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!

How do greens benefit our bodies? They are very high in calcium, magnesium, iron, potassium, phosphorous and zinc, and are a powerhouse for vitamins A, C, E and K. They are crammed full of fiber, folic acid, chlorophyll and many other micronutrients and phytochemicals. Their color is associated with spring, which is a time to renew and refresh vital energy. In traditional Asian medicine, the color green is related to the liver, emotional stability and creativity. Greens aid in purifying the blood, strengthening the immune system, improving liver, gall bladder and kidney function, fighting depression, stabilising weight, clearing congestion, improving circulation and keeping your skin clear and blemish free and fighting disease.

Leafy greens are the vegetables most missing from the diet, and many of us never learned how to incorporate them. Start with the very simple and cleansing recipe below. Then each time you go to the market, pick up a new green to try. Soon you’ll find your favorite greens and wonder how you ever lived without them.

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
Salt

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Shitake and Kale Cleansing Bowl

Prep Time 2 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 225 grams shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1-2 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 bunch kale chopped
• pinch of salt

Instructions

• Warm oil in pan on medium heat with minced garlic until aromas of garlic are released, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add chopped shiitake mushrooms, stir-fry for 5 minutes.
• Add chopped kale, stir-fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add a splash of water and pinch of salt to pan, cover and let steam for 4 minutes.
• Serve with a garden salad with some nuts and seeds for a cleansing light lunch or as a side dish to fish, chicken or meat.
• Enjoy!

I always encourage having a few staples on rotation in the fridge because it can make healthy eating a breeze.

Here’s what I had:

Grass Fed sausage

Meat from animals who eat grass (what they are born to eat) and not grains (which is very difficult for them to digest) are “rich in all fats now proven to be health-enhancing, but low in the fats that have been linked with disease”, as Doctor Mercola so neatly puts it.

Broccoli Pesto

As broccoli is in season and is a nutritional powerhouse, I thought I would make a batch of broccoli pesto. I lightly steamed it before adding my usual healthy pesto ingredients and, hey pesto! Broccoli is cancer fighting, immune-boosting and great for your bones and nervous system. It’s so versatile that I’ve been using it as a dip, an addition to a warm vege salad, spread on a piece of sourdough and on top of my omelettes. Yummo!

Cup of chicken stock

Having attended a wonderful bone broth workshop by Alexx Stuart, I’m ecstatic to report that, for the the first time, I’ve managed to get my chicken stock to the consistency of the much sought-after gelatin. Yeah baby. For me this was like striking gold after so many failed attempts. Seems I’m enjoying the imune boosting, mineral boosting, ultra-nourishing , wrinkle smoothing benefits of stock. You can read more on the top 10 reasons to make your own stock on Alexx’s blog.

Carrots and beans

Carrots and beans are super tasty right now, mostly because they are in season. Carrots are full of nutritional benefits, and an excellent source of vitamin A and are anti-aging, great for your skin, cancer fighting, cleansing for your body, amongst other things.

Beans are a great source of vitamins and minerals and have great cardiovascular benefits. They are a wonderful source of dietary fibre (great one to have if you are … umm … constipated) and help to prevent infections in the body.

So I received all of these benefits from my simple lunch and you can too with just a smidge of planning.

Oh , and I may or may not have had one of my delicious and energy boosting raw cacao balls after lunch : )

Have a wonderful day.

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.

Kale chips are a big hit with my kids and, evidently, their friends, who come around and hoover them down before returning home demanding their mums make them too.

The teacher at school has her doubts, however, explaining to the kids (who are starting to ask for kale chips to be packed in their lunch boxes) that chips are bad for your health. Good on the teacher, because eating conventional chips every day is clearly not good for your health, but kale on the other hand is an incredibly nutritious food.

Keeping up with the demand is the real struggle. Luckily, the kids enjoy helping me make these moorish, healthy snacks so we can have them in constant supply.

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:

Coconut or olive oil
Himalayan rock salt

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Kale Chips

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale
• 2 tablespoons of coconut or olive oil
• Celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 150 degrees
• Place coconut oil into oven for 1 minute to melt
• Cut/pull kale off the stem & wash well
• Spin in a salad spinner to dry then place on tea towel to absorb any extra moisture
• Put coconut oil in a bowl and using your hands, circulate the kale in the oil until well covered
• Lay strips of kale onto large flat pan (I usually need 3 pans) and put in oven for approx 10-12 mins
• Check kale at 10 minutes to make sure they are becoming crispy and not turning brown
• Spin the tray around (to ensure even heating).
• Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with Celtic sea salt or Himalayan rock salt
• Don’t forget to make sure they are completely cool before storing in glass mason jars or plastic container

Why you should be eating kale?…

Kale is a dark leafy green (we all know we should be eating more of these), full of health benefits and nutrients. Like? Kale:

– is loaded with vitamins, especially vitamin A, but also vitamins C and K and folic acid;

– is rich in calcium, potassium, copper and iron. These nutrients are necessary for healthy bones, skin and eyes;

– contains important anti-oxidants such as carotenoids & flavonoids which can help to prevent cancer;

– is low in calories & high in fibre, so it’s great for digestion;

– is an anti-inflammatory food with lots of omega-3 fatty acids, which help to fight inflammatory and autoimmune disorders.

Kale is a very versatile plant that can be cooked in many ways, including steaming, stir-fries and salads … oh, and chips!

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 pack your kids for lunch!

Other snack ideas you might like are Chewy Choc-Banana Biscuits and Raw Caramel Slice.

;

She has been an advocate for healthy, organic, clean living for as long as I can remember & we love sharing recipes and ideas!

Being of Middle-Eastern descent I am no stranger to hummus and I just love this recipe from my Auntie’s kitchen.

Hummus is a great idea because it’s high in protein, and is also a good source of fibre, heart-healthy fats and essential vitamins and minerals.

It’s so versatile and makes a great addition to lunchboxes with some vegetable sticks, it’s a quick and easy dip to make when you have guests, and is a delicious accompaniment to many meat dishes ( I particularly love it with lamb).

For 40 more scrumptious sweet and savoury recipes which are nut and refined-sugar free grab your copy of my Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes recipe book here. 

Now here’s a few reasons why hummus is so good for you!

Chickpeas

Chickpeas are naturally low in fat, high in dietary fiber, and rich in vitamins and minerals.

It’s a fibre-rich prebiotic food that can help promote a healthy intestine.

Tahini

Tahini is very easy to digest, and many of its nutrients find their way into the bloodstream within about half an hour of consumption.

Has high nutritional value, especially B vitamins which help prevent anemia and are an essential part of the running of the body and is a great source of fatty acids

Lemon

Vitamin C is an antioxidant and gives your body protection from free radicals, which damage your body and contribute to diseases. Vitamin C also helps strengthen your immune system.

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Auntie Helen's Hummus

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 400 gms tin chickpeas
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 tspn sea salt
• 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup warm water extra if you like a thinner consistency

Instructions

• Place all of the ingredients  into a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. If the dip is too thick add some extra warm water bit by bit and blend until you reach your desired consistency.

If you share this 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 my Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes recipe book here. 

It contains 40 scrumptious sweet and savoury recipes which are nut and refined-sugar free.

Other dips you might like to try are Roast Pumpkin Dip and check out a bunch more delicious dips in this post, Dip-a-licious.

Enjoy!

Bren x