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

Recipe: Peach garlic kick smoothie

Hey team,

Tried again with the green smoothie (this one's more of a mustard colour) with garlic today. Cut down to 1 clove of garlic, will slowly increase the amount of this natural anti fungal healer as I get used to it. Today was a success! No disasters! There are enough disasters in life, so when I make a smoothie, I just want things to go well, you know?

I used a can of peaches in juice and drained and rinsed them, to get rid of the refined sugar. These were additive free ones too, so while they're not in season, this way will  keep you peachy keen year round. Threw an egg in for protein, I use free range, so they're salmonella safe because the birds were likelier to be healthy. 

Even with the garlic, this was a very pleasant drink! Try it. I dare you.

Ingredients

1 clove garlic

handful of parsley

1/4 cucumber

2 tbspn grated root ginger

1 egg 

can of peaches
half cup lite coconut milk
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Method

1. Finely dice garlic and throw in to the blender, with rinsed and chopped cucumber, parsley.

2. Grate and add fresh ginger

3. Throw in the egg and the can of rinsed peaches

4. Add the coconut milk and almond milk 

5. Blend and serve and, as always, 

enjoy!

Immune system strengthening smoothie recipe!

Inspired by the book reviewed in my last post, I just whizzed up this gem of a drink! Full of highly nutritious fruit and vegetables, this refreshing smoothie is sweet, without need of any additional sweeteners. I sometimes like to make mine so thick that I eat it out of a huge cup with a spoon, like a pudding. As is the case with this one. Just add more milk for milky smoothie consistency.

Ingredients

1/2 a fresh beetroot

1/4 of a lemon, skin left on

2 tbspn grated root ginger

1 green apple

1 handful fresh spinach or 1 cube defrosted frozen spinach

1 handful of parsley

1 kiwifruit

1 tbspn virgin coconut oil

30ml (or desired amount) coconut milk
1 cup (or thereabouts) unsweetened almond milk

Method

1. Rinse fruit and vegetables

2. Grate ginger, add to blender (store remainder in the freezer to keep it fresh for next time!)

3. Add chopped kiwifruit and green apple and peeled and chopped beetroot 

4. Throw in the parsley and spinach

5. Chop the lemon finely, leaving the skin on (MANY nutrients are found in the skin)

6. Add the coconut oil, coconut milk and unsweetened almond milk and blend until you reach the consistency of your dreams!

Enjoy!