Warming apple, cinnamon and walnut bread

So… It’s Summer in Wales but holy heck I can’t tell.  It’s COLD!! and when the weather gets cold and I’m hanging in rural places I go completely off my smoothies and need to BAKE.  It used to be scones, but I’ve traded up for a healthier alternative.  Check out this delicious apple and cinnamon delight I whipped up the other day.

I borrowed from the wonderful Teresa Cutter who’s recipes always inspire me so much…    and it went a little something like this:

What’s good about it ?
As Teresa says, ‘apples are high in fibre (around 5 g each) they contain both soluble and    insoluble fibre which is great for your digestivesystem.  The soluble fibre is known as         pectin and the beauty of it is that it  has the power to help lower cholesterol, keep your      regular and stabilize blood sugar as well as decrease the appetite and fill you up for    hours. Spelt is an ancient grain that is related to wheat, but has a lower gluten content so   it’s kinder to the digestive system. Spelt is also a good source of protein and has around 20 %  more protein + up to 65 % more amino acids than traditional wheat flours.  A touch of cinnamon has the power to help your body metabolize sugar and reduce insulin levels.’

450 g (3 cups / 15  3/4 oz)  grated red apple – I think I used fuji apple (whatever I could find) – but you can add any other apple you like such as golden delicious.
2 teaspoons baking power
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 organic free range eggs (see notes for vegan option )
1/4 cup (60 ml / 2 oz) macadamia nut oil (or your choice of coconut oil, olive oil, butter) – I used coconut oil but I’ve used macadamia in the past and YUM! 
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon – I up-ed this to about 2 (but I lurrrrve cinnamon!)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract – I didn’t have any and it still tasted radical!
2 cups (260 g / 9 oz) wholemeal spelt flour  (see notes on gluten free) – NOW, I went gluten free and exchanged this for 2 cups of almond meal and about half a cup of desiccated coconut.

Preheat your oven to 180 C. 356 F.2014-06-25 18.22.11-1 Combine apple, baking powder, salt, eggs, oil, cinnamon and vanilla into a bowl and mix well.  I love using my hands for this to make sure all the ingredients gets around the grated apple. Now it’s important to remember that the sweetness comes from the raw grated apple which produces a lovely wholegrain bread that is only slightly sweet and purely delicious, so don’t be tempted to add any extra sugar.
Add the wholemeal spelt flour (or almond for GF) and mix through lightly.  It’s important not to over-mix so just until it’s combined.
Line a loaf tin with baking paper at the base and the sides. The size I used was: 10 1/2 cm wide and 26 cm long.
Spoon mixture into your loaf tin.  Now at this stage you can choose to bake as is or garnish your bread with sliced apple and a little cinnamon or coconut sugar that will create a lovely caramalised flavour over the top of the apple.
Bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted comes out clean. Times may vary so check after 45 minutes and cover with foil if necessary.
Remove from the tin and allow to cool for 1 hour before removing from the tin.
Enjoy alone or topped with your choice of the following:
Serves 14

Additional extras:
Fold through  1/2 cup chopped walnuts before baking or scatter on top - YES… walnuts are epic!

Serving suggestions:
1  plain and simple
2 macadamia nut or almond butter
3 deli style ricotta + roasted figs (if you are digging the dairy… or even organic milk kefir could be delish for a little probiotic goodness)  

Nutritional info per serve:
Protein: 3.9 g
Total fat: 5.9 g
Saturated: 1 g
Carbs: 15 g
Sugars: 4 g
Fiber: 2.7 g
kilojoules: 543
Calories: 130

NOTES:

VEGAN OPTION:
Omit eggs and add 60 ml (1/4 cup / 2   fl oz)  your choice milk (almond, rice, oat, coconut)  + 2 tablespoons of chia seeds will also help. The vegan option is a much denser style of bread so you will not get the volume that’s in the picture which has eggs.

GLUTEN FREE OPTION:
Use 2 cups (200g/ 10  1/2 oz) almond meal / ground almonds in place of the spelt flour – use gluten free baking powder or 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda + 2 tbsp lemon juice.

ENJOY… and yes… I did cook it whilst wearing a pink hat.

AND… I pretty much ate the whole thing… oops!

5 simple ways to step into the power of heart

I don’t know about you but thinking has always leads to trouble for me.  Spending too much time in my head makes me CRAZY, using unnecessary energy, worrying, rationalising and freaking out about, well, EVERYTHING…!

As a serial over thinker I’ve made it my mission to get out of my own way, get back into the flow… and live an open-heart life (which to me literally means opening myself to the power of heart).

‘Get out of your head and get into your heart. Think less, feel more’. Osho

I remember when I met my boyfriend (in a nightclub in Ibiza, as you do); it was a whirlwind 5-day romance which crescendo-ed in us deciding that whatever we did next it had to be together.  We were in a full blown space of heart connection, forgetting the rational stuff like the fact that we lived on opposite sides of the world and feeling our way, guided by our intuition, completely open to the possibilities, limitless in our thinking and no doubt super charged by a whole lot of love hormones!  After those blissful, inseparable first days I had to say goodbye and head off to host a yoga retreat in Formentera and I did my utmost to remain in the space of trust and heart and keep the freaking out vibes at bay… but gee wiz it was challenging!

Over the years of our evolution and the process of forgetting our true nature I feel we have lost our connection to heart intelligence, we get stuck in our rational mind which, in my experience, is far less intelligent than our heart space.  The next few days of retreat were tough, I struggled to stay focused on my students, all I could think was OMG, I wonder what Joe is feeling/thinking.  I hope he isn’t freaking out…I hope he hasn’t had second thoughts… I hope he’s still into me!  One morning at breakfast I was having a moment and revealing my fears to a sweet student and, naturally, I had a quick look (stalk) of his facebook page and saw these words ‘Turn off you head and turn on your heart’.  Phew I thought… things are going to be just fine!

When we are in our heart space, it is an awakened state where we feel expanded and full of joy. This state is 60 times more powerful than when we operate from our brain or mind alone (The Institute of Heart Math, 2013).

Traditional Chinese medicine views the heart as “The Emperor” of our body, and has long recognized how essential it is to remain connected to our heart for consistent well-being and happiness (Chinese Medicine: Rooted in Spirit, 2006).

‘A world founded on heart energy transcends violence, war and fear. Grace, peace and harmony take their place.’ – Deborah Fairfull

Sounds pretty radical right? Imagine a world of LOVE, JOY, COMMUNITY, total FLOW where whatever you need comes to you in the perfect moment, we have NO FEAR, we can totally TRUST and we are CONNECTED to the present moment like never before.  This is what it means to live ‘AN OPEN HEART LIFE’.

Do you want some of that… ? 

Here are 5 simple(ish) steps to help you open and live from the heart:

1)  Trust – stop trying and start allowing.  I’m putting this at the top of the list as I feel this is the real key.  In order to step into the juicy part of life where you allow the Universe (or the energy that surrounds us) to provide we have to TRUST.  I used to think this meant trusting others, like our partners to support us in times of need, but it’s much bigger than that.  We do not need to look outside for trust, we have the power of the Universe within us, all we have to do and step out of the cycle of freaking out and pushing hard to make it all happen… and TRUST.  Trust that the answers are coming, that the perfect person is right around the corner, that you are capable and worthy and INCREDIBLY amazing at everything you do.  Just like a muscle that is tight and working overtime, we too can get stuck in this exhausting pattern of pushing and forcing.  Trust me when I say I have operated form this space for much of my life. Pushing through, striving harder at the gym, at work…even at yoga!   Now is the time to take your foot off the gas and let the energy of the Universe do the work.  There is a whole company of energetic beings waiting to support you… Get a pen and paper and write TRUST and ALLOW in big letters and stick them on your mirror.  I promise it will help.

2)  Practice meditation and mindful movement daily - Yoga (or any mindful movement) and meditation are a fantastic way to get you out of your head and back into your body and a state of FEELING and EXPERIENCING, rather than mindlessly DOING and THINKING.  When we quieten the mind and try to dissipate the busy and unhelpful thoughts and fears, we step into the juicy space of heart.

3)  Get creative – write your way out of your head and into your heart with morning pages and journaling.  By writing we clear the busy-ness of our mind.  Try it first thing when you wake up, simply writing whatever comes up as a natural mental cleanse.  Morning pages followed by meditation are a favourite combo of mine and will help you set a mindful and connected tone for your day.

4)  Be present – In a state of presence, we radiate heart energy and are fully present in the here and now.  Our mind takes us all over the place and makes us feel scattered with worries about the future and the past.  The energy of the present moment is strong, deep and powerful, enabling us to create our life, as we want it to be.  To get present I like to close my eyes and observe my breath, walk in nature planting my bare feet on the earth.  It is in this quiet space of presence that we can connect more easily to the wisdom of our heart.

5)  Practice acceptance – Anything is possible once you except where you are right now.  By letting go of the feelings of duality (and running from things that are ‘bad’, ‘hard’ and ‘confronting’) and we are able to start embracing the ‘oneness’ and operating from the nonjudgmental energy of heart.

OK… I’m adding a 6th…

‘The heart is a the thousand-stringed instrument that can only be tuned with love.’ Hafiz

6)  Practice love and compassion – Love is at the heart of every remedy… it activates our heart intelligence and expands our energy.  In order to tap into this feeling of indiscriminate love for all Universe-kind we must be vulnerable and courageous and keep our hearts open in the face of great pain.  We must practice compassion.

 Now… 

I won’t pretend that this is always an easy process.  Our lives pull us into our heads all too often so it’s up to us to do the work to remain anchored in our hearts.  Start by noticing the subtle changes in your life as you cultivate heart awareness.  I promise its too juicy not to want to stay there permanently.

‘Let’s get loose with compassion, let’s drown in the delicious ambience of love.’ Hafiz

And, just in case you were wondering, my beautiful boyfriend managed to stay in his heart and we are still on our open-hearted adventures together to this day. I’m grateful for every minute!

I’d love to help you on your journey… Book in for a FREE heart to heart session as part of my transformational coaching program.

Or join me on one of my amazing yoga & transformation retreats, where we go deep into this feeling of living from the heart, finding a deeper connection to the earth and softening into the softer more feminine energy of flow.   All whilst relaxing in paradise in locations like Goa, Bali, Sri Lanka and Ibiza.  Click here for the full schedule.  

x SJ

Banana bread weather

Cold weather = warm food (unless you are in camp raw which is cool too… literally!)  This weekend just gone was one of those delicious weekends where I stayed in doors, snuggled and nourished myself (maybe a little too much).  I was also over come by the most overwhelmingly beautiful sense of LOVE literally bursting out of my heart… and this feeling appears to be here to stay!! I’m not sure what was going on with the winter solstice and the super moon but something really awesome happened to Joe and I this weekend… we meditated a lot and we shifted…something.. I’m not sure what but things are decidedly more beautiful than ever before… and I am so very grateful…!! And Joe bought a heater on the weekend so I am warm and toasty both inside and out!

Now on to the food… Saturday was baking day.  The baking chat started during the long lie in on Saturday morning and crescendo-ed at around 3pm when Joe and I took turns in the kitchen – him making gluten free onion bhajis (his choice) and me, the most delicious and guilt free Banana, Date and Walnut loaf.

Now, I know what I’m like (and this instance proves my point).  If I bake… I eat.  If I don’t bake…  I don’t eat…  so I tend to save the baking for special occasions or perhaps for the day that I grow up and gain some self control.   However, if you are like me and are all about living consciously, this little recipe is more or less kind to your body (even if you eat the whole loaf like I may or may not have done…hmmm).

Gluten Free Banana Bread (also dairy free, refined-sugar free – YAY) 

Ingredients:

Wet

• 10 ounces of peeled banana (about 3 largish bananas)
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (3.0 ounces) (I exchanged this for some chopped dates… no idea how many – just freestyle)
• 2 room temp eggs
• 3 tablespoons full fat canned room temp. coconut milk
• -1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia  (I didn’t bother with this)

Dry

• 80 grams sorogum flour (3/4 cup)
• 100 grams brown rice flour (3/4 cup)
• 60 grams tapioca starch (1/2 cup) (I didn’t have any so just slightly upped the other 2 flours – to be honest, you can probably just go with one gluten free flour and it will do the trick) 
• 1 teaspoon baking power  (I didn’t have any so just went with the baking soda) 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of psyllium husk
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon (I used way more as I LOVE cinnamon)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (good Himalayan pink salt please)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (small pieces)

How To:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
1.  In a bowl add in the banana and mash it around for a bit with a fork until it’s a wet mixture.  Then add in all the other wet ingredients and mix everything with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) for 45 seconds on medium speed.
2.  In another bowl, add in the dry ingredients (except the walnuts) and whisk everything together until everything is well incorporated.
3.  In small batches, add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and continue mixing with the hand mixer.  Mix until everything is well incorporated.
4.  Add in the walnuts and stir by hand.
5.  Fill the bread pan  with batter and top with chopped walnuts and coconut sugar
6.  Bake for 50 – 55 minutes on the middle rack (use the knife test to check the middle). I baked mine for 55 minutes.
7.  Allow the bread to cool for about 15 minutes, then carefully turn it out and allow it to continue to cool on a rack.

Store in airtight container at room temp for 3 days (Or eat all of it my day two and tell your boyfriend that you took it to your yoga teacher training for the students as an excuse!! Oops).  

A big thank you to http://www.thetastyalternative.com for this awesome recipe xx I hope you love it as much as I did… YUM xx

LOVE (and gluten free goodness) SJ xx