My Blog has turned 1!
So the time has come, my little ol’ blog has finally turned one year! It’s all grown up!
Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog since I first began it on September 27th 2009.
I originally started this blog because I had created a whole lot of recipes and I wanted to share them with people. Now I aim to inspire people with my recipes and help to encourage them on their health-food-loving journey.
Some highlights:
Q & A with Nutritionist Karen Fischer on Healthy Skin I love Karen’s book ‘The Healthy Skin Diet’, so I was so happy when she wrote this Q & A on tips on how to grow better skin! It’s a must read for those who want to know how diet affects your skin and what you can do about it. You find her at her website/blog and on twitter: @karen_fischer.
Guest Post: Mushroom Medicine by Dr. Sarah Cimperman, ND Naturopathic Doctor Sarah Cimperman divulges into the mystery that is medicinal mushrooms and gave us a great recipe for mushroom soup.Her website is Dr SarahCimperman.com, and her blog is, A Different Kind of Doctor.
Guest Post with Amy Green: Five Tips for Starting a Gluten-Free Diet Amy Green is the author of Simply Sugar and Gluten Free. She wrote a great post on tips to and start transition to a gluten free diet. Thanks Amy! I know there are many people who suffer from gluten intolerance out there so it was great to have someone so experienced to offer up their tips. You can visit Amy’s fantastic blog Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and follow her on twitter: @Amys_SSGF.
Guest Post: Beautiful Swiss Chard Saute with Salami and Raisins by Mariana Cotlear Mariana share with us her delicious recipe for Beautiful Swiss Chard Saute with Salami and Raisins! Thanks Mariana! Mariana Cotlear is a food health advocate who you can find at her blog: ‘Epicuriosa: A foodie’s unprocessed thoughts on eating, cooking and how we can fix they way we eat’ and follow her on twitter @epicuriosa.
Guest Post: Catching on to omega 3’s with Emma Stirling APD Dietitian Emma Stirling gave us the low-down on all things omega 3 and where we can get these beneficial good fats. Find Emma on her blog Scoop Nutrition and follow her on twitter @EmmaStirling.
Guest Post: All About Fermented Foods with Naturopath Helen Padarin Helen Padarin tells us all we need to know about wonderful fermented foods.Thanks Helen! She’s an experienced and passionate Naturopath who knows what she’s talking about! You can find Helen on her website Nourish-ed or on the Nourish-ed facebook.
Guest Post: Easy Lemony Marinated Mushrooms by Stephanie Chung (Student Dietitian) Fellow blogger and nutrition student lent her time to write a delicious recipe for Easy Lemony Marinated Mushrooms. I’ve tried her recipe many times and it’s really delicious! You can find Stephanie at her blog Juicy Fresh Bites or on twitter @freshbites.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to my blog this year!
Creation of Wholesome Whole Foods. I created the Wholesome Whole Food blog carnival to help collect ideas and help people to find more ideas on eating and living well. It happens every Friday, so if you have a blog and blog about healthy food feel free to join in! Thank you to everyone who has entered in the blog carnival so far! It’s always great to see new people.
My top 5 recipes on healthfoodlover.com:
Sprouted Wheat, Apple and Cinnamon Cookies
Crispy Carrot & Celeriac Chips
Prosciutto Bacon, Steamed Romanseco and Avocado Salad with Mustard VinaigretteThere’s gotta be gifts, So I’m giving you a chance to win four!
About GPA Whole Foods
GPA Wholefoods aims to provide hard-to-find whole foods and nutrient dense snacks that complement a traditional diet. We offer some of the amazing and unique foods that Weston A Price recommended, such as Fermented Cod Liver Oil, Butter Oil and Liver.
“Our products are the best of the best and we are proud to make them available in Australia. We choose all our foods and products carefully and refuse to sell anything we don’t believe in”.
Giveaway 1) Fermented Cod Liver Oil (Oslo Orange 237mls)
Many of the great historical cultures had one common supplement which they relied on to ensure strong mind, body and spirit: fermented fish/fish liver oil. The Mighty Roman Soldier was given a daily ration of fermented fish/fish liver. The Stoic Scandinavian Voking had a drum of fermenting cod livers outside the door of his home.
Unlike every other fish oil on the market, our cod liver oil is not molecularly distilled. Green Pasture Products uses a traditional cold process extraction and cleaning method to produce this pristine and naturally fresh cod liver oil.
This giveaway will be announced on Friday 29th of October.
Giveaway 2) MSM Shampoo and Conditioner (16oz)
Ultra Pure MSM Shampoo and Conditioner are made from a unique blend of oils, herbal extracts, and nutrients designed to strengthen hair, restore elasticity and repair split ends.
They contain a rich concentration of sulfur in the form of MSM for the maximum benefits.
They DON’T contain sodium laurel sulfate, propylene glycol, alcohol or parabens.
Giveaway now ended.
Giveaway 3) CSN Store Giveaway:
Win a $60 voucher for CSN online stores! CSN online stores sell a lot of great items including Bistro Sets like one where I’ll be eating some of that Jaffa cake (below)!
Giveaway now ended.
Giveaway 4) WIN a copy of Ani’s Raw Food Essentials
See the post on how to enter.
Giveaway now ended.
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Giveaway Guidelines
How to enter any of these giveaways:
How to enter, answer this question: What do you like to see here at health food lover, or what would you like to see more of; likes and dislikes?
Make sure you say which one you would like to enter. Please do one comment per entry and giveaway.
Other ways to enter:
For more chances to win:
- Follow health food lover on twitter @loverhealthfood and tweet the following: “Enter HFL’s four giveaways. I want to win (name what you want to win) http://wp.me/pUqsc-11Vâ€. (1 entry)
- Add health food lover to facebook. (1 entry)
- Subscribe to health food lover by RSS or get blog updates by email. (1 entry)
- Email to three friends (1 entry)
- Mention in a blog post (2 entries)
Notes:
Giveaway 1 and 2 are only available for Australian residents.
Giveaway 3 and 4 are only available to US and Canadian residents.
Giveaway 4- entries can only be entered in on the giveaway post to win Ani’s Raw Food Essentials (not on this post please).
Giveaway 1-3 close on October 18th.
Thank You!
Thank you to all my wonderful readers (and commenters) over this past year! Without you, my dear readers I would just be talking to myself. It is the readers who really make blogging special and intercative so thank you for reading my blog!
– – –
Recipe: Jaffa Chocolate Cake with Jaffa Icing
The cake is healthily adapted from this Flourless Orange & Chocolate Cake Recipe
This cake is very dense and rich so a small piece definitely goes a long way.
Jaffa Cake:
Ingredients:
- 2 organic oranges
- 6 dates
- 50g butter
- 50g coconut oil
- 200g dark chocolate
- four eggs
- 200g almond meal
Method:
- In a blender or food processor add the zest of 2 organic oranges and blend with 6 dates. Peel the oranges (removing the rind) and blend with the zest and dates until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Melt: In a double boiler, melt 50g butter and 50g coconut oil with 200g dark chocolate until all melted together.
- Beat four eggs till thick, fold in almond meal (200g), date paste and choc-butter mix into the eggs.
- Pour into a lined and coconut oil greased tin.
- Cook for about 115 mins at 180 (not fan forced) or until skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool and then spread with Jaffa icing (recipe below). Note: Icing will harden at room temp/in the fridge.
Jaffa Icing (aka Orange, Cacao, Coconut and Macadamia Butter):
See the original post here.
Ingredients:
Place a big handful of raw macadamia nuts into a food processor and blend till smooth butter is formed. Add zest of ½ orange, add 1 T. cocnut butter and 3 T. cacao powder. Blend until very smooth. Pour into a bowl and set aside until ready to ice the cake.
Enjoy!
Linked to Hearth and Soul, Monday Mania, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday,
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
i like seeing healthy versions of usually not so healthy recipes- learning about substitutions is helpful. please put my name in the hat for giveaway #3. thank you!
i liked you on facebook (wren nelson)
giveaway #3 please
Shen,
Thanks for entering the competition and good luck!
I love, love, love the recipes.
giveaway #3 please
Thanks Domestic Diva! Thanks for entering!
I’d like to see more ideas for kid’s lunchboxes.
I’d like to enter #3. Thanks!
Hi Chelle and congratulations on your one year anniversary as a blogger! YOU Go girl! I would like to thank you for all your support and for guest posting on my blog as well! I shall be sharing the festivities will everyone on thoughts on friday at a moderate life so others can come over here and give you virtual hugs! Thanks for sharing this on the hearth and soul hop as well! HUGS! Alex
P.S. I forgot to say what a lovely cake! I adore the combo of orange and chocolate, as my mother made something similar when I was a child and we always got those toblerone oranges for christmas!
Thanks so much Alex!
I would love to win giveaway #3. And I love your healthy baking recipes!
Thanks Deanna and good luck!
Congrats on 1 year, Michelle- that rocks!! This cake looks and sounds soooo awesome, thank you for sharing your big news and giveaways with the hearth and soul hop! Hmmm…sounds trite, but I’d love to see more pictures of your “area”…where/what it is all about (since I’m from somewhere else) !!!
I also subscribe to your RSS and through FB!!!
Congratulations on one year of blogging – wishing you many more!! (I’ve been blogging for seven years now and I love it!) Your recipe sounds so delicious – I especially like the macadamia nuts in the icing – wonderful!!
Thanks April. Wow 7 years! That’s quite a big feat! I hope I am able to blog for that long! Thanks for your compliments on the recipe!
Happy Anni, girl! So glad you shared with the Hearth and Soul hop. There are lots of great highlights to go back through.
Thanks Butter! I like to think so too!
I love the recipes, especially dessert recipes. :) I’d love to win the shampoo and conditioner.
I’m new to the “raw” food concept but am trying to learn more. I guess I would say that I’d like more quick dinner recipes to make for the family.
sazzyfrazz at gmail dot com
Oops, that first entry was for giveaway #3! I like you on FB!
sazzyfrazz at gmail dot com
I’m an email subscriber!
sazzyfrazz at gmail dot com
Hi Michelle, congrats on the blogoversary!
I love your site as is, but would be incredibly interested to hear more personal stories & ideas from your course (intertwined with the same awesome recipes of course).
Would be stoked to win #2 for my crazy mane :)
Michelle is my cousin and I tried a piece of her chocolate/jaffa cake, it was soooo good. normally i love my sugar but this was just beautiful, i ended up eating 4 pieces of it haha! deff recommend it!!
xx ly shell
Thanks my lovely cousin! I’m glad you liked it :)! xo
I would like to enter giveaway#2. N I would like to see more foods that have healing powers lol, like good suggestions for colds, flues, sore throats etc.
Thanks Shakira! Good luck!
I would like to enter for giveaway#1 Codliver Oil. I would like to see more kids recipe’s which are healthy, considering a lot of mums find it hard to know what to cook for their children, and what is healthy for them.
Happy Birthday, Michelle! What a fantastic accomplishment! Sending much love and best wishes for many, many more years of successful blogging to come.
Thank you so much Amy
I’m a dessert lover, so I’d always welcome more dessert recipes :)
Congrats on a delicious year of blogging!
I would like to win the CSN voucher or cookbook. Just tweeted for you.
I like HealthFoodLover on Facebook!
And, I subscribe by RSS.
Happy Blog-aBirthday Michelle! I am so glad you shared it with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop!
I would love to see more of the tutorials – you do such a great job of making it easy!
I am entering giveaway # 3
I follow you on twitter and tweeted the giveaway – I am entering the CSN one.
THANK YOU for this gorgeous recipe! I love love love jaffa cakes, and think that this healthified cake is going to make it onto the rotation!!!! :D
Hi Lindsay.
That’s okay! Cool let me know if you make it and how it goes! I’d love to know how you like it.
a couple more entries… #1 http://carascravings.blogspot.com/2010/09/grilled-eggplant-with-garlic-yogurt.html
and #2 http://carascravings.blogspot.com/2010/09/grilled-eggplant-with-garlic-yogurt.html
Thanks for doing this!
Hey Cara. Thanks for entering. Just keep in mind #1 & #2 (as mentioned above) are for Australian residents only, so if you are an Aussie then good luck!
Hi Michelle,
I shared this post in a “Hearth and Soul Hop Linky Love” post!
Thanks again for linking up!
http://bit.ly/bf3TMB
That cake looks irresistible. Congrats on turning one!
First, Michelle, congratulations on your one-year anniversary! So glad we’ve connected through the blogosphere, and thanks so much for building such a nice community. I’m a fan of your sweet recipes in particular (love love love the cake/frosting this week).
Second, thanks so much for commenting on my six-month anniversary/giveway post even though you weren’t eligible to win. Your insights were spot on, and I appreciated the words of support, too.
Finally, since this is a giveway, I’ll throw my name in the hat for No. 3!
Thanks for all you do.
Chris
Spoonfed: Raising kids to think about the food they eat
Hi Christina.
Thanks for the compliments on my recipes and my blog!
Re: my comment on your giveaway- that’s okay. I love your blog and all that you do!
Good luck and thanks for entering the competition.
Michelle.
hey my mouth goes watery…can’t wait to have one..nice blog in whole and thanks for sharing the information
Thanks for the awesome recipe! That cake looks delicious I hope that when i try making it looks the same lol…. Thanks Again!
Hi Diana.
Thank you! I’m sure when you make it, that it will be wonderful!
Hi Michelle,
I tweeted for an entry for No.1.
Anita
And I emailed this to 3 friends, too- No.1.
Anita.
Thanks Anita and goodluck!
Hi Michelle, I have just found your blog and can’t wait to have a good look around.
I am a facebook friend for an entry to giveaway #1.
Thanks Deb! Good luck!
And I subscribe via RSS for another entry to giveaway #1.
Thanks for the opportunity to win.
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