The Ultimate Detox Smoothie Bowl

Recipe and text from Gourmande In The Kitchen

 

While beets are probably not the first ingredient you think of for breakfast, given a chance they might just surprise you.  Their sweet earthy taste pairs well with the tartness and acidity of the berries not to mention that the deep garnet root, traditionally valued for its blood and liver cleansing properties, is a good source of folate and betaine.

Chances are you’ve probably heard of açaí (ah-sigh-ee) the berry of an Amazonian palm tree by now.  Native to the rain forests of South America, açaí berries have become quite famously known as a super-food.

The old adage that the more vibrant the colour of a fruit or vegetable the higher its nutritional value certainly holds true with this deep purple berry, rich in both anti-oxidants and essential fatty acids.  And while you can’t find fresh açaí berries the pulp is available in the frozen section of many grocery stores these days.

All blended together with a couple of Brazil nuts for added selenium, chia seeds to keep you full and coconut milk to add creaminess and healthy fat to help you absorb all those vitamins and you have yourself an easy make-ahead breakfast, snack, dessert (or whatever meal you choose) that’s a little sweet, a little tart and utterly refreshing.

This vibrant and detoxifying smoothie bowl is gluten-free, grain-free, vegetarian, vegan, raw and paleo-friendly.

Ingredients

For the bowl:
• 1 large medjool date*, pitted and soaked in warm water until soft (leave out if you would prefer a lower carb version)
• ½ cup/120ml coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon/12g chia seeds
• 1 or 2 brazil nuts
• 1 small raw beet, peeled and finely chopped (or grated if you don’t have a blender)
• ½ cup/75g frozen mixed berries (I like a blend of raspberries and blueberries)
• 100g frozen acai , run under warm water to thaw slightly

For the toppings:
• 1 tablespoon/5g unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tablespoon/10g hemps seeds
• Sliced fresh fruit and berries

Instructions

1. Start by soaking the medjool date while you prepare peel and chop/grate the beet.
2. Place the coconut milk , chia seeds brazil nuts and drained soaked date in the blender and blend on high until smooth.
3. Add the chopped or grated beet, frozen mixed berries and slightly thawed acai packet. Blend on high, scraping down sides as necessary until thick and smooth.
4. Serve immediately in shallow bowls with toppings or as a smoothie in a tall glass. Alternatively you can prepare the bowl ahead of time the night before and keep the bowl covered without the topping in the fridge overnight.
 

Content and image sourced from Gourmande In The Kitchen

Are you nuts about chocolate? Then read this.

Why eat chocolate? Apart from the obvious. 

 

Cacao is chock-full of therapeutic benefits and could easily be considered one of nature’s best medicines.

• Cacao is considered a ‘super-antioxidant’ because it has such a high ORAC score (a measure of antioxidant content). The unprocessed raw cacao bean earns a higher ORAC score than acai berries, spinach or blueberries, and helps protect the heart, prevent cellular damage, and keep us looking and feeling younger. The darker the chocolate, the higher the antioxidant levels.
• Cacao contains oleic acid, which has been linked to lower cholesterol.
• Cacao contains high bioflavonoid levels that help regulate blood flow and pressure.
• Cacao is high in the mineral magnesium, which helps with calcium absorption, metabolism, and protein synthesis. It may also be useful in preventing and treating congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, diabetes, and premenstrual syndrome.
• Cacao contains other essential minerals such as iron, copper, calcium, potassium, and zinc.

Our new Nutty Chocolate Smoothie, pictured above, is bursting with cacao goodness. For those of you who know our cleansing menu, it's our Calming Smoothie with an extra injection of chocolatey goodness. Almonds and chia add to the benefits of cacao with essential fatty acids and fibre for glowing skin, shiny hair and improved digestion.

Click here to order.
  

Content sourced from Move Nourish Believe: www.movenourishbelieve.com/nourish/pick-of-the-week-benefits-of-cacao

 

Limited Edition Customized Cleansing

Would you like to try a Cleanse or Six-Pack that is customized to your  needs?

We are offering Limited Edition Customized Cleansing until Easter 2014 - all you have to do is email us to express your interest, and we'll tell you what to do next! For example, you can have 4 green juices and 2 soups, 3 smoothies and 3 juices, or just 6 smoothies - the variations are entirely up to you.

You choose from our recipes. We make your ideal pack.

Email us at: info@urbanremedy.com.au

6 recipes to make your heart sing

We're sure you've realised by now that we like to share the love and keep you updated on the latest and greatest health news.

Well, to celebrate Valentine's Day this year, we thought we'd share a lovely recipe collection we stumbled upon today.

6 smoothies and juices to make your heart sing and dance:
1. Frank Lipman's 'Blueberry Avocado' Smoothie
2. Kim Snyder's 'Rainforest Chia Seed Heart-Healthy' Smoothie
3. Cynthia Pasquella's 'Berry Healthy for Your Heart' Smoothie
4. Cherie Calbom's 'Green Lemonade'
5. Bonnie Taub Dix's 'HeartSmart' Smoothie
6. Lisa DeFazio's 'Heart Healthy' Smoothie

These 6 recipes will make your heart skip a beat for all the right reasons! Check them out here.

And while you're at it, check out our very own spring/summer recipes.

Acai. A smooth operator with serious beauty benefits.

Acai, we love it. For starters, there's a reason why this superfood has been coined the ‘Beauty Berry’. Containing more grams of regenerating protein than an egg, and packed full of anti-ageing and metabolism-boosting phyto-nutrients, this lovely berry improves your health and promotes real beauty from the inside out. 

Why Acai?

This little wonder:

• Combats premature ageing with the help of powerful antioxidants (namely anthocyanin)
• Boosts immunity and metabolic function
• Aids in muscle regeneration, promoting increased energy and stamina
• Improves blood circulation, assisting in a healthier heart
• Assists in removing toxins from your body

Beautifying Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

• Raw acai powder – 1 tsp
• Raw cacao powder – 1 tsp
• Mixed berries – a large handful (fresh or frozen)
• Medium ripe banana  – 1 whole
• Almond milk – 200 ml
• Water – 100ml

We like Loving Earth for our acai and cacao powders – they use only sustainable , fairly traded and high-quality organic ingredients. When choosing an almond milk, always go for unsweetened. Or if you have the time, make your own!

Preparation

1. Pop all ingredients in blender
2. Blend
3. Serve
4. Drink
5. Yum

If you fancy making our Beautifying Berry Smoothie but don't have all of the ingredients at your disposal, we have a lovely superfood hamper up for grabs from Loving Earth. Just head over to our Facebook page, like our post, and you could be in with a chance of winning some raw acai, goji, vanilla and cacao...

Our health AND beauty must-have...

This week, we're sharing with you our latest health AND beauty crush. We know it has been popular for a little while now but we like to wait for the hype to die down before we dish up our verdict.

Please welcome Coconut Oil to the list of UR favourites. Here's why...

Beauty Wonder

Coconut Oil is the a beauty multi-tasker like no other.

We like to use it as a:

• Hair mask

Tip: apply between first and second shampoo (to avoid greasy hair), cover hair with a warm towel, leave on for 20 minutes.

• Shaving oil

• Face wash (think Eve Lom on a budget) - so nourishing you don't even need a moisturiser afterwards!

• Make up remover - even safe for eyes

Tip: to remove eye make-up, massage coconut oil onto eyes gently, wet two cotton wool pads with warm water, gently wipe off... repeat until squeaky clean.

• Heel balm

• Cuticle balm

• Massage oil

• Body moisturiser

Super Food

Coconut Oil contains EFAs (that's essential fatty acids - great for hair, eyes, skin and cardiovascular health), it's also a fat that helps to burn fat, and it has the added bonus of combatting dysbiosis (overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut) and candida, thus reducing bloating. Brilliant!

You can use it in food as a:

• Cooking oil - coconut oil can be heated to a high temperature!

• Baking oil

• Butter substitute - just spread and enjoy

• Smoothie supplement

So there you have it folks. Coconut Oil, a must in everyone's kitchen or bathroom cupboard.

Healing Avocado Smoothie

We love this little beautie. So simple but so divinely nutritious (and yummy).

Ingredients

• Avocado (half, ripe)
• Banana (half, ripe)*
• English spinach (small handful)
• Coconut oil (1 tsp, extra virgin)
• Chia seeds (1 tbsp, black or white)
• Raw vanilla powder (sprinkle)
• Water (300ml)

Low carb/fructose option*: leave out the banana!

Preparation

• Pop all ingredients in blender
• Blend
• Serve
• Drink
• Yum

And there you go, a smoothie that will tantalise your tastebuds and leave you feeling energised and satisfied. It's the perfect morning smoothie, pre or post-workout snack, or guilt-free dessert. It's packed full of good (fat-burning) fats, vitamins and antioxidants – with iron-rich spinach and a nice dose of bad-bacteria-busting coconut oil.

Enjoy!

Our new favourite dessert

We absolutely love this new smoothie recipe. It's your new cleansing bestie as of 1st September 2012 – yep, this little beautie will be replacing our current Number 6. It's bigger (in flavour not calories) and badder than ever.

Please welcome the ABC Dessert Smoothie.

7 simple ingredients:

1. Almond milk
2. Coconut water
3. Filtered water
4. ABC nut butter*
5. Four dates
6. Raw cacao
7. Cinnamon

*ABC = Almonds, Brazil Nuts and Cashews

In terms of quantities, we recommend playing around with them to suit your individual tastes. That and the exact measurements are a trade secret!

The health lowdown:

It's packed full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, with a healthy dose of protein and good fats. The ABC Dessert Smoothie is soothing, with a pinch of cinnamon to help combat dysbiosis/candida, and a hit of super-nutrients to boost energy, skin health and immunity. We've been careful to monitor the carb content as usual – using only four dates to sweeten. What we absolutely didn't skimp on, taste. The nut butter adds a touch of healthy but indulgent yumminess.

It's official, we're in love. And you can be too from 1st September 2012.

We're having a winter makeover!

We love summer (except when it rains for weeks on end) but we also love the colder months, and why not... winter means cosy knits, scarves and mittens, boots in all their shapes and sizes, cute PJs, having an extra excuse to cuddle up under the doona... and (last but definitely not the least) the brand spanking new Urban Remedy winter menu. Yep, it's time to get excited folks. This one's a good'un.

From Sunday 6th May, we'll be dishing up 3 new breakfast smoothies, 2 gorgeous winter soups and our dessert smoothie has had a mini-makeover.

Check out the 10 winter juices, soups and smoothies below:

In the meantime, have a great Easter weekend and don't eat too much chocolate! ;)

Cocoa Berry Surprise!

I didn’t have time for a proper breakkie yesterday (tut tut, I know) and had to whip something up at work to get my energy levels going. This little beauty was just the thing! In fact, it was so delicious and so energising that I simply have to share it with you…

Ingredients
• 1 handful raw cashews
• 2 handfuls frozen berries
• 1 medium-sized banana
• 1 tsp raw organic maca powder
• 1 tsp raw organic cacao powder
• 2 heaped tsp black chia seeds
• 200-300ml brown rice milk or organic milk

Preparation
• Chuck all ingredients in blender
• Blend
• Serve
• Drink
• Yum

And there you have it folks. A tastebud-tingling, mouth-watering smoothie – perfect for breakfast, for a post-workout snack, or as a yummy after-dinner dessert substitute.

Brighten up with our 'Tropical Sunshine Smoothie'

The weather outside is not very spring-like so we're sending a touch of sunshine your way with this gorgeous tropical smoothie. Enjoy for breakkie, as an after-dinner delight, or just because. 

Ingredients
• 75ml low-fat coconut milk
• 75ml filtered water
• 1 medium-sized banana
• ¼ pineapple or papaya
• ½ lime, squeezed
• 30ml noni juice
• 1 tsp chia seeds

Preparation
1. Roughly chop fruit
2. Pop all ingredients in a blender
3. Blend for 2-3 minutes
4. Serve in a tall glass
5. Garnish (if you’re feeling fancy)
6. Bottoms up!

Super smoothie delight!

This week, we're dishing up a yummy recipe for a 'Super Smoothie' to keep you feeling... well 'super' all morning. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 200 ml milk alternative or organic milk
• 50 ml water (filtered if poss)
• 1/2 banana or 1 small banana
• Handful of mixed berries (frozen)
• 1 tsp raw cacao powder
• 1 tsp raw maca powder
• 1 tbsp LSA mix or chia seeds

Preparation

1. Throw ingredients in blender (throwing is more fun, we promise!)
2. Blend
3. Serve
4. Drink
5. Yum

Comments

• Milk alternatives: try almond, brown rice, millet, oat or soy milk
• Berries: we opt for frozen as they make your smoothie nice and chilled. No need to add ice!
• Maca powder: an energising superfood from the Incas; also a well known aphrodisiac! ;)
• LSA: Linseed, Sunflower and Almond mix (omega heaven)
• Chia: a super seed, packed full of vits, mins and omegas!

Glowing skin smoothie

In last week's blog, we gave you our five easy steps to clear, radiant skin:

1. Avoid skin aggravating foods

2. Maximise skin enhancing foods

3. A simple, effective skin care routine

4. Experiment with skin healing supplements

5. Try a juice cleanse

This week, we're dishing up a recipe for a yummy, skin-friendly smoothie to kick off your day.

Glowing skin smoothie:

• Almond, millet or brown rice milk
• ½ medium-sized banana
• Handful of mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 heaped tbsp of a superfood powder* of your choice
• 1 heaped tbsp of LSA (Linseed, Sunflower and Almond) powder
• Optional: Sun Warrior vegan protein powder

Superfood powders*:

• Green superfood powder – we like Vital Greens
• Acai powder – we like Rio Life
• Raw cacao powder – we like Loving Earth

For candida/dysbiosis (overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut) sufferers, swap the fruit (banana and berries) for egg yolk, cashews or avocado. Coconut oil and cinnamon are great bacteria-fighting smoothie boosters for candida – add natural vanilla extract to enhance flavour and/or manuka honey for sweetness (manuka honey doesn’t feed the bad bacteria in your gut).

Smoothies are a great breakfast option for individuals prone to breakouts or skin irritations, and for people with weak digestion or digestive disorders – they deliver a burst of vitamins, antioxidants, and phytonutrients in a form that is super easy for your body to break down (most of the work has already been done by the blender) and draw goodness from straight away.

Enjoy! xx

Let's talk breakfast

In our next three blogs, we take a look at the dilemma that is meal preparation. It’s all very well deciding to eat healthily but when it comes to actually planning and making the food that we eat, it’s another matter. Healthy snacks aside, it’s the three biggies we’re interested in: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Let’s talk breakfast first of all. Breakfast is the meal that quite literally breaks our fast – when we wake, it is usually a good 10 hours since our last meal and our bodies are craving quality nourishment to get them going. Breakfast is also the meal that sets the tone for our subsequent food choices. If you start the day eating rubbish, you’ll probably continue in that vein!

Here are some super healthy and delightfully easy breakfast ideas:

• Bio yoghurt (cow’s, goat’s or sheep’s) with a sprinkle of organic untoasted muesli (check the label to make sure there is no added sugar; the dried fruit will be sweet enough), a handful of mixed berries and a heaped tablespoon of LSA (linseed, sunflower and almond mix), chia or my personal favourite – Udo’s Choice Wholesome Fast Food (a pleasant-tasting powder full of super nutrients). Et voilà!
• Two slices of low-gluten bread (spelt, linseed etc) with whole butter and ABC (almond, brazil nut and cashew) spread. Add manuka honey (unlike normal honey it does not feed bad bacteria) if you like it sweet, or rock salt for those who prefer savoury.
• If you feel like something lighter, try a supercharged smoothie. We have some great recipes for you in our DIY Detox post.
• If you’re feeling hungrier than usual, you can always go for poached eggs on two slices of low-gluten bread with wilted spinach and a small can of salmon slices. It has taken a while but I have finally discovered a delicious brand of tinned salmon – John West, in springwater or olive oil, not brine.

Enjoy and stay tuned for our lunch tips!

Stave off the blah this festive season

As we head out the door this afternoon for a wee holiday break, we thought we’d send you a quick email with a super easy one day refresh plan to give your system a bit of a reboot between Christmas and the New Year. To make it easier, you can prepare everything the day before.

Start the day with hot water and lemon. This one is a habit for life that we highly recommend.

Breakfast detox juice (make at home or from a juice bar)
2 apples
1 carrot
Handful of flat leaf parsley (or mint)
Handful of fresh spinach (or other leafy greens)
2 sticks of celery  

Mid-morning super green smoothie
Small handful baby spinach
2 cos lettuce leaves
1 kiwi fruit
1 banana
½ cup apple juice
Optional superfood like spirulina
Optional chia seeds or linseeds
Some ice cubes
Wash/peel ingredients, blend, serve.

Lunch – healthy lentil salad
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
2 tbsp walnuts, roughly chopped
½ cup tinned or cooked dry brown lentils.
Season with sea salt, lemon juice and olive oil.
Minted yoghurt dressing optional (1 tbsp of yoghurt mixed with fresh chopped mint).

Mid afternoon snack
Hummus with cucumber and capsicum sticks.

Dinner – detox salad (serves 2-3 as a main)
150g red cabbage, shredded
2 small or 1 large carrot, grated
1 apple, thinly sliced
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
1tbsp toasted pinenuts
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tbsp linseeds

Dressing
1tspn grated ginger
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp virgin olive oil
Little honey to taste

Serve with grilled salmon or on its own.

Dessert
Handful of fresh or frozen raspberries

Having only a juice and smoothie up until lunchtime will give your digestive system a really nice break. The lunch and dinner salad recipes are super healthy and packed with fibre, protein and good fat.

We hope you have a very happy and safe holiday season.

See you next year!

Smoothie-licious – yummy juices & smoothie recipes for your DIY detox

Juicing is awesome. It is a brilliant way to get loads of nutrients into your body without consuming a massive mountain of fruit & veggies. In our kitchen on Tuesday, I took a pic of the amount of fruit & veg that goes into a 3 day cleanse. Holy nutrients Batman! That doesn’t even include the ingredients for our smoothies.

As well as bursting with nutrients, fresh juices also contain antioxidant vitamins, natural antibiotics, anti-inflammatory properties and enzymes to improve the quality of your digestion. Good stuff.

A couple of things to remember about juicing:

1.    Drink your juices straight away. If you are using a home juicer or buying your juices from a juice bar, make sure you drink them straight away. We use special slow, cold press juicers that retain nutrients for way longer, but if you’re using a commercial or home juicer, they tend to oxidate (you know how apple juice starts to turn brown after a few minutes) rather quickly, so you should drink them immediately after juicing.
2.    Use high quality ingredients. You want the freshest and most lovely ingredients to go into your juices.
3.    Experiment and innovate. I’m always making new juices and smoothies, depending on what’s in season (and what’s in my fridge) at the time. Throw whatever takes your fancy in.

As promised, here are some de-lovely smoothie & juice recipes.

Apple, mint & lime juice
3-4 Granny Smith apples
2 sprigs of mint
¼ lime

Wash all ingredients. Core and quarter the apples. Roughly chop the peel off the lime. Juice. Drink. Yum.

Carrot, apple and celery juice
3 carrots
2 Granny Smith apples
2 celery stalks

Wash all ingredients. Core and quarter the apples. Cut the bottom ends of the carrot and celery and chop into pieces that will fit through your juicer. Juice. Drink. Yum.

Blueberry, spinach and apple juice
1 cup blueberries
Small handful baby spinach
3 Granny Smith apples

Wash all ingredients. Core and quarter the apples. Juice. Drink. Yum.

A word about smoothies
Smoothies are pretty awesome too. That's why we've added some to our cleanses. They are very easy to digest - your digestive system is best able to absorb nutrients from 1mm size pieces of food. That's why juices and smoothies are so good - they make all the nutrients readily available and easy to absorb. Green smoothies are particularly good. The late Dr Ann Wigmore (a pioneer in the healthy eating and living movement) spoke of an instant surge of energy and brain focus with her first green smoothie. That's how I feel when I drink my morning smoothie - bursting with energy and enthusiasm.  

Strawberry mango smoothie
1 cup frozen mango cheeks
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
1 cup rice milk

Combine all ingredients and blend. So yum.

Blueberry kale smoothie
1 cup frozen blueberries
4 kale leaves (or small handful spinach)
½ cup of water
1 banana

Wash kale leaves. Peel banana (duh). Combine all ingredients and blend.

Green smoothie
Small handful baby spinach
1 celery stalk
1 banana
1 pear
1 apple
½ cup water

For extra protein and essential fatty acids, you can add a tablespoon of linseeds (also known as flax seeds) or chia seeds to any of the smoothies. If you use chia seeds, soak them in ¼ cup of water first until they form a gel like substance and then add them to the blender.

You can also add superfood powders or liquids to your smoothies. I love Vital Greens (it almost has a chocolatey taste), spirulina and acai berry powder. We use these in the Urban Remedy smoothies and they add an extra burst of goodness and nutrients.

Next week I’ll talk more about cravings and how to satisfy them with healthy options. I’ll also upload a DIY detox yoga sequence as well as some other ideas, hints and tips.

Happy DIY detoxing.

So...
What’s your plan to make the most of your DIY detox?
Do you have any juice or smoothie recipes you want to share?

Emma x

Chia seeds - a superfood friend with benefits

I'm loving chia seeds at the moment. I'm using them in EVERYTHING. One might even say that I'm chia-tastic.

What you need to know (or maybe just want to know) about chia seeds
They are:
1.    A wholegrain
2.    Super high in the essential Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Essential fatty acids are vital as they help the body recover after exercise and help to increase metabolism, helping with fat burning and weight loss.
3.    High in fibre, which helps to make us feel fuller for longer and keep us “regular” (lovely)
4.    Gluten free
5.    Rich in iron (3 times more than Popeye’s favourite food)
6.    A complete protein, containing 8 essential amino acids. It’s a little complicated, but many plant sources of protein are incomplete proteins that need to be combined with another protein. These little babies do it all on their own.
7.    High in other good stuff like calcium (higher in calcium than milk and more absorbable too), B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous and zinc
8.    Rich in antioxidants to battle those nasty free radicals (I seriously imagine a little battalion of antioxidant warriors going to work on the insurgent free radicals). Antioxidants help to slow the process of aging. Sounds good to me.

Just throw them in
Salads, soups, stirfrys, smoothies. A tablespoon or so will do the trick. Yum. 

Black versus white seeds
According to The Chia Co, there is very little nutritional difference between the white and black seeds, so it really depends on the colour that your recipe or mood calls for.

Yummy chia smoothie
One the weekend I bought some chia seeds from About Life in Bondi Junction (you can get them from any health food store). The packet had a great smoothie recipe on the back, which I had for breakfast this morning and it was delish. Hopefully they don’t mind me sharing it with you!

1 cup banana and/or berries (I used ½ banana ½ strawberries)
½ cup yoghurt
½ cup milk (or your preferred milk replacement)
½ cup coconut milk
1tbs chia seeds (soak the seeds in a little water until the seeds and water form a thick gel, then add them to the smoothie)
1tbs honey (I prefer maple syrup with yoghurt as honey is antibacterial and kills all the good bacteria in yoghurt)
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp grated ginger (I left this out)

1.    Soak seeds
2.    Add all ingredients to blender
3.    Blend
4.    Drink (I can hear you saying “duh…”)

Try them out. Suffice to say that I’m a fan of these tiny little suckers.