Featured Friend Interview:  Joel & Glen – The Aroma Dudes
25 Jun

Featured Friend Interview: Joel & Glen – The Aroma Dudes

Meet The Aroma Dudes – Joel & Glen! They live in beautiful Newcastle, Australia and are each other’s best friend & soulmate. They love yoga, dance, music, clean holistic plant-based living, travelling, hanging out in nature and with their friends and of course all things essential oils related! Some special interests of the Aroma Dudes are being Earth conscious, things like permaculture & Bush tucker.

Joel and Glen hold regular Natural Wellness Classes and are passionate about educating and empowering individuals and families everywhere about the power of plant-based living. They recognise this is a great blessing to be able to work and travel together as they share the gifts of essential oils with others. They do this from their combined knowledge in health care, horticulture & hospitality.

With experience in Newcastle’s 1st raw food cafe, managing a plant-based cafe, supplying raw cakes & slices to local cafes as well as running raw food workshops, The Aroma Dudes have an abundance of wellness knowledge to share with us.

I had the absolute privilege of meeting the vibrant Aroma Dudes at the recent Naturally Good Expo in Sydney and are honoured to have them as a Raw Blend Featured Friend!

Joel and Glen, what does creating ‘A Healthy Mix for Life’ mean to you?

Diversity! A balance in all areas of our life. For example:

  • Diet – eating a rainbow
  • Fitness – cardio/strength/flexibility
  • Community – connecting with like-minded people as well as people that form different views and opinions
  • Life experiences – get out there and see the world

We only need to look to nature to find the answers we seek. We just need to look at the abundance nature provides for us and how it does this, through its diversity. Diversity builds resistance and is what is required for creating ‘A Healthy Mix for Life’.

I don’t think we could have said it better! You have such a passion for plant based living, so what does your day on a plate look like and why do you eat the way you do?

Most days, the meals we eat are all homemade, from scratch, using only organic wholefoods, essential oil infused & plant-based, eating predominately raw foods (starting to incorporate homegrown bush tucker)… and we aim to do intermittent fasting, eating between 12-8pm (depending on the schedule).

Intermittent fasting allows our body to detoxify. Raw foods are more nutritious as the heat sensitive enzymes and nutrients are not denatured (and better for using essential oils with). Plant-based as we get everything we need from plants, healthier, environmentally better and friendlier. Essential Oils for added flavour and well-being. Wholefoods as that’s the way mother nature made them. Organic as we are surrounded by enough environmental pollutants, we don’t need to be adding more to our food. And we make everything from scratch because we know exactly what is in it, and what is not.

We like to start the day with some lemon oil infused water to alkalise our bodies, hydrate and feel more fluid. With this, we might have some Spirulina or Chlorella.

Some mornings we like to make a green smoothie with superfoods like Moringa, Baobab, Lucuma, Mesquite, Maca, Mesquite, Ashwagandha or a simple Chia porridge (suitable for breakfast or dessert).

Snack options include broccoli popcorn, raw sweet potato chips and kale chips.

For lunch, our go-to is dehydrated buckwheat & veg crackers, a great way to preserve the veg from our seasonal Fruit & Veg Box). We’d cycle through a range of dips/spread, such as an activated hummus, cheesy rosemary & thyme, pesto, guak, chipotle, then top that with sprouts and seasonal sauerkraut. We like using the leftovers from other recipes like broccoli stems and kale stalks to make the sauerkraut.

Dinner options range from Sesame & Ginger Salad, Pesto pasta, Carrot soup to a Stir Fry or Chilli-non-Carne.

We like a selection of hot drink options such as herbal teas including lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle, native mint. And Mylky drinks like Turmeric Latte, Chai, Mushroom Lattes & Hot Chocolates with added superfoods like He Show Wu & Astragalus. We also love pro-biotic options like Kefir, Kombucha & Kvass

We always have dessert on hand, Lavender Berry Cheesecake, Fudge, Bliss Balls, Chocolate, Spearmint Ice Cream, Citrus Berry Ice Cream, Carrot Cake, Beet Cacao Cake & Peppermint Slice.

Yum … your day on a plate sounds delicious. With all that delicious food what would be ONE Super Hero Food that you could NOT live without?

Coconut Yogurt.

One of my favourites too! Joel and Glen, we know living a healthy life doesn’t just mean eating well … how do you keep your mind and body healthy?

Maintaining a healthy, holistic lifestyle is very important for us. With our productively busy schedule, self-care really equals success. Having a healthy morning ritual incorporating meditation, yoga & reading our favourite personal growth book, kick starts us off to a great day.

Winding down after a productive day achieving our evening ritual is so important. Turning off all devices an hour before bedtime & turning on the diffuser with calming oils is pure bliss.

It’s also very important to create a joy list that incorporates the things you love doing, and schedule them in (weekly/monthly), so you can tick them off.

Who is your health, wellness or fitness guru and why?

Gandhi- “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”

Gandhi is such an inspiration to me too! If you could share with the Raw Blend Family one piece of your wisdom what would it be?

Joel – “Your success is defined by your relationship with failure.”

Glenjiman – “If it doesn’t nourish your soul, let it go.”

We are lucky enough to have you share one of your favourite recipes with us, why do you love this recipe?

Its a very beautiful floral flavour, Lavender is also great of an evening for its calming & relaxing qualities.

Lavender & Native Berry Cheezecake

Submitted by The Aroma Dudes
Makes: 1 Cake
Serves: 16

Equipment

Vitamix
Food processor
Cake Tin
Spatula

Ingredients – Nut Crust 

  • 1 cup almond meal + 1 cup pecans + 1 cup buckwheat
  • 1/2 cup or 7-8 medjool dates
  • Pinch salt
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil

Ingredients – Filling

  • 3 cups cashews (soaked overnight & rinsed)
  • 1 cup berries (we’ve used native raspberry & mulberry, though conventional berries like blueberry work well too)
  • ¾ cup coconut nectar
  • ¾ cup lemon Juice
  • ½ cup water (filtered)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla
  • 3 drops lavender
  • 4 drops lemon
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup coconut oil, melted (handy to keep on top of dehydrator to stay liquid in Winter)

Method – Crust

  1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor, then press in cake tin. (The more finely ground makes for better hold. Also, the more firmly pressed into the tin, the better the crust will hold also)

Method – Filling

  1. Place all ingredients in Vitamix jug except for coconut oil and blend until smooth.
  2. Once combined, then slowly drizzle in the coconut oil on low speed.
  3. Tip into cake tin, tapping cake tin on bench to remove excess air bubbles.
  4. Garnish and set in fridge or freezer.

If the melted coconut is added with all other ingredients, including frozen berries, it will set in the jug. Important to add afterwards.

Bonus Homemade Vanilla Essence Recipe

23 organic vanilla beans, cut open and infused in organic rum for at least 6 months, the longer its left, the more it infuses.

Connect with the Aroma Dudes

  • If you’re interested in learning more about The Aroma Dudes Essential Oils please visit their website
  • Be sure to follow The Aroma Dudes on Facebook
  • For information on upcoming Aroma Dudes events see their events page here

Happy Blending!

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