May Street Larder, East Fremantle
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Featured, Perth, Raw Food, Restaurants
After graduating from high school I left Adelaide and moved across to Perth to study for my dream career in Vet Science. Being only seventeen at the time, my worldly possessions consisted of a suitcase of clothes, some hand-me-down pots and pans, a hand written note book with all of Mum’s family recipes and my stereo tape deck. I couldn’t imagine why I would need or want anything more; music and food were enough to keep me happy.
It was fortunate that I was so easily satisfied because for the next six years I got to experience what it is like to live below the poverty line on Austudy, Australia’s government funded student income. It is easy to learn to go without when you barely have enough income to eat and pay your rent, and it forces you to become much more resourceful.
Many years have passed since then and reflecting back I struggle to comprehend how on Earth I made ends meet on such a small amount of money. I am so grateful that through all my years of perseverance, sacrifice and hard work it has finally paid off. Whilst I can hardly call myself a “rich bitch”, I am enjoying a level of luxury that I wouldn’t have even dreamed of having in my student days.
The Boy has developed a similar appreciation for the finer things in life having originally also come from humble beginnings. He has recognised my last couple of years have been tough ones and so he decided to spoil me for my 40th birthday with a brand new AMG A45. After driving a 1999 Honda Civic for the past ten years now I feel like I’m in a fantasy land. I never thought I could be in love with something with no heartbeat but who am I kidding, I’m completely smitten. She is fast, has a satisfying loud sporty engine and comes complete with personalised plates.
Of course I now want to get behind the wheel at every given opportunity and our occasional weekend lunch dates generally involve a Sunday drive paired with a pit stop somewhere decent for food. In keeping with this concept we headed down to East Fremantle to check out May Street Larder, a new café from the creators of Bib & Tucker. Knowing Bib & Tucker’s food well I was anticipating good things.
Banana fig smoothie
As we waited for our table in the standing area, the barista called out to us to see if we wanted any coffees. We had been up quite late the night before and a hit of caffeine was just what I needed.
The Boy isn’t a coffee drinker which is something I will never quite understand. To each their own I guess. Once we were seated at our table he ordered himself a banana fig smoothie instead. It was not overly sweet and quite creamy, and he didn’t utter a single word until it was all gone.
Zucchini, lupin and lemon fritters (GF, $21)
I was keen to try the zucchini, lupin and lemon fritters. Lupins are a Western Australian grown product and were one of the main hero ingredients for last year’s WA Signature Dish. They are high in protein and fibre making them very filling.
My lupin fritters were topped with smashed avocado, savoury granola and a couple of poached eggs. The eggs were cooked magically with the fluffy whites encasing liquid gold yolks. We were seated on a communal table and I received a couple of bemused looks as I furiously photographed to capture ever second of my egg porn moment.
Pulled pork sandwich ($21)
The lack of sleep was giving the Boy a small dose of indecisiveness over the menu until he saw a waiter with a pulled pork sandwich scoot past to a nearby table and then his choice was crystal clear. The pork shoulder was slow cooked to a near melting point and was ever so moist and flavoursome. The chipotle aioli wasn’t too intense for his sensitive tastebuds and he informed me he liked that it had a subtle sweetness to it. His sandwich also came with some May Street Larder house pickles along with very moreish deep fried sweet potato crisps.
Sadly this was a rare day where my appetite lacked its usual gusto due to a persistent hangover. Additionally my dish of lupin and zucchini fritters was so filling it left me no room for any sweets. I was so disappointed and consoled myself by wandering over to the counter to at least have a peek. What a shame! There were heaps of desserts for people like me; gluten free, vegan and raw options so I would have been spoilt for choice. Basically this simply means I will just have to come back again another day!
May Street Larder
Shop 23, 155 Canning Highway, East Fremantle WA 6158 | www.maystreetlarder.com.au
Typika Artisan Roasters, Claremont
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Coffee, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants
It isn’t often that the Boy wants to go out for a bite to eat and I turn him down. Being not just a mad foodie but also a food blogger means I am forever on the search to find myself decent content to publish. Ordinarily I will take every opportunity I can grab as not all our meals end up being blogworthy; be it because my photos aren’t good enough or maybe there just isn’t a story worth telling.
After working two full weekends in a row on top of my usual full working week, my overtime hours clocked through the roof. Tired, grumpy and in a rare moment of unsociability all I wanted to do was engross myself in front of the computer and work on my massive “blog-log” which is my term for the ever increasing back log of posts needing to be written. After barely seeing each other for the past two weeks, the Boy implored me to stop being so lazy, get up off my bum and go out with him for a late lunch. Having heard mixed reports about Typika Artisan Roasters in Claremont, we both agreed to go there and see for ourselves.
Situated in a large warehouse style building, Typika import their own beans and roast them on site. In the centre of the dining area is a glass encased room housing their huge coffee roaster so you can watch their creations unfold before your eyes. We didn’t arrive until minutes before the kitchen was closing which made it far too late in the day for me to try their coffee. In fact, I was wired enough from work and didn’t actually need further stimulation to add to the mix. Instead we opted for a couple of fruit smoothies to accompany our nuts and olives whilst we waited for our food.
Spiced nuts ($6.50, GF)
Within a couple of minutes of being seated our nibbles were brought to the table. The nuts contained a lovely mix of macadamias, cashews and almonds. They were spiced with smoked paprika, chilli, honey, garlic and sea salt. The serve was quite substantial in size.
Warm spiced olives ($8.50, GF)
Typika’s olives contain their own mix of kalamata and ligurian olives warmed with chilli, garlic, rosemary, cumin and slices of lemon. Soft and nearly velvety, the olive flesh slipped clean off the pit in one easy slurp. The amount of spice was fairly mild and I could easily have enjoyed a bit more kick.
Beer battered fish and chips ($30)
The Boy wasn’t that thrilled with any of the vegetarian options and opted for the beer battered fish of the day. After reminding me that he “isn’t really a fish and chips person” I was surprised that he ordered it. If any serve of fish and chips was going to win him over this would have been it. Swirls of batter fried to a crisp golden colour coated each fillet of fish. It was served with battered chips and sweet potato wedges with a side serve of tartare sauce and a bottle of vinegar.
I have to admit I was a little envious of the appearance of his dish and longed to be able to at least sink my teeth into one bite. That was until later in the day when all that fried batter started to disagreed with him. Being on a plant based diet and no longer used to such fatty foods his digestive system uttered roars of complaints which spanned throughout our yoga class!
Scallops, black pudding and pea ($22, GF)
Unlike the hungry lad, I only felt like something light and enquired to our waitress which of the two gluten free scallop options on the menu could be adapted to be fructose friendly. The chef recommended the scallops with black pudding, minted pea puree and romesco sauce. They were happy to serve the romesco on the side as it contained garlic which is something a lot of FM’s have to limit.
Scallops, black pudding and pea ($22, GF)
Plump and only briefly seared each scallop was a little raw on the inside which fortunately is just how I prefer them although I realise others may prefer them more cooked through. The black pudding was cut into the skinniest slivers such that its flavour didn’t overpower the delicate scallops. The pea puree was a little under-seasoned but had enough of a hint of sweetness to allow the scallop’s fresh taste to shine.
I didn’t think it was fair to write a blog post on a coffee roaster without trying their coffee so as all that overtime gave me an extra day off in lieu I chose to head back to Typika Artisan Roasters solo. That day luck was not on my side as it turned out that a power line had come down across Stirling Highway making access nearly impossible with the Police blocking off the road completely. After getting lost winding my way through the back streets I finally managed to pop out upwind of the drama.
Short mac ($3.50)
It was bustling for a late weekday morning and most tables were occupied. I sat down on my lonesome ready to get down to business. The drive had taken me a lot longer than I anticipated and I was champing at the bit for a coffee. Served with a bit more milk than I prefer for my short macs, my coffee was quite smooth and creamy however lacked the wow-factor that I expected from a self-proclaimed artisan roaster.
Typika Breakfast Stack ($21)
I um-ed and ah-ed whether I needed a second breakfast for about two full seconds before I called the waiter back to take my food order. I chose the Typika breakfast stack which included a shredded potato crisp, wilted spinach, avocado and house smoked ocean trout all topped with fried egg. Service was prompt and before I had finished my coffee my meal arrived. The waiter seems rushed and as he placed my dish on the table the whole mountain of food came toppling down in one messy and very un-photogenic pile. I sheepishly requested if it could kindly be send back to the kitchen for reconstruction.
Typika Breakfast Stack ($21)
I guessed at this point there was no way of remaining incognito for the purposes of my blog post. I winced a little at openly giving myself away and acting like a diva sending my food back. As I pricked my knife into my egg these thoughts quickly vanished to the back of my mind as I watch the bright yellow yolk porn dribble gracefully down my enormous stack. Oh yes.
Typika Artisan Roasters makes a nice modern change from the surrounding old-fashioned styled cafes in the Claremont area. Whilst their coffee was by no means incredible, it still hit the sweet spot for me. Their menu is very gluten free friendly and has a good variety of options beyond the standard eggs benny and big breakfasts.
Typika Artisan Roasters 331 Stirling Highway, Claremont WA 6010 | (08) 9284 6088 | www.typika.com.au Price: $$$ (Breakfast $12-21, Lunch $17-34) Food: 3/5 (a touch on the oily side, plenty of GF options) Service: 3/5 (quick, friendly but minimal menu knowledge for ingredients) Ambience: 3/5 (loud, busy, hive of activity) Drinks: 3.5/5 (great coffee but not blow-your-socks-off coffee) Total: 12.5/20 
Detoxing for the Drive back to Perth at Samudra, Dunsborough
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Featured, Margaret River, Raw Food, Regional WA, Restaurants, Vegetarian
After decades of suffering from the consequences of eating gluten, it has been incredible to discover what life is really about. No itching and scratching, no depression or wild mood swings, endless energy, the disappearance of embarrassing, unsightly eczema and best of all I feel on top of the world. Since learning more about my body and what it can and cannot digest, I have delved deeper and deeper into what IS ideal nutrition. Part of that journey has involved eating much more raw, unprocessed and plant based food. Whilst I’m not a strict vegetarian by any means, meat is only something I eat once or twice a week and the majority of that is seafood. Recently we took a weekend break down to Margaret River and fell off the wagon by eating and drinking ourselves into a blissful coma. After three days of pure gluttony it was time to head home by which point our bodies were crying out for something healthy. I had heard of a vegetarian café called Samudra located in the heart of Dunsborough and instructed the Boy to take us there urgently!
Smoothie ($8.50)
At home the Boy and I are very dependent on our Omniblend blender to allow us to drink freshly made smoothies regularly. I was suffering from smoothie withdrawal and needed one to hydrate and cleanse my poor overworked liver. Samudra have a number of freshly made juices and smoothies to choose from so I chose their “ABC” which contains apple, beetroot, carrot and ginger. I asked for them to not include the apple as I cannot eat them due to their high fructose content.
Smoothie ($8.50)
The waitress kindly replaced apple with celery and kale to give it an extra antioxidant boost. Sitting outside soaking up the sunshine, it was a wonderful feeling to treat my body with such fresh organic goodness and I vowed to have the next seven days off alcohol and all other decadent excesses.
Scrambled tofu ($18)
Secretly I was craving eggs, so I chose the scrambled tofu which I figured would be pretty close in their texture at least. I was right. My “vegan eggs” were coloured bright yellow with added butternut pumpkin and resembled what I craved enough to leave me very satisfied. It was served on thick slices of grainy gluten free toast with tamari balsamic glazed Portobello mushrooms and zigzags of parsley pesto. Despite being a tower of food it didn’t leave me feeling overwhelmed or uncomfortably full.
Breakfast burrito ($17)
The Boy ordered the breakfast burrito with smoky red kidney beans, smashed avocado, greens, tomato and coriander all wrapped in organic spelt mountain bread. It was wrapped tightly making it quite easy to eat and didn’t fall apart after one bite.
Watch out hunny it’s spicy!
The sauce that accompanied it was very spicy and too hot for the Boy but it went very nicely with my tofu so I finished it off for him.
Raw carrot cake ($8.50)
Earlier this year a few months before the Boy decided to be vegetarian, I suggested to him to try doing a six week “Meatless Monday Raw Food Challenge”. I planned out our recipes so we would only eat raw food on Meatless Monday, all of them adapted for my gluten free, fructose friendly diet. Prior to the challenge I never really realised how diverse a raw food diet could be. It was loads of fun and inspired me to eat more raw food in the future.
Raw carrot cake ($8.50)
We probably didn’t really need sweets after a whole weekend of spoiling ourselves but it isn’t often you see raw, gluten free, dairy free carrot cake on the menu and after a little insistence the Boy agreed to share one with me. The only thing I have to be careful about with raw desserts is that they often contain a lot of dried fruit such as sultanas and dates which both hold a very high fructose content. I carefully negotiated parts of the cake that didn’t have dried fruit while the boy ate the remainder. It was moist, soft and had just a hint of sweetness.
As we were paying the bill, my emotions hit me; I was so sad that our short trip was all over. It had been a magical weekend away and was just what we both needed; for our inner selves and for each other as a couple. To end the wonderful experience with such a fresh, healthy breakfast left us smiling all the way back to Perth. I couldn’t help myself and bought us a bag of dried kale chips to snack on once we hit the half way mark and stretch out the holiday vibe as long as I could.
Samudra 226 Naturaliste Terrace, Dunsborough WA 6281 | (08) 9779 9977 | www.samudra.com.au Price: $ (Breakfast $12-18) Food: 4/5 (lots of interesting choices, perfect for that healthy boost) Service: 3/5 (unobtrusive and meals came out fairly quickly) Ambience: 3.5/5 (Fremantle styled hippie chic) Drinks: 4/5 (this is the place to drink green!) Total: 14.5/20 
Sweet Treat Smoothie & Holiday Medley with Raw Sweet Potato Mash
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Featured, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
It has been six weeks and our Raw Food Meatless Monday comes to an end. It has been a fabulous learning experience for me as I had previously had no experience with preparing raw food. Whilst I realise to get more variety I need to take it further and get the right equipment like a dehydrator for example, I think I have dabbled enough in it to gain some basic understanding and appreciation. Whilst I cannot say I would be keen to go to an all raw diet, we will still continue to eat some raw food dishes beyond the conclusion of this challenge. Adapting some of the recipes to suit my fructose malabsorption has been interesting as banned ingredients like dried fruits are frequently used ingredients. Nevertheless I will continue to enjoy learning more about this more natural way of eating and hope I haven’t bored my dear readers with six weeks of it in a row!
- ½ cup plain or unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 2 cups organic baby spinach
- 1 frozen banana
- ½ cup frozen blueberries
- 1 T raw cacao powder
- 1 T mesquite powder
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried herbs
- ½ teaspoon salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1 cup walnuts
- 2 large stalks celery (diced)
- 2 medium carrots (diced)
- ¾ cup chopped parsley (about ½ bunch)
- 2 medium carrots
- ¾ cup water
- ½ cup cashew
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 medium sweet potato
- In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, seasoning, salt and pepper. Place the walnuts in a food processor and process until finely ground. Scrape into the bowl with oil and spices. Add celery, carrots and parsley to the mixture.
- In a high speed blender, combine the water, cashews, coconut oil, cumin and salt. Blend until very smooth. Add the sweet potato and carrot and blend again until very smooth, creamy & warm
The Boy’s review of the Sweet treat smoothie & Holiday Medley with Sweet Potato Mash:
It is a shame that the Raw Food Meatless Monday challenge is ending as I have been enjoying being surprised with a new meal and smoothie to try each week and it has been a great way to start the week. I have been impressed by how good these raw dishes have been and can say without a doubt I am now a big fan! The Holiday Medley with Sweet Potato Mash was a pleasure to eat and tasted fantastic however I think I may have eaten more then I should have as it gave me a bit of indigestion for an hour or two afterwards. Despite not looking overly appetising the Sweet Treat Smoothie was surprisingly delicious and was more like a desert then a drink. Hopefully Chomp will continue experimenting with Raw food and I will get to enjoy some of her experiments again in the near future!Here is the final list of links to the blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information. Super Foods provided me with free Organic Cacao and Organic Mesquite powder which inspired me to prepare these recipes.
Savoury Green Smoothie & Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Featured, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
A number of you dear readers who have been following my Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge have suggested to me that I make some raw food desserts. I wanted a raw dessert to serve us for our Monday night dinner that could actually pass off as our main meal. It needed to be nutritious, filling and not too sweet. To complicate my requirements furthermore, it had to comply with my fructose malabsorption (FM) restrictions. Many raw food desserts contain dried fruit which are completely off the menu for a FM so I had to delve a bit deeper for something more interesting.
To kick start our day, I created a savoury green smoothie which is low in calories yet full of nutrients. Unlike last week’s smoothie, this one is light on the stomach and easier to drink. For dinner I have made use of some organic chia seeds I recently received from the generous guys at Cheap Superfoods. The chia seeds are raw and unprocessed meaning that all their antioxidant and essential fatty acid content remains undamaged. The berry cinnamon chia pudding is dairy free, gluten free, raw, fructose friendly AND it tastes AMAZING!
- 1 cup water
- 4 stalks of celery with leaves, chopped
- 1 avocado
- 1 medium cucumber, with skin, chopped
- 1 lemon, peeled and seeded
- 1 handful of parsley
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
- 2 cups cashews, soaked overnight in the refrigerator
- 2 cups water, filtered
- 1¾ cups cashew cream
- ½ cup chia seeds
- ¼ to ½ cup maple syrup depending on desired sweetness
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup strawberries, sliced
- 1 cup blueberries
- Drain and rinse cashews.
- Combine with filtered water in the OmniBlend and blend until smooth.
- Mix together cashew cream, chia seeds, maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Slice strawberries.
- When chia pudding has thickened up (about 5-10 minutes) stir in sliced strawberries and blueberries.
- When serving sprinkle some freshly grated nutmeg on top.
The Boy’s review of the Savoury Green Smoothie & Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding:
“When deciding to switch to a plant based diet I knew the one thing I would really miss would be Dairy and in particular cheeses and desserts. While I am more than happy to eat more berries and other fresh fruits, I have a real weakness when it comes to Ice Cream and knew that this was the one thing that I would really miss. When Chomp told me that she was making us a raw desert I must say I was highly sceptical but at the same time hopeful that she could come up with something that would be a reasonable substitute. The delicious Fruit and Cinnamon Chia Pudding that she prepared was a pleasant surprise and made for both a great dessert alternative and a filling breakfast again the following morning. A thoroughly enjoyable treat it is easy to see that this dish could be modified into many different alternatives simply by changing the fruits and level of sweetness. The Savoury Green Smoothie is a simple, basic smoothie that was easy to drink and tasted great. Being so simple to make and nutritious this one has now been added to my morning breakfast routine and replaced the store bought smoothie I was previously having.”
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information. Super Foods provided the organic chia seeds free of charge for me to use in this recipe.
Pineapple Kale Smoothie & Creamy Garden Chowder
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Featured, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
They say it takes us on average around 21-28 days to form a habit. The Boy and I are only entering into the beginning of Week Three of our Raw and Meatless Mondays and I am finding that our vegetarianism stretches to encompass most of the week. Last night we ordered some take out from our local Thai restaurant Little Ying and the Boy insisted that I only order vegetarian dishes. He has embraced this new approach to eating with much more gusto than I anticipated. I ordered some Tom Yum Goong for us and I even saw him scoop out the prawns and plop them into my bowl.
With memories of Thailand still fresh in my mind I was inspired to create this highly addictive green smoothie for our Monday morning breakfast.
Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie
- 2 Cups Fresh Pineapple
- 2-3 Frozen Ripe Bananas
- 1 Cup LIght Coconut Milk (you may need a bit more if you want a thinner consistency)
- 2 Tbsp Shredded Coconut
- 1 Cup Kale
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
Greenie goodness
Our soup for this evening requires a little extra time in the blender in order to slightly warm it before serving. You can only do this with the more durable makes of blender so check beforehand so you don’t burn your machine out. The OmniBlend is designed to be able to heat soups without damaging the motor. I used my meat thermometer to heat it to about 50 degrees.
- 1 stalk of celery (include the leaves)
- 1 cup of carrots
- 1 small zucchini, chopped
- ½ red capsicum, chopped
- 5 cups water
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp sea salt
- Blend all ingredients in blender until warm.
- Drizzle with olive oil and garnish with chopped red bell peppers.
This recipe is adapted from www.rawfoodrecipes.com
Creamy Garden Chowder
The Boy’s review of the Pineapple Kale Smoothie & Creamy Garden Chowder:
“Three weeks into this diet experiment and it is rapidly becoming second nature with all my routine meals now replaced by healthy vegetarian alternatives. The health benefits have already started to show as I have lost a few kilograms of weight and my energy levels are continuing to increase. This week’s smoothie was a rich blend of Banana, Pineapple and Kale blended with Coconut and it was difficult to tell that it wasn’t a standard dairy based smoothie. The Banana and Coconut are an excellent combination and made for a very delicious drink. While very refreshing it was quite heavy and I was left wondering how many calories it contained. The Creamy Garden Chowder was a nice enjoyable dish with a slightly unusual taste which grew on me as I ate it. While satisfying it was not overly filling and makes a good dish for a day when you don’t want a big meal. If you struggle eating cold soups perhaps this style of warmed soup offers a potential alternative to the standard cooked and very hot traditional soup.”Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information.
Pineapple Beet Smoothie & Thai Style Raw Noodles
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
I admit sometimes I completely underestimate my dear husband. I thought that after the first week of our Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge his enthusiasm levels would start to wane. This is a man who used to eat a whole roast chicken in one sitting. I’m not saying that I don’t have faith in him changing his eating habits, but I didn’t think it would happen easily.
The following Monday arrived and to my astonishment he bounced out of bed all excited and ready for his next smoothie to try. He is not a morning person and seeing him with this much energy first thing in the morning was a little out of the ordinary. Knowing how much he loves his pink drinks it was logical that this would be the colour of his next smoothie to taste test.
Pineapple beet smoothie
- ½ pineapple
- ½ medium beet
- 1 carrot
- 1 cup strawberries
- cup of cooled green tea
- water, as needed
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
Raw Thai Style Zucchini Noodles
- ½ cup young coconut meat
- 2 tbsp raw coconut butter
- 1 red chilli
- 2 tbsp raw peanut or almond butter
- Coconut water as needed
- ½ small ½ inch piece of ginger
- 1 clove garlic
- Sea salt to taste
- Juice of 1 lime with ½ of zest
- 4 small zucchini cut julienne or spiralised
- 1 bell pepper, cut julienne
- 1 medium carrot, cut julienne
- ¼ cup finely shredded dried coconut plus more for garnishing
- In a blender combine the sauce ingredients and process until smooth.
- In a large bowl combine the sauce with the zucchini and bell pepper and carrot and ¼ cup of coconut and toss to coat.
- Place on plates and sprinkle with additional coconut.
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information.
Tropical Green Smoothie & Raw Curried Pumpkin Soup
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Perth, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
Over the past few years, the Boy and I have made a natural progression to eating a more vegetarian based diet. Whilst not completely giving up eating meat all together, our intake has been dramatically reduced such that our initial goal of a Meatless Monday has now extended into several days a week.
Our reasons for vegetarianism are twofold.
Our first reason comes back to being compassionate human beings. Can we truly justify the way we farm production animals? Housed in completely unnatural environments with cramped stocking densities and fed highly processed foods such as pellets and other animal proteins? Worst still, how can we know that every animal that is slaughtered for our consumption didn’t suffer in the process? Many of you may have seen Animals Australia’s shocking footage of our live export cattle in Indonesia abattoirs last year. We were all left outraged and distraught at the horrific treatment of these innocent beasts. But these events are by no means isolated and happen all around the world every day. While I understand that sometimes brutal death is a part of life in the natural world, I am certain a lion hunting a gazelle in Africa doesn’t stop to consider her prey’s welfare before she kills it. But unlike these majestic big cats, we humans choose to slaughter animals to eat on a much larger scale than is necessary for our own survival.
Our second reason for changing our diet is purely selfish. It is a well-known fact that the more vegetables you include in your diet the healthier you will be. Eating a predominantly vegetarian diet has been proven to help prevent cancer, diabetes and heart disease, lower blood pressure and slow the aging process. In fact a study on a group of 70,000 participants recently published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine showed that vegetarians even live longer. And who doesn’t want to live a long and healthy life? These are all wins in my humble opinion.
A logical progression from vegetarianism has been to consider taking it one step further and going raw. Back in late 2011 the Boy and I shared a very enjoyable lunch at The Raw Kitchen in Fremantle. This was my first experience with raw food and I was fascinated to learn that you can make dairy-free cheese, cream and even cheese cake made purely from nuts.
Back in the week before our wedding I received a blender from OmniBlend to review and I thought this was a perfectly timed gift for me to start trying out some raw recipes. The Boy proposed that I try and create some more manly raw dishes for him so he could switch our regular Meatless Monday into a Raw Food Meatless Monday instead! We called it the Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge!
So here it is….Week One of the Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge!
Tropical Green Smoothie
- 1 cup of water
- ½ banana (frozen or fresh)
- ¼ cup pineapple pieces
- ¼ cup kale, chopped or minced
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Place all ingredients into the blender and blend on high for one minute or until smooth. Drink immediately.
Curried Butternut Pumpkin Soup
- ½ butternut pumpkin chopped into small cubes
- ½ to 1 tbsp curry powder (to you preference)
- ½ tsp real cinnamon
- ⅓ tsp pink Himalayan salt
- One young coconut (for both the water and the meat)
- Black pepper, parsley, shredded dried coconut to garnish
- Gradually add pumpkin and coconut water into the blender on low speed until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and then blend on medium to high until a smooth consistency. Season with cracked black pepper and parsley and/or some grated dried coconut
The Boy’s review of the Tropical Green Smoothie and Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup:
“While I have struggled with the idea of giving up meat I have come to realise over the last few years the catastrophic damage that the meat industry has had on the environment. Added to that is the fact I can no longer justify to myself the suffering of another animal purely for my selfish enjoyment of the taste of their flesh. Therefore over the last year in what has at times been a difficult process we have gradually removed animal flesh from our diet. With this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of the OmniBlend Whole Food Blender review that Chomp had been asked to do and get her to make some Raw Vegan dishes for us to try. The first of what will be five weeks of what will be known as Raw Food Meatless Monday was a dish of raw Curried Butternut Pumpkin Soup along with a Tropical Green Smoothie. Now I must say the idea of cold pumpkin soup doesn’t sound entirely appealing however the dish turned out to be a very satisfying meal with the coconut nicely accenting the pumpkin and curry flavours. The fact it was cold wasn’t even noticed as the meal was quickly devoured… this soup would make a great meal on a hot summer’s day. The Tropical Green Smoothie was very refreshing and is definitely best served fresh and cold. A very filling drink that could easily be a meal on it’s own… I wonder what it would be like with a little vodka and crushed ice on a hot day?”
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum Soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Omniblend Australia provided me with an free Omniblend V machine to use to develop these recipes. Read my review for more information.
OmniBlend V blender review
Posted by | Categories: Blender Recipes, Paleo, Raw Food, Recipes, Vegetarian
The Boy and I initially got into juicing back in late 2011 as a result of watching Joe Cross’s documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. This period marked the beginning of a long overdue quest for finding better health by dramatically increasing our vegetable and fruit intake. We have slowly gravitated away from eating meat as the predominant ingredient in our meals to it being a small component if at all. The Boy bought us the latest whizz-bang juicer and was so enthusiastic with his juicing that he managed to burn the first one out in just a week. He stuck to his guns however and returned to the shops to get a replacement juicer. Over the following nine months he lost over 20 kg in body weight. He was well on his way to become a picture of health and this was all just in time for our wedding.
With every batch of green smoothies we made, we would end up with massive amounts of fibrous pulp left over. A juicer only extracts juice and discards the pulp from the fruit and veggies into its waste jug. In the early days, I determinedly saved the pulp and would make it into a variety of different vegetable soups that looked more like swamp water than food. Some even tasted good. After a while I tired of this messy business and tossed the pulp onto the garden for compost instead. What a waste. I hate throwing food away!
Not all smoothies are green! Pineapple Beet smoothie
Soon I realised that there is a much better way to make smoothies without having to eat swamp slime soup; with a blender not a juicer. Blending means you are eating the whole food, not just the juice and the fibre content is retained. Furthermore, high-powered blenders break down all the cell walls of the fruits and vegetables releasing all the phytonutrients locked inside the pulp, skin and seeds. This makes it easier to digest and allows the nutrients to absorb much more efficiently. After having this epiphany we discussed about getting a blender to replace our relatively new and fancy juicer. But talking was as far as we got because come mid-2012 we found ourselves knee deep in wedding planning and before we knew it time had flown away from us and we completely forgot about it.
So you can imagine my gratitude when earlier this year two weeks before our big day I received an email from the marketing director from a company called OmniBlend Australia who are manufacturers of heavy duty commercial blenders. He was keen to send me their popular blender; the OmniBlend V to review on the blog. In return for my review, the machine would be mine for keeps. No more pulp and swamp soup….woot!
OmniBlend blender
The OmniBlend V Low Down:
● Price:
$280-390 AUD. Excellent value for money compared to similar machines on the market such as the Vitamix.
● Motor:
A powerful 3HP motor which can deliver a blade speed of 38,000 rpm. It is very energy efficient at only 950W (not bad considering it produces 3HP!). I am told that this blender is sturdy enough to withstand heavy duty commercial use in restaurants and juice bars.
● Blades:
The 6-blade cutting assembly is made from highest quality, Japanese precision stainless steel. Replacement blades are available for purchase. The blades and jug are designed for both wet and dry ingredients and can make a hot soup in minutes heating with just friction. I gave this method a try for some of my soup recipes for the Raw Meatless Monday Man Challenge, more on this in the weeks to come.
● Blending:
Without much effort or preparation this blender made light work of blending my soups and smoothies into creamy, smooth consistencies. It even coped with me churning harder raw vegetables into it like pumpkin. Because the Omniblend is a more heavy-duty machine, it has enough oomph to do more than just make smoothies. It can puree, mix, chop, grind and whip all sorts of foods including mill grains into flour, grind coffee, puree baby food, churn ice cream, make nut butters and nut milks, knead bread dough and it can even crush ice.
● Cleaning :
The OmniBlend is really easy to clean which is a big win in my books. One thing that used to annoy me about juicing (in addition to the pulp waste of course) was that every time I made a smoothie I would be left with a hundred and one parts to clean. If the Boy that made himself juice it was even worse. There would be bits of pulp everywhere.
With this blender there is only a lid and a jug to wash and because there is no pulp, the jug rinses clean in minutes.
I did notice that the black rubber feet on the body of the unit left little marks on my white laminate bench top but they wiped off easily with a damp cloth.
● Noise:
It has very quiet operation when compared to many of its competitors (e.g. Vitamix).
Noise level = 83.8 dB
● Programs:
It has timed, cycled and repeatable blending programs.
● The Jug:
The 2 litre jug is made of unbreakable food-grade polycarbonate jug and is heat resistant to over 120 degrees Celsius which means you can blend hot soups straight off the stove top. It is suitable for both wet and dry ingredients unlike some blenders like the Vitamix that need separate wet and dry jugs/blade. The jug has quite a wide base compared to other blenders I have used in the past. This ensures that food particles don’t seem to get stuck under the blades when in use. They also offer a BPA-free 1.5 litre jug.
● Intelligent Overload Protection:
A built in sensor automatically turns off the motor when it detects excess usage. This prolongs the motors operating life and pre-empts breakdowns.
● Recipes:
OmniBlend are happy to send their customers a bunch of free recipes or better still stay tuned on the blog over the next six weeks for my Raw Food Meatless Monday Man Challenge!
● Warranty:
The OmniBlend comes with a standard 5 year warranty on the motor and 3 years on parts, or alternatively you can pay extra for a 7 Year extended warranty on the full machine. They offer free shipping anywhere in Australia.
How does the OmniBlend size up to its competitors?
Froothie Optimum 9200:
Price: $430-500
● 3 HP motor delivering a blade speed of 44,000 rpm
● 6 stainless steel Japanese made blades
● Low noise level at around 80 dB
● High, Med, Low and Pulse functions
● Comes with a 2 L unbreakable polycarbonate wet/dry jug
● Intelligent overload protection
● 5 year warranty or optional 10 year warranty
Verdict: Very similar to OmniBlend in its specs yet it costs $120-150 more
Vitamix:
Price: $700-1300 depending on model and options.
● 2-3 HP motor depending on model
● 4 stainless steel blades
● Noisy at around 110 dB (Vitamix 5200)
● Variable speed functions
● Separate wet and dry blades/jugs. Comes with 2L unbreakable jugs
● Thermal protection to prevent overload and burnout
● 7 year warranty or optional 10 year warranty
Verdict: Very expensive by comparison to OmniBlend, it’s only a smidge more powerful but twice the price!
Amazon: Vitamix 5200s, Vitamix Professional Series 300 and Vitamix Professional Series 750
Breville BJB840 Juice & Blend
Price: $350-499
● Dual purpose machine with a juicer & a blender, 1000W motor on the juicer and a 1200W motor on the blender, not very energy efficient
● Surgical grade stainless steel blades
● Variable speed functions
● 1.5 L jug
● 5 year warranty on motor/2 year repair warranty
Verdict: Couldn’t find many online reviews for this one but I don’t believe this is a high powered, durable machine. I don’t really see the point in a dual use machine either.
Amazon: Breville BJB840XL Dual-Purpose Juice and Blend
Thermomix TM 31
Price: $1800
● 500W motor which revs its two blades at speeds of 10,200 rpm
Verdict: This kitchen dream machine does much more than a blender; it can also do chopping, beating, mixing, emulsifying, milling, kneading, cooking, stirring, steaming, weighing and melting. Although at nearly 10 times the price of the OmniBlend so it bloody well should!
Over the next coming weeks I will be publishing some blender recipes that I have created with my OmniBlend. The concept is for each Monday to not only stick with Meatless Monday and eat only vegetarian but to take it to the next level and make it a Raw Food Meatless Monday. For the whole day we will only eat raw, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and fructose friendly.
● Tropical Green Smoothie (Week One)
● Curried Raw Butternut Pumpkin Soup (Week One)
● Pineapple Beet Smoothie (Week Two)
● Thai Chilli Coconut Zucchini Noodles (Week Two)
● Pineapple Kale Coconut Smoothie (Week Three)
● Creamy Garden Chowder (Week Three)
● Savoury Green Smoothie (Week Four)
● Fruit & Cinnamon Chia Pudding (Week Four)
● Raw Red Capsicum soup recipe (Week Five)
● Cucumber & Zucchini Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce (Week Five)
● Sweet Treat Smoothie (Week Six)
● Holiday Medley and Sweet Potato Mash (Week Six)
Chompchomp received an Omniblend V blender complimentary in return for writing this review. For more information head to www.omniblendaustralia.com.au. Six months after the publishing of this review Omniblend Australia contacted me with an offer to provide my readers with a discount when purchasing their new Omniblend blender. Using the coupon code below you can buy the Omniblend at a discounted price.
