Get twisted

One of the best things I  have ever bought is a vegetable spiralizer. You have probably seen them before on instagram and wondered.

a) which one & how much
b) what can actually cook with it....

Seen here by @LoniJane on instagram

I bought mine 3 years ago and haven't looked back.

Now there are a fair few on the market but I personally recommend the Veggie twister seen here below. You can purchase it from any home wears place (think house) for about $40.

Thumbs up: it's really small and not very cumbersome. It doesn't need to be attached to the bench so you can whip it out all the time. Simply choose your end thin spirals or wide tendrils and twist away.

Thumbs down: you have to have straight medium size vegetables. i.e  Carrot and Zucchini.

The next best option is Paderno World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer, again available at all good home wears stores or amazon.

Thumbs up: can pretty much spiralize any hard fruit or vegetable i.e. potato, apple, beetroot, carrot, zucchini. 3 different size options.

Thumbs down. It's significantly bigger and there are more parts (more parts you to lose).

There are a few other styles on the market but these two are definitely the most accessible and cost effective!

Now my two favourite things to cook with this gadget..

Veggie Pasta:
I use it to make zucchini and carrot spaghetti. Toppings such as beef Bolognese, tomato Napolitano with chicken and avocado and pesto's go great!

Thai Beef salad:
Using the thin tendril end I put carrot and cucumber through to add a different texture to my salad.

For some quick and easy recipes head to Imma Foodie..

#ProcessedFreeFor33

33 days Processed Free Foods..

We are really excited to announce our #ProcessedFreeFor33 campaign which will be launching on Monday the 28th of April. We have paired up with the team at My Blissful health and will have their Director and Head trainer Tahli Greenwood Guest Blogging on NF. 

Clean eating and what exactly defines it’s principles are a subject of great debate especially amongst different health professionals. For us we define it as a nourishing diet encompassing health practices of non-refined foods, wholefoods, not eliminating any food groups (unless for specific medical reasons) learning more about where it comes from and how healthy it is for you.

The foundations of a clean diet are

1.      Adequate water

2.      Plant based meals from wholesome fruits and vegetables.

3.      Whole grain complex carbohydrates.

4.      Eliminating preservatives, additives and other hidden nasties; added sodium and saturated fat.

5.      No sugar (in terms of added sugar)

Now our diet is generally quiet good however we’re not Betty Crocker 24/7 so often have pasta, tinned foods (think baked beans, kidney beans, corn, tuna, tomatoes); breakfast cereals and bread. The aim of this campaign is to eliminate these processed foods for a month (33 just happens to rhyme quiet well). We’re intrigued to see how it effects our skin, energy levels, food preparation time and general well-being.

So what are processed foods? They often come in a box or a jar, are can be high in added sugars, low in fiber and whole grains, processed with sodium, high in fat including trans fat and lots of saturated fat.

While snack foods, candy, cookies, take away and crackers are certainly considered processed foods, “healthy” foods can fall into this category too.

·         Pasta, Noodles, White Rice

·         Flour, sugar as an added ingredient

·         Tinned Tuna, Salmon

·         Dry biscuits or rice cakes

·         Bread/wraps

·         Toppings, sauces and spreads: vegemite, peanut butter, processed honey, soy sauce, tomato sauce, sweet chilli,

·         Processed meats

·         Juice, supplements, cordial, sports/energy drinks

·         Dairy: milk, yogurt, cheese, cream, sour cream

·         Breakfast cereals

·         Tinned Legumes

·         Salad Dressing

·         Muesli bars

·         Packaged tea and coffee

Over the next 33 days we will be eliminating these foods. However as we are firm believers in not excluding food groups we will be keeping in Cow’s Milk and having a natural yogurt (no flavoured).

The easiest way to for you to try this is cut out anything that comes in packaging.

This are our top tips for making the transition.

·         Make your own bread and pasta its actually fun and surprising easy.

·         Re-hydrating legumes.

·         Purchasing ingredients from markets only. No supermarkets

·         Make meals plant based.

·         Swap traditional carbohydrates for plant based starches. Where pasta use to be go for a sweet potato or other starchy vegetables.

·         Creating your own muesli blend.

·         Cracking and Roasting own nuts.

·         Plan meals: If you always have fresh vegetables in the fridge and herbs you can cook anything.

Breakfast ideas

Raw muesli, Smoothies, Oats, Poached eggs, Omelette

Lunch

Frittata, brown rice sushi, Vegetable soup, Super Salads

Dinner

Steamed fish with garlic and chilli, garlic and ginger vegetables, meat and veg, stuffed capsicums

Snacks

Veggie sticks with homemade dips, nut balls, fruit, smoothie, boiled eggs, nuts

We'd love you to join in using the Hashtag  #ProcessedFreeFor33 include your meals, workouts, anything!! Stay tuned for healthy recipes, snack ideas, workouts and prizes!

Good luck!!

In the Hood

LORNA JANE

Influence Excel Zip Through

$149.99

 

 

 

 

Angelica L/Slv Hooded Sweat

$99.99

 

 

 

 

 

Kylie Hoodie

$99.99

 

 

 

Uniquely Lorna Jane

Laser Hooded Sports Bra - Siesta

$70.00

 

STYLE RUNNER

 

 

 

Work Out Life

Work N Out 2 N 1 Jacket - Black / Grey

$614.00

 

 

 

 

Nike

Nike Tech Fleece Cape - Black

$150.00

 

 

Vie Active

Phoebe Hoodie - Black Leopard

$235.00

 

Running Bare

'Madge' Zip Front Hoodie - Black Burn Out

 

 

PILOT ATHLETIC

 

Allana Hoodie Jumper - Charcoal Marle

$130.00

 

 

FIT UP

 

 

Zippy Running Top White/Blue

$99.00

 

 

 

 

Sloppy Joe

$99.00

LemonDrop

This weeks picks to have you looking lemony fresh at the gym...

1. 

LORNA JANE

Dual Support Bra - Neon Lemon Sorbet / Sparkle Grey

$70.00

2. RUNNING BARE

Bionic Full Length Tight - Black / Electric Pineapple

$100.00

3. 

NIKE

Nike Tech Fleece Cape - Grey

$150.00

4. 

ADIDAS BY STELLA MCCARTNEY

Stella McCartney Boost 2 Shoes - Running White / Ultra Glow / Light Maroon

$300.00

Cherry Yum

Cherry Tomato and Corn Beef Omelette

Ingredients

2 slices of Corned Beef, diced

3 Eggs, whisked

1 tbls low fat milk

½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Pinch of salt

Optional

To serve

2 slice whole grain toast

½ avocado

Cherry tomatoes to garnish

Method

·         Heat small frying pan. Add corn beef till crispy.

·         Combine eggs and milk. Whisk.

·         Add Tomatoes and eggs to pan. Stir till meat and tomatoes are evenly through mixture.

·         Turn pan heat to low and cook through. Alternatively can place under grill to brown top.

·         Cook toast and add ¼ avocado to each slice.

·         Once cooked. Half Omelette and Serve.

NOTE

Alternatively: Can use lean ham, turkey or chicken breast.

Vegan Nicecream

Vegan Vanilla Bean Coconut Ice-cream

                                     

Ingredients

2 cans of full fat coconut Milk (needs to be milk not cream, or coconut flavoured milk)

1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste

Optional

get boozy. With ¼ cup spiced rum
add blended/pureed fruit (pineapple, raspberries etc)

Method

Smoother

-        In a small saucepan, whisk together the milk, sugar, salt and vanilla paste.

-        Bring almost to a boil and barely simmer for a few minutes, just until the sugar is dissolved. (1-2 minutes)

-        Let cool and then chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Or cool by transferring to metal bowl and stirring mixture over another metal bowl of ice.

-        Process in your ice cream maker as per manufacturer’s instructions.

-        If after soft serve, serve at end of process.

-        Alternatively, transfer to deep metal tray, flatten mixture evenly cover with baking paper.

-        Freeze overnight or ’til solid.

Courser

-        Fridge ingredients. Better to for making if ingredients are cold.

-        Whizz everything up in your blender.

-        Process in your ice cream maker as per manufacturer’s instructions.

-        If after soft serve, serve at end of process.

-        Alternatively transfer to deep metal tray, flatten mixture evenly cover with baking paper.

-        Freeze overnight or ’til solid.

No ice cream maker

• -        Make the coconut ice cream mixture following either instructions.
• -        Pour it into a large, freezer-safe bowl.
• -        Freeze for about 30 minutes. Take it out of the freezer and whisk it briskly. Return to the freezer.
• -        Repeat step 3 every 30 minutes until your ice cream is creamy and frozen through.

Note.

For long term use Keep in Air Tight Container

Can easily add other flavours such as banana, coffee, raspberries, green tea, pistachio, mango, pineapple, pina colada,   etc. 

Green Tea

Yogi

Biggie Biggie Biggie can't you see sometimes you Yogi just Hypnotizes me...

So as you have probably guessed we're a group of weirdos at Nourishing focus and like to do things that are different. 

Continuing are weirdness last night we headed down to Yoga 213. Now although we do appreciate the meditative and healing principles of traditional yoga we would be lying if we didn't say this was the BOMB (insert sizzling emoji).

Think snoop dog meets peppermint tea. 
Yoga 213 has created classes that are set to your favorite hip hop and RnB tracks. We find this mix perfect as during normal yoga (silence) we struggle. We love a good belly laugh, to tap our feet to the bass and to be honest can't concentrate to the sound of our own thoughts. 

The 2 main styles are:

Chill:
Perfect for beginners, this class focuses on a Vinyasa slow flow sequence with emphasis on breath and alignment. The music is set to a quiet beat of uplifting and relaxing reggae, acoustic, folk and old school r’n’b. Think the Marleys, Fleetwood Mac, Jurassic 5, Jill Scott and James Vincent McMorrow. We leave the last 10 minutes of this class for inversions like the headstand and the handstand. This is a great class to learn the basics as well as the trickier poses

Hip Hop:
This class focuses on fluid Vinyasa flow holding postures set to loud Hip Hop music and is recommended for advanced Yogi’s but welcome to all levels. Highlighting the Flow, this class works the entire body with an emphasis on arms, legs and core. The music is set to a loud beat ranging from old and new hip hop, acoustic, electronic and reggae. Think Notorious B.I.G, Jay Z, R.Kelly and Frank Ocean. In the last 10 minutes we turn the music down and start to relax, finishing with a 5 minute Savasana. The teacher is there as a guide for your personal practice and we encourage all variations and extensions that you may like to take! 

Last night we checked out the Hip hop lead by the incredible Tarin Calmeyer, who can drop it like its hot into any yoga inversion you can think of (wowzers). We really enjoyed this class and even got to have a few minutes freestyle (trying headstands and balanced poses that tickled our fancy). 

Tarin ^^^ she rocks

We are definitnely keen to head back (745am tomorrow to be precise) and would definitely recommend it to anyone new to yoga, old to yoga, loves a beat or fears the potential of silence.

Peace out!!

Nourishing Focus' inner Yogi's 

Muffin delight

After something quick and easy that's yummy too. Try this savory muffin recipe. These little guys are great as a snack, lunch, dinner and actually breakfast too!

Quiche Muffins

Ingredients

4 eggs

1 ½ cups of low fat milk

1 tablespoon of butter  melted

½ cup of self-raising flour

1 cup of low fat grated cheese

2 cups of filling of choice (see tips)

Method

-Preheat oven at 180°C

- In a bowl whisk together, eggs, milk, butter and flour.

- Fold in cheese and fillings.

- Pour into muffin tray (We use a texas muffin tin)

- Back for 40mins or until set.

Tips

• -          For filling try Leek and mushroom; carrot and zucchini; spinach, cherry tomato and capsicum; roast vegetables; diced chicken breast and corn.
• -          Can be frozen.
• -          Serve hot or cold with salad. 

Zen Mondays

Wishing our Monday mornings were a little like this..

and a little less this...

Lets get your Mental, Physical and Nutritional work day in check!

MENTAL

Its important to be in a positive head space especially when working. Instead of starting the week frustrated that its only Monday change your view and and the week will go quicker. Lets break this down. 
You have to be at work (well have to if you want to keep doing fun things and have a home) so being tired, frustrated, and mopey only affects you. Your boss couldn't care less if you're sitting at your text in a bad mood. So slap a smile on, be grateful you have a job and look at the week ahead positively and become a go getter.
When you get in on a Monday have a look at the calender for the week and see what's on: Meetings, Due dates, Clients etc so you're not surprised in 2 days when you turn up to work late and with no make up on. 
Next use your first 30 mins to prioritize your day and check emails. 
Plan your activities and create daily deadlines. 
By lunch you should aim to have finished all the high priority work for the day.
Use your afternoon for lower important activities that don't require an immediate response. 
The structure of the afternoon is just as important as the morning. Although we have celebrated Labour day it appears the 9-5 week day has gone a little wayward. But even if that means home-time is 6.30 now it's still important to be finished when you leave. The brain and you will work better and feel better leaving work for the day with a sense of completion not with 3 things half finished hanging over your head. It creates a work/home life balance. When you leave with still a bunch of things requiring attention people stew of this at time and and the quality of home time decreases which impacts on relationships with partners, family and friends. So look at your work and prioritize according (unless you're a surgeon nothing you do is that important it can't be done tomorrow; no one will die). Emails don't need to be responded to at 9pm at home because you know what no one can do anything with that information because no other business is open!). Now I'm not saying go and be lazy surprisingly when you create more structure to your working day and daily deadlines, productivity increases and so does your mental happiness. 
Also by adding that end to your work day, enjoying and relaxing through your evenings you've created barriers. Instead of work filtering through into home time its stopped and you mentally have switched off because you have not only left work but finished your activities for the day. Most people then end up not despising their jobs as much. 

PHYSICAL 
It's also important to take small breaks from work (especially if you're at a desk)! 
So UP YOU GET!! 
-Take 5 deep breathes holding briefly on the inhale.
-Tilt head toward shoulder holder for 5secs alternate sides.
- Roll shoulders circular forward 10x then repeat back wards
- Stretch 1 arm out with palm down, pull fingers down. Hold for 3 secs. Pull fingers up and hold. Repeat alternating hands 3x
- Standing stretch up arching with hands arching back. Slowly bend down to touch toes. Hold for 5secs. Inhale. Slowly roll up exhaling. Repeat 2x

NUTRITION

 Your energy levels across the day and productivity is influenced by how you fuel your body. So instead of grabbing a double espresso in the morning and slamming a redbull at 3pm add foods that nourish the body and give a good balance of energy across the day. 

Have a LOW GI breakfast: oats, natural muesli,or wholegrain bread with poached egg.
Lunch should be light to avoid getting the sluggish feeling in the afternoon. 2 brown rice sushi rolls, salad with lean meat, quinoa and tuna salad. Protein and vegetables/salad are a good choice.
Snacks are also important. 2 fruit, 1 yogurt and some trial mix is the perfect balance of macros. 
And don't forget your fluid status. Aim for about 1.5-2.0L/d of water.
 Now grab a cup of green tea and Power on!