It's Juice Week!

Ok, so this week is all about experimenting with new flavours and loving all things juiced!  Every day there will be a new Juice coming from the Grow Eat Run kitchen.  Juicing is a great way to increase your fruit and vegetable intake, boost your nutrition and keep hydrated.  Some of the juices you will know well, but I will put my tastebuds on the line in experimenting with some fun and different flavours! 

 Sunday: Carrot, Celery and Ginger

• 2 Carrots (or 3 little carrots)
• 4 sticks of Celery
• 2cm piece of ginger

Tip of the day: Add some sliced lemon to your water for the day in a water bottle.  Not only will it change up the flavour a little, it will boost your Vitamin C and can help cleanse toxins from the body.  http://www.livestrong.com/lemon-water/

Monday: Beetroot, Orange, Celery and Mint

• 2 Beetroot - raw
• 3 sticks of Celery
• 1 Orange
• 6 Mint Leaves

Tip of the day: Drink at least a cup of water, maybe even two as you enjoy your morning coffee or cup of tea. Keeping yourself hydrated on the morning is super important and means you are playing catch up all day trying to drink enough. 

Tuesday: Watermelon, Lime, and Mint

• 4 pieces of Watermelon
• 1/2 a Lime
• 6 Mint Leaves

Tip of the day: A juice with Watermelon and Lime is a great source of potassium and vitamins A and C.  It will also keep you cool and refreshed in the summer months by the pool. 

Wedensday: Spinach, Cucumber and Green Apple

• 8 Spinach leaves
• 2 small Cucumbers (or 1 large one)
• 1 Green Apple

Tip of the day: Why is green so good for you? Green leafy vegetables cleanse the body naturally gently.  Green vegetables should be part of your daily diet - and why not, there are no many options to choose from - here's just a way to juice them!

Grilled Chicken with Greek Sweet Potatoes

Oregano, lemon juice, salt and pepper - if I close my eyes I can imagine I'm back on a Greek Island, lying on a beach watching the sunset with some dinner and a mojito!  

Now back to reality...............

I've always had the lemon and oregano flavouring on potatoes but I've substituted them for the healthier version - sweet potatoes and with a salad and some grilled chicken.  This is a dinner you won't say no to.  (Serves 2) 

Super Chocolate Love Bites!

My husband and I made these just for fun this afternoon and were absolutely blown away by these little treats!  SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!

So many super foods in one recipe!  Goji berries, chia seeds, maca powder, cacao powder, cacao nibs, and 180 Nutrition protein!  I've included the links on these super foods and 180 Nutrition for you to take a look at - all of these ingredients pack a super punch, but the name of these bites comes from the addition of the maca powder.........(curious to take a look at the link now?).  There's no baking, just mixing so it truly is a recipe for everyone.  

Like us on Facebook

Grow Eat Run now has a Facebook page for you to "like" and keep up to date when new recipes, gardening tips or blogs are posted.  I'd love to stay in touch and keep you updated on what is happening in the kitchen, garden, and in my training!  Click on the link below and feel free to leave a comment or a suggestion of what new recipes, gardening tips or posts you would like to see next!  Tors xx

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I love the MCC!

I'm not talking about the Melbourne Cricket Club, I'm talking about three incredible ingredients: MANGO, CHICKEN and COCONUT! Ok, so this salad was so good - it gets a big picture.  You know those times when you don't want a meal to end - this was it for me.  It was like I was saying a huge hello to summer but in the healthiest way!  For those of you entering the winter months, there's no reason that you can't whip this up for dinner too and used canned mango and serve the cauliflower rice and chicken hot.  I was a little bit of a sceptic when I started using cauliflower as 'rice' but now I'm sold.  For those of you new to cauliflower, it is full of fibre, folate and vitamin C - most importantly for the gentleman, it has been linked to reducing the risk of aggressive prostate cancer.  Mangoes will give you a good dose of vitamin And the chicken takes care of your protein needs. You eat this meal and it's healthy, filling, nutritious, full of GOOD fats in the coconut milk and almonds and screams fresh and bold flavours.

Two delicious sauces for pancakes!

Hi everyone.  Here are two easy to make fruit suaces to serve over pancakes or some coconut ice cream.  I made them a few weekends ago to serve with coconut pancakes for my best friend's birthday brunch and they went down a treat.  They are fresh, fruity and have just the right amount of sweetness.  Way more healthy than store bought jams!  Hope you enjoy them too.  Tors x 

Mango sauce

• 1 Large Mango (or 2 small mangoes)
• 1Tbsp Pineapple Sage Leaves
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod)

Puree the mango flesh, pineapple sage leaves and vanilla extract/seeds in a blender until smooth. 

Strawberry Sauce

• ½ punnet strawberries
• Juice of ½ lime
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp mint

Puree the strawberries, lime juice, mint and maple syrup in a blender until smooth. 

Melbourne Marathon Festival - October 14 2012

 “The miracle isn’t that I finished. 

The Miracle is that I had the courage to start”

I start this post with a philosophical quote from John Bingham and it makes me smile.  Because it makes me think about the amount of good wishes and support I received once I realised my goal of running the Melbourne Marathon wasn’t going to be achieved this year.  A friend of mine found this quote and inspired me to challenge myself and look beyond my comfort zone, and then a few days after I found out I had a small stress fracture in my foot I received a text message from my husband with a photo of this quote - and I knew exactly the meaning behind it.  He was telling me that it wasn’t about doing the marathon, it was about having the courage to believe I could do it, to enter, to train and push myself beyond what I thought were my limits.  I pushed through my limits surpassing my previous longest run (half marathon in April) with training runs of 24km and 28km. 

Make your own almond milk - you're already sweet enough!

There are a lot of different almond milk brands on the market and you will see that there's a whole lot of sugar that goes into most of them.  If you're in Australia, then you'll know that the sugar-free almond milk is much more expensive and can retail from $4-8  per litre!  Making almond milk yourself will cost you approximately $2-3 per litre (depending on where you live and the quality you are buying) and you know that it is sugar free.  It's so easy to make your own even my husband has mastered this!  So what are the health benefits of almond milk? It has a high nutritional content, but low in calories and provides a great alternative to people that are either lactose intolerant or are looking for a cow's milk alternative.  So make it yourself - you don't need the added sugar, you're sweet enough!  

If you're not convinced already, I've found this great poster that was presented at the Academic Excellence Showcase, Western Oregon University by Megan Stinson.  It examines and compares what people think is the healthiest milk are with the facts in an easy to read format.  
http://digitalcommons.wou.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=aes
Stinson, Megan. "Dairy and Dairy Alternatives: Media Portrayal vs. Nutritional Facts." Poster presented at the Academic Excellence Showcase, Western Oregon University, May 31, 2012.

Banana and Coconut Bread

Just for the loyal readership of Grow Eat Run I have baked and taste tested a largish quantity of different banana bread recipes (yes, it was all for you!) And, I love this one.  A delictable combination of banana to keep it moist and the crunchiness of the walnuts and coconut makes this a perfect little treat.  A few other flavours to add to the mix are cinnamon and vanilla - yum!  Feel free to replace the maple syrup with honey if that's all you have in the cupboard, or use a little stevia (equal to 2 tsp) if you want to keep the glycemic index down.  

Roast Lamb with Rosemary and Mint Pesto

I love a good Sunday roast, but it can be easy to get stuck in the same routine and prepare the meat the same way because roasts are traditional, and that's the way they've always been done. So last weekend I branched out and instead of making slits in the meat and placing garlic cloves and rosemary in the lamb I put together a pesto with rosemary, garlic, mint and pepita seeds. The flavours went right through the meat and when sliced you get pockets full of intense flavour. You can include any vegetables you like with a roast but I can't go past roast beetroot, roast pumpkin and cauliflower with a roast lamb. 

Raisin Cookies

Looking for an alternative to that chocolate chip cookie that you are eyeing off to have with your cup of coffee?  Well, here's a healthy alternative!  Gluten free and delicious, and great for school or work lunches as a snack.  

Composting, just another kind of recipe!

After a question from a mate about compost, I thought why not write a post on Grow Eat Run and share my compost recipe with the world too.  We have a clay based soil at home and it's taken me a few years to improve the soil in the herb garden and vegetable garden but it is worth the time.  The seedlings and plants are healthier and the produce is fantastic.  There's also a much lower attrition rate in the seedlings that I lose in the first few weeks of planting.  Composting is also a great way to re-use your lawn clippings and kitchen scraps but I do follow a few golden rules that I have learnt and keep it as simple as I can. 

Stretching - its' not an optional extra!

Hands up if you are guilty of not stretching enough.....

Roasted capsicum stuffed with chicken and cauliflower

Tasty!  I'm not actually sure what other word describes this dish.  I've stuffed these capsicums full of chicken, cauliflower, onions, garlic and paprika for that amazing spanish flavour.  

I've also just set up a Facebook Page for Grow Eat Run - and if you would like to keep updated with recipes or leave any comments here's the link, and don't forget to like it! www.facebook.com/GrowEatRun

Kitchen under Construction!

Hi there everyone.  Apologies for the lack of new posts for a few weeks - as you can see from the photo above our kitchen is currently under construction (big DIY project!) - very exciting!  After a long week of hard work, some creative problem solving, drilling, screwing, holding (usually my job), levelling and deep breaths the kitchen is nearly functional.  Major kudos has to be given to my incredibly handy husband!

Oven baked pork with a crunchy apple salad

Crunchy, zingy, and sweet - this salad has it all and when you put it with some oven baked pork it's a winner.

BAM! with Nuts (Banana with Avocado Mousse)

I can't take the credit for this one.  My husband did all the thinking behind this combo and it is full of chocolatey goodness!  We've refined the recipe since the first attempt and I'm happy to say that if you weren't told you were eating a desert made of avocado you would never know!  You can use lots of different fruits to add to the chocolate mousse, berries are delicious - but I think bananas could be a favourite, I wonder if I could justify this for breakfast?!  The best avocados we've found to use are the Bacon Avocados, they have a creamy and nutty flavour.  

Balsamic, Rosemary and Garlic Kangaroo with Parsnip Mash

Yes, we are a country that are happy to eat the emblems of our Coat of Arms.  And why is that?  Because it's delicious and healthy!  Kangaroo is a lean meat, full of protein and is very well matched to strong herbs and spices.  

Choc, Nut & Berry Slice

This doesn't take any expertise in the kitchen at all!  It's a basic chop, mix, bake, eat.  Packed full of goodies it's a perfect snack to take with you to work and eat instead of a chocolate bar when the 3.00pm snack attack creeps up.  

Apricot-errific teacake!

There's been a few soups lately so I thought it was time to add some recipes that were a little more on the sweet side.  This teacake is gluten free, dairy free and the only sugar comes from the natural sweetness of agave syrup, the dried apricots and the orange juice.  But as always, deserts are a sometimes food - not an always food!  Road tested on my husband, mum and dad  who all gave it several thumbs up.  So enjoy the indulgence!  

STAB Salad

Smoked Trout and Bean Salad! This salad has become a regular in our house.  It's fresh, crunchy, full of healthy ingredients and a zingy dressing.  You can replace the smoked trout with smoke salmon but make sure it's the best quality you can afford. We are lucky to have an incredible deli (The Gourmet on Main in Blackwood) that stocks delicious smoked trout.  Take this recipe as a base and you can add corn, anchovies, use tuna instead of trout, add some chilli to spice it up.  I'm just providing the base - but it's up to you to get creative!  

What do I do with 8kg of pumpkin?

Yesterday we brought some pumpkin from a stall on the side of the road, $1 a kilo is a pretty good bargain - and well, we ended up with 8kg of pumpkin.  What to do with 8kg of pumpkin?  Easy, two very different soups and some kick ass pumpkin seeds!  

Roasted Pumpkin and Vegetable Soup

It's Winter, it's cold, it's wet - what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than make some soup!  This is EASY, full of vegetables, dairy free and oh so tasty!  

Wow what have I done! I've signed up for the Melbourne Marathon!

Melbourne Marathon Festival.  I usually associate the word 'festival' with fun, eating bad food, laughing, smiling and all around enjoyment, but I don't think this is going to be that kind of festival!  I'm not sure where to start, 42.198km is a long way - but there are many more kilometres to run before October 14 and lots of training sessions.  Preparing mentally is going to be just as important, training my mind that I can do it, can keep going and can finish.  

21.1km - The Hurt Locker

You can see it in my eyes and can tell from my body language that I am indeed in the hurt locker!  

Cauliflower, Leek and Crispy Bacon Soup

Looking for a creamy soup without using any dairy at all?  Here is the answer!  Cauliflowers are incredibly nutritious and tasty and add some leek and some crispy bacon and you have a little piece of cold weather heaven!  


Spend the few extra dollars on some quality chicken stock or if you're feeling keen in the kitchen make some chicken stock yourself.  


You will need a blender or stick blender for this soup.  This makes approximately 3 litres of soup.  

Macadamia and Mango Slice

The Macadamia nut is well known for being a high energy  source and a fantastic source of protein.  Pairing this with the sweetness of mango and coconut flour you get a nutritious tropical snack that you can take to work, eat before or after a workout, or have a sneaky treat at afternoon tea.  


This does make a large amount of slice, so feel free to halve the recipe if you're trying it out for the first time.   Don't feel guilty that there's a bit of sweetness to this snack as there's so much goodness in the LSA mix and the chia seeds too! 


If you have a food processor it is highly recommended that you get it out of the cupboard to chop up the mango and macadamias, otherwise I'm sorry to say it's going to be a long haul chopping by hand - but I promise it's worth it!  

Summer Thai Chicken Cups

It is no secret I love ginger and lemongrass, I would use them in almost any dish if I could.  In summer time there's nothing like fresh flavours and the crunch of the lettuce cups and the hint of lime and mint say 'Hello Sunshine!'.  Some of my favourite ingredients come together in this dish and you can make it your own by playing with the flavours, adding a little more chilli to spice things up or using some iceberg lettuce instead of witlof - have some fun with it!  This could almost be called a paleo version of San Choy bow. It takes no time to cook, clean up is one dish and could be served as either an entre or main course for dinner. 

Smoked Trout Frittata

Full of protein, packed with vegetables this is one tasty treat that you can have for breakfast, lunch or dinner! 


For some great information on the health benefits of smoked fish there's a fantastic, easy to read article on Livestrong.  


This was also a great dish to put the veggie garden to good use, the tomatoes onion, spinach, zucchini and dill all came straight from the veggie patch in the backyard!  

Embracing the Green and Gold on Australia Day

Australia Day for me is about celebrating the amazing and diverse country we live in.  But it's also a day for having some fun, spending some time with mates, listening to Triple J's Hottest 100 and watching the Adelaide test.  


This Australia Day I decided to have a bit of fun with some food and created my own version of fish and salad that celebrates our sporting colours, green and gold!  

Granddad's Rhubarb

The gorgeous ruby red rhubarb that is growing in my garden isn't just a plant. It's part of my family history.  This plant is now in its third generation, passed down from my Granddad, to my Dad and now to me. It's taken some time to establish, and yes - I was very nervous when it seemed like it wasn't growing and was looking a little sad.  I didn't want to be the one that killed the rhubarb that had been growing since the 1950s!  To sense the importance of this plant, I wasn't allowed to have a cutting until I stopped renting and bought a house!