Chai latte

For a delicious warming treat, make this easy homemade chai latte.

Ingredients:  cup of milk, 1tbsp fresh cream, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 2tsp good quality vanilla extract, 1-2tsp honey, 1 vanilla or chai teabag

Equipment: saucepan, whisk (mini electric whisk if you have one), cup and teaspoon 

1 Warm milk in a saucepan until just before it starts to come to the boil or bubble.

2 Add in the vanilla, honey and cream. Beat until frothy.

3 Turn back on heat, let teabag sit in saucepan for 5 minutes, don’t let milk boil.

4  Take out teabag, stir milk and pour into serving cup!

Smoothie Time!

 

This super easy fresh mixed berry smoothie is great for breakfast on the go or even filling enough for lunch when you don’t have much time. If you make it tell me what you think, I would love to hear your ideas!

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• a banana
• 4 good quality strawberries
• 4 good quality raspberries
•  2 heaped tsp Organic natural yogurt or greek syle
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon optional
• approx 100ml organic milk
• 10-15 ml water
• 1tsp of agave syrup or honey
• 2 ice cubes remember not to add these till you are done or your blender may break!

Equipment: blender, processor or liquidizer, jug, teaspoon, chopping knife, chopping board, tall glass.

What to do:

1. Chop fruit, add to jug/blender/processor, add other ingredients except ice . leave one piece of each fruit type  behind for decoration
2. Blend until smooth
3.  Pour into a tall glass or travel cup and add ice cubes and leftover fruit. Enjoy!

 

 

Make your own trail mix

 

Simple and delicious chocolate nut and fruit, feel free to put your own variation on this recipe using the same measurements e.g. candy coloured sweets, cashew nuts, pretzels….

Ingredients: for 2-3 servings 

• 11/2  cups whole almonds
• 1tbsp of salt
• 1/2 cup craisins
• 1/2 cup plain chocolate chips

What to do

1. Roast almonds in oven at 180 celsius or 350 degrees farenheit till lightly browned, about 5 mins.
2. Leave to cool, sprinkle almonds with salt, than mix with almonds craisins and choc chips.
3. Eat them on the go, or chilled out.

Raspberry swirl

Hot melted raspberries and yogurt, the perfect combo. Enjoy with mixed nuts or granola

Ingredients: for 1 serving

• 5-6tbsp of greek-style yogurt
• Half a bowl of frozen or fresh raspberries
• A handful of your favourite nuts I use chopped pistachios
• A handful of good quality granola/muesli
• a tsp of  caster sugar (optional)

What to do:

1. Thaw raspberries if required, then in a saucepan or microwave heat raspberries till slightly liquid.
2. Then in a glass, layer yogurt, then raspberries until you have reached the tip of the glass Decorate with muesli or nuts and a sprinkle of sugar. Enjoy

Tuna Surprise

Enjoy a healthy snack of grilled tuna, cheese, salad, ready in 10 mins including prep.

Ingredients

• Can of organic tuna or best quality tuna you can afford
• 1 spring onion thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp mayonaise
• Lemon pepper if possible
• Handful/ 2 tbsp of dried cranberries
• Sprig of your favourite herb, I like parsley.
• 15g/ 2 tablespoons of your favourite cheese grated, I use red cheddar
• Bag of mixed salad
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or salad dressing
• 1 knob of butter
• 1 large slice of fresh bread, I use good quality ciabatta

What to do:

1. Open tuna, drain, mix in a bowl with mayonnaise, cranberries, spring onions, lemon pepper until well combined.
2. Toast bread on low setting.
3. Place tuna mix on bread evenly then top with grated cheese.
4. Grill in oven for 5 mins or until cheese has melted.
5. Serve with salad dressed in olive oil or salad dressing and enjoy as a quick pick me up.

Healthy snack attack ???

Snack-a-day: check out my blog all this week. Starting monday get ready for a festival of  quick and healthy snack recipes. Comment below on what foods you would like featured in the snack recipes.

baked banana mars bar

For a quick snack or simple treat…… takes 12 mins including prep

For 2 people:

Ingredients/ equipment

• Two ripe bananas
• Mars bar cut into small chunks, approx size of a square of chocolate
• Tinfoil
• Vanilla ice cream (optional)
• Oven

1. Set your oven to 180 celsius or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Slice bananas in half.
3. Place cut chunks of mars bar on one side of banana.
4. Place other half of banana on top,then wrap banana in tinfoil until covered.
5. Cook in oven for 5 mins or until mars bar has melted. Serve with cold vanilla ice cream, enjoy.

Flapjack Heaven

For those of us who need to eat what they are going to bake!  P.S from The Cranks recipes.

Ingredients

• 150g butter (not margarine/ spread0
• 2-3 very large tbsp of honey
• 1 tsp of black treacle
• 225g porridge oats
• pinch of salt
• raisins a handful
• pumpkin seeds a handful
• cashew nuts (optional)
• half- 3/4 jar of rasberry jam (good quality)

Equipment

• saucepan/bowl
• mixing bowl
• wooden spoon
• tbsp
• spatula
• 20cm square flapjack tin, look up if not sure you have, or use similar
• potato masher

Recipe

1. Turn on oven, set temp later.
2. Melt the butter, honey and treacle in a pan – don’t let it boil! You can melt it in the microwave too on medium for 1 min take out stir after 30 secs, put back in.
3. Mix in the oats and salt nuts,raisins, seeds and stir thoroughly. Now is your chance to taste a bit.
4. Press and smooth into tin using a potato masher.
5. spread jam evenly carefully over flapjack mix.
6. pre-cut slices before placing in oven
7. Bake in the oven at 190’C (375’F or GM5) for 20-23 minutes, until set and golden brown.
8. enjoy.

Dessert for breakfast anyone ?

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Have this healthy pear and apple crumble dessert for breakfast, It’s sooo delicious I needed  room for seconds and even thirds. It is full of oats, sweetened with honey and fruit. Great as a pick me up in the morning or after a long days work. Enjoy!

RECIPE:  (makes enough for 8 big servings)

• 4 pears peeled and quartered
• 4 eating apples peeled and quartered
• 35ml(1 1/4 oz) organic or ordinary apple juice concentrate ( available in the drinks aisle of the supermarket or in a health food store)
• 30g(1oz)dried unsulphured apricots ( unsulphured are juicier)
• 170g (6oz) organic fine oat flakes ( oatflakes are not jumbo oats )
• 30g(1oz) mixed sesame seeds, sunflower seeds (optional)
• 25g of cranberries (optional)
• vanilla icecream or vanilla yogurt

Oven: gas 5, 190 celsius, 375 farenheit.

equipment: large oven proof dish, tbsp, pot with lid, chopping board, knife, bowl.

What to do:

1. Place the pears in a pot along with 2 1/2 cm of water bring to the boil i.e. ( cook until water begins to bubble) , place a lid on top lower the heat and simmer for 10 mins.
2. Sweeten with concentrate, pour the cooked into an oven safe dish. Sprinkle with the washed raisins and cranberries.
3. Wash and chop apricots and sprinkle over fruit.
4. In a bowl mix seeds and oatflakes. Add the sunflower oil and 2-3 tbsp of concentrate and mix well until all flakes are coated in oil.
5. Sprinkle over pear and apple mix and bake in oven for 35 mins until topping is golden.
6. Serve hot with ice cream or vanilla yogurt.

Homemade Gifts That Show Effort

A scrapbook or photo album is simple to make,

you really only need:

some card, a stapler, pens, glue or sellotape, photos and memories.

its also shows you made an effort with you’re gift and the memories and photos in an album or often taken out every now and then and laughed or reminisced about.

I recently heard about this lovely but simple idea it’s called a memory box. You can make one of these from a cardboard shoe box and cover it in wrapping paper if you wanted. The idea is that you put pieces of paper with things you love about a certain person or places you would like to see with them if you are following this what I mean is that you can pick a theme. It might just make them smile when they read the memories or nice things about them.

Another nice idea for the baker of you’re family is a cookie mix jar. This is pretty self explanatory you put the mix for a certain cookie recipe in a nice jar tie with a ribbon and with a hanging tag write the recipe and tie to the jar. Make’s for a very presentable gift.

I hope you like these inexpensive gift ideas and enjoy the christmas holidays !