Mondays, Auckland

The other cafe that I was very excited to visit was Mondays in Kingsland. 

I have been following both Eleanor Ozich of Petite Kitchen and Hannah Horton of Health Yeah online for some time now. Both of their sites were starting points for me when deciding to start clean eating (more on clean eating later) and cut refined sugar completely out of my diet. So when I read about their plans to join forces and create a blissful spot that produced beautiful wholefoods, free of sugar, preservatives and additives, I knew that it would bring new found positive association to the very word 'Mondays'. 

Swiss decaf flat white with cashew milk

Four of us managed to secure a spot outside in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon. We sliced and diced an assortment of raw vegan treats with our smoothies and decafs (I still can't resist a cheeky decaf sometimes, I told you how I feel about coffee) and the creamy mint slice with 'chocolate' icing was the biggest hit with our party of four. Even the boy that opposes sweet things liked his segment of said peppermint paradise in a mouthful, which he chased down with his spelt bread sandwich. The hazelnut torte and banoffee slice also made me question why we use bleached white sugar when things can taste so good without it. Dessert that doesn't suppress your immune system? WHY NOT!

Green smoothie fix

 The green kale smoothie was delicimo and the girls said that the strawberry smoothie tasted  "naughty" but obviously was anything but. The swiss decaf with cashew milk  was strong enough to satisfy coffee cravings and I LOVE the addition of nut  milk to coffee. Was a little excited to see that bottled coconut water was available, and a lot excited to see bottled kombucha (fermented tea drink full of probiotics) on hand too! These girls are so clued up as to what our bodies  actually need and thrive on, as opposed to what is convenient and full of  ingredients that by no means strengthen our systems, but on the contrary,  make us tired and sick.

Having been gluten and dairy free for sixteen years now, it is SO GREAT to finally have such options become more readily available.  And Mondays goes three steps further, also removing all the other junk that we fill ourselves with and implementing the wholefood options that we can all benefit from.

Excited to see what Eleanor and Hannah's next inspired project is!

Stop by-

503B New North Road, Kingsland, Auckland.

Monday-Sunday 8am-3pm

Little Bird Unbakery, Auckland.

Teecino Herbal Coffee

Sneaked in a sneaky flying visit to Auckland on the weekend for my dear friend Susan's law graduation. We wandered up the road in the sun and dined at Little Bird in Kingsland. The last time I was in town Sus had taken me for lunch at Little Bird in Ponsonby, which proved to be a very novel experience.. because I could eat stuff! After eight months of not being able to eat out, it was SO good! So this time we went to their smaller base in Kingsland and had ourselves a merry little time.

Raw Mexican Platter

I'm always a sucker for Mexican, so I went for the Raw Mexican Platter. The sun dried tomato crackers and guacamole were worth my fare in flights alone, so the addition of coriander only made a good situation even better. Refreshing but filling, this meal made me WISH that Little Bird would nest in Wellington too! 

Acai Bowl

I am now (mostly) caffeine free, which is not the funnest achievement when coffee to you, is like a beloved sibling. But it is necessary for adrenal fatigue recovery, so I was happy to try Teecino herbal coffee for the first time. I got a side of nut milk with it (also a perk of Auckland, nut milk in cafes) and it was delicious. It's made of organic carob, barley, chicory, dates, almonds, figs and natural hazelnut flavour. I'm not really meant to have barley, chicory, dates and figs on the Gaps/Candida diet, but Susan only becomes a lawyer once guys!

The lawyer got the Acai bowl and said it was really good. Acai berries are rich in antioxidants, amino acids and essential fatty acids. With oats and banana too, it was tasty and filling. She also got the cacao smoothie, which I tried and loved. Rich, chocolatey flavour, minus the refined sugar and blood sugar crashes!

Their cabinet was brimming with refined sugar- free brownies, cakes,  tarts and cheesecakes was very tempting too. I'm currently only using honey and stevia as sweeteners though and Little Bird didn't  have any sweets in house made with them, moreso agave. But I  would definitely recommend ducking in (bird joke) and trying their  healthy, delicious array on offer! It's a small premises, so worst case scenario is that you'll have to get hard- to- find healthy wholefoods take away!

Refined sugar free treats

Find Little Bird Unbakery at 385 New North Road, Kingsland, Auckland. 

Open 8am-2.30pm Monday to Friday, 8am-3pm Saturday and Sunday.