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

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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

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!

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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

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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.

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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!!

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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.

One way I like to up the quota of vegetables for my whole family is by including vegetables for breakfast.

Not only does this jumpstart our day with a boost of nutrients, but the phytochemical-rich foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds start pumping through our bodies right from the beginning of the day.

Initially, when I help clients to start thinking outside the cereal box, typically we start moving away from things like boxed cereals, vegemite or nutella on toast and breakfast drinks like Up & Go. Depending on the family, we may move towards muesli, bircher muesli, porridge, notella on sourdough. Then start including recipes like smoothies, banana bread, parfaits and breakfast ice-creams.

It’s when I suggest vegetables for breakfast that I get the most resistance. “Vegetables for breakfast!! We would never eat that!”

There are some really simple, non-confronting ways to ease the whole family into the idea of eating vegetables for breakfast. Here are a few examples of breakfast ideas which are rotated in my house:

Placing an egg with a side of sausage on a bed of baby spinach and chopped tomato, capsicum and cucumber;

Haloumi on sourdough toast with avocado, baby spinach and tomato slices;

Open omelette with rocket, chopped tomato and avocado;

Sourdough with scrambled eggs, ham, herbs, baby spinach and tomato.

You’ll note the ‘realness’ of these photos, no fancy plating up during rush hour!!

Need some more inspiration? Here are some delicious recipes for you to try.

Ginger, Mint and Green Apple Smoothie by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

Shakshouka with Tomatoes, Feta and Peppers by Yummy Inspirations

Veggie-Loaded, Super- Nutrient Primal Pizza Omelette by The Holistic Nutritionist

Garlic Mushroom Omelette Wrap by Well Nourished

Carrot Cake Pancakes by Well Nourished

Cauliflower Toast by The Holistic Ingredient

Sweet Potato Bruscetta by Vegan Sparkles

Slow Cooker Baked Beans with Vegetables by Salus Southern Highlands

Enjoy!

When we’re rying to cut down on processed and packaged food, this doesn’t just mean just ditching the packets of gummy lollies and  cheezels. It means looking at each meal and finding simple, healthful replacements to ensure we are nourishing our bodies and souls.

When it comes to breakfast, it’s important to #thinkoutsidethecerealbox and replace with quick and delicious real food breakfasts recipes like these…

Banana & Buckwheat Pancakes by Mamacino

Carrot Cake Pancakes by Well Nourished

Sweet Cinnamon Omelette by The Holistic Ingredient

Miso Paste Toast by Wholesome Cook

Lemon and Blueberry Bread by Mummy Made It

Creamy Dairy-Free Porridge by Alternative Chef Kitchen

Spiced Quiona Porridge by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

Home-made Baked Beans with Ham by Natural New Age Mum

Apple Pie Rice Pudding by A Healthy Mum

Superfood Black Rice Pudding by Nourishing Hub

Mexican Egg Scramble by Eat, Drink, Paleo

Shakshouka with Tomatoes, Feta and Peppers by Yummy Inspirations

Sweet Potato and Apple Hash by Barefoot Kitchens

Baked Eggs by Lisa Corduff

Enjoy!

Bren x

Scallops are a great source of protein, vitamins like magnesium and potassium and Vitamin B12, and minerals like selenium and zinc, as well as Omega-3’s.

Thank you to Kady O’Connell for sharing this delicious recipe and photo with me.

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:

Salt and pepper
Coconut oil

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Seared Scallops with Leek and Cauliflower Puree

Servings 2

Author Kady O'Connell for Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 12 Scallops without roe
• sea salt
• black pepper
• coconut oil
• 1/2 head cauliflower
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chopped leeks
• 1 tbsp hot water can use water cauliflower is boiling in

Instructions

• The scallops need to be bone dry. Put some kitchen roll out on a counter and place the scallops onto it - then cover with another sheet of kitchen roll and gently press to absorb water. Do this twice with fresh kitchen roll if needed.
• Boil cauliflower for about 10 minutes in salted water or until soft
• Sautee leeks in 1 tsp coconut oil for 5 minutes on a low-medium heat until soft
• Add cauliflower, leeks, 1 tbsp hot water from cauliflower pot, lemon juice to a food processor/blender. Blend until smooth. Season with salt & pepper.
• Put a frying pan on the highest heat and wait a few minutes until the pan is extremely hot. add 1 tsp coconut oil and spread around the pan.
• Place the scallops on the pan and season them with salt & pepper while cooking.
• Cook for 1 minutes then turn and cook for 1 and a 1/2 minutes on the other side. They don’t take long to cook but you want to get them nice and brown on the edges so you will need a very high heat.
• Spread puree on a plate and top with the scallops!

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

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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.

Lucky for me, Kady is also an amazing recipe blogger and she immediately shot out two recent recipes she had created involving seafood, offering to share with me so I could try and blog it for others feeling fish-challenged. Clever girl that Kady!

I can honestly say that we all LOVED this dish, I wasn’t sure I’d get the kids over the line with the babaganoush, so I did mash potato (or as I like to do a cauliflower, sweet potato and potato mash) for them instead, but they tasted the baba and loved it too.

Kady recommends using the same recipe for the crunch, to make a granola – she keeps the mix in an jar and uses it on everything!

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:

Salt
Pepper
Coconut oil
Oats
Quinoa
Walnuts
Hazelnuts
Tahini
Parsley

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Crunchy Gemfish with Babaganoush

Servings 2

Author Kady O'Connell

Ingredients

• FISH
• 2 x fillets of gem fish or any other meaty white fish
• sea salt
• pepper
• CRUNCH TOPPING
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp oats
• 1 tbsp quinoa
• 1 tsp walnuts crushed
• 1 tsp hazelnuts crushed
• BABAGANOUSH
• 1 eggplant choose a heavy dark one - they have less seeds
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 small garlic clove
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp flat leaf parsley

Instructions

• Turn the grill on to the highest setting and put the whole eggplant under it. Leave for 5-10 minutes then turn sides - it should be completely soft and the skin starting to burst when its done.
• Take the eggplant out from the grill , cut off the top and peel away the skin.2. Place crunch mix in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 10 minutes. Then add all crunch ingredients to food processor and blend to a crumb.
• Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Rub the gem fish with a little coconut oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the crunch mix on top of the fish
• Place the fish in the oven at 180 degrees celcius for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the fillet. Use a knife to check if its cooked through.
• Place the eggplant meat into a food processor/ blender with the other babaganoush ingredients and blend until smooth.
• Spoon the babaganoush onto 2 plates and top with the gemfish.

Another seafood recipe the whole family loves which packs a power punch of goodness is this one for Sweet Potato, Corn and Wild Salmon Fritters.

Enjoy!

Bren x