Tag Archives: seeds

Raw lime and cinnamon bars

July 12, 2014 holisticwellnessforlife Leave a comment

My first raw bar and the flavours are lovely!

The lime and cinnamon infuse through the bars which are firm, wholesome and delicious. I eat these straight from the freezer and they are a real treat.

2014-07-10 14.40.14 — You will be able to stock up the freezer and pack these in the lunch box.

Ingredients:

2 cups of nuts (I used raw activated walnuts and brazil nuts)

2 cups of seeds (I used 1/2 cup each of pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds and chia seeds)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

10 medjool dates that have been deseeded and soaked in warm water for 15 minutes then drained

The juice and zest of one large or two small limes.

1/2 cup raw organic honey (slightly warmed)

1/2 cup organic coconut oil (gently melted)

Extra pepitas to put on top of the mixture

2014-07-10 13.13.06 — Everything goes into the food processor.

Place everything into the food processor and pulse to the desired consistency. The soft dates, coconut oil and honey should be blended in well and the nuts broken into small pieces.

2014-07-10 13.21.37 — Everything is blended well.

Press the mix into a baking dish lined with baking paper. Mine was approximately 22cm and was a glass dish. Use the spare pumpkin seeds (pepitas) to decorate the top of the mix.

2014-07-10 13.32.58 — Push the pumpkin seeds into the top of the mix to decorate.

Place the mixture into the freezer for about an hour.

2014-07-10 14.36.55 — This is the fun part!

Lift the slab out of the dish by grabbing the edges of the baking paper. Using a sharp knife cut the mix into long bars and then squares. After you have had a taste test, place the rest of the bars into a container and store in the freezer.

2014-07-10 14.43.14 — Ready for the freezer

I have found that the lovely lime flavour is enhanced over time, and the bars l have eaten from the freezer have had a very enticing hint of lime, which reminds me of the feeling l get when l am drinking a beautiful herbal tea.

If you have enjoyed this post please share with a friend. Thankyou carolyn

You can follow me on Instagram: holistic_paleo and Twitter; holistic paleo@carolynlgray

Wellness

Sensational Seed and Nut bars

May 24, 2014 holisticwellnessforlife Leave a comment

Healthy, easy to make seed and nuts bars, or just seed bars if you leave the nuts out as the ones above. This recipe is very flexible and l know there are heaps of other bar recipes on the web but this one suits me, my lifestyle, tastes and food choices. The ingredients are all wonderful and you can add more or less of each seed and it wont matter. To be adventurous you could add herbs, raw cacao, cinnamon or garlic and l may start experimenting a bit now l have this basic recipe worked out. The ones in the picture above do not have nuts or coconut, but l prefer the batch l made today which included them. I use organic and activated ingredients but it is up to you and your preferences. Regular nuts and seeds will work well, but l need to support my digestion and overall health as much as possible so use the best ingredients l can.

Ingredients:

1 cup activated organic sunflower seeds

1 cup activated organic pumpkin seeds

1 cup organic sesame seeds

1 cup black chia seeds

1 cup activated mixed nuts (I used walnut, almond and brazil)

A generous 1/2 cup organic shredded coconut

8 Medjool Dates seeded and chopped (roughly chop just to make it easier for the food processor)

A good 1/2 cup raw organic honey (use organic or regular honey if that is what you have or even rice malt syrup)

A good 1/2 cup organic coconut oil

Place the nuts, seeds, shredded coconut and dates in the food processor and chop until roughly chopped. Tip this into a good sized glass bowl. I used the same measuring cup for the organic coconut oil and raw organic honey and with both in there it should look really full. Put the coconut oil in the cup first so it is easier to remove.

Melt the coconut oil and honey in a saucepan on very low heat. You don’t want it too hot so remove from the heat just before it is all melted. Give it a stir and then pour it into the seed, nut, date and shredded coconut mix. Stir well and taste test. It should be delicious and sweet.

Place a sheet of grease proof paper over a baking tray and run your finger around the edge to make a crease. Pour the mix onto the tray and flatten with a soft spatula or the back of a spoon. Make sure it is quite even across the whole tray and give special attention to the corners.

I have tried a few different oven temperatures and times but basically you don’t want the oven too hot as you will burn the seeds and lose lots of nutrients, and you want to just cook it until the edges are going golden. I cooked mine today in a Fan Forced Convection Oven at 170 Degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. You will be able to check this after your first batch.

Remove the tray from the oven and let cool until cold. I left mine for about 1.5 hours.

Use the edges of the baking paper to carefully remove the bars as a whole from the tray and lay it on a flat bench. Cut the bars while still on the baking paper into whatever size suits you using a very sharp knife and wiping clean after cutting a row. I think it is better to have the bars quite small as then you have more of a choice over serving size.

Carefully lift each bar into the container for freezing unless you are going to eat them all fresh. If they are a bit crumbly you can place the whole lot into the freezer with a cutting board underneath so they harden a bit before placing in the tub.

The best part of the whole cooking experience is eating the crumbs. Scrape them off the baking paper and into a bowl. Enjoy! You could dip something into these crumbs such as a banana or use them as a topping.

If you enjoyed this post please share it with a friend. I am now on Instagram!, Twitter! and Facebook! which are all accessible through the webpage. Instagram: holisticwellnessforlife, Twitter: Holistic Wellness @carolynlgray, Facebook: Holistic Wellness For Life. Thanks Carolyn

Wellness

Snack bars-all natural

April 10, 2014 holisticwellnessforlife Leave a comment

Another lunch box filler or sweet snack to fill in the holes that are left by following a restricted diet. These snack bars are crunchy and sweet eaten straight from the freezer which is how l prefer them, but if l pack them in my lunch box for work l use a cool block so they stay cool. The raw organic honey, medjool dates and organic coconut oil provide the elements of sweetness and stickiness that helps to hold the bars together. Everything in these bars is healthy and natural and the best part is scraping the bits off the tray and eating them while still warm. See if you can resist!

I like to make things in bulk and freeze them but if this doesn’t suit you then just halve the recipe. If you halve it just use one baking tray instead of two. It can be good to start with a smaller quantity as it often takes a few goes to get a recipe right or to make adaptations to it that suit you.

Ingredients:

1 cup Almond Meal (I keep mine in the fridge)

1 cup organic shredded coconut

1 cup organic sesame seeds (I also keep all of my seeds and nuts in the fridge)

1 cup of Pepitas

1 cup of Sunflower Seeds

1 cup of Chia Seeds

2 cups of chopped nuts (I used walnuts almonds and macadamias)

2 teaspoons organic cinnamon

12 medjool dates seeded and chopped

4 generous tablespoons raw organic honey (or organic honey)-warm so it is just a liquid

1 good cup of organic coconut oil-warm so it is a liquid

Method:

Place the nuts and dates in the food processor and pulse. Add all of the other dry ingredients and mix well. Place in a bowl and mix through the liquid honey and coconut oil. This is the time for a taste test. Yum!

Grease the two trays well with coconut oil (one if halving the recipe) and place half of the mixture on each tray. Spread the mixture evenly over the tray and using an egg flipper push the mix down so it is flattened and compacted. Focus on the corners and edges also. Place the trays in a pre-heated 160 degree celcius oven and bake until the edges are quite golden. Around 30 minutes but it will depend on the oven.

Let the trays cool for about five minutes and then run a sharp knife around the edge of the tray and carefully cut lines into the mix as shown in the picture. When the trays are completely cool, cover with cling wrap and place into the freezer for about one hour. Take the trays out of the oven and use a cake server to go around the edge of the tray and loosen the bars. Bend the tray slightly until you can see the bars lifting off the tray. Use the cake slicer to carefully lift each piece out of the tray. Place into a container and put in the freezer. This is the time to scrape the leftover pieces off the tray and enjoy. So yummy!

If you have enjoyed this post please share it with a friend. I am also on Facebook at Holistic Wellness For Life and Twitter at Holistic Wellness@carolynlgray. Thanks Carolyn

Recipes, Wellness

Rosemary and Sea Salt seed bars

March 12, 2014 holisticwellnessforlife Leave a comment

These were really nice on their own but l can imagine having them with a nut butter or avocado with tuna or salmon on top. I cut them quite small so they are more like a cracker biscuit and have placed them in the freezer to pack in my lunch when working.

Ingredients:

1 cup of organic sesame seeds

1 cup of organic pumpkin seeds

1 cup of organic sunflower seeds

1 generous tablespoon organic coconut oil

1 generous tablespoon raw organic honey

1 heaped tablespoon fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup filtered water

Place all of the ingredients into the food processor and blend until smooth.

Spoon the mix into a well greased biscuit tray (mine was 24cm x 34cm) and spread out smoothly with a spatula until even across the pan. I greased the pan with organic coconut oil and it is very important to grease the base well. The mixture should be about 1/2 cm thick across the tray. Bake in a 180 degree celsius oven until golden on top. Remove from the oven and while still in the tray cut the mix into slices. A tip is to run a knife around the edge of the tray to loosen the bars slightly. I cut mine into small squares as it had slightly stuck to the tray and they were easy to get out with a spatula. Carefully lift each piece out of the tray and place carefully with space between each piece onto two clean and greased trays. Return to the oven and bake for about another ten minutes or until they are looking golden. Remove from the tray with a spatula and place on the cooling rack. You can eat these bars fresh or place in the freezer to use later on.

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Recipes, Wellness

Egg salad with walnuts and seeds

January 12, 2014 holisticwellnessforlife 1 Comment

Delicious, crunchy, healthy and full of flavour.

Eggs are a great protein source and l experimented with some of the ingredients here to make a really healthy and crunchy salad. I served this salad with my Zingy tomato salad and roasted sweet potato and the flavours blended together beautifully. Some of you might ask where the meat is in this meal and certainly l could have served some grilled fish or chicken on the side or had a nice piece of Salmon with it. Sometimes it is just nice to have a non-meat meal and there were good sources of protein in this meal including the eggs, walnuts and chia seeds. Those of you who follow this blog will know that l have had my gall bladder removed and as a result l don’t eat red meat as l find it hard to digest and find that a light non-meat orientated meal can be a good way to finish the day.

Ingredients:

8 hard boiled free range eggs

2 small finely diced carrots

1 cup of activated walnuts (raw walnuts soaked and dehydrated)

1 cup of finely diced cabbage

2 spring onions (the green ends finely diced)

2 stalks of celery finely diced

1/4 cup activated sunflower seeds

1/4 cup activated pumpkin seeds

Method:

Mix all of these ingredients together in a nice glass bowl and add your favourite dressing.

My dressing:

In a bowl mix with a hand blender:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar, sea salt, black pepper, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and the juice of one small lemon or lime. You can add in any herbs or other spices you have that you think would make this dish extra delicious. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until serving.

Recipes, Wellness

Rustic seed bread

November 28, 2013 holisticwellnessforlife Leave a comment

2013-11-28 19.45.38 2013-10-08 11.59.17

This is a really delicious addition to a meal and it is a challenge not to eat it all as soon as it comes out of the oven. One of the delights of this bread is that parts of the edges crumble as it is cut and these are the bits l love to eat. I have used whole sunflower and pumpkin seeds and if you want a more refined load you could blend these slightly before mixing. I love how crunchy the pepitas are and the small pile that was left on the chopping board after cutting could be saved to pour on top of a salad for some extra crunch. I sliced up the loaf into single serves and placed it in the freezer so l can grab a piece when l need it. Not having bread in my diet does leave a space for a bread like this, as sometimes it is nice to hold a delicious piece of something resembling bread in your hand and dip it into the soup.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Coconut flour

3/4 cup Buckwheat flour

1 cup Almond meal

1/2 cup LSA

1 generous cup of seeds – a mix of whatever you like but l used organic sesame seeds, poppy seeds, activated sunflower and pumpkin seeds.

1/4 cup black chia seeds

3 teaspoons gluten free baking powder

4 eggs

A generous 1/4 cup organic coconut oil gently melted

Filtered water-approximately 1 cup (you could use almond or oat milk if you can have those)

Method:

Find a suitable baking dish. I have tried this with a small square cake tin or a rectangular loaf tin. Either one is fine. Grease and line the base.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together except the chia seeds.

Mix together in a separate bowl the eggs, warm coconut oil, 1 cup of water and chia seeds.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix and add extra water as required. The mix should look moist but not wet.

Put the dough into the baking dish and push down so that the top looks nice and even. Place in a pre-heated 180 degree oven for about one hour or until nice and golden. Turn out onto a cooling rack and when cool cut into slices with a serrated knife. It will hold together better if the slices are thicker (approximately 1.5cm). The crunchy end bits are the best. The middle bits can be grilled when required to give them some extra crunchiness. I do this straight from the freezer and then top the bread with my favourite toppings such as avocado and tomato (see picture above)

Thank you to my sister and brother in-law who inspired this recipe.

Recipes, Wellness

Activating your nuts and seeds

November 9, 2013 holisticwellnessforlife Leave a comment

Activating my nuts and seeds has taken a while to get the hang of. The many wellness books l have all say that it is essential to activate the nuts and seeds you are eating if they form a regular part of your diet.

What is activating your nuts? It involves soaking the nuts in water and a small amount of salt, then drying them at low temperatures so that they are easier to digest. This process also helps to remove substances in nuts and seeds called phytic acid and protease inhibitors which can interfere with the absorption of important minerals such as Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and Zinc.

I started off activating the nuts using my oven. Hard nuts such as almonds, walnuts and brazil nuts need to be soaked over night. Place them in a tub and cover with room temperature water and add a small pinch of sea salt. In the morning, rinse off the nuts under running water. Place them directly on to oven trays and place in the oven at the very lowest temperature (under 60 degrees celsius) so as not to destroy all of the enzymes in the nuts. Make sure they are not piled high on top of each other. After a few hours turn them over. Keep them in the oven for around ten hours, and try one every now and again to see if they are ready. Store them in the fridge in a container and place any excess in the freezer. Softer nuts such as cashews and macadamia nuts only need about 6 hours soaking and less time in the oven, so you could do this all in one day. Because of this, l buy nuts in packets with just one type of nut, rather than mixed because then l have to pick all of the soft ones out. Aldi have a good selection of nuts such as macadamias, almonds and walnuts. You want to buy raw, unroasted nuts. Activated nuts can take some getting used to as they are a bit softer than unactivated nuts, but that is good for your teeth also.

I was given a dehydrator and it has really changed my dehydrating a lot. I was never comfortable with having the oven on for hours and the dehydrator just sits on the bench and doesn’t heat up the kitchen. I can also put the temperature on very low. I recently had great success with my first batch of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds. I soaked them overnight separately and because they are thin they only took a few hours to dry. You will know when they are ready as they won’t taste as if there is any moisture in them. I have never been a big snacker of these seeds but after they were dried they were so delicious. The ones that were not eaten have been placed in air tight containers in the fridge. If you are in Australia l can recommend http://www.bulkwholefoods.com.au for organic seeds and nuts. If you spend over $100 delivery is free, the service is really good and if ever there is a problem with the order it is resolved quickly. I met the owner at a recent Wellness Expo and she was really nice and she had a range of their products on display which was very impressive. Good luck with the activating!

Holistic Wellness for Life

Tag Archives: seeds

Raw lime and cinnamon bars

Sensational Seed and Nut bars

Snack bars-all natural

Rosemary and Sea Salt seed bars

Egg salad with walnuts and seeds

Rustic seed bread

Activating your nuts and seeds

Live & eat mindfully. Gluten & dairy free recipes.