FAQ

I am a proud native Australian. But my family and I have lived all over the world -- in the United States, Europe, Asia, The Middle East and New Zealand. I attended university at UCLA, and lived in California for many years. I lived in Missouri for several years, and moved back to LA in 2010, where I am loving life and working as an actor, presenter and voice over artist.

I live with my partner, Scott Brick, and our beloved dog, Cookie. 

I have an intolerance to wheat and dairy, and my gorgeous little niece has serious food allergies to wheat, dairy, eggs and nuts. I have had a particular interest in food sensitivities for a long time; and have been gluten and dairy free for many years. But as soon as Alexandra was officially diagnosed with anaphylaxis to “the big four” I decided to go “the whole hog” and include egg and nut allergies into this recipe blog as well. If you are looking for allergy free recipes you have come to the right place! 

My “perfect blend” seems to be an alkaline, plant based diet of whole foods, with about 70% raw foods (this varies depending on the season); mixed with meditation, yoga, pilates, weight training, rock climbing, hiking, and lots of love, laughter and fun! Oh, and I can’t forget my green smoothies, green juices, and lots of sleep and water! Having said that, I am not a monk. I do indulge in the odd “toxic sweet treat”, and every once and a while. Hey, blend and live!

That is my perfect blend right now. But yours might be different. Apply the “Look, Listen, Learn and Teach” approach to lifestyle changes. Look for the signs of “less than perfect health”; listen to your body’s reactions to foods; learn what works and what doesn’t; and then teach your body a different way towards health. I prefer an intuitive approach to my health and well being. Bio-individuality cannot be ignored -- what works for me will not necessarily be right for you. What is your perfect blend?

I make my living as an actor, presenter, and voice over artist and do volunteer work, in addition to to my recipe development, writing and presenting commitments as The Blender Girl. This is a great healthy blend for me.

I do not have any formal chef training. I am a plant based cook. Most of my youth was spent in the kitchen, observing my mother’s wonderful, and sometimes experimental cooking, as she attempted to recreate the many exotic dishes we had sampled around the world. In my adulthood, I have taken many cooking classes in a lot of different countries, with some brilliant chefs, following Macrobiotic, Raw, Vegan, and other whole foods cooking philosophies. I continue to train, take cooking classes, clip whole foods recipes, collect books, read food blogs, dissect dishes, blend and taste!

Being an actor, I am so fortunate to know a lot of really incredible photographers around the world. But, I actually hate having my picture taken. I get really nervous and self conscious. So I am really picky who I work with.

All of my photos were taken by Jenelle Rayson of Verve Portraits, Suzie Stitt, David Zaugh, and Dana Patrick. 

I go into a long-winded explanation of my pig fetish in my Piggy Glossary page. But just briefly, I collect pigs, and share an affinity with their love of slops! I could stick my snout in any blended trough, and be “as happy as a pig in shit”. My food-lover friends and I have one question before we are about to explore uncharted culinary territory, “is it snout worthy?” My friends are always teasing me over my love of a good “pig out”. All of the other obvious pig eating clichés just played into my piggy pen, and what can I say?  “I went the whole hog”!

On this site, “being a pig” is something to be celebrated, especially when you have your snout in the allergy free recipes trough! Pigs immerse themselves in their enjoyment of food -- dipping their snouts in, rolling around in it, and making fantastic cries of love when they are eating. They celebrate food on a base visceral level. We celebrate that here with these yummy gluten free, plant based recipes!

I use blending as a metaphor for how I live my life. The idea of “taking what I like, and leaving the rest”. I like to combine different ideas and concepts; notes and flavours; and philosophies and cultures, in order to find a healthy balance that makes me happy. That is my recipe for success. So “blend and live” was born and I started a recipe blog.

I go into more detail about my love of “blending” in my About page. But with regards to food, it is very simple: I love my blender! Or more specifically my Vitamix. There is a joke in my family that “I could live without teeth”. To say I am a blender devotee is an understatement. I am always looking for the best Vitamix recipes. A food processor would come a close second; and my stand mixer takes the last spot on the podium in my race for culinary divinity. What can I say? I like to be “plugged in”. These high speed kitchen appliances are gifts from the Gods, designed to make our lives easier. So why not exploit them to their full potential?

I have been passionate about whole foods and natural cooking for many years; and have been an avid recipe collector, serial cooking class participant, and recipe blog follower. However, as wonderful as so many of my favourite recipe sites are, I didn’t find any food blog that truly celebrated the versatility of these fabulous machines beyond smoothies, pancakes, dips, spreads and protein drinks. Or more importantly, were blending natural, allergy free, gluten free, vegan ingredients the way I liked. I decided it was time to pay homage to all things “well blended”. I am now on a crusade to find the most phenomenal easy gluten free vegan recipes that can be made with a blender! Sharing recipes on this site also saves me time, not having to type up such long emails, and return all of the gluten free vegetarian recipe requests I receive from friends each week. Now I just send quick links!

I think of this blog as a series of tasty love letters to the “power” of live, naked whole foods, and my beloved blender, After all, she has helped me find my ‘perfect blend” on more than one occasion. Here's to fabulous healthy blender recipes!

I thought The Blender Girl sounded young and fresh, “high speed” with her “finger on the pulse”, sassy, quirky, cheeky, and not too serious, on a day when I was feeling old! It also extended the metaphor for how I live my life -- blending what I like from this and that. Probably a bit gimmicky and not very original -- there are a lot of “girls” out there! But I am stuck with her now! But we girls need to stick together. Besides, she brings out the silly side of me, and vegetarian cooking should be fun.

You can safely remove yourself from any recipe mailings by clicking on the “click here to unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email you receive from me.

Easy! Just use the "Piggy Conversion" Tool tool by clicking on the "convert" icon on the right hand side of the recipe instructions of every recipe post. You just type in the quantities and the measurement type and it automatically converts it. I also recommend investing in a set of digital scales with both a metric and imperial setting. I use mine every single day and couldn’t live without them.

Easy! Just click on the link below each giveaway and enter your email address. 
We will let you know if you are the lucky piggy who has won the prize!

You can receive my Free Recipe eBook by heading to our Facebook Page and liking our page.
Enter your email address, click on the link in the confirmation email, and your Healthy Recipe eBook will be sent to you. 

To "grunt", or as it is more commonly referred to as "comment" just click on pig at the top right of every recipe post, or scroll down to the bottom of the recipe post. Click on the "Grunt" tab to move down to the bottom of the comments. Enter your name, email address (which is never displayed to others) and your website (if you have one).

Then write your comment under "your grunt". It is important to answer the security captcha question. This is required and prevents the piggy world from being spammed by other animals. Once you have entered all of the required information click on the pink tab "Submit Grunt" and you will be heard by healthy blender pigs far and wide in the trough of piggy heaven. 

You can now follow different threads on a recipe post by clicking the box above the grunts that says "Notify me of other piggy grunts via email". You will receive an email when other pigs post their experiences about the recipe. This feature is particularly helpful if you have asked me or another pig a question. You can also respond to specific piggy comments by clicking on the pink "reply" by other comments.

The best way to print a recipe at Healthy Blender Recipes is to click on the floating “print” icon to the right-hand side of the recipe instructions on every recipe recipe. A high-resolution "cookbook" quality recipe page layout will be generated. 

All of my recipes are vegetarian and gluten free, and therefore wheat free. Almost all of them are dairy free (I used a bit of organic butter in some earlier recipes); and almost all are egg free. I used some eggs in earlier recipes too. There are also lots of nut free and soy free options. I have included some ingredient substitution information on the site, and try to offer suggestions for food allergy substitutions wherever possible.

You can search for recipes by food allergies by clicking on the respective icons and searching for gluten free recipes, dairy free recipes, egg free recipes, nut free recipes and soy free recipes or any combination thereof. You can click on more than one. Then click on search selection to be directed to the allergy free recipes that fit your search criteria and dietary restrictions.

You can also search for vegan recipes, raw recipes, and Body Ecology recipes; as well as blender recipes, mixer recipes and food processor recipes.

There are several ways to search for healthy blender recipes. You can search by recipe title, recipe category, kitchen appliances, or by specific food allergies or diet preferences.

To search recipes by recipe title: use the search tool located at the top right hand corner of every page.

To search by category: click on "recipe categories" below the icon set beside every recipe and select from the drop down list located on the right hand side of every recipe.

To search recipes by food allergies, diet preferences or appliances: click on the relevant icons located on the right side of every recipe page. Once you have hard clicked and shaded the icons pink (you can select more than one) click on "search selection" to be directed to your search results.

All of these easy healthy recipes are gluten free vegetarian recipes. They are also all refined sugar free recipes. But you can also search for vegan recipes, raw recipes, dairy free recipes, egg free recipes, nut free recipes, soy free recipes, blender recipes, food processor recipes and mixer recipes. If you are looking for the best Vitamix recipes, you have come to the right place!  

There are a lot of easy ways to share these easy healthy recipes with family and friends.

There are “share” links at the bottom of every post and page. You can select the method in which you would like to share by just clicking on the icons. Please share these recipes on Facebook and Twitter, and pin them on your boards on Pinterest.

You can also share these healthy recipes "pig to pig" by clicking on the envelope icon at the bottom of each recipe page. This will direct you to the Piggy Mail Express feature, which allows you to share these recipes with other people using email. This is a fantastic feature that we are very proud of. Check it out.

You can sign up to receive emails by clicking on the envelope icon that appears in the top right-hand corner of every page and the bottom right-hand corner of the footer of every page. You can also subscribe to receive the RSS feeds by clicking on the RSS icon at the top and bottom of every page.

I started with a basic Wordpress plugin, but quickly transferred my entire platform over to Expression Engine, which allows more customization without so much hacking. Don’t get me wrong, I love Wordpress and would highly recommend it. It is a fantastic free blogging software. I just needed something different. 

The Pig Of The Month is where we feature the inspiring story of a healthy piggy who has changed their life with the power of whole foods. Or a gorgeous piggy who is passionate about whole foods. We Healthy Blender Piggies need to stick together, and sharing stories is fun!

Recipe Trough Swap is where I swap recipes with another Food Blogger or Recipe Site.
I make a recipe from the featured site, and in the same week, the other site blogs about some of my recipes. It is fun discovering new recipes and meeting other like-minded foodies and passionate food writers.

I have phenomenal help from Maxwell Hibbert who works with me full time to create this crazy piggy world. He takes my nutty piggy ideas (that I couldn't manifest out of my head), and makes them a reality, adding in his own special blend of creativity along the way. Max, I couldn't do this without you. You are my piggy partner in crime! Thankyou.

Blue Host. 

It is not vital to invest in a Vitamix, to make the majority of recipes on this site. A lot of of these easy healthy recipes can be made with a stand mixer, food processor, hand/stick/immersion blender, or hand mixer; or even with an old-fashioned egg beater, whisk, wooden spoon, fork, or your bare hands! However, to make the homemade milks, nut butters, vegan creams, ice creams, and some other things, you won’t be able to achieve a really creamy uniform texture without the power of a high speed blender.

The recipes will taste similar, but the texture will be a lot more gritty. This is also true for a lot of the velvety soups that are creamed with nuts. However, I realize that these high-speed blenders can be expensive. But I couldn't live without my Vitamix.  If you are looking for the best Vitamix recipes, you are in the right place! I LOVE my Vitamix!

Just a tip -- you can pick up reconditioned machines with warrantees directly from Vitamix for a fraction of the cost. Other ways to pick up blenders for a bargain are at kitchen outlets or department store sales. There are a lot on eBay, but that is always a hit and miss experience, depending on the seller.

So I recommend buying directly from the folks at Vitamix. They are a fantastic company with excellent customer service. 

I use a Vitamix. I absolutely love that machine. After trying almost every single blender on the market, I genuinely believe it is the best blender available. Yes, I am the face of the Vitamix technique and recipe videos. However, I was a devoted Vitamix user before that, and I am not paid as a spokesperson to promote their products. My opinions are my own. 

Furthermore, I get hundreds of emails a year from readers who purchased other blenders to save money (which I can totally understand) only to be disappointed (like so many others) and eventually purchase a Vitamix.

Yes, it is an investment. But, it is SO worth it. The most affordable way to get a Vitamix is through QVC or Costco, where you can pick up a 5200 for about $350. Or, you can purchase a reconditioned machine from the Vitamix website.

I personally watched the refurbishment process on the assembly line at the Vitamix headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. Most of the machines have only been used once. The thoroughly inspect and test the base, replace the container with a new one, repackage the machine with new books, and it is literally like new.

Alternatively, Vitamix offers payment plans. 

As far as immersion blenders go: the best one on the market, hands downm, is the Control Grip from Breville USA. That machine is amazing.

I could not live without my Kitchen Aid stand mixer! AND all of the glorious attachments that turn this already fabulous appliance into a one-stop-shop! If you look after this machine it will last a long time; and is a worthwhile investment that will yield healthy returns in culinary delight and saved time! 

My food processor of choice is the Breville USA Sous Chef food processor. After trying all of the major brands, and owning many of them, this is hands down, the best machine on the market today! 

I have had it for a couple years now, and have used it many times with great success. Not only is the design gorgeous, but the functionality has been well thought out and tested. It has a powerful motor, large capacity bowl with measurements, excellent pulse feature and amazing timer function.

But what sets this machine apart is the extra wide feeding chute, the small and large pushers, the adjustable slicing blade with 24 settings, and the emulsifying disc. All of these features give you great control, making this machine extremely versatile.

Because I make a lot of raw vegan food, it is fantastic for uniformly grinding and chopping fresh herbs, raw nuts and seeds and dried fruit. This machine makes great fresh nut and seed butters, dips and spreads. It is also FANTASTIC for thick sticky stuff like raw balls, raw crusts, and raw cookies. Amazing! I also make conventional gluten free cakes and cookies with tremendous results too. I made some gluten free breads with the dough kneader and it worked out a treat!

But the adjustable slicing disc is my new best friend. You can slice super thin pieces up to thick cuts. I cannot believe how well the slicing and shredding disc sliced tomatoes! It also makes really uniform shredded pieces for salads. The julienne disc offers incredible control over sizing - you can make really long pieces by laying the vegetables horizontally in the wide feeding chute! The emulsifying disc is really amazing too. I make delicious mayonnaise, fresh fruit sorbet, and ice cream.

I cannot rave enough about this machine. It is absolutely fantastic!

The most effective way to contact me with a question about specific recipes, is to post a question or comment at the bottom of that recipe. You can also be notified by email by checking the "notify me when other piggies comment" box.

You can also click on the pink respond link beside any other comment to reply to that specific comment. That way, everybody can benefit from the dialogue. I read and respond to all posts and comments. I usually post within 24 hours, unless I am travelling, in which case, it can take a little bit longer.

If you prefer to ask me a question privately, please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com and I will respond to you within a couple of days.

The most effective way to contact me is to email me at: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I pride myself on being “a responder”, and will return your email as soon as possible. You can also contact me through Linked in, Twitter and Facebook. But I will get back to you a lot faster if you email me directly.

I love social networks! They are such a fantastic way to keep in contact with a lot of people in a short period of time.

I am a proud member of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google +, You Tube, Gluten Free Faces, and Linked In. Just click on the social network links at the top of every page, or in the bottom footer, and you will be directed to my Blender Girl Network.

Yes! I would love you to share these healthy blender recipes.

Please email me at: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com and credit “healthy blender recipes” as the source with a link to my original recipe page.

If you make the recipe and take your own original photograph, please let me know and I can link back to your special blend of my original recipe. That is always fun.

You are welcome to use any of my humble food or ingredient photos. I am happy to share them with you. Just email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

Please credit the source with a link back to healthyblenderrecipes.com.

However, please contact me about posting the press stills of me. These photos are the creative property of the respective photographers, and the property of healthyblenderrecipes.com. Any use of those photos would need to be negotiated. 

All the stories and information on this site is the intellectual and creative property of healthyblenderrecipes.com.

I am open to having my posts republished, but please contact me via email:
tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I would need to get permission from anybody else featured, and we want to respect the privacy of all parties. Thankyou for your consideration and respect to the people I feature. 

Oh, where do I start celebrating kitchen gadgets? It seems I am always coming home with a new little kitchen gadget. My family always chuckle when I pull my new little friend out of my purse. They used to ask “when are you ever going to use that”? They know better now. A full list of my favourite kitchen gadgets are in the kitchen equipment section of the glossary.  But just to start with, my “can’t live withouts” would be my porcelain ginger grater, citrus juicer, citrus zester, and nut milk bag.

Oh, where do I start? There are just too many to list in one short paragraph. I have put a whole bunch of my favourite recipe books with short blurbs in My A Store. That way, you can look at them, “flick through them”, and add to your collection. But just a quick overview: my culinary bible would have to be “The Cook’s Companion” by Stephanie Alexander. Jude Belereau’s “WholeFoods” holds a special place in my heart, and is the first place I look for a gluten free crust, or easy whole foods alternatives. Her passion and knowledge of whole foods constantly inspire me. My dog-eared copy of Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions” gets opened daily.

Again, where do I start? A lot of chefs inspire me, and for different reasons. They don’t necessarily have to cook with whole foods. Their spirit and passion can inspire me, even if their ingredients don’t! But obviously, cooking with wholefoods gets them higher on my list! For anything raw, I always head to the recipe collection of Matthew Kenney, Matt Amsden or Ani Phyo. Their food is just art. For whole foods cooking, my dog-eared copy of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon gets a work-out; as well as Wholefoods by Jude Blereau. For anything Chinese, I can’t beat Kylie Kwong. Her “legacy-style” cooking is fresh and simple, and always comes complete with a heart-filled story about her family. For Italian, Antonio Carluccio will always hold a special place in my heart. I just love his spirit, and every time he says, in his thick Italian accent, “just a little bit of olive oil” (and then proceeds to pour in half a decanter!!) I can’t help but chuckle. And last, but not least, the woman who brought sex into the kitchen -- Nigella Lawson. I just love her fun, rustic, “no frills” and “lots of spills” approach to simple fresh food. I modify most of her recipes. But that is half the fun for me -- taking her inspiration and making it my own. I am also IN LOVE with Yotam Ottolenghi!

I have provided some very brief information pages about gluten-free living, going raw, macrobiotics, and vegan and vegetarian eating. These things have helped me embrace these principles, and blend them into my life in a way that feels comfortable for me.

I have also provided a brief whole foods glossary, where I have shared some basic kitchen hints and tips, ingredient substitutions. You can also find blender reviews, suggestions for buying food processors and stand mixers. As well as guides on how to crack open Young Thai coconuts, how to make coconut kefir, how to make cultured vegetables, how to soak nuts, grains and seeds, as well as many other things.

I have provided very brief information, which is by no means comprehensive. I have provided links for further reading in books, informational websites, and specific health organizations if you want to immerse yourself in a particular subject from a credible and reliable source.

If I recommend something, I normally have it listed in my A Store, so that you can look at the product, instead of just reading about it. I don’t know about you, but I take the first bite with my eyes, and I like to “see” things.

Check out my favourites page, where I list a lot of my favourite health sites where I get a lot of my information.

I store most of my natural ingredients in sealed glass jars in the fridge or cool pantry. I always store my gluten free flours, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables in the fridge. All of my oils, grains, dried foods, spices and seasonings are stored in a dark pantry. This ensures you get maximum longevity out of these delicate organic ingredients.

I have a ton of glass jars with screw top lids in a variety of sizes. Glass can be washed and sterilized easily; and they can be used for a variety of purposes: to store ingredients, shake up dressings, make cultured vegetables, and sprouts.

Let’s be honest, these organic whole foods can be expensive! To ensure maximum quality, and to keep costs down, I purchase my ingredients from a variety of different places depending on what I am buying. I try to “buy local” wherever possible, particularly with fresh fruits and vegetables. I support small local organic health food stores for my grains and every day staples. For some other items I purchase online in bulk, and often share an order with friends to keep the costs down. I have listed some of my favourite suppliers in my favourites page.

Yes, I did use quite a bit of agave in my earlier recipes on this site. I have since reduced this significantly, and now prefer to use dates, coconut sugar, maple syrup, or stevia.

I actually consume very little sugar of any kind in my personal life. I am one of those people that can’t handle sugar, as I am prone to a candida overgrowth, I don’t eat the sweet treats I post on this site on a regular basis. They are exactly that -- treats.

Please read my complete disclaimer about agave. The biggest reason that agave featured so prominently in my earlier recipes, is by virtue of its mild flavour that complements most dishes, and is especially great at replicating the taste and quality of refined sugar in baked recipes. A lot of sweeteners like dates and maple syrup, tend to overpower, not enhance the other flavours. Agave is a lot more mellow, and I didn't find it didn’t work with!

There is a lot of research available out on agave. I am not a scientist or a nutritionist, and so will let you make up your own mind as to whether agave is a responsible choice for you and your family. Please note, that I am extremely picky about the agave that I use. I always use raw organic agave. In the United States I use Organic Nectars; and in Australia, I use Loving Earth.

But I do love other natural sweeteners as well. Check out my list of favourite refined sugar alternatives, and check out my complete disclaimer about agave nectar. 

No I don’t. I eat a very healthy, balanced diet that consists of healthy plant-based fats and oils that have enormous nutritional and health benefits for my body. However, I am not a nutritionist, or health care professional; and am not qualified to give dietary or health recommendations. Consult your physician before eating too many fats and oils of any kind; and include them in your diet at a level that is recommended by your health care professional.

Not all salt was created equal, I only ever use Celtic sea salt or Himalayan crystal salt for their superior nutritional profile.

Not all salt is created equal. The quality and quantity of salt is vital to heath and vitality, and it is really crucial that natural sea salt is consumed in the right way. Common salt, which is the salt most commonly used in prepared foods and eaten by the majority of people is generally mined from inland deposits, heated to extreme temperatures, iodized, bleached, processed, refined and diluted with anti-caking agents. It is, indeed, toxic if consumed in large quantities. I never touch it! Potassium iodide or sodium iodide is added in the processing to create iodized salt, and sugar (dextrose), sodium bicarbonate, and sodium silico-aluminate are added to make the salt white and easy to pour. This salt is bereft of any kind of nutritional value and has no health benefits.

Sea salt, on the other hand, is obtained through a simple natural process of dehydrating sea water under the sun. Because it is naturally hand harvested and slow sun dried, it retains most of the natural minerals from the sea, such as calcium, magnesium and potassium; and trace elements that can be easily absorbed by the body. This natural sea salt is vital for life and has important medicinal properties. The brain is 85% water encased in salt water, and the body is 75% water. Healthy cell function requires a PH level of about 7.4, and natural salt water helps to rid the body of excess acidity.

Sea salt enhances the healing power of foods, and helps to alkalize the body and bring it back into balance if use correctly and you are on a diet devoid of highly processed foods. I only use Celtic sea salt as it is naturally alkaline and so rich in minerals -- containing over eighty! Himalayan crystal salt is also loaded with nutrients. Celtic sea salt helps to provide energy, replenish the body’s electrolytes, fight bacterial infections, aid healthy digestion, and combat environmental pollutants and free radical damage.

But how much salt is required for health varies from person to person depending on how much sodium we lose through perspiration and other bodily functions. Obviously, those people living in hot climates will require more water and salt. I am not advocating excessive amounts of salt. But just pointing out that a little bit of good quality clean natural sea salt has enormous health benefits. Listen to your body and let your instincts be your guide, and consult your physician about your salt intake. I will often add a pinch of Celtic sea salt and a pinch of sodium bicarbonate to my filtered water for a quick alkalizer or energy boost.

I use Celtic sea salt in all of my recipes to increase the healing power and digestibility of whole foods, bring out the natural flavour and sweetness in fruits and vegetables, help strengthen the proteins in gluten free flours, and to balance out the expanding quality of cold pressed butter and oils. I generally use finely ground Celtic sea salt as it dissolves easily.

I did use eggs in some of my earlier baked recipes. For those of you who are vegan, or allergic to eggs, I have listed egg substitutes that work well in a lot of the recipes; and have created a list of general egg substitutions in the substitutions and allergy section.

I actually love the taste of soy, and find it the quickest, easiest way to substitute the creaminess of dairy in recipes. I used to consume and cook with a lot of soy. However, over the last five years I have moved away from soy, due to the high estrogen content.

Also, a high percentage of people with dairy allergies are also allergic to soy foods. I have moved towards using other plant-based milks such as hemp milk, coconut milk, rice milk, almond milk, hazelnut milk, Brazil nut milk, cashew milk, macadamia milk, sunflower seed milk, pumpkin seed milk, and sacha inchi see milk.

Many of these milks will work well in the majority of my recipes. Always feel free to leave a comment about a specific recipe, and I will get back to you. 

The answer is -- I don't know, because I haven't tried your GF flour in my recipes. For most recipes that require plain flour, I would say, yes. Most commercial flour mixes are made with a mixture of rice, potato and tapioca flour, and tend to be similar in a light-weight texture.

However, there are so many gluten free flour mixes on the market now, it is impossible to vouch for, and work with all of them. If you need to get “a rise” out of a recipe, you will need to get pre-mixed self raising flour, or use plain gluten free flour and add in the xanthan and baking powder.

As I have said with other gluten free substitutions, be bold and experiment. That is what I do, and that is how we all learn and get more familiar and confident with ingredients and substitutions. I will encourage you to write down any combinations of gluten free flours that worked and did not work. That way you have a “cheat sheet”, and a point of reference for the next experiment. Please share your trials, tribulations and triumphs by posting a comment at the bottom of the recipe so we can all benefit from your experiences.

I am not a good photographer. There are some fabulous food blogs out there such as smittenkitchen and 101 cookbooks, which have phenomenal food photography, and serve as a wonderful example of great food photography.

The photographs are the weakest part of my site. I must admit that I use a small instant camera to take my litte photographs. But, I have managed to take some halfway decent shots using my little Canon Digtial IXUS, which, in my humble opinion, might just be one of the best, inexpensive, small cameras on the market. It is the size of a mobile phone, and takes crystal clear photos on the run!

I really do need to go and take a food photography class and buy a better camera to take my recipe photos with. But until then -- IXUS it is.

Being an actor, I am so fortunate to know a lot of really incredible photographers around the world. But, I actually hate having my picture taken. I get really nervous and self conscious. So I am really picky who I work with.

All of my photos were taken by Jenelle Rayson of Verve Portraits, Suzie Stitt, David Zaugh, and Dana Patrick. 

The Piggy Mail Express is a feature that that I am really proud of here at Healthy Blender Recipes.

You can share your favourite easy healthy recipes "pig to pig" by clicking on the envelope icon  in the share feature at the bottom of each recipe.

The Piggy Mail Express feature will open, which allows you to share the recipe with other pigs via email. Just type in your name and email address, and then the name and email address of the piggy you want to share it with, and your friend will be sent an email with your recipe recommendation. How cool is that?!

This feature is pigtastic!

The Piggy Conversion Tool is a fantastic feature unique to Healthy Blender Recipes. If you need to convert metric and imperial measurements, or cups and spoons "conversion piggy" has it covered.

To access the Piggy Conversion Tool tool click on the "convert" icon on the right hand side of every recipe post. The conversion box will pop out.

Type in the quantities and the measurement type and "conversion piggy" will work her magic! 

If you want to learn my quirky piggy language and start using your favourite phrases in your emails and comments, check out my Piggy Glossary where they are all listed. Oink :)

Pig Of The Month is a great part of the Healthy Blender Recipes community where I feature the inspiring story of a healthy piggy who has changed their life with the power of whole foods, or a gorgeous person who is passionate about whole foods and natural cooking. Each person will share his or her story. I really love this. 

I host an amazing free giveaway every month. 

To enter just create a "piggy name" (user name) and enter your email address. Then share on Twitter and Facebook for bonus entries. Every time your "piggy name" is mentioned in a subsequent entry, you and the other entrant both receive a bonus entry. 

We will let you know if you are walking away with the piggy prize. Good Luck!

Recipe Trough Swap is where I feature the delectable offerings out of the trough of some of my favourite food bloggers and recipe share sites. They feature one of my recipes in the same week.

It is so much fun sharing recipes and creating a dialogue between people from other websites on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

There are several ways to search for healthy blender recipes. You can search by recipe title, recipe category, food allergies or diet preferences.

To search recipes by title: use the search tool located at the top right hand corner of every page.

To search by recipe category: click on "recipe categories" below the icon set beside every recipe and select from the drop down list located on the right hand side of every recipe page.

To search recipes by food allergies, vegetarian diets or high speed kitchen appliances: click on the relevant icons located on the right side of every recipe page. Once you have hard clicked and shaded the icons pink (you can select more than one) click on "search selection" to be directed to your search results.

All of these easy healthy recipes are vegetarian, gluten free and refined sugar free. 
You can also search for delicious easy vegan recipes, raw recipes, dairy free recipes, egg free recipes, soy free recipes, nut free recipes, recipes for food processors, recipes for stand mixers, and, of course, sensational recipes for a blender. If you are looking for the incredible Vitamix recipes, welcome!  

All of my recipes are vegetarian, sugar free and gluten free, and therefore wheat free. Almost all of them are dairy free (I use a bit of organic butter in some recipes); and some are egg free, nut free and soy free. I have included some substitution information on the site, and try to offer suggestions for allergy substitutions wherever possible.

You can search for recipes by food allergies by clicking on the respective icons and searching for gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free and soy free or any combination thereof. You can click on more than one. Then click on search selection to be directed to the recipes that fit your search criteria and dietary restrictions.

You can also search for vegan, raw, and Body Ecology recipes; as well as recipes for a blender, mixer and food processor. I make a lot of my recipes in my beloved Vitamix.

I choose to post easy healthy recipes that intersect my life in various ways. I often create my own gluten free vegetarian recipes, or modify recipes I have enjoyed throughout my life in order to make them allergy free recipes.

I often post favourites I have received from family and friends, or yummy recipes I have made in the many whole foods cooking classes I have taken. Other times, I will post delicious easy recipes I discover in cookbooks, magazines, shows, or from other food bloggers and recipe share sites. Feel free to send me your favourite easy healthy recipe, and I just might post it.

I always obtain written permission from publishers, authors, chefs, and other food bloggers before posting their original material. I include a link to their website and a little blurb about them in my post. I also credit my inspiration for all creations and adaptations. Recipes are meant to be shared, but we need to give credit where credit is due.

We all have blender glitches, where a recipe didn’t quite reach it’s perfect blend! All I can say, (which won’t be particularly satisfying), is that, until the blending Gods give me the power to move through space and time, and the ability to be in every healthy blending kitchen at the time of blending, (which, let’s face it, will be when “pigs fly”) all I can say is, “I really don’t know”.

A lot of factors play a part in the relative “success” of a dish: temperature, humidity, the personality of your oven, the quality of your ingredients, whether you measured your ingredients correctly, the time you whipped, blended, whisked, or baked etc etc. Then we move into ingredient substitutions, and we open up a whole other can of worms!

Suffice to say, I cannot possibly address every single variable. What I will say, is that I trial every single recipe in a variety of circumstances, and these recipes are designed to be super quick and easy, requiring very little skill or knowledge. I would consider most of them fail safe; and by that, I mean, edible.

These variables might yield a dish of a slightly different personality to mine, but it should still taste OK. I don’t know about you, but I have eaten many a cake with a spoon, when it didn’t quite firm up or get to the desired consistency. If you follow the quantities and directions exactly your efforts won’t go to waste. Just have a laugh, grab a spoon, and then have a think about what went wrong. Then you will be one step closer to reaching your perfect blend next time.

Failing that, feel free to post a question at the bottom of the recipe page. I will try my best to address it. Then, hopefully, all the healthy blender piggies can benefit from your experience. If you try a variation and it is a triumph, please post and share those too!

Easy! You can convert metric and imperial ingredients use the "Piggy Converter" tool by clicking on the "convert" icon on the right hand side of the recipe instructions of every recipe post. You just type in the quantities and the measurement type, and it automatically converts it. I also recommend investing in a set of digital scales with both a metric and imperial setting. I use mine every single day, and couldn’t live without them.

Well, how long is a piece of string? Gosh, we could talk about food allergy ingredient substitutions all day long. The short answer, is to say, give any reasonable substitution a go! That is what I do. That is how we learn as cooks! Be bold and experiment -- "blend and live". By reasonable, I mean, vegan margarine for organic butter, agave instead of honey, cashews instead of macadamias etc. Similar ingredients tend to fair quite well in these easy easy recipes and I try to make these reasonable suggestions that I am quite confident will yield positive results. Beyond that, I really can’t generalize; and I certainly can’t guarantee success unless I have trialed that exact blend in my kitchen, which won’t guarantee success in yours!

Most of the time, I will list recipe substitutions that have worked for me in the past; and if I modify a recipe, or discover another helpful substitution I will go back and edit the recipe post to reflect this suggestion. Obviously, I can’t modify every recipe for every food allergy or dietary restriction. However I will offer suggestions wherever possible.

Because we are concerned with allergy free recipes on this site, I have compiled tables of easy substitutions that have worked for me for the big four: wheat, dairy, eggs and nuts. This is a really good start. It is not, by any means, comprehensive. But I am adding to my own list constantly. If you have a suggestion, please post and share it. Then we can all benefit. There are some fantastic resources for other substitution ideas, which I list on each of the food allergy pages.

To "grunt", or as it is more commonly referred to as "comment" just click on pig at the top right of very recipe post, or scroll down to the bottom of the recipe post. Click on the "Grunt" tab to move down to the bottom of the comments. Enter your name, email address (which is never displayed to others) and your website (if you have one). Then write your comment under "your grunt".

It is important to answer the security captcha question. This is required and prevents the piggy world from being spammed by other animals. Once you have entered all of the required information click on the pink tab "Submit Grunt" and you will be heard by healthy blender pigs far and wide in the trough of piggy heaven. You can now follow different threads on a recipe post by clicking the box above the grunts that says "Notify me of other piggy grunts via email".

You will receive an email when other pigs post their experiences about the recipe. This feature is particularly helpful if you have asked me or another pig a question. You can also respond to specific piggy comments by clicking on the pink "reply" by other comments.

The best way to print a recipe is to click on the “print” icon to the right-hand side of the recipe instructions of every recipe post. A high-resolution "cookbook" quality recipe page layout will be generated for you to print out.

There are a lot of easy ways to share these easy healthy recipes with family and friends.

There are “share” links at the bottom of every post and page. Please share these recipes on Facebook and Twitter and pin them to your boards on Pinterest.

My favourite way to share these healthy blender recipes is by sharing "pig to pig" by clicking on the envelope icon at the bottom of each recipe page. We have created our very own Piggy Mail Express feature which allows you to share the recipe with other pigs via email. You just type in your name and email address and the name and email address of the piggy you want to share it with. Your friends will be sent an email with your recipe recommendation. I think this feature is pigtastic!

There is a mobile-friendly version of healthyblenderrecipes coming soon!

This function will be compatible with the iphone and a lot of other mobile devices, and will allow you to search for recipes on the go while you are shopping for ingredients, looking for inspiration on the way home, or wanting to share easy healthy recipes while you are out and about.

I am passionate about healthy cooking and eating. But whilst I am concerned with the nutritional content of what I eat, I am not a trained medical professional or nutritionist.

My primary goal on this site is to share quick easy healthy recipes, and share my journey with allergy free whole foods. Here, we celebrate the taste, texture and fun of food. I will leave a detailed nutritional panel up to the experts.

Having said that, there are some fantastic pieces of software that you can download. These allow you to type in the ingredients and roughly calculate the nutritional profile of recipes and dishes.

My favourite websites are cronometer, fitday, and nutritiondata. WHFoods is also a fantastic place to get the nutritional profile of whole foods. 

Yes please! I welcome any easy healthy recipes that I could enjoy or adapt. This is never going to be an exhaustive recipe collection, and I am always looking for new ideas. Particularly if you have a recipe that can made with a blender, mixer or food processor, that is really obvious, and I have not yet included. Or if you just have a killer blend just begging to be shared with your fellow pigs! Then I can credit you as my source of inspiration, and we can all stick our snouts in your trough with gratitude. Just please remember that I only post gluten free, plant based recipes using whole foods.

I loves contributing to other websites and publications. 

I am a regular contributor to the Vegetarian Times, Gorgeously Green, The Balanced Platter, Super Raw Life Magazine, and Go Green America TV.

I have also written guest posts for All Recipes, as well as countless blogs and online publications around the world.

Please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I am available for recipe development work. 

I have created recipes for companies like Driscoll's, Crisp Root, Square One Organics, Sprout Living, the Thrive Alive Foundation, and Way Better Snacks.  

Please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I been working as an actor, presenter, and voiceover artist for twenty years. So, I am extremely experienced and comfortable in front of the camera. 

I have currently partnered with Vitamix, as the face of their online technique and recipe videos. I have also shot videos for Chow.com, Driscoll’s, Crisp Root, and others companies yet to be announced. 

Please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I am available for spokesperson and brand ambassador work. 

I was a brand ambassador for Way Better Snacks, and am open to other companies, providing there is synergy with my beliefs.

Please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I love public speaking and spreading "my spin" on the message of healthy living. 

Please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

Every month, I host a month-long promotional giveaway for my readers.
I also promote these free giveaways on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, as well as the major sweepstakes websites. 

Please note: I only promote products that are in synergy with the way I live my life, and things I use in my kitchen. I am open to new products. However, I would need to use the product first. 

I am extremely strict about not accepting payment for hosting giveaways. So, there is no cost for my services to host the giveaway. However, shipping of the giveaway product to the winners is the responsibility of the sponsoring company. 

If you are interested please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I don't do product reviews as such on my site, and I don't believe in paid posts. However, I do share information about products I really love and use a lot. I am very strict about maintaining the authenticity and integrity of my site. 

Having said that, if you have a natural product that you think I would love, I am open to hearing about it. I love making new discoveries, and I particularly enjoy supporting small family-owned companies employing sustainable, eco-friendly business practices. 

Please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

Want to trade recipes and feature them in the same week?

This is a great opportunity for food bloggers and recipe sites to share delicious healthy recipes with a new community. It is also a wonderful time to do a cross-promotion blitz on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google + and You Tube.

My readers love to learn about fantastic new recipe sites.

Please note: I only share gluten free, plant based recipes using whole foods and natural ingredients.

If you are interested please email me: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

You and your website could be my next Recipe Trough Swap.

If you would like to feature one of my recipes on your site or in your publication, please send me an email: tess@healthyblenderrecipes.com

I am happy to share any recipes with appropriate credit linking back to the original recipe page.