RAW Chocolate Cheese Cake

We had Hamish's 40th birthday on the weekend! And for the birthday cake I made  a Raw chocolate Cheese Cake, well it went in all of two minutes and a lot of people were surprised at how yummy it was! And even better its better for you than your conventional cheesecake!

So here is the recipe!

A Raw Chocolate Cheese Cake

For the crust:
11⁄2c pecans
3⁄4c raisins roughly chopped
2T coconut oil/butter ( melted)
1t vanilla extract
1t cinnamon
Pinch salt

•  First process all dry ingredients, being sure not to over-process nuts. 
• Add coco butter and vanilla extract and process again.
• Press into the bottom of pan and place in fridge whilst working on filling.
• Note:  You can melt Coconut oilin a bowl over another bowl of hot water.

Hamish's 40th Raw Birthday cake

For the filling:
2cup cashews
1cup water
2cup cacao powder
2T vanilla extract
1⁄2cup agave nectar
1⁄2Tablespsoon lemon juice

• Blend the cashews, water, vanilla, agave nectar, and lemon juice in a vita-mix until smooth. 
• Add cacao butter and cacao powder, and blend again.Pour chocolate mixture onto base and use a spatula to achieve a level surface.
• Place in fridge for a minimum of 3 hours to set.

Strawberry Sauce
1c strawberries
3T agave
2T lemon juice
1⁄2t cinnamon
1⁄4t nutmeg

• Place all ingredients in a processor and blend. Then pour over cake or serve on side.

Transitioning back to RAW... Quinoa Salad

Transitioning back to RAW

So many of you know I (Sarah) am transitioning back to Raw after the birth of Isabelle! Well it has been three months since Issy was born and I have slowly but surely getting back into the RAW!  

Some of the yummy raw food which I love again are Tahini - for some reason during my pregnancy I couldnt even bare the thought of consuming it! Not Im loving it again!  

Red Quinoa

Lunch times are my usual non all raw meal  - I have either been having Spouted bread with adocado.... delicous!  But advocado on spourted bread every day can get a bit boring! So today for the first time ever I thought of cooking Quinoa, as it is full of protein and amino acids - all good for a breastfeeding mumma! To cook it is just the same as cooking rice!  I made an amazing Quinoa salad see recipee below! You can also Spout Quinoa but I was impatient today! They take about 8 hours to sprout, and I think I might actually do that now so I can have a RAW lunch tomorrow!

Some of the health Benefits of Quinoa

• Quinoa is a good source of protein and one of the few plant foods that contains all nine essential amino acids that make it a complete protein and an excellent choice for anyone who follows a vegetarian diet.
• Like most whole grains, quinoa has many benefits that fight cardiovascular disease. It contains high levels of antioxidant materials, such as manganese, that help to prevent cell damage.
• It is also an excellent source of magnesium which is very effective for relaxing blood vessels and a great benefit to migraine sufferers and those with high blood pressure.
• Quinoa is very easy to prepare and cooks quickly. You receive all the benefits of a whole grain, yet quinoa cooks as quickly as white rice. This makes it a great choice for a quick yet nutritious weekday dinner.

My Yummy Quick Quinoa Salad  - Perfect for lunch

1 cup quinoa

2 Tablespoons of Tahini
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice 

1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tomato

1 cucumber, diced
1 carrot, grated

Spouting Quinoa

Sprouting Quinoa  takes about 8-12 hours you have little baby quinoa sprouts. 

For easy directions on sprouting quinoa, check out these Sprouting Instructions from the Sproutpeople®.  

Enjoy!! Sarah:)

A walking and talking nursling

Our gorgeous Isabelle

Before Isabelle was born I planned to breastfeed her for 12 months, now she is here, I was convinced that I was only going to breastfeed for 12 months, since having Isabelle and discovering the joys of breastfeeding, in not only the bond it creates but knowing that I can give her all the nutrients she needs and immunity through my breast milk, I have often thought now of 'how long will I breastfeed for?' Im still not sure, I know I want to for at least a year, and after meeting many mums who have breastfeed for more than a year I think I will let Isabelle decide...

This article on breastfeeding has some interesting points about colds and infections for those children who are breastfeed for more than a year...

A walking and talking nursling

I Love my Ergo Baby Carrier!

Sarah & Isabelle!

Wow when Isabelle was born I did heaps of research on which Baby Carrier to buy! I am so happy I purchased the ERGObaby Carrier. It offers hands-free closeness like no other and is perfect from birth, we used the insert! Takes a bit to get it right with the heart insert but once Issy was snuggly fitted she was snoring like a tropper. ERGObaby supports your child in three easy-to-use positions - front, hip and back – promoting healthy spinal development and adapting to your child's growing needs.

Image from the International Hip Dysplasia Institute showing the importance of using a carrier that places a baby in a seated position, not hanging by their crotch. There are plenty of carriers that place baby in the correct position, including but not limited to Ergo, Boba, Beco, Olives & Applesauce and Babyhawk, as well as wraps and ring slings when used correctly.

It disperses most of the baby's weight between the hips and thighs, which helps to eliminate compression of the spine when hanging by the crotch which most other designs require.   Issy is now 7kgs so we no longer use the insert! The best bit about it is the cover as you can see in the above picture I put this over Isabelles head in many situation especially when we go into town, there is way too much stimulation for a little baby so often i use this to cut out the crazy energy of a big city! I love that Isabelle is close to my chest as well!  Definatley recommend one!!!

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead movie

This looks like a great movie. promoting the benefits of juicing!

Hamish recently did a 7 day juice feast and he looked fantastic at the end of it! 

Obviously sponsored by Breville though! Best to use a masticating juicers which are low in speed and practically no friction, and this means that the product is not heated during juice extraction. This saves living enzymes which are necessary for our bodies.

The Breville juicers they are referring to in the movie are CENTRIFUGAL... JUICERs which revolving at a high speed the bolster rubs the pulp of the product like a grater, and because of this the product inevitably heats up. The higher the speed, the more friction, the higher the temperature. This leads to the destruction of useful nutrients, and enzymes, which are sensitive to temperature, and die under heat.

"I am not sick so why should i go to hospital to give birth to my child"

Ever since the birth of Isabelle I have been so interested in watching the birth of babies! It is like something shifted inside of me when I had Isabelle.. maybe an opening into the woman I am!  Isabelles birth was in hospital and I was induced as I was 10 days late! I was planning for a water birth, however as I was induced this could not happen!  Part of me had thought about home birth and part of me was also scared, I remember thinking all I want is my baby in my hands!  But what has transformed inside of me the last few days and especially after watching this video is below is something really interesting..  a lady in the video below says "I was not sick so why did i need to go to hospital to have my child".. It really made me think about birth again, and maybe who knows our next child I will have the strength and insight to know I can give birth at home.






Another great video which insipired me was Birth Into being