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Eat Cake Nutrition, Ashburton (2025)

09/03/2023

My children gave these a 10 out of 10 yesterday😊
They are quick and easy to make (especially if you have leftover pumpkin from the night before), no added sugar and a good way to include a vegetable without them knowing. They also freeze well. You can make a batch, freeze the leftovers and get them out for snacks or lunches as needed.

Pumpkin Pikelets (makes around 50 mini pikelets)

1 cup Pumpkin, diced
2 cups self-rising flour (or plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup)
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
1 ½ cups low fat milk
Canola oil or another similar plant-based oil (to lightly coat the pan with)

• Place the diced pumpkin in a saucepan, add water until it covers the pumpkin, put the lid on the pot and cook for 10-20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft and can be easily mashed with a potato masher. Drain the water and mash the pumpkin, until it makes a smooth puree.
• In a large bowl add the flour, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. In a separate, medium sized bowl place the pumpkin puree, eggs, milk and vanilla essence. Whisk to combine.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk together, take care not to overmix.
• Lightly coat your frypan with oil and heat over a medium heat. When the pan is hot, add a dessert spoon portion of mixture to the pan, to make one pikelet. Continue adding the mixture, keeping each pikelet 2-3cms apart, until the pan is full. When the mixture is lightly bubbling, flip the pikelets and allow to cook for a further 1-2 minutes on the other side, until it is a light golden colour.
• Repeat the cooking process with the remaining batter.
• Serve the pikelets with a light spread of margarine.

22/02/2023

This meal is ready in as long as it takes to cook the pasta and chop some vegetables. Great to cook on a night you don’t have a lot of time.

Creamy Salmon & Green Vegetable Pasta
(Serves 4, ready in 10-15 mins).

-400g Pasta – I use penne pasta but any pasta
is fine to use
-½ head broccoli, chopped into small florets
-1 cup frozen spinach or 2 handfuls of fresh
baby --spinach leaves
-1 cup frozen peas
-1 handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
-1 Tablespoon capers, finely chopped
-2 cloves garlic, crushed or 2 teaspoons
crushed garlic
-125g (1 small pottle) light sour cream
-4 Tablespoons lemon juice
-200g hot smoked salmon or tinned salmon
-2 Tablespoons grated parmesan

• Prepare the vegetables, as above.
• Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
• Add the broccoli, peas and frozen spinach
for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking.
• When the pasta is cooked, scoop out one cup
of the cooking water, drain the pasta and set
aside.
• To make the sauce, return the pot to the heat,
add a drizzle of oil and lightly cook the
capers and garlic until fragrant.
• Add the sour cream, lemon juice and half of
the cooking water. Stir until it forms a nice
creamy sauce. Add the pasta with the
vegetables and salmon to the pot and mix
through. You can add more of the cooking
water as needed, to get the right consistency
for the sauce.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve with grated parmesan.

ENJOY 😊

17/01/2023

I love picking fresh salad ingredients from my own garden for tea 😊

23/12/2022

I would like to thank each and every one of you for all your support over the last year. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet so many amazing people and to share positive health and nutrition messages with you all.

I wish you all a safe and happy festive season.
Take the time to embrace and enjoy this time with friends and family and share your favourite foods together ❤️

31/10/2022

Some healthy Halloween treats that took less than 10 mins to put together from what I had in the pantry. Simple ingredients with some creativity needed - banana, carrot, cracker biscuits, peanut butter, popcorn, natural yoghurt, rasins, raspberry jam and chocolate chips. The sweets will be later 😀

14/09/2022

There have been a couple of media articles recently highlighting the overuse of vitamin and mineral supplements, concerning toxic levels of Vitamin B6.

Vitamin and mineral supplements are sold to us to promote better sleep, to boost our immune system, for younger, healthier skin, stress management, just to name a few.

We assume they are healthy for us, as they are “natural” and that if a little bit is good for us then more may be even better. Natural does not mean safe. Asbestos and arsenic are good examples of natural products that are detrimental to our health. We also assume that our body gets rid of excess vitamins but this may not always be the case. Taking too much of anything can became toxic.

If you are currently taking a vitamin or mineral supplement, ask yourself the following questions:
-Do you know exactly what is in the supplement you are taking?
-Do you know how much of a certain vitamin or mineral you need to have?
-Do you know what the upper limits of that vitamin or mineral is?
-Are you taking more than one supplement? Do the different supplements you take, contain some of the same vitamins?

One recent case reported was in a lady who took a multivitamin, vitamin B complex, magnesium and iron supplement daily. These supplements were providing her with 200 times the recommended daily intake of vitamin B6. After 12 months of taking the supplements, she started to feel unwell – symptoms included pain, fatigue, weakness, anxiety and numbness in the hands and feet and unexplained fainting. After lots of different medical tests, seven years with worsening symptoms and no clear diagnosis, a blood test showed her vitamin B6 levels were five times the normal limit.

Another case reported was with weight loss shakes. The person involved was having three meal replacement shakes a day with extra vitamin and cleansing supplements. Her health deteriorated so much she spent one month in hospital after experiencing stroke like symptoms. Blood tests identified vitamin B6 levels, over 10 times the normal amount.

This post is to encourage you to take care when using supplements. They are readily available for anyone to purchase and guidelines around the safe use of them is not provided. Some labels will have warning information, but it is often in very small print and hard to read.

Nutritionally I don’t often recommend the use of supplements. If you eat a good variety of food and don’t have any underlying medical conditions, increased requirements or malabsorption issues then you will be able to meet all your nutritional needs through food alone. If you do need to take extra amounts of a certain vitamin or mineral it is best to do it under the care of a health profession so they can monitor your intake.

With Vitamin B6 supplements the recommended daily intake is 1.3 milligrams with the upper limit no more than 50mg.

01/09/2022

So much fun, sharing breakfast with the members at EA Network centre this morning for random act of kindness day ❤ Thanks Jenny Soal for coming up with this idea and for being my sous chef this morning 🤩

19/07/2022

Puāwai-Kai is a free 8 week course run in Canterbury. Learn how small changes in the way you live add up to a big change in your health!

Our first Ashburton course starts on the 2nd August from 6pm-8pm, 254 Cameron Street (In the old Polytec building). It will then run every Tuesday night following for a total of 8 weeks.

During the 8-session programme, you will learn how small changes in the way you live can add up to a big change in your health.

The first three weeks focus on lifestyle changes, with kai to support each session. This is followed by five weeks of cooking – putting the ideas into action. All 8 sessions end with sharing kai together.

Ring 0800 333 405 or go to the website puawai.org.nz to find out more information or to register to attend.

28/06/2022

This is a common question I get asked all the time – Do artificial sweeteners (like the ones found in diet drinks) increase your risk of developing certain types of cancer?

The short answer is no. There are so many studies that have looked into this over the years and there is no evidence to show that including artificial sweeteners in your diet increases your risk of cancer.

The only studies that found some evidence were animal studies (mostly done on rats and mice). We are different to rats and mice, we digest food differently so the information taken from these studies can’t be compared to humans. Also a lot of these studies used extremely large doses of artificial sweeteners, more that what we would ever be able to consume.

Last month it was reported again in the media, a new study had found a “13% higher risk of cancer for people consuming large quantities of artificial sweeteners”. However when you read the study and look into the finer details, you will see this statement has been taken out of context.

The study also states, “the results suggest that artificial sweeteners may represent a modifiable risk factor for prevention” and “causal links cannot be established by this unique study”.

This observational study looked at a large number of participants over a period of 7.8 years. Every 6 months, participants were asked to complete 3 x 24-hour food diaries online. This information, along with more detailed information collected at the start of the study and every year after was used to determine any associations between sweeteners and cancer incidence. The group of people that were considered high consumers of artificial sweeteners, who were considered to have a 13% higher risk of cancer, were also more likely to smoke, have lower levels of physical activity, fibre and fruit and vegetables when compared to the non-consumers. All of these factors could also contribute to the higher rates of cancer identified in this group.

The moral of this story is don’t believe everything you hear or read, information can be taken out of context and might not be relevant to your circumstances. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (our food standards authority) have looked at all the scientific literature in this area and are confident in saying artificial sweeteners are safe to use.

Whether or not you choose to include them as part of your food intake is up to you. They can play an important role in helping reduce your overall daily calories or reduce the total amount of sugar you consume in a day. However they do provide an overly sweet taste which can lead you to crave more sugar and in drinks they are not great for your teeth.

12/06/2022

This week’s tip on how to save money at the grocery store is around buying fruit and vegetables. Aim to buy fresh fruit and vegetables in season or when they are on special – There can be a huge variation in price depending on the season. Seasonal produce is generally in the bigger bins in the fruit and vegetable section. I have put together a few examples below of how much the price can change between products available at the supermarket. The prices are based on what was available this week.

Fresh broccoli cost $2.50 per head (average weight 250g) and frozen broccoli was $2.60 per 450g (cheapest bag).

A whole pumpkin cost $4 (average weight 3.5kg), or you could also buy it pre-cut at $3.80 per kg or frozen pieces were $3.50 per 500g.

A whole fresh cauliflower is $7 (average weight 500-750g), half a fresh cauliflower is $5 and the lowest cost bag of frozen cauliflower pieces was $2.30 per 500g.

Fresh tomatoes are $9.49 per kg and tinned tomatoes are between $0.80 - $3 per 400g.

If you compared the price by weight for the above vegetables then frozen broccoli is $5.20 per kg compared to fresh broccoli at $10 per kg. A whole pumpkin is around $0.875 per kg, compared to $3.80 fresh pieces and $7 frozen, cauliflower is $11.20 per kg fresh and $4.60 frozen and tomatoes are $9.49 fresh compared to $4.75 tinned.

When it comes to fresh versus frozen fruit and vegetables there is no major difference in nutritional value. You can add frozen vegetables straight into the dish you are cooking and there is no wastage. You pay for exactly what you use.

Canned produce can also be cheaper than fresh fruit and vegetables. Just make sure you choose one that doesn’t have a lot of extra ingredients added, like sugar or salt.

I’m also not much of a gardener, but there are a few plants I can grow that don’t need much care and attention – one courgette plant can provide so many courgettes, baby spinach and lettuce are handy as you can just pick the leaves when you need them, beetroot also seems to grow in my garden with no problems. Last year I also had snow peas and green beans but for some reason I can’t grow carrots.

31/05/2022

This is a quick, simple family meal, packed with lots of vegetables and lots of flavour. I have reduced the meat portion and added beans to reduce the cost, bulk out the filling and still include adequate protein. If you wanted you could eliminate the meat altogether and increase the portion of beans.

If there are any leftovers, they are great for lunch the next day.

Total cost $28 or $6.15 per serve (costs calculated from full cost ingredients so if you can buy any of the ingredients on special it would work out less).

21/05/2022

This week's tip on how to save money at the grocery store is around buying meat, fish and chicken (the protein based foods in our meals). The cost of these foods takes up a good portion of my grocery budget so I am always looking at ways to reduce the cost.

Health wise most of the recommendations are around limiting your intake of red meat and increasing your intake of plant foods. However it does also come down to personal choice and eating red meat is beneficial for lots of people.

As a family we aim to include red meat twice a week, chicken twice a week, fish at least once a week and two vegetarian meals.

When buying meat, chicken or fish I look at the specials that week and plan my meals around what is available. I also compare the price of fresh and frozen. Last week for example I was able to purchase 4kg of frozen chicken thighs for $24 compared to fresh chicken thighs at $22 per kg.

Buying a cheaper cut of meat and marinating, tenderising or slow cooking it will make it taste just as good as the prime version.

Another tip is to shop around, local butchers, farmers markets and the smaller grocery shops can also provide these products below the grocery store prices.

Lentils are a great alternative protein source to meat and cost a lot less. I often reduce the meat portion of the meal and bulk it out with lentils. For example split red lentils are great to use in casseroles and bolognese dishes (anything where they can cook in a sauce for 20 minutes or more). Just half the amount of meat and add 1-1/2 cups of lentils. You may also need to increase the liquid by adding stock or tinned tomatoes. I will include a couple of recipes this week where I have added lentils or beans to reduce the amount of meat used.

Does anyone have any other tips to share?

12/05/2022

With increasing grocery prices making news headlines over the last few months, I thought I would share a few tips over the next few weeks around things I do to try and keep my weekly grocery spend within a budget.

Otago University conduct an annual food cost survey each year. The report from 2021 showed that in Christchurch an average grocery spend, for a family of four to meet their nutritional requirements is around $191-$227 per week. This is the budget I have set myself to feed my family and I have been following it for the last year.

Some weeks I go over it and some weeks I am under budget, but overall it evens out.

To stick to this budget, I have to plan meals out over the week. My meals aren’t set in stone, and sometimes things don’t go to plan but I have a general idea of the main meal options each week. Breakfasts are pretty standard in our house and lunches are mostly based on leftovers or sandwiches.

On a day when you have a bit more spare time, or one night when you are eating tea together as a family, talk about the meals you would like to eat for the week ahead. Think about things that you may have on that week, nights you may get home later and plan to accommodate that as well. To help with those nights you are home later, think of quick, easy meals, slow cooked options or cook more the night before so you can use some of the leftovers.

Do a stock take of your fridge and pantry, know what you have so you don’t end up with multiple items of the same thing. (Last week I cleaned out my spices and found I had 4 x containers of ground cumin, 3 x whole peppercorns and 3 x tins mustard powder).

When you know what you need and what you already have, write a list and stick to it. This is where I have found online shopping helps. I’m not tempted to buy extras and I can see the exact total as I go, (therefore I can adjust as needed).

Another huge benefit of planning is TIME. Each morning I know what the options are for meals so I’m not getting home from work, wasting time thinking about what to have or driving back and forth to the grocery store to buy ingredients I don’t have for the meal I’ve just decided to make. The 20-30 minutes I spend planning the meals for the week and writing a list is saved multiple times over.

25/04/2022

Who else has made Anzac biscuits today? I found this recipe online today for a slightly chewy biscuit 🤗 (my fav)

I have not changed it to reduce the total sugar or total fat, as not everything we need to eat has to be healthy for our body, sometimes it just needs to be healthy for our soul ❤️

https://www.3ba.com.au/news/music-entertainment/111400-crunchy-or-chewy-anzac-biscuits-how-to-bake-this-classic-100-year-old-recipe

24/04/2022

Lest we forget ❤️

14/04/2022

Last nights tea was a recipe from My kids lick the bowl "One-Pan Mexican Mince and Rice". https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmykidslickthebowl.com%2Fone-pan-mexican-mince-and-rice%2F&t=One%20Pan%20Mexican%20Rice%20%26%20Mince%20-%20Family%20meal%2C%20cooks%20in%20one%20pot

I changed the recipe slightly as I cooked the rice separate from the mince, added chilli beans to the mince mixture, freshly chopped tomatoes (as a salsa), avocado and natural yoghurt. In addition I added some wholemeal wraps, which I cut into triangles, sprayed with canola oil, added garlic powder and lightly toasted in the oven. I also forgot to add the corn, which if added would have increased my total serves of vegetables from 18 to 20 😀

Total cost $21 to serve 8 people, which works out at $2.63 per person.

This meal is low fat, high fibre, quick and easy to make, uses minimal dishes and is a great way to include lots of veges.

23/03/2022

I made these pizza scrolls today to freeze for school lunches. So quick and easy.

Normally I use a pizza dough recipe that you have to knead and let the dough rest so it can rise, but I'm always on the look out for quick and easy options that are healthy. A friend shared this link with me which only has two ingredients flour and low fat yoghurt. They were a hit for afternoon tea (which is why I only have half of them left to freeze) 🤣

https://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/265514/two-ingredient-dough/

Once you make the dough, roll it out into a rectangle shape, until it is the thickness of a pizza base. The filling includes tomato paste, just enough to spread out over the dough, 1 cup grated carrot, 1 cup chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup grated edam cheese (save a little to sprinkle on the top). Spread the filling evenly over the dough and roll up as you would pinwheel scones. Cut into pieces and cook in the oven at around 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes. This is just one example of so many different options for fillings. If anyone has some good filling ideas, I would love to hear them in the comments 😀

This recipe made 15 scrolls and cost $6.45

Eat Cake Nutrition