An Oat Bar Recipe... Without Oats!!

Hi friends, happy whatever day of the week it is because I'm too frazzled to even remember!

But thankfully, I have enough brain power to type up a recipe (probably not to create one, what with hot elements and cooking etc.- so lucky for me I cooked this up on the weekend!!) and so get ready because...

This 'granola bar' recipe is oat free, sugar free, wheat free, dairy free, ancient grain filled, extremely delicious, filling, protein filled and quite simple to prep together for a make-ahead brekkie/ snack!

The majority of my make-ahead, convenient recipes are as a result of me requiring a make-ahead breakfast to grab running out the door for a few hours later.. and this recipe is no different!

I had a pre-brekky of plain greek yoghurt mixed with frozen banana slices (so yum!) an then grabbed my frozen granola bar wrapped in foil to enjoy approximately 3-4 hours later for second breakfast!

 Pic

Now, I'm not usually a fan of eating plain quinoa or plain buckwheat on their own, like my usual obsession with plain brown rice. Instead I seem to cook them into delicious, sweet breakfast (enter rich chocolate buckwheat 'porridge'.)

So when I needed a bake and then freeze-ahead recipe (ok, it didn't have to be bake, but the chocolate fudge brownie was getting a little old- though still so, so tasty!!) but wasn't really feeling the oats (I think I'd had oats about every day for the past week!) so instead I rummaged through my pantry shelf and pulled out some quinoa and buckwheat groats. Let's cook!

Quinoa and Buckwheat, nutty, cinnamon-y, coconut-y 'granola' bars!
Ingredients:
2 heaped tablespoons quinoa
2 heaped tablespoons buckwheat groats (add more if you're a hungry beast like me!)
1 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
sprinkle of chia seeds
small handful chopped mixed raw nuts
2 dates, chopped
1- 2 teaspoons coconut oil

Method:
1. Preaheat oven to 180 degrees celsius, line a mini loaf tin with baking paper (or alternately line a ramekin)

2. Rinse quinoa and place in saucepan with buckwheat, cinnamon and  almond milk in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until absorbed (add some extra water if liquid absorbs and quinoa and buckwheat are still crunchy!)

3. Stir in chia seeds, nuts and dates
4. Pour into mini loaf tin or ramekin, flatten with a spoon/ hands and place in oven for 20-30 mins until golden brown

5. Leave to cool and then cover in foil/ gladwrap and pop in the freezer overnight or until whenever required.

And this is me enjoying my oat-free granola bar during my break at work:

 NOM :)

It may not look like the most vibrantly coloured meal- but boy did it taste good and leave me energised and full for hours!!

All in all, this is such a great, healthy, filling, nutrient dense recipe that I reckon all of you should make when you're in a time-jam and need some awesome food to positively fly through your day!

Your turn:
Are you a fan of granola bars?
Do you make your own homemade versions? What do you put in yours?
Favourite way to use quinoa/ buckwheat?? I'm keen for some more ideas!!

Alrighty! I hope you all have a fabulous rest of your day/ week, nourish your body, love your body! Smile lots, love more and as always; Eat something delicious!! Bye for now friends! :D

Choc Magic Shell- HEALTHIFIED!

What is magic exactly?

Is it the illusions people can create whereby a quick slight of hand fools the entire room?

Or is it the indescribably, unanswerable miracles that happen in the world?

Is it that feeling you get when you simply cannot come up with an answer for what your eyes are witnessing?

For me, magic is all those things and more! I've always been astounded by magicians and magic tricks and whenever someone shows me one I usually end up standing on my feet screaming at them to tell me how they did it!!

But there have been other times that I've experienced magic as a child and one of the memories that bring back happy vibes and good nostalgio include scooping out a bowl of vanilla ice cream and topping it with something that can be describe as nothing else but magic:

Simply pouring some of this on ice cold scoops of ice cream, resulting in the wizardry ways of the Mr Whippy Van's choc covered ice cream:

So needless to say, I have in fact experienced true, undeniable magic :).

But what's a girl to do when she doesn't necessarily want to ingest ice cream that will leave her stomach in stabbing pains or a 'magic' chocolate shell with more words she can't pronounce in the ingredients list than is respectable?

Well, she goes straight ahead and makes her very own version!

Presenting Choc Coated Ice-cream; Steph-style!!

As you may have guessed I whizzed up a good ol' frozen banana (with some plain greek yoghurt- absolutely optional- I just wanted more ice cream!!) to make my version of vanilla ice cream...

But how did I make that rock hard, perfectly chocolate-y choc top topping?

Magic!!

I'm just kidding, I have the recipe for you- have no fear!

Choc Magic Shell (Awesome-ly healthy version!)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut butter/ coconut oil (coconut oil gives a harder stting choc top- coconut butter is more fudgey
1 teaspoon raw cacao powder
1/2- 1 teaspoon agave syrup or any other syrup you desire (for added sweetness, I didn't add any because I love dark bitter tastes)
2 tablespoons almond milk

Method:
1. Whiz together 1 large frozen banana in a food processor until smooth and creamy (scraping down sides occasionally) and place in a bowl in the freezer until required

2.Place the coconut butter/ oil, agave syrup and almond milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until melted together.
3. Stir in the cacao powder until smooth, silky and combined

4. Leave to cool slightly, then remove banana ice cream from freezer and drizzle magic shell over top (feel free to scatter over some chopped nuts or granola etc.for added crunch!)- immediately return to freezer for 10-15 minutes to harden

5. Remove form freezer and ENJOY!!

Yes, your childhood magic has returned back to your lives and this time you can have it for breakfast!

Happy Days!!

Eaten here with a delicious plate of coconut butter truffles- some topped with the leftover magic shell!! (leftovers are never a negative! :D)

And now, a quick photo-story of the beautiful breakfast that was:

:D

Your turn:
What do you consider to be magic?
Favourite childhood memory that feels magical?
Were you as amazed by magic shell as I was??

I hope you try this recipe out and enjoy some awesome magic back into your life! Have a fabulous rest of your day, enjoy the company of those around you and SMIIILLLEEE! Also, eat something delicious- but you already knew that! ;) Bye for now friendly friends! :D

Back...again and foods that fix me up!

Happy Saturday everyone!!
Phew- another night away, and back again!

This 'camp' was my year 12 study retreat in which we learned about our brains, various study techniques, did some activities, caught up with those we hadn't seen for the entire Summer and spent the night.

I think I've finally figured out why I'm always starving on camps for teens. See they give us heaps and heaps of carbs (I was so over rice and pasta!!) and yet no healthy fats at all. I ate my usual large servings of food and found that merely an hour later I was starving. And also, snack times revolved around brown fried foods (think sausage rolls, samosas etc.) and when I asked them for a piece of fruit they looked at me as though I was crazy.

I guess it is safe to say that I am glad I am home now for good for the time being as I've been missing on my nut butters, smoothies and large amounts of veg.

This is how I celebrated coming home after yesterdays return:

Two soft boiled eggs with multigrain hommus and avocado soldiers, sauteed mushrooms, tomatoes and capsicum and some nutritional yeast kale chips (wash kale, rub in nutritional yeast, bake at 180 degrees celsius for 10-15 mins until crispy.) with a glass of soy milk.

This helped ease the painful food baby/ bloat a little bit but I'm still hanging onto some nausea that's sprung up over the past few days. For some reason I feel like it was the overload of acidity in all of the dishes they served us and now whenever I think of lemon juice, or vinegar or something like that I feel quite queesy!

I also very much enjoyed preparing my own delicious breakfast in which I could add all the healthy fats and filling protein and veggies I desired!

That my friends is a black berry not-so-green green smoothie with a side cup of warm cashew butter granola :)

Into the Vitamix went 1 sliced banana (didn't have any frozen ones :() 1 handful chopped frozen zucchini, 1 massive handful spinach, 1 handful frozen blackberries, 3 scoops of greek yoghurt and 1/2 cup water- whazzed up until smooth!

When I woke up this morning I realised- to my utter disbelief- that I didn't have any nut butter in the house!!! So I grabbed about 2-3 handfuls of cashews, chucked them in a mini food processor and processed for around 15 mins (scraping down edges occasionally) until smooth and creamy. Voila! Single serving cashew butter!

To make the granola I mixed together around 3/4-1 cup rolled oats, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, sprinkle chia seeds, 1 tablespoon oat bran and 2 tablespoons cashew butter and almond milk warmed together in microwave, and rubbed until combined. Popped in the oven on a tray lined with baking paper at 180 degrees celsius and baked for around 15-20 mins until golden brown and fragrant and DONE! Delicious, cookie-like granola chunks for brekky!

Smoothie + cashew butter granola bites= Happy, happy Steph :)

And I most definitely need to keep my strength up today as tonight is....

MY BALL!!

Crazy stuff! I definitely do not feel like a year 12 student and have no idea where this ball came from (out of nowhere perhaps??) but I am super excited and can't wait to see the rest of my year group looking utterly amazing and beautiful! It's going to be great!

Your turn:
Do you find that when you go away there is a lacking of healthy fats on offer?
Favourite fix-me-up dinner you make when you haven't been eating your usual foods?
Any funny ball/ prom stories??


I hope you all have a great rest of your weekend, doing something you love, treating your body kindly and as always; eating something delicious! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

Recently- The Food Front- Rawesome!!

Okidokie, I have definitely noticed I go through phases like there's no tomorrow!

So you know how I was loving on eating my smoothie bowls separated for a while there..
 

 Well apparently now my body wants a proper smoothie bowl... but with raw granola (ie. not oven baked) so:

 I whipped up a delightful smoothie of 1 frozen banana, a large handful of frozen honeydew chunks, a handful of frozen zucchini chunks, a handful of spinach, a handful of kale, 3 big spoons of greek yoghurt and some water to get it all moving!!

And topped it all off with a mix of uncooked cashew butter granola and uncooked peanut butter granola. Steps as follows:
Place a tablespoon of each nut butter into two separate small bowls, place a tablespoon of almond milk in each, microwave for around 20 seconds, add to one of two bowls, each with 1/3 cup oats, sprinkle chia seeds, small handful of no-added-sugar wholegrain cheerios (or other cereal/ crunchy thing you like) and stir to combine!

 Then simply top your smoothie (which has been chilling in the freezer whilst making the granola) with the soft, fudgey raw granola and ENJOY!

 P.S. Adding honeydew to smoothies is a good idea!!

 Very good indeed!

 But when you don't have time to whip up such an extravagant brekky?
Say, you are scheduled in to start work at 6:00am, so are up at 5:00am but still need a little first breakfast to keep you sane?

1 frozen banana:

 + greek yoghurt:

 = Quick easy and delicious!!

And then when break time rolls round- second breakfast!!!

 Yep, I made my raw freezer frudge brownie again (I really don't like cooking things do I?)

To make this delicious bad bowl, simply place 3/4 cup oats, sprinkle chia seeds, 1 scoop of choc protein powder, 1 teaspoon raw cacao powder, dash of cinnamon, 2 dates, 1 heaped tablespoon peanut butter (or any nut butter) 1/3 cup almond milk (add more if required) to a food processor and process to combine (until thick and sticky)- transfer into a small container lined with baking paper, cover and freeze for a few hours or overnight!

 He may not look like the prettiest brownie, but boy, this guy tastes so gooood! Think of the fudgiest, richest, chocolatiest brownie you've ever tasted and I reckon this guy would give it a run for it's money. And it's good for you too! Bonus!!

Brownies for breakfast? Yes, please!

 The take-away from today's post? Steph's current new phase is raw foods. Or that healthy foods can-and do- taste amazing!

You can take your pick ;)

What about you?
What's your favourite frozen fruit to add to smoothies?
Ever tried uncooked granola? Are you a fan?
Ever had brownies for breakfast? The healthy or... less healthy kind?

I hope you all have a fabulous Monday in whatever it is you are doing (I'm heading out to breakfast!!) be brave, take risks and smillleee :) Bye for now friendly freinds!! :D

P.S> Don't forget to eat something delicious!! Thought I had forgotten didn't you? ;P