Healthy and Easy Breakfast Options

Breakfast recipes:

Pancakes & Bakes

I made Not Quite Nigella's Blueberry Chia Pancakes, recipe is from here. They are probably going to be my go to recipe from now. I always have problems with pancakes, probably because I mix the batter too much but even though I mixed the wet with the dry ingredients a lot, they still turned out great! Not chewy at all or too wet/dry and had a cake like texture.

I reduced the chia seeds to 1 tablespoon and used frozen blueberries. I think it's pretty important to use a good quality vanilla essence though because that's the predominant flavour, if you omit the syrup.

I had it with maple syrup and would normally spread some kind of nut butter but we ran out.

This pancake recipe is super easy, just mash a ripe banana (the riper the better) and mix with a beaten egg. This is your batter which makes around 6-8 small pancakes. You just need a non stick pan on a low heat and a lot of patience. 

It tastes like banana and has quite a wet texture. I'm quite amazed it worked though, I would make it again if I wanted a healthy alternative to pancakes.

My Favourite Breakfast Muffins are from here. I've made them twice already - easy, portable, healthy and delicious (especially when heated up for 30s in the microwave). 

Baked Oatmeal

Blueberry and Banana, slightly adapted from here

Just combined 1 cup of oats and top with boiling water until just covered. In another bowl, mix 1 cup of blueberries (I used frozen and it worked), 1 chopped banana (with a little reserved to decorate), handful of walnuts broken up into smaller pieces, half a cut up pitted dates (the woolworths brand one seems very similar to medjool dates, just slightly less sticky), 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.

Once oats are soft, add 1/4 cup almond and coconut milk (or any milk). Mix dry ingredients with wet ones. Pour into baking dish and top with left over sliced banana. Put oven on 190 degrees celcius for 20 minutes and you are done. 

Baked Carrot Cake Oatmeal from here
This looked great but it was a little disappointing, I preferred the deliciouslyella one. It was very wholesome and made a great breakfast but it wasn't sweet enough (something I rarely say). The only sweetness in the base came from the raisins and the maple syrup from the top was hardly noticeable. I also found the top to be too unnecessarily oily, next time I would reduce the oil.

& Other Oaty goodness

Overnight oats:
combine a cup of oats with 1.5 cups of almond milk, grate an apple, add a tablespoon of chia seeds, tea spoon of cinnamon, pinch of salt and a teaspoon vanilla extract. Then pop it in the fridge, excellent cold or warm. It reminds me of my go to porridge

My Go-To Granola

3 cups oats
1 cup almonds (or any nuts)
1 cup pumpkin seeds (or any seed)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup dates and 1/2 cup cranberries (or any dried fruit)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 tbsp virgin coconut oil
3 tbsp maple syrup and 1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp salt

Put in oven on 180 degrees celcius and bake until oats/coconut are golden brown. Be careful as it burns quickly.

Eats Of The Week #2

Strawberry, Goats Cheese & Avocado Toast

Cut up 1 thick slice of bread (mine is a rye sourdough) but you can use just sandwich bread but please use day old bread (it's crunchier/yummier when you toast it in the oven)

Smash some avocados and layer it on the bread, cut some strawberries lengthways and place it on top then place some pieces of goats cheese on top

Pop it in the oven on high and it should be ready when the goats cheese is a golden and sides of the toast are browned.

Enjoy! It is delicious and very beautiful

Chicken & Pesto Pasta - sorry I forgot to take a picture but this is my favourite pasta recipe! Adapted from here

1. Cook 1 chicken breast (cut into smaller pieces). Cook spiral pasta (add a bit of salt to the water). Once chicken is fully cooked leave aside. Drain the pasta (leave a little liquid)

2. Heat a pan with oil, then add large tablespoon of minced garlic. After browning the garlic for a minute, add a can of coles tomatoes (mixed herb) and let it reduce down. Then add a large bowl of kale to the tomato mixture and let it simmer for a bit longer.

3. Distribute pasta into bowls. Top with tomato sauce mixture and add however much pesto you want to each and mix. Then top with ricotta and parmesan. I really like the Sacla Classic Pesto

Pumpkin Soup and Macaroon Balls

Had a bit of a cooking day today:

Easy Pumpkin Soup: 

1. Cut up a 1/4 Jap Pumpkin into small cubes, toss with 1tsp olive oil, salt, pepper and some curry powder and lay it flat and put it in the oven on 200 degrees celcius for 45 minutes

2. Sautee a small onion with 1tsp curry powder (or more), 1/4 tsp chili powder and 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3. When pumpkin is done, put it with the onion and add 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup veggie stock or 2 cups chicken/veggie stock. Then put enough hot water to cover the vegetables if needed.

4. Simmer for 10 minutes and then blend for a few minutes leaving some pumpkin so it's more chunky. Season with salt and pepper

This was really nice and quite filling

This is the pumpkin (roasted) and the onion and spices are down the bottom.

Finished:

Chocolate Chip Macaroon Balls

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius

2. Mix vanilla extract with 1 egg white until combined but dont overwisk.

3. Combine 1 cup dessicated coconut (I used shredded), 1/8 cup caster sugar, 1/2tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 cup chocolate chips. If you don't have chocolate chips, it would still work.

4. Scoop into 1 tablespoon balls (makes about 8 large ones) and put it in the oven for 10 minutes. Done

It is seriously delicious even if the mixture seems a little dodgy the egg really binds it well

Mixed the egg white with the coconut mixture

Form into balls:

Sorry I didn't get a good picture of the finished product but trust me they are really good! and they only took 15 minutes in total.

Also, I made these banana, strawberry oatmeal squares and added some blueberries. I wouldn't recommend them because they tasted quite dry and although the outside was hard (tasted more stale than crispy the inside was soft) and leaving it longer in the oven didn't help either.

Carrot, Apple & Ginger Soup

I'm making this right now and I know it'll be fantastic and I know I said I liked soups with texture but I love the sound of this. This reminds me of something I read once, what's longer a microwave minute or a treadmill minute haha how about waiting for a delicious soup bubbling away.

Cut up 5 cups of carrots, 1 big apple, grate 2tbsp of ginger, mince 2 cloves of garlic. Cut up 1 onion and add to pot with 1 tbsp olive oil for 5 minutes. Then add ginger and garlic and let it cook for a few minutes then add the carrots and apple.

We freeze our ginger and it's fine and easier to grate.

Add 4 cups of vegetable stock (mine wasn't salt reduced) and let it cook for 20 minutes

Blend with an immersion blender, I didn't have nutmeg so I added a pinch of cinnamon.

4. Done

Found this to be delicious and warming from the ginger (good if you have a cold). It also makes a lot of servings and is quite cheap. This soup would be perfect on a chilly winter day or if you were sick.

Overnight Oats In A Jar

I'd wanted to try this recipe for ages after seeing beautiful pictures of overnight oats in a jar and every time I see #oiaj on instagram I think I must get some nice yogurt asap. 

Also, we got a new fridge! Sadly, our old fridge couldn't be fixed :( 

I adapted the recipe slightly using 1/3 cup soy milk, pinch of salt and cinnamon, 1/3 cup rolled oats, 1 tub of chobani (about 1/3 cup including some of the fruit), didn't put chia or banana. Then leave it in the fridge overnight and enjoy it in the morning. I can't wait to make almond butter and put it in the almost empty jar.

This was seriously delicious! It has a pudding like consistency but the oats have softened and released their gluten? the thing that makes them gluggy when you make oatmeal,

I liked that it tasted quite creamy, was portable, filling and healthy. Most importantly, no flaffing around in the kitchen in the morning!

I've also tried this the next day with blueberry chobani, basil seeds and shredded coconut. It was so good!

Healthy Banana Bread

I adapted this Banana bread a day ago and it's been my go to recipe ever since. Incredibly delicious and healthy. 

1 cup wholemeal self raising flour and 1 cup white flour sifted.

If you get this from the bottom of the wholemeal flour, you can just throw it. It still makes 1 cup without it (I checked).

Add 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp bicarb soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 100g (1 cup) walnuts, broken up to the size you like.  Stir till combined well and make a well

Mash 2 large bananas (1 cup)

Add mashed bananas, 2 eggs (lightly whisked) and 1 cup soy milk in the well of the dry ingredients. Mix until well combined

Put in a 6cm deep, 10x20cm loaf pan 

I actually found this to be so much nicer the next day which is probably why on the website they say make the day before. Heat a slice in the microwave for 40sec and slather with nut butter.

I love this banana bread because it's so easy and heathy without sacrificing on flavour or texture. Everyone I've given it to has loved it. It can be frozen for up to 3 months! I prefer it to the Donna Hay one as it has less ingredients and easier. 

Eats Of The Week #1

I had a few yummy eats this week:

Super Salad, adapted from here 

Used a 'deluxe mix' from the veggie shop which contained some seeds, sultanas, almonds. To it, I added mint, tomato, cucumber, avocado, blueberries and white quinoa. To cook quinoa: use 1 part quinoa, 2 parts water in the microwave for 10 minutes then let it soak up the liquid for another 2 minutes. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil

Perfect Breakfast:

Smashed avocado with lemon juice and cracked pepper on raisin toast. Topped with a perfectly poached egg, tomato and 2 cups of twinnings peppermint tea on the side.

Also LOVE this combo with a scraping of vegemite under the avocado