Isabel Dawkes Health

Nice eats 🇫🇷
I had no idea that Nice used to be a part of Italy, which is why it has such an Italian influence in its food

pain au chocolat
salmon tataki
noisette gelato
vanilla cannoli
croque madame
caprese baguette
beef tartare
pain suisse au chocolat
pissaladiere
noisette gateau

I’m pretty happy with French x Italian cuisine 🫶🏻

Peach & Maple Pancakes.

Should we bring back the Sunday stacks?

🍑 🍁

Barramundi Goan Curry

Australia meets Goa 🌴

I’ve never cooked Barramundi before and wanted to try it, so made my favourite Goan fish curry

If you like a light coconut creamy curry, with a big warm hit, you’ll love this 🌶️

It’s got loads of veggies & fresh flavours for summery vibes but still super comforting for those darker evenings

Add your email to the Digital Dining Table and get this in your inbox on Friday. 💫

Click the link in my profile and just drop your email on there ☺️

It feels way too early to be seeing Easter stuff in the super markets, but it’s never too early to be thinking about my White Chocolate & Raspberry Hot Cross Bun Pudding …

too soon… ? 👀 💫

Lemon, tomato & rocket spaghetti. 💛 🍋

I cooked a meal for the first time in what feels like forever.

I spent less time in the kitchen in 2022 than I’d have liked.
It’s my happy place and my experimentation go replaced by work.

This year I’m going to spend more time playing and exploring my ingredients (no innuendo) and rediscover my creativity.

If you want this recipe, sign up to my digital dinner table and get my recipes in your inbox every Friday (it’s free, just me saying hi 👋🏻)

What are your 2023 goals?

Food for thought.

Gold Coast Eats 💫

Coconut Bowl
Chilli Eggs
Caramel & Banana French Toast
Wild mushrooms with beetroot powder
Cinnamon Bun
Banana Bread with honeycomb butter
Coconut Cold Brew

bit of a theme with what I like hey

just a couple of the highlights of a great week of food ✌🏻

🥥 🍌

Are you team poached, scrambled or fried?

I genuinely cannot decide.

But I can tell you my tomatoes will be slow cooked in olive oil, with a generous amount of salt ✌🏻

Cold mornings need warm bowls ❄️💫

I think I consume about 90% of my meals from bowls currently.
And a big creamy bowl of oats is no exception.

Oats, made with whole milk & chia seeds for extra protein, fats and fibre.

with blueberries, sliced banana, yoghurt, pumpkin seeds and a big flood of peanut butter 💛

There’s something about a delicate but powerful spiced coconut curry, combined with fish and seafood that just works.

This is a Red Thai sauce, with white rice & Choi sum.

The cost of living is still on the rise, which has a huge impact on your grocery shop. I’m endeavouring to put together meals and recipes that are light on your pocket, and your clock, but don’t compromise on flavour 💛

Being able to make more things at home (that are both money and time saving) can be super helpful. Thai curry pastes are one of those things.

You can make it ahead, and in larger quantities and you can freeze home made curry paste for future use.

You can find recipes for green & red curry pastes on my website, click the link in my bio to the recipes page, and use the search bar to find the recipe quickly!

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake 😍

I’ve been trying to make a chocolate cake that doesn’t use flour in the recipe, without being dry, crumbly or just overall disappointing

This one uses ground almonds in the mix and little magic with the eggs..

It’s fudgey, delicious and anything but crumbly.

Recipe is going out to inboxes as part of my weekly virtual Dining Table email 💛 my tried, tested and approved by many happy mouths recipes, every week.

Click the link in my profile to add your email and take a seat at the ever growing table 💫

The only time either of us has been laughing after a running WOD.

A long time ago I stopped chasing aesthetics in the gym and started chasing performance.

In that time
I’ve probably made more friends than I have gains.
I’ve definitely failed more than I’ve succeeded.
And I’m still not very good at a lot of things.

But I have a great time trying.

Now I chase this feeling. The joy you see in these sweaty smiles 💛

Movement can be used in so many positive ways.
Mindfully, intentionally, intuitively.

And negative ways.
Painfully, begrudgingly, punishingly.

Your relationship with movement is just as important as your relationship with food.

What are you chasing?

Good to train with you again ChloFlow 💜

Smiling in a photo > smiling for a photo.

Some happy moments have been captured recently ☺️💛

Paaaaancakes.

These have been a neglected favourite recently on account of me sampling every breakfast in and around the eastern suburbs. 🫠

But we came back with a bang.

📸: banana pancakes (oats, milk, egg, banana, blend, cook on one side til you see bubbles, then flip)
with Greek yoghurt, blueberries, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter and maple syrup 🍁

🥞

Sunday Reflections 💫

📸 just a girl and her favourite snack having a moment.

1. I feel there’s an untapped market for stylish bowling shoes.

2. Christmas in July isn’t something I ever thought I’d experience, but it was extremely fun.

3. I may have found the best gelato in Sydney. But research will continue.

4. Milky ways in Australia have a different colour centre. Why.

5. I can’t relax when I take time off work, but working too much makes me tense. I don’t know what the answer is here.

6. I can’t decide if BBC news or love island is currently more dramatic. Either way, the male ego is providing a lot of entertainment.

7. Beaches look wildly differently after a storm. They have to actually put the sand back in the right place…

8. Not getting a daily walk in, significantly impacts my ability to process my ongoing state of existential crisis.

9. Plants make really good indoor leak catchers. (yes this is a problem and we have plants everywhere)

10. The more I drink, the better at pool I get. Or the worse my opponent gets. One of the two.

The world is looking a little happier and a little bit more positive at the moment.

Stay smiling ☀️

Sunday reflections 💫

1. The songs I used to dance to in clubs are now songs I work out to. I think this is ageing…

2. Sweet potato fries are such a simple but elite food.

3. I find the ocean and space fascinating. But the more I learn about either, the more I question everything.

4. Lawn balls has more rules than I anticipated.

5. There are people that exist that think rugby league is better than rugby union. Mental.

6. Being able to afford red capsicum peppers is the real sign of wealth in Sydney.

7. The camera work that goes in to making Tom Cruise look tall is admirable.

8. My idea of a good night out now ends with ice cream and bed by 10 30.

9. More people need to know about Yuzu Negronis

10. I feel as though I need a weekend to recover from the weekend…

Until next week…. Have a beautiful Sunday friends 🤍

Lemon Olive Oil cake 🍋

This sexy little number went out in todays weekly recipe email.

If you don’t wanna miss out make sure you add yourself using the link in my bio ☺️🍋

Colours.

When you’re looking to make changes to your diet, focusing on inclusion over exclusion is a great way to go.

Bringing IN colour to your plate can add nutrients, diversity & fibre.

Different vitamins & minerals present as different colours in food. Eating a rainbow is not only fun, but actually beneficial.

This usually makes us FEEL GOOD too.

Skittles are also fun and beneficial.

🌈

Show me your oats.

Daily reminder to have breakfast today even if diet culture has told you not to.

✌🏻
📸: banana, almond butter, raspberries, chocolate chips, seeds, cinnamon.

These macro percentage splits are fairly common to come across now.

It’s not that they’re useless,

it’s just that you have better things to do with your time than calculate the carb percentage of your day.

You needs can and will change on a daily basis.

You will need more of some nutrients on different days.

Your energy needs will vary.

That’s okay.

That’s normal.

When we consider a healthful way of eating, we need awareness of what that means in our day to day food.

Some general guidelines can be helpful:

Serving of protein 3-4 times a day
Fruits/veggies at most meal times
Include fibre & fats at most meals times
6-8 glasses of water a day
Oily fish 1-2 times a week
etc

Some days you’ll achieve it.

Some days you won’t.

But it will always look different.

A healthy diet is one that works for you, which means making you *feel* good.

not feeling stressed, out of control, restricted, tense, guilty or deprived.

Let’s find the one that works for you 💙

Sunday Reflections 💫
it’s been a hot minute (/several months)

Here we gooooo

1. More people need to know about tahini on porridge.

2. Buying a jar of tahini will mean I start putting it on everything.

3. People like it when you get personal..

4. Don’t order sashimi at a Japanese BBQ.

5. I will never get bored of watching the tide. Why is it so continuously mesmerising.

6. I am still obsessed with poke bowls and açai bowls. I’m not sure I’ll ever eat off a plate again.

7. I thought minimising my wardrobe to one suitcase would last longer than it did.

8. I’ve started eating sweets because the chocolate here is so disappointing and I think that’s really saying something.

9. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not life that is tiring, it’s boredom.

10. Apparently the word ‘winter’ is very subjective. 🥶 ☀️

💫

Summer in a bowl ☀️

It’s getting warmer and summer is around the corner…

And this gazpacho will make an excellent addition to your summer bbqs 🤩

When someone first suggested cold soup to me, I thought they were joking.

How to make soup worse, don’t heat it.

Butttttt

It’s actually delicious.

Especially with a big drizzle of olive oil and some garlic ciabatta croutons 🤤

Recipe for this refreshing and oh so easy soup is going out in this weeks email.

Click the link in my bio to join my ever expanding dinner table and get the recipe sent straight to you 💛

It’s not a secret that I don’t post physical transformations.
and that I’m not a fan of them in general.

Reducing someone to their appearance isn’t really my style.

I always have and always will care more about how you feel, than how you look.

(as should you)

That’s not to say the people I work with don’t change.

They just mean more to me than their number of kilos or inches lost or gained.

My clients absolutely transform.
In a number of ways.

And these types of transformations,
I’m here for.

Transforming how you feel about food.

Transforming how you feel about yourself.

Transforming your life.

Forever, not just 8 weeks.

That’s what I do.

And that’s the only transformation you need.

💫

Sunday Roasts..

Even in summer they’re still a necessary component to a healthy diet (in my professional opinion)

This is my pot roast alternative with lentils, lemon & herbs 🌿 🍋

What’s a non negotiable for your roast dinner?

I’ll go first. Cauliflower cheese. 😅

Sesame Tonk-notsu Ramen 🍜

Tonkotsu is traditionally made creamy and thick from a pork bone broth, this is a plant based alternative (Tonk-notsu if you will)

There’s crispy tofu & aubergine on top of soft noodles, with a creamy sesame soup.

I added a soft boiled egg, but you can leave that out to keep it vegan.

It’s absolutely delicious and thank you to for introducing me to this! 🌱 💚

Yep you guessed it, recipe out in this weeks email. Link in my bio to take a seat at our ever growing table 💛

Diet and exercise?
Simple right.

Yes. They are part of it.
And they are within our control which is always helpful.

But they’re only part of the story.

There’s a lot of other things going on in your life that have a huge impact on your health.

(And that’s before we even get in to genetics and socio economics….)

Yes, pay attention to how you’re eating and how you’re moving.

But pay attention to the other stuff too.

Pay attention to how you’re feeling 💛

This whole meal was made from processed foods.

And took about 7 minutes to put together.

Leftover soba noodles from the night before

Packaged mixed leaves & shredded vegetables.

Frozen salmon, cooked in the microwave.

Dressing made from sesame oil, soy sauce & sweet chilli sauce.

Then I chucked some sesame seeds on top for that creative flair 💁🏼‍♀️

There is nothing wrong with processed foods. They can be very helpful for creating healthy meals.

You don’t need a diet make over, crazy fancy foods or heaps more time.

You just need to be shown how to use what you *already* have, more effectively.

Tahini Blondies 💫

If you think blondies can be a little too sweet, you’ll love these.

White chocolate brownie mix with white chocolate chips, but a subtle flavour layer of sesame to bring it together 😍

You neeeeed to try them for yourself.

To have the recipe in your inbox on Friday, click the link in my bio to Join My Table
we’ve always got room for one more 💛

More lunch inspo for you 💫

I’m trying to switch up my lunch choices from ‘eggs’ which is my usual go to 😂

This combo was crunchy, soft, sweet, sour, and everything in between.

📸: seeded bagel, avocado, tomato, lime, smoked salmon, home pickled red onion, black sesame seeds.

Top tip for the day if you feel like you struggle with intense food thoughts or bingeing in the evening:

Give yourself more freedom in the day.

Start small. And safe.

The rules aren’t helping you.
The feeling of control isn’t real when it’s because you’re trapped.

💛

How do you brunch?

Brunch can be a confusing meal.

Should I eat before?
Do I need to eat after?

Should I have twice as much?

What meal is it???

The answer, as always, is individual.

It depends on time, your hunger, what you’re doing etc.

But this is your reminder that there is no right or wrong thing to do.

There are no rules to how many times a day you can eat.

Listen to your hunger 👏🏻 🤍

Baked eggs with feta & avocado 💛