About Me

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Elk & Me, 810 High st, Thornbury, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Nellie specialises in mood disorders, such as anxiety, depression, stress, memory, and insomnia and also has experience and personal interest in helping people with skin conditions. Nellie treats a person holistically, looking at the entire person. In comprehensive consult and using tools such as functional pathology, Neuro-questionnaire, Live blood screening (Hemaview) and iridology. As both Medical Herbalist and Naturopath, I love using botanical medicine along side lifestyle and nutritional advice to empower people to feel better.

Monday, December 17, 2012

All I want for Christmas is Gluten free, Vegan baked Donuts!!

I am so excited how this recipe from Erin McKennas "Babycakes, Covers the Classics" cookbook came out! CUTE!, SOft! and Delicious!

I wanted to make something as a yummy treat for Christmas, and saw this recipe for Gluten free and vegan baked donuts and decided since its Christmas to give it a whirl! and man I am impressed! So easy and soooo good! I dressed mine with Cinnamon and coconut sugar and a dollop of organic sugar free Morello cherry jam.

A big tip is to weigh the flours instead of using cup measurements when using gluten free flours, and then you will get this amazing soft crumb in your donuts!!

Do yourself a favor if gluten free or Vegan (or both) and go out and get this cookbook or the first one you wont be sorry!

Of course this isn't an everyday day food, but delicious as a celebration type treat!

Plain Cake Donut
Makes 12


75mls melted refined coconut oil, plus more for brushing the trays 
160g coconut sugar
100g white or brown rice flour
40g garbanzo (chickpea) and fava bean flour or chickpea flour
70g potato starch
30g arrowroot
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. baking soda
6 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
125ml hot water

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush 12  hole donut tray with coconut oil and set aside.

In a  bowl, whisk together the sugar, both flours, potato starch, arrowroot, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, and baking soda. Add the coconut oil, applesauce, vanilla, and hot water and continue mixing with a rubber spatula just to combine. Using a melon baller or tablespoon, drop 2 1/2 Tbsp. batter into each doughnut mold. Using a toothpick, spread the batter evenly around the molds. 

Bake for 8 minutes, rotate, and continue baking until the doughnuts are golden brown, about 7 minutes more. Let cool in the molds for 5 minutes if sprinkling with toppings such as cinnamon sugar, or 15 minutes if using glaze or icing. Run a knife around the doughnuts in the molds, lift them out and place them on a baking sheet. Coat them with your choice of topping.

This recipe is from Erin McKenna's BabyCakes Covers the Classics (Clarkson Potter, 2011).

Monday, October 15, 2012

I dream of healthy vegan ice cream!

Mango Coconut Ice Cream 























Yay its starting to get a little warmer here in Melbourne and that reminded me of this delicious treat we make alot over Summer.

I love this simple ice cream recipe, it is so so easy and super fast.

We keep our freezer ready with frozen peeled organic bananas, mangos and raspberries. So we are always ready when we need some yummy ice cream. 

Feel free to experiment with other fruit too or just plain banana. You can also add some protein powder if you like, I recommend this especially post workout on a hot day. What a dream! 


Organic Ingredients 
Raspberry coconut ice cream

Frozen half banana
frozen mango or 1 cup raspberries
approx 1/4 cup coconut cream

Method
  1. Blend fruit with about a tablespoon of coconut cream, until blended. 
  2. Add more coconut cream while still blending until mixture gets the creamy texture and thickness of Ice Cream. Depending on the Fruit, sometimes I add a little more or less coconut cream.
  3. Eat straight away. Fantastic as banana split with extra chopped activated walnuts and cacao nibs on top!  
Enjoy !  XX

Tuesday, July 31, 2012














Chickpea Skillet bread
GF, Vegan, Dairy free, Sugar free, quick.

So this really is a creative recipe, I usually don't measure anything and just go by how it looks and add what ever is at hand, to the core ingredients

For example... Sometimes I add 
corn, paprika and rosemary or just garlic, 
or cumin and fresh herbs. 
or just salt and pepper and garlic. 
but my favorite is the one below

Core ingredients
  • 1 cup chickpea (chana) flour
  • about 2 cups of water 
  • optional baking powder about 1 teaspoon ( this makes it alittle lighter)
  • salt and pepper


For the one pictured I added
  • fresh thyme about a 8 sprigs, just the leaves
  • 1 clove garlic minced

to sprinkle over once cooking
  • Olives
  • sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds
  • pine nuts

Method
  1. In a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder salt and pepper, garlic, fresh thyme leaves, slowing adding the water until it looks like a thickened cream consistency.
  2. Heat a pan on the stove top, with a little olive oil, to a medium heat.
  3. Pour in the bread mix.
  4. Sprinkle the olives, seeds and nuts on top.
  5. Cook until the underside is golden. then flip over and cook until cooked through.
  6. serve hot with soup or yummy avocado. Or tomatoes and fresh herbs. Also makes a great pizza base, topped  with caramelized onions and fresh herbs.

I always try and save a little for lunch. Not always successfully :)

Monday, February 20, 2012

Date and Ginger Gluten free Muffins - Vegan, sugar free.

Yummmm I love date and ginger muffins and puddings, but unfortunetly they don't love me back.  I am not one to be denied! so here is a healthy version for all of us to enjoy!! xxoo this recipe is basically the yummy zuchinni muffins from babycakes cookbook with a few changes x

DRY
2 cups Gluten free Flour
1/2 cup ground flaxseeds
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon gound cinnamon
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons ground ginger ( beware I love ginger so if you don't as much as me then reduce to 1 Tblspoon)

WET
1/2 cup rice bran oil
1/3 cup honey ( you can use a different runny sweetner like dates that have been boiled down or agave if you are a vegan who avoids honey)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup rice or soy milk approx ( when working with gluten free flours you need to slowly add the milk till you get a nice consistancy. All gluten free flours absorb more liquids than thier wheaty friends, and differ slightly to each other with their absorbation, so be flexible with this amount and open to adding more if needed depending the gluten free flour you are using)

THE SECRET INGRIEDIENT
2 cups of grated zuchinni

6-8 Chopped fresh dates

Method
1. Turn oven to  180 degrees Celcius, and grease your muffin tins, I made from this mix 6 large and 12 baby muffins.
2. Sift, then whisk all the dry ingriedients togeather in big bowl.
3. Mix in all the wet ingriedients into the dry ingriedients. Remembering to slowly add the milk until you get a nice muffin batter consistancy. Be careful not to overmix.
4. Fold in the dates and zuchinni.
5. I saved a few date pieces to put on top of each muffin. Fill up each muffin tin with you mix. decorate with date pieces.
6. Bake for 20 - 30 mins or until golden and cooked through
7. leave to sit
8. Eat them up, share with your gluten free pals and all your buddies.