Susan Deans

Transformational Health Coach

Slow Cooked Beans

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slow-cooked-beansThese are delicious and very versatile. I use black beans which are my favourite, but they are hard to find in a can, so I have to cook dry beans beforehand. Cooking instructions for the beans are at the end of the page, if that’s what you want to do, otherwise, canned beans are fine: cannelini, kidney, navy or a mixture.

Ingredients:

  • 2 onions finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 1 Tbsp each of ground coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, paprika
  • 1/8 tsp chilli powder (optional, I don’t always put it in)
  • Macadamia oil/ghee/clarified butter
  • Cooked black beans, see below, or 2 x 400g cans of beans of your choice (if you like extra beans add another can)
  • 2 x 400g tins of crushed or chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp vegetable stock paste (or 1 tsp sea salt and finely chopped celery)
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste

Method:

  1. Heat oil in a frying pan, add onion garlic and spices, cook till soft.
  2. Place all the other ingredients into the slow cooker then add the onion/garlic/spices mix.
  3. Cook on low for about 6-7hours or high for about 3hrs. just check your liquid levels.

Thermomix method:

  1. Put onion and garlic in the TM bowl, speed 6 for 5 seconds.
  2. Scrape down bowl and add oil and spices and cook at 100°, speed 1 for 2 minutes.
  3. Add all other ingredients to TM bowl (EXCEPT BEANS) and cook for 100°, speed 1 for 10 minutes.
  4. To break down the tomatoes, hit turbo once or twice. If you want a really smooth sauce blend on speed 6 for 8 seconds or longer.
  5. Place beans into the slow cooker then add the sauce and cook for 7-8 hours on low.

Sometimes I cook them overnight and have them for breakfast, other times I put them on in the morning ready for an early dinner. If you want them quicker you can cook on high for about 3-4 hours. The longer you cook them the thicker the sauce will be.

If you don’t have a slow cooker you can cook on a stove top with a lid until thick or bake in the oven in a casserole dish with a lid for a couple of hours on around 180°C. If you want to cook it quickly just double the tomato paste to make it nice and thick (2 tbsp).

Cooking dry beans:

  1. Soak 2 cups dry black beans overnight in 6-8 cups of water.
  2. Drain, rinse and cover with fresh water.
  3. Bing to the boil and cook for approximately 1 hour or until beans are tender.
  4. Drain and use.

Variations:

  • For a milder flavour, leave out the smoked paprika and chilli.
  • Add some cooked bacon chopped.
  • Add 2 bay leaves.
  • Add 25g rapadura/panela/muscavado sugar, rice malt syrup or black strap molasses.

Where to buy these sugars:

Rice malt syrup from the supermarket in the health food aisle (Pure Harvest, is a good brand)
Muscavado/panela/rapadura are now available in Coles and Woolworths in the sugar aisle and in some health food aisles. You can also buy them at health food stores.

Easy & Tasty Frittata/Quiche

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FrittataWhatever you want to call these egg dishes, I love making them. I find it hard to eat eggs on their own but I will happily eat them mixed with veges and lots of flavour. These are especially easy and healthy because there is no pastry base required, which is great because making my own pastry is a little hit and miss.

You can add whatever you want to a frittata, just be mindful of the liquid content as you don’t want to add too much otherwise it won’t set properly. Other than that, you can experiment with different flavours and ingredients. I don’t eat a lot of cheese but I do love strong flavours (or as I like to call it, stinky cheese!) and you could add parmesan, fetta (another favourite of mine), or what you like.

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion finely chopped (quartered for TM)
  • 2 garlic cloves crushed (peeled for TM)
  • Oil or ghee for frying (I use macadamia oil)
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 grated carrot (roughly chopped for TM)
  • 1 grated zucchini – squeeze out excess liquid (roughly chopped for TM)
  • 1 tbsp veg stock paste (if you don’t have any just add 1 tsp sea salt)
  • 1 tbsp mixed herbs
  • ½ cup plain flour (rice, buckwheat, quinoa or spelt flour, which contains gluten)
  • 1½  cups grated full fat cheddar cheese – half in the recipe and half to sprinkle on top. (Or cheese of your choice, a mixture of parmesan and tasty cheddar is delicious).
  • ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped or sliced (optional, but yummy)
  • ½ cup peas
  • Cooked bacon chopped (again,optional, but yummy)
  • Roast pumpkin/sweet potato (pre-cooked)

Method:

  1. Place onion, garlic and herbs into a fry pan and fry until onions start to go soft.
  2. Whisk eggs and flour in a large bowl.
  3. Add fried onions, ½ the cheese and all other ingredients, except the roast vegetables, and mix well.
  4. In a lined baking dish place roast pumpkin & sweet potato to cover the bottom then pour mixture into the dish.
  5. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Thermomix method:

  1. Place onion & garlic in Thermomix speed 6, for 5 seconds.
  2. Add herbs and oil and fry 2 mins, 100°, speed 1.
  3. Add carrot & zucchini roughly chopped, speed 5 for 5 seconds.
  4. Add eggs, stock paste (or salt), ½ the cheese, sundried tomatoes, flour & mix speed 4 for 10 seconds.
  5. Add (extras) peas, bacon, etc and mix on reverse, speed 2, 5 seconds or until all combined.
  6. In a lined baking dish place pumpkin & sweet potato to cover the bottom then pour mixture into the dish.
  7. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Cook at 190° C for approx. 40 mins or until browned on top and cooked in the middle. I usually push down gently in the middle to see if its firm, or dip a skewer.

Cool in the dish for about 5 mins then turn out onto a wire rack.

Cut into squares and serve with a salad or cooked vegetables (my favourite is broccoli). I also keep leftovers and have them for breakfast or lunch with a salad the next day.

Protein Packed Muesli Bars

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protein-packed-meusli-barsThis recipe has been adapted from an original recipe Protein-Packed Flapjacks by Jenny Tschiesche aka the Lunchbox Doctor.  I really like this recipe as it’s nut free, which is suitable for kids to take to school, and it’s full of protein and healthy fats.

I have added some ingredients and used some different sugars because that’s all I had in the cupboard, but essentially it’s very similar.  The ingredients that I used are in blue. My kids aren’t big fans of dried fruit so I only used currants and halved the amount.

Ingredients:

  • 75g (30z) mixed seeds (pumpkin and sunflower work well, but any seed will do)
  • ¼ cup chia seeds (makes it a little chewy)
  • 125g (4oz) butter
  • 75g (3oz) dark muscavado sugar (original recipe had rapadura, both available from the supermarket)
  • 1 tbsp. honey (Jenny used black strap molasses)
  • 175g (6oz) oats
  • 25g currants (original recipe uses 50g dried fruit cut into small pieces)
  • ¼ cup puffed Amaranth

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
  2. Whizz the seeds and chia seeds to a powder in a food processor or coffee grinder (in batches if using a coffee grinder).
  3. In a saucepan melt the butter, sugar and honey.
  4. Add the oats, dried fruit, amaranth, and ground seeds.
  5. Mix until all the ingredients are coated with wet ingredients.
  6. Spread the mixture out on a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cut whilst warm but allow to cool in the baking tray before removing.

5 Tips for a Healthy Breakfast

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Boiled eggs with stampWhat you eat for breakfast can have a big impact on your energy levels and your concentration throughout the day, so it’s an important meal to get right. When it comes to breakfast, the food possibilities are endless, so how do we choose food that is quick, easy and healthy at the same time?

Firstly, let’s look at a couple of popular foods people may have for breakfast: toast with butter/jam/vegemite and breakfast cereals.

These are hugely popular and very easy and fast, BUT they are not at all healthy. Plain wheat bread will cause blood sugar spikes and will not sustain you throughout the morning and most breakfast cereal is full of sugar and additives and is so overly processed it has very little nutritional value. The only reason they are so popular is because advertising has told us they are.

Kids going to school need to have a healthy breakfast so they have enough energy to get through the day and to help them to concentrate and focus in class.

Here are 2 things that I believe form part of a healthy breakfast.

1. Good quality fats

There are so many reasons why it’s important to eat quality fats, but here are just a few:

  • Help utilize fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K
  • Helps build hormones and brain cells.
  • Helps slow down food absorption and make us feel fuller longer.
  • Good brain function

Sources of healthy fats include: avocado, nuts, oily fish (salmon, tuna and mackerel), chia seeds, full fat organic yogurt or cheese and eggs

2. Protein

The brain, muscles, and our skin are made up of protein. Protein helps keep our brain healthy and alert.

Some good sources of protein include: wild caught fish, organic free range chicken, grass-fed meat, eggs, pulses and legumes.

5 Top Tips for a Healthy Breakfast

  1. Choose some protein and some healthy fats.
  2. Make time to prepare breakfast. If you feel you don’t have time, get up 15 minutes earlier (it’s definitely worth it).
  3. Step out of the traditional breakfast ideals and start thinking differently. Breakfast can be anything, including left over dinner.
  4. Stop buying packaged breakfast cereal.
  5. Choose good quality bread (see my post on bread).

What to Eat

Here are 13 ideas for a nourishing breakfast.

  1. Sourdough spelt toast, topped with: avocado, basil and tomato; or cheese tomato and avocado; or cheese with salmon or chicken; or peanut butter and banana
  2. Plain organic oats, either cooked into porridge or soaked with yogurt for a Bircher style, homemade granola or muesli. If you don’t have time to make your own, I’ve listed my favourite store-bought ones down the page. Healthy Toppings: yogurt, chopped nuts, seeds, berries or chopped fruit, coconut chips.
  3. Eggs: Boiled, fried, scrambled, omelette, French toast or a frittata. I make a big frittata, slice it up ready to go, then either eat it cold or heated up for a few days.
  4. Leftover cooked meat.
  5. Breakfast smoothie: banana, fruit, green leafy vegetables, nuts or whatever you like, blended.
  6. Chia pudding: soaked chia seeds, topped with yogurt, fruit, nuts, muesli.
  7. Fresh fruit and yogurt.
  8. Grilled cheese on wholegrain sourdough toast.
  9. Healthy Banana pancakes: 1 mashed banana, 2 eggs, cinnamon, 1 Tablespoon of either buckwheat/rice/millet/quinoa flour, mix together, cook, YUM!
  10. Leftover dinner warmed up (one of my favourites especially if it’s Indian)
  11. A continental breakfast of bread, cheese, cold meat, butter.
  12. Spelt wrap filled with avocado, chicken and cheese (or filling of choice) and grilled in a sandwich press. Can be made the night before and pressed in the morning.
  13. Beans on toast. I make up my own healthy version of “baked beans” in the slow cooker and it lasts all week. You can even freeze them in portions.

As you can see there are so many different things to eat for breakfast. My suggestion to keep it simple is to choose your three favourites and rotate them during the week. (My husband doesn’t want to make any decisions in the morning, so he has an omelette every day. He is so used to making it, it takes him minutes to prepare.) It will become a lot easier once you get in the flow of only a few choices.

Make it easy for yourself by being prepared the night before. My friend and I both have a breakfast roster and it’s stuck up on the wall so the kids (and I) know what we are having for breakfast that day. It’s especially important if you have kids that might leave early for school some days and don’t have as much time.

My favourites are egg based breakfasts because they are super healthy and easy to prepare. French toast is extra easy if you make it in a sandwich press.

Shop Swap

I looked at every muesli and granola I could find in my local supermarkets and these are the shop swaps I can recommend if you want some cereal.

  • Carman’s Muesli – it comes in a variety of flavours and is delicious with natural yoghurt.
  • Macro Organic Muesli – available from Woolworths.
  • Macro Organic Oats – available from Woolworths.

To sum it all up:

  • Include some protein and healthy fat for breakfast
  • Swap cereal for oats or homemade muesli/granola
  • Choose good quality ingredients
  • Choose up to 3 items and rotate them
  • Make it simple for yourself and keep trying, you will see a difference.

Now I would love to hear from you! What do you have for breakfast, and do you have any questions about what to eat for breakfast? Leave me a comment below or join the Shop Swap community on Facebook.

Want to know more about how to gain more energy, lose weight or just feel better? Then come and join in the conversation in my private Facebook group. We are all about Food, Mindset, Connection and Support. We are waiting to welcome you!

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Happy swapping

Is Yoghurt a Health food or a Junk Food?

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yogurt-featured-imageWe are in the final weeks of the school holidays and soon it will be all system go and back to school. Which also means school lunches! Arrrgh! I can tell you that without a doubt school lunches are the thing I like making the least, and I’m sure plenty of other mums around the country feel the same way.

Why? A lot of mums work, are time poor and want foods that are easy and convenient, right? We get very worried about our kids not eating, so we put anything in there just so they won’t go hungry. Enter the packaged foods.

“Well, at least they will have something to eat”, is what I hear so often. Because we all want to do the right thing for our kids, we try and choose the healthier option. But, did you know that a lot of the items we perceive as healthy are high in sugar and have added colours, flavours and additives? These can all be detrimental to your child’s health, behaviour and learning, so you want to avoid them as much as possible.

One item in particular is yoghurt! Manufacturers have taken a traditionally healthy product and, I believe, turned it into junk food. Most yoghurts that are marketed to kids are very unhealthy, but I’m going to show you some better options.

Always buy full fat yoghurt as the low fat or fat free versions will be loaded with sugar and flavours, and anyway, it’s the fat that fills you up and can be used as fuel. Any plain yoghurt is going to be the healthiest choice, but unless your kids have grown up eating plain yoghurt it may be tricky getting them to eat it, so this is what I do.

Start with plain organic full fat/Greek yoghurt and add a small amount (roughly ½ teaspoon) of pure maple syrup or honey, and/or some vanilla powder *

Add fresh or frozen berries (blueberry, blackberry, raspberry etc) or chopped fresh fruit like strawberries. You could also add stewed apples, passionfruit, banana or our favourites, mango, nectarine & peaches. Yum!

I also like to add nuts and seeds but am aware that most school are nut free. Sunflower seeds, toasted pumpkin seeds, chia seeds are all great to add to yoghurt to make it more nutrient dense.

Once they get used to eating this version you can reduce/stop adding the honey/maple syrup.

This does not take very long at all, I promise! On the weekend you can cut/stew or blend enough fruit for 3 days and have it in the fridge, then on Wednesday do the same for the rest of the week. I sometimes put half the container of plain yoghurt (500g) into another jar, add the vanilla and sugar and its ready to go, just add the rest.

jalna-flavoured-yoghurtMy favourite brands of plain yoghurt are Barambah, Jalna, Maleny Dairies, Gippsland, five:am.

If you want to buy readymade small tubs, I can recommend the pot set Jalna flavoured yoghurts.

If you can’t tolerate cow’s milk, try some sheep or goat yoghurt. Meredith Dairy is a good quality brand.

Another one on the market at the moment is coconut yoghurt, but beware it can be just as bad as some of the flavoured yoghurts. Some of the brands are sweetened with xylitol and the jury is still out on whether this is ok or not. I personally don’t eat it.

Tip: Find nice containers to take it in, how lunch looks is very important to most kids. For the younger kids these reusable pouches are different and fun http://littlemashies.com/. and http://www.mylilpouch.com.au/. You can even freeze them in the warmer weather.

*Vanilla powder I use is Loving Earth brand. Its 100% vanilla powder & I only use about 1/8 of a teaspoon. The jar lasts me months, and it a lot. Available at health food stores and online https://lovingearth.net/vanilla-bean-powder-777.html

Five shop swap tips:

  • Nearly all flavoured yoghurts on the market are not healthy, especially “kids” yoghurts.
  • Start your kids on natural yoghurt from an early age, that way they will eat it.
  • Stay away from low fat, fat free, no added sugar & the words “natural flavour” or “flavour”.
  • Don’t’ get sucked in by the marketing on the front, read the ingredients list, that’s what is important.
  • Organic doesn’t necessarily mean helathy, as that probably only refers to the milk and there could be artificial flavours or refined sugar in there.

How to Choose Healthier Bread – 5 Top Tips

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shop swap bread with stampOh how I love the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven and what is better than fresh bread with lashings of butter? But not all breads are created equal. I used to eat a lot of bread, until I started cleaning up my diet. And I gave up eating wheat years ago after reading a book called Wheat Belly, which immediately made me feel so much better.

As a family we don’t eat any wheat but we didn’t give up bread altogether, we just swapped to a healthier option. As a nation I believe we eat way too much bread, and if we just cut down the amount we consume, it would make a big difference to our health. This swap is all about giving you some healthier swaps for bread. Basically, quality bread that contains wholegrains (other than wheat) and no preservatives or additives.

Buying bread in a supermarket is a bit of a minefield as there is so much of it there, but it’s mostly not any good. It can be confusing when you are standing looking at all the shelves of bread. There are so many buzz words like wholegrain, stone ground and gluten free and all claiming to be the “healthy” choice. So here are my top 5 things to look out for when you want quality bread:

  1. Choose bread that is made from 100% wholegrain spelt, kamut or rye, or if this isn’t available, choose bread that isn’t made solely from wheat.
  2. Always choose wholegrain over any white bread, and look and feel the actual bread, light a fluffy usually means not much nutritional value.
  3. Make sure the bread doesn’t contain any preservatives or additives as they can damage our health more than the bread itself (*Calcium propionate – 282)
  4. Choose sourdough where possible as it is easier to digest.
  5. Stay away from Gluten free bread from the supermarket.

*Calcium propionate or 282 is used in bread as a mould inhibitor. Some side effects can include irritability, asthma, migraine, fatigue, aggression.  www.thechemicalmaze.com

In the swaps below, I have given you some brands to try.

Regular Bread

My top bread swaps:

King Henry’s Bakehouse 100% Rye Bread – available in all supermarkets and easy to come by.

Ancient Grains Wholegrain Spelt or Kamut – my family’s favourite, but only available from health stores and specialist grocers.

Healthy Bake Wholemeal Spelt Organic Sourdough – available from health food stores.

Wraps are a good way of cutting down total bread consumption and my favourite is Mountain Bread 100% Spelt. Mountain Bread has a number of other varieties which contain some wheat and other grains, like rice, corn, oat, chia. They’re available from some supermarkets, health food stores and direct from the baker online.

http://www.mountainbread.com.au/breads/spelt/product-detail.aspx

Another brand of wrap available at the supermarket is MEB superfoods.

Fruit Loaves

Although they are delicious, fruit loaves contain preservatives, sugar, colours and additives – so not good for you at all.

Swap for:

Ancient Grains Fruit Loaf or Apple Scrolls

http://www.foodiesorganic.com.au/order-online/bread/rye-apricot-fruit-loaf-680g-ancient-grains/

Gluten Bree Bread

Nearly all gluten free bread on the supermarket shelf is full of starches, thickeners, colours, sugar and preservatives. But the good news (especially for anyone who is gluten intolerant) is you can get some really good ones. You will need to go to your local health food or specialty store to get them, however if you don’t want to run around the shops you can sit at home and order them online and have them delivered (I like this option)

My top GF bread swaps:

Zehender Bread

http://gfbakehouse.com.au/our-products/

Naturis

http://www.naturis.com.au/

Dovedale Multiseed Chia bread

https://glutenfreeshop.com.au/dovedale-multiseed-chia-bread-620g.html

No Go List

I haven’t found a healthier alternative so I recommend you stay away from:

  • Cheese and bacon rolls 🙁
  • English muffins & crumpets 🙁

Take Home Message

Although wheat bread is a large part of most people’s diet, it’s quite easy to swap it for a healthier more nutritious alternative.

You may find it takes a bit of time to find what suits you, but the list above is a great place to start.

Now I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment below or join the Shop Swap community on Facebook.

Want to know more about how to gain more energy, lose weight or just feel better? Then come and join in the conversation in my private Facebook group. We are all about Food, Mindset, Connection and Support. We are waiting to welcome you!

Happy swapping

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Susan Deans