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.

Banana, protein and oat pancakes

Pancakes for me are the epitome of a lazy Sunday. Whipping up a batch of pancakes for a long lazy start to the day. And there has to be maple syrup.

But they aren’t too great for the health conscious eaters and whilst the odd pancake binge isn’t going to do anyone any harm, it’s perhaps not a weekly staple.

Unless that is… they are these...

Made with oats and protein powder, rather than the usual flour and butter based pancakes. They are quite sweet but they work equally well with savoury and sweet toppings – my personal favourite are oodles of berries and natural yoghurt or the classic (lean) bacon, banana and a touch of maple syrup.

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. 

Banana and vanilla protein flapjacks

Healthy snacking is hard, especially when you are working in an office, where it is the norm for colleagues to bring in tasty and tempting treats. 

Whilst everyone is tucking into the biccies and pastries, sometimes you fruit slices and ryvita just doesn't seem to be fulfilling your snacking needs! 

Homemade flapjacks do make a great snack, and are so easy, so if you are looking for a great snack recipe, try these banana and vanilla protein flapjacks. 

Home made French onion soup recipe

Inspired by an overnight trip to Paris (I'll blog about that soon), I decided to whip up a batch of French onion soup for me and my dad over the Christmas break. 

Being a fantastic cook, my mum does the most amazing French onion soup so I'll be honest - this was not as good as hers! 

With just a few simple, humble ingredients, there is magic in the process that transforms them into a delicious, warming soup at the end. The magic ingredient? Time. Don't rush this. Yes it is an easy recipe but it is also time consuming. 

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!

A simple, delicious kale 'pate'

When kale hit the health world a few years ago, I feel in love with this green stuff. Ok, so it is a bit smelly (sorry to the peeps in my office) but it is tasty and nutritious, 

olive oil adds flavour and good fats 

I've fried it, baked it into "crisps", added it to stews and made salads from it. But then I started to run out of ideas. That is until I made it into a spread! A tasty, fragrant and versatile spread. 

creamy and tasty 

Here is how to make this kale spread...

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...

Quick and easy no-bake flapjack protein bars

It is the new year and I am on a health kick! One thing that is important when you are doing your best to be good, is ensure that you have lots of healthy snacks laying around so you won't be tempted by the sugar devil. 

I know that snacks can be the clean eating down fall, as they are often eaten on the go and need to be quick and fuss free. Carrots and hummus is all well and good, but there isn't always the time and place for that. 

delicious and healthy 

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

Wheat free banana and cocoa nibs protein bars

Sometimes healthy eating can be a pain in the arse, especially when you are trying to eat well on the go. One answer I have for this is homemade flapjacks and protein bars.

Full of protein, these are an easy snack that you can make in bulk, freeze and eat on the go. These bars are slightly drier than the other flapjack recipes I have made so expect them to be like bars, not fluffy, floury cakes.

tasty afternoon snack 

Home-made vanilla and date protein flapjacks

The other day I was flicking through an old copy of “muscle and fitness” that the Boy had left laying around and stumbled across a “protein flapjack” recipe.

We have tried making flapjacks once but it was a disaster (not as bad as the infamous “salmon cookies”) as they had no ‘stick’ to them and crumbled into a thousand pieces so resembled a granola rather than a flapjack.  Tasty but it weren’t a flapjack.

serve with tea