Scoop out the avocado and mash into a bowl. Add the tomato and onion and mix thoroughly.
Sprinkle the Cajun seasoning over the chicken. Heat a frypan to medium heat and lightly spray with olive oil. Place the chicken and capsicum in the frypan and cook for approximately three minutes on each side. Set aside.
Heat the tortillas for a couple of minutes in the oven or frypan.
Place the avocado mixture and baby spinach leaves on the tortillas and top with the chicken and capsicum.
Recipe from Light & Delish magazine, published by Blitz Publications & Multi-Media Group.
Place the chicken pieces into a bowl along with the tandoori paste and yoghurt. Put the chicken onto a baking tray and place in the oven to cook for five minutes. Set aside.
Place some spinach and rocket leaves on the base of the pita bread. Place the mushrooms, onions and tandoori chicken on top and then sprinkle over the cheese.
Place the pizza into the oven and cook for approximately five minutes.
Dollop the sour cream over the pizza and serve immediately.
Recipe from Light & Delish magazine, published by Blitz Publications & Multi-Media Group.
Eat clean with these cacao-based chocolate recipes from model and kitchen whiz Abigail O’Neill.
Cranberry ripe made with cacao
Ingredients (serves 4) • 80g creamed coconut, finely chopped • 1 rounded tbsp raw organic coconut oil • 1 cup organic dried cranberries • ½ cup desiccated coconut • ½ tsp vanilla powder • 2 tbsp agave • Classic Dark for top and bottom of slice
Classic Dark • 40g raw cacao liquor, finely chopped • 30g raw cacao butter, finely chopped • 1 tbsp raw organic coconut oil • ¼ tsp vanilla powder • 1½ tbsp raw dark agave • 1–2 tbsp raw cacao powder
Method Prepare Classic Dark by melting finely chopped cacao butter and liquor with coconut oil in a glass bowl over boiling water. Remove from heat. Whisk in all other ingredients, adding raw cacao powder last. Chill half of prepared raw chocolate in the base of a lined, sealable glass dish. Keep the other half slightly warm. Process all filling ingredients in a food processor until they are fine and have begun to bind. Press cranberry mixture firmly onto hardened chocolate. Spread the remaining chocolate over slice and chill until firm. Cut into squares and enjoy with your favourite pot of tea, fruit, or simply as is!
Ingredients (serves 4) • 2 medium–large avocados • 200ml organic coconut cream or ¾ cup green coconut water + ½ cup coconut flesh • 1⁄3 cup coconut sugar • 2 tbsp maple syrup • 2 tsp tahini • 6–8 drops essential oil of peppermint • ¾ cup organic cocoa powder
Method Beginning with avocados and continuing in order, blend all together until velvety smooth. Once perfectly combined, present small portions of mousse in glasses or small bowls to serve.
Chocolate bunnies made with cacao
Ingredients (makes 5 large or 10 smaller bunnies) • 200g creamed coconut, chopped • 2 big tbsp raw honey • ¼ tsp vanilla powder • 1 big tbsp nut butter of your choice • ½ cup chopped raw Brazil nuts • ½ cup mixed sultanas, currants and raisins • Pinch of fine sea salt • 1⁄3 cup raw cacao powder
Method Place creamed coconut into a glass bowl to melt over a larger bowl of boiling water. Remove from heat adding all other ingredients and mix together gently until combined. Scrape into Easter Bunny chocolate moulds and set in the freezer to harden. Keep chilled until ready to eat on Easter morning!
The nut butter will add its own unique hint of flavour to the chocolate. Hazelnut, macadamia, cashew, Brazil or even tahini will work beautifully! To make this recipe allergy free, use raw organic coconut oil in place of nut butter and omit Brazil nuts.
Ingredients (makes 20 bars) • 1 cup dates • ¾ cup Brazil nuts • ¾ cup rice protein powder • 1⁄3 cup chia seeds • ½ cup desiccated coconut • 1⁄3 cup raw cacao nibs or beans • ½ cup raw organic coconut oil • ½ cup raw cacao powder • 2 tbsp tahini • 1–2 tbsp raw honey • 2 tbsp water • Hemp seeds or desiccated coconut for top and bottom
WHAT YOU’LL DO Whiz together dates, nuts and protein powder to break up. Add in everything else and process until mixture begins to bind. Sprinkle a glass storage dish with a little hemp or coconut and press mixture down firmly, topping with more hemp seeds or coconut. Cut into bars as needed. Lasts nicely for up to a week in the fridge.
Experiment with organic dried figs or goji berries in place of dates. They’re not as sweet, but are also delicious!
Ingredients (fills 435g jar) • 40g cacao butter, finely chopped • ½ cup cold-pressed macadamia oil • ½ cup raw agave • ½ cup hazelnut butter • 1 tsp vanilla powder • Pinch Himalayan pink salt • 1⁄3 cup raw cacao OR organic cocoa powder
Method Melt cacao butter in a glass bowl over boiling water. Remove from heat and, using a small whisk, mix in everything else until perfectly smooth. Pour into a glass jar and allow to thicken as it cools or use as is. It will keep out of the fridge – even longer in the fridge but will set quite firmly. It generally disappears in a matter of days.
Note the difference in flavour of this spread when using raw cacao over organic cocoa, or perhaps even try a mixture of both. The organic cocoa adds more mellow chocolate tones while the raw cacao creates a stronger and slightly earthier taste.
Ingredients (serves 6-10) • 4 cups finely ground sesame seeds • ½ tsp vanilla powder • ½ cup raw honey • 1 tbsp raw agave • 1 tbsp raw cacao powder • Bee pollen, optional, for sprinkling
Method Use a coffee grinder to finely grind half-cup portions of sesame seeds until fine. Mix together ground seeds, vanilla and honey – hands may be necessary! Split the mixture, pressing two-thirds into a glass dish. Add agave and cacao to the remaining third and mix together well. Firmly press chocolate halva mix over the vanilla layer. Top with bee pollen if desired and chill to firm. Homemade halva keeps well in the fridge. Cut into chunks or slice as needed.
Work stress ruining your diet? With a bit of planning you can eat well despite a crazy schedule.
Dr Libby Weaver, author of Accidently Overweight, says many poor workplace food choices stem from stress or boredom – cue desktop M&Ms. Skipping meals also promotes reactive or ‘emergency’ eating when your brain lets you know it needs glucose. Now. Even if it’s a two-day-old Danish.
“Much overeating comes from emotional pain, boredom, not being mindful, seeking energy,” says Dr Weaver. If you are a stress snacker, she suggests finding another way to deal with what’s going on: a five-minute walk or stretching in the park at the end of the street can resolve the need that would have been met by a giant cookie.
Choosing the fight food
Eating optimal foods at certain times can not only fire up your grey matter, but has flow-on effects for other dietary choices; what you choose to eat for afternoon tea can directly impact what you’re inclined to choose at dinner – and how much discipline you are able to exercise. (If you’ve ever felt like someone’s forced you to stop for takeaway fettuccine, you may have made the classic mid-arvo mistake of snacking on refined carbs.)
Click ‘next’ to view our workday diet tips…
The day you ask for a pay rise Could there be anything more stressful? No-one would blame you for knocking back a stiff drink or supersize coffee in a bid to shake the nerves. But major stress already toys with blood sugar, and alcohol or coffee will only amplify the effect, leading to sub-optimal focus on concentration as your brain screams for glucose. Er, I deserve it because last year I did… is that a new pot plant?
Instead, try chamomile or lavender tea. Nutritionist Dr Rebecca Harwin also suggests increasing your intake of foods rich in Vitamin B, omega-3s and magnesium in the days leading up to your review – think sunflower seeds, and nuts and fish, which will help to reduce stress, improve brain function, and get you to chill the frig out. Of course, even if food is the last thing you feel like, it’s important to load up on quality fuel for optimum focus.
What the pros recommend
Nutritionist Zoe Bingley-Pullin recommends starting with a small portion of complex carbohydrates to help give your body a steady stream of sugar for the day.
“For breakfast, try some yoghurt with low fat muesli with some blueberries or strawberries.” For lunch, go a sandwich on brown or wholegrain bread with plenty of leafy greens and lean protein. For the rest of the day, eat regularly. And, Dr Harwin says, lay off refined foods and stimulants like coffee and cola, which are dehydrating. Drink water instead.
The full-day training seminar The most important thing is to keep your blood sugar stable throughout the day, says Bingley Pullin. “This is really important to maintain your focus through a long day of complex understanding.
Your secondary goal is making sure you get enough nutrients when you do eat, so you’ll need to snack every three hours and include nuts, seeds, dried or even fresh fruit. This will provide protein as well as a small amount of carbohydrates to sustain blood sugar levels throughout the day.” Harwin advises an early start on the morning you know you will be flat chat.
“Get up earlier and have a hearty breakfast with healthy protein, low GI fruit/vegies and good fats.” This will provide a sustained feeling of fullness and help to keep your blood sugar on the level all day.
Although foods brimming with fast-acting sugar may give you an instant energy hit, over a long day they can drop your blood sugar, meaning poor concentration, hunger pangs and sweet cravings. Also remain hydrated throughout the sessions. Dry air from air conditioning as well as just talking for long periods can dehydrate you so make sure you have a jug of water handy to sip.
Deadline day You may not be burning much energy physically, but mentally you need to stay focused. Your brain uses a lot of glucose so it’s important to maintain adequate blood sugar levels.
Naturopath and IsoWhey educator Danielle Newham recommends that your breakfast contains berries, fruit, and yoghurt, with a quarter-cup of low fat muesli to sustain your energy.
“Making sure you eat regularly is key; you should snack on dried fruit, apples or bananas to make sure you maintain your focus.” Try to take 10 to 15-minute breaks to help re-oxygenate your body.
“You will be surprised how much more work you get completed,” Newham says. Dr Harwin also warns that the changes in your blood sugars from not moving regularly will affect your work and increase cravings and the risk of eating something unhealthy. “This can further result in an energy crash in the near future, followed by the food cravings and the cycle continues,” Harwin says.
The day when you can’t fill up, no matter how much you eat If you feel as though you have worms, here’s an off-the-wall thought: you probably haven’t eaten enough. How much we need to eat can fluctuate from day to day and what was enough yesterday may not cut it today (behind the scenes your body might be using up more energy to crunch the sales numbers or repairing the muscles you pulled playing beach volleyball).
This is the time to listen to your body, not your math brain, otherwise, physiology almost guarantees you’ll overeat later – and not necessarily helpful foods.
What the pros recommend
Newham advises ensuring you have snacks with ample protein – look to nuts and seeds, or even dried fruit. You could also get in on the protein shake buzz to curb your hunger. If you feel like a bottomless pit for more than a couple of days, you may need to up your fibre intake.
“Try munching on raw vegies such as broccoli, carrot or cucumber throughout the day,” Newham says. Of course, nobody ever died from eating a cookie (that we know of), so if you actually feel like a cookie – for reasons other than nagging hunger – go ahead. To promote satisfaction from one, not 20, “eat it slowly, enjoy the flavour, the feel, the smell, the experience,” says Dr Harwin. “Eating it slowly gives you time for your brain to realise you’re not hungry. You can also try eating a salad first to fill your stomach.”
