Month: March 2018

Carrot & Coconut Muffins

The snow last weekend gave me a great excuse to stay in the kitchen and bake.  I haven’t baked muffins for a while and I wanted to trial some vegan ones. I admit I wasn’t sure if they would have the same rise and texture and I did get through a few ‘testers’ to check on baking times.  But these worked a treat and I have them stocked in my freezer for a quick brekkie.

Delicious with some coconut yoghurt and maple syrup drizzled over the top.  It has inspired me to try lots more – so watch this space.  You can’t beat a muffin for breakfast.

The Christmas muffin cases added to the snowy feel!

Carrot & Coconut Muffins

  • 125g Spelt or wholemeal flour
  • 125g plain white flour
  • 90g sugar (I used golden caster sugar)
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 80g finely grated carrot
  • 50g coconut flakes
  • 80g raisins
  • 250ml Almond milk
  • 90ml Rapeseed oil
  • 1 flax egg – 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water and left for 10mins.

Method

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl, including the carrot, coconut and raisins.  Mix the wet ingredients together (milk, oil and flax egg).  Add the wet to the dry and mix.

Spoon into muffin cases and bake at 180c/350f/Gas 4 – for 25 minutes. Cover with foil and cook for a further 5-10 minutes.

 

P&J brekkie tortilla

My latest supply of one of my favourite peanut butters (Manilife) arrived yesterday and so peanut butter had to be part of my brekkie today (although I had already eaten a fair few spoonfuls from the jar within seconds of it arriving.)  With a packet of flatbreads languishing in the bread bin, this simple P&J tortilla was envisaged, made and eaten within 5 minutes.  If you love peanut butter and jam, you’ll love this.  I used raspberries and raspberry jam, but you could use strawberries with strawberry jam, blueberries etc., anything would be lovely.

Possibly not the healthiest of breakfasts due to the high sugar content of the jam, but it was worth it and in my defence I had walked the dog.  You could of course use a low sugar jam or make your own chia seed jam, but for now, the original stuff did the job beautifully.

P&J brekkie Tortilla

  • 1 flour tortilla (large)
  • 1 tablespoon of your favourite peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons Raspberry Jam
  • Handful of fresh raspberries
  • Yoghurt (I used coconut)

Heat a frying pan (no oil required) – and when it’s hot, add the tortilla.  After a minute, take the tortilla out of the pan and put it on a plate cold side down.  Spread your peanut butter over the hot side, and then spread the jam on top and top with some raspberries.  Fold the tortilla in half over the filling.  Put this back in the pan (heat on) and dry fry for a minute on both sides – the tortilla will start to brown.

Cut in half and serve with some more fruit and yoghurt.

 

 

Pro high Tofu

I’ve been hunting out high protein breakfasts recently as I feel my protein intake needed a bit of a boost.  Over the past couple of years I’ve become more of a convert to using protein powders as a quick boost after long runs.  I use silken tofu a lot for sweet dishes and breakfasts and this is a quick and easy fusion between a protein shake and a smoothie bowl.  The high protein of tofu, the added chia seeds and almond butter, and the extra hit from the protein powder, provides a big punching plant based protein start to the day.

You can eat this with fruit, alongside a muffin or my favourite is with some crunchy granola on top to add some texture.

This breakfast fuelled me today for a long dog walk and a hilly run session.

Pro High Tofu (2 servings)

  • 1 packet of silken tofu (300g)
  • 1 tablespoon almond butter
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1 tablespoon hemp protein powder (or other plant based protein powder)
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Topping

Some raw cacao, banana and granola of choice – or anything that goes!

Method

In a blender, blend the tofu, almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla essence and protein powder then stir in the seeds.  This keeps in the fridge for a few days.