After a freezing April I went to Mallorca for the bank holiday weekend and although greeted with two days of rain we eventually got to top up on some vitamin D. What a reward to finally see blue skies and sunshine. When in Spain I love… Read more
All posts filed under “Breakfast”
Quick figs & seed mix topped with coconut yogurt & cinnamon
Back at school, the weeks are whizzing by and we are in the full blow of autumn. Haven’t we been blessed with the most gorgeous days ? Now is the time to celebrate seasonal fruit and vegetables and the wealth of variety they bring to… Read more
Irma’s rainy day gluten free banana pancakes
This spring has been a bit up and down and all around. One day it’s hot, the next freezing cold and the heating needs to go back on. The following morning you are looking for your flip flops and in the afternoon you find yourself… Read more
Gluten free mini banana pancakes – makes 12
80g of organic oat flour ( simply ground oats in a coffee grinder)
50g of organic buckwheat flour
1 tsp of baking powder
120 ml organic nut or rice milk
4 small ripe fair trade organic bananas (2 for the pancake & 2 to garnish)
2 medium sized eggs
1 tbsp of coconut oil
2 tbsp of maple syrup plus some extra to garnish
A pinch of salt, a dash of cinnamon and a handful of pecan or peanuts to garnish
Coconut & banana cream (optional)
1 cup of fresh coconut or one coconut yogurt
1 small organic fair trade banana
1 tbsp chia seeds
1-2 tbsp nut milk
A squeeze of lemon juice
If you want to add some extra banana flavour, start off with making a quick coconut & banana cream. Just put the 1 cup of fresh coconut, one small banana, a squeeze of lemon juice, 1 tbsp of chia and 1 -2 tbsp of nut milk in the food processor and blend until smooth. If you don’t have fresh coconut you can use 1 small tub of coconut yogurt instead, there won’t be any need to add nut milk for that one. Once blended, leave to set in the fridge for about 20 minutes. You can either add it on each serving or spread some onto each layer of the banana tower.
For the pancake mix sift flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Next, whisk milk, eggs, oil and maple syrup together and pour into the flour mix, then add the mashed bananas and beat until you get a smooth batter. The easiest way to do all this is to put all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth, that way you ensure everything is mixed together well.
Leave the mix to sit for 15 minutes, you will see how it thickens and produces air bubbles.
Cut a couple of bananas into equally slim slices and set aside, you will need these to layer your pancakes as you stack them into a small tower.
Next heat a small frying pan with a little coconut oil, add the first ladle of batter and cook until the top of the pancake starts to bubble, now it’s time to turn it over. Cook both sides until golden brown. Keep the temperature at medium heat to prevent burning the delicate pancake whilst it is cooking through.
Have a ‘pretty’ looking plate ready for the first pancake and whilst the next pancake is cooking away, add a layer of banana slices around the outer circle, here you would add the coconut banana cream layer as well. Carry on until you get until the 6th or 7th pancake before getting the next plate ready and repeat the process. This all depends on how many hungry mouths you have to feed.
The final layer of each pancake ‘tower’ can be decorated with more banana slices or strawberries are pretty delicious with this combination, then add pecan nuts and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey as a final finish – a real rainy day breakfast, any day dessert or afternoon treat.
Bircher muesli with carrot cake granola
Bircher muesli rocks and somewhat seems to be in fashion. I am sure its creator the Swiss nutritionist and doctor Maximilian Bircher-Benner would be very happy having found that many fans, if he was still with us. He could be calling himself a bit of… Read more
Bircher Muesli– serves 2-3
2 cups of organic rolled jumbo oats
1-2 tbsp of soaked almonds ( roughly chopped)
1 organic apple ( British if possible- I love breaburn)
300 ml of cashew milk ( or plant based milk of your choice e.g. rice, oat, almond, coconut etc)
1 tbsp of raisins & 1 tbsp roughly chopped dates
1-2 tbsp of walnuts ( roughly chopped)
1-2 tbsp of pecans ( roughly chopped)
1 tbsp of chia seeds
2 inch of vanilla pod or a dash of vanilla extract (optional)
1 tbsp maple sirup to sweeten if desired
Topping: a hand full of prunes soaked over night with a dash of cinnamon (optional) , kefir or natural yoghurt also works nicely as a topping.
Carrot cake granola
300g of organic rolled jumbo oats
50g-100g of carrot pulp ( left over from juicing) or 1/2 cup of finely grated carrot
2 tbsp of cashew pulp (left over from making cashew milk) or finely chopped cashew nuts
25g of coconut sugar or 2-3 tbsp of maple syrup or honey
2 tbsp of coconut oil
1/2 cup of walnuts – chopped
1/4 cup of pecan nuts- chopped
1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds -chopped
1/3 cup of raisins
2-3 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
2 inches of vanilla pod (scraped out , you can add the left over pod to the muesli) -optional
Pinch of salt
Method:
For the muesli: I usually prepare this in the evening: grate the apple including the skin and put together with all other dry ingredients into a mason jar, then add the milk, make sure it soaks through well and add some milk in excess as the chia seeds will soak up some extra liquid. Stir well, close tight and give it a good shake before putting it in the fridge.
That’s it-done- breakfast ready prepared for the next morning/day. You can already eat it after a 2-3 hours but its just nicer soaked over night. Shake/stir well again before serving, that way you ensure a delicious flavour throughout.
For the granola: preheat the over at 170c and line two baking trays with baking parchment and set aside. Put the oil, sugar or maple syrup, vanilla (if using), cinnamon and nutmeg into a large bowl and whisk together. It helps to place the bowl in the heated oven for a few minutes so the oil binds better with the other ingredients. Next add all other ingredients and mix together well, this is best done with your hands, as it makes it easier to combine everything . The mixture is quite sticky but delicious if you want to try some raw.
Evenly spread out the mixture on the baking trays and bake until nicely golden brown and crunchy. During the baking process give the granola a stir now and again, that way everything bakes through well.
Leave to cool down completely before putting the granola into jars. It will keep for up to a 3-4 weeks.
I love dried prunes soaked with a dash of cinnamon, also easily prepared together with the Bircher and soaked over night. You can add some of the prune juice to the bircher muesli its deliciously sweet. If you do not have time to make the granola or don’t like prunes, Kefir or plain natural yoghurt works a treat with this breakfast or just with granola and soaked prunes. 🙂 Enjoy !
Turmeric & honey porridge with papaya & pomegranate
This year is already flying, I cannot believe we are in mid January! I have been surrounded by books and scientific papers over the past two weeks, so I have been keeping a low profile. Yesterday I finally submitted my work. One of the things… Read more
Turmeric porridge with pomegranate and papaya – serves 1-2
1 cup of rolled organic oats
1-2 cups of water or rice milk (alternative milks: coconut, almond, soy, dairy, hemp or just water)
1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon & a pinch of ginger (optional)
1 tsp of honey or maple syrup
1 tsp of chia seeds
1 hand full of pomegranate
1 hand full of papaya including seeds ( seeds are optional)
1 tbsp of shelled hemp seeds ( pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds or chopped almonds, pecan or macadamia)
Porridge is really easily made with water or a variety of milks that are available in the shops now. I love rice milk it gives the porridge a nice creamy taste and texture and with some added fruits and nuts or seeds you are set for the morning. When not using turmeric, I love adding cinnamon, which gives a delicious warming flavor and keeps the blood sugar levels stable, so even less food cravings in combination with oats.
Method:
Place the oats, chia seeds and milk in a pot, add turmeric and honey and cook under medium heat until the the porridge has a nice creamy texture, adding more oats if its too liquid or more milk if its getting too thick. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon to make sure the porridge doesn’t stick to the pan. Chia seeds soak up a lot of liquid, so keep that in mind if you are using them, you might need to add some extra rice milk to get a nice creamy texture. Serve topped with pomegranate and papaya and sprinkle with hempseeds or your favourite nuts & seeds. Enjoy !!
Breggfast
Breggfast : Soft boiled egg on buttered wholemeal multi-seed toast topped with thyme and Himalayan salt ! Using all organic ingredients. On the Egg: Despite multiple reports on how bad eggs are for you, they are actually super healthy and a source of many important… Read more