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    • How to
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Banana Oat Cookies

May 20, 2015 Danijela Unkovich

These cookies tick all the boxes - they're nutritious, cheap, easy-to-make, really yummy and they require the simplest-of-simple ingredients list. Seriously, we're talking mashed banana, rolled oats, desiccated coconut, dried apricots, a sprinkling of chocolate chips, and THAT'S ALL.  They're also totally kid-friendly - get the kids involved in mashing the bananas, counting out the apricots and mixing all the ingredients together with their hands - it'll get a bit messy, but fun! 

A wonderful way to get kids more excited about what they're eating is to get them involved in the preparation process - it may require a little extra patience and time (and most likely clean up), but it's a great educational activity with the wonderful follow-on effect of getting them more invested at meal time (and so hopefully more inclined to try whatever is being served!). Of course, this might not be needed when it comes to eating cookies, but definitely something to keep in mind next time you have a pile of veggies to peel in front of you...

Banana Oat Cookies

Ingredients
4 mashed ripe bananas
2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
12 dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Method
1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line an oven tray with baking paper.

2) Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together until well combined (a big wooden spoon or just your hands will do!).

3) Spoon out large tablespoons of the mixture and assemble into cookie shapes on the oven tray. I say assemble as it will get a little messy! You might need to spend a little time shaping them. A quick way to do it is to  get a cookie cutter and fill each one up with the mixture - when you remove the cookie cutter you'll get even circle shapes.

4) Bake the cookies in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them for the last few minutes to make sure they don't burn.

5) Take them out of the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes before digging in. Enjoy!

Makes 10-12 cookies depending on how big you make them.

In kid friendly, sweet treats, snacks
← Banana Oat Pancakes Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups →

Hi, I'm Danijela! I'm a nutritionist from New Zealand. Welcome to my blog, a space I share healthy easy recipe ideas and wellness inspiration. 

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Simple Sunday dinner☀️ Pan-fried salmon topped with pesto, oven-cut kumara chips, and grilled broccoli, courgette and capsicum. This is my ultimate kind of meal! Simple ingredients, easy to prepare, but flavourful and delish. I’ll admit - I found fish a little daunting to cook at first, often setting off a stream of internal questions - will I overcook it? What if I undercook it and poison myself? What if it stinks up the house and everyone complains?😂 Don’t worry you got this!💃 Below are some tips. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To make, slice a kumara (aka sweet potato) into chippie shapes, toss with oil and salt, and then pop in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius. Once the chips have had about a twenty minute head start in the oven, toss diced and sliced veggies with a little oil and salt, and pop them in to cook on the same tray. When everything is starting to look a little on the crisper side, heat a drizzle of oil in a pan at a medium heat, and then pop a salmon fillet skin side down (salt the skin first). The skin is tough and durable, and can handle more time on the hot surface of the pan without overcooking. Then leave it and let it do its thing! No touching or proding. The bulk of the cooking will happen while the salmon is skin-side down, and after a few minutes you’ll start to notice the color of the fillet changing colour👌 Let the visuals of the fish guide you - once the colour change is about three quarters up, flip it and leave it for smidge longer - 30 or so seconds - and then remove and enjoy! Tender and flakey, but super crispy skin. Yaaaaaas. Top the fish with pesto, either store-bought, or if you’re up for it try make your own! It’s basil season, and our bushes are overflowing so that only means one thing - ALL the homemade pesto💁‍♀️💃 #dinneridea #sundaydinner #healthydinneridea #fishandchips #mealidea #salmondinner #salmon
Today I did my first cooking demonstration!👨‍🍳 Annnd as you can probably tell by my face I was wildly excited😂 Finally putting the culinary diploma to good use (and if there’s any excuse to ramble about food and have it be socially acceptable, I’m in🙋‍♀️). Working in nutrition, it can be very easy getting in the mode of just chatting nutrients, nutrients, nutrients...and while yes we do eat nutrients, really we eat food💛 Food a language we together speak, and it’s always nice coming back to it - whether clinically in conversations with clinics, in wellness seminars, or really celebrating it, like in a cooking demo. Hoping to do more of these - I’m hooked! Thanks @wellbeingworkshopnz for organsing, and @feelfreshnutrition for being the most supportive team and always encouraging me outside that snugness that is the comfort zone. While comfy and safe, there’s so much room for us to grow outside it⭐️ #workplacewellbeing #feelfreshnutrition #corporatewellness #nutritionist #nutrition
Quinoa, cranberry and pesto salad🥗 This is my favourite summer salad recipe! It’s fresh, colourful and seriously tasty, and serves as the perfect accomplice to a BBQ (alongside some chilled Sauvignon Blanc🙋‍♀️). With each mouthful you get sweet juicy cranberries, crunchy flaked almonds and zingy herby pesto...yaaaas to all of the textures. With summer in full-swing there’s loads of tasty produce to play with in the kitchen, like cherry tomatoes and corn, BUT the star of the show here is basil, which you blitz into a super easy zingy pesto to toss through everything. While you can make this recipe super speedy by using store-bought pesto, you can’t quite beat pesto that’s freshly made! Give it a shot while basil is ample right now. Seriously happy tastebuds. Recipe up on the blog now - enjoy✌️#recipeidea #saladrecipe #seasonal #summer #summersalad #summersalads
Porridge = the food equivalent of a hug☺️Topped with banana, berries, nuts, seeds and cinnamon - this is forever a favourite breakfast option. Rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and energy aka fuel, for the busy morning ahead too! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We're a few weeks into @adidasrunners Auckland this year, and after almost zilch exercise over the holidays (heh), the last few runs have been tough, but awesome! Especially afterwards - it's a happy blissful kind of tired, post-run. Running around the beautful downtown waterfront of Auckland City isn't bad also👌 Tonight we're back on, meeting at 5:45pm on Custom St East for a 6pm run. This week our routes will swtich up, as they do monthly, so we'll have something different to look forward to. We've been having over 100+ people come along to runs - it has been pretty amazing to hit the streets together! Remeber, it's a community run so anyone can join in, no matter your fitness level🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ #adidasambassador #adidasrunnersauckland @adidasnz
Cherry tomatoes tossed with olive oil, lemon, dill and feta, topped on avocado spread toast. A must-make🤤🍞Often in nutrition practice I have clients asking how to select a healthier bread! I think there can be loads of fearmongering around bread (e.g. carbs, gluten), where it’s always important to keep things in context – not all bread is the same, and neither is every person! Something I like about bread it can be a good vehicle for other nutritious ingredients, like avo, salmon, hummus or egg. That, and a slice of freshly baked, pillowey, melt-in-your-mouth bread, slathered with butter, warms the cockles of my heart🍞 With an endless sea of loaves lining supermarket shelves, it can be hard to know what to pick. Wholegrain options are a good place to start - these grains have all three of their parts (bran, germ and endosperm) in tact, which means more fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals per slice. Refined grains remove the bran and germ🍞 Look for words on an ingredients list indicating whole grains like whole wheat, whole-grain rye, brown rice, barely and whole oats; aiming for them to be as high up on the list as possible, as ingredients are listed in order of weight. Be careful of marketing terminology like “made with wholegrain”. They may have wholegrains in them, but it doesn’t mean they’re a hero ingredient! Also look out for long ingredients list with extras that may not be that necessary – the less, the better🍞 Make sure to focus on fibre, which is key for gut health! Check out the nutrition information panel of a loaf, looking out for a minimum of 2.5g fibre/slice, but ideally higher. To compare breads look at the average quantity per 100g – this is a standard weight so makes comparisons easier, as manufactures set serving size!🍞 As for paleo, lower-carb breads and whether these can be an option – yes! Many have awesome ingredients, and often leave you feeling full for longer. It’s important to keep in mind that some of these products have a very different nutritional composition to traditional bread, sometimes so much so it’s almost hard to classify them in the same food group. They’re often higher in protein and fat, and lower in carbs. #bread
Vegan-friendly chili bowls for family dinner tonight served with brown rice, guacamole, fresh salsa and corn chips! Rich in dietary fibre and a source of plant-based protein, this one’s often high on the rotation. The chili is packed with flavour and uses super economical ingredients, making it the perfect plant-based dish for feeding a crowd on a budget! Leftovers taste just as good the next day too - cook once, eat twice (or three, four, five times…✋). It does start getting a little more fiddly when making fresh salsa and guacamole too...but maaaaan does it make for one tasty mouthful altogether🤤 Recipe on the blog - search vegetarian chili, link in bio. #dinneridea #healthydinnerideas #chili #chilibowl #plantbasedmeals #gucamole
Roasted garlic hummus🌟 Ever tried making your own hummus? With its super fresh and simple ingredient list, I think it’s one of the foods that tastes waaay better homemade than store-bought (and you can get pretty damn tasty store-bought versions!). When hummus is prepared traditionally - with chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic - it offers a myriad of health benefits. It’s rich in gut-loving dietary fibre; contains antioxidant-rich ingredients to help fight free radical damage within the body, like olive oil and tahini; it’s a source of plant-based protein; is naturally free of gluten, dairy and nuts, making it a tasty dip/spread for those with intolerances; annnnd it has a slow glycemic index meaning it releases its energy slowly within the body, leaving you feeling sustained for longer🤙If you’d like to have a crack at making your own - start by preheating your oven to 220 degrees celsius. Then cut the top and bottom off 6-8 garlic cloves, leaving the skin still on. Lightly toss cloves with a drizzle of olive oil, and then wrap in tinfoil. Bake for one hour (get ready for the most delicious smell to waft through your house!). Once cooked, open two 400gx tins of chickpeas, pour into a sieve, drain liquid, and rinse well with water - otherwise sub for cooked chickpeas. Add to a blender, along with roasted garlic (squeeze garlic out of skin, and discard the skin!), 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3 tbsp tahini, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and a splash of water! Process for a few minutes, stopping to scrap down the sides. It will look quite thick and chunky - add more water for a smoother consistency. Taste test and add more salt, or spices (e.g. paprika, cumin) - let your senses guide you! Then you’re done!Whip up a batch and serve as a snack with fresh veggie sticks, dolloped over salad, as a nutritious sandwich spread, or spread over rice cakes and topped with sliced tomato. Full detailed recipe and nutrition information over on my blog now - link in bio🌟#hummus #dip #hummusrecipe #hummusaddict #hummuslover
High on my list of happy feels - beach walks with furry friends🐶 What’s your favourite way to exercise? Aside from the *endless* physical benefits - increasing energy levels, reducing our risk of chronic disease, aiding sleep quality and happy skin, and improving muscle and bone health - it can also be a great way to clear our heads and manage stress...I find this for me at least!🙏🏻 Current guidelines in NZ recommend we sit less and move more, aiming to break up long periods of sitting; and that we aim for at least 2 1/2 hours of moderate physical exercise per week, but for extra health benefits - 5 hours! Let’s choose to see exercise as a blessing, rather than a chore. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One of the communities I am committing to this year to help challenge my fitness is @adidasnz Runners Auckland, which resumed with a Resolution run this week to kick start 2019. For those unfamiliar with adidas Runners - it’s a global community of everyday runners, who hit the streets of their city together in a community run. It’s open for all fitness levels, with different lengths and paces you can go at. This year I’m working with the community to answer any nutrition questions and provide nutritional support, and will be available before and after runs for chats. We’ll be running Tuesdays, rain or shine, meeting at Britomart at 5:45pm. As it's a community run you don’t run alone - so if you’re like me this can be highly motivating to keep on going🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ #adidasRunnersAuckland #ambassador #exercise #movement #running #adidasrunners @adidasnz
Three ingredient pancakes🥞 Made using the simplest of simple ingredients. These are my absolute favourite - they’re rich in dietary fibre, naturally sweet and are a source of protein. To prepare, simply blend together 2/3 cup of dry oats, 2 eggs and 1 medium ripe banana, with a few tbsp of water, to a pourable consistency. Over a medium-low heat pour circles of batter into a pan (I find using a milk jug works well! You get perfect circles!) and cook for a minute or so on each side. Top with your choice of yoghurt (I used vanilla coconut here) and fresh fruit. Full recipe on my blog if you’d like to give them a whirl - search banana oat pancakes. These always been one of the most popular recipes on there🙂🍌🥞 #recipeidea #breakfastidea #healthymealidea #pancakes
Back in our community garden for our 14th season growing food🥔🍆🌽🥕Check out our sunflowers! The basketball players of the sunflower world🌻🏀💁‍♀️ Summer always produces the best bounties...it’s hard to keep up. Swipe right for our most recent harvest. Any one have some inspiring ideas for marrow? (aka courgette left a littttttle too long)😅 I always get lovely messages about this garden when I share it on my stories - it’s the #dingwalltrust gardens, and we use it to both grow food and run gardening classes with wee ones in conjunction with the food literacy program @gardentotablenz 🤙 #gardenchat #organicgarden #gardening #summerproduce #summergarden
Happy Monday☀️ What’s everyone up to today? I’m about to settle into some client prep for tomorrow. But first, dinner! Tonight I’m having sesame-soy salmon with brown rice and sautéed veg. This was super easy to whip up...put brown rice on to cook (as per packet institutions), while that’s going whisk together soy sauce + a dash of sesame oil and drizzle over your fish fillet. Cook in the oven until just cooked. Meanwhile sauté a mix of veg in a hot pan with a dash of soy sauce, grated ginger and crushed garlic (and whatever else you please e.g. sliced chilli...). Serve together in a bowl and enjoy! A good source of starchy complex carbohydrates (brown rice), protein (salmon) and veg (pak Choi, mushroom, snowpeas and red cabbage)🤙This would work well with tofu & tempeh too, as a plant-based option. #dinneridea #healthymealideas #nutrition
Veg sushi salad for dinner aka lazy sushi💁‍♀️🍙 Simply add a few handfuls of salad greens to a bowl, top with colourful veggie sticks, stir-fry tofu, edamame, avocado dunked in sesame seeds, a cut up nori sheet and rice. Serve with a light drizzle of soy sauce overtop. A mouthful totally tastes like sushi! I usually load up the nori sheets with a bit of everything, then take a big bite! Happy Friday everyone🙏🏻 #dinneridea #sushi #sushisalad
Berry granola bowl for breakfast with fresh fruit, coconut yoghurt, seeds and @littlebirdorganics granola. There are endless benefits of including more plant-based foods within our diet, particularly with our current health and environmental climate. If you'd like to begin incorporating more, but are not sure where to start, here are some simple ideas!🌽🍆🍌🥝🍊 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1. Add a few handfuls of grated veggies to family favourite meals e.g. carrot and courgette to a bolognese sauce or burger patties. They'll add flavour, texture and moisture, all positively contributing to how that end forkful will taste. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 2. Experiment with plant-based alternatives to your fav meat-based meals that you already enjoy the flavours of e.g. a veg chili loaded with salsa and guac instead of a mince based one. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 3. Grow your own - start small with a few edible varieties on your kitchen windowsill or a small planter box. When they're there, super fresh and accessible it's encouraging to eat! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 4. Make meals more excited with texture. Add crunchy seeds and nuts to salads and porridge, or creamy chopped avocado and feta to salad - they'll make for a more exciting mouthfeel, while adding flavour. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 5. Start the day with veg and include some at breakfast - try a veggie-packed omelette or green smoothie. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 6. Do a 50/50 legume swap - lentils are great replacement for mince as they take on flavours really well and have a similar texture. When making bolognese, burger patties or chili, reduce the mince in half in favour for a tin or two of lentils. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 7. Make your BBQ colourful - thread colourful veggies onto kebabs , or chuck on large BBQ-friendly items like corn cobs, portobello mushrooms or sliced eggplant. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 8. Get dippy - pair veggie sticks with dip as a snack. Try hummus, babaganoush or pesto! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 9. Have fun getting creative - try creating your own veggie noodles with a spiraliser, try a cauliflower pizza base (recipe on blog), or lettuce-wrapped burger. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 10. Remember, beyond fruit and veg there are way more plant-based foods! Nuts, seeds, legumes, quinoa, tempeh, oats- even herbs and spices count! Go for variety.
To welcome in the New Year I’m excited to be pairing up with my friends at @theunbakery to bring two new items to their menu this coming week!😊🌟 From the 7th-13th January you can pop into their Ponsonby restaurant and order my teriyaki tempeh salad bowl with crunchy quinoa and miso-ginger dressing, or a tropical green mango, hemp and lime smoothie. Both dishes have been nutritionally designed to help support our digestive system after the bustling Xmas/NY period, and leave you feeling great👍 If you’re Auckland based and would like to head into the cafe to sample, simply tag a friend in the comments below and I’ll pick someone tomorrow eve at 7pm to pop in this week to try a smoothie and salad! Over the next month I’ll be collaborating with @theunbakery and @littlebirdorganics in a few different ways, including an Instagram story takeover on their IG pages this next week where you can shoot through any Q+A you have on nutrition for me to answer. I’ve been a huge fan of @littlebirdorganics and @theunbakery for the longest time - their message of eating more plants is a great one, and I find their deliciously creative approach to healthy food endlessly inspiring😊💫⭐️ #littlebirdorganics #unbakery #aucklandfood #collaboration
Happy 2019🌟✨ I hope everyone had a lovely NY. It’s holiday time over here, which has involved camping, beach swims, lots of laughs, topping up my vitamin d stores (thanks to a blazing kiwi summer😅), wines and tasty food! I’ve been on a wee social media positing break which I usually do this time of year, but as always it’s nice to be back😊 Now to this platter...on holiday this is one of my favourite ways to share a lazy meal with loved ones! They’re fun to put together, and a nice social way to eat. Simply pop on a few dips, your favourite crackers or veggie sticks aka the platter-to-mouth vehicles for your dips, a few cheeses (duh🧀💛), seasonal fruit, chocolate, nuts and really whatever else tickles your fancy. I added a block of honeycomb, which was a gift from my friend Em at @thisiscomb, and some edible flowers from our garden to make it a little festive and FaNcY🌸🌼 I’ve still got a few relaxing days before I’m back in the swing of things, but are so looking forward to the year ahead🌟 #platter #grazingplatter #grazingplatters #2019
Fancy choc-dipped strawberries🍓🍫 I make these without fail each year at Christmas - they feel a bit festive and sort of remind me of upside down Christmas trees!🎄 To make, simply melt down your favourite chocolate (here I’ve used dark, but milk and white work well too), dip in a whole strawberry and drip off excess, flip each side in the toppings of your choice (e.g. chopped peanuts, finely sliced pistachios, shredded coconut, sunflower and pumpkin seeds...) then place in the fridge for 10 mins to harden👍All done! A tasty way to celebrate strawberry season in NZ.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With that, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Around this time of year I often get asked about eating well at Christmas. I just want to say enjoy the precious moments with loved ones. Holidays and celebrations like these are a time to connect, share moments and make memories - and this really feeds us in other ways💛 Food is so heavily intertwined into social occasions, with it’s own special traditions and cultural significances...it’s a beautiful thing really! Merry Christmas everyone🎅 #christmastime #merrychristmas #christmasrecipes #strawberries #inseason #seasonalfruit #chocolatedippedfruit
Who is getting excited for Christmas?☺️It’s summer time in NZ, and while I can’t wait to dig into a brandy filled warm Christmas pudding come the 25th(💃💃💃), it’s nice to have a lighter refreshing option on the table too! Enter this rather festive watermelon, honeydew melon, pomegranate and strawberry salad, dressed with the juice and zest of a lime, and a small handful of sliced mint. To make the circular balls of melon, I used a nifty tool called a melon baller which you can pick up quite widely at kitchen shops, but you can also just chop them into little squares too👍 This is amazing topped with a few spoonfuls of vanilla coconut yoghurt. Full recipe on my blog if you’d like to give it a go! #christmasrecipe #christmascountdown #merrychristmaseveeve
Watermelon, feta and basil skewers🍉 Presenting a candidate for your Christmas Day appetisers!🎄These are a delicious combination of flavours - refreshing sweet watermelon, salty creamy feta, fresh basil and zingy lemon👌They’re really easy to make - you can whip up a tray pretty speedy, and they'll look way fancier then expected for the time and effort invested💁‍♀️ The colours look quite festive on a plate! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To make cut 1/2 watermelon into small cubes (around 3cmx3cm). Squeeze a little lemon juice over each cube. Cut 1 block of feta into small cubes (around 2cmx2cm). Top each piece of cubed watermelon with a cube of feta and a single basil leaf. Secure with a tooth pick. Enjoy! More Christmas recipes coming these next few days...💃🎅#christmasrecipe #appetizers #christmasfood #watermelon #summerfruit
Simple Sunday dinner☀️ Pan-fried salmon topped with pesto, oven-cut kumara chips, and grilled broccoli, courgette and capsicum. This is my ultimate kind of meal! Simple ingredients, easy to prepare, but flavourful and delish. I’ll admit - I found fish a little daunting to cook at first, often setting off a stream of internal questions - will I overcook it? What if I undercook it and poison myself? What if it stinks up the house and everyone complains?😂 Don’t worry you got this!💃 Below are some tips. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To make, slice a kumara (aka sweet potato) into chippie shapes, toss with oil and salt, and then pop in the oven at 190 degrees Celsius. Once the chips have had about a twenty minute head start in the oven, toss diced and sliced veggies with a little oil and salt, and pop them in to cook on the same tray. When everything is starting to look a little on the crisper side, heat a drizzle of oil in a pan at a medium heat, and then pop a salmon fillet skin side down (salt the skin first). The skin is tough and durable, and can handle more time on the hot surface of the pan without overcooking. Then leave it and let it do its thing! No touching or proding. The bulk of the cooking will happen while the salmon is skin-side down, and after a few minutes you’ll start to notice the color of the fillet changing colour👌 Let the visuals of the fish guide you - once the colour change is about three quarters up, flip it and leave it for smidge longer - 30 or so seconds - and then remove and enjoy! Tender and flakey, but super crispy skin. Yaaaaaas. Top the fish with pesto, either store-bought, or if you’re up for it try make your own! It’s basil season, and our bushes are overflowing so that only means one thing - ALL the homemade pesto💁‍♀️💃 #dinneridea #sundaydinner #healthydinneridea #fishandchips #mealidea #salmondinner #salmon Today I did my first cooking demonstration!👨‍🍳 Annnd as you can probably tell by my face I was wildly excited😂 Finally putting the culinary diploma to good use (and if there’s any excuse to ramble about food and have it be socially acceptable, I’m in🙋‍♀️). Working in nutrition, it can be very easy getting in the mode of just chatting nutrients, nutrients, nutrients...and while yes we do eat nutrients, really we eat food💛 Food a language we together speak, and it’s always nice coming back to it - whether clinically in conversations with clinics, in wellness seminars, or really celebrating it, like in a cooking demo. Hoping to do more of these - I’m hooked! Thanks @wellbeingworkshopnz for organsing, and @feelfreshnutrition for being the most supportive team and always encouraging me outside that snugness that is the comfort zone. While comfy and safe, there’s so much room for us to grow outside it⭐️ #workplacewellbeing #feelfreshnutrition #corporatewellness #nutritionist #nutrition Quinoa, cranberry and pesto salad🥗 This is my favourite summer salad recipe! It’s fresh, colourful and seriously tasty, and serves as the perfect accomplice to a BBQ (alongside some chilled Sauvignon Blanc🙋‍♀️). With each mouthful you get sweet juicy cranberries, crunchy flaked almonds and zingy herby pesto...yaaaas to all of the textures. With summer in full-swing there’s loads of tasty produce to play with in the kitchen, like cherry tomatoes and corn, BUT the star of the show here is basil, which you blitz into a super easy zingy pesto to toss through everything. While you can make this recipe super speedy by using store-bought pesto, you can’t quite beat pesto that’s freshly made! Give it a shot while basil is ample right now. Seriously happy tastebuds. Recipe up on the blog now - enjoy✌️#recipeidea #saladrecipe #seasonal #summer #summersalad #summersalads Porridge = the food equivalent of a hug☺️Topped with banana, berries, nuts, seeds and cinnamon - this is forever a favourite breakfast option. Rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and energy aka fuel, for the busy morning ahead too! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We're a few weeks into @adidasrunners Auckland this year, and after almost zilch exercise over the holidays (heh), the last few runs have been tough, but awesome! Especially afterwards - it's a happy blissful kind of tired, post-run. Running around the beautful downtown waterfront of Auckland City isn't bad also👌 Tonight we're back on, meeting at 5:45pm on Custom St East for a 6pm run. This week our routes will swtich up, as they do monthly, so we'll have something different to look forward to. We've been having over 100+ people come along to runs - it has been pretty amazing to hit the streets together! Remeber, it's a community run so anyone can join in, no matter your fitness level🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ #adidasambassador #adidasrunnersauckland @adidasnz Cherry tomatoes tossed with olive oil, lemon, dill and feta, topped on avocado spread toast. A must-make🤤🍞Often in nutrition practice I have clients asking how to select a healthier bread! I think there can be loads of fearmongering around bread (e.g. carbs, gluten), where it’s always important to keep things in context – not all bread is the same, and neither is every person! Something I like about bread it can be a good vehicle for other nutritious ingredients, like avo, salmon, hummus or egg. That, and a slice of freshly baked, pillowey, melt-in-your-mouth bread, slathered with butter, warms the cockles of my heart🍞 With an endless sea of loaves lining supermarket shelves, it can be hard to know what to pick. Wholegrain options are a good place to start - these grains have all three of their parts (bran, germ and endosperm) in tact, which means more fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals per slice. Refined grains remove the bran and germ🍞 Look for words on an ingredients list indicating whole grains like whole wheat, whole-grain rye, brown rice, barely and whole oats; aiming for them to be as high up on the list as possible, as ingredients are listed in order of weight. Be careful of marketing terminology like “made with wholegrain”. They may have wholegrains in them, but it doesn’t mean they’re a hero ingredient! Also look out for long ingredients list with extras that may not be that necessary – the less, the better🍞 Make sure to focus on fibre, which is key for gut health! Check out the nutrition information panel of a loaf, looking out for a minimum of 2.5g fibre/slice, but ideally higher. To compare breads look at the average quantity per 100g – this is a standard weight so makes comparisons easier, as manufactures set serving size!🍞 As for paleo, lower-carb breads and whether these can be an option – yes! Many have awesome ingredients, and often leave you feeling full for longer. It’s important to keep in mind that some of these products have a very different nutritional composition to traditional bread, sometimes so much so it’s almost hard to classify them in the same food group. They’re often higher in protein and fat, and lower in carbs. #bread Vegan-friendly chili bowls for family dinner tonight served with brown rice, guacamole, fresh salsa and corn chips! Rich in dietary fibre and a source of plant-based protein, this one’s often high on the rotation. The chili is packed with flavour and uses super economical ingredients, making it the perfect plant-based dish for feeding a crowd on a budget! Leftovers taste just as good the next day too - cook once, eat twice (or three, four, five times…✋). It does start getting a little more fiddly when making fresh salsa and guacamole too...but maaaaan does it make for one tasty mouthful altogether🤤 Recipe on the blog - search vegetarian chili, link in bio. #dinneridea #healthydinnerideas #chili #chilibowl #plantbasedmeals #gucamole
Liquid gold🍯🐝This afternoon we bottled honey from our hives. Ours is a multifloral honey, or more romantically the ‘honey of a thousand flowers’, as the bees collected nectar from an array of different flowers!🌼🌸 I always get asked if honey is a better sweetener to use than plain old white sugar – firstly, honey is primarily sugar (around 82%), and sugar is sugar, so it’s a food to enjoy sparingly. It contains trace amounts (teeny tiny) of several vitamins and minerals, but this doesn’t give it much bragging rights - you’d have to eat LOADS to even attempt to meet your daily requirement, and obviously this isn’t smart and you’d feel pretty ill early in😅 When honey may shine is that it does contain antioxidant and bioactive plant compounds – typically the dark the honey, the higher the compounds. Antioxidants are awesome as they help fight free-radicals within our body, which can otherwise cause damage via a process called ‘oxidative stress’ – oxidative stress has been linked to everything from aging, to some disease, to inflammation. Many foods contain antioxidants, from fruit, to vegetables, to nuts – even meat! Consuming a wide range of antioxidants, from a wide range of whole natural food, is great for health. For me, I really enjoy honey in baking – I loveeee the tastes and complexity it adds. Now time to go spread some honey on toast!🍯🍞 #honey #honeyharvest #honeybottle #sweetener #nzhoney
Roasted garlic hummus🌟 Ever tried making your own hummus? With its super fresh and simple ingredient list, I think it’s one of the foods that tastes waaay better homemade than store-bought (and you can get pretty damn tasty store-bought versions!). When hummus is prepared traditionally - with chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic - it offers a myriad of health benefits. It’s rich in gut-loving dietary fibre; contains antioxidant-rich ingredients to help fight free radical damage within the body, like olive oil and tahini; it’s a source of plant-based protein; is naturally free of gluten, dairy and nuts, making it a tasty dip/spread for those with intolerances; annnnd it has a slow glycemic index meaning it releases its energy slowly within the body, leaving you feeling sustained for longer🤙If you’d like to have a crack at making your own - start by preheating your oven to 220 degrees celsius. Then cut the top and bottom off 6-8 garlic cloves, leaving the skin still on. Lightly toss cloves with a drizzle of olive oil, and then wrap in tinfoil. Bake for one hour (get ready for the most delicious smell to waft through your house!). Once cooked, open two 400gx tins of chickpeas, pour into a sieve, drain liquid, and rinse well with water - otherwise sub for cooked chickpeas. Add to a blender, along with roasted garlic (squeeze garlic out of skin, and discard the skin!), 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3 tbsp tahini, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt and a splash of water! Process for a few minutes, stopping to scrap down the sides. It will look quite thick and chunky - add more water for a smoother consistency. Taste test and add more salt, or spices (e.g. paprika, cumin) - let your senses guide you! Then you’re done!Whip up a batch and serve as a snack with fresh veggie sticks, dolloped over salad, as a nutritious sandwich spread, or spread over rice cakes and topped with sliced tomato. Full detailed recipe and nutrition information over on my blog now - link in bio🌟#hummus #dip #hummusrecipe #hummusaddict #hummuslover High on my list of happy feels - beach walks with furry friends🐶 What’s your favourite way to exercise? Aside from the *endless* physical benefits - increasing energy levels, reducing our risk of chronic disease, aiding sleep quality and happy skin, and improving muscle and bone health - it can also be a great way to clear our heads and manage stress...I find this for me at least!🙏🏻 Current guidelines in NZ recommend we sit less and move more, aiming to break up long periods of sitting; and that we aim for at least 2 1/2 hours of moderate physical exercise per week, but for extra health benefits - 5 hours! Let’s choose to see exercise as a blessing, rather than a chore. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One of the communities I am committing to this year to help challenge my fitness is @adidasnz Runners Auckland, which resumed with a Resolution run this week to kick start 2019. For those unfamiliar with adidas Runners - it’s a global community of everyday runners, who hit the streets of their city together in a community run. It’s open for all fitness levels, with different lengths and paces you can go at. This year I’m working with the community to answer any nutrition questions and provide nutritional support, and will be available before and after runs for chats. We’ll be running Tuesdays, rain or shine, meeting at Britomart at 5:45pm. As it's a community run you don’t run alone - so if you’re like me this can be highly motivating to keep on going🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ #adidasRunnersAuckland #ambassador #exercise #movement #running #adidasrunners @adidasnz Three ingredient pancakes🥞 Made using the simplest of simple ingredients. These are my absolute favourite - they’re rich in dietary fibre, naturally sweet and are a source of protein. To prepare, simply blend together 2/3 cup of dry oats, 2 eggs and 1 medium ripe banana, with a few tbsp of water, to a pourable consistency. Over a medium-low heat pour circles of batter into a pan (I find using a milk jug works well! You get perfect circles!) and cook for a minute or so on each side. Top with your choice of yoghurt (I used vanilla coconut here) and fresh fruit. Full recipe on my blog if you’d like to give them a whirl - search banana oat pancakes. These always been one of the most popular recipes on there🙂🍌🥞 #recipeidea #breakfastidea #healthymealidea #pancakes Back in our community garden for our 14th season growing food🥔🍆🌽🥕Check out our sunflowers! The basketball players of the sunflower world🌻🏀💁‍♀️ Summer always produces the best bounties...it’s hard to keep up. Swipe right for our most recent harvest. Any one have some inspiring ideas for marrow? (aka courgette left a littttttle too long)😅 I always get lovely messages about this garden when I share it on my stories - it’s the #dingwalltrust gardens, and we use it to both grow food and run gardening classes with wee ones in conjunction with the food literacy program @gardentotablenz 🤙 #gardenchat #organicgarden #gardening #summerproduce #summergarden Happy Monday☀️ What’s everyone up to today? I’m about to settle into some client prep for tomorrow. But first, dinner! Tonight I’m having sesame-soy salmon with brown rice and sautéed veg. This was super easy to whip up...put brown rice on to cook (as per packet institutions), while that’s going whisk together soy sauce + a dash of sesame oil and drizzle over your fish fillet. Cook in the oven until just cooked. Meanwhile sauté a mix of veg in a hot pan with a dash of soy sauce, grated ginger and crushed garlic (and whatever else you please e.g. sliced chilli...). Serve together in a bowl and enjoy! A good source of starchy complex carbohydrates (brown rice), protein (salmon) and veg (pak Choi, mushroom, snowpeas and red cabbage)🤙This would work well with tofu & tempeh too, as a plant-based option. #dinneridea #healthymealideas #nutrition Veg sushi salad for dinner aka lazy sushi💁‍♀️🍙 Simply add a few handfuls of salad greens to a bowl, top with colourful veggie sticks, stir-fry tofu, edamame, avocado dunked in sesame seeds, a cut up nori sheet and rice. Serve with a light drizzle of soy sauce overtop. A mouthful totally tastes like sushi! I usually load up the nori sheets with a bit of everything, then take a big bite! Happy Friday everyone🙏🏻 #dinneridea #sushi #sushisalad Berry granola bowl for breakfast with fresh fruit, coconut yoghurt, seeds and @littlebirdorganics granola. There are endless benefits of including more plant-based foods within our diet, particularly with our current health and environmental climate. If you'd like to begin incorporating more, but are not sure where to start, here are some simple ideas!🌽🍆🍌🥝🍊 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1. Add a few handfuls of grated veggies to family favourite meals e.g. carrot and courgette to a bolognese sauce or burger patties. They'll add flavour, texture and moisture, all positively contributing to how that end forkful will taste. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 2. Experiment with plant-based alternatives to your fav meat-based meals that you already enjoy the flavours of e.g. a veg chili loaded with salsa and guac instead of a mince based one. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 3. Grow your own - start small with a few edible varieties on your kitchen windowsill or a small planter box. When they're there, super fresh and accessible it's encouraging to eat! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 4. Make meals more excited with texture. Add crunchy seeds and nuts to salads and porridge, or creamy chopped avocado and feta to salad - they'll make for a more exciting mouthfeel, while adding flavour. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 5. Start the day with veg and include some at breakfast - try a veggie-packed omelette or green smoothie. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 6. Do a 50/50 legume swap - lentils are great replacement for mince as they take on flavours really well and have a similar texture. When making bolognese, burger patties or chili, reduce the mince in half in favour for a tin or two of lentils. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 7. Make your BBQ colourful - thread colourful veggies onto kebabs , or chuck on large BBQ-friendly items like corn cobs, portobello mushrooms or sliced eggplant. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 8. Get dippy - pair veggie sticks with dip as a snack. Try hummus, babaganoush or pesto! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 9. Have fun getting creative - try creating your own veggie noodles with a spiraliser, try a cauliflower pizza base (recipe on blog), or lettuce-wrapped burger. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 10. Remember, beyond fruit and veg there are way more plant-based foods! Nuts, seeds, legumes, quinoa, tempeh, oats- even herbs and spices count! Go for variety. To welcome in the New Year I’m excited to be pairing up with my friends at @theunbakery to bring two new items to their menu this coming week!😊🌟 From the 7th-13th January you can pop into their Ponsonby restaurant and order my teriyaki tempeh salad bowl with crunchy quinoa and miso-ginger dressing, or a tropical green mango, hemp and lime smoothie. Both dishes have been nutritionally designed to help support our digestive system after the bustling Xmas/NY period, and leave you feeling great👍 If you’re Auckland based and would like to head into the cafe to sample, simply tag a friend in the comments below and I’ll pick someone tomorrow eve at 7pm to pop in this week to try a smoothie and salad! Over the next month I’ll be collaborating with @theunbakery and @littlebirdorganics in a few different ways, including an Instagram story takeover on their IG pages this next week where you can shoot through any Q+A you have on nutrition for me to answer. I’ve been a huge fan of @littlebirdorganics and @theunbakery for the longest time - their message of eating more plants is a great one, and I find their deliciously creative approach to healthy food endlessly inspiring😊💫⭐️ #littlebirdorganics #unbakery #aucklandfood #collaboration Happy 2019🌟✨ I hope everyone had a lovely NY. It’s holiday time over here, which has involved camping, beach swims, lots of laughs, topping up my vitamin d stores (thanks to a blazing kiwi summer😅), wines and tasty food! I’ve been on a wee social media positing break which I usually do this time of year, but as always it’s nice to be back😊 Now to this platter...on holiday this is one of my favourite ways to share a lazy meal with loved ones! They’re fun to put together, and a nice social way to eat. Simply pop on a few dips, your favourite crackers or veggie sticks aka the platter-to-mouth vehicles for your dips, a few cheeses (duh🧀💛), seasonal fruit, chocolate, nuts and really whatever else tickles your fancy. I added a block of honeycomb, which was a gift from my friend Em at @thisiscomb, and some edible flowers from our garden to make it a little festive and FaNcY🌸🌼 I’ve still got a few relaxing days before I’m back in the swing of things, but are so looking forward to the year ahead🌟 #platter #grazingplatter #grazingplatters #2019 Fancy choc-dipped strawberries🍓🍫 I make these without fail each year at Christmas - they feel a bit festive and sort of remind me of upside down Christmas trees!🎄 To make, simply melt down your favourite chocolate (here I’ve used dark, but milk and white work well too), dip in a whole strawberry and drip off excess, flip each side in the toppings of your choice (e.g. chopped peanuts, finely sliced pistachios, shredded coconut, sunflower and pumpkin seeds...) then place in the fridge for 10 mins to harden👍All done! A tasty way to celebrate strawberry season in NZ.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With that, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! Around this time of year I often get asked about eating well at Christmas. I just want to say enjoy the precious moments with loved ones. Holidays and celebrations like these are a time to connect, share moments and make memories - and this really feeds us in other ways💛 Food is so heavily intertwined into social occasions, with it’s own special traditions and cultural significances...it’s a beautiful thing really! Merry Christmas everyone🎅 #christmastime #merrychristmas #christmasrecipes #strawberries #inseason #seasonalfruit #chocolatedippedfruit Who is getting excited for Christmas?☺️It’s summer time in NZ, and while I can’t wait to dig into a brandy filled warm Christmas pudding come the 25th(💃💃💃), it’s nice to have a lighter refreshing option on the table too! Enter this rather festive watermelon, honeydew melon, pomegranate and strawberry salad, dressed with the juice and zest of a lime, and a small handful of sliced mint. To make the circular balls of melon, I used a nifty tool called a melon baller which you can pick up quite widely at kitchen shops, but you can also just chop them into little squares too👍 This is amazing topped with a few spoonfuls of vanilla coconut yoghurt. Full recipe on my blog if you’d like to give it a go! #christmasrecipe #christmascountdown #merrychristmaseveeve Watermelon, feta and basil skewers🍉 Presenting a candidate for your Christmas Day appetisers!🎄These are a delicious combination of flavours - refreshing sweet watermelon, salty creamy feta, fresh basil and zingy lemon👌They’re really easy to make - you can whip up a tray pretty speedy, and they'll look way fancier then expected for the time and effort invested💁‍♀️ The colours look quite festive on a plate! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ To make cut 1/2 watermelon into small cubes (around 3cmx3cm). Squeeze a little lemon juice over each cube. Cut 1 block of feta into small cubes (around 2cmx2cm). Top each piece of cubed watermelon with a cube of feta and a single basil leaf. Secure with a tooth pick. Enjoy! More Christmas recipes coming these next few days...💃🎅#christmasrecipe #appetizers #christmasfood #watermelon #summerfruit
Our community garden☀️🌻 It becomes so alive at this time of year - listen to that noise!😳🐔🐝🐤 This is our twelfth season growing food, and with the addition of beehives a year ago I don’t think we’ve ever been this overflowing with produce (summer helps a lot too☝️). At the moment we’re harvesting loads of artichoke, beans, strawberries, cabbages, lettuce, courgette, kale and herbs, and we’ve got potatoes, raspberries, gooseberries, grapes, eggplant, chilli, and capsicum to come! I’m forever grateful for the lessons growing has taught me, about where food comes from, how intertwined food is with environment, eating seasonally (so much fresher, cheaper and more accessible!) and just how amazing freshly picked produce tastes. These are the #dingwalltrust gardens, where I manage a community garden and cooking program with little humans - we’re organic and haven’t really had any issues with many pests, only ever minor stuff (and a bit more weeding, but alas organic!)! We also have to fence a lot of our stuff off from the chooks (hence the bright orange stuff), but we let them roam quite a bit and snack - they’re great for the soil, always turning it over with their talons💁‍♀️ #garden #organicgardening #summerproduce #summerharvest #vegetables #summergarden #auckland #gardening

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