still, it seemed to work so another valuable lesson learnt!</li>
<li>I discovered my weakness is raw chocolate and red wine. The only 2 things I missed for the whole 30 days. They tasted so good when I had the chance to celebrate completing the Whole30!!</li>
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It has been just over a week since I finished. I have reintroduced some foods, mainly dairy, but there are certain foods such as grains that I won't bother reintroducing to see their effects because I already know they are going to cause me to bloat and feel sluggish. So far I haven't noticed anything untoward, if anything I'm a little 'clogged up' but nothing too bad. I spent the last weekend in Melbourne where I had a few meals out at restaurants. I stuck to grain free options but no doubt some sneaky naughty things got into those meals. I'm certain sugar did as I have an inkling, not much, but a noticeable small craving for sweet things again. Sugar is evil, I swear.<br />
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So where to from now? Well, there are some changes I plan on making permanent:<br />
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<li>I love dairy and don't really want to exclude it from my diet, especially now I haven't really noticed any adverse effects from it. But in saying that, I'm aware it can be unhealthy per se. So, I'm sticking with my new motto - Quality Matters! So raw (whenever possible), organic/bio dynamic and full fat dairy only. None of this $1 a litre crap from the supermarket - time to really support the farmers!!!</li>
<li>Definitely no more grains. I don't need them nor miss them. Chapter closed.</li>
<li>Undecided about legumes. I had sprouted lentils on the weekend and noticed no side effects. So again, Quality Matters! Legumes will be a rarity but when I do eat them, they will be organic, soaked and/or sprouted.</li>
<li>Time to embrace fats! I was fortunate to attend the Low Carb Down Under on the weekend and following very informative speeches with science backing their comments, I'm convinced we are meant to have a diet high in healthy natural SATURATED fats. Don't believe me? Check out <a href="http://christinecronau.com/" target="_blank">Christine Cronau's</a> site and get her book. Or check out <a href="http://sweetpoison.com.au/?page_id=458" target="_blank">David Gillespie's </a>'Big Fat Lies' book. I had already cut out margarine and other seed oils but this event just cemented the fact that NEVER again will I even go near that stuff. Never.</li>
<li>Eat fermented foods or have kombucha daily. They help to settle my gut and I know they are vital to healing my gut in the long term.</li>
<li>Bye bye sugar. You will be the death of me otherwise. </li>
<li>Fats and proteins will make up the majority of my meals, with minimal carbohydrates. I am going to experiment with this over the next month so I will let you know how that goes.</li>
<li>Fruit intake to be limited to berries and maximum 2 servings a day. In saying that, summer is coming up so I will enjoy a mango or hell, a fruit salad, now and then. I do have another new rule though - all fruit is to be eaten with fat! Yep, strawberries and full fat cream is on the menu. Why? Because the fat will help reduce the insulin spike caused by the sugar in the fruit. Less harm that way. </li>
<li>I will continue with the 'meal 1, 2 and 3' thinking. And only eat when I am hungry. Simple. </li>
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Phew! A lot of changes after 30 days hey? I'm still so proud of myself for completing this challenge. It's time for another chapter of experimenting with my diet and I look forward to another review of my progress in a months time. Mmmm, butter...<br />
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<br />Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-59351609389031026142012-10-29T02:14:00.001-07:002012-10-29T02:14:33.692-07:00My Whole30 Experience<img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-7662" height="124" src="http://whole9life.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/doing-the-whole30.jpg" title="doing-the-whole30" width="300" /><br />
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10 minutes ago marked the official halfway point of my first Whole30 experience. The end is in sight!<br />
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But what is the Whole30 you ask? It is a 30 day eating program that eliminates certain foods to help reset your metabolism and allow your body to heal. <a href="http://whole9life.com/2012/01/whole-30-v2012/" target="_blank">This site</a> explains it all - no point reinventing the wheel here. <br />
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The science behind is all laid out in 'It All Starts With Food' by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. I am yet to read it but by all accounts, it's meant to be marvellous. You know my birthday is coming up right??<br />
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So, halfway there. 15 days of no grains, sugar, dairy, alcohol, legumes, and great tasting food in general. Pbfft...who am I kidding? I have been eating the most amazing and tastiest food I have had in a long, long time! Cajun chicken Maryland's, carrot and zucchini latkes, steak and homemade sweet potato chips, eggs and bacon, Asian-style chicken drumsticks, beef curry with cauliflower rice and the list goes on. Are you drooling yet?! My diet was already rather 'paleo-ish' so it hasn't been that big of a shock to the system and these meals are pretty close to what I normally have anyway. There have been a few significant changes though...<br />
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The biggest difference has been breakfast. Because breakfast is meant to be cereal right Mr. Kellogg's? Or a baked treat of some kind. Or eggs. Lots of eggs. It took me a few days but I can now look at breakfast as just being another meal. It's just eaten in the morning. So yeah, I'm going to have steak for breakfast. Or curry. Or eggplant 'pizzas'. Or a bucket load of eggs. And I'm going to enjoy it thoroughly. I have loved how the Whole30 has totally transformed my view on breakfast.<br />
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The second biggest difference, but probably the most challenging, has been snacking. I'm a snack addict. My old, death-defying habits consisted of numerous mini meals eaten all day. I'd literally snack whenever I felt remotely hungry and never ate big meals, because quite simply the snacking had filled me up. All that sugar didn't help either. So having to eat 3 main meals a day has been a real challenge. I have tended to have 4 meals a day, with an afternoon snack of either a smoothie or juice, or a handful of raisins and nuts. Sometimes a piece of fruit if the sun is shining and making me jump with glee about summer finally coming. I noticed that when I didn't have my daily Spirulina, I wanted to snack more. I also noticed I wanted to snack when I didn't eat a large enough meal or a meal low on protein. So I'm curing my snack addiction through big meals and Spirulina.<br />
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Another noticeable change is my overall health and appearance. I am no longer bloated, tired, grumpy (bar the first 3 days, poor boyfriend copped it sweet!), sore, head achy, the whole lot. I have more energy, I am (generally) able to get up and get going, my eyes are whiter and I'm recovering quickly from exercise. I haven't weighed myself (that defeats the whole purpose of the Whole30) but I have noticeably lost some weight. I am not overweight but rather slim, and I have been transforming my body from 'skinny fat' to 'healthy and fit' over the last 5-6 months. But the Whole30 has allowed my abs to finally come through. Miraculous really. But that wasn't my aim. My aim was to give my body a chance to heal and identify (once finished) what foods are hazardous to my health. Though I'm definitely not complaining about weeks of Pilate's finally making a show..<br />
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I'm looking forward to the next 15 days. Its time to get a bit more creative with my meals and try something new. Hello paleo sushi! As for after the 15 days? I'm not going to lie. I'm celebrating with a glass of red and a piece of Loving Earth luvju raw chocolate. Ah, bliss...<br />
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<br />Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-88529387119541694932012-10-26T22:25:00.000-07:002012-10-26T22:25:17.230-07:00Apologies!Apologies everyone for being incredibly slack on my blog!<br />
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Life gets a little busy sometimes and I had to make priorities. Unfortunately this blog got pushed down the priority list and has been sitting here weeping in sorrow on her lonesome. I'm sorry sweetie, I really am.<br />
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I will re-kick off the Mental Game Series this week so please keep tuned!<br />
I will also be journalling my progress with the Whole30. Yep, I'm almost halfway through my first Whole30 experience and so many changes and thoughts and humour to share already!<br />
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Here's a cute photo to make up for my absence... Meet Hershey, my furbaby girl. <br />
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Aww... I'm forgiven now right?<br />
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<br />Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-38440586409269369862012-09-15T21:14:00.001-07:002012-09-15T21:14:35.477-07:00The Mental Game: Step 1 - I won't do it<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">'I won't do it'</span></div>
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You're most likely past this stage if you're reading my blog. But someone important to you might be in this phase. The significant other perhaps? Most likely I bet. Your parents? I bet they're quite happy slathering margarine over white bread everyday. I know mine are. But I have no doubt that there is someone in your life that could do with a big shove towards the health train.</div>
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People in this stage tend to:</div>
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<li>See no need to make a change</li>
<li>Feel nothing is wrong</li>
<li>Happy with current lifestyle despite obvious unhealthy consequences (weight gain, bloating, moodiness, acne, depression, anxiety, stomach pains, diabetes, high blood pressure etc)</li>
<li>Laugh off or ignore comments by others expressing concern for their welfare </li>
<li>The idea of becoming healthier is not being considered or not taken seriously </li>
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So what can you do? The best thing you can really do is to help the person become aware of their unhealthy behaviours. Plant the seeds of doubt in their mind by giving them the stone cold truth. </div>
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<li>Highlight the risks of their current behaviours - is their behaviour going to cause long-term health problems? Short-term health problems? Is their lifestyle impacting on their mental health? Relationships?</li>
<li>Encourage the person to rethink their behaviours - get them to consider why they are eating McDonald's every other night or why they aren't exercising or why they are overweight. This will encourage them to reflect on their current behaviour, which they most likely have not done so before. </li>
<li>Be a role model or invite a role model into their lives - action speaks louder than words so use yourself or someone else who has made impressive and motivating healthy changes to introduce the person to what can be possible. For example, show them a photo or talk about someone who has inspired you. It will get them thinking, trust me. </li>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Don't be disheartened if the person stays in this stage for a long time. Keep planting those seeds of doubt. They'll grow eventually. Just remember, you were at this stage too once so think about what helped you to take the next step.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Stay tuned for next week's Mental Game edition : 'Step 2 - I can't do it'</span></i><br />
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Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-29990823022447715122012-09-07T21:47:00.001-07:002012-09-07T21:48:42.573-07:00The Mental Game SeriesBecoming healthy sounds oh so easy doesn't it? Just eat real food, exercise regularly, sleep well, have positive relationships, don't smoke, don't take drugs, don't get hit by a bus etc, etc. You get my drift. So why aren't you healthy? Sure what constitutes 'healthy' is debatable (I mean, seriously what food is <i>really </i>healthy!?) but even when we think we know what we have to do, we have trouble actually doing it. What people don't realise is that it needs to be a <i>lifestyle </i>change and the most successful way to do this is to take <i>graded steps </i>towards the change. And that my friend, is largely mental.<br />
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Hence, let me introduce the 'Mental Game' series. Over the next 8 weeks I will post the step-by-step change to your attitude and thinking as seen in the picture below. The posts will include lots of practical ideas on how to challenge your thinking and behaviour to reach the next step. <br />
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Let's reach the top together, one step at a time..<br />
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Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-26627051629892507932012-09-05T04:16:00.000-07:002012-09-05T04:17:35.912-07:00A Real Food Recipe: Hazelnut Banana Bread<div class="ERIngredients">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Gone are the days of bread, bread and more bread. I grew up on Vegemite on toast for breakfast every single day. I had sandwiches for lunch. I had garlic bread or buttered bread with my dinner. I'd snack on bread. Yeah, I pretty much lived on bread. I am yet to experiment with a paleo-style bread that could be substituted for normal bread - you know, like to make sandwiches with. But I gave this recipe a whirl and was pretty impressed! It's not very ideal for 'sandwiches' per se, but it makes a great breakfast and snack substitute. I do wonder how Vegemite would go on it though...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Hazelnut Banana Bread</span></div>
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<i>(grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-freer, vegetarian) </i></div>
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:: Inspired and modified from www.runningtothekitchen.com ::</div>
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Organic Ingredients</div>
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<li class="ingredient">1 cup Hazelnut Meal</li>
<li class="ingredient">1/2 cup Coconut Flour</li>
<li class="ingredient">1/4 cup Flax meal</li>
<li class="ingredient">1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda</li>
<li class="ingredient">1 tsp Pink Himalayan Rock salt</li>
<li class="ingredient">6 eggs</li>
<li class="ingredient">2 T coconut oil, melted</li>
<li class="ingredient">1 T Raw Honey </li>
<li class="ingredient">1 tsp Vanilla Extract</li>
<li class="ingredient">1 large ripe banana, mashed</li>
<li class="ingredient">A bit of Almond Milk </li>
<li class="ingredient">Chopped Hazelnuts (optional) </li>
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Warm up the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and prepare a loaf pan. Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl, and combine and whisk all wet ingredients (except the almond milk) in another bowl. Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture and combine until incorporated well. Add almond milk if you feel the mixture is too dry - should be a little moist (remember, hazelnut meal and coconut flour can really dry up a recipe!) Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan, top with some hazelnuts if you wish, and place in the oven for 35 minutes.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Now, this won't rise much or look much like a 'loaf of bread'. I admit I was so disappointed when mine first came out. It looked like a dry, rock hard brick! But then I sliced it up and ate a piece...looks aren't everything you know??</span></div>
Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-79192895426145231392012-09-03T04:01:00.001-07:002012-09-03T04:01:13.361-07:00A Real Food Recipe: Roast Pumpkin and Chicken Caulisotto<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
I love risotto. Absolutely love it. It was the first meal I made with my boyfriend that made us go 'wow, did we really just make that!?'. So when the craving for risotto just came too strong, I just had to make a grain-free version. And gosh it was <i>good</i>.</div>
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<i>(grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, preservative free)</i></div>
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Organic Ingredients:</div>
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<li>Pumpkin</li>
<li>Free Range Chicken breast or thigh</li>
<li>Homemade Bone Broth (or stock - just be careful which one you buy, some have lots of hidden nasties!)</li>
<li>Cauliflower</li>
<li>Coconut Butter or Oil</li>
<li>Garlic</li>
<li>Onion</li>
<li>Spinach</li>
<li>Herbs of choice </li>
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Turn oven on to 200 degrees Celsius. Cut up pumpkin into desired size, garnish however you prefer and roast in the oven until cooked. Whilst that is cooking, make cauliflower 'rice' by processing the cauliflower in the food processor until it reaches a rice-like texture. Chuck some garlic, onion and coconut butter into a frying pan and cook until browned. Add the chicken and slowly pour in the homemade broth (it won't dry up like cooking a normal risotto so you won't need as much broth unless you like it 'soupy'). Add the roast pumpkin and continue until the chicken is fully cooked. Add the cauliflower rice and spinach and mix well. Serve and enjoy!<br />
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Note: Excuse the terrible photo - it doesn't do this dish the justice it deserves! </div>
Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-5654719213431871662012-08-29T03:09:00.002-07:002012-08-29T03:41:05.720-07:00Becoming an Organic Convert: A Philosophy<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I began the journey to becoming a healthier, organic person about seven months ago now. It's amazing how time flies when you're feeling great. Hell, I've had lots of fun along the way too. I've learnt so much along the way, not only about health, but about myself and where I want to be physically, mentally and spiritually. I have become inspired to help other people to find their optimal health.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And that's why I've started this blog. I want to help others make positive changes to their health and well-being. I want to be able to use my experience as a professional Mental Health Occupational Therapist to provide practical knowledge on how you can make the changes you feel you need to make. It's about becoming an 'Organic Convert' yourself. But what is an 'Organic Convert'? What defines an 'Organic Convert'? For me, it's about converting to the healthier person I am meant to be. It's about:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Becoming healthier through eating clean, organic real food</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Becoming stronger and fitter through regular physical activity</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Becoming happier through positive experiences and sharing these with the people I love</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Becoming aware of how my choices impact on others and the environment</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><u>Feeling better physically and mentally to be able to function at my best every day</u></b></span></li>
</ul>
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<i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(I break these goals down even further, but that's a post for another day)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><i>But </i>what does it mean for you? We all have different values, beliefs, experiences, opinions, desires, goals and so on and so forth. We are all individual. What I want might be different from what you want. But I wholeheartedly believe that everyone wants to become healthier. Right? What that 'healthier' looks like is defined by you. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So start defining exactly what being healthier is for you. And that's your philosophy. That's the Organic Convert philosophy. </span></div>
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Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-87591630701899545952012-08-24T01:54:00.001-07:002012-08-24T01:54:15.243-07:00A Real Food Recipe: Blueberry Hazelnut Crumble<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
I can't remember having desserts very often as a kid. The folks were (and still are) hard workers (obsessive really) who would get home late every night with dinner usually around the 8pm mark (others having dinner at 6:30pm just boggled my mind). So it was probably too late to have a dessert. They'd just give us a cup of Milo and a biscuit if we were lucky and off to bed we would go. </div>
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So, now I'm grain free and all aboard the health train, it seems I have stumbled across the sneaky dessert carriage. Ironic eh? I just want dessert. Every single night. What the heck. And it's not like I'm craving sugar (I'm thankfully past that stage - that's another post for another day). But I just want something more to eat late at night, just before I pass out in bed. But you know what, now that I think about it, maybe my body really has been conditioned to want dessert. Those delicious cups of Milo were full of sugar and additives. Not to mention those cream biscuits. Gosh I miss them.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Well, no point moping about it. Time to make some grain-free, sugar-free desserts then hey?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Blueberry Hazelnut Crumble</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>(grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free)</i></span></div>
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Recipe modified from momgonepaleo.com - check it, great site!</div>
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Organic Ingredients: </div>
<ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<li>2 cups Hazelnut Meal</li>
<li>3 Eggs</li>
<li>Some Raw Honey</li>
<li>A big pinch of Bicarb</li>
<li>A bit of Pink Himalayan salt</li>
<li>1 T Vanilla Extract</li>
<li>As many Blueberries (fresh or frozen) as you want! </li>
</ul>
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Turn the oven to approx 180 degrees Celsius and prepare muffin trays as you would normally. Chuck all ingredients into one bowl (except blueberries) and whisk well. If it's not sticking together well, add another egg or even a little water (or almond milk if you have it). Fold in blueberries and spoon mixture into the muffin trays. Pop into the oven for 30-40 minutes until browned. Leave to cool or eat straight away!</div>
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Now, these won't be soft and moist like a classic white flour muffin. Instead, they'll be a cup of crumbled goodness! So be careful taking them out of the muffin trays, especially if you haven't used paper liners, as they might break apart. So these would be more suitable for dessert or those wanting a sneaky treat before bed (or in bed, why not?!) instead of an 'on-the-go' kinda snack if you get my drift.</div>
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I found these were AMAZING with a serve of natural yogurt. I imagine they'd be pretty good with coconut ice cream, full fat cream or coconut/milk kefir yogurt too. </div>
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Variations? Of course..</div>
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<ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<li>Use any berry in place of the blueberry. Hell, use them all at once. </li>
<li>Using almond meal would make these more of a muffin than a crumble. Just add an extra 1/2 cup to the mix.</li>
<li>Add some raw cacao powder and/or nibs for added zing. Might need to add an extra egg, water or almond milk to moisten it a bit more.</li>
</ul>
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Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-34322417207695071752012-08-22T04:50:00.001-07:002012-08-22T04:50:56.741-07:00A Real Food Recipe: Grain-Free Strawberry Banana Muffins<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
I love going back to my parents place. It's a country side haven with a mountain view, fresh air and a huge home cinema where I obsessively watch The Mentalist series over and over. And dogs. Five of them actually. There's Che, Nicki, Macy, Harvey and Hershey. Harvey's my brothers dog, he's the most homeless looking dog I've ever seen. Hershey's mine, a gorgeous red/tan kelpie pup and it's a mini holiday for her too. But hey, fancy that, the most health conscious member of the family has the dog named after a sugar-filled treat. Yeah, fancy that. </div>
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But I'm side tracking here. The one thing I really do love about going to my parents (other than seeing them of course, duh) is their kitchen. It has everything. Classic gas stove, good working oven, pots and pans of every shape and size, cake tins, muffin tins, steamers, blenders, toasters, kettles - heck, I could go on forever. Compared to my humble kitchen in my little rented seaside abode, its heaven. So of course I made the most of it. I OWNED that kitchen for a solid 3-4 hours. Made myself some nice muffins and cakes. I did clean up my world class mess but I left the cake tins drying on the sink. Mum actually messaged me later that night - 'Whats with all the cake tins but no bloody cakes!!?'. Oops, sorry mum...</div>
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<h3 style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
Grain-Free Strawberry Banana Muffins</h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo not doing this any justice..</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Organic Ingredients</span>:</h3>
<ul style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<li>1/2 cup Coconut Flour</li>
<li>1/4 cup Buckwheat, Hazelnut or Almond meal</li>
<li>A pinch of baking soda</li>
<li>A pinch of Pink Himalayan salt</li>
<li>2 T Flax Meal</li>
<li>3 eggs</li>
<li>3 T coconut milk</li>
<li>3 T coconut oil/butter</li>
<li>A dash of vanilla extract</li>
<li>2 T raw honey</li>
<li>A handful of diced strawberries</li>
<li>1 medium banana, mashed</li>
<li>Some cacao nibs (optional) </li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Turn the oven on to approx 180 degrees Celsius. Mix all wet ingredients (excluding strawberries and bananas) and whisk together in a bowl. Mix all dry ingredients in another bowl. Slowly add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix well. Fold in mashed banana and strawberries (and cacao nibs if you have them). Chuck the mix into a greased or lined muffin tray and pop in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until browned. Eat them fresh from the oven or allow them to cool and enjoy for later. Delicious! They are great served with natural yogurt and serve as a great breakfast on the go. </span><br />
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You know I love my variations...</div>
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<li>Use any berry in place of strawberry to change it up</li>
<li>Top the muffins with cinnamon - perfect finishing touch in my eyes</li>
<li>Actually who am I kidding. These taste way too good just the way they are!</li>
</ul>
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Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-79239099725751075642012-08-17T19:25:00.001-07:002012-08-22T03:41:39.234-07:00A Real Food Recipe: Coco-Choc Biscuits<br />
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I’ve always regarded myself as more of a ‘savoury’ tooth
than a sweet tooth. I was that odd kid that didn’t eat the birthday cake. <span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span>Especially if it was chocolate cake. Ugh. But ice-cream
cake, yes please! I never had the urge to buy, let alone make, baked treats. Muffins,
slices, tarts, meringues, all those colourful sugar-coated treats at the
nearest and dearest bakery just didn’t get me excited. Instead, just give me a
packet of salty chips and I’m on my merry way.<br />
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you’d think I would
be finding my new lifestyle pretty easy to adapt to now that I don’t eat grains
or refined sugar (or any of that processed crap that is marketed as ‘food’. Ugh)?</div>
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Wrong! I’m now making baked goods more than I ever have done
before. What the? Yeah, I’m confused too. But hey, you know that those
delicious salty chips fall under the ‘processed crap’ category right? So if
they’re out of the question, what’s a girl to do?! </div>
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I read a quote somewhere that struck a chord – “Eat as much
junk food as you like. Just as long as you make it yourself” – Unknown. Point noted,
I’m making some real food ‘junk’!</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Coco-choc biscuits</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(grain-free, gluten-free)</span></i></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span></b></div>
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Organic Ingredients:</div>
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<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>¾ cup Coconut Flour</li>
<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>1 fat pinch of Pink Himalayan Rock Salt</li>
<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>A bit of Raw Coconut Sugar or Stevia powder (tweak
to your tastes)</li>
<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>½ cup Coconut Butter/Oil or EVOO (or ¼ each), or
butter</li>
<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>1.5 cup Coconut or Almond milk</li>
<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>6 Free Range or Organic Eggs</li>
<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>A dash of Vanilla Essence</li>
<li><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span>Raw Organic Cacao nibs or Raw Chocolate of your choice</li>
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Turn the oven on to approx. 180 degrees Celsius and line a
baking tray with baking paper (I actually cooked some of mine in a mini muffin
tray). Mix dry ingredients in mixing bowl (except cacao nibs). Mix all wet
ingredients in another bowl and use a hand held mixer to blend ingredients well
(or you could do this in a food processor). Once blended, add dry ingredient
mix and blend again. Pour in cacao nibs and stir through with a spoon. Heap
mixture onto trays and pop in the oven for about 20 minutes or until browned.</div>
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This made approximately 24 mini muffin size plus 2 large cookies for me. How many you get is really up to how big you make them. </div>
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If you're like me and like them to be a little moist, just add more coconut or almond milk. Remember, a small bit of coconut flour goes a long way! </div>
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I'm going to play around with some variations so keep tuned on my successes and failures. Lets just hope there's more of the former...</div>
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Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-22317590234189814812012-08-13T22:50:00.001-07:002012-08-22T03:15:13.463-07:00A Real Food Recipe: Buckwheat PancakesIt has been almost seven months since I began the graded transformation towards becoming a healthy organic being. Along the way I have gradually cut out processed 'fake' foods, refined sugars and I no longer eat grains. Yes, I loosely follow the Paleo diet (more on that later!) however I HATE the word 'diet'! I tend to think of my current eating patterns as a <i style="color: #6aa84f;">lifestyle</i>. I eat the foods that I know help my body, not hinder it. And since grains fall in the 'hinderance' category, bye bye cereals, toast, pasta, cakes, pastries...sigh.<br />
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Breakfast has been the biggest challenge for me. I'm the girl that had Vegemite on toast everyday, guaranteed. Since I don't eat grains anymore, that's clearly out of the picture. So what could I possibly have for breakfast that isn't toast or cereal!? And is considered real food?! I love eggs and bacon but not every morning! I came across buckwheat flour (and no, its not a grain despite its devious name!) and I heard along the grapevine that this glorious flour makes even more glorious pancakes. Hoorah! Pancakes are back on the menu! Check out my recipe below, it tastes great. Better than the white flour version in my humble opinion!<br />
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<u><span style="font-size: large;">Buckwheat Pancakes</span></u></div>
<i>(grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian)</i><br />
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Ingredients:<br />
<ul>
<li>1 cup Organic Buckwheat Flour </li>
<li>1 T Raw Coconut Sugar (or Stevia)</li>
<li>3 tsp Baking Soda</li>
<li>Big pinch of Pink Himalayan Rock Salt</li>
<li>350ml Homemade Almond Milk (or unsweetened Organic store-bought versions)</li>
<li>2 Organic or Free Range Eggs</li>
<li>1 tsp Vanilla Extract</li>
<li>Organic Coconut Oil/Butter for cooking</li>
<li>Topping of your choice (for example raw honey, banana, chia seed jam, berries or butter) </li>
</ul>
Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and all wet ingredients in another. Combine wet and dry mixes and stir well. The mixture should be runny like 'normal' pancakes. Grease up the fry pan with coconut butter or oil and make yourself a delicious breakfast feast! I am terrible at making my pancakes perfectly round so if you know how, holler! I love to top mine with raw honey, cacao nibs and bananas, yummy.<br />
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The great thing about this recipe is that it is open for variations! Experiment yourself but here are a few of my favourite variations:<br />
<ul>
<li>'Choc-Banana' - add a little Raw Organic Cacao Powder and mashed up banana to the original recipe. You might need to add more almond milk to keep it runny - my all time favourite! (see photo below)</li>
<li>'Bucky Banana' - add a combination of mashed up banana and sliced banana to original recipe. I love big chunks of bananas in my pancake as it reminds me of my Nan's amazing banana pancakes!</li>
<li>'Buckleberry' - add a bunch of cut up berries (fresh or thawed) to the original mix, perfect for a warm morning. </li>
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Choc-Banana Buckwheat Pancakes - ah-may-zing.</div>
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<br />Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5102705299201457539.post-4650964364570987972012-08-13T01:32:00.002-07:002012-08-13T02:13:04.221-07:00Becoming The Organic Convert<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
I had a huge wakeup call early 2012. I was browsing Facebook
(stalking maybe…), when I noticed a beautiful cousin of mine posting
various articles and pictures of organic living. Curiosity bit me. I had
a look. And I have not stopped looking. My eyes have been opened to a
whole new world that really shouldn’t have been a ‘whole new world’.
Have I really been that naïve? How could I have been so unassuming and
ignorant whilst living a life so unhealthy, so <i>toxic</i>?!</div>
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So began my journey of becoming a healthy and organic human being,
just the way we were supposed to be. This blog will chart my journey
through this transformation. </div>
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I sincerely hope my personal experience can help you become an
‘organic convert’ too. That’s why I will share information and advice on
how to make successful changes. I will also share great resources and
handy websites to guide you along the way. I encourage you to ask
questions and provide lots of feedback. I will aim to post information
that <i>you</i> request!</div>
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So please, join me and let’s go back to how we’re supposed to be.</div>
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Xx Kate</div>
Kate Toholkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08564480637758629401noreply@blogger.com0