My healthy ANZAC bikkie recipe

If you are like me, you just cannot help your sweet tooth.

I am obsessed/addicted to ANZAC biscuits! They are one of my absolute favourites. I went through a period last year where i would just whip up a batch almost weekly! They only require a few baking ingredients (traditionally made with rolled oats, butter, sugar, golden syrup, white flour and coconut) which were ones i seemed to have on hand any way!

I noticed a few healthier versions popping up (These Theresa Cutter versions look AMAZING http://www.thehealthychef.com/2013/04/anzac-biscuits/)  and now that I am trying to eat more clean and healthy I thought i would try and put together my own healthier recipe! I baked these last night, and even hard to please hubby was impressed!

Ingredients
1 Cup of Wholemeal flour
1 Cup of Wholemeal rolled oats
1/2 cup desicated coconut
2 tablespoons pure extra virgin coconut oil (melted)
2 tablespoons agave nectar
2 teaspoons organic vanilla essence
1 tablespoon natvia (to sweeten)
1/2 cup water (add more water if required to make sure ingredients stick together)

Method
1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 160 degrees celcius and line a baking tray.
2. Combine flour, oats and coconut.
3. Add coconut oil, agave nectar, vanilla essence and water
4. Mix ingredients together with spoon, adding natvia as you go (and extra water if required) until combined and at a nice consistency.
5. Form into as many balls as you like (depends if you want big or small cookies) and place on baking tray.
6. flatten down with fork with enough room around biscuits to expand in oven.  
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden on 160 degrees (note: the longer you leave them on, the harder they will turn out, i personally prefer soft cookies)
8. Wait til they cool to eat (or if you are cheeky like me and cannot wait, eat them warm and fresh from the oven!)

Let me know how you go if you decide to have a go and make some!

Fair warning, they are addictive!!!

xx

Did I survive my detox???

Detox Day Two, was nowhere near as challenging as the first.. but i quickly came to realise, that I really did not like the taste of the juices, in fact they made me almost gag a little. 

The headache subsided and I honestly didn't feel as hungry anymore. I consumed very little on the second day. I barely got through a few mouthfuls of the first juice, couldn't bare more of a sip of the second (Not sure why schkinny pine grapple was the only option for morning tea every day of the detox - i hated it). 

By the time lunch came around I was a little hungry. Lentil luncheon was on the menu and it was my favourite of all the ones that i tried over the detox. I inhaled it! (mostly because there were lentils in there i could chew on!)

I pretty much couldn't have more than a few sips of the afternoon juice remembering how sick it had made me the day before.

After hardly touching a juice/soup all day, I was hungry. I struggled through a few mouthfuls of the evening soup and desperately wanted to go to bed!

Where was this new found energy I was supposed to be feeling? 

I basically lived on teas (peppermint & chamomile) it was the only thing that kept me sane (and helped my body NOT go into starvation mode!!)

Thursday. Different day, same struggles.

Hubby has Thursday off, so I begged him to come and sit with me at lunch time! Before i met up with him i heated up my soup. I can't even remember the contents now, but it was lime green!! It smelt ok, and I almost started to look forward to it. I took my first bite and i almost brought it right back up. The only way I can describe the taste was warm, sour guacamole.. in other words, revolting.. 

At this point I almost felt like crying! Instead of giving up completely and stealing some of James's delicious looking chicken katsu, i bought a freshly squeezed boost juice. I think I was starting to fell quite out of it because i swear its the best thing i've ever tasted.

Again, i could only manage a few sips of my afternoon juice. I just didn't like the taste..

By dinner, I wasn't even hungry, just desperate for the stupid thing to be over. The vege con carne cold juice dinner was almost as disgusting as the lunch soup.. I knew I wouldn't last much longer. 

I woke up on Friday morning full of hope, knowing that this would be the last day. I wasn't getting intense hunger pains, i didn't miss food. The Schkinny Manniny juices just weren't for me.

Fighting through my morning juices seemed a lot easier knowing that i planned on having dinner. For lunch was the AWFUL lime green sour guacamole soup (I am aware this is not really what it was.) I had to make another trip to Boost Juice! I didn't even bother with the afternoon juice.. i just hung on, knowing dinner wasn't far away!

The taste of real, solid food, never felt so good! I lasted only 3 and a half of 5 days, and even though I wanted to finish it to write about it, I couldn't bear it anymore.

So what are my concluding thoughts???

• I felt exhausted. I think the fact I didn't like and could barely stomach the juices meant i didn't get enough nutrients or calories in a day. I didn't like that i didn't have any energy to exercise either.
• I got a shocking cold this week. Obviously it could be because of the weather and that people around me are sick.. but i feel inclined to blame the detox and eliminating toxins from my body.
• My face has broken out terribly again. I was worried this might happen as it was a potential side effect (and one of the main reasons I didn't want to do it before the wedding).
• I only lost 1kg all up. Pretty much water weight. My weight generally shifts this much in an average week anyway. I still felt quite bloated too.
• I realised that I much prefer clean eating and exercise. It makes me feel much healthier, happier and content.

Will i detox again?

Probably! I don't mind the idea of a detox. I like to replace some of my meals with clean fresh green juices or protein smoothies anyway.

Will I do Schkinny Manniny again? No. I found most of the juices horrible. I have read a lot of positive reviews, but i sincerely hope that someone reads mine and realises that it just isn't for everyone.

For the ridiculous price i forked out - i found it a MASSIVE waste of money.

Can anyone recommend any good ones that they might have tried? I'm always interested in researching and trying new things.

My First Detox Day!

So... as per my last post, I have been wanting to do a juice detox for a long time and now seemed as good of a time as any.

Yesterday was my first day on the Schkinny Manniny Juice Detox (Schinnymanniny.com.au)

Because i live out of the CBD area, my juices arrived on Monday afternoon, so I couldn't start first thing Monday (which i knew before purchasing). 

They came in the cutest little eskies and as i pulled them all out, I felt very excited and motivated to start. Inside the eskies were little motivational cards for each day with tips and advice on how you might be feeling and how to deal with it.

I also received a very sweet little care package from the Schkinny Manniny team that included; a few packets of herbal tea, a loofah, bath soak & Psyllium Husk(for those that feel like they might need a bit more fibre just drinking juice)

I woke up on Tuesday morning, raring and ready to go! My first juice was the Sckinny Leap Frog. A green juice. I'm a fan of green juices and quite often make them for breakfast myself.
This one wasn't too bad, I actually quite enjoyed it and drank the whole thing!

As the morning progressed, I didn't feel that hungry. I had one of their herbal teas which tasted quite nice, and I started to think that maybe my caffeine withdrawals wouldn't be as serious as i first thought they might be..

My second juice was around 10:30. Schkinny Pine Grapple. This one I was NOT so keen on. I'm not sure if it was the ginger, but it didn't sit so well as the first, I finished about 2/3 of the juice.

By the time Lunch came around, I still wasn't that hungry. This time around it was a soup. I can't fully remember the name of this one, but it was a carroty concoction. It tasted ok, a little bland (and i wondered how nice it would taste with a little bit of pepper and chilli flakes) but i couldn't even get through half. I munched on the little packet of seeds that had also been supplied in my esky - it felt nice just to chew.

As the afternoon drew on not even the reassuring email from the Schkinny Manniny team could help. (Side note: I did find it a little off putting that i was receiving the emails a day earlier than my detox progress, because even though my start day was Monday, I couldn't start til Tuesday due to late afternoon delivery on Monday - maybe something they should look into) my caffeine addiction was finally getting the best of me and reared its ugly head. I felt like my head was full of cotton wool and the pounding started to get heavier - making concentration at work quite difficult.

I had a peppermint tea (as herbal tea is allowed) and tried to keep my mind on work.. not the weird foods i was craving. I tried to drink as much water as possible - I usually drink 2-3L a day and just couldn't stomach it.

I ask a question on the Facebook page to try and motivate myself (but am yet to get a response - not the best Social media 101). 

My afternoon juice was Schkinny Fruity Punch. I think i was just trying to keep my mind off the whole thing because i basically inhaled the whole juice! Instant Regret. For the rest of the afternoon I felt incredibly sick, the thought of having to have another soup/juice at dinner made me almost gag (and its only the first day!!)

I drove home, had a warm shower & basically just crawled into bed in my very dark bedroom. I lay there for probably an hour and a half before getting up to feed the cat and try have a little bit of the dinner.

My headache had subsided somewhat, but i couldn't manage more than 4-5 tablespoons of the tomato soup for dinner, and no more than a sip of the nutty after pre-bed drink. I lay on the lounge trying to distract myself with some trashy TV. But even the ridiculousness of 'the only way is essex' and the sexiness of Ricky Martin on the voice didn't work. The constant food advertising on TV certainly doesn't help.

The husband finally arrived home after having dinner at his mums. I had sent him there so i didn't have to see him enjoying dinner, and all i wanted was a cuddle and bed. We were in bed far earlier than usual, and I slept very well. 

I woke up this morning, headache no longer present (although i do anticipate its return at coffee o'clock this afternoon) but not feeling very confident, or as excited as yesterday. Its 9:30 and i have had a few mouthfuls of my green juice and already attacked my seeds. I hope that my energy builds up today and I start to feel some of the benefits that will help me last the next 4 days!

Am starting to think that the best detox is just to go back to clean eating & exercise my butt off (Lost 5kg in 6 weeks before the wedding doing this). We'll see what happens.

Send love & hugs xxx

Will I survive my Juice Detox?

Since the wedding, I just haven't been feeling as healthy and my pants have most definitely felt ALOT tighter, although tonight, that could be the Grill'd burger I just inhaled.

My health is extremely important to me. I try very hard to eat cleanly during the week, but generally on the weekend, I do and eat as I please (and it is starting to show)

I started following my husband's cousin on Instagram last year, she is studying naturopathy and really into wellness and generally eating healthy (check out her blog at www.selfhealthco.com, it’s fantastic!) She started doing a Juice Detox and I was intrigued.

I did some research and found out some of the fabulous health benefits that juicing offers;

Linda Wagner provides some great reasons as to why a juice detox is so beneficial.

• Juice requires very little digestion, so it helps to give your digestive system a well earned break. It also allows for the nutritional benefits of the juice to get into your system even more quickly.
• The amount of fruit and vegetables that you consume is far more than you could actually physically eat at one time. It is otherwise very difficult to get the same quantity of vitamins, minerals and nutrients in your diet regularly
• One of the primary functions of the liver is to serve as the body’s detoxifier. Maintaining good health is achievable by regular cleansing of the liver, which can be done through juicing. As with above, fresh juices reduce the burden on the liver and allows the liver to rid itself of accumulated toxins and just generally work better.
• Juicing can help to improve bone & joint function and contribute to healthier hair, skin and nails as well as having some pretty amazing anti-aging properties.
• (This one is very significant to me, given the fact I absolute hate being sick, and I’m quite a whinger when I am run down and not 100%) Juicing can help strengthen your Immune System!
• Juicing may help to improve your overall mood, and I have been told that it can help aid with natural weight loss
• And possibly one of the most important things – It gives you more ENERGY!!!

 Sounds to good to be true huh? Well I'm about to find out!

So after deciding that I wanted to give it a shot, I had to do a little bit of research on how I wanted to go about it. It was in my search that i stumbled across Schkinny Maninny (www.schkinnymaninny.com.au/)

Schkinny Maninny is a Sydney based company that bring the juice cleanse to you. AWESOME! I don’t need to go out and buy an overwhelming amount of fruit and vegetables and make a crazy mess in my kitchen to turn me off after 1-2 days.

You receive 6 juices/soups a day to consume so I am certainly hoping that I won’t get hungry. Each juice contains half to one kilogram of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and legumes.  That is up to 8 serves of fruit and vegetables each day! Each day you are getting approximately the RDI of kilojoules/calories - it is not an unhealthy, ridiculously low calorie fad diet (like the no-carb diet I tried before the wedding, even though I reached my goal, when I re-introduced them back into my diet, the number on the scales were not happy).

There are no preservatives or additives in the juices. Unlike Supermarket juices, the juices don’t include cooked ingredients nor do they sit on a shelf for months on end.  They are made from fresh raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Given that I live outside of the CBD I will receive my detox in two lots Mon/Wed, but inside the CBD they arrive daily.

Schinny Manniny has a variety of different programs you can try, I am doing the 5 day, standard juice/veg detox – God give me the strength to get through the 5 days!!!

My research highlighted the fact that I will most certainly struggle with some horrible headaches (likely due to my caffeine withdrawals). Other detox side effects include runny nose, tiredness, fever, flu like symptoms, etc.. They say that the more toxic your body is, the worse the effects you suffer, so I am hoping my generally healthy life style works in my favour.

So that brings me to now. Can I survive 5 whole days of JUST JUICE? I am a girl that really loves food, in fact, I schedule my day/week around what I am going to eat and basically cannot survive without caffeine. For the sake of detox, my health and getting my lifestyle back on track... you’ll have to continue reading to find out!!

Schinny Manniny Detox – The Facts

• The Cleanse costs $295 for five days, or $215 for three days (If you’re a little bit clever, you can often find special days and codes to get a bit of a discount)
• It includes six juices each day.
• Daily delivery is available if you’re within 20 km radius of the CBD, for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Call phone: 1300 021 601 or visit www.schkinnymaninny.com.au for more information.

Side Note – Still want to try the detox, but think the SM price tag is a little much for your budget? Just remember you can try a Juice Detox at home, even an easy 1-day cleanse. The internet is full of some brilliant recipes and as long as you have a reasonably good juicer and pick up mostly organic fruits & vegetables, you can still get the fantastic nutritional benefits.