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New Organic Teas including a Pregnancy Tea

I love herbal teas for their subtle ability to improve our health and well being while tasting great at the same time. The simple act of sitting down and enjoying a cup of tea forces us to put our phones down, slow down and enjoy the moment.

There are some naturopaths who have made blending herbal teas an art form and these are the teas I enjoy  most. I’m introducing a new range of Organic Teas to the clinic which have been lovingly blended by Naturopath Emma Watson. I’m particularly excited about the Pregnancy blend  as so many of my pregnancy clients ask me what teas are safe to drink during pregnancy which led me to search for some organic and safe teas I could recommend to my clients.

Teas Available:

  • Pregnancy
  • Breastfeeding
  • Calming
  • Detox
  • Sleep

These certified organic teas are available for purchase from the clinic. Keep your eye out for new varieties.

Cosmic Cookies

A good friend of mine shared these Canadian cookies with me many years ago and they are seriously delicious. I’ve played around with the original recipe using coconut sugar instead of ordinary sugar as it contains more nutrients and is naturally lower GI, butter instead of canola oil, and I added egg instead of almond milk as we have an abundance of fresh eggs here at the moment.

These cookies are energy packed making them perfect for those ravenously hungry teenagers who are always on the go, after sport, laborers, weekend warriors, or on bushwalks. While these are a healthy cookie recipe alternative to your regular cookies you should still only eat them as a treat.

Healthy Energy Cookies

I recommend freezing half so you aren’t tempted to eat them all at once 🙂

 

Makes 24 delicious cookies.

Ingredients:

150g unsalted butter

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup black strap molasses

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1//4 cup flaxseed meal

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1/2 cup chopped dates

1 cup of dark chocolate chips / chopped chocolate or carob bits

2 cups spelt wholemeal flour

2 cups rolled oats

 

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Cream the butter, coconut sugar and molasses with an electronic mixer. Add your egg and mix until combined. Turn off the mixer while you add all your seeds, cinnamon, desiccated coconut, dates and dark chocolate. Mix until combined and then add your oats followed by your spelt flour. Your mixture should like the picture below.

Raw Cookie Dough

Using a spoon scoop out large bowls of mixture and roll into a ball and place on the baking tray, Lightly squash the ball of mixture with the palm of your hand.

Healthy Spelt Chocolate & Seed Cookies

Place in the oven for around 15 mins until they just start to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cook. These taste amazing warm as the chocolate is still gooey 🙂

Enjoy

Natural Home Remedy for Colds & Flu

A simple home remedy tea for your cold or flu that will hydrate you, soothe your throat and help boost your body’s natural defenses. Warm teas help to liquefy mucous and relieve congested noses. For children dilute this tea 1/4 cup of tea with 3/4 cup with water. 

Flu Brew

Ingredients:

500 ml boiled water

3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

2.5 cm of fresh ginger grated

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 lemon, juiced

Honey to taste

Method:

Add the garlic, ginger and cayenne to the boiled water in a teapot and leave for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes add the juice of 1 lemon and some honey to taste (preferably locally sourced). 

Prevention

If you or your child frequently suffers from colds and flus book in for a comprehensive naturopathy consult. Herbalists like myself are lucky enough to have herbal medicines available  with a vast array of immune enhancing properties including those with an antiviral action.

Call now on 0414 344 865 to book your appointment.

The New Chicken Coop

When I asked my Dad and husband to build a chicken coop  I never could have imagined the end result. I love it and I think the chickens do to.

A joke about painting the chicken nesting boxes different colours sparked my imagination and turned into a painting afternoon for the kids. Little miss 4 year old was delighted that the chickens now had coloured nesting boxes.

The side of the chicken coop lifts up so the chickens can come and go throughout the day. This feature also makes cleaning easier as I can just rake all the straw and mess straight into a wheelbarrow which fits perfectly under the coop. I then take the wheelbarrow and empty it straight into my veggie garden.

Chickens that are free to roam and feed on pastures, bugs and worms lay eggs that have a higher ratio of Omega 3 essential fatty acids in comparison to chickens fed solely a grain based diet. You can add some flax to your chickens diet to increase the Omega 3 content of your eggs.