Recipe: good-for-you chocolate fudge

Oh look at me blogging from my iPhone! How cool am I? Anyways, enough bragging and more blogging! Yesterday (as you all know) was valentines day so over the weekend I made a delicious chocolate treat for my valentine. I modified it from a recipe I was given by lovely stranger. Next time I try it I will soak the dates overnight so that this can be a yummy raw treat.

Good-for-you chocolate fudge
1 can coconut cream
250g dates
1tsp raw organic honey
1/4 cup raw natural organic peanut butter
1/4 cup desicated coconut
1/4 cup LSA
1/4 cup raw organic cocoa powder or carob powder

Place the coconut cream, honey, dates and peanut butter into a sauce pan and heat until dates are softened. Then wiz the mixture up with a stck mixer. Add coconut, coca, LSA and mix till well combined. Press into a glass dish and put in the fridge to set overnight. When set cut into small squares. You can even store it in the freezer for a yummy frozen treat!

Recipe: Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread

Yes, I am still here and I'm sorry for disappearing for as long as I have.
But it was all for a good cause. You may have noticed a new little box on eat love adjust. And that's because Mr. Ox and I have finally opened up our very own little clinic! Which means that this little blog will be moving soon to a new website. I will keep you all posted.
So obviously being crazy busy gives you a craving for delicious baked goods so I came up with this to keep us fueled between meetings and patients. And my, is it good! It's fudge-y and dense, good hot and cold and if you're feeling really naughty fry up a slice with a little butter - heaven.


Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Bread
1/2 cup cold pressed virgin olive oil
1/2 cup raw organic sugar
1 organic free range egg, beaten
3 very ripe medium bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
1/2 LSA
1 tsp aluminium gluten free baking powder
1/4 tsp good quality salt
3 tsp raw organic cocoa powder

Mash the bananas together, then add sugar, egg and oil, mix well. Into the wet mix sift in flour and baking powder. Ad salt, cocoa and LSA. Mix till combined. Pour mixture into a well oiled loaf tin and bake for 35min at 180C, you want it to be a little fudge-y so be careful not to over cook. This will keep in the fridge for about a week, that is if you don't eat it all in one sitting...

Superfood: Chia Seed

image from here

Something that I have started adding to my morning smoothies is Chia seeds. These tiny little seeds are the highest plant source of omega 3's. And we all know how important omega 3's are. They also have a very good ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 (3:1) while most foods have a ration of about 1:15-30, a ratio that is actually bad for you as it increases inflammation and thus pain and other nasty symptoms. But the superfood Chia is also a great source of dietary fibre, which helps stave off colon cancer and heart disease. Chia is also packed full of protein to keep you full and anti-oxidants in the form of Quercetin, which helps you stay fit, healthy, young and full of energy. What's not to love?
Sprinkle them on salads, bake them in muffins or bread or try them in a smoothie.

Anti-oxidant fill me up
great for breakfast
serves 2
1/4 cup frozen blueberries or mixed berries
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons high quality vegetable protein powder
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup coconut milk or cream
2 small bananas
1/4 cup organic apple juice
2 heaped teaspoons green powder (either wheat grass, barley grass or vital greens)

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend till combined. Drink straight away.

Quick vietnamese omelette

image from here

The other day I whipped up a quick lunch for Mr. Ox and I before work with left overs from the fridge. It just goes to show that it's not hard to whip up a simple, healthy, low carb meal in a few minutes.

Vietnamese Omelette
serves 2
omelette
3 large free range organic eggs
pinch of sea salt
pinch of sugar
pinch of turmeric
4 tablespoons water
small amount if coconut or peanut oil for frying

Filling
12 raw prawns (or any left over cold meat)
1 small red chili chopped (this was pretty hot, so next time I'd use 1/2)
1 spring onion, sliced
3 sprigs garlic chives, sliced
1/3 handful fresh chopped corriander
2 teaspoons soy sauce
small squeeze of fresh lime
handful of bean sprouts

Wisk together eggs, water, salt, turmeric and sugar and place aside. In a fry pan cook the prawns and spring onions in a little oil till opaque or if using cooked meat till meat is heated through, place in a bowl and add chili, garlic chives, corriander, soy, lime and bean sprouts. In the same fry pan, add a little more oil and once hot pour in egg mixture. Tilt pan for egg to coat the bottom of the pan. Turn down heat and cook till the egg is set but still moist on top. Tip prawn mixture onto one half of the omelette and fold other half over the mixture. Serve with cut cucumber and iceberg lettuce.

Mr. Ox's "Pasta" Sauce's

image from here

Once in a while Mr. Ox dons the apron and shoves me out of the kitchen. His "go to meals" used to be pasta, but alas, being the bossy boots I am, he now smothers green veggies with his amazing pasta sauces. Both are adapted from Jamie Oliver recipes, the tuna is my favourite while Mr. Ox prefers the creamy one.

Tuna Sauce
1 large can of good quality tuna in oil
1 large red onion diced
1/2 of a lemon
1 400g can of canned tomatoes
1 fresh red chili, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt to taste
safflower oil

Fry the onion in the oil until translucent. Drain tuna and add to onion, stir to break up a little, then add the cinnamon, chili and zest of half the lemon. Stir to combine then add can of tomato. Heat through then add the juice of half a lemon. Serve over steamed greens.


Courgette Carbonara
4 small courgettes, cut in half and then sliced on the diagonal
3-4 rashers good quality bacon cut into small chunks
200ml organic cream
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 a handful of freshly ground parmesan cheese
small amount of organic butter
small handful of thyme leaves

Fry the bacon in a fry ban with a small amount of butter. When the bacon is starting to colour and crisp up, add the cut courgettes. Add a good amount of ground black pepper and thyme leaves then stir to coat the courgette in the bacon. Cook until courgette is soften and lightly golden. Turn the heat down and add the cream. Stir and then add the grated parmesan. Cook until the sauce thickens a little then serve over steamed greens.

Burger in a Bowl

image from here

Ah the first recipe of the year and it's a good one! In fact it's Mr. Ox's favourite, because lets face it, who doesn't love a good burger? The beauty of this is that you can tweek it to suit yourself, make it as healthy (or naughty) as you want. Perhaps use lentil patties or tofu or a field mushroom or chicken or lamb or steak or fish or kangaroo instead of a mince patty. A friend of mine has build-your-own-burger night where she just puts a whole lot of things in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves. Marvellous.

Christmas Baking: Chocolate and Cinnamon Swirl Pavlova

I just couldn't resist posting just one more Christmas baking recipe. Mainly because this one is a doosy! It's got everything, cinnamon spice, chocolate and what's an Aussie Christmas without cherries and a good pav. I made these as individual meringues for easy of serving. You could also bake these and give them as gifts wrapped in cellophane, especially if everyone is too stuffed after Christmas lunch to eat them!

Chirstmas Baking: Shortbread

image from here

What's Christmas with out shortbread? This is my gluten free version I adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe. It's super buttery and super crumbly, make it once and you'll realise why its called the best shortbread in the world.

The best (gluten free) shortbread in the world
250g best (pref. organic) unsalted butter
3x(125g) of gluten free flour (I use one part rice flour, one part gluten free plain flour and one part corn flour to make up 375g of flour)
100g organic golden caster sugar
optional flavours: zest of one lemon, 2 crumpled dried lavender flowers, vanilla essence

Cream together butter and sugar then add flavouring if using. Add in flour and mix together with a spoon till well combined. Press dough into a baking tray and prick all over with a fork. Bake at 170C until golden on top (about an hour). Cut into fingers while still warm.

Christmas Greens

A few nice green ideas for your holiday table.

image from here

Christmas Baking: Panaforte (Siena Cake)

image from here

This is more a toffee than a cake. It's chewy, chocolatey and packed with dried fruit and nuts. With no flour in it, it makes an excellent gluten free treat. Because it's so dense it packs and travels well and so makes and excellent gift. I've used a few recipes (including one from my mother-in-law) to put this one together. It got rave reviews last Christmas. It takes a bit of time, but you have to try it, totally worth it, a labour of love.

Salmon with egg and lemon sauce

Not my best picture, but you get the idea

I'm always looking for new ways to cook fish and salmon is my favourite. I found this recipe while flicking through an old greek cookbook of my mum's. It was a hit with Mr. Ox, although next time I may substitute the onions for leeks since we both found the onions a little strong. I opted for salmon but any firm fish would work well. The sauce is tangy and creamy (good for you too) and would work well with asparagus too. Serve it with a simple green salad and its a perfect summer meal.

Cabbage Rolls

image from here

Is everyone enjoying mince week as much as I am? Even Poh had a little mince going on this week. This week has even got me looking up new mince recipes, I'm going to try a lebanese inspired meat loaf soon, will keep you posted. But really, a week isn't enough. I didn't post about meat balls, moussaka, dumplings or my awesome chili. But by special request by my dear friend I left back in Irealnd, I am posting my famous (well in our friend circle its famous) cabbage rolls, inspired by Jill.

Minced Beef Bola Curry

not my mum's curry, image from here

This is perhaps my favourite mince meat dish, and my favourite curry dish, I make my mum cook it for me every time I come home and it never fails to impress. Which is why I have left it till last. This is my mum's recipe and as with most Sri Lankan dishes measuring is not really something they do. Its more "a bit of this" and "a splash of that" so all quantites are approximates, use less or more according to your tastes.

Meat Balls
500g lean beef mince
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbs sweet spiced vinegar
1 tbs Sri Lankan roast curry powder (or you favourite curry powder)
1tsp ground turmeric
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground corriander
1/2 brown onion finely chopped
salt to taste

Gravy
1 cup milk
salt and vinegar to taste
1 tbs Sri Lankan roast curry powder (or you favourite curry powder)
1tsp ground turmeric
1tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp sugar
2-3 stalks curry leaves picked from branch
2 cinnamon sticks

Mix all the ingredients for the meat balls. Roll mince mixture firmly to form bite size balls. Heat some oil in a fry pan and brown meatballs on all sides in batches. Drain meatballs on paper towel.
For the gravy combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan and cook on low heat until the gravy starts to bubble. Add the meat balls and simmer until gravy thickens and meat balls are cooked through (about 25min). Serve on steamed rice. This also goes well with pumpkin curr.

Minced Meat "Pasta" Sauce

image from here

Today we're going Italian, well sort of, a friend of mine assures me that Italians hate vegetables in their bolognese! And by now you know how I feel about carbs, so I can't really call this a pasta sauce... But I do make this quite often and I eat it either by itself with a little cheese on top or over steamed green vegetables (I urge you to try it over a bowl of steamed green cabbage, its delicious, trust me). The addition of milk stops the sauce tasting to "meaty" and enriches the flavour of the tomatoes.

Mapo Doufu (Pock-Marked Ma's bean curd)

image from here

Yes that's tofu, not mince meat but for the second recipe of mince week, I thought I'd share another mid week staple for us. I stole this recipe from Jill over at hey that tastes good. I love this meal, it possibly has a bit too much sugar to be called truly healthy, but it is really delicious. I like to fry my firm tofu first so that it doesnt break up in the dish, but the original doesn't have this step. I also add asian greens to it and sometime serve some steamed broccolini with it so that we don't need rice The quantities usually leave enough for left overs the next day for us.

Low Carb Shepard's Pie

Welcome to mince week! I'm starting off with one of our staple week day dishes, Shepard's Pie. This is great to make in the weekend and keep to re-heat. It also freezes well and the cauliflower mash makes it an easy low carb version too.  Serve with a green salad or some steamed greens and you're good to go.

Mr. Ox's Birthday Brownies

image via here

Every year I bake Mr. Ox birthday brownies. I use a Jamie Oliver Recipe that has more coco than flour, which is why this is a once a year treat. Makes them more special that way.

Mushrooms on toast

Having left my camera in London, I don't have a pretty picture to go with this post, sorry

Now mushrooms are not really a health food I am afraid...they are in fact a fungus and mold and fungus of any type is not good for the body. But I still love them. And on days that I am feeling homesick, longing for sunny Melbourne brunches down by the Yarra, I make this breakfast, inspired by Riverland one of our favourite Melbourne eateries. As with all things that are not good for you, this is more food for the soul not food for the body.  But once in a while we all need a little pick-me-up. The brioche is an extra special touch, you can get it from good bakers, or Marks & Spencers if you're lucky enough to be near one.

Superfood: Black Rice

Trolling through my favourite newspaper the other day, I came across a story about the new "superfood" can you guess?

Black Rice!

Be still my beating heart...

Eating different coloured rice is a very Asian thing, white rice is less common and more expensive so it is saved for special occasions, in Sri Lankan culture, red rice is the staple rice with basmati or samba being saved for celebrations. 
I love black rice and according to food scientists, I have a good reason to! To quote: "Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar, and more fibre and vitamin E antioxidants." Fabulous.
The article also goes on to say that other coloured rice such as purple and red rice are equally good for you. to My mum was happy to hear this as she was constantly force-feeding me red rice through much of my childhood...funny how mum's are always right huh? Better start hunting some red rice down, but in the mean time, enjoy this amazing recipe for black sticky rice pudding (not super healthy since it still contains sugar, but super tasty none the less)

Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry

1940's wisdom from my grandmother

This really is becoming more of a food blog and less of a chiropractic one isn't it? Oh well!
For Christmas last year my mum gave me my grandmothers cookbook. Printed in 1942, the Daily News Cookery Book was every housewives best friend. My favourite part of it are the newspaper clippings and recipe sheets from the housewives association my grandmother belonged to, each with handy tips on how to keep a spotless house, entertain guests and still keep your husband happy. Things that are still important to be a good wife, along with holding down a high power job, dressing to kill and leaping tall buildings in a single bound.
The recipes in this book make me feel at home. Traditionally each Sri Lankan woman cooks differently and no two family recipes are remotely the same. This curry is my favourite, although here in Ireland pumpkin isn't a popular vegetable, they only grow it for pig food and for halloween. Still, I made this for husband and Australian friend the first and they loved it.