Here’s a delicious version created by my good friend Marisa from Happy Bull Memoirs. Marisa is a great cook, she’s like the Juliet Binoche character from Chocolat, she loves satisfying her guest’s desires with her delicious, comforting food, always spiked with love and mystery and I’m alway excited to receive an invite over for a gathering because well, I do love my food, and Marisa always delivers.

When you check out her blog, make sure you scroll down ’cause there you’ll see a recipe for the best dang Ginger Heart Biscuit recipe you’ve ever tasted. I was going to healthify them and make them for the kids myself, but you know what, these are always a special treat we have probably once a year from Marisa, and sometimes the pleasure that food brings is enough to override anything else. Our memories of Marisa will always include her beautiful Ginger Heart Biscuits.

Now, back to the Miso Ramen, don’t be put off by the long list of ingredients/instructions in this recipe, it’s easy-peasy to make because the slow cooker does all the work for you!

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:

Sesame oil
Salt
Seaweed or nori sheets
Soba noodles

Print

Home-made Miso Ramen

Prep Time 5 minutes

Servings 6

Author Marisa Zamora from HappyBullMemoirs

Ingredients

• 3 x tbs of sesame oil
• 1 kilo of pork spare ribs
• 4 x chicken legs
• 1 large leek chopped roughly
• 1 x large carrot chopped or shredded
• 6 x cloves of garlic whole
• 1 x red chilli medium heat or to taste
• 30 g of fresh ginger or to taste
• 6 x shitake mushrooms sliced into long quarters
• 100 g of white miso paste
• 3 x tbs of cooking sake
• 2 litres of water
• Salt to taste
• Bamboo shoots chopped lengthways for serving
• Seaweed or nori sheets roughly chopped for serving
• 1 soft boiled egg shared between 2 people chopped in half for serving
• Spring onion finely chopped for serving
• 50 g – 100g of Ramen fresh noodles per person or soba noodles cooking instruction on packet

Instructions

• In a slow cooker or pot on low heat throw in all ingredients starting with the sesame oil, pork and chicken legs then leek, carrot, garlic, chilli, ginger, mushrooms, miso paste, sake and salt.
• Cover with 2 x litres of water or enough water to cover the ingredients.
• Note: There is no need to sautee anything in this recipe as it is primarily a stock.
• *Cook on low heat for 3-4 hours with a lid so the moisture does not evaporate. Add water if you see the pot drying out! Nb: You will not have this problem if you use a slow cooker.

Straining the broth

• Once cooked, take out pork ribs, chicken legs and shitake mushrooms before straining the soup. Separate the chicken from the legs but keep the pork on the bones and set aside with the shitake mushrooms which will be added back into the broth in the final heating stage.
• Strain the broth using a fine sieve or strainer. Let the broth cool down completely to scoop out any remaining fat that comes to the surface.
• Reheat the cooled down broth including the now boneless chicken pieces, pork ribs and shitake mushrooms.
• Before transferring to a bowl make sure you are happy with the salt content of the broth. You may want to add a bit more to enhance the broth flavour.
• To serve, place some chicken and 2 x pork ribs into each bowl with shitake mushroom.
• Add noodles then fill the bowl up with broth.
• Add bamboo shoots, seaweed or nori sheets, half an egg and spring onion on the surface of the broth.

Enjoy!

Other soup recipes you might like:

Pea and Ham Soup

Spinach, Lentil and Lemon Soup

Indian, Cauliflower, Potato and Mung Dhal Soup

Cauliflower and Potato Soup

Slow Cooked Lamb Shank and Barley Soup with Gremolata

Pumpkin and Root Vegetable Soup

Home-made Miso Ramen

Chicken Noodle Soup

With the fullness of life there seems to be less opportunity for good, focused one-on-one time with the kids. But when the opportunity arises, I love nothing more than snuggling up with them on the lounge, looking through recipe books for inspiration, and creating recipes together based on their favourite flavours before heading into the kitchen to test them out.

As the high school workload steals my son away from the kitchen, my daughter has stepped up and staked her place in there with me as well.

She was the inspiration behind this latest recipe. Highly focused on using her favourite flavours as the base for the biscuits, and no doubt instinctively following the colder season by her choice of warming spices and flavours, the Ginger, Cardamon & Molasses Cookie Hearts were born. She’s thrilled to see her name credited on the recipe too!

The ingredients are super-warming and packed full of goodness…

Ginger – great for digestion, anti-inflammatory, and helps with coughs and colds.

Cardamon – helps with coughs and colds, sore throats, eases gastrointestinal disorders, while being good for digestion and metabolism.

Molasses – contains vital vitamins and minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, B6 and selenium.

These Cookie Hearts are a hit with our whole family, and have become a staple in the kids’ lunch boxes. We hope you love them too.

Print

Ginger, Cardamon, Molasses Cookie Hearts

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Author Brenda and Yasmeen Janschek

Ingredients

• 175 grams stoneground wholemeal flour or wholemeal spelt flour
• 175 grams white spelt flour
• 110 grams rapadura sugar
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 2 teaspoons ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon cardamon ground
• 100 grams cold butter
• 3 cm piece root ginger peeled and finely grated
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
• 50 grams molasses

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C
• Line two trays with baking paper. I prefer to use If You Care brand
• Sift flour and bicarb into a mixing bowl and add sugar, ginger and cardamon. Stir well.
• Chop in the cold butter and rub into the dry mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Mix the egg and molasses and grated ginger together in a bowl.
• Pour into the dry mixture and stir through, then continue to mix with your hands until it forms a stiff dough.
• Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to approx 1/2 cm and cut out desired biscuit shapes using a cookie cutter and place on trays.
• Place trays in the oven and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly cooked. Turning trays half way through.
• Allow to cool on trays for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack

Notes

Perfect for lunchboxes or with a cuppa for afternoon tea.

Bren x

This pie offers perfect healthy comfort food for those cold wintery nights or when teamed with a big, crispy salad is perfect for those warm summer nights too.

If your body does better without too much wheat or gluten, just keep a serving  of the chicken mix just for you before it meets the pastry. Enjoy it with the sides suggested in the recipe below. It’s truly delicious!

Print

Chicken, Leek & Mushroom Pie

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Olive oil or ghee
• 1 medium leek chopped
• 1 brown onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 600 grams chicken thigh diced
• 1/4 cup home-made chicken stock
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons thick cream
• 300 grams mushrooms sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons spelt flour or rice flour if gluten free
• 2 tablespoons mustard
• 1 teaspoon herbamare optional
• 1 teaspoon dulse flakes optional
• pinch of sea salt and pepper
• 1 sheet of shortcrust or puff pastry - I use the Careme brand or Pampas All-Butter pastry
• 1 small egg lightly beaten

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
• Heat some olive oil or ghee in a large frying over medium heat.
• Gently fry leek and onion for a few minutes until translucent, then add garlic and fry for a couple more minutes.
• Add the chicken and fry for approx 10 minutes or until just cooked, stirring it around intermittently.
• Add the mushrooms and fry for a few more minutes.
• Add spelt flour, stir in and fry for 1 minute.
• Gradually add the liquid, followed by the mustard, herbamare and dulse flakes, and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Put the chicken mix into a baking dish ( I used was 29cm x 9cm) and cover with the pastry.
• Brush on the lightly beaten egg and using a sharp knife puncture a few slits through the pastry
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden.
• Serve with steamed vegetables, cauliflower mash or big garden salad

Enjoy!

While you’re here you may like to check out my popular recipe 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! 

Other chicken dinner recipes you might like are Oven-Fried Chicken and Easy Chicken and Vegetable Casserole.

Bren x

This makes me laugh because, truth be told, the best way to describe dinner around here is ‘grub’!

Life’s too busy for anything too fancy. It’s all about sausages with mash, butter chicken, beef stroganoff, spicy chicken wings, lentil soup, quesadillas … you get the picture.

Often I’ll just throw things together based on what I have left in the fridge and which may match the tastebuds of my family.

I don’t often blog these recipes, but, as mums we are all in the same boat, so I’ve decided to blog my ‘grub’ …

Creamy cauliflower and bacon bake is what I’m talking about here, and while it probably isn’t something Michelangelo might consider art, it’s tasty as (granted, anything with bacon is almost cheating).

Make enough to feed the family with a serving of leftovers for the next day. Our kids loved it on their leftover spelt pasta (a bit of a carbonara vibe) and side salad. For myself, I ate it straight up with a big side of salad. It would actually be pretty delicious with rice too and it’s a perfect side dish to a main meal.

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:

Cannellini or red kidney beans
Paprika
Chicken stock

Print

Creamy Cauliflower and Bacon Bake

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 5

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 200 grams bacon chopped
• 1 tin cannellini or red kidney beans
• 1 teaspoon each paprika thyme and oregano
• 1/2 cup homemade chicken or vege stock
• 1/2 head broccoli chopped into small florets
• 1/2 head of cauliflower chopped into small florets
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese finely grated
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese finely grated
• extra cheese to sprinkle on top

Instructions

• Heat over to 180 degrees C
• In a large frying pan, fry onion and bacon on medium heat for a few minutes, until onion softens
• Add garlic and cook for a few minutes.
• Add beans, paprika, thyme and oregano and stir for 30 seconds
• Add stock and stir well and take off the heat
• While the onion and bacon are cooking, chop up cauliflower and broccoli and place in baking dish
• Stir through the onion and bacon mix
• In a small bowl whisk together cream and cheese and pour over cauliflower and broccoli and bacon
• Pop in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until cauliflower and broccoli are tender
• Be sure to stir the bake 2-3 times during cooking
• Once cooked, sprinkle the bake with a handful of cheese, and sprinkle with paprika and grill for 5 minutes until golden brown
• Serve on top of pasta, rice, as a side dish or as is with a garden salad

Onion and bacon fry up

Cut up vegetables on pop in baking tray

Stir through onion and bacon mixture

Stir through creamy cheese sauce and pop in the oven

End result – a bubbling,creamy,cheesy,flavoursome home-style dish.Yum!

Bren x

Am I right or am I right?!

You can get the kids home after sport, settled into homework and gets started on dinner.

Once you pop it into the oven you’ve got time to throw together a big salad (make enough for leftovers to take to work the next day) to enjoy on the side.

Print

Crispy Chicken With Garlicky Potato Cream Sauce

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 4

Author Berleena Eberle for Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1/2 tbsn olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 800 g organic or pastured chicken thighs - skin on
• 6 kiplfer potatoes or 3 medium sweet potatoes roughly chopped into 2cm pieces
• 3 cups baby spinach
• 2 tbsn butter
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons spelt flour or gluten free flour
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 cup chicken broth or more, as needed
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• Season skin well with salt and pepper. Preheat a large ovenproof pan to med – high, add oil and pan fry chicken skin side down for 3-4 minutes. Turn the chicken, searing bottom side for a further 2-3 mins. Turn off heat and scatter potatoes and spinach between chicken.
• Prepare the garlic potato sauce by melting butter in medium skillet over med heat. Add garlic, and stir for 1 min. Whisk in flour, stock and thyme. Turn off heat and stir through cream and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Pour garlicky cream sauce over chicken, spinach and potatoes and bake into the oven for 20-25 mins.
• Garnished with parsley or a squeeze of lemon juice.

Notes

Add as many vegetables as you like!

Enjoy!

I love seeing the pictures of when you make my recipes, so please share them on my Facebook page or Instagram.

Other chicken recipes you and your family might like are Baked Chicken Nuggets and Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Pie.

Berleena has been the wonderful recipe developer helping me create a series of delicious recipes, here’s a bit more about her…

Berleena Eberle — Food Mindset Coach
Berleena specialises in helping her clients develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. Her clients know how to deal with food triggers, let go of guilt, identify cravings and make healthy eating simple again with nutrient-rich, real food. Berleena strips back nutritional confusion to develop an intuitive eating approach.

You can find out a little more about her below.

This is the first of 6 new recipes we can’t wait to share with you!!

Print

Summer baked meatballs with kale and juicy tomato sauce

Lunchbox friendly, batch and freeze

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Author Berleena Eberle for Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Meatballs
• 1 kg grass fed organic beef mince (ground)
• 2 eggs
• 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped (reserved half for tomato sauce)
• 1 large brown onion grated or finely chopped, can use food processor (reserve half for tomato sauce)
• 1 cup of kale leaves stripped and chopped finely
• 1 tspn ground cumin or seeds
• 1 tspn ground cinnamon
• ½ tbsp of dried or fresh dill
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup of sourdough bread chopped into small pieces
• Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• 1/2 tspn olive oil
• Basil for garnish
• Parmesan cheese to taste
• Tomato Sauce
• 1 tspn olive oil
• 1.5 cups of passata sauce
• 3/4 cup stock or broth
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 sprigs basil finely chopped
• 200 g spelt pasta ½ cauliflower (grated to make rice) or 3 medium zucchinis (spiralized)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• To make the meatballs, combine the mince, eggs, half the garlic and onion, kale, cumin, cinnamon, dill, lemon rind, bread, salt and pepper in a bowl. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes so the kale and breadcrumbs can absorb some of the moisture.
• Roll meatballs into balls and set on baking tray, brush with olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden on top.
• To make the tomato sauce, saute the remaining onion in oil for 1-2 mins in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, stirring for a further minute. Add passata sauce, broth and apple cider vinegar, season well with salt and pepper. Let sauce simmer on low heat for 5 mins.
• Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer on low heat for a further 5-10 mins. Turn off heat and mix through basil.
• Serve meatballs on a bed of spelt pasta, cauliflower rice or spiralized zucchini of your choice, drizzle tomato sauce on top, garnish with fresh basil and parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Bren x

Meet Berleena….

Berleena specialises in helping her clients develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. Her clients know how to deal with food triggers, let go of guilt, identify cravings and make healthy eating simple again with nutrient-rich, real food. Berleena strips back nutritional confusion to develop an intuitive eating approach.

Growing up in a Middle-Eastern family, one of those dishes was a popular cultural dish, mums delicious and comforting spinach, lentil and lemon soup.

Mum still cooks it for me. Well, to be honest it’s my kids she’s really cooking for these days. Every second week she’ll come around and stock my fridge full of foods to last up to three days, the selection based on the specific requests of my kids. Some of her popular dishes are za’taar, homemade pies, spanokopita and her cannelloni. It’s really special to see that they also love her lentil soup as much as I do.

It’s unassuming in in it’s simplicity, but manages to pack a truly delicious punch, and makes a perfect mid-week meal the whole family will enjoy and leftovers can be packed to take to work or school for lunch.

I’m often asked how to keep the food hot until lunchtime.

Well, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3:

1. Boil the kettle and then pour the water into the thermoses, be sure to pop the lids on
2. Heat up the food
3. Pour out the hot water  add the warmed up food into the container,  then pop the lid on immediately.

Here are my fave insulated jars which have lasted me years:

Lunchbots Insulated Stainless Steel Container 470ml 16oz
In these containers I pack soups, pastas, any hot meals and also cold salads.

Kleen Kanteen TKCanister with insulated lid 8oz 237ml
I like this smaller size option to keep things cool like yoghurt, granola and fruit, overnight oats or to keep things warm like the chicken nuggets or smaller serves of things like soup, stew, pasta.

If you’re looking for more lunch inspiration, take a look at my new recipe 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!

There’s even a delicious recipe for Kale and Cannelleni Bean Minestrone which my kids love taking to school in their insulated container.

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:

Olive oil or coconut oil
Lentils
Salt and pepper

Print

Spinach, Lentil and Lemon Soup

Prep Time 15 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 5

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• Splash of olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 2 cups red lentils
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock I throw in a couple of my frozen chicken stock ice-cubes too
• 1 bunch English spinach leaves washed and chopped
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• Sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Heat oil in a large saucepan or stockpot over medium heat
• Add the onion and gently fry for up to 5 minutes
• Add the lentils and water/stock and bring to the boil
• Reduce heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until lentils are tender and starting to fall apart, adding in spinach in the last 5 minutes of cooking
• Stir in the lemon juice just before serving and season with salt and pepper
• Ladle into bowls and serve with toasted buttery, garlicy sourdough and extra lemon juice to taste

Notes

You can blitz the soup until smooth if texture is an issue for little kids

Coconut flour is high in fibre, healthy fats and protein and has a low GI.

The flour is  made from ground and dried coconut meat and it’s good to remember that it can’t be used as a direct swap for other flours in recipes. That would be a recipe for disaster. So please don’t try to take a traditional recipe and convert to a coconut flour recipe, it just won’t work.

Bascially, when using coconut flour, you will inevitably need less flour and more liquid in the ratios.

Here’s a bunch of recipes from some very talented recipe writers, follow these and you won’t go wrong.

Chocolate Pudding with Gooey Bits by Low Tox Life

Almond, Lemon & Coconut Steamed Pudding by Quirky Cooking 

Berry Mug Cake by Becomingness

Gluten and Nut-Free Apple Bread by Becomingness

Berry and Walnut Crumble Slice by Mummy Made It

Carrot Cake by Natural New Age Mum

Healthy Tiny Teddies by Mummy Made It

Lemon Drizzle Cake by Yummy Inspirations

Paleo Banana Loaf by Dom’s Kitchen

Brownie Cake by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

And a few savoury recipes…

Carrot and Parsnip Muffins by The Joyful Table

Super-simple Salmon Patties by The Holistic Nutritionist

Gaps Wraps by Quirky Cooking

Enjoy!

On top of all the learnings of how to create, execute and cook a recipe, he’s learnt what’s involved in creating an eBook, as well as business concepts like costs, breaking even, profits and valuing your product. I’d love to think my kids are little entrepeneurs in the making!

So we agreed to share just one more recipe from our eBook, and based on a Facebook poll, the most popular recipe chosen from the options were these totally scrumptious SPICY CHICKEN WINGS.

Orlando pretty much created this recipe on his own and I have such fond memories of sitting together at the kitchen bench, sun streaming through the windows and foraging through the herb and spice box. From there he threw together a few flavours with a couple of other essential marinade ingredients and voila, spicy chicken wings were born!
It took him a couple of tweaks to get the balance right (he was initially a bit heavy handed with the cayenne pepper – ouch!) but the end result is sooooooo good and I’m one heck of a proud mum.

We hope you love this recipe as much as we do.

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:

Chilli powder
Oregano
Cayenne pepper
Paprika
Thyme
Onion powder
Olive oil or coconut oil

Print

Spicy Chicken Wings

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 3

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic peeled
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted coconut oil
• Juice from half a lemon
• 700 grams chicken wings or around 7 medium sized wings (small drummies are also an option)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
• Crush garlic cloves into a large bowl.
• Add all the herbs and spices.
• Add the oil and lemon juice and stir well.
• Pop the chicken wings into the bowl and massage the marinade in thoroughly.
• Place chicken wings onto a baking tray and cook in the oven for approx. 45-55 minutes.
• Serve with lightly steamed and buttered broccoli and green beans, or a side salad and homemade sweet potato and potato chips (these are seriously sooooo good, and also have a special herb and spice mix and can be found in the snack section of Real Food for Hungry Teens.

Real Food for Hungry Teens eBook

Created by certified health coach, Brenda Janschek, and her hungry, foodie son Orlando, this eBook contains a rich variety of over 20 nourishing, real food recipes designed to satisfy the tastebuds and growth requirements of developing teenagers.

Teenage years place a great burden on the body as it transforms into adulthood. These tasty recipes are designed to help our growing kids through this period of physical, emotional and intellectual upheaval with food that actually supports their accelerating growth, without simply resorting to a loaf of bread at each sitting.

Unless we are prepared, it can be a pretty slippery slope to grabbing whatever is available ‘downstairs’ and munching on it at the desk, and it’s never satisfying. Nor is it good for us when it becomes a repeated pattern. In order to make sure we eat well at work, it is imperative to be organised in advance. The beauty of doing this is that it’s not really that difficult!

I want to share with you a simple system that is guaranteed to keep you away from the burritos and schnitzels and in a steady supply of refreshing, rejuvenating, delicious lunch bowls.

If you’re looking for some lunch inspiration, take a look at my recipe 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 the whole family will love!

Off course, the easiest way  is to ALWAYS make extras at dinner to pack for lunch the next day. Here are some meals which provide great lunch bowl leftovers:  fish cakes , make extra and break them up into a garden salad for lunch; make extra Potato, Feta and Spinach Frittata for dinner and pack the rest for work with a salad; Fresh and Raw Zucchini Salad makes an easy ‘pack and run’ lunch bowl option; or this Indian Cauliflower, Potato and Mung Dhal Soup is a great option for Winter; add some diced cucumber and tomatoes to this Middle-Eastern rice and lentil dish; or pack up some of this Asian-Style Vegetable and Noodle Salad.

Other tips when you are making dinner:

• throw in some extra vegetables to roast
• cook up some extra rice or quinoa
• add an extra shank into the slow cooker, chicken thighs into the oven, fish patties into the frying pan.

And now…

Each Sunday spend up to an hour getting your lunch bowl ingredients organised for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then prep again on Wednesdays for Thursday and Friday.
The 4 main components you need to prepare for the lunch bowl are VEGETABLES, PROTEIN, GRAINS/CARBS AND DRESSING. Always ensure you include some healthy fats, which can be found in some of the ingredients suggested below like avocado, olive oil, fish, meat, eggs, olive, cheese and nuts.

VEGETABLES

Vegetables can be raw, lightly steamed, roasted and a combination of all of them can be used in your salad

Here are some of the bounty you can choose from,choose seasonal and make sure to include at least 1 type of leafy green

Eat the Rainbow

• Cucumbers
• Red Capsicum
• Radish
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Green Beans
• Snow Peas
• Beetroot
• Cauliflower
• Eggplant
• Cucumber
• Potato
• Sweet Potato
• Corn
• Squash
• Tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Avocado
• Pumpkin
• Mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Olives
• Garlic
• Sundried Tomatoes
• Herbs like basil, parsley, coriander, mint

Greens

• Kale
• Baby Spinach
• Brocolli
• Spinach
• Rocket
• Asparagus
• Beet Greens (the leafy bit on top of beetroot)
• Bok Choy
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Chard
• Lettuce
• Sprouts
• Watercress

Fruits which are also yummy in salads

• Grapes
• Figs
• Apple
• Pear
• Strawberries
• Mango
• Raspberries

PROTEIN

• Chicken
• Fish (including tinned wild caught salmon and sustainable tuna)
• Meat
• Eggs
• Nuts and Seeds
• Cheese – cheddar, parmesan regianno, halomi, fetta, gruyere, blue, goats
• Legumes/pulses -adzuki, red kidney, black, chickpeas, navy, pinto, lentils
• Tempeh

GRAINS/CARBOHYDRATE (optional)

• Basmati Rice
• Brown Rice
• Wild Rice
• Quinoa
• Rice or Buckwheat noodles
• Sweet Potato(starchy carb)
• Beans (starchy carb)
• Corn (starchy carb)
• Peas (starchy carb)

DRESSING

• Vinaigrette
• Sesame oil and tamari
• Olive oil,mustard and balsamic
• Fresh herbs, Olive Oil,Lemon
• Honey and tumeric
• Japanese Miso Dressing

ADD ONS

• Fermented Veges
• Dulse Flakes
• Nutrional Yeast
• Dried Herbs
• Spices
• Sesame,chia, poppy seeds

5 SALAD BOWL RECIPE IDEAS TO GET YOU STARTED

Warm Spinach Salad with Chicken, Bacon & Mushroom by Becomingness.

Tex-Mex Burrito Bowl  by me.

Spicy Quinoa, Apple and Kale Salad by The Holistic Ingredient.

Crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad by Low Tox Life.

10 minute Nourishing Dinner Bowl (which I think is perfect for lunch too!) by The Fit Foodie.

There you have it. With a bit of preparation, you can keep firing on all systems while you work, and get excited about your next lunch break.

Bren x