As a thank you to a handful of friends who were so supportive during the stress of my renovations, I wanted to organise a brunch to show my appreciation of their generosity, kindness, patience and friendship.

When I asked about any dietary requirements one of my guests let me know about her restrictions. My plan was to make/organise a few things separate and just for her, but then I thought why not we all just eat DF, GF and EF?!

When entertaining, I like to keep things as simple as possible. I don’t see the point of having people around if you’re just going to slave in the kitchen followed by all the cleaning up. So I wanted a recipe that I could make ahead and serve once my friends arrived.

I know lots of people love my traditional Bircher Muesli recipe as well as my Spiced Quinoa Porridge, so why not amalgamate the two ideas and create a Quinoa Bircher Muesli that ticks all the boxes!

It’s absolutely delicious served with My Favourite Homemade Granola (just replace the oats for quinoa flakes or extra coconut flakes for GF) with fresh or poached pears, a dollop of coconut yoghurt and a drizzle of raw honey. Or, with a mix of pistachios and pecans, fig, pomegranate and/or berries and a drizzle of date syrup. Yum!

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Quinoa Bircher Muesli

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 2

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 cup white quinoa rinse very well to remove bitter saponins
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or ground vanilla bean powder
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice approximately juice from 1 small orange
• 1 apple grated
• 1/2 cup coconut yoghurt use dairy yoghurt if not dairy free

Instructions

• Place quinoa, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer. Gently simmer without lid, stirring occasionally, for 12-15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
• Remove from heat and cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir through honey.
• Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool for 5-8 minutes.
• Add the apple, orange juice, yoghurt and stir to combine
• Pop into the fridge overnight then serve with poached or fresh fruit, granola or nuts and seeds, some extra yoghurt and a drizzle of your sweetener of your choice if you like.

Delicious and creamy. Sweet, satisfying, and quick! How healthy are these bowls really?

Smoothie bowls are fruit-based which means while it’s all-natural sugar they can contain far more servings of fruit than you’d typically eat in one sitting. In its blended form, the fructose hits the bloodstream quickly and all at once. All that fructose can spike insulin and get you riding the blood sugar roller coaster.

And because smoothie bowls are carbohydrate-based you can end up hungry again very soon after.

The trick is to make sure there is enough protein, fat, and fibre to balance out the carbs and get a slower release and stable breakdown in the body.  This is why I always recommend including things like nuts, seeds, yogurt, and protein powder to slow down that fast release.

Smoothie bowls topped with lots of fruit are popular and make the bowl look very pretty and Instagram worthy but I try to limit the fruit toppings for more fat and protein-based toppings like nuts, seeds coconut flakes or shreds and my homemade granola.

The same goes for your regular ol’ smoothies like this Choc-Banana Nut Butter Smoothie and Ginger Mint and Green Apple Smoothie. 

In the recipe below you’ll see how I make my smoothie bowls with one of our favourite combinations.

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Berry Smoothie Bowl

Prep Time 5 minutes

Servings 1

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 cup your favourite frozen berries or you can replace berries for frozen mango
• 1 banana, frozen and sliced
• ¼ cup mixed raw cashews and chia seeds or macadamias and almonds work well too
• 2 tbsp natural or Greek yoghurt
• 1 scoop protein powder optional
• 1/2 cup ice
• 1/4 cup milk of choice add extra if needed

Toppings

• 2-3 tbsp homemade granola
• 1 tbsp coconut flakes or shredded coconut
• fruit sliced paw paw, banana, berries or your fruit of choice (optional)
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tbs peanut butter optional

Instructions

• Blend up nuts and seeds until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on low until smooth
• Serve into bowls with toppings

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my ebook, 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 and take the guess work out of what delicious, healthy food to make your kids for lunch!

If you make this recipe and share on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek.

Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook.

Other recipes you might like are Anti-oxidant Smoothie and Super Smoothie. 

This week I threw together this tasty Potato and Zucchini Slice for lunch and it was massive tasty hit for the whole family! Make a double batch and voila, you have lunchboxes set for the next day!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my popular ebook, 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 and take the guess work out of what delicious, healthy food to pack your kids for lunch! 

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:

Spelt flour or gluten-free flour
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Dried rosemary

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Potato and Zucchini Slice

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 10

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini grated and moisture squeezed out
• 6 cooked chat potatoes skin removed and cubed (slice some for the top) OR 2 medium raw potatoes, peeled, grated and moisture squeezed out
• 1 cup parmesan grated
• 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
• 6 eggs lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup spelt flour or gluten-free flour
• ½ cup butter melted
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180C
• Grease and line a 20 cm x 20 cm baking tin
• Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
• Pour into the baking tin, pop slices of potato on the top, brush with olive oil and sprinkle over rosemary.
• Bake for 30 – 35 mins until golden or when eggs are firm.
• Serve with your favourite salad or cut up vegetables

Notes

This slice would be dee-lish with some chopped ham or chopped cooked bacon!

I love seeing you create my recipes, so please send me your photos.  And if you share on social please tag me on instagram @brendajanschek or facebook.

Other recipes you might also like are my Mini Quiches and Healthy Lasagna.

Bren x

And it’s packed with all the beneficial ingredients needed to feed the gut bacteria, making for a happy digestive system : )

Swiss nutritionist Dr. Bircher-Brenner believed that the raw, natural ingredients of his muesli brew (brewsli!) would have healing properties for his patient’s health.

Bircher Muesli was born!

Soaking the oats and nuts and seeds overnight reduces the phytic acids. This not only makes them more digestible but also allows the body to absorb the nutrients more efficiently.

This is my family’s favourite homemade combination for bircher muesli, which is jam-packed full of goodness and a great way to start the day. There’s some in the fridge right now!

Got picky eaters? The Fussy Eating Bundle was created to help as many parents as possible instill positive eating habits in their children and provide a lifelong joyful relationship with food, thus creating peaceful, stress-free mealtimes. FIND OUR MORE HERE.

This is a big batch that will be enough to last for breakfast, snacks, and lunchboxes for the week. Top it with My Favourite Homemade Granola recipe to add some texture and crunch.

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Brenda's Big Batch Bircher Muesli

A delicious breakfast option to make mornings run smoothly.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 5 x cups of rolled oats
• 3 x cups of milk or coconut water or a combination of both
• A couple handfuls of almonds
• A couple handfuls of sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• A couple handfuls of sultanas
• 2 x cups of natural yoghurt
• Juice of one orange
• 1 x grated apple
• A good shake of cinnamon
• A good pinch of vanilla powder

Instructions

• Mix all of the above together, cover and leave pop into the fridge overnight.
• In the morning, serve with extra milk and/or yoghurt, fresh seasonal fruit and a swirl of raw honey or pure maple syrup.

Notes:

* Fresh fruit is a fabulous source of fibre and has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases. In this recipe, I use grated apple, which is packed with vitamins like A, B1, B2, and C, as well as minerals like calcium, potassium, iodine, iron, and phosphorous.

* Oats can be powerful in lowering cholesterol and, therefore, fighting heart disease. Oats contain insoluble fibre which lowers blood sugar and control diabetes.

* Nuts and seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are associated with numerous health benefits including the development of the nervous system and reducing bad cholesterol. They are also are a great source of protein which is important for building and repairing muscles.

* Chia seeds deserve a special mention as they are highly nutritious and a natural source of Essential Fatty Acids, a great source of fibre, full of antioxidants, protein, amino acids, essential minerals, and vitamins.

* Yoghurt provides good bacteria for the digestive tract, is a good source of protein, and is loaded with vitamins like calcium, vitamin B-2, B-12, potassium, and magnesium.

So let’s think outside the cereal box and enjoy this nutrient-rich, healthy wholefood breakfast that is exploding with goodness!

Other breakfast recipes you might like Date and Walnut Bircher Muesli and Spiced Quinoa Porridge.