Tag: yum

XMAS Healthy Salted Caramel Cookies

Posted in ALL POSTS, CHRISTMAS, FOODTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Okay so yes this is your usual Salted Caramel cookie recipe, however, for a sprinkle of Christmassy festivity I added cinnamon, nutmeg and rich dark chocolate to the dough.

Read on if you’re interested in my simple, yet divinely tasty XMAS Caramel cookies. Or better; create them yourself in 20 minutes.

Gather the following:

The Method:

  1. Mix all the ingredients (except chocolate chips) together, until you form a cookie dough. You can add almond milk gradually if the mixture is too flour-y.

2. Use a rolling pin to knead the dough out on top of an acrylic/plastic/stone surface.

3. Here’s where it got a little more complicated. I’m currently experiencing an Australian summer, so naturally the sun was beating down at 30˚C, which made all my cookie dough melt and stick to my hands. So, I wrapped it in cling wrap and popped it in the freezer for 5 mins to make it think it was in Antarctica.

4. Cut little shapes out with the cookie cutter.

5. As the cookie cutter will make the raw cookies a lot thinner and smaller than Betty Crocker recommends for cookie sizing, you only have to place them in the oven for 8 minutes at 180˚C (350˚F), so they don’t burn.

The perfect Christmas treat. Enjoy!

xx

Australia voted YES! Rainbow Pizza & Pancakes for Marriage Equality.

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Although I’m not a member of the LGBT community, I believe in equal rights, and so, hearing that 61.6% of Australians had voted “YES” in the recent postal vote (legalising gay marriage) was overwhelmingly exciting.

Naturally, I decided to draw inspiration from the rainbow flag, which represents the LGBT movement, and make rainbow pizza and pancakes to celebrate.

If you want to make eye-catching rainbow meals, read on.

Rainbow Pancakes (makes 15)

We’ll start with the pancakes – since they are the simplest, and because everyone wishes dessert would come first.  These are the perfect breakfast or lunch (or dinner?) recipe.

You will need food dye, pancake mix, vanilla essence, fruit (to garnish) and butter for greasing.

Start by working off the pancakes you’re about to eat, and shake the pancake mix like crazy as per its instructions.

Once it’s ready, add 1 tsp of vanilla essence to the mixture (gives it a delightfully sweet tang) and pour 65g of the mixture into 6 different bowls. Add the food dye as follows:

Red – 8 drops red dye

Orange – 2 drops red, 4 yellow

Yellow – 5 drops yellow

Green – 5 drops green

Blue – 5 drops blue

Purple – 3 drops red, 1 blue

Then cook the pancakes over a medium heat in a frying pan. Tip: make sure you add butter to pan between each pancake so they don’t stick and burn (and earn a lovely, buttery aftertaste). You can also use coconut oil as a non-dairy alternative.

Voila! Garnish with berries.

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Rainbow Pizza (makes 8 pieces)

I like it simple so I decided to go with store bought pizza bases. If you can get them I recommend Bazaar Gourmet Pizza bases. You could also use a Cauliflower Crust, if you are looking for a lower calorie alternative.

You will need:

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  • 1 Pizza Base
  • Tomato Paste
  • Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (you can use light mozzarella if you want something healthier)
  • Colourful Veggies, my suggestions:
    • Red – Red Pepper (Capsicum) & Red cherry tomatoes
    • Orange – Carrot
    • Yellow – Yellow cherry tomatoes, Sweet corn
    • Green – Broccolini, Snow peas
    • Purple – Red onion, Cabbage (I didn’t end up using the cabbage)

After heating the oven to 220˚C, smear the base with tomato paste and sprinkle the cheese on top. Note: this is different to normal pizza recipes. The cheese needs to be put on first so the veggies stick but you can still see their beautiful colours.

Then, chop up all the veggies and place them on the pizza in a rainbow fashion.

Cook for 10 minutes and your pizza is ready!

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These recipes were so tasty, and incredibly fun to make. Let me know if you try it out, or have any other rainbow recipes 🙂

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xx

The Perfect High Satiety Breakfast

Posted in ALL POSTS, FOOD, HEALTHTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I have been trying out all different styles of breakfasts (muesli, toast, bacon & eggs, avo on toast, oats, healthy pancakes, smoothies) to try and find a delicious breakfast that I’m excited for every morning, which is also very filling.

It is so important to have a nutritious first meal of the day. Not only to put you in a good mood, but also for several health reasons. The first meal breaks your overnight fast (hence ‘break fast’), replenishing your glucose levels for the day. This stabilises your blood sugar, improves your memory and concentration, and ensure you don’t head for calorie-dense, unhealthy options at the end of the day.

Whilst different people enjoy their first meal at different times (intermittent fasters might have breakfast at 1pm!), it is important to have a balanced first meal. The savoury option I believe I’ve perfected:

  • 2 scrambled eggs cooked in 1/2 tbsp coconut oil, with a handful of baby spinach
  • 1/4 avocado
  • 4 cherry tomatoes (you could also add mushrooms, or halloumi if you like!)
  • 1 piece of multi-grain toast
  • Black tea with almond milk (or herbal tea e.g. peppermint)

This meal has complex carbohydrates in the bread, healthy fat in the avocado, protein in the eggs, and vitamin C, potassium and magnesium in the baby spinach.

To avoid getting tired of having the SAME meal every day, mix the meal up by replacing the egg with 50g of fish, such as tuna, trout or cooked salmon. Or, you can try different types of bread such as wholemeal, rye or sourdough. It’s up to you!

xx

Green Tea Smoothie: the Yummy Way to Get Your Greens.

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Summer or winter I love a smoothie. Having said that, I live in Australia, so winter isn’t that cold.

After lots of experimenting, I have created the perfect smoothie with ingredients that have different benefits for a healthy lifestyle.

1

You will need:

1/3 cup brewed green tea
Green tea is nature’s power drink. It’s packed with anti-oxidants and carries 0 calories. The low doses of caffeine stimulate your system, whilst increasing fat burning and preventing the chance of cancer, infections, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. If you don’t love the taste of pure green tea like myself, finding fun ways to incorporate it into your diet (like through smoothies) is the best way to go.

1/4 cup Natural Yoghurt
I love to add a small amount of creamy Jalna yoghurt to make my smoothie thicker. Go for the full-fat version to make sure your smoothie fills you up. Don’t be fooled by half-fat yoghurts – lower fat means more sugar making you hungrier and wanting more. Dairy-free alternatives I like are Cashew/Almond Yoghurt or Coconut Yoghurt.

A Handful of frozen blueberries
Blueberries are little bursts of nutrients, full of fibre and vitamins. They help prevent cancer and cholesterol issues and have also been shown to reduce the chance of heart disease.

1/2 a Banana
Banana’s are a wonderfully filling, low-calorie snack. They have numerous health benefits, but perhaps the most interesting is that they have been shown to preserve memory due to their levels of vitamin B6.

1 heaped TBSP of Chia Seeds
Chia seeds have dominated the clean eating space for as long as I can remember. No wonder… because they have so many health benefits. They have anti-ageing properties, they aid digestion and bone strength. As they can absorb 10x their weight in water, they prolong hydration and improve nutrient absorption of electrolytes.

1 TSP of acai powder
See more about the benefits of Acai Powder in my recent post.

1 cup of almond milk
I love almond milk! I do believe it’s an acquired taste, but once you learn to love it, you will be using milk that is 40% less calorie-dense than cow’s milk. However, if you are worried about developing lactose intolerance, make sure to still incorporate a moderate amount of dairy in your diet.

xx

My Guilty Pleasure… Roast Pumpkin

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If there was a prize for the world’s biggest snacker I would win. I’ve never been able to get my head around having 2-3 big meals in a day. I like to eat every 1-2 hours to keep my energy levels up.

I once read that women snack 15% more than men. I’m sure that differs from person to person, but if you want to read more of that research head here.

Currently, my favourite sweet-savoury snack is roast pumpkin.

I tend to opt for more filling snacks (mixed nuts, serving of fruit, roasted Fava beans or chickpeas, roasted vegetables) because they have that satiation factor that keeps me full for longer and stops me from grabbing sugar-filled treats for energy.

Roast pumpkin is a staple snack that can also be made to accompany lunch and dinner meals.

Method:

After preheating the oven to 200˚C (400˚F), I do peel and chop up about 1/3 of a pumpkin into bite-sized pieces. Make sure they are small so that they cook all the way through.

I lay the pumpkin pieces out on a tray that’s lined with baking paper, and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the top. I go for extra virgin olive oil because it’s an unrefined oil that retains the natural vitamins and minerals found in olives.

I season them with thyme, basil, salt, and paprika and then garnish them with a handful of chopped walnuts, for extra flavour and crunch.

Then, I slide them into the oven for 30 minutes.

You should also try this recipe out with capsicum (Bell Pepper), sweet potato, low carb potatoes, and other mixed veggies.

Let me know if you give it a go!

What’s your guilty pleasure?