Honey Banana and Almond Granola Bars

Looooong title, but I couldn’t skip any of the details here! These have officially become a new staple in my kitchen. They’re perfect to grab and munch on in a rush, or if you’ve got the 4PM flag that just wont budge. These bars of goodness are sweet and bound to boost your energy! The best part…. they take about 5 mins to throw together and the ingredients are easy to get your hands on… In fact, you probably already have it all in your cupboards!

Gooey gorgeousness

 

INGREDIENTS (makes 4 large bars)

• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1/2 cup of oats
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup of almonds
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of honey
• 1/8th of a cup of sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup of flax seeds (much cheaper than chia… but chia can be used instead!)
• 1tbsp of nut butter
• 1 ripe banana
• -optional- a teaspoon of ground ginger (I prefer my bars without as I think the natural flavours work perfectly with the sweetness of the honey… But it’s totally your choice!)

METHOD

1. Pulse the banana in a blender, then mix in the honey and almond butter until it’s all combined.
2. Stir into the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, line a baking tray and cook for 20 mins. After 10 mins cut into bars. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes after baking.
3. Keep in an air tight container for up to 5 days.

CARBLESS FRENCH TOAST: The Amazing Cinnamon Omelette

Now, I am a HUGE fan of French toast. I could eat it constantly; be it day or night. So when I switched to a healthy diet and decided to cut out bread 80% of the time… This recipe saved me from losing the plot.

So essentially it is French toast minus one key ingredient: The bread. So, essentially it’s simply an omelette with a delicious twist. This is the perfect brekkie to satisfy your sweet tooth whilst being completely healthy, comforting and nourishing. I’m afraid this recipe isn’t vegan… but any of you egg lovers out there are in for a treat!

INGREDIENTS: Makes one small omelette (Double the ingredients for more, more, more!)

-One large egg, beaten.

– One tbsp of ground cinnamon (Use less if you’re sensitive to cinnamon, but I go all out!)

-A splash of milk

-Coconut oil for the frying pan (I use coconut spray oil)

METHOD

1. Add the cinnamon and the splash of milk to the beaten egg and mix well. Spray the oil into a heated frying pan and pour in the mixture, spreading it evenly across the pan.
2. Wait for the omelette to cook through, there’s no real need to flip it unless you want to.
3. Enjoy served with fresh fruit, yogurt or cottage cheese! I think banana goes best with this recipe, but whatever floats your banana boat! ❤

Almond Butter Banana Flapjacks

Okay… Admittedly there is a clear difference here between regular flapjacks and normal flapjacks. However, that difference is DELICIOUS. I made these when I couldn’t sleep a few days ago, at about 1am in the morning… But they were so warm, soft and perfect I was pretty pleased! They’re totally vegan, and take such little time to make! They’re great to just have lying around the kitchen, it’s much easier to munch on these than junk food, and they leave you feeling so much better both mentally and psychically!

INGREDIENTS: Makes 12 squares

– About 180g-200g of oats ( I used rolled in the photos… but traditional oats would be better for more traditional flapjack!)

– 1 over-ripe banana, mashed.

– 3 tbsps of maple syrup

-3 tbsps of almond butter

– 1 tbsps of oil (I used olive, but now I’ve learned more of the dangers of cooking with olive oil at high temperatures so I think coconut oil would be the best bet!)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C for a fan. Add the mashed bananas, almond butter and oil into a saucepan and heat until well mixed and somewhat runny. Add this to the oats and mix it all together well. Press the mixture firmly into a baking dish, and bake in the oven until golden on top, so about 15/20mins.
2. Wait for them to cool before slicing up into squares! Try any nut butter you like for different varieties, or add some crushed almonds and raisins for an earthy twist!

 

Cinnamon Baked Butternut Squash

Words cannot describe the flavour in this squash. It’s amazing; so earthy, wholesome and nourishing. The great thing about this recipe is that you can either slice the squash into trips like I have, just under an inch thick, and serve it as the main dish. Or, you can cut the squash into cubes and serve as a side! Wonderful!

 

 

INGREDIENTS

• Medium sized butternut squash (about 1/3 per person, cut however you want!)
• Some olive oil (I used spray olive oil!)
• About 1tbsp of cinnamon per 1/3 of squash you use
• Italian seasoning

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 200 Degrees C.
2. Spray some oil into a baking tray and lay in the squash, so it’s all in one layer spread around the tray. Spray a few sprays of oil over the squash.
3. Add the cinnamon, and the seasoning. Mix it around the tray so all the squash is covered.
4. Bake in the oven between 20-15 minutes until soft and tender.
5. Enjoy! ❤

Pea and Broccoli Pizza

This recipe is an interesting one… I’m still working on it a little. It can either go very right or very wrong in terms of it holding together as a crust. The first time I made this, it fell to pieces! However, it was still super yummy even all crumbled up! But this is the method to make the vegetarian or vegan option that should hold together perfectly. Try adding some mint for an extra fresh take on this pizza alternative ❤

INGREDIENTS

• 400g of broccoli (you could go half cauliflower and broccoli if you wanted too…but it makes it weaker)
• 1/4 cup of peas
•  One beaten egg (if you’re vegan, use 4tbsps of chia gel; made from 4tbsps of chia seeds soaked in water for 10 minutes until a thick gel forms. Use about 12tbsp of water)
• Italian seasoning
• 1tbsp of ground oatmeal (this is to help thicken and hold it together)
• Salt and pepper
• 1tbsp of olive oil
• All the toppings you’d want! (I used pan-fried courgette, pepper and onion, with a slice of grilled apple!)

METHOD

1. Boil the broccoli and peas until they’ve cooked fully and are soft. Drain the water away and make sure there’s no excess water. Place it in a food processor and pulse until it turns super grainy; almost like a broccoli and pea flour!
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.
3. Use about 2 cups of the flour if you’re serving for 2 people. Mix in a container with the egg (or chia gel), salt, pepper, ground oatmeal, Italian seasoning and 1tbsp of olive oil.
4. Lay on a baking tray on top of a piece of grease proof paper, in one large circle or smaller ones. Makes sure they’re not very thick as they won’t cook through!
5. Bake for about 17 minutes… until the edges looks crispy and delicious!
6. Remove and add toppings! Bake again for a further 5 minutes.
7. Enjoy this pleasing pizza alternative ❤

Beautiful Blueberry Chia Pudding

This pudding is sweet, nourishing… but most importantly PURPLE! It’s so easy to make and requires very little effort!

INGREDIENTS: Serves 1

• Chia seeds (I use black chia. Heads up on chia seeds which can be pricey. Sainsbury’s sell their own brand of chia seeds for £1!)
• 100ml almond milk
• Vegan yogurt (I used coconut Alpro)
• Half a cup of frozen blueberries
• One banana
• Melon wedge (for decoration)

METHOD

1. Add 100ml of almond milk to a container. Add two and a half tablespoons of chia seeds and stir into the milk. Now, add a teaspoon of vegan yogurt to thicken it up a little!
2. Defrost the blueberries and take half of them away. Use one half for the topping, and crush the other half with a fork to excrete all the juice you can. Pour the blueberry juice into the almond chia mix, and stir until the colour is evenly spread. Dispose of the juiced blueberries.
3. Cool in the fridge over night.
4. Peel the banana and mash-up half of it, and lay it on top of the chia pudding.
5. Slice the other half up and decorate the top of pudding. Add the other half of blueberries to the top and the melon wedge if you’re decorating completely!
6. Enjoy the empowering flavours after mixing the whole thing up (and after a cheeky insta snap!).

Spicy Mandala Bowl

This is such a quick and flavoursome bowl of goodness anyone can enjoy! I make mine quite spicy, and love to have it with prawns. However this is completely optional and you can switch out the prawns for chickpeas to make it completely vegan! The amount of spice you use it totally up to you as well. There’s so many flavours in this bowl it’s impossible to miss out on the vast array of pure tastiness!

I call it a mandala bowl as I feel the way I’ve decorated it looks a bit like a mandala… although not a complete circle! ❤

INGREDIENTS: Serves 1

• 80g of Prawns (or chickpeas)
• 1 x 400g can of tinned tomatoes
• 70g of garden peas
• One small carrot (chopped)
• Half a small aubergine (sliced and halved)
• 4 button mushrooms (sliced thinly)
• 1/4 of an orange bell pepper (sliced into strips)
• Garlic and tomatoes purée
• Chilli powder
• Chilli flakes
• Olive oil
• Italian Seasoning
• Rocket

METHOD

1. Lay the aubergine, carrot and mushrooms in a large baking tray, drizzle with oil and coat evenly. Dust some Italian seasoning over the top and bake at 200 degrees C, for 20 minutes. Make sure they’re roasted to perfection, if not; give them an extra couple of minutes.
2. Pour the tinned tomatoes into a pan and bring to a simmer. Add in the peas and prawns (defrosted). Or the chickpeas if that’s what you’re using. Add two teaspoons of chilli powder and a teaspoon of chilli flakes if you like it hot… but it not, add less, or leave it out completely! Add a teaspoon of tomato, and half a teaspoon of garlic purée then let bubble for about 10 mins.
3. Head a saucepan and pan fry the strips of bell pepper with a tiny bit of oil (I use spray olive oil) until soft.
4. Pour the tomato from the pans into a serving bowl, then decorate with the roasted veggies and a small handful of rocket! Before enjoying, mix everything together. ❤

Crunchy Cinnamon Snaps

VEGAN BISCUITS EVERYONE! This is an original recipe which I am sooooo proud of! As you know, vegan treats tend to contain an abundance of nuts. Nuts contain a lot of healthy fats; which can be a problem in high quantities… Also, nuts are very expensive. I don’t have the budget to blow 250g of almonds just for one batch of cookies! SO, here is THE GREATEST vegan biscuit recipe which contains absolutely NO NUTS! I use oats instead 🙂 Warning though… these are highly addictive due to their high rating of yumminess ❤

So good!

INGREDIENTS: Makes 15 small biscuits

• 70g of rolled oats
• 90g of buckwheat flour
• 40ml of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of chia seeds
• 80ml of water

METHOD

1. Pulse the oats in the blender until it forms a flour.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C for a fan.
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients into the blender and pulse until smooth and sticky. BE AWARE THAT THIS MIXTURE IS HIGHLY STICKY!
4. Sprinkle work top and rolling-pin with flour, and spread the dough out equally flat (you’ll want it about 2cm deep). Use a cookie cutter to cut out your cookies!
5. Grease a baking tray with spray oil (I use coconut spray oil) and lay in your shapes.
6. bakes for 20 minutes until golden brown.
7. Enjoy the crispy treats!

Spicy Portabello Mushroom

I had this meal for lunch a few days ago. The whole recipe just fell together perfectly; these ingredients were just meant to be! It was SO easy and cost me next to nothing to make!

 

 

INGREDIENTS 

• Portabello mushrooms. As many as you want to eat! I bought mine reduced; a pack of 4 for 90p! Keep an eagle eye on those reduced veggies at the store… you could save some pennies!
• Red bell pepper
• Chilli flakes
• Chilli powder
• Plum tomatoes
• Curly kale
• Cornichons to garnish
• Lemon juice

METHOD

For the mushrooms: Peel the outer layer of skin from the mushrooms, and place them on a oven-proof tray. Drizzle with olive oil and grill, for 5/6 minutes on each side (200 degrees C for a fan oven). Add a little salt to the mushrooms for a flavoursome kick.

For the spicy pepper and tomato filling: Chop up a red bell pepper (you’ll need about a quarter of a pepper to stuff one mushroom) into little chunks. Chop the plum tomatoes into halfs. I used about 5 tomatoes. Add to a frying pan with a teaspoon of olive oil. Bring to a fizz, and add half a teaspoon of chilli flakes and half a teaspoon of chilli powder. Also add the juice of half a lemon. Add in the plum tomatoes to the peppers and fry them until they soften up and absorb the flavours!

Microwave 1-2 handfuls of curly kale for 30 seconds. Place the mushrooms on to and decorate with the pepper and tomato! Add a couple of cornichons to garnish the meal. Enjoy a wholesome, nourishing meal with a really spicy kick!

Raw Coconut Almond Butter Bites

Wow. After I made these, I made all my friends and family try them, and they could not get enough. They are the best substitute to that rich, chocolate cheat treat that you constantly crave; the only difference is that these come guilt free! They are also SUPER reasonable to make in terms of cost… As long as you hunt down the best deals on dates and make sure you buy almond butter that’s on offer at the stores (unless you make your own!).

INGREDIENTS (Makes between 10-15 pieces)

• 200g of Deglet dates. These are by far the cheapest in the UK, but go for Medjool if your budget allows… Mine doesn’t unfortunately so I always use Deglet!)
• 5 tbsp of coconut almond butter. This is the best bit, because if you don’t like coconuts you can use normal almond butter! The choice is yours…But the coconut is definitely my favourite ❤ I use Pip and Nut Coconut Almond Butter.
• 1.5 tbsp of raw cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp of olive oil

METHOD

1. Soften the dates in some boiling water (about 5cm full) until they’re soft, and you can break them apart using a spatula. Drain leftover water afterwards, and leave the dates for now.
2. In a food processor, pulse the almond butter, raw cocoa powder and olive oil until it is evenly mixed. After this, add those dates and pulse until super smooth.
3. Break away bite size chunks from the mixture and arrange on some grease-proof paper and cool in the fridge for a couple of hours ❤