Zucchini Carrot Oatmeal Muffin/Cupcakes

Posted on by

0

Bit of late night baking last night trying out this new recipe! I had my first one this morning and they are really yummy!! A great way to get some veggies in without even knowing 🙂 I made them into cupcakes just because I had no muffin cases and got 15 cupcakes out of the mixture 😀

12336033_10205731319106550_1010202853_n

Ingredients

1 cup porridge oats

2 cups buckwheat flour*

1 cup coconut sugar*

1 heaped tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

3/4 cup coconut oil

1 cup grated zucchini

1 cup grated carrot

1 cup raisins

*You can replace the buckwheat flour with whatever you like; oat flour, ground almonds, wholemeal spelt flour etc.

*If you don’t have coconut sugar handy, you could replace this with agave syrup, honey, maple syrup etc.

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 175°C.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients together first in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and oil. Stir in the grated zucchini and carrots. Add to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add in the raisins and spread them out in the mixture making sure they’re evenly distributed.
  4. Fill your muffin/cupcake cases about 3/4 way full and bake for approx. 20 minutes. They’re done when a knife inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy in the morning or as a snack throughout the day 🙂

Yummy in my tummy 😀

Tee. X

 

Chicken Korma & A Tropical Coconut Pineapple Cashew Rice

Posted on by

0

If you’re like me and love Indian food than you will love these recipes!!

Chicken Korma

Ingredients

3-4 chicken fillets

1 heaped tbsp of finely grated fresh ginger

3 cloves of garlic, minced

3 heaped tbsp of plain yoghurt

1 red chilli, finely chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1 tbsp coconut oil/rapeseed oil

1 tbsp ground coriander

pinch of ground black pepper

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

water

75g creamed coconut (I found this in a health food store but a tin of coconut milk would be fine as well, just use less water then)

2 heaped tbsps ground almonds

Method

  1. Cut the chicken fillets into bite sized chunks.
  2. Mix the chicken with the ginger, garlic and yoghurt in a bowl. Cover with cling film and marinade for 12 hours or in the fridge overnight (If you do this on the day of cooking that’s fine too, try and marinade for a few hours if you can though). IMG_0558
  3. Liquidise the chopped onion and red chilli, add a little water if you need to and blend until smooth. IMG_0559
  4. Heat the oil in a pan.
  5. Add the ground coriander, ground black pepper, turmeric and garam masala and stir fry for about 1 minute over a low heat.
  6. Turn up the heat, add the onion and chilli paste and stir fry for 10 minutes.
  7. Add the chicken marinade and continue to stir fry for another 10 minutes.
  8. Add the creamed coconut and enough water to just cover the chicken (if you are using a tin of coconut milk, you probably won’t need to use water as the milk should cover the chicken but if not add a little) and bring to the boil, stirring until the coconut is dissolved. Stir in the ground almonds.
  9. Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and simmer until the chicken is tender (30-40 minutes).
  10. Remove from heat when it is ready to serve.

Tropical Coconut Pineapple Cashew Rice 

http://www.thechunkychef.com/tropical-coconut-pineapple-cashew-rice/ ~ This rice is so worth trying, really easy to make and it compliments the korma so well!

IMG_0562

Serve & Enjoy 🙂

Tee.X

 

Millet Porridge

Posted on by

0

Millet is a seed but you can get it in a flake form as well just like porridge oats. It’s that bit sweeter than regular porridge. It’s really nutritious – providing fiber, iron, B vitamins, manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium – and highly alkaline, making it easily digestible and soothing to the stomach 🙂 Here’s a great article with a lot more info on millet ~ http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-health-benefits-of-millet.html

IMG_0438

Here’s how I made my Millet Porridge…

  1. Rule of thumb: Simmer in 2 parts liquid to 1 part millet flakes. I used 1 cup of almond and coconut milk to 1/2 cup of millet flakes.
  2. I let it simmer on a medium heat for approx 5 minutes and stirring regularly until the liquid is absorbed and looks like a fluffy mixture!
  3. Pour into a bowl and top with preferred toppings, I topped mine with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cacao nibs and a drizzle of agave syrup.

IMG_0439

Yummy in my tummy 🙂

Enjoy,

Tee. X

Donal Skehan’s Strawberry & Chocolate Overnight Oats

Posted on by

0

Finally got a hold of Donal Skehan’s new cookbook ‘Fresh’ and I love it! I would highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself because there are so many nutritious recipes in there and pretty straight forward to make as well!

Anyway was feeling like trying out something different for breakfast this morning so I went with one of Donal’s recipes for overnight oats 🙂

I just made a couple of changes to his recipe but nothing major 🙂

IMG_0375

NB. If you are planning on making this recipe, remember you must prepare the oats the night before!

Ingredients

25g porridge oats

1 tbsp chia seeds

150ml almond milk

1 tbsp honey/agave syrup/maple syrup

1 tsp cacao powder

3 strawberries, cut in half

2-3 tbsp natural yoghurt

1 tbsp raw cacao nibs

1 tbsp desiccated coconut

Method

  1. Combine the oats, chia seeds and almond milk in a jar with a tight-fitting lid (or what I did was use a glass and cover tightly with 2 layers of cling film) and place in the fridge overnight.
  2. Mix together the honey and cacao powder and set aside.
  3. (Optional) Warm the soaked oats mixture in a microwave or pan.
  4. Top with the yoghurt, strawberries, chocolate sauce, cacao nibs and desiccated coconut.

So yummy!!

Enjoy 🙂

Tee. X

Sweet Potato Turkey Shepherds Pie

Posted on by

0

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1 lb turkey mince
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil/coconut oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 large carrots, chopped
  • 1 courgette, chopped
  • 1 pepper (half red/half yellow), chopped
  • 8 mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 heaped handfuls of spinach
  • 1 tbsp tomato pureé
  • 1 tin of tomatoes
  • mixed herbs
  • salt and pepper

Topping

  • 3 medium-large sweet potato peeled and diced
  • knob of butter
  • paprika

IMG_0306Method

  1. In a large bottom saucepot, on a medium heat, add the oil to the pan. Then add the onion and garlic and sauté until soft and translucent.
  2. Next add in the turkey mince and cook off until brown.
  3. Add in the carrots, courgette and mushrooms and cook for a further 2 minutes.  IMG_0308
  4. Next, slowly add in the tin of tomatoes (add a little water to tin to get excess out) and the tomato pureé. Add in the mixed herbs and a pinch of salt & pepper. Bring to boil, then lowering to a simmer for aprox 20 – 25 minutes.
  5. While that is simmering, you can boil the sweet potatoes until cooked and soft (approx 20-25 minutes).
  6. Lower the heat of the mince pot and stir in the spinach, it will wilt slightly.
  7. Once the sweet potatoes are ready, drain out the water, add the butter and use a hand masher to mash the potatoes to a smooth mixture.
  8. Prepare an oven proof casserole dish, fill 2/3 of the way with the mince mixture and next spoon the sweet potato on top, using a spoon to spread out and evenly. Use a fork to scrape the top of the potatoes to make ridges and sprinkle with paprika.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes or until potatoes turn slightly golden.

Enjoy 🙂

Tee. X

Halloween Bairín Breac

Posted on by

0

IMG_0141

It being Halloween, Bairín Breac (Barmbrack) is very traditional 🎃 Me being me, I wanted to try and find a healthy recipe for the Breac but couldn’t really find any. I suppose you can’t really change something so traditional especially when it’s so good the way it is!

So I decided to compromise a small bit and since I love Donal Skehan and his recipes, I came across a recipe that he has and just changed one or two of the ingredients.

Here is the link to Donal’s original recipe ~ http://www.donalskehan.com/2010/10/halloween-barmbrack/ ~ The only changes I made were using buckwheat flour instead of plain flour and using coconut sugar instead of light brown sugar (coconut sugar has nearly the same texture and look as brown sugar so was a good substitute) and the remaining ingredients stayed the same 😊

It turned out really delicious and that bit more nutritious as well 😊

IMG_0142

Definitely worth a try!!

Enjoy 😊

Tee. X

Zucchini Bread

Posted on by

0

Experimented with this recipe during the week and I really enjoyed it! It only lasted about 2 days before it was all gone 😦 The bread came out quite moist and spongy like but it was really nice, it was perfect on it’s own or else I tried it with some almond butter spread on top and that went down a treat as well 🙂 Nutritious and delicious so it’s a win win 😀

IMG_5298[1]

IMG_5299[1]

IMG_5300[1]Ingredients

  • 1 & 3/4 cup flour (I mixed it up between quinoa flour and buckwheat flour)
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 mashed banana
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp honey/maple syrup
  • 1 & 1/2 cup grated zucchini
  • 6 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Either grease or place parchment paper in an 8×4 loaf tin.
  2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  3. Add in the eggs, mashed banana, vanilla extract, syrup, and grated zucchini and stir until all the ingredients are mixed well together.
  4. Slowly add in the almond milk, stopping when the batter is quite thick. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the oven at for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick/knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool before cutting into slices.

Enjoy,

Tee. X

Frozen Yoghurt Cup/Bites

Posted on by

1

I actually made those frozen yoghurt cups in the photos back a couple of months ago when it was absolutely freezing outside but I was experimenting with snack recipes at the time and really wanted to try it!! It made no sense to share this recipe with you back then so I said I’d wait until the summer months and here we are 🙂

Ingredients

  • 100g serving of organic greek style natural yoghurt eg. glenisk, fage, liberté
  • 1 cup of sliced strawberries

Method

Frozen Yoghurt Bites

Placing 1 tsp of yoghurt into each ice cube mould + slice of strawberry + another layer of yoghurt on top; pop in the freezer for 2-3 hours or until set.

Frozen Yoghurt Cup

Using the same ingredients place the yoghurt into a cup and dip the sliced strawberries in as well. You could pop a stick in as well to make it look like an ice lolly. Best to prepare this in the morning or night before so you have this snack ready for the day ahead.

IMG_5262

IMG_5264

So simple and the perfect snack 🙂

Tee. X

Cacao vs. Cocoa: The Same Or Different?

Posted on by

0

I used to think that Cacao powder and Cocoa powder were exactly the same just with a difference in spelling!! However I’ve learnt since that Cacao and Cocoa are actually two different powders which have been processed differently giving one a nutritional benefit and unfortunately stripping the nutritional benefit from the other.

IMG_5250[1]

Cacao powder is extracted by first cold pressing the whole cacao bean to preserve the nutrients. By this technique, cacao powder contains much of the nutritional benefit as the whole bean. The nutritional benefits of cacao are that it is high in fibre, high in plant protein, high in vitamin C, high in iron and calcium and low in sugar. I use it all the time when I’m baking now, I’ve picked it up in supermarkets and health food stores. The two I’ve used most are;

Iswari Raw Cacao Powder…

IMG_5253[1]

And Nua Naturals Cacao Powder 🙂

IMG_5254[1]

And there you have it, Cacao vs. Cocoa powder 🙂 You learn something new every day!!

Happy Tuesday,

Tee. X

Healthy Rice Krispie Buns

Posted on by

0

These look like rice krispie buns don’t they…

IMG_5120[1]

But.. They’re not 😉

Instead of using rice krispies I followed one of Deliciously Ella’s recipes from her cookbook and made these really delicious Quinoa and Cacao Crispy Treats! The main ingredient used in this recipe instead of using rice krispies are Quinoa Pops…

IMG_5118[1]

Quinoa is one of my favourite foods because it’s so nutritious and I love adding it to everything and anything so you can imagine how excited I was when I found this recipe 😀 I used love making rice krispie buns when I was younger for any parties that were going on and I know to this day that rice krispie buns are a staple food party piece at most children’s parties which is why I really want to share this recipe with you all because these quinoa and cacoa crispy treats are just as fun to make as your normal rice krispie buns but they have the added bonus of being super nutritious 😀

Anyway enough chatter.. here is the recipe from Deliciously Ella’s (http://deliciouslyella.com/) cookbook which I would highly recommend purchasing!

Quinoa and Cacao Crispy Treats ~

Ingredients

  • 1 and a 1/2 cups (60g) of quinoa pops (I was able to buy these in Cornucopia, the health food shop in Macroom)
  • 1/3 of a cup of raw cacao powder (80g)
  • 6 tbsp of pure maple syrup/honey
  • 5 tbsp of coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp of almond butter (or preferred nut butter)
  • cupcake cases

Method

  1. Place the coconut oil, cacao powder, maple syrup/honey and almond butter into a saucepan and gently heat it for a few minutes until it’s melted.
  2. Next, pour in the quinoa pops and stir it all together until all the quinoa pops have been covered in chocolate.
  3. Scoop the mixture out into the cupcake cases and place in a fridge/freezer for approx. 20 minutes or until the chocolate has set.

Enjoy 🙂

Tee. X