Tag: immunity

Immunity March: Strawberry, Basil, Lime & Coconut Water Popsicles

This month has flown by and we hope everyone is enjoying some well-deserved rest over spring break. We have the kids home for a few weeks so we thought it was fitting to include a popsicle recipe that is perfect to make and enjoy with the family! This is our last recipe for month focusing on immunity.

Not only are these strawberry, basil, lime and coconut water popsicles beautiful, the coconut water contains lauric acid, which is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral. This makes it a great immune system booster that can help us fight infection!

We have some delicious recipes coming next month including a special Easter treat. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

Strawberry, Basil, Lime & Coconut Water Popsicles (makes approx. 8)

15 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Strawberry, Basil, Lime & Coconut Water Popsicles

  • 10 strawberries from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 16 basil leaves
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • ½ cup coconut water from the Fruitful Day Box
  • Option to sweeten with honey or maple, however, usually the strawberries are sweet enough!

METHOD

Strawberry, Basil, Lime & Coconut Water Popsicles

  1. Blend all ingredients and pour into the popsicle moulds and freeze for several hours.

If you want your popsicles to look like the ones in the photograph:

  1. Pour only a little of the strawberry liquid into the popsicle mould and let it set in the freezer for several hours.
  2. Pour coconut water in to fill the mould and add a basil leaf for colour. Freeze again for several hours and then remove.

 

 

 

 

 

Immunity March: Banana Pancakes

Between Happiness Day, Mother’s Day, and end of term, it’s been another busy week here at Fruitful Day HQ! We’re looking forward to spending some extra time with the kids over the next couple of weeks and if we’re perfectly honest getting some extra hours of sleep too. These down periods are hugely important to building our immunity as we give our bodies a change to rest and recharge.

Our banana pancake recipe today is the perfect breakfast for after you’ve gotten your 7-8 hours of sleep!. It is simple, healthy and fun to make with the kids.

Generally speaking pancakes aren’t thought to be a ‘healthy’ breakfast, but by substituting a few key ingredients they are actually good for you without comprising on taste. In this recipe, both flour and milk have been substituted, which are inflammatory and the opposite of immune boosting. In addition, these pancakes include bananas, which are full of nutrients help to support the immune function like iron, zinc, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C and selenium.

Enjoy your holidays and remember PREVENTION is the key to not getting sick so rest up, eat well, stay hydrated and take time to do things that make you HAPPY.

Banana Pancakes (makes 15 palm sized pancakes)

45 – 50 minutes (If you have a larger pan and can cook several at once it will be faster)  

INGREDIENTS

Immunity March: Banana Pancakes

  • 3 bananas
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 tbsp peanut butter
  • ¾ cup oats
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp cinnamon

 METHOD

Immunity March: Banana Pancakes

  1. Put two non stick pans on medium heat.
  2. Blend all ingredients into a batter.
  3. Add 1 tsp ghee into each pan and pour batter until it spreads out into a palm sized shape in the pan. Note – these pancakes will not hold together like regular flour pancakes so if you make them too big they will break up.
  4. Flip pancake once cooked and cook on the other side.
  5. Continue until all the batter is used.
  6. Serve with yoghurt, coconut cream, fruit, honey, maple, cacao nibs or any topping of choice.

 

 

 

Immunity March: Fish Tacos with Pineapple Slaw

What a week last week! We finally launched delivery to Abu Dhabi and were honored to be a supporting partner for the 5th annual WOMEN ACHIEVE Symposium hosted by the AmCham Abu Dhabi.  You can read more about the event here. One of the distinguished speakers, Honorable Barbara A. Leaf, US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, was such a pleasure to listen to. She spoke about how her key to living a happy life was being confident, curious, and authentic. As a women-led business, we’re not always the best at being confident, but she  simply said “fake it until you feel it”, “fake it until you believe it”, and “fake it until you make it”. We left the event inspired about what we can achieve in Abu Dhabi and just a little bit more confident that we will make it!

Now you’re probably wondering what does all of this have to do with a fish taco recipe… well we had someone tell us last week they loved the look of our recipes, but weren’t sure they could actually make them! We always select our recipes based on seasonal fruits, nuts, and dried fruits available in our boxes and add ingredients that help you to take care of yourself and your health. This month it’s about boosting your immunity, which is why we’ve selected a pineapple recipe, a single serving of which contains 130% of your daily Vitamin C.

This week we encourage you to pick just one recipe from our blog and “fake it until you make it”, we promise your health will thank you!

Fish Tacos with Pineapple Slaw (serves 2)

40 – 50 minutes (not including marination time)

Immunity March: Fish Tacos with Pineapple Slaw

INGREDIENTS

  • 6 soft shell corn tacos

For the slaw

  • One handful thinly sliced red cabbage
  • One diced tomato
  • Pineapple from the Fruitful Day Box
  • One sliced red onion
  • Juice 1 lime
  • One handful chopped coriander
  • Salt & pepper

For the fish

  • Two fillets of white fish (sea bass, sea bream, tilapia)
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 3 tbsp olive oil

For the avocado pure 

  • One Avocado
  • Juice of 3 limes
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • Pinch of salt 

For the garnish

  • One thinly sliced radish
  • One handful coriander leaves
  • Sour cream

METHOD

Immunity March: Fish Tacos with Pineapple Slaw

For the slaw

  1. Combine thinly sliced cabbage, diced cucumber, lime juice, coriander, salt and pepper in a bowl.
  2. Grill pineapple and red onion on a griddle until scorched and softened. (Option to omit this step but it adds flavour and also makes the onion less strong).
  3. Once cooled, add pineapple and onion to the rest of the slaw mixture.

For the fish  

  1. Combine all spices, oil and lime juice and then rub over the fish fillets. Marinate for 30 – 60 minutes.
  2. Heat a pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp ghee and cook the fish. It should take 3 – 5 minutes per side to be nicely browned.
  3. Remove from the pan and break into pieces for each taco.

For the avocado puree

  1. Blend avocado with lime juice, cumin and salt until smooth.

To assemble

  1. Layer the fish and slaw onto a taco shell.
  2. Garnish with the radish, coriander leaves and sour cream.
  3. Add avocado puree.

Immunity March: Gooseberry & Mango Crumble

We hope everyone is having a good week. It’s been hectic on our side as we have something special to announce this Thursday that we’ve been working hard on! When you’re busy running around, it’s often easy to forget to take care of yourself, but it’s so important to make sure you don’t get run down and sick. Eating the right foods can help you build up your IMMUNITY, which is our focus for the month of March.

Today’s recipe is a gooseberry and mango crumble, which we have selected this month because of the immunity boosting qualities of gooseberries. Gooseberries actually have more Vitamin C than lemons, which helps to boost your immunity and clear your skin. In addition, they are full of Vitamin A, which is known to improve eyesight and of course immunity too. They are also known for their anti-oxidant qualities, which are unique compared to other berries because of their yellow-orange color.

If you’ve never had a gooseberry and wondering what to expect, think about Sour Patch Kids, but the healthy version of course! We’re so excited about this recipe, we may bake one on Thursday to celebrate our announcement!

Gooseberry & Mango Crumble (makes one 25cm shallow crumble)  

30 – 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

Immunity March: Gooseberry & Mango Crumble

 For the fruit mixture

  • 1 mango (approx. 560g) from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 100g gooseberries from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 20g coconut sugar
  • Juice 1 lime
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

 For the crumble  

  •  50g gluten free flour
  • 100g almond flour
  • 40g coconut flour
  • 80g roughly chopped almonds
  • 30g coconut sugar
  • 125g grass fed butter
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2tsp ginger powder
  • Pinch of salt

METHOD

Immunity March: Gooseberry & Mango Crumble

  1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
  2. Cube the mango, cut the tops off the gooseberries and cut them in half.
  3. Place fruits in a bowl along with the coconut sugar, lime, salt and cinnamon. Mix well and then scoop into the baking dish.
  4. Bake the fruit mixture on it’s own for 10 minutes. This ensures a very caramelised flavour.
  5. While the fruit is baking, mix all flours together in a bowl along with the chopped almonds, coconut sugar, cinnamon, ginger and salt.
  6. Cube the butter and then rub it into the flour and spice mixture. The mixture should begin to be crumbly, however, you don’t want the crumbs to be too small as they will burn in the oven.
  7. Remove the fruit mixture from the oven and sprinkle the crumble mixture over it evenly.
  8. Return to the oven and bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until browned on top.
  9. Serve with yoghurt or cream.

Immunity March: Mint Cacao Bliss Balls

March is here and people are getting colds left, right, and center! For the body’s natural defenses to work smoothly and make sure you’re not next to get sick, your immune system has to be working properly. Choosing foods rich in the right vitamins and nutrients will help keep your immune system strong and you healthy!

Throughout the month of March we will feature easy to make recipes, which are aimed at boosting your IMMUNITY. As always, we’d love to hear from you about what types of recipes you’d like to see next!

Our first recipe of the month are mint cacao bliss balls! To understand why we would select a chocolate recipe as our first recipe, it is important to first understand the difference between cacao and cocoa. Although both start from the same place (the beans from the cacao tree’s seed pods), the process they undergo means they have very different benefits to offer. Cacao, which is very minimally processed at low temperatures, is full of nutrients like magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, copper, and manganese. Some of the known health benefits are protecting your heart, lowering your insulin, as well as other antioxidant effects, which protect your cells from damage. Cocoa, on the other hand, is heated to much higher temperatures where sugars and other sweeteners are usually added. The heating process means that some of the more powerful antioxidant effects and health benefits are lost as compared to cacao*.

When you make your food from scratch, you can decide what ingredients you’re feeding your body! So while these mint cacao bliss balls might look like naughty treats, the ingredients have been very carefully selected to boost your immunity and fill you up with the good stuff. Wishing you all a very healthy, happy March!

Mint Cacao Bliss Balls (makes approx. 30 balls)
Immunity March: Mint Cacao Bliss Balls

30 – 45 minutes (including time to roll the balls)  

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 cup cashews from the Fruitful Day Box
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut
  • ½ cup cacao powder
  • pinch salt
  • drop of mint extract
  • 1 cup dates
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter

METHOD

Immunity March: Mint Cacao Bliss Balls

  1. Roast cashews for 10 minutes on a baking tray at 180 degrees C for 10 minutes or until browned. (This step isn’t necessary, however, roasting the nuts does improve the flavour).
  2. Combine all dry ingredients; cashews, coconut, cacao powder and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly chopped.
  3. Add wet ingredients; dates, coconut oil, peanut butter and mint extract and process until a dough forms.
  4. Remove from the food processor and roll into balls. Store in the fridge.

 

 

*Source: https://blog.paleohacks.com/cacao-vs-cocoa/