Health Flip

This is too easy to call a ‘recipe’!

I’ve always thought store-bought almond milk was a total rip off. Expensive, often as little as 2% almonds, a bunch of crappy additives to make it more ‘milk-like’, and mostly water.

👉 So how do you make it? Simply whizz up one tablespoon (15g) almond butter per 200mL water in a blender – more or less water depending on how almond-y you want it. That's it! Recommend an almond butter with nothing more than almonds in it (you could even make your own).

Tip: strain using a fine sieve before bottling, and shake before use as fine bits of almond do settle to the bottom of your container. And yes, you can heat and froth it up for your coffee, and it tastes as good as a barista-made one, in my opinion 😊

💸 Using the brand in the picture, this works out to about 34 cents per serve! And you’ll get nearly 17 serves out of one 250 gram jar of almond butter =

❕ Something to be aware of is that unless calcium is added to almond milk, it will not contain a significant amount, unlike cow milk. So always check labels when buying almond milk. Some brands do have added calcium to equal that of cow milk (around 300mg per cup).

I like almond milk as I’m a bit lactose intolerant - I can manage a small amount of cows’ milk but not a whole cup at once. With lactose intolerance, it’s usually a case of “the poison is in the dose”. That is, you have to work out your own level of tolerance, and small amounts of dairy may be fine. Fermented dairy, like yogurt and hard cheese, is often more tolerable to people like me as the lactose decreases in the fermentation process.

Liz 🫶

What’s for dinner? We’re trying to use our air fryer for a bit more than potato fries! This is an easy recipe we’ll be having tonight:

A I R F R I E D S E S A M E C H I C K E N

500g chicken breasts cut into 10x5cm pieces
2 tsp sesame oil + 3 tsp tamari or soy sauce, mixed
½ cup sesame seeds + ½ tsp salt + ¼ tsp pepper
Olive or coconut oil cooking spray

💚 Preheat air fryer to 200 degrees C
💚 Coat chicken pieces in sesame oil and tamari/soy mixture, and then dry sesame seasoning
💚 Spray air fryer basket with olive/coconut oil. Place chicken pieces so they are not touching, and spray with more oil.
💚 Cook 5 mins then turn over and spray with oil again. Cook for 5-6 mins more, or until cooked through.

🤓 Skinless, cooked chicken breast contains about 30 grams of protein per 100 grams, and little fat. Skinless, cooked chicken thighs are cheaper, and contain about 26 grams of protein per 100 grams, and more fat.

👍 High protein meals keep you fuller for longer, provide essential amino acids for body maintenance and repair, and leave less room for eating not-so-healthy food afterwards.

Yes, you can eat 25+ grams of protein at breakfast! Here are some ideas to combine your foods to pump up the protein content:

🥘 Add ½ cup cottage cheese to scrambled eggs to add an extra 12g protein and a delicious creamy texture

🫐 Throw together a Greek yogurt parfait when you’re short on time by adding nuts/nut butter, seeds, a sprinkle of granola, and fruit (frozen berries are great for this)

💪 Add a serve of flavoured protein powder to your oats for an extra 20-30g protein

🌰 Add 2 Tbsp h**p or chia seeds, and some nuts to your oats to not only increase the protein but also slow down the rapid glucose spike and boost the healthy fat and fibre content

☕ Add unflavoured collagen peptides to your coffee for an extra ~15g protein

🥑 Add feta cheese or cottage cheese to your avocado toast, and sprinkle with pepitas or walnuts

🧀 Add cheese to your vegemite on toast (I mean, why wouldn’t you?!)

💡 One of the best ways to reduce cravings and excessive hunger throughout the day is to have enough protein at each meal. Your optimal amount of protein depends on your ideal body weight and the amount of physical activity you do (get in touch if you'd like help working this out).

Liz 🙂

So much focus these days on counting carbs, fat and protein – poor old fibre seems to have taken a back seat! Fibre is incredibly important for a healthy immune system, cardiovascular system, blood glucose control (think type 2 diabetes prevention), weight management AND of course, to keep you ‘regular’.

🎯 The RDI is 25 gram/day for women & 30 grams/day for men. 83% of Australians do not eat enough! Ideally, get fibre from a diverse range of sources to feed your diverse gut bacteria (they have different favourite foods!)

So what is fibre?

🥦 A type of carbohydrate your body cannot digest

🥦 All plants contain fibre (F&V, legumes, nuts, seeds, grains…)

🥦 Humans lack enzymes to break fibre down so it passes through to the large intestine (colon) where trillions of gut bacteria get to work with 60,000 (!) unique enzymes – transforming it into SUPER IMPORTANT short chain fatty acids (SCFA) like butyrate, acetate, and propionate

🥦 SCFAs have many beneficial actions: energy source for intestinal lining, can heal a ‘leaky’ gut barrier, keep out pathogens, regulate blood sugar, reduce LDL cholesterol, protect against DNA damage caused by an unhealthy diet, and so much more!

🥦 Fibre is a prebiotic – i.e. it FEEDS your gut bacteria

🤓 FACT: there is way more scientific evidence to support eating PREBIOTICS (that is, fibre) to improve gut health than to support eating PROBIOTICS (food containing bacteria like yogurt, kombucha)

🫃 GUT ISSUES? The key for most is to start low and go slow. Your gut needs to repair, and like any injury you need to take it easy to allow it to heal, but over time you should be able to eat more fibre. And remember those cute little SCFAs will help to heal your gut, bless them 🥰