Everybody needs a Naturopath like Naomi Judge, especially if she’s gonna be creating desserts like this! Naomi guest blogs on the site today…over to you Naomi….

I love experimenting with making tasty desserts and snacks but without adding too much sugar. Sometimes it works really well, such as my pumpkin pie recipe, and other times it is a complete fail! This time I nailed it. The creaminess of the coconut, mixed with the strong flavor of cacao balanced up with vanilla works a treat. This dessert isn’t for the faint hearted though, you also need to love raw cocoa and coconut, which isn’t hard to do in my books.

I love using vanilla, not only because it creates a beautiful warm sweet flavor, but because it has so many medicinal qualities. Vanilla is particularly good for the brain; it contains vanilloids, which are the constituents, and which give vanilla its brain and mood boosting abilities. Vanilla has been used for centuries as a calmative and nervous system soother.

You can’t use your bog standard vanilla drops in glycerin though, you’ll need to invest in vanilla beans, powder or pure essential oil to get the real benefits, and trust me, you’ll taste the difference too! If these types of vanilla are hard to find, go for a good quality vanilla extract.

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Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Raw cacao powder
Raw honey or maple syrup
Chia seeds
Coconut milk
Vanilla powder
Coconut oil 
Salt

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Rich Chocolate Chia Dessert

Although this recipe is simple with not too many ingredients, it does take a bit of prep time, as you need to let it sit over night.

Servings 4

Author Naomi Judge Naturopath

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 tablespoons raw cacoa powder
• 2-3 teaspoons raw honey or maple syrup
• ¼ cup chia seeds
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or powder, bean or oil
• 40 gm cacao butter or coconut oil
• pinch sea salt

Instructions

• Blend the avocado with a tablespoon of cacao powder, ½ teaspoon vanilla and a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup. Blend until creamy.
• Next, divide the mix into 4 and pop in the bottom of 4 glasses.
• For the chia layer, place chia seeds in a bowl; mix in 1 ½ cups of coconut milk, 2 cups water and ½ teaspoon vanilla . Leave for 15 minutes to allow the chia seeds to expand and absorb the liquid.
• Split the chia mix equally into 4 serves and place on top of the avocado layer.
• Next make the chocolate topping. Heat the remaining coconut milk in a pan (1 cup), when steam begins to rise add in cacao butter or coconut oil, a tablespoon of cacao powder, teaspoon of vanilla and 1-2 teaspoons of honey or maple plus a pinch of salt. On the lowest heat setting, keep stirring so that the cacao butter or coconut oil melts down. The longer you stir, the thicker and creamier the mix gets.
• Remove the chocolate mix from the heat, allow to cool down for a few minutes, spoon chocolate mix onto the chia layer. The mix should just reach the top of the glass.
• Finally add coconut flakes as the final layer. Place desserts in the fridge; leave them to sit over night to set.
• Other toppings could include cacao nibs, frozen berries or a fruit puree. You may also experiment with other flavours, cinnamon, chilli, salt and caramel.

Notes

When you are ready to serve, remove them from the fridge and enjoy

A big thank you to Naomi for sharing her beautiful recipe. And check out her Facebook page which is full of lots of great information on women’s health and general wellbeing.

Because they are quick, nutritious and delicious, they make a fantastic lunchbox snack. You can always dial up the nutrition factor by utilising the beneficial fats contained in butter, controlled amounts of natural sugar, and the vitamins, minerals in the seeds

These are not like your average crunchy Muesli bar. Rather, they’re a softer, crumblier (but not too crumbly) version and make a great option to keep your kids happy, full and focused at school.

Because most schools have a nut-free policy, I have omitted nuts in favour of seeds for this recipe. Maybe you could add some almonds to a batch for home use!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, take a look at my new recipe ebook which is getting rave reviews, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Oats
Spelt flour
Coconut sugar
Desiccated coconut
Sunflower seeds, pepitas
Chia seeds
Dried apple, Sultanas, Apricot, Cranberries
Cinnamon
Vanilla powder
Raw honey

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Muesli Slice

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup of organic oats
• ½ cup spelt flour
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• ½ cup dessicated coconut
• ½ cup mixed of sunflower seeds sesame seeds, pepitas (your choice)
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1/3 cup chopped dried apple or you could use sulphur-free sultanas, sulphur0free dried apricot or sugar free cranberries
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
• 90 g butter
• 3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

• Grease and a 3cm deep, 16cm x 28cm (base) baking pan
• Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees C
• Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
• Melt butter, add honey and yoghurt and stir well.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until mixture sticks together.
• Press evenly & firmly into the baking pan.
• Bake for 20-25 mins or until top is golden.
• Cut into squares when hot and allow to cool.
• Once cold remove individual squares from pan and store in air-tight container.

Notes

I like to freeze them and pop a couple into the kids lunchbox each morning.
Once cold remove individual squares from pan and store in air-tight container.

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life. 

And remember, if you haven’t already, grab your copy of Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes here.

Similar recipes you might like are Raspberry Swirl Slice and Apple Crumble Slice.

Bren x

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! And by everyone, I mean Mums.

I’m never quite sure where the apostrophe goes in ‘Mother’s Day’. That’s true of most apostrophes, bothersome little things that they are, but is that the right place? Or is it ‘Mothers’ Day’, as in the collective noun that describes a hotbed/brilliance/sparkle of Mothers? Whatever the case, in this house it will be ‘Mother’s Day’ (there being only one, as far as I know), where my agenda will include lots of things that make life very simple … for me.

Specifically, I’m expecting:

– no responsibilites (I’m not here, I’m not here … unless you’re spoiling me)

– no decisions (which, granted, could go pear-shaped if history is a guide)

– a general smattering of spoiling by my family (so I hope you’re reading!)

– no apostrophes

– palm leaves and grapes (soaring too close to the sun?…)

– breakfast in bed (no, hubby, you’re not invited – get your apron on)

When I thought about brekky, it dawned on me (get it? get it?) that I had so many breakfast ideas on this little blog of mine, and I had quite forgotten how many. So, strap yourself in for a short compilation of some of my favourite brekkies. ‘Get your orders in early’ is my advice!

My latest and favourite is the Date and Walnut Muesli. It’s so totally simple that it can be prepared the night before in 5 minutes flat, even by males (well, 25 minutes and four days for them). It’s so full of goodness and it’s great to know that some of the ingredients are boosting my immune system. This is a great one for the kids if they want to do it themselves and serve to Mama with some extra yoghurt and fresh fruit.

I haven’t made my famous ‘Notella’ for a while, so bring it on so I can lather it onto some Spelt and Buckwheat pancakes, or some Sonoma Spelt Sourdough bread. It’s so simple to make in the food procerssor or Thermomix, I think the kids could handle this one on their own. Dad could help them out with a warming cup of chai tea to accompany. Mmmmmm!

But what if I’m feeling in more of a savoury mood? Well, cue my tasty Egg Muffins, which never let me down. I just hope the kids remember that I particularly love them wrapped in a piece of organic bacon, or they could ‘surprise. Perhaps a variation like spinach and ricotta! Just as long as they remember the cheese please (love the stuff!)

Any recipe that includes the words ‘coconut cream’ or ‘ginger ‘ automatically gets my vote. So a steaming bowl of my Coconut and Ginger Infused Rice Porridge would be a welcome breakfast in bed. So nourishing and grounding and made out of only properly prepared natural ingredients. Yum!

These Date and Cinnamon muffins are a cracker! With the gorgeous richness of dates and the warming sweetness of the cinnamon, it’s a match made in heaven! Plus with all the added benefits of vitamins and minerals and the cinnamons’s blood-stabilizing effects. These would be complemented beautifully with a steaming mug of hot chocolate made from my ‘Notella’ stirred into some hot milk. So indulgent, but still so healthy!

What’s your favourite Mother’s Day breakfast? I’d love to hear from you!

If you are interested in finding out my families top 10 breakfast recipes then sign up for a copy of my free breakfast ebook here.

Bren x

For the gluten intolerant who don’t take kindly to the oats and flour in the crumble, fear not, because I have a recipe for apple crumble that will knock your socks off. If your anything like the piranhas around my house (who aren’t gluten intolerant, but who can recognise a good crumble from a thousand yards away), you’ll also be sorry you didn’t make more!

The ingredients are also carefully selected to avoid the usual processed foods, ensuring that your crumble is not only delicious, but healthy.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

APPLE CRUMBLE

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

6 large green apples
200gms melted butter (organic or grass-fed preferable)
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
2 tsp cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Peel, core and thinly slice your apples and cook on a gently heat in a little water until just soft

Place apples in oven proof dish.

While apples are steaming, melt butter in a saucepan and stir in coconut sugar and followed by the coconut, brown rice flour and cinnamon.

I suggest you add your flour in slowly until the mixture starts to stick together in small clumps.

Ditsribute the crumble over your apples with a spoon and you can use your fingers to spread it out if needed.

Bake in the oven for 20 – 25 mins or until golden brown.

Serve with pure cream or yoghurt. My kids like it plain.

Variations

My kids like their crumble basic but tasty. But if it was up to me I would add some berries and lemon zest to the apples & add some crunch in the form of walnuts or almonds to the topping.

The reason I like to make a large batch is because ‘batch cooking’ is something I find extremely useful in creating time for me. Having a ready-made after school snack or dessert makes life a lot easier. And being able to add it to the kids’ lunch boxes makes it even more convenient still!

Have a flavourful day!

Bren x

Having had some issues with wheat and gluten intolerances in the past, I set about creating a gluten-free alternative that would be just as tasty as the popular versions of tart bases. A brief flirtation with trial and error that included different ingredients and measures, and I was there.

I now make several variations of the crust and filling. It’s really hard to go wrong!

The recipe below is one my whole family loves, and as soon as my husband discovers this post, I’ll be making some more I’d imagine!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Rolled oats or quinoa flakes
Raw almonds
Raw cashews
Maple syrup
Coconut oil
Ground cinnamon
Salt
Cacao powder
Honey or maple syrup
Vanilla powder

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Chocolate Mousse Tarts

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• TART BASE
• 1 cup rolled oats or quinoa flakes
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablesppons coconut oil
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• pinch of celtic sea salt
• CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
• 1/2 medium avocado
• 1/2 medium banana frozen if possible
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch celtic sea salt

Instructions

• BAKED TART
• Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
• Grease a 12 hole muffin pan very well
• Blend the oats or quinoa flakes in food processor until they are fine and crumbly and then pour into a mixing bowl
• Add the almonds and cashews to the food procesor and blend until fine and crumbly
• Add the oats or quinoa flour back into the food processor along with all the remaining ingredients
• Blend until everything comes together, is sticky and holds together.
• Press 1 tablespoon of the dough into the greased hole and spread evenly & thinly around the base and sides
• Bake in a preheated oven for approx 10- 15 mins or until golden brown.
• Leave to completely cool down.
• CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
• Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth and spoon into the cooled baked tarts and serve.

Notes

Be sure to grease the muffin tins well.
I love these with a dollop of pure cream on the top, some raspberries, sliced strawberry or banana.
Leftover chocolate mousse can be stored in the fridge for two days and be added to leftover tarts when ready to serve.

Bren x

And when you can sprout forth on such diverse topics as antioxidants, flavanoids and LDL while going weak at the knees upon hearing the words mousse, ganache, or even cake, you know you are a servant to your dark master.

But it’s not a guilty pleasure, and you don’t need to step behind the big pot plant to consume it, even if moderation is advised (as in all things, except chocolate……..just kidding!).

The best thing about dark chocolate is that it gives you yet another reason to drink red wine, as if you needed one! You could even follow that up with another uncontrollable slip about antioxidants.

C’mon people, I know I had you at ‘chocolate’.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Honey
Vanilla powder
Spelt flour
Rolled oats
Desiccated coconut
Dark choc chips

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Choc-Chip Cookies

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 110 g unsalted butter softened
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1.5 – 2 cups spelt flour sifted (use the extra half cup if the final mixture is too wet)
• ¾ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup desiccated coconut
• ¼ cup dark choc chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C & line 2 large baking trays with non -stick baking paper.
• Beat the butter, honey and vanilla until pale and creamy. Gently beat in the egg.
• Add the sifted flour, oats and coconut and stir until well combined.
• Add choc chips and gently fold in.
• Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls and place on baking rays and flatten slightly.
• Place in oven and bake for approx 12-15 mins or until lightly golden.
• Leave on trays to cool.

Bren x

While my son’s friend gleefully munched on the chocolate, he explained how much he hated dark chocolate, even though he was eating dark chocolate right in front of our eyes!

What they don’t know won’t hurt them : )

This recipe was adapted from Sarah Wilson’s Sugar-Free Raspberry Ripe

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Ingredients:

1/4 – ½ cup Canadian maple syrup or organic honey

½ cup cacao

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

a few drops of vanilla

frozen raspberries, handful

shredded coconut, handful

Preparation:

Melt maple syrup or honey, cacoa, coconut oil and vanilla on stove until mixed together and smooth.

Place a piece of baking paper on a plate or small tray and scatter with raspberries and coconut then pour the chocolate on top and freeze for an hour.

Once hard, break into shards and keep stored in the freezer or fridge and eat to your hearts delight!

I reckon it would also be nice with flaked almonds, mmmmmm!

Bren x