Closing Blog Post

May 30, 2013

 

It is with great regret I write this blog post.

After much deliberation I have decided to stop blogging and close this blog and the associated facebook pages.

As much as I love blogging, connecting with people and sharing information I have found that at this time I just don’t have the time or the energy to continue doing so. My kids are growing up so quickly and in addition working part time and running a household leave very little hours in the week to devote to others things.

I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to the blog, be it through comments, feedback or simply following it. I would also like to thank the lovely businesses that have supported me and I wish them every success in the future.

So, once again, thank you so much,

Cheers,

Linda

 

 

Nifty Product – Tranquil Home Waterproof and Washable Spillmats

Mar 31, 2013

Firstly a very Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. We have a few Easter eggs for the kids but I have never really liked Easter eggs so even though they are a no go on the Paleo Diet it doesn’t worry me anyway!

I have a fabulous nifty product to share today, especially if you have little ones that love play dough, painting and generally making a mess. I had been using a main stream brand PVC spill mat for activities that create mess but because they were plastic they were annoying to clean, folding them up just made them split and tear and they ended up looking tatty and grotty.

Recently I was lucky enough to come across the Tranquil Home range of products. They make kids spillmats, smocks, placemats and more from tough laminated cotton that is waterproof and machine washable – so when dirty just throw it in the washing machine!

The fabric is BPA and PVC free so contains no nasties. They also come in a range of designer prints too which are super cute.

Being a holiday today both of the kids are home so what better time to have some play dough fun! I had made several different colour doughs using the Thermomix EDC cookbook.

Play dough is serious work!

I love the cute owl print on the mat!

Woven cotton backing is super soft and stops the mat from slipping

Folds neatly!

Another thing I love about this mat is because it has a woven cotton backing it tends to grip to our table and not slide all over the place like the PVC ones and as it has a little weight to it is sits nicely and doesn’t kink up.

So if you are in need of some crafty supplies for your littlies check out Tranquil Home – not only are they a fantastic product they are also handmade by an Australian mum!

Cheers,

Linda

Talking Paleo With The Merrymaker Sisters

Feb 23, 2013

I have found some fab Paleo resources on Instragram and one of my favourites is The Merrymaker Sisters – two Australian sisters living and loving Paleo and cooking up one hell of a storm. So I thought I would ask the girls about how they find Paleo and what motivated them to start eating that way……

We are  the merrymaker sisters: fit + healthy made. Two sisters, e & c who love to find ways to make life fun, tasty and most importantly…healthy!

Our lifestyle revolves around creating paleo + primal + clean eating recipes, being fit and all-in-all? Feeling the best we can inside and out.

When people hear about how we eat, the usual questions start…what’s paleo? What can you eat? More importantly–what can’t you eat? Don’t you miss bread? What do you eat for breakfast though? 

These are definitely the top five questions we answer on a daily basis—and it’s great! We jump at any chance to talk food and health.

Let’s just quickly get the boring bits over…we aren’t nutritionists! We don’t know what preservative 202 is (well we do now because we just googled it!) but we do know what works for us…and it works well! So we follow a strict: ‘do what works for you and what makes you feel good’ policy. We are all about creating a positive environment to make being fit + healthy that little bit easier and a lot more fun!

So why paleo? Two reasons, the first, (a little more common): c had a wedding to attend…in Fiji…meaning bikini…c wanted to look and feel good. Reason #2: since we can remember, e has had tummy issues, we are talking looking six months pregnant at the end of every day. Welcome: PALEO…and the results? We both lost around 10kg (Fiji bikini body: tick!) and e was no longer feeling bloated and sluggish (DOUBLE TICK!)

Not to mention the other benefits of: increased energy, clearer skin, flatter tummies, stronger muscles and general happiness level? Well that is right up there! With so many benefits we think it’s kind of crazy more people aren’t on to it!

So we are feeling good and looking better…there’s no turning back. Over at fit + healthy made we enjoy reinventing meals we thought were going to be thrown in the ‘no column’ forever and making them paleo + primal + clean. Things like  lasagne,  pancakes, muffins and  chippies and dip. Yes we said chippies and dip! We also have a new found love for paleo no bake cakes…ooo we love cake! These unfortunately don’t last longer than a day in our household (too darn yum for our own liking!)

Paleo Lasagne

Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes

Paleo Choc-Raspberry No Bake Cake

Paleo Chips n Dip

Always merrymaking,

e & c

You can also follow the girls on Facebook and on Instagram.

I am sure will enjoys the girls adventures as much as I do!

Cheers,

Linda

Paleo Thermomix Pizza Topping Idea – Roast Lamb and Caramelised Onion

Feb 19, 2013

So to go with my Paleo cauliflower pizza base recipe here is another topping idea using left over roast lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of roast lamb chopped
• 150 g of red onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 10 g of olive oil
• 10 g of balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 tspn of coconut palm sugar – or you can use any sugar replacement you like
• pinch of salt

Method

Preheat oven 10 180 deg C.

Add all ingredients except lamb to the TM bowl – chop on Speed 4 for 4 secs. Scrape down bowl and cook on Varoma temp for 8 mins on Speed 1.

Spread onions onto pizza base and top with lamb pieces. For my lunch today I added some baby spinach and some mozzarella cheese cause that’s all I had. But I would have preferred some feta cheese.

Put  into oven and cook for 5-10 mins. Then take out top with baby rocket, drizzle with some lemon juice and some greek yoghurt if you allow yourself to indulge with dairy!

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Linda

Paleo Thermomix Cauliflower Pizza Base

Feb 19, 2013

I had been looking at cauliflower pizza base recipes for a while and I have finally made one in the Thermy….so without any further delay

Ingredients:

•  1/2 a head of cauliflower
• 1 egg
• 50 g of good quality mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 tspn of dried oregano or herb of your choice
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180 deg C

Break the cauliflower head into florets and put into the TM bowl – on closed lid pulse on Tubro 2-3 times till cauliflower resembles crumbs

 

Place the cauli crumbs in a microwave safe bowl with a lid and microwave on HIGH for 6-8 min (depending on the power of your microwave) – there is no need to add water

Allow to cool on the bench for 5 mins or so.

Add the cauli crumbs back to the TM bowl and add remaining ingredients – on closed lid Knead for 10-15 secs to incorporate ingredients – you may have to scrape down sides of bowl mid way through.

Spread mix out onto a baking tray that is lined with baking paper – I used my Simply Magic liner for this. I made 2 medium pizzas with this batch.

Cook for approx 10 min until golden.

Then top with your favourite toppings and cook.

For my first pizza I topped it with passata, home grown basil and mozzarella.

The second pizza I topped with caramelised onion and roast lamb topping – which I will post the recipe for shortly 😀

Cheers,

Linda