Spinach brownies

Spinach brownies have now become my "go to" recipe. I've baked a batch of these for nearly every client I've worked on during this busy season, and to my delight, they have been well received by most!
Work has been very busy and tiring during these last few months, but I've always managed to fit in a little baking in here and there as a destresser, even baking till 1am on a one of my busiest working weeks! Anyways after posting this, it's sadly back to working away on my laptop. However, it's not all doom and gloom, a well deserved trip to Mauritius is 18 days away! Ahhhh, just can't wait :)

BEST SPINACH BROWNIES

Note that I've got the horrible habit of just chucking all my ingredients in together without properly weighing them. Therefore, below are my best estimates of the ingredients used, adjust slightly according to your judgement. For example if the batter is too thick, add in a little milk. The aim is to have a "cake batter" like texture. Dark chocolate chips are optional but I find that they do really make these that much more special!

• 150g fresh spinach, puréed,
• 30 dates soaked and blended (more if you want a sweeter cake),
• 40g coconut oil, 
• 65g whole wheat flour, 
• 30g cocoa, 
• Handful of dark choc chips,
• 1 egg,
• Pinch of salt,
• 0.5 tsp of baking powder,
• 0.5 tsp of baking soda,
• Drop of milk ( if necessary).

1. Wash and drain the spinach. Blend with a couple of tablespoons of water until smooth. Soak the dates for a minimum of 20 minutes, throw away most of the water, keeping a little to help blend the dates to a smooth purée.
2. Add in the egg and melted coconut oil and mix until fully incorporated.
3. Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, chocolate chips and a pinch of salt until it all comes together nicely.
4. Spread the batter in a tin lined with baking paper. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for about 20-30 minutes using a toothpick to test when ready.

Enjoy xxx

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Spiced Pumpkin cookies

It's sad to see that my last post was about 3 months ago! However, given that this is Audit's busy season, work has been ridiculously hectic. Spending most of my days on trains or at clients' sites, I've struggled to find enough hours in the day to squeeze in all the other things that I love! I still manage to fit in a couple of gym sessions in a week, where I finally managed to properly deadlift 90 kgs with good form woohoo! Also, I've acquired a new found addiction to pre-workout, it's the perfect supplement to give you that well needed bit of kick to start your workout.

Getting home late on most nights has led to a lack of inspiration in the kitchen. Sadly I could probably count the number of times that I've baked since my last post on my two hands, very unimpressed with myself.

As I'm settling into work life and getting used to constantly being on the go, I've noticed how easy it is to give in and eat a whole load junk! When you're stuck in an office for an average of 10 hours, stressing and trying to get your head round some figures, when your manager brings in loads of chocolates, biscuits and treats, what's to stop you?! Therefore, I've recently decided to start baking healthy and easy snacks perfect for nibbling whilst at work. I brought in some sugar free spinach brownies the other day which seemed to win everyone over!

With temperatures dropping really low recently and experiencing my first proper snow scene, I've been craving some spiced homely goodness. With a cupboard full of canned pumpkin, I played around with what I had in stock and ended up with some bad boy chunky pumpkin cookies. Although I used canned pumpkin, it tasted exactly like plain pumpkin purée so using that would be perfectly fine!

SPICED PUMPKIN COOKIES

• About 30 dates, soaked (or more depending on sweetness preference), 
• 200g of pumpkin purée,
• 1 egg,
• 60 g whole wheat flour,
• 120 oats, 
• Good dash of cinnamon,
• Pinch of salt, 
• 0.5tsp baking powder, 
• 0.25 tsp baking soda,
• 50g raisins, dried cherries etc, whatever takes your fancy
• Handful of dark chocolate chips and shredded coconut (optional but oh so delicious)  
  

1. Soak the dates in a little warm water for a minimum of 15 minutes, as they soften, drain some of the water keeping about 4-5 tbsps. 

2. Blend the dates up until you obtain a smooth sweet spread. Add in the egg and purée and combine until fully incorporated. 

3.Fold in the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until it just comes together. Taste the dough at this stage and add in more date paste or sweetener of choice if you want a sweeter cookie.

4. Lightly fold in the raisins, chocolate chips and coconut.

5. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Drop tablespoons of the batter on the tray. Note that these cookies don't rise much so shape them according to the size you want them to be.

6. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 

I kept mine in an airtight box for 5 days and they still tasted as good. As soon as they were baked, my brother (AKA vegetable hater) grabbed two of them and ate them in no time at all! Success! Hopefully more posts to come as and when inspiration sparks! Xx

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Spinach pancake/wrap

Just a quick post for a long overdue recipe! Not too sure what to call these as it all depends on how much flour you add to the batter as well as how thin you spread the batter whilst cooking.

I kept mine quite wet which resulted in a slightly chewy yet soft cross between an American pancake and a wrap. I stuffed my main pancake with chicken curry and also made a few thinner pancakes which I filled with ham and light cheese, rolled up and served as 'sushi' pieces which were a delicious snack!

SPINACH PANCAKE/WRAP

• 100g spinach roughly chopped
• 180 ml boiling water
• About 90g whole wheat flour 
• Salt & pepper

1. Place the spinach in a large bowl, pour over the boiling water and leave to sit until cool.
2. Once cool, blend the spinach up until liquid.
3. Slowly stir in enough flour to make a thick  but pourable batter. It would probably be best to test fry some and then deciding whether to add more flour or not. Season.
4. Pour a little of the batter on a hot and well greased frying pan, quickly spreading the mixture out with the back of a spoon. Once the edges dry up and the centre of the pancake  bubbles, flip and cook for a minute or two.
5. Once I made enough pancakes, I quickly scrabbled up the rest of the mixture which went deliciously with some mackerel.

Enjoy x

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Healthy crunchy banana, peanut butter oat cookies

This probably makes me sound sad but nothing beats coming home early from work to a big basket of overripe bananas! The perfect way to initiate a destresser baking session. I really like these cookies compared to most healthy ones that I have previously made as they don't required many ingredients and when baked and cool, turn out to be perfectly crunchy and hold their shape nicely.

CRUNCHY BANANA, PEANUT BUTTER OAT COOKIES

Makes about 10 cookies

• 1 large overripe banana
• Half an egg, beaten
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey (more or less according to taste)
• 10 tbsp porridge oats
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour or flour of choice 
• 3 heaped tbsp of peanut butter
• Optional toppings: 1 tbsp melted dark chocolate, desiccated coconut etc...

1. In a large bowl, mash up the banana until smooth. Blend in the peanut butter, honey and beaten egg.
2. Stir in the cinnamon, oats and flour until you obtain a thick batter/ wet looking dough.
3. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper and drop on spoonfuls of the batter, trying to form similar sized cookies.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes until golden brown.
5. When cooled, decorate if desired.

Xx

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Food update for the week!

Hola! Sadly I've been unwell for the past week or so, crazy fever, cold, flu and so on, so my body has been exhausted. However, I don't seem to be the only one! It looks like a nasty bug is going around at the moment and everyone is getting hit in some way or another :(. Having filled up on fruit, herbal tea and lots of water, I'm finally feeling back on track, yay. But oh wait, I have 4 hours of exams tomorrow! Hopefully all goes well.

It has now been a month since I've started my job and my attitude towards food preparation has altered greatly! Daily 9-5s, trying to fit in seeing friends and the gym, I always find myself with hardly any time to devote in the kitchen. So having managed to whip up some quick dishes with what I had in store, I'm really pleased with the results! Recipes for spinach 'wraps', bulgar wheat salad, quick beef chilli/ stew and healthy crispy chicken bites will be posted as soon as possible, but for now a long night of revision awaits.

               

Xx

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Chicken, carrot and lentil stew

This is just one of those very easy to put together dinners. Perfect for a week full of serious studying. I somehow was not ready for what ICAS had in store for me! A year's worth of University material covered in about a week studying for this qualification. Although challenging, learning all this material has made me even more exciting and eager to start hands on work with clients in the Audit department.

CHICKEN, CARROT & LENTIL STEW

• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• About 6 chicken breasts, cubed
• 0.5 tsp paprika 
• Pinch of chilli flakes, optional
• 0.5 tsp cinnamon 
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• 200g red lentils, washed
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 vegetable stock cube, dissolved in about 1 litre of water

1. In a large saucepan, heat up some coconut oil and fry the onion, garlic and cumin until fragrant and the diced onion has softened.#
2. Add in the chicken cubes, lightly frying until opaque and just cooked through. Stir in the paprika, cinnamon and chilli flakes.
3. Add in the chopped carrot pieces and leave to slightly brown for 1-2 minutes.
4. Pour in the stock as well as the chopped tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the red lentils and let the dish cook for at least 30 minutes on low heat, adding more water and stirring as required.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
   

Xx

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Chickpea frenzy!

My cooking mojo is finally back! Travels now feel like a distant memory, my new career has kicked off and I've finally had some time to myself to play around in the kitchen. I've gone back to that phase of focusing on one ingredient and just trying to make and create as many dishes as possible out of it. Today's focus was on chickpeas because they are so cheap and are also a good source of protein. I managed to make some pretty decent muffins as well as a great crunchy snack, perfect for catching up with the Great British Bake Off.

CINNAMON SPICED CHICKPEA AND RAISIN MUFFINS

These muffins are packed full of fibre, low in fat and the chickpeas bump up their protein content. Makes about 10 muffins or 6 large ones.

• 100g whole wheat flour
• 50 g oats
• 35 g desiccated coconut
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 50 g raisin 
• 1 400g can of chickpeas, rinsed, drained and blended
• 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 1 egg
• 70 g honey
• 2 tbsp olive or coconut oil
• 100 g milk
• 2 tbsp chia seeds, optional
• Small handful of dark chocolate chips, optional
• Handful of sunflower seeds to top, optional

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, raisins, chia seeds and choc chips if using.
2. In another bowl, mix the blended chickpeas, egg, honey, vanilla, and oil until smooth. Pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and roughly combine. 
3. Slowly add in enough milk to form a cake like batter. Do not over mix.
4. Spoon into muffin cases and top with sunflower seeds. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius until golden brown for around 15 minutes.

CRUNCHY CHICKPEA SNACK

I have always seen pictures of these on Instagram but never really realised how easy they were to make! This is such a simple and easy to make snack, definitely worth the effort. You can spice them as you wish; salt and pepper, cinnamon, cocoa, curry and so on... Perfect movie munching snack or just as nice used to top salads and soups.

• 400 g can of chickpeas, drained and dried
• Seasoning, I used 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1. Once you have rinsed the chickpeas, drain and dry with paper towels. Completely drying the chickpeas is key and will reduce required cooking time. 
2. You will find that most of the outer skins will fall off which is perfectly fine and will actually also speed up baking time.
3. Place the chickpeas on a metal tray and bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Remove the tray, add oil and seasoning, give it all a good shake and bake for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy and hopefully I will be back to updating the blog on a weekly basis :)!
Xx

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Cold buster smoothie

Finally, it is so good to be back home! Although it was an amazing trip, nothing beats coming home to home cooked food, a warm bath and the most comfortable bed!

Lack of sleep, hours of travelling and not the best of living conditions all probably contributed to my mild symptoms cold and flu. Therefore the perfect start to the day was a cold buster smoothie! When feeling poorly, the body absorbs more of vitamin C then it usually would when healthy. So a vitamin C and antioxidant packed smoothie was in need!

VITAMIN C SMOOTHIE

• About 150 ml green tea, chilled
• 1 orange/mandarin 
• Large handful of frozen mixed berries
• A few teaspoons of honey

1.Blend everything together until smooth and thick. Add more frozen fruit if a thicker consistency is desired. 

Xx

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Eurotrip

Hello!

Wow I can't believe that it has been over a month since I've properly blogged or posted any sort of recipe! As I am currently travelling around Europe, it will sadly be a week or two more until I get back into the swing of posting.

Nearing the end of my trip, it has become clear that food has played a major role in our discovery of different cities! We tried to steer away from touristy eateries and sample the most authentic and traditional dishes.

Brussels 

This was a great place to start our travels whereby we indulged in daily waffles. The waffles here are out of this world! Thick and sugary yet still light, fluffy and slightly chewy- definitely the best ones I have ever had! On a rainy afternoon we decided to have a big pot of moules et frites which really hit the spot! We then sampled and bought some Belgium chocolate which were so smooth and amazing (which I sadly forgot at one of the hotels along the way). We finished off the trip at the Delerium bar, world famous for it's extensive list of about 3000 beers. Not a beer fan myself, I managed to find a few great beers, namely the cactus beer and the delerium red (berry beer) and have taken a new liking to this beverage.

Amsterdam

As hard as we tried, it seems like Amsterdam is not known for it's food! However, it was nice to see that people are relatively healthy with juice and salad bars all over the place. I don't actually remember seeing a Macdonald's here, so that's a plus! We did sample some streetfood, namely their croquette: fried stick filled with creamy ragout and their frikendal: a spiced sausage covered in curry and onion, delicious!

Berlin

Although Berlin was a great place to visit with respect to it's history and culture (if visiting, I highly recommend the daily Sandermans free walking tours as well as the concentration camp tour), the food was rather disappointing. Germany is known to have the most types of breads in the world and although we didn't try many, their bakeries and their extensive range of goodies were impressive! We gave in to a huge cheesy pretzel, usually sold by street vendors all around town.

Prague

Prague was a great place to visit with such charm to it, after our 12 hour train journey from hell (4 changes and a 4 hour wait outside a station at 1am!), I really wish that I had an extra day to visit the place. Food was much cheaper here so it was hard not to try abit of everything! Plum upside down cake, tripe soup, sour mushroom soup, pork knee and the list goes on, we certainly managed to get a good glimpse at Czech food within the one night we had in Prague!

Vienna

Arriving on a public holiday and only spending one night in this beautiful city, we didn't manage to sample much of the food. For dinner we did sample a traditional schnitzel, which was perfectly crispy yet still juicy. The flee market was also great with lots of fresh fruits and snacks.

Budapest & Zagreb

Budapest has been my favourite place of the trip so far! Such friendly people, so much to see and do and very reasonable and tasty food. We first went for one of their traditional sweet breads, Kurtosh which was amazing! Cooked fresh when bought, this sweet cinnamon flavoured bread is very light and perfect as a snack as you walk around town. The bakeries are packed of interesting looking cakes, all of which are rustic, full of flavour and far from the usually overprocessed sugary treats sold in the UK.

Our stop in Zagreb was rather short and rushed therefore not leaving much time to try any local specialities. However, we did notice that most streets had corn on the cob vendors which were a great healthy snack!

Italy

Without a doubt, Italy has been the most exciting to our taste buds! The thought of pasta and pizza would not usually appeal to me, however do not rule out these dishes until you have tried the authentic homemade kind! Three nights in Florence was far from enough to try out all that we had planned to, but so far nothing has dissapointed! It was also a great plus to have a temporary food market right outside of our hotel. From mushroom tagliatelle, gluten free chickpea flour farinata, bruschetta, baby octopus, grilled squid, chestnut flour trofie, bistecca and croquettes, melon & prosciutto ham, cannoli, gelato and so, so much more!

Now off to explore Rome followed by a couple of days in Athens!

Xx

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Sweet potato and spinach bake

I am officially a University of Manchester graduate! Graduation was such a memorable day with great weather, lots of alcohol and picture taking. Sadly, it also led to many goodbyes as all of my course mates started heading back to different parts of the world for further studies or to start their careers.

                                

Having Tom and mum here has led to lots of eating out but we've still managed to cook some nice and healthy meals in the frenzy of things. I decided to make a healthy type of veggie bake with the sweet potatoes and spinach that we had in the fridge and it turned out to be super delicious and the perfect accompaniment to our lamb steaks.

SWEET POTATO AND SPINACH BAKE

• 250g peeled and thinly sliced sweet potato 
• 200g fresh spinach
• Rosemary or thyme
• About 50 ml non fat milk
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• Salt & pepper
• A few tbsp of light cheese, grated

1. In a frying pan, lightly pan fry the spinach with some crushed garlic and season.
2. In a greased baking dish, form a layer of sweet potato slices on the base, season with salt and pepper. Top with a third of the cooked spinach.
3. Continue layering the vegetables, seasoning as you go along. You could add a little cheese between each layer if desired.
4. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, herbs, mustard and garlic until simmering. Strain and pour over the sweet potatoes.
5. Top with a little cheese and bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees for about 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy! Xx 

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Simple octopus salad

So my holiday has now come to an end. Time to head back to a sunnier Manchester(hopefully!) to graduate and start my new job at EY! These four weeks have been a good relaxing break before going back to the hustle and bustle. Having eaten out quite a bit whilst on holiday, I've come across a few new lovely restaurants and my favourites were Selfish in Pointe aux Cannoniers and Izumi at Port Chambly. Selfish is a small and homely restaurant mainly serving seafood. Their sushi dishes are based on Mauritian flavours such as guava and tamarind and are a nice tasty twist on traditional sushi. Izumi serves traditional Japanese food and we had a delicious teppanyaki celebration meal when I received my final University results.

As a yearly tradition, my mum hosts a lunch for her tennis group and this time round I offered to cook all the food. I made lots of different 'salad-y' dishes including octopus salad and a trio of desserts to finish.

Octopus can be a tricky thing to cook as it can easily become super chewy and hard to eat. My dad taught me the trick to perfectly tender octopus and mentioned that the most common mistake was to boil it, big no no! On to the recipe.

OCTOPUS SALAD

• 1 kg of octopus
• 1-2 tomatoes, diced
• A large onion, finely diced
• Large bunch of coriander, chopped
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil
• Lemon juice

1. To clean the octopus, scrub with lots of salt and wash throughouly.

2. In a large saucepan, add in a little oil and the whole octopus, (only chop it up once cooked). Stir around for a couple of minutes, lower the heat and cover to cook.

3. Check the octopus every 5 to 10 minutes stirring it around as it releases it's own juices and pricking it with a skewer. Once tender after about 20-30 minutes, the octopus is cooked.

4. Once cooled, chop the octopus into fine slices.

5. In a large bowl, combine the octopus slices, diced tomatoes, diced onion and chopped coriander. Season with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.
 

                                              

Enjoy xx 

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Thai carrot soup

Here's another recipe for my detox week! This went down a treat. The peanut butter gives this a light 'satay' flavour and makes for a filling and tasty soup.

THAI CARROT SOUP

• 1 lb carrots, peeled and chopped
• About 1 litre of vegetable stock
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 0.5 tsp minced ginger
• 2 tsp peanut butter
• About 1 tbsp lemon juice
• About 150 ml coconut milk
• Salt and pepper
• A little chilli paste: optional

1. In a large saucepan, heat about a tablespoon of oil. Lightly fry the chopped onion, garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add in the carrots and cook for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable stock to the pan, reduce the heat, cover and let the carrots cook until soft, adding more water if necessary.
3. Remove the pan from the stove, add in the peanut butter and coconut milk and blend until smooth.
4. Season with salt, pepper and chilli paste.

Xx

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Iced citrus green tea

Just a quick post about this refreshing drink that I've been having recently in this Mauritian heat! Taste wise this is very similar to regular iced tea but with all the benefits of green tea. Green tea is known for it's benefits with regards to weight loss, depression, cholesterol and heart diseases therefore there should be no reason not to load up on this yummy drink!

ICED CITRUS GREEN TEA

• 1 litre of green tea
• 1 large orange, peeled and sliced
• 1 large lemon, half sliced & half squeezed
• 2 tsp honey

Once the tea is brewed, when still warm stir in the honey and squeeze in half a lemon.

Add in the orange and lemon slices, leave for atleast an hour to infuse and keep refrigerated.

Enjoy xx

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Detox time

After two weeks of wedding celebrations, family gatherings and having visitors in Mauritius, it was time for a bit of a detox! The day started with an early Zumba session. Zumba has never felt so hard in such heat! For anyone in the north of the island, check out the classes run by Giovanni (52516578), a licensed Zumba instructor, lots of fun assured!

For breakfast I made smoothies, a simple raspberry and pineapple one for mum and an avocado, pineapple and banana one for me.

Avocados and bananas are full of folates which support red blood cell formation and good circulation. Avocados are also full of healthy fats and they have the highest protein content of any fruit- perfect to kick start the day! I always have a bag of chopped up frozen bananas in the freezer, the perfect base for any smoothie giving you a thick and refreshing texture.

AVOCADO BANANA SMOOTHIE

• Half a ripe avocado
• 2 small frozen bananas, chopped
• About 1 cup of non fat milk or coconut milk
• A couple of slices of pineapple, chopped 
• 3 tsp honey, or more according to taste

Blend everything together until nice and smooth, I used a hand blender. Adjust the amount of milk used according to your desired textured. If you find the avocado too overpowering, add in some vanilla, more pineapple or honey.

Now off to make some Thai carrot soup and iced green tea!

Xx

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Chocolate muffins with peanut butter centre

So it has been quite a while since my last post! From mid May onwards, I was in the midst of final exams and dissertation frenzy. The day after my final exam, I flew back to Mauritius for a family wedding aswell as a well deserved break to celebrate the end of University! My best friend from Uni along with my sister and several cousins were all visiting Mauritius at the same time which meant that we have been out and about being tourists for the past two weeks or so!

After a longggg break from the kitchen and baking, I wanted to start with something relatively simple to make, not requiring many ingredients, thus making muffins the perfect option! Playing around with what I had in the kitchen, I used a mixture of cassava and plain flour for these but using just whole wheat flour would work just aswell!

DARK CHOCOLATE MUFFINS WITH PEANUT BUTTER CENTRE

• 100g cassava flour
• 100g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.5tsp baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 40g cocoa
• 60 g coconut oil, melted
• 1 egg or 2 egg whites
• 220g non fat milk
• 100g honey
• A handful of dark chocolate chips, optional
• About 12 tsp of peanut butter

1. Combine the flours, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add in the chocolate chips if using.

2. Make a well at the centre of the dry ingredients, break in the egg, add the oil, honey and milk and combine until you obtain a smooth batter, do not over mix.

3. In muffin cases, half fill with batter. Add in a teaspoon on peanut butter on the batter and cover with more muffin batter.

4. Bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius until muffins are well risen.

                               

These are best warm as the peanut butter is all melted and oozing.

Xx

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Fat free zucchini bread

So I've decided to disappear from the world of Facebook for the time being until exams are over and tadahh, I suddenly find myself with so much more free time! It's crazy how we can become so addicted to so-called "social networking" websites, whereby we manage to spend so many pointless hours browsing through our newsfeeds and "catching up" with what's going on. I'm certainly not denying the fact that I am guilty of such doings myself, but it is clear that Facebook has become an unhealthy habit for many. Although I did have the temptation of giving in to my Facebook "ban" quite a few times today, I realised that at the end of the day, I managed to fit much more in my day than I usually would! Anyways, as a consequence, voici a new blog update: fat free zucchini (courgette) chocolate bread.

FAT FREE ZUCCHINI BREAD

• 1 small zucchini (courgette) (about 220 g), grated
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 egg
•  100 g honey (alter to your preference)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 190 g flour of your choice (I used whole wheat)
• 25 g cocoa
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp baking soda
• A few dark chocolate chips and chopped nuts: optional

1. Combine the grated zucchini, mashed banana, egg and honey.
2. Fold in the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon until you obtain a smooth batter. Quickly fold in the chocolate chips and nuts if using.
3. Pour the batter into prepared cake moulds, I made 6 muffins and 2 mini loaves.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 175 degrees Celsius until nicely risen and a toothpick comes out clean, mine took 20 minutes. 

Other recent creations: chocolate and peanut butter frozen yogurt and pumpkin seed & cranberry granola bars. I loveeee my ice cream machine! Ok time to get back to microeconomics :(. Xx

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Healthier chocolate fudge cake!

So exams are a week away and here I am, calmly munching on my porridge, ready for a Max Fitness cardio session at the gym in a bit. For some reason, the stress and exam period 'craziness' hasn't kicked in this time round. It is crazy and somewhat scary to think about the fact that these will be my last ever exams at University. The three years of studying for my undergraduate degree have gone by way too quickly, I still remember my first day in Manchester, carrying my two massive suitcases up to my tiny room in halls with my mum!, discovering all the great eateries and meeting people from all over the world! These have definitely been the best years so far and although it is quite sad that my adventures as a student are coming to an end, I am so excited to start this new chapter of my working life and what better place to kick start my career than in Manchester itself!

Anyways, enough rambling on and now to the recipe! When exams approach and it is time to get serious with revision, everything else around us happens to seem way more interesting and most students manage to procrastinate in some way or another! For me, there isn't a more appropriate time to bake! For some reason I just start thinking about so many flavour combinations, twists on recipes and get such urges to get to the kitchen! So as the baking cravings started to kick in, Facebook notified me about our gym instructor's birthday, what better excuse to try and make a healthy chocolate birthday cake! I played around with what I had in the kitchen, I used half whole wheat and half white flour but I would definitely try to use a substitute such as oat/ coconut flour next time round. The texture of the cake is very soft and gooey in the middle and I think that the layered strawberries helps to take away from the 'dense-ness' of the cake.

CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE

• 120 g flour of choice: I used half whole-wheat, half plain flour
• 0.5 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large ripe banana
• 20 g cocoa
• 50 g honey or any sweetener
• 1 egg
• 35 g coconut oil or olive oil
• About 40 ml of milk

1. Mash up the banana until smooth. Add in the sweetener of choice, egg and oil.
2. Fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa until the batter is smooth  and lump-free. Slowly incorporate in the milk until you obtain a smooth 'cake batter' texture. 
3. Pour the mixture into prepared cake tins (greased and floured), I used 3 mini loaf pans so if using one big pan, adjust baking time respectively.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for roughly 20 minutes until well risen and a toothpick comes out clean.

FUDGE FILLING & TOPPING

• Roughly 120 g pitted dates
• 1.5 tsp coconut oil 
• 2 heaped tsp cocoa
• Pinch of salt 

1. Soak the dates in a little warm water for a couple of minutes until softened.
2. Drain the dates, keeping the water aside to use later on.
3. Add the cocoa, salt and coconut oil to the dates and blend up. 
4. Slowly add in a little of the date water as you blend it up to create a smooth textured filling. I used about 6 teaspoons of the water.

Assemble the cake as desired. I used two layers of cake with some sliced strawberries and date filling in between them. For the top I covered the cake in a thick layer of the date topping followed by a layer of fresh berries and nuts. And to top it off, I drizzled on a little white chocolate.

Xx

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Protein banana bread

Here's to another protein packed delicious baked treat! Of all the baking that I've done with protein powders, I can confidently say that this banana bread has been the tastiest so far! I used to always keep away from protein powders whilst baking because using them often leads to dry and tough baked goods.

However, as long as you stick to three main rules, you should be fine. Firstly, make sure to never have a batter with more than about a 1/3 protein powder, secondly partly use some sort of other 'flour' such as oats, ground almonds or whole wheat flour in the mix and lastly add in some moderately fatty binder such as eggs or avocado, you will end up with a tasty low-carb treat.

I know that many of you, especially women, are probably slightly weary of protein powders, being scared of the fact that 'they make you big and bulky'. However, this couldn't be any further from the truth. As long as you opt for a 100% protein powder, with no added bulkers etc, then protein powders are the perfect supplement to a healthy lifestyle, especially if you tend to exercise regularly. When exercising, you are essentially wearing and tearing muscles down which then tend to be repaired and rebuilt through proper nutrition. Good sources of protein ensure that this process is effective and contributes to your overall feeling of wellbeing. Obviously, there are so many natural sources of protein through beans, tofu, meat and so on, but protein powders are just a great and easy way to increase your protein intake and are great substitutes to conventional flour in baking.

PROTEIN PACKED BANANA BREAD

• 1 large overripe banana/ 2 medium sized
• 30g sweetener of choice, I used honey
• 1 egg
• 75 ml of non fat milk/non-dairy milk
• 50 g of finely ground up oats
• 1 large scoop (about 50 g) of protein powder (vanilla or chocolate should work well)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp oil: coconut or olive oil
• dark chocolate chips and broken nuts: optional

1. In a large bowl, mash up the banana until smooth. Mix in the honey, oil and egg until you obtain a consistent batter.
2. Fold in the flour of choice, protein powder, cinnamon and baking powder. Slowly pour in enough milk to make a smooth batter, making sure not to overmix. 
3. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts if using. Pour the batter into a greased and floured or a silicon cake mold.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius until golden brown making sure not to overbake! I used 2 mini loaf molds and baked mine for 18 minutes. Baking time will vary according to the size of your mold.

I also made a quick and healthy beef moussaka yesterday that shall be posted soon along with my chicken curry that I have been meaning to post for quite a while, sadly revision has got the best of me at the moment.

Also, protein truffles have come in handy recently, perfect little revision snack!
Xx

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Chocolate protein cookies

So it's that time of the year again, exams are approaching and the revision frenzy begins! Revision time to me just means less hours sat in lectures and more hours experimenting away in the kitchen!

I have decided to get serious with my eating plan, cutting down on carbs and loading up on protein (haha not too sure how long I'll last this time!). In my attempt to create an easy protein packed snack, I decided to make 2 versions of cookies, a chocolate oatmeal cookie and a vanilla cinnamon cookie. The vanilla one completely failed and looked like some dried up fruit, whoops! But the chocolate one turned out surprisingly good- they aren't very sweet because I didn't add any type of sweetener but you could definitely add in some honey, agave etc if you want to. These cookies have about 5g of protein in each of them and are even nicer sliced open and stuffed with peanut butter.

CHOCOLATE PROTEIN COOKIES
Makes 12

• 60g protein powder (I used phd vanilla flavour)
• 5-10g cocoa powder: optional if using vanilla flavoured protein
• 25g coconut flour, can substitute with whole wheat
• 30g oats 
• 1 large or  about 1.5 regular eggs
• 0.5 tsp baking soda
• 65 ml non fat milk
• 30g dark chocolate chips: optional 
• 30g chopped nuts, I used Brazil nuts, optional
• 1-2 tbsp honey: optional

1. Combine the protein powder, cocoa, flour, oats and baking soda together.
2. Mix in the egg and enough milk to form a sticky dough. Fold in the chopped nuts and chocolate chips.
3. On a non stick baking tray, form 12 balls with your hands and flatten down with the back of a spoon.
4. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 10-12 minutes (mine were in for about 13, slightly over cooked :( ).Make sure that you don't overcook these as protein powder baked goods can easily go very dry.

Enjoy and back to my dissertation it is!

Xx

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Healthy chocolate mousse tart

Happy belated Easter! I hope you all had a lovely time and didn't get too carried away with the chocolates! In the UK, we had a 4 day long weekend, perfect excuse for a break from revision to go sightseeing in London. I also managed to squeeze in a quick catch up with my sister in Bournemouth. We had a lovely picnic in the sunshine in New Forest surrounded by wild horses and donkeys, went to the beach and caught up on some sister bonding time! We popped round to my aunt's place where she had prepared some lovely Mauritian food: faratas, chicken curry and boulettes!

It has recently been pointed out that I've had a somewhat incomplete childhood, having not watched most classic animations! (whoops!). So as I planned to snuggle in bed to Shrek the other night, I decided that a chocolate treat was necessary! Something rich and creamy with a nice crunch. Played around with what I had in the kitchen and there you have it, a sort of deconstructed chocolate mousse pie, healthified. :) I made two types of bases, one chocolate and one coffee flavoured one, the coffee one is slightly bitter and would appeal to adults mainly. Amounts specified are for individual pies so alter according to your pie dish.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PIE

Choc base per individual pie

• 2 tbsp oats, grounded up
• 2.5 tbsp ground almond, or any other nut meal
• 0.5 tbsp honey or brown sugar
• 0.5 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
  
  Coffee base
• 2 tbsp oats, grounded up
• 2.5 tbsp ground almond 
• 0.5 tsp instant coffee
• 0.5 tbsp honey or brown sugar
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
  
  1. For any of the bases, mix together the dry ingredients. Add in the coconut oil and mix until it just comes together.
  2. Press the mix into a silicone cake mould or in a metal pan lined with baking paper.
  3. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes and allow to cool fully.

Chocolate mousse

I've already posted this recipe before, it is the magical avocado chocolate mousse. You only need three ingredients and quantities depend on how sweet and how 'chocolatey' you want your mousse to be, so vary quantities accordingly. If you think that the avocado mousse is too rich (which it might be for children), it is really nice to lighten it up which some banana.

• Ripe avocados
• Sweetener- I use honey
• Cocoa powder

1. Blend everything together until smooth and creamy.
2. Spoon over the cooled biscuit base and refrigerate till set. You could also freeze for a couple of minutes for a cool semi feddo style dessert. 

The refrigerated version will still be quite soft so if this is for a dinner party, individual ramekins full of this would be ideal! Decorate with fruit and enjoy!

Here are some Easter cupcakes that I made: carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and coffee cupcakes with white chocolate ganache centre, peanut butter frosting and peanut brittle.

Xx

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