Raw vegan and gluten free chocolate tart (no bake)

After an amazing 5 weeks in Okinawa (check out my blog post here) I am trying to eat more ‘clean’ now as the rich food has made me start to feel sluggish. Whilst I love my veggies, I also love my desserts and that is the hardest for me when I am 'eating clean'. 

Healthy and desserts aren’t usually two words you see next to each other in a sentence but they certainly go together in this recipe for chocolate tart. Thanks to the cacao powder, this chocolate tart will give you a hit of antioxidants and they are also chock full of protein.

Pumpkin protein pancakes

Pancakes have become somewhat of a Sunday tradition for me and The Boy. Not just out-the-packet pre-made stuff, but delicious home made ones. Plus ones that are full of protein and not made with flour. 

The latest creation are pumpkin based protein pancakes. 

Cherry and coconut protein healthy oat flapjacks

I must admit it has been a while since I did any healthy baking, probably because the Boy has been on deployment and he is the main consumer of my healthy treats. But I had a new man in town staying with me on his trip from Cambodia, my dad. And like the Boy, he likes his food.

I whipped up a batch of flapjacks, experimenting with a new flavour combo. I have experimented with flavours before and the basic mixture of oats, a bit of butter, a bit of milk and an egg. Once you have that you are free to experiment with all sorts of flavours.

Creamy spinach and coconut soup

It is the perfect time of year to be settling down for lunch with a big bowl of steaming soup. Lucky for me, my lovely friend Charlie bought me a huge cookbook of soups for my birthday - the New Covent Garden Food soup cook book in fact. Which is bursting with 365 recipes, one for every day so you'll never be short. 

This spinach and coconut one is creamy and simple to make and totally delicious, and falls on 24th March in the cook book in case you were wondering. 

True to form, I have amended it slightly!

Oh She Glows tex-mex casserole (one pot wonder)

For my birthday, my lovely aunties got me the blogger 'Oh She Glows' cookbook (aka blogger Angela Liddon). It is a vegan cookbook, focusing on real, wholefood ingredients. Sounds right up my street. 

tex mex casserole heaven!

My latest attempt at the recipe is her “crowd pleasing tex-mex casserole” which I must admit I have slightly amended and also de-veganed! Sorry. I added left over chicken and added a little helping of grated cheese on top! But it tastes just as great meat-free!

A delicious and healthy cumin and tahini dressing

This is a short and sweet blog post today but I had to share with you my new favourite dressing! On fish, chicken, vegetable dishes and salads, this dressing is going on everything!!! 

It's simple to make and you can make a batch to last you the week so you always have a tasty dressing at hand. I get it, salad doesn't always get the tastebuds going. I have done it myself - made a huge nutritious salad but not had the appetite for it as it was just so bland!!! 

Chia seed pots - a great on-the-go breakfast or pudding

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so this is not a blog post lecturing about this. But even though we all know that, some of us don't manage it in the morning thanks to our on the go lifestyle. 

Trying to eat healthy on the go (especially breakfast) is always hard, but these chia seed pots are perfect!!! 

chia seed pots 

The great thing about these is that you can make them up the night before, pop them in the fridge and grab then and go in the morning. I even managed to eat one of these on a bus. No problem! Although I try my best to not eat at the desk, this is also perfect when you have too! 

A completely fuss-free but 100% healthy breakfast on the go...

Rocket and potato green soup - vegan and dairy free

The other day I made a delicious rocket and potato soup, the perfect winter warmer. I would like to say I was being creative but in fact my bag of rocket that I had bought and opened only that morning, was already going off. Not being one for wanting to throw away a pound, I was determined to use up the rocket before it completely wilted (is it just me of is Sainsbury’s veg useless and doesn’t last long).  

delicious and creamy 

Anyway, this is such a simple recipe and hopefully you’ll have all the ingredients at home – it is basically onion, potato, rocket and garlic! There is no hidden fat, sugar or salt in this but tastes great! I basically looked in to fridge and scrambled together a few bits.

a healthy dose of green! 

Ingredients:

Olive oil

½ white onion, chopped

1 potato, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 bay leaf

1 pint of vegetable stock

Bag of rocket

Seasoning

just a few simple ingredients 

Green winter-warmer soup – less than 100 calories!

If you are looking for a warming meal than look no further than the humble soup. Soups are the perfect winter meal as they are hot, nutritious and can be made in bulk and stored in the freezer for another day.

hot and tasty 

What’s more, pack in a load of veggies and you’ll top up your nutrients with every slurp!

This green winter soup does look a little like murky pond water, I agree but it is such an easy soup to make, full of health benefits and is only 100 calories per serving!!! What you waiting for? Start making!

less than 100 calories a bowl...get stuck in 

Ingredients

1 large white onion, peeled and sliced

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 large courgettes, chopped

A massive handful of kale

A handful of spinach

4 cups of vegetable stock

Seasoning to taste

Makes 4 servings

Apricot centred protein balls with a coconut crust

You might have seen already a few protein ball snack recipes on my blog (if not, check it out under the tag “snacks and savouries”). Protein snacks have become bit of a popular choice in the last few years although many of the shop bought ones can be misleading as they are not always as healthy as what you think thanks to the added sugars and other nasties. I much prefer to make my own. And the Boy much prefers eating them too.

These protein balls make a great post-workout snack, bursting with a sweet fruity centre and crunchy nutty coating, they are packed with Vitamin C.  Vitamin C helps you metabolise all the protein in the snack to help build muscle.

a zesty centre! 

This recipe has been adapted from Women’s Health magazine, although they also said to add 10g of baobab powder in with the recipe, but I couldn’t get my hands on any of that so skipped it.

homemade nutty chocolate protein balls (5 min recipe)

I always have a batch of protein balls sitting in my fridge for those times when I need a small, protein filled, quick-release energy snack before I work up a sweat. Or alternatively when I need something sweet but not too bad for my insides!

This recipe for nutty chocolate protein balls fits the bill on both cases.

They taste utterly delicious and each small ball packs just over 4g of protein!!!

chocolatey and good for you! 

All you need is...

2 scoops of chocolate protein powder

½ cup of ground almonds

1 tbsp of almond butter

6 dried figs

1 tbsp of honey or agave nectar

2 tbsp of raisins (optional)

Makes 12 small balls


It is so simple to make these balls of protein fantasticness too!

packed full of protein, these are so filling!

Quinoa porridge - tasty breakfast option

I love a good breakfast or brunch, and no time have I made the most of this than whilst I was on my trip to the amazing South Africa. Pretty much most hotels we stayed in laid out a breakfast feast of cold meats, cheese, pastries, juices, savoury nibbles, breads plus all the cooked breakfasts you need from a fry up to eggs Benedict.

But now I am back home, the fun has to stop. Firstly I don’t have time to knock this up in the morning and secondly, I was eating so much, by the end of the three weeks, I had actually had enough of pancakes and pastries! Shock horror.

fresh quinoa porridge

So now I am back to cooking nutritious, fuelling yet tasty breakfasts for the morning rush! One great recipe I love for breakfast, is quinoa porridge.