She laughed.

I promised I would blog in exchange and credit her – so here you are Jen, and THANK YOU!

I modified it slightly as I had an eggplant in the fridge, and not a whole lot of spinach.

It’s a quick and easy to prepare one pot meal, which is my favourite way to cook and eat. Especially when I’m away and The Accountant isn’t here to do the dishes

Eggplant and chickpea curry

By Mel Kettle, The cook’s notebook
Inspired by Jen Dainer

Serves 3-4

What you need

• 1 tsp each of cumin seed, mustard seed, turmeric and garam masala
• 1 tbs vegetable oil (I used olive as that was all I had)
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely diced
• 1 eggplant, diced into smallish pieces (so it cooks more quickly)
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can tomatoes (I used diced)
• a handful or two of baby spinach leaves
• steamed, rice, plain yogurt and fresh coriander to serve

What you do

Dry fry the cumin seeds and mustard seeds in a frypan on medium to hot heat for about 1-2 minutes. WATCH THEM so they don’t burn (spoken from experience here…). Once they start to smell more fragrant, remove from heat and pop into a small bowl.

Return the frypan to the stove, turn the heat to medium, add the oil and garlic, fry until the onion is soft (about 3-4 minutes). Add the eggplant and cook for about 5 minutes until the eggplant is getting a little soft. You may need to add some more oil.

Add all the spices (cumin, mustard seed, turmeric and garam masala) and give a good stir. Add the chickpeas, tomato and 1/2 can of water. Stir, cover with a lid, turn the heat down and let simmer for about 20 minutes until the eggplant is cooked through. You may need to add more water if it starts to look dry.

After about 20 minutes add the spinach and mix through. Cook for another few minutes until the spinach has wilted.

Serve with steamed rice, yogurt and coriander.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled and it freezes well.

What are your go-to recipes for eating more veggies and legumes?

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It’s far from my favourite, largely due to the smell that permeates the house while it cooks, regardless of how powerful the extractor fan is. A selling point of the extractor fan we purchased when renovating our kitchen was that it “removes that nasty fish smell when you fry fish”.

That is not a lie.

However it does not remove the corned beef smell.

Sigh.

I only cook corned beef once or twice a year, and only because it comes with the beef we purchase from Hand Sourced. (If you live in/near Brisbane and you like to know where your meat comes from, check them out. And please tell Shirley I said hi).

And usually just before I’m going away so The Accountant has something for sandwiches or dinner.

I know. I’m awesome.

Corned beef
By Mel Kettle, The Cook’s Notebook

What you need

• 1.5kg-ish corned silverside or brisket
• 1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 bay leaves
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 6-8 whole peppercorns

What you do

Put the meat into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove the meat from the pot, tip out the water, and wash the pot. This will get rid of the nasty scum residue.

Then, place the corned beef back into the pot and cover with water again. Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 90 minutes. Remove the meat, leave to cool then slice.

I don’t mind it on a bread roll with a load of salad, The Accountant likes it with white sauce and mash. However if he wants to eat it that way, he will need to learn how to make the accompaniments. Because one of the foods I like less than corned beef is white sauce.

Sorry babe.

Do you like corned beef? Or does the smell also turn you off?

The post Corned beef recipe appeared first on www.cooks-notebook.com.au.

That’s if I don’t eat them all first… 

These were whipped up last night – if you follow me on Snapchat you would have heard me raving about them, and had a sneak peek of how I made them.

HINT: I share a lot of food and meal ideas on Snapchat and nowhere else – you can find me there at melkettle.

HINT: I share a lot of food and meal ideas on Snapchat and nowhere else - find me there at melkettle
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The basic muffin recipe is a simple ratio:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup liquid (such as milk)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup melted butter or oil

You also need to add 2tsp baking powder and a generous pinch of salt.

For savoury muffins leave out the sugar, add in 1-1.5 cups of your choice of veggies, cheese, cooked meats (ham, bacon, salami etc).

Corn, jalapeño and cheese muffins

by Mel Kettle, The Cook’s Notebook

What you need

• 2 cups whole wheat flour (I used spelt as that was what I had)
• 1 cup plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbs paprika – I used sweet, could also use hot or smoked
• 1.5 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup light olive oil
• 1/2 cup of frozen corn kernals
• 3/4 cup of grated cheese
• 1/2 red capsicum, finely diced
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 1 tbs jalapeños, finely diced

What you do

Preheat oven to 180c.

Mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cumin, paprika) together in a large bowl.

Mix the wet ingredients (oil, milk, eggs) together in a small bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together. Add the other ingredients and stir until just mixed in.

Pop into a muffin tray – I used silicon ones in two sizes. Weirdly the larger ones took less time to cook…

Bake at 180c for 30-45 minutes.

Makes 8-12, depending on how large you want them.

Serve smeared with butter. Or avocado.

You could add any finely chopped savoury ingredient – next time I’m going to use oven roasted tomatoes, salami, feta and a little chilli.

What is your favourite savoury muffin combo?

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NO ONE expected the surprise ingredient to be mushrooms.

And when I asked twitter friends to guess, no one got it right. Which doesn’t really surprise me, given mushrooms are not exactly the first thing one thinks of when one thinks of cake. Especially chocolate cake. Which sort of surprises me given they both have earthy undertones.

There have been a few times over the years when I have eaten mushrooms in a dessert, but I didn’t ever think to add them to a cake until I toured a mushroom farm a few weeks ago.

Our dessert at that fabulous lunch included an incredibly rich and decadent chocolate mocha cake with mushrooms within; and a dense butter cake with honey, mushrooms and walnuts. In neither cake could you taste the mushrooms. And in fact, I would never have known mushrooms were even in the chocolate mocha cake if I hadn’t been told.

This cake came about when I needed to bake a chocolate cake for Mr15’s 16th birthday. He requested chocolate cake. I didn’t have enough eggs for the one I usually make, so I improvised by adding 250g of chopped up mushrooms. They were perfect for adding extra moisture and also for cutting down the amount of butter that is normally in this cake.

Both The Accountant and Mr-now-16 were shocked when I told them the cake had mushrooms.

I’m calling it healthy.

Decadent chocolate mushroom cake

by Mel Kettle, The cook’s notebook

WHAT YOU NEED

CAKE

• 250 g mushrooms (I used button mushrooms)
• 250 g dark chocolate, chopped (I used chocolate chips)
• 250 g almonds
• 200 g butter
• 150 g brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tbsp. cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 tsp. instant coffee granules

GANACHE

• 250 g dark chocolate
• 235 mL pouring cream

WHAT YOU DO

TO MAKE THE CAKE

• Preheat oven to 180c. Grease and line a 24cm springform pan
• In a food processor or Thermomix chop the mushrooms into small pieces (in Thermomix, turbo speed 2-3 times). Set aside.
• In a food processor or Thermomix whizz the chocolate into small pieces about the size of breadcrumbs (in Thermomix, sp8/10 seconds). Set aside.
• In a food processor or Thermomix mill the almonds until they are almond meal (in Thermomix sp10/15 seconds). Set aside.
• Place the butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder, cocoa and coffee granules into your food processor or Thermomix. Mix until well combined (sp7, 15 seconds in Thermomix). Scrape down sides and mix for another 5 seconds. Add the mushrooms, chocolate and almond meal and mix again (Thermomix sp8/10 seconds), scrape down and mix again ((Thermomix sp8/10 seconds). You may need to do this a third time, until it’s all mixed well.
• Pour the batter into the springform pan. It will be quite a thick consistency. Bake at 180c for 40-50 minutes. It’s cooked when a skewer comes out clean. Leave in the pan to cool completely before removing it and spreading the ganache.

TO MAKE THE GANACHE

• Measure out the chocolate into a heat proof bowl (I use pyrex). Pour the cream into a small saucepan and heat until just boiling. Remove cream and pour into the chocolate, stirring with a whisk or a spoon until all the chocolate has melted and it’s smooth.
• Leave to cool on the bench for about 30 minutes, then place in the fridge to thicken.
• Once the cake has completely cooled, use a palette knife (or a dinner knife if that’s all you have) to spread the ganache over the cake.
• Serve with thickened cream.

What about you? Do you add vegetables to cake? Other than carrot cake? Have you ever eaten mushrooms in a cake?

The post Decadent chocolate mushroom cake appeared first on www.cooks-notebook.com.au.

Our host, Steve Willemse of SjW Mushrooms, has been growing mushrooms for about 30 years, and grows 30 tonne of mushrooms a week between his two farms at Woodford and Chevellum in South East Queensland. As the third largest mushroom grower in Queensland, what Steve doesn’t know about mushrooms isn’t worth knowing!

We visited on a day that was teeming with rain, so I turned up with suitable wet-weather gear for a walk. Only to discover we were walking inside, as all Steve’s mushrooms are grown in an enormous climate-controlled shed that is split into a number of individual – and very large – rooms.

SjW Mushrooms grows only three types of mushrooms – button, Swiss brown and portobello. Technically only two types, as portobello are really just big and flat Swiss brown mushrooms.

While weather isn’t a problem for Steve’s mushies, disease is. To combat this, there is very strict management of cleanliness when working in and between the rooms.

It takes Steve’s 64 workers – mainly Taiwanese and Filipino – three months of training to learn to correctly pick and grade mushrooms to the industry standard of 20kg an hour (!!). A good picker can pick 30kg an hour (and yes, Steve offers a bonus to his more efficient pickers).

Picking mushrooms is called “cropping”, and this happens every day of the year except Christmas Day and Good Friday.

Mushrooms grow from compost, which comes from Sydney after already going through a six-week process. The final two weeks happens in Steve’s shed, then, voila, mushrooms! OK, it’s probably not that simple…

The mushrooms appear in “flushes” that grow over 7-10 days. Steve’s first flush produces four tonne of mushrooms, and he harvests eight tonne over five flushes. Once completed, he sells the compost to a dairy farmer whose cows produce milk for Maleny Dairies (my favourite locally produced milk in case you’re wondering).

Did you know mushrooms double in size every 24 hours? #powerofmushrooms
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A few of my favourite mushrooms facts:

• they double in size every 24 hours – and grow at a rate of 4% per hour
• mushrooms are like humans – they breathe in oxygen and expel CO2. They are always alive and don’t go mouldy – but they do dry out if not stored correctly
• it’s not true that they need to grow in the dark – but Steve keeps the lights turned off to save on the massive electricity bills
• mushrooms can absorb sunlight, which means they absorb vitamin D which is transferred to humans when eaten – so pop your mushrooms in the sun for 15-20 minutes before you cook them

Once harvested, Steve sells his mushrooms to the Brisbane markets via a mushroom-specialist agent he has worked with for over 25 years.

The post A walk in a mushroom farm appeared first on www.cooks-notebook.com.au.

You might be thinking “so what? The men in my life are healthy”. But are they really?

Australian men are more likely than Australian women to get sick from serious health problems. Serious health problems that quite often kill them. And in large numbers. 

Heart disease.

Stroke.

Cancer.

Diabetes.

Respiratory disease.

Liver disease.

Parkinson’s disease.

Our men aged 25-65 are dying five years earlier than women of the same age, often from preventable conditions.

A main reason for this is because men visit the doctor less frequently than women, have shorter visits and only tend to go when their illness is in its later stages. Presumably because by then the symptoms are too bad to continue ignoring.

How often have you heard a man proudly state “I haven’t seen a doctor in over five years”? I think the record I’ve heard was 27 years. I was appalled. The man in question said he was healthy. I asked how he knew. He said “because I haven’t had to go to the doctor”. Let me tell you, he didn’t look overly healthy with his florid face and big gut.

For the men reading this, if you think visiting a doctor – for your physical OR mental health – is a sign of weakness, let me tell you IT IS NOT.

Dear Men, visiting a doctor is not a sign of weakness. #menshealthweek
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For the women reading this, please encourage your men to go to the doctor.

And when I say “men”, I don’t just mean your husband. I mean your brothers, fathers, friends, cousins, sons, workmates, colleagues. ALL the men who are in your life.

Actually, get them to read this post too.

To stay on top of any nasty little diseases, we should all be having an annual check up (women too). This can tell you if you are at risk or in the early stages of cardiovascular disease (such as stroke or heart attack), diabetes and some cancers, as well as a whole heap of other diseases and illnesses. Finding out early can often save your life.

Depending on your age, and your personal and family history, these are the more common tests you should be considering:

• blood pressure
• blood tests for cholesterol, triglicerides and a fasting blood sugar test for diabetes
• a complete skin check – melanoma kills 1,500 Australians a year – ask your partner or a friend to check the bits you can’t see, such as your back. If something seems off, get it checked by a doctor immediately
• testicle checks – from puberty onwards, you should check regularly for unusual thickenings or lumps in your testicles
• a digital prostate examination (for the over 50s)
• stool samples for bowel cancer (for men over 50)
• bone density (for men over 50)
• eye examination – eyesight tends to deteriorate with age and serious eye conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration are more common with age
• dental check ups.

Not all these are required every year. And some are required more than once a year, especially if you have a personal medical history or family history of illnesses such as heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes.

Let’s not forget mental health.

The statistics for men and mental health are not pretty. #menshealthweek
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The statistics for men and mental health are not pretty. On average, 1 in 8 men will have depression (a leading cause of suicide) and 1 in 5 men will experience anxiety at some stage of their lives. Yes, women are more likely to struggle with depression and anxiety, but women are also more likely to do something about it.

And when it comes to men committing suicide, the stats are downright ugly.

In 2013 2,522, Australians died by suicide. Of these, 1,885 were men. This compares to 1,187 people who died in car accidents on Australian roads. Yes, you read that correctly.

So what does this mean really?

It means suicide is the leading cause of death for men under the age of 54.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for men under the age of 54 #menshealthweek
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It means that SIX MEN A DAY ARE KILLING THEMSELVES. And that is unacceptable.

So men, please, please, please get your mental health checked out. And don’t give me this macho bullshit that you’re too tough to see a shrink. It’s really no different to seeing a doc if you break your leg. They all work to fix your body. And yes, your brain is part of that.

If you don’t believe me, check out Davo’s Man Therapy.

If you want to read more about the state of men’s health, check out the 2011 report by the Australian Institute Health and Welfare, The Health of Australia’s Males or visit www.menshealthweek.org.au.

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored.

Instead I have written it for The Accountant, as today we celebrate 12 years together. And although he drives me crazy with frustration, I want him around for a good few more years to come.

So I nag him often about going to the doctor for boring things like skin checks, prostate checks (he didn’t talk to me for a day after that one because the silly man believed me when I said it was just a simple blood test!), blood tests for type 2 diabetes, and to get weird pains and bleeding checked out (he didn’t talk to me much after that one either…).

Happy Anniversary babe. I love you. xxx

The post Men’s Health Week appeared first on www.cooks-notebook.com.au.

Saturday and Sunday were a different story, with 151mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday! There were some surfers with a death wish out there, including this one at Port Macquarie yesterday.

Today the skies are clear, but the wind is howling. Let’s hope the wind is calm tomorrow when I make the almost-eight hour drive home.

One of the reasons I’ve come down is to show my friend Gail how to use some of the appliances in her new kitchen. When we stopped in for the night over Christmas I commented on how her cooker and her steam oven were the same as mine. She immediately requested a lesson, so here I am!

What she didn’t tell me, is that she is now on a low-FODMAPs diet. About which I know little!

She also didn’t tell me she wanted me to be tech-support so I’ve spent more hours sorting out a new modem, new mobile phone, showing her how to use Facebook and explaining what twitter is than I have actually in the kitchen!

One of the challenges and joys of being a guest is that you often eat foods you rarely eat at home. And for me, that’s vegemite on toast. I had a piece with some eggs for breakfast my first morning here, and have been gobbling it ever since – to the horror of my intestinal bits, that this morning decided to rebel. Vegemite on toast with a cup of tea is one of my ultimate comfort foods, so I find it hard to ignore when it’s right there, just begging to be eaten.

I might have to keep a couple of zucchinis aside when we cook dinner tonight so I can whip up some zucchini fritters to have with an egg for breakfast tomorrow before I tackle the drive home.

According to my dietician friend Glenda, who writes the blog A less irritable life, zucchini are low-FODMAP, but you need to be careful how much of it you eat. If you only serve one of these fritters per low-FODMAP person, you should be OK.

Zucchini fritters

By Mel Kettle, The Cook’s Notebook
Makes 6.

What you need:

• 2 medium-sized zucchini
• 2 dessert spoons of flour – I use buckwheat
• 40g grated Parmesan cheese (or you could use 40g fetta, crumbled up)
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

What you do:

Grate zucchini into a bowl, squeeze out any excess liquid. Add the flour, Parmesan, egg, pepper and salt. Mix well, fry in a little olive oil. Makes six.

Serve 1-2 per person and add an egg or two. You can also add bacon, avocado or smoked salmon. Or a combination of.

Leftover fritters can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and reheated in a frypan on a low heat. No extra oil is needed when re-heating.

What foods do you find you eat more of when you stay with friends? And if you’re low-FODMAP, can you share a few favourite recipes please?

The post Zucchini fritters – recipe appeared first on www.cooks-notebook.com.au.

I’m not normally a big fan of peanuts. Give me macadamias or cashews or even almonds over them any day. But cravings are weird beings, and as I had a few peanuts in the pantry I figured it was time to experiment.

Peanut butter chocolate balls

What you need

• 2 cups of peanuts – either raw or roasted, don’t use salted
• 12 medjool dates, seeds removed, soaked in 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 tbs tahini
• 3-4 tbs cocoa powder
• handful of chocolate chips (optional)

What you do

Put 1 1/2 cups of peanuts in your food processor and process for a few seconds until coarse crumbs (Thermomix sp6/4 sec). Add the dates, tahini, cocoa powder and process until it comes together (Thermomox sp6/8 sec). Taste and add more cocoa if needed. Add chocolate chips and remaining peanuts and mix in (Thermomix sp6/3 sec).

Tip into a bowl. Use a teaspoon to scoop out portions and roll into small balls. Store in the fridge. Try not to eat them all at once.

Do you like peanut butter and chocolate? How do you eat it together?

The post Peanut butter chocolate balls appeared first on www.cooks-notebook.com.au.

It’s hardly surprising I adore this spice, as it is a blend of sea salt, cumin, coriander seed, black peppercorns, ajowan seed, fenugreek, allspice, ginger, chilli, nutmeg and cloves. And those who know me know that I particularly adore cumin, coriander, ginger and chilli.

This dish is a family favourite, and I really don’t know why I don’t make it more often. It has a fabulous flavour, juicy chicken thigh fillets and you can add in whatever veggies you like to bulk it out. I’m going to make it tonight and will also throw in a handful of red lentils.

I thought it was a good time to share this recipe as this time next year I’ll be in South Africa, leading a Gourmet Trails South Africa food tour for Encompass Africa. Cue excitement! If you would like more information please let me know.

I should point out that berbere spice is used mostly in Ethiopian cuisine, and for those familiar with the geography of Africa, you will know that Ethiopia is a very long way from South Africa. While I haven’t been to Ethiopia, I did visit neighbouring Djibouti when I was 7 years old, and on a ship travelling from England to Australia. But that’s a whole other story!

Berbere chicken

What you need:

• 2 tbs oil (I use olive because I use olive for pretty much everything)
• 2 brown onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tbs berbere spice – I use Herbies*
• 1kg chicken thigh fillets, cut into thirds (or half if small)
• 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 300g button mushrooms, quartered
• 2 red capsicum (peppers), de-seeded and sliced
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 2 cups chicken stock (or water)

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 160c
• Heat a tagine (or Dutch oven or other suitable pot) on a medium heat, add oil, berbere spice, onion and garlic and cook until onions are soft
• Add the chicken and brown it (you might need to do this in batches)
• Add the carrots, mushrooms, capsicum, tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Bring to the boil and then transfer to the oven for 45 minutes or until the chicken and veggies are cooked.
• Serve with mash (I like sweet potato) or rice or an African flat bread to sop up the sauce.

Serves 8.

You could also use berbere spice in a tomato sauce, in burgers, as a meat rub, in hummos, chilli, pulled pork, sprinkled over chicken or pork or fish. The list is endless!

Have you been to Africa? Do you have a favourite African flavour? Have you tasted berbere spice?

* Disclaimer – this is not a sponsored post, but I have been a long time fan of Herbies and they sometimes send me spices to try. When they heard I was going to Africa next year they sent me a few of their African favourites including berbere. Thank you! 

The post Berbere chicken – an African recipe appeared first on www.cooks-notebook.com.au.

There is nothing worse then arriving in a new and exciting place, only to be struck down by the curse of jet lag. Sleeplessness at night, the overwhelming need to nap during the day, irritability, forgetfulness and an overwhelming sense of grumpy. It’s even worse when you get home. Especially if you have to leap straight back into work mode. Ugh.

How to avoid jet lag

Much has been written on how to avoid the evils of jet lag:

• don’t drink alcohol on the plane, or for the few hours before travelling
• limit caffeine on the plane and for the day or so before you travel
• stay hydrated – drink a LOT of water
• walk around on the plane as much as you can [pro tip – request an aisle seat to make it easier to get up and out of your seat]
• try and acclimatise your body into the new time zone – sleep during normal sleep hours
• get lots of fresh air and sun when you arrive at your destination.

These are all great tips, but haven’t helped me avoid jet lag.

A passing conversation in a health food store last year led me on a quest to work out how to avoid jet lag forever.

A conversation in a health food store led me on a quest to work out how to avoid jet lag
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I was buying some olive leaf extract* capsules and the shop assistant asked me if I was going overseas. Coincidentally I was. She asked if I took olive leaf extract to help reduce jet lag. Um, what? NO! I had been taking it (and still take it) for a few years to ward off general nasties – colds, niggling sore throats and general immune support – but had NEVER thought of it as a potential way to dodge the dreaded jet lag.

I thought there couldn’t be any harm in giving it a go. And guess what? No jet lag.

I wanted to write this post last year, as I successfully evaded jet lag on my seven week trip through Europe and the US, but I thought one trip with no jet lag wasn’t really a scientific conclusion. Two trips probably isn’t either, but I’m feeling pretty impressed with how fab I feel after my latest trip to the US (I’ve been home three days).

My top advice to avoid jet lag

This is what I did:

• I followed many of the tips above – especially the lots of water and walking around as much as possible on the plane. I was a bit lax with the whole no alcohol and no caffeine bit, but I certainly didn’t go crazy.
• On my recent trip I arrived in Portland at lunchtime after being up for about 28 hours, with very little sleeping on the plane as there were a lot of good movies on offer! I had a shower, a couple of big glasses of water and then a short sleep for a bit less than three hours. I then got up (about 5pm local time), went for a long walk, had dinner, watched Survivor (yes, am addicted. That’s a whole other blog post!) and went to bed about 10pm. Slept for ten hours and was good for the rest of the trip. By which I mean I had my normal sleeping patterns.
• Coming home (for my last two trips) I left LAX at midnight, arrived in Brisbane at 6.30am. I am one of those very lucky people who can sort-of sleep on a plane if I’m tired enough – especially after a busy day and with a midnight flight – so I managed about eight hours of very restless napping. Once home I again had a short sleep for about 2-3 hours, then went to bed about 9pm. I managed a solid nine hours and have been in my regular routine since then.

The difference between these two trips and previous was this:

• I took olive leaf extract – before flying I increased my regular dose and took two tablets twice a day for each of the two days before I left and two more just before getting on the plane. I also took two tablets as soon as I landed, then one every day I was away. The days I had a flight where I changed time zones by more three or more hours (such as London – New York) I took two tablets twice a day for the day before, the day of and the day after the flight. I repeated the two tablet dose before my return flight and for the first 48 hours after returning home.
• I also invested in a pair of very glam compression socks, and was diligent about wearing them on any flight that was longer than three hours duration. While these are primarily to help avoid DVT, their main purpose is to help keep your blood circulating (as long as you do a few exercises and walk around a bit while on the plane), which I think can only help with avoiding jet lag. Please note that compression socks should be properly fitted for maximum effectiveness. I bought mine from a pharmacist who measured my lower leg in three places before recommending an appropriate size.

Do you take olive leaf extract? Have you considered using it for combatting jet lag? Would you give it a go?

* Research shows olive leaf extract is packed full of antioxidants. It’s also great for reducing cardiovascular health risk factors, including reducing elevated LDL-cholesterol levels and helping maintain normal blood pressure levels. I take one capsule 4-5 times a week, and have for about four years. I increase my dosage if I feel a bit meh. You can buy it in liquid form (which tastes pretty ghastly!) or in capsule or tablet form. The brand I buy also has echinacea in it and is from a health food store.

Disclaimer: this is not sponsored, I’m just sharing the anti-jet lag and olive leaf extract love. Plus, I haven’t had a cold or serious sore throat or any other major ailment (except melanoma, which I don’t think it can help prevent!) since I started taking olive leaf extract. 

Please note this information is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, it is provided for educational purposes only. You assume full responsibility for how you choose to use this information. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider before starting any new treatment or discontinuing an existing treatment. Talk with your healthcare provider about any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Nothing contained in this blog is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment.

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