Tag: breakfast

Orange spice chia bowl

Autumn means warm spices, I love the aroma of cloves and nutmeg and of course cinnamon at this time of year (0r indeed any time of year to be honest).  The blend with oranges is lovely and the addition of some honey spice nuts definitely gets into the autumn spirit.

I made the chia mix first thing in the morning before I went out with the dog and then fried the nuts at the last minute before serving so they were warm and sticky. Seriously good when eaten with a tired dog at your feet.

Orange spice chia bowl

orange-spice-chia

  • 1 orange – peeled
  • 1 tablespoon natural yoghurt
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • Mix of almonds and walnuts (or other nuts) – I used around 5 almonds and 2 walnuts for one portion)
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • More mixed spice
  • More natural yoghurt to serve

In a blender blitz the orange, tablespoon of yoghurt and a teaspoon of mixed spice (or add more if you want more of a spice hit).

Put the orange blend in a bowl and add the chia seeds.  Leave for at least an hour or overnight to allow the chia seeds to soak up the juice.

For the nut topping – chop the nuts and dry fry them for a couple of minutes in a small pan. Add the honey and spice and stir fry for another minute or two.

Layer up your bowl with the orange chia mix, natural yoghurt and the spiced nuts.

 

Beetroot and Coconut Bircher

The beetroot season is in full swing and with our summer continuing I still prefer my oats to be cold.  This is a lovely rich bircher in both taste and colour.  The recipe makes enough for around 3 portions.  Do play around with the additions of nuts and extras, but the beetroot, coconut water and maple syrup with the oats are the core essentials of this dish.

beet-and-coconut-bircher

Beetroot & Coconut Bircher

  • 2ooml coconut water
  • 100g raw beetroot (about one medium beetroot)
  • 100g oats
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
  • 50g Hazelnuts – slightly bashed
  • 50g sultanas
  • 2 tablespoons cacao nibs

Blend the beetroot and coconut water in a blender and put the mixture into a bowl.  Add the oats and maple syrup and mix in.  Add the other ingredients and leave in the fridge overnight.

 

Quick Pear Crunch

I’ve been staring at my bowl of pears all week and they are still as solid as a rock, despite being moved next to the bananas. So instead of prodding them in hopeful anticipation each morning, I decided this morning to take control and soften them by heat.

It was lovely, soft pear that still held it’s shape and was coated in lovely oaty bits.  So if you have some pears that are waiting to ripen, don’t wait – do this!

quick-pear-crunch-1

Quick Pear Crunch (serves one)

  • 1 unripe pear – cored and diced (keep the skin on)
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil
  • 2 tablespoons of oats
  • 1 tablespoon of dried cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon of flaked almonds
  • 1 tablespoon of maple syrup

Method

  • Heat the oil in a small frying pan and then add the diced pear.  Cook gently for 3-4 minutes until the pear feels softer.
  • Add the oats and toss well to coat the pears.  Keep cooking and tossing for another 3 minutes or so, until the oats start to brown.
  • Add the cranberries and almonds and toss a couple of times. Then turn the heat off.
  • Add the maple syrup and toss everything together.
  • Leave it to cool.  I prefer mine quite cool, it gives the oats and syrup time to stick everything together a little bit. But I did nibble some bits whilst it was still hot and it was lovely.

Nice served with yoghurt and even a little more maple syrup if you’re feeling decadent.

quick-pear-crunch-2

Tropical Courgette Smoothie

I will admit it was with quiet desperation that I first added some courgette to a smoothie – my supply of this veg is fast outweighing my ability to eat them.  However I was surprised to find that it tasted ok, in fact the courgette added a little creaminess without too much taste (in a good way).

So after a few more experiments I think that this courgette smoothie is pretty good.

I’m still using my crop of yellow courgettes, but they taste the same as green so either goes.

courgette smoothie

Tropical Courgette Smoothie (serves one)

  • 150g fresh pineapple
  • 100g courgette (skin on)
  • 150ml coconut milk (from a carton not a tin)
  • A handful of mint leaves
  • 1 tablespoon of Tahini
  • 1 medjool date

Blend it all together.

 

Courgette Brekkie Loaf

So the courgette baking continued with this courgette loaf – I warn you, one slice just isn’t enough.  It’s a mix between a tea loaf, cake and sweet bread – which of course makes it perfect for brekkie.  Delicious fresh with butter or a drizzle of honey, or even just on it’s own.

I used yellow courgettes and definitely keep the skin on as it gives some lovely yellow flecks through the loaf (green is good too) – or you could go mad and use both yellow and green.

You can also freeze it – so a great way to continue using up those courgettes. It’s a good idea to slice it once cold before freezing it, so you can grab a slice at a time, although I have frozen a whole loaf as I have plans to eat it all during a family holiday in October!

This makes two loafs (1 litre loaf tins)

courgette bread 1

Courgette Brekkie Loaf

  • 2oog wholemeal plain flour
  • 200g white plain flour
  • 100g spelt flour
  • 1 teaspoon bicarb of soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 300g golden caster sugar
  • A small grating of nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon mixed spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 50g pecan nuts (broken up)
  • 50g walnuts (broken up)
  • 100g raisons
  • 250g melted butter
  • 100ml milk
  • 3 beaten eggs
  • 400g courgettes – grated with skin on

Method

Set oven to 180c/350f/Gas 4

Grease and line the loaf tins (two 1 litre tins)

  • Mix the flours, baking powder, bicarb, sugar, nutmeg, spice, salt, coconut, raisons and nuts together in a big bowl.
  • In a separate bowl – mix together the butter, milk and eggs.  Then mix this into the dry ingredients.
  • Add the grated courgettes and mix well.
  • Pour the mixture into the lined loaf tins.
  • Bake for 50-60 minutes.  The loaf should be a light golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.  Once cool enough to handle (how many times have you burnt yourself trying to remove cakes from tins!) – remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

You can of course eat this warm – but it slices better once cool, otherwise it may be a bit crumbly.

courgette bread 2

Courgette lemon drizzle seedy muffins

I’ve been baking over the bank holiday weekend trying to make a dent in the current crop of courgettes from the allotment. I’ve trialled a few different courgette muffin recipes and I think I’ve finally cracked it with this one.  I was watching the new series of the Great British Bake off – and the drizzle cake challenge gave me ideas!

The drizzle adds an extra layer of flavour and moistness – I did a taste test, some with drizzle and some without, and the drizzle definitely won.  These also freeze well – in case you don’t eat them all at once.

Courgette, lemon and seeds drizzle muffins

Courgette lemon drizzle seedy muffins

  • 280g plain wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 100g soft brown sugar
  • Grated zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 1 egg
  • 100ml rapeseed oil
  • 100ml almond milk
  • 250g grated courgette (keep the skin on – I used yellow courgettes, but green are good too)
For the Drizzle
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (brown or castor sugar)

Method

  • In a large bowl combine the flour, bicarb, baking powder, salt, sugar, lemon zest, poppy and chia seeds.
  • In another bowl mix the lemon juice, oil, egg and milk.  Add this to the dry ingredients and combine well.
  • Add the grated courgette and mix in.
  • Divide into muffin tins (lined with muffin cases) and bake for 20-25 minutes – 200c/400f/Gas 6.  They should go golden brown on the top and a skewer (cocktail stick) comes out clean.
  • Make the Drizzle – put the lemon juice in a pan and add the sugar – simmer over a very gentle heat for a couple of minutes to dissolve the sugar.
  • Whilst the muffins are still warm prick the top of each muffin a few times with a cocktail stick.
  • Drizzle around 1/2 teaspoon over the top of each muffin
  • Leave the muffins to cool in the tin for a few minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

 

Peach Melba Bowl

Peaches are at their best at the moment, lovely and ripe. The peach melba combo of peaches, raspberries and vanilla is a classic and can definitely be reproduced for breakfast. Just the use of the 3 classic ingredients plus oats and yoghurt can produce this lovely bowl – which is a bit of a cross between overnight oats, bircher and a smoothie bowl.

Peach Melba Bowl

Peach Melba Bowl

  • 2 peaches – stoned and cut into chunks
  • 3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
  • 1 vanilla pod – seeds scrapped out
  • 100g fresh raspberries – roughly chopped
  • 60g Oats

Blend the peaches, yoghurt and the seeds from the vanilla pod in a blender. Put this mixture into a bowl and stir through the oats and chopped raspberries. Put in the fridge overnight.

This is enough for two portions – although my breakfast bowl tomorrow will be quite small judging by the amount of extra spoonfuls I was having today.

To serve

Top with raspberries, peach slices, yoghurt and honey

 

Cashew Banana Iced Coffee

When you want a caffeine hit but don’t fancy a hot coffee – this is a very simple iced coffee drink with a nifty portion of fruit thrown in.  Ever since I discovered cashew milk a few weeks ago at my local supermarket I’ve been stocking up and using it in different brekkie recipes.  I had a bit of milk left and wondered if it would go with coffee – it does beautifully!

Cashew Banana Iced Coffee

cashew iced coffee

  • A shot of espresso (or 50ml strong black coffee)
  • 100ml Cashew nut milk
  • 1/2 frozen banana
  • Couple of ice cubes

Make the coffee and let it cool.  Then blend everything together.

 

 

Camp Granola

I’m back from a glorious weekend camping and of course one of the highlights of camping is the early morning brekkie. This time I fancied a change from the usual eggs (or veggie sausages).  Granola can be quick and easily cooked in a small pan on the campfire or stove. I have a small one ring gas camping stove.

The beauty of the ingredients is that most come ready packed and none of them require being kept in a fridge or cool bag.  I love finding all the individual sachets of stuff that you can use, the choice is endless – so it’s easy to mix up all your favourite sachets and have endless versions of this.

camping granola start

This recipe makes enough for one good size portion – I ate most of it for brekkie and then snacked on the rest during the course of the morning.

Camp Granola

  • 40g oats + a sprinkle of spice  (I bagged up a mix of rye and jumbo oats and added a teaspoon of cinnamon – ginger or ground cardamom is good too)
  • 1 sachet of nut butter (Pip & Nut is fab)
  • 1 small individual pot of honey
  • 1 sachet of nuts/seeds/dried fruit (endless choice here – or just make up your own)
  • 1 teaspoon of coconut oil (I put some in a small pot but you can get sachets too)

Method

In a small frying pan (or whatever pan you have) -melt the coconut oil over a gentle heat and then add tcamping granola midhe sachet of nut butter mix them well together.  Add the oats & spice and cook for around 3 – 4 minutes, stirring all the time to coat the oats thoroughly.

It will start to go slightly brown and the spice and oats will start to give off a lovely smell, then you know it’s almost done.

Stir through your seeds/nuts/dried fruit and turn the heat off.  Then stir through the honey.

Leave to cool to enable it all to clump together nicely.

Eat!  Add it to yoghurt, milk, fresh fruit or just eat it on it’s own.  It will keep (apparently) for a day or two in a sealed container.

camping granolo finished

 

Turmeric & Orange Smoothie

Turmeric is one of those wonder spices that I would like to use more often yet, because I’m not a great curry fan, I never quite know how to get my fix.

I’ve come across a few smoothie recipes in my quest and have played around and found a combination that I really love. This smoothie has a real nutritional punch with carrot, mango, coconut water and turmeric, so a great way to start the day.

I recently discovered these Rude Health ginger and turmeric oatcakes, which are the perfect accompaniment. I could happily eat them all without the need for any toppings – but I did find some peanut butter worked rather well.

turmeric orange smoothie

Turmeric & Orange Smoothie (makes one large smoothie)

  • 330ml coconut water
  • 1 medium carrot – peeled and cut into thick chunks
  • 1 orange – peeled and cut into chunks
  • A cube of ginger
  • Handful of frozen mango (around 50g-60g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

Blend it all together.