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When I first looked through River Cottage Veg Everyday after getting it as a gift from my best friend for Christmas, I knew immediately which recipe I just had to make:

Sweet Potato? Peanut Butter? Hell yes! However the main ingredient in this after sweet potatoes is double cream, not exactly vegan friendly, so I decided to do a Laura version of the recipe. I changed up some of the flavours adding ginger along with the garlic and extra chilli instead of the lime, using silken tofu to replace the cream and because I’m such a fan of the sweet potato and almond butter combo, switching up the nut butters.

While this is still a rather rich recipe, the omission of the oil and cream from the original recipe reduces the amount of fat, and the inclusion of the tofu brings some protein to the party to balance out the carbs from the potatoes. A healthy makeover indeed!

Spicy Sweet Potato and Almond Butter Gratin (Adapted from Sweet Potato and Peanut Gratin: River Cottage Cook Veg Everyday, vegan, serves 2)

• Approximately 500g of sweet potatoes
• 1/2 block of mori nu silken tofu
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp of finely chopped red chilli (I used lazy chilli from a jar)
• 2 tbsp of almond butter (add a little salt if your nut butter is unsalted)
• salt and pepper

Pre heat the oven to 190c. Begin by making the tofu cream – blend the silken tofu in a food processor or blender with 1/2 a cup of water and combine with the ginger, garlic and chilli. Peel the potatoes and slice into thin rounds about 2-3 mm thick. Add the potatoes to the tofu cream along with some salt and pepper and mix well.

In a separate bowl mix the almond butter with 2 tbsp of hot water until smooth.

Grease a baking dish (I used two individual ones) and fill half full with the sweet potatoes. Spoon the almond butter on top:

Layer on the rest of the sweet potatoes pouring on any remaining tofu cream in the bowl.

Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes then remove the foil and bake for another 40 minutes. The potatoes should be tender and browned on the top. Serve!

This is rich, sweet and spicy with a lovely hit of salty creaminess from the almond butter. The topping becomes slightly crispy and caramelised, so good! Due to the ginger, garlic and chilli this has quite an Asian flavour and would go really well with some stir fried veggies like broccoli or a fresh green salad. Obviously this isn’t as creamy as the original recipe would have been, but you could add more of the tofu cream if you wanted a more creamy result.

Delish!

Are you a fan of the sweet potato and nut butter combo?

Last week I was in the mood for baking and I really fancied making a bread of some kind, and as I’m on my Big Budget Challenge I needed to use just cheap ingredients I had on hand. After a quick look through my cupboards I found this:

A bottle of fruity cider left over from Christmas. I instantly thought of this recipe and decided to try it out with my own twist of course!

Fruity Cider Bread (vegan, makes one small loaf, adapted from What Kate is Cooking Pear Cider Bread)

• 2 1/2 cups of spelt flour
• 1/2 cup of oats
• 3 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 500ml bottle of fruit cider

Pre heat the oven to 190c. In a large bowl combine the flour, oats, baking powder and cinnamon.

Slowly pour in the cider, mixing until you get a soft dough. You won’t need the whole bottle so I suggest you do this with what’s left:

Yum! Transfer the dough into a greased and lined loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.

You may need to cover the top of the loaf with foil after 30 minutes to prevent over browning. It’s done when an inserted knife comes out clean.

Enjoy with vegan butter, nut butter or jam.

This makes a dense, hearty and filling loaf with a slight sweetness and fruity flavour. If you’d like your bread sweeter then you could add some sugar, agave or other sweetener in with the cider. This recipe would also make a great base for adding additional flavours and textures such as fresh or dried fruit or even nuts and seeds.

I have frozen several slices and plan on enjoying this for breakfasts and tasty snacks!

Are you a fan of cider? I love the fruity and pear ciders you can now get, I’d also love to try this recipe with a bottle of my favourite Strawberry Beer!

Happy Wednesday, hope your week is going well. I think I’m still recovering from the weekend!

Although I didn’t eat massively unhealthily at the festival, I did eat a lot, especially white rice which always makes me feel yuk, and along with the side affects of the alcohol I’ve been feeling full, bloated and lack lustre. On Monday morning my face looked swollen and puffy! I have definitely been feeling the need to eat simpler food these last couple of days – this is what I ate yesterday :-)

I started the day with a Challenge Detox Yoga Podcast from Yoga Download which was wonderful and just what I needed to stretch out! I then had my usual lemon juice in warm water and vits followed by a gorgeous green smoothie:

This one contained spinach, frozen mango, a pink lady apple, coconut water, mesquite, spirulina, barley grass, ground flax, msm crystals, ice, xanthan and guar gum for thickness and topped with fresh strawberries and some raw sprouted buckwheat.

Lunch started with a chopped green apple and a sweet and juicy persimmon:

Followed by an amazing simple salad with the most delicious new dressing:

Salad containing romaine, cucumber, carrot, red and yellow pepper, sugar snap peas and my Dreamy Creamy Avocado Dressing:

Dreamy Creamy Avocado Dressing (vegan, makes about 1 cup)

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• juice from one medium lemon
• 1/2 cup of tightly packed parsley leaves
• pinch of salt or splash of soy sauce or braggs

Add the avocado flesh and all other ingredients to a food processor and blend. You may need to add a touch of water to loosen it up to your desired consistency:

This dressing is so creamy and full of flavour, I could sit and eat it with a spoon which is always a good sign with dressings if you ask me! You could also replace the parsley with coriander for use with Mexican themed dishes.

Mid afternoon I snacked on some medjool dates and another green apple along with what must have been my 5th cup of rooibos tea:

I headed to the gym and did 30 minutes of cardio intervals on the machines followed by yet another awesome body pump class! Unfortunately the instructor is on holiday for two weeks and they have no cover so I’ll be winging my Tuesday evening strength workouts for a while.

Dinner was a simple but very tasty meal. I had the biggest craving for broccoli!

Roast spaghetti squash with courgette noodles and a tahini miso sauce along with some steamed broccoli and shoyu. For something so basic this was lovely, that tahini miso sauce makes everything taste so good!

For dessert I whipped up a quick and simple smoothie with freshly made almond milk, ice and a scoop of Vega choc a lot protein powder:

This was ultra creamy and chocolately, yum!

After those eats I feel like I’m almost well and truly recovered!

How do you feel after eating more ‘indulgently’? I do think that we all have our own definition of ‘indulgent foods’: for me its eating more than usual rich, processed and sugary foods and too much caffeine and alcohol, along with a lack of veggies. When I eat like that for more than a day or so I start to feel rubbish!

I’m really glad that my body seems to naturally crave healthier, simpler foods after a period of indulgence, this helps me truly enjoy eating indulgently without any guilt what so ever as well as putting my ‘oh my god I might gain all the weight back’ thoughts to rest! What would life be without a little indulgence every now and again anyway? Those Sailor Jerry’s are so worth it!

Have a great week!

A couple of weeks ago I made my now regular visit to the October farmers market in Newcastle Upon Tyne. The market runs every month, but from past visits I’ve realised that the only months that seem to feature fruit and vegetable sellers are the autumn ones. The sellers at this farmers market offer some excellent locally grown organic produce at great prices. I also love that they offer some veggies, which for some reason never seem to make their way into the supermarkets such as Chard. I bought a massive bunch of it, along with quite a lot of other veggies (I couldn’t close my fridge door put it that way), and some local free range eggs.

On the drive home I racked my brain for how I could use the chard and came up with this lovely seasonal recipe!

Squash and Chard Frittata (serves 4, vegetarian)

• 1 medium red onion
• 1 heaping cup of cubed roast squash (I used Butternut)
• 2 cups of chopped chard or spinach (use 3 cups for spinach as it will wilt down more in the heat)
• 6 large free range eggs
• 100g of goats cheese or your favourite cheese

1. Begin by finely chopping your red onion and sautéing in a large frying pan in a little oil over a medium heat.
2. While that is cooking beat your eggs and season with a little salt.
3. Wash and finely chop your chard (or spinach) and once the red onion has softened, add to the pan. Cook the chard down until it has wilted and reduced in volume by about half.
4. Add the squash and distribute the contents of the pan so it is evenly spread out.
5. Pour over your beaten eggs and using a folk just mix in the veggies with the eggs and spread out so that everything is well mixed in and covered in the egg.
6. Add your cheese on top, and cook until the under side of the frittata has firmed up.
7. Pop under a hot grill to cook the top. Once the top is golden and set, remove from the grill and allow to cool a little before slicing and serving.

Heaven’s this is good! The squash and goats cheese give the dish a great balance of sweet and savoury flavours and the chard just ups the health factor and gives the whole thing more substance.

I enjoyed the first slice warm and then wrapped the other slices in foil and refrigerated for later. I actually loved this more cold from the fridge than warm.

Eating a slice straight up reminded me of having a slice of pizza! It was also wonderful accompanied by a salad or steamed broccoli for a light dinner.

This is really healthy as it is, but if you wanted to lighten it up and add more protein just replace half of the eggs with egg whites and you could also change up the cheese.

Are you a fan of frittata’s? What ingredients do you love in them? Have you tried chard before?

A couple of weeks ago I woke up on what was an unseasonably snowy morning. I don’t know about you, but weather like that makes me yearn for something warm and comforting slathered in creamy butter! I surveyed the contents of the fridge and cupboards and thought back to my tasty recipe for courgette, date and pecan bread. However, a loaf takes far to long to bake and I wanted my breakfast a.s.a.p! I decided to make an amended version of that loaf bread using up the carton of egg whites I had on hand and the truvia which needed using up. I realised then that these muffins would end up being pretty light – fantastic for anyone watching their weight, but equally as good for topping with excessive amounts of butter!

‘Skinny’ Courgette, Cranberry and Pistachio Muffins (Makes 9 – 10)

• 1 medium courgette, grated
• 1/4 cup of truvia (or slightly less of regular sugar)
• 1 small pot / 1/3 cup of apple and pear puree / unsweetened apple sauce (I used organic baby food)
• 3 egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups of wholegrain spelt flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 50 g / about 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 50g / about 3 tbsp of shelled pistachios, chopped

Pre heat the oven to 180 and grease a muffin pan. In a large bowl mix together your grated courgette, truvia or sugar, apple sauce / puree and egg whites. Add in the flour, baking powder and mixed spice. Gently fold in dried cranberries and pistachios (reserving about half the pistachios for the top of the muffins). Fill each muffin pan near 3/4 full and top with the remaining pistachios. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the muffins are browned and a tooth pick comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from pan. Enjoy warm or can be left to cool, wrapped in foil and frozen.

*Cooks note – do not use paper muffin liners with these, due to the texture of the batter they will be better baked either directly in a well greased muffin pan or in silicone muffin liners. I baked them in paper liners and some of the muffin sticks so go for the other options if you can :-)

These muffins are delicately sweet with a lovely cakey texture and crunch from the pistachios.

I call these muffins ‘skinny’ because they come out at under 120 cals each (when making 10) which I think is pretty good considering how delicious these taste!

If you aren’t looking to cut calories, or even if you are, eat two of them! I also highly recommend topping them with a mixture of real butter mixed with maple syrup.

Utterly delicious warm straight from the oven…

These freeze extremely well too and defrost in the fridge over night ready to be warmed back up for breakfast.

Just as good with some nut butter too!

I love baked goods with veggies – not that I’m overly concerned with the healthiness aspect, but I enjoy the texture and taste the add. I do love a good carrot cake, but courgette is now my favourite ‘baking’ veggie – I love the little green flecks! I’ve also used grated parsnips with wonderful results as well!

Do you like baked goods with veggies in them?

Last week after buying quite a few cheap avocados I was trying to think of some imaginative ways to use them. I love avocados and now that I’m really looking to increase the fat in my diet they have become a daily staple for me. In the cooler months I love making soups, and recently I have experimented with raw soups. This soup is semi raw / cooked, super easy and quick to make and tastes so refreshing on a warm summers day!

Chilled Summer Pea, Avocado and Mint Soup (serves 2, vegan)

• 2 cups of fresh or frozen peas (I used frozen so the soup was ready chilled)
• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 cups of unsweetened non dairy milk – I used kara coconut milk
• 2 sprigs of fresh mint – about 15 leaves, plus more for garnish
• Water to desired consistency (I used about 1/2 cup)
• Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth, gradually adding water until desired consistency is reached. Season with sea salt to taste. Enjoy immediately! It will keep refrigerated for a couple of days in a sealed container.

I enjoyed mine with a drizzle of hemp oil on top and some spicy raw flax crackers:

This soup is super creamy and has a mild sweetness from the peas. Its not a very savoury soup, but if you wanted something with a stronger flavour you could try adding some spices – I imagine cumin would be fabulous!

As I mentioned, this soup is jam packed with healthy fats from the avocado and coconut milk, however if you are watching your calorie intake then you could make a the following changes to the recipe:

• 1/2 an avocado instead of a whole one
• Water (but use the whole avocado still) or unsweetened almond milk instead of kara coconut milk or just one cup of the coconut milk + water 
• 3 servings instead of 2

I can’t vouch for how this version will taste, however the ‘full fat’ version really is super creamy so I think reducing the milk or avocado down shouldn’t hinder the texture too much and could  just make it more pleasant lighter soup. Even if you are watching your weight, please don’t fear the fats! Healthy fats like the fat in avocado and coconut milk are essential components of a healthy diet, they support the absorption of certain vitamins, are good for the skin, hair and nails and help to keep you feeling fuller for longer.

I thought that it would be useful to give different options for some of my recipes as I know I have a diverse range of readers, some of whom might be looking to lose weight, maintain weight or gain weight so I hope this has been useful!

I also love the colour of this soup! Its so beautiful, I think there is just something about eating natural green foods that instantly makes me feel good.

Have you tried a chilled soup before? Would you go for the full fat or the lower fat option of this?

Recently I’ve developed a new obsession: roasting fruit. Usually I would be raw all the way, but there’s just something about the tender sweetness of roasted fruit that has got me hooked right now. Roasting fruit was nothing new to me, in the past I’ve roasted rhubarb very successfully, however it was Gena’s roasting peaches in coconut oil and with coconut sugar that made me stop in my tracks and think ‘I have got to make that!’

I did, and it was so good I knew I wanted to do it again and take the idea one step further making it into a full blown decadent tasting dessert. Of course I would not be me if I didn’t do a bit of a different spin on things so I decided to make this vegan, gluten and refined sugar free as well as well as adding another depth of flavour from a generous splash of my favourite booze.

Amaretto Stone Fruit Crumble (makes 4 servings, vegan and free from refined sugar and grains)

Fruity filling:

• A selection of seasonal stone fruits – I used 4 large nectarines and 6 plums (peaches and cherries would also be amazing here)
• 1 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1-4 tbsp of coconut sugar (depending on how sweet and ripe your fruit is)
• 2-4 tbsp of amaretto liqueur (or a few drops of almond extract)

For the topping:

• 1 cup of almond meal / flour
• 1/4 coconut sugar
• 2 tbsp of coconut oil

Directions:

1. Pre heat the oven to 200c.
2. Wash and de stone your fruit chopping them into bite size wedges.
3. Put the fruit into a baking tray with the coconut oil and the coconut sugar and mix well.
4. Bake the fruit until just tender (about 15 minutes).
5. While the fruit is roasting make the topping by mixing the almond meal with the coconut sugar. Add the coconut oil and using your fingers, rub it into the almond meal mix (just as you would if you were making a regular crumble topping or pastry).
6. When the fruit has roasted add the amaretto or almond extract to the fruit then transfer it to a baking dish and scatter the almond meal topping over it.
7. Add a sprinkle of coconut sugar and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browned and slightly caramelised.

I ate mine with a luscious drizzle of full fat tinned coconut milk which I’d left to thicken into a cream in the fridge. It was also go magnificently well with Greek yoghurt, soy yoghurt, vanilla ice cream or some banana soft serve!

I know that using almond meal as a gluten free topping isn’t anything new to some but for me it was a revelation, it adds a wonderful buttery richness without any dairy!

In the past when I’ve made ‘healthy’ desserts and sweet treats I have to admit there has been some trepidation when offering them to regular eaters. With this recipe I have absolutely no doubt that it would go down a storm, even for those with a serious sweet tooth!

Due to the weather still being fairly warm I’ve enjoyed the leftovers of this chilled. It is very much a perfect ‘season between seasons’ recipe. I’m looking forward to making it throughout the autumn and beyond with various combinations of seasonal fruit. I have to say a version of this with blackberries makes my mouth water!

Do you like fruit crumbles? What is your favourite fruit for a crumble? Do you have a favourite crumble topping like cream, ice cream or custard?

What a totally amazing chilled out day I've had!
I think the clocks going forward must have left me feeling a bit weird as I woke up at midnight and could not sleep. I ended up having to take some herbal sleeping tablets. They worked but when I woke up my head felt really fuzzy. I did something I haven't done in ages and had breakfast in bed while watching the Australian Grand Prix (go Button!). I had a mug of warm water then some home made muesli mix containing puffed brown rice, jumbo oats, quinoa flakes, ground flax and grape nuts with skimmed milk and some red grapes for sweetness.


I pottered about a bit then got on with my workout - 20 mins of Davina Body Kick Fit section followed by my weights routine as laid out in my March training plan. After I'd done that I had a serious craving for a green monster so I blended up a load of spinach with a frozen banana, vanilla rice milk, a scoop of vanilla whey, a spoonful of peanut butter and a bit of water. It was absolutely yummy!


I then started on my cooking. Firstly I made some Courgette and Watercress Soup, taken from Sophie Dahls cookbook, Miss Dahls Voluptuous Delights. 

3 Courgettes, chopped
Bag of watercress
1 large white onion, chopped
Veg Stock
Olive oil

I fried off the onion in a little olive oil on a meduim heat until translucent, then added the chopped courgette followed by the veg stock. I let it simmer for 10 mins then added the watercress and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. I let it cool, then used a hand blender to blend till smooth.


This is slightly different to the original recipe as that included cream which certainly isn't in my fridge! For something so simple, this tastes really lovely, like spring in a bowl! This recipe made 4 portions. I'm going to freeze two and have the other two during the week.

The second thing I made was some Veggie Burgers (more on that in a mo). After I'd cleaned up the kitchen I went and did 45mins of my Yogalates DVD, I had planned on doing the full hour but my mind was just drifting on to lunch. I made myself an amazing salad of spinach, little gem lettuce, cucumber, grated carrot, red onion, roast red pepper, beetroot, and feta cheese. It was quite possibly the best salad I've ever had!

I also had a couple of little chopped apples.

After chilling out in front of the TV some more, I got on to making some Cherry Bakewell Babies! I had some cocktail cherries to use up after I made my Chocolate Mousse with Cherry Compote a couple of weeks ago. I was inspired by both Chocolate Covered Katie's fudge babies and Averies Oat and Raisin raw cookies and I came up with this.

Cherry Bakewell Babies

1/2 cup of porridge oats
1/4 cup of dates
1/4 cup of whole almonds
1 tablespoon of raisins
6 Cocktail Cherries

I started by blending the oats in the food processor to a semi fine powder. I then added the dates, almonds and cherries and blended some more until the mixture started to clump together. I then added in the raisins and blended some more. I rolled the mixture into balls and popped into cupcake cases.


These are far too tasty! They taste just like cherry bakewells! I know that cocktail cherries aren't the healthiest ingredient, but theres not much of them in this and they give a wonderful flavour. I'm sure that dried cherries would also work well. I ate two of these with a cup of green tea as a mid afternoon snack (plus some of the mixture out of the food processor and another 6 cocktail cherries may have found their way into my mouth in the process!). I also had a bowl of red grapes.


For dinner I had one of the Veggie Burgers I'd made earlier using a recipe inspired by Angela at Oh She Glows. I used:

1 tin of chick peas
1 small red pepper, roughly chopped
1 small red onion, roughly chopped
1 small carrot, roughly chopped
a handful of spinach
3 garlic cloves crushed
1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder
Wholemeal spelt flour
1 tbsp of pumkin seeds
1 tbsp of sunflower seeds

I basically whacked all the ingredients, except the flour and seeds, in my food processor and blended till smooth. I then added the seeds and mixed in flour gradually until the mixture reached a thick consistency. I got 4 burgers out of this mix, I wrapped the rest in clingfilm and popped them in the freezer. I fried mine in a hot pan till browned and cooked through then served it with some steamed brocolli and brussel sprouts.

I followed that with an orange.

Drinks - water, green tea, decaf tea

The weekend has flown over again, I can't believe its back to work tomorrow. At least its a short week, I'm really looking forward to Easter this year. I'm expecting a bit of a blow out food wise next weekend so I think I'll be trying to be as healthy as possible this week in preparation! I think that I saw a Lindt Dark Chocolate Bunny at my Mam and Dads yesterday and I know that J has a secret stash of Cadbury's Creme Eggs somewhere. Whats your favourite Easter treat? Hope you have all had a lovely weekend x