January 21, 2016No Comments

Day 21 – Sweet nut smoothie

Sweet nut smoothieThis is an amazing new smoothie recipe that I have stumbled across and made some of my own adjustments to. Try it out, maybe as another breakfast smoothie recipe and enjoy the delicious, creamy, nutty, sweet flavour.

Gosh it has reminded me of the amazing flavour so much I may just dash out and make another one!

Ingredients
125g frozen mango
2 tablespoons of almond butter
handful of frozen blackberries
2 tablespoons of yoghurt - the thicker the better. I used a lovely natural one that had fresh passion fruit in it which was so gooooood!
half a teaspoon of wheatgrass powder
100ml of coconut milk

Throw them all in your smoothie maker and blend up until smooth. Then sip and enjoy!

Ciao for now x

December 17, 2015No Comments

Choco Balls

This recipe always makes me chuckle as it's well known by my friends that I don't like chocolate, milk, dark, nuts, none of it! Yet I seem to be pretty good at whipping up chocolate substitutes with healthy vegan and gluten free chocolate options. This recipe is a variation on my Energy Balls recipe so give both a go and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

100g medjool dates
25g goji berries
25g cashew nuts
50g almonds
100g shredded/dessicated coconut
3 tablespoons of cacao powder
1.5 tablespoons of coconut oil
1.5 tablespoons of maple syrup
1.5 tablespoons of coconut milk

Put the goji berries, cashews, almonds, coconut and cacao powder in a blender and whizz them up until they are as fine as you want them. If you prefer them chunkier leave them in less time.

Add the dates, coconut oil, coconut milk and maple syrup to the blender and blend again until you get a big doughy sticky mix.

This is where you can tailor the recipe. Taste it and see what you think! If you want them smoother then add small amounts of water until it's as smooth as you want. If you prefer it with a stronger chocolate flavour, add a touch more cacao powder. If you prefer it sweeter add a little more maple syrup. Make sure when you add extra into the recipe you add in tiny amounts, blend and taste again as you can always add more but you can take any out!

Once you're happy with the mix, line a baking tray with baking paper and roll the mix into small balls onto the baking tray. Should make you about 15 choco balls with the quantities above. Put them in the freezer for an hour or so then just store in a container in the fridge until you want to eat them. The best time to eat them seems to be if you take them out of the fridge about 20 minutes before you want to enjoy so they begin to slightly soften.

Ciao for now x

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December 10, 20151 Comment

Energy balls

This is one of my most favourite treats, a little recipe I stumbled across and have made my own by mixing up. You can guarantee that a new batch of these is made every single week and in the fridge to be eaten all week. Sweet, sticky, nutty and nutritious it's a complete guilt free snack that replaces my cake cravings!! Give them a try, all you need is 10 minutes preparation time and a blender....that's it!

Ingredients:

200g Almonds
400g Medjool dates (any dates can be used)
2 tablespoons of Goji Berries
2 tablespoons of Chia Seeds
1 tablespoon of Milled Flax Seeds
2 tablespoons of Coconut Oil
2 tablespoons of Almond Butter

Super easy recipe to make. Put all of the dry ingredients in the blender: almonds, goji berries, chia seeds, flax seeds. Make this as chunky or as fine as you want. I personally like mine with lovely little nuggets of almonds so I give it about 30 seconds to a minute altogether in the blender.

Pit the dates (big seeds taken out from the centre!) and pop them, the coconut oil and almond butter into the blender and blend it up. It should all be nicely sticky and start lumping together. If it doesn't then just add a teaspoon of water at a time until it does. Add the water, then blend and see if it sticks together and if not then continue until it gets nicely sticky together.

That's pretty much it. Now the best thing is to put a sheet of baking paper on a baking tray, roll the mixture into balls of the size you want and pop them on the tray. When I make this many I usually make between 25 and 30 balls but it completely depends on the size you want them. Then pop the tray in the freezer for about an hour just while it all sets. Then you can either leave them in the freezer and eat from there (I do love them frozen too, they're like little frozen cakes!) or I usually add them to a plastic container and pop them in the fridge.

I have kept mine for about 3 weeks but just be aware that the longer they're in the fridge the more they tend to dry out if there are more nuts to the mix.

Then you can tailor the recipe as you like. If you want to be more nutty and less sticky just play with adding less dates and more nuts or the other way around. They are great little snacks to eat all the time.

One of the girls in my class even got her own DIY kit which you can see in the pics below. I gave her all the ingredients in their own little bags for her to give a try. Easy as 1, 2, 3!!

Bags of ingredients Energy balls

If you liked this post then watch out for next week and I'll post a chocolate variation for you...yes, CHOCOLATE that is yummy and nutritious!

Ciao for now x

  
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