JulieBhosaleAchive

Gluten is the proteins found in certain grains. Not all grains contain gluten - wheat, barley, and rye contain gluten. When flour and water are combined, and kneaded into dough this gives the elasticity which provides structure to bread and other baking and helps them rise. Many people today are intolerant to gluten. Our gut is very sensitive and gluten is known to really irritate this. This is also one of the reasons why I recommend holding off on giving babies grains ( read more on this here ). In addition, many foods containing gluten (including the flour itself) can be really processed. Below are my top three recommendations for gluten substitutes however as gluten does add that elasticity the binding of these alternatives will have a slight different affect but well worth having a go with! Almond Meal Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond (all these names refer to the same product) is simply made from ground sweet almonds. Almond meal is a great high protein, low carb alterna...

Sleep and food go hand-in-hand. It can be a vicious cycle which is difficult to break when these get out of harmony! I actually have a whole section on this in my new book coming out in August. Sleep, or a lack of it, is one of the biggest challenges we are faced with as parents, especially in that first year. I really encourage mums and families to seek help when struggling with this - we are not meant to know everything about parenting - which includes getting your baby to sleep! This weekend I am down speaking in Hamilton for our National Starting Solids Tour - home to the incredible Emma Anderson who is the founder of Sweet Dreams NZ - she is also delivering a presentation at this event and she has a guest blog here on tips to help with self-settling. Emma Anderson - Founder of Sweet Dreams NZ Self-Settling Advice Like many areas of infant sleep, the topic of self-settling has varied opinions and philosophies on when you can start teaching your baby how to self-settle, and even i...

Introducing food high in iron to your baby is crucial. As our breast-milk and formula has only trace amounts of iron babies are born with enough iron stores to last them up until around six months of age, after which iron must be supplemented in their diet. As a really high source of haem iron (very easily absorbed) I am asked a lot about how and when to introduce meat into a baby. You can read more about this over my previous blog here and this is a great high iron puree to try with your baby! It is one straight from my new book The Nourished Baby   (available on pre-order now!) These ingredients especially the mince, liver and kale are all great sources of iron. The trick with using liver (which has 9mg/100g of iron) is to nuterialise the smell with some lemon juice before hand - just allow a few hours for this. Ingredients: 150g lambs fry 1/2 lemon 1/2 cup mince (or other red meat like a lamb chop) Coconut oil or olive oil (for pan frying meat) 1 carrot, chopped (can leave skin on) ...

I cannot take credit for this one (thanks Hubby) but I can promise you that it is easy, it tastes amazing and little ones will get very excited about it. If the thought of working with and preparing a crab is a bit daunting don't worry! I have a vlog for you (coming Tuesday) that will help guide you with this. Ingredients: 1 Tb Olive oil 1 Onion, diced 1 Tb Pre-crushed garlic 1 Tb Pre-crushed ginger 1 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp Masala 2 Fresh crabs (keep crab fat when preparing) 1 x 400g tin of diced tomato Handful fresh coriander (to garnish)   Directions Clean and prepare the crab (I have a Vlog for you coming on Tuesday night!) Heat a large fry pan on medium heat, add oil is hot, add the onion and stir with a wooden spoon until it is soft and slightly brown. Add the garlic, ginger and crab fat and spices. Stir again to form a nice curry paste (the crab fat give this curry heaps of flavour). Add the crab followed by the tomato. Turn heat down, cover and allow to simmer for ap...

This is a little taster for you of one of the most popular recipes from my first cook book, Healthy Easy Dinners for Busy Mums. This meat loaf is an old school recipe with a bit of jazz. The spices and herbs can be easily adjusted to your liking and according to what you have in the cupboard. This can be made in the morning and re-heated for dinner and any leftovers make a great lunch option. Ingredients: 500 grams mince (beef or lamb would work best) 1 Egg 2 carrots grated 5 button mushrooms chopped finely 1 small red onion finely chopped 1 tbsp each of crushed garlic and ginger 1 tsp crushed chilli (optional) 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander ¼ Cup fresh parsley (can also add dried) Salt and pepper to taste Topping 3 tbsp of rolled oats (optional) 3 tbsp of tomato sauce (I recommend Get Real Food sauces) 2 tbsp of chopped parsley and coriander Ground pepper to your liking Method: 1. Preheat oven to 200°C. 2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and press into a loaf tin. Make the topping and s...

  The universe certainly works in mysterious ways. I find it no surprise that on the week of our one year anniversary for my first cook book ( Healthy Easy Dinners for Busy Mums ) being released, the manuscript for my first published book is also due. I have always loved writing and have dreamed of writing a published book for as long as I can remember. It was not however until a particular day when writing my thesis that I actually felt  like I was a writer. I was down in Wellington for my first writing retreat after having Sahan. We had scheduled this before he was born as a bit of a break...well break from the kids and a chance to catch up on some sleep (like months of lost sleep really). When I booked into the hotel the receptionist said to me "oh you are the writer! We have a quiet room assigned for you". My heart soared. I loved how it just fitted me, even though it was my Doctoral thesis I was writing at the time – I was indeed a writer. Self-publishing my cook book, w...

When I say perfect I really mean rustic and healthy. 'Perfect' just sounded great with 'platter' but you know what my style really is! We have Smushie’s second birthday this weekend (how did that happen, seriously) and a platter is one of best ways to feed guest regardless of the numbers. So here are my tips to a pure and simple platter and yet another way to sneak some of those vegetables in to unsuspecting victims.... 1. Keep it Simple - Do not overload the board with lots of choices, especially those that are not nutrient dense. Less choice actually makes it easier for people (and easier for your prep too.) 2. Have Extra - This helps with point number one, just have extra of your platter choices on hand so you can top up once they start getting low (it will help save some stress). 3. Lots of Vegetables - Include vegetables at every opportunity. Trust me if they are there (and not to many other options) people will eat them! It’s a little gentle encouragement and h...