Table of contents for April/May 2018 in Nadia

Energy. When we have it, we take it for granted. Remember back to your twenties when you could stay up all night, have a nap, a coffee and be ready for more mischief? Energy seemed like it was on tap, no matter what you did or didn’t do. Well, that’s because your mitochondria – cellular powerhouses which produce energy – were just young’uns too back then. But as we age, our mitochondria lose their resilience to abuse or neglect, and suddenly we find we’re one of the tired ones! Thankfully, our workshop over the page offers expert strategies to help nourish and nurture the body and mind, so we can rediscover some of that wonderful energy.…

1 Eat right for you Eating right for you involves eating the right levels of fats, proteins and carbohydrates for your genetics and metabolism. At BePure this is what we call “finding your macronutrient profile”. Stable blood-sugar levels are the king of stable energy levels. Foods that spike your blood sugar give you a short peak in energy followed by long, lethargic lows. Eating the right balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins for your body will stabilise your blood-sugar levels, giving you the energy to feel your best. 2 Drink plenty of water Water is required for all functions of energy at a cellular level, so it’s important to keep hydrated. I like people to drink 0.033L per kilogram everyday. If you’re 60kg that means 2L a day, 75kg means…

1 Host the ultimate dinner party Who says you need a special occasion for a party? Whether there’s an indulgent layered cake you’ve been wanting to bake for ages, a barbecue that’s been unused for too long or a vintage bottle of wine begging to be opened, it’s time to get a group together and make a night of it. Go all out with fancy table settings, take plenty of photos, and make it a night to remember! 2 Unleash your inner child For most of us, the stress of ‘adulting’ is a drain on inspiration, but studies show acting like a kid again is a great way to boost creativity and happiness levels. Experts say it only takes a few minutes of daydreaming, imagining, or doing arts and craft…

You know you’re eating Mexican right when you’ve got chipotle mayo running through your fingers and salt crystals stuck to your lips from your tangy margarita. The truth is, this type of cuisine really does taste better when you embrace the drips and mess and just eat everything with your hands – we know the kids will back us up on this one, too! Turn the page to enjoy a Mexican fiesta menu the whole family will enjoy. Just make sure you’ve got your napkins at the ready.…

Fermented foods are having a moment, and for good reason. They’re packed with probiotics (the live micro-organisms that live inside your gut) which aid digestion when they’re evenly balanced and thriving. They help eliminate waste in a timely manner to keep things, er, ‘going’, and are found in foods such as yoghurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir and tempeh (fermented soybeans). Like all living things, probiotics need to be fed well to thrive, which is where prebiotics come in. Prebiotics are the type of fibre that healthy gut bacteria just love. The more prebiotics you have in your gut, the more the probiotics will eat and thrive, resulting in a very happy internal ecosystem. Great prebiotic foods include raw garlic, leek, onion, asparagus, bananas, beans and legumes, bran, root vegetables and…

Mushrooms Although we can buy mushrooms year round at the shops, now is the season when foragers who know their edible fungi can return from a walk in nature with a basket of tasty 'shrooms. Pears too are ready for harvest, perhaps from your own garden; keep an eye out too at farmers’ markets where you might find lesser-known varieties to try. Here are four easy recipes that will help you make the most of autumn’s plenty and are perfect for weekend grazing. Marinated mushrooms Ready in 20 minutes plus marinating time | Makes about 3 medium jars | DF | GF 500g small button mushrooms 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 tsp white wine vinegar 1 clove garlic, finely chopped ½ small red onion, finely chopped 2 tsp…

In a renovated tractor shed down the end of Ward Road in Matakana, a small township in the upper reaches of the Auckland region, you’ll find Vicki Fanning’s creative sanctuary. It’s located alongside the homestead she shares with partner Mike Petre, their son, Sam, 9, and dog Vinnie on a two-hectare ex-dairy property. Once deemed derelict, the home is now surrounded by dahlia plantings, 3000 orchard trees, an abundant vege garden and a studio space piled high with handmade ceramic dinnerware. Vicki’s business, Frolic Ceramics, was born four years ago, after Sam started school. Ceramics have been a passion since she studied the art at Carrington Polytech (now Unitec) in the early 1990s and, although her talent also extends to glasswork, it was the immediacy and playfulness of working with…

Emma Wood spends an unusual amount of time thinking about vegetables. She wonders when the baby potatoes will be ready, if she’ll get a bumper crop of rhubarb this year and how long the asparagus season will last. Most of all, the 36-year-old’s head is filled with ways to substitute veges for meat in Kiwi favourites such as sausage rolls and pies. Her preoccupation isn’t so surprising when you consider that Emma owns Portershed, a plant-based Christchurch cafe that specialises in ‘veganising’ everything from the aforementioned classics to flat whites and curried dumplings. Since opening in July last year, a steady stream of hungry punters has beaten a path to Portershed’s Addington premises – both those who care that no animal was harmed in the making of their food, and…

Did you know there is an island off Whangamata shaped like a doughnut, with secret beaches inside? We didn’t either, but we heard about Coromandel’s Whenuakura, or Donut Island, while writing our story on New Zealand’s undiscovered gems. There were so many amazing spots we couldn’t include them all, but we’ve rounded up some of our favourites over the page, including Omeru Reserve on the Kaipara Coast Highway (pictured), an idyllic place to while away an afternoon.…

The banoffee birthday party cake recipe from our Oct/Nov 2017 issue is still proving to be a favourite among you all! Check out this beautiful creation posted to Facebook by Aimee Sherer. First birthday cake #nailedit. Thank you for the awesome recipe! It looks like the lavash cracker recipe from our Aug/Sept 2017 issue has become a firm favourite in Raelene Grinter’s household. We love this photo and comment she posted to Nadia’s Facebook page. Every Sunday for the past four weeks I have made your rosemary and seed lavash crackers. Every week for the past four weeks I have eaten them all and every week for the past four weeks I complain I’m not getting any lighter. Yes, they are quite brown as I like them crunchy. Love this…

There is a war going on inside our bodies. It’s an epic battle between good and evil, and there are trillions of little fighters involved. This may sound like the plot of a Hollywood film but it’s backed up by the latest science. Our guts are host to a vast community of microbes – tiny creatures which can influence our health in all sorts of ways. The problem is that our modern lifestyle is stacking the odds against the good microbes and helping the baddies to win the battle. Everything from processed foods and sugary diets to sedentary lifestyles and antibiotics are wiping out the friendly bacteria. And the problem can begin early, with the rise in Caesarean births and limited breastfeeding affecting the types and numbers of microbes that…

In a world where social media can often make us feel like nothing less than perfection is acceptable, the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi offers a refreshing alternative – instead of striving for an unattainable ideal, we can find peace in embracing imperfection and appreciating the untidy edges of life. “Wabi-sabi is the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete, the antithesis of our classical Western notion of beauty as something perfect, enduring and monumental,” writes Leonard Koren in his book Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers. Wabi-sabi is a state of mind that can be useful in all aspects of daily life, including the creation of a comfortable home where you can relax, recharge and feel grounded. Celebrate imperfections Wabi-sabi in the home is about accepting messiness – because…

Keep the clutter to a minimum in your kids’ rooms with tidy wooden boxes painted in your chosen colour scheme. Here we played with complementary hues to create unique shapes using Resene testpots. YOU WILL NEED 3 large plywood box shelves (ours measured 59cm tall x 37cm wide x 35cm deep) Sandpaper Small paint roller and tray Paintbrush Painter’s masking tape Pencil and eraser 2 litres Resene ‘Alpaca’ (or main colour of your choice) 1 litre Resene ‘Regent Grey’ (or colour of your choice) Resene testpots in Resene ‘Cashmere’, and Resene ‘Gull Grey’ (or colours of your choice) 1 Lightly sand any rough areas on your box shelves. Clean away wood dust. 2 With a roller, paint each box in your main colour (we chose Resene ‘Alpaca’). Use a paintbrush…

Looking to spice things up in the kitchen? With Mexican cooking, adding flavour to your fiesta is easy because it’s all about letting fresh ingredients shine. Whether you’re entertaining a crowd or feeding the family midweek, these simple recipes are packed with punch and zing. Cheesy jalapeno poppers Ready in 1 hour 20 minutes | Makes 8-10 Crispy, crumbed and oozing with hot, cheesy filling, these tasty little morsels are such a treat! 175-200g (1 bag) mixed mini peppers/capsicums 75g cream cheese, softened ½ cup grated cheddar cheese – I used smoked 1½ Tbsp finely diced pickled jalapenos 1 large egg ½ cup breadcrumbs ½ tsp salt Oil, for frying (eg grapeseed) CHIPOTLE DIPPING SAUCE 2 Tbsp mayonnaise 3-4 Tbsp sour cream 2-3 Tbsp chipotle sauce Lime wedges, to serve…

Nadia recently turned her backyard into an abundant food forest, planting everything from string beans and spinach to black capsicums and herbs. To help your plants grow, it’s best to water them early in the morning when it’s cooler. This will allow the water to penetrate into the soil and down to the roots without losing too much to evaporation. The next-best time to water is late afternoon or early evening – just make sure you leave plenty of time for the leaves to dry before nightfall to avoid fungus problems.…

Bottling your late-summer tomatoes to extend their life through winter is not only a romantic notion but a truly delicious one. Forming the base of many Italian dishes, homemade passata is wonderfully versatile and a healthy choice for comfort-food cooking, too. Tomato passata Ready in 40 minutes | Makes about 3 cups | DF | GF 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, finely diced 2 cloves garlic, finely diced 6-8 basil leaves, roughly torn or chopped 8-10 large tomatoes Dash apple cider vinegar Pinch brown sugar, to taste Sea salt 1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion, garlic and basil for 4-5 minutes over a medium heat until soft and fragrant. Whizz or blend the tomatoes until finely chopped and add to the onion…

Adrenal fatigue is a common cause of tiredness. Our little adrenal glands have a big job and if they’ve been under pressure from stress for a long time, they’re often not up to the task. If your adrenal glands are kept busy in fight-or-flight mode they have trouble providing consistent energy. Signs that you may need to address adrenal health are: feeling exhausted rather than energised after exercise, sensitivity to light or caffeine, waking tired after a good sleep, and mood swings. Decreasing stress is ultimately required, but that’s easier said than done. START BY INCLUDING THESE ADRENAL-NOURISHING STRATEGIES IN YOUR DAY Take up restorative exercise such as yoga, tai chi and nature walks. Practise meditation. Commit to daily diaphragmatic breathing (big, deep belly breaths). Lower your expectations (aaah, the…

1 SMALL STEPS Whether you are attempting the first workout of your adult life or just your first after a month off, getting started is like ripping off a plaster. It’s a shock. The best thing you can do is BS (begin small). Walk the length of your drive or street (maybe surprise yourself with a bit further), try 10 squats off the couch, or dust off that old Pilates DVD and do 10 minutes. Whatever is easy for you mentally and physically, give it a go. And then give it a go again the next day, and repeat. It takes 21 days to form a habit so consistently getting some simple movement into your routine, no matter how small, for three weeks, will make it a lot easier to…

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 Ashley, you’ve given a lot of thought to what it means to lead a healthy, balanced life. What's your definition of wellness? “I SCHEDULE A WHOLE DAY TO MYSELF AT HOME BETWEEN LONG TRIPS AWAY. IT’S AN ESSENTIAL PART OF REGROUPING” Wellness isn’t found in one area of ourselves or our lives; it’s an all-encompassing golden thread that weaves through everything. It’s really about being in tune with yourself enough to know what food, physical activity, friends, partner, life path and form of creativity feels good, then fuelling all these equally important aspects of life with the natural enthusiasm that comes because it just feels right. What’s one thing you do every day to ensure you’re living a vital life? I meditate. I feel most vital when I’m connected to…

Is that a slick sea lion or a quick young surfer catching a wave? Getting kids to stand still long enough to see them, let alone feed them, can be a challenge. But whether you’re packing lunch boxes for a big day on the beach, sports field or school playground, these easy, on-the-go feasts and treats will boost their energy levels and zap their taste buds before they’re off to catch the next surf break or get back in the game. Banana pikelets Ready in 30 minutes | Makes about 20 1 egg ¼ cup maple syrup 1 banana, mashed ½ tsp vanilla extract 1½ cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 3/4 cup milk (or coconut milk for dairy free) 1 Tbsp melted butter (or coconut…

Mashed up for bubs, whizzed into a smoothie for brekkie, or eaten on the run – whichever way you eat yours, there’s no denying that bananas tick all the boxes. Add some new recipes to your list of family favourites with these simple and delicious treats that will add a sweet but healthy kick to your next feast. Adults-only banana ice cream Ready in 20 minutes plus 4 hours’ (or overnight) freezing time | Serves 8 350g ripe Dole bananas Juice ½ lemon (about 2 Tbsp) 300ml cream 100ml sugar syrup (see ‘sweet ideas’, right) ¼ cup white rum (Bacardi or Malibu) TO SERVE Coconut waffle cones and fresh passionfruit 1 Peel the bananas, place in a bowl with lemon juice and mash well. 2 Pour cream into a separate…

Owner of Frolic Ceramics Vicki Fanning not only loves to create handmade ceramic dinner- and homeware, she’s a green thumb, too. Her dahlias are a passion project and her garden in Matakana is full of colourful blooms which she picks right up until April. Vicki’s advice for anyone looking to cultivate their own crop of dahlias is to always use stakes to support their growth, remember to fertilise throughout the season, and to pick flowers at least once a week – the more you cut them, the more flowers they’ll produce.…