HEALTH FOOD HAUL

My beautiful bounty of health food

Just got in from a fabulous morning out with my dad and have jumped straight on my laptop to blog it. Rest of the family are away so we went to the local town of Petersfield and visited this great health food shop called 'The Bran Tub' then loaded with goodies headed over to a health food cafe called 'The Natural Apothecary'. Seriously I'm buzzing from this trip, we never get specialized health stores this good in where I live. So here are the things I chose to buy and some pictures of the health food cafe for you all!

 Ok, this is my first try at kale chips and seriously I don't know why you would choose potato crisps over these. THEY ARE AMAZING. These ones are, raw, vegan and gluten free and as they're raw the chips are made though dehydrating them so no oil is needed for baking or frying. The cheesy taste comes from nutritional yeast and cashew nuts so not only do you get the goodness of kale but B12 and protein  from the yeast and nuts. Admittedly they are a little pricey (£3.95 for the tub if you cant see) but I would pay the money again for it with out a thought. Its worth it for the nutrition and intense crunchy savory hit you get.



Here's the Miso paste I got. Now I adore Miso soup and this Miso paste looked really interesting as it's a field bean barley Miso that's 'live' and unpasteurized. Because this Miso is made from field bean barley it means it's produced locally in the UK as the beans and barley can be grown in the cool climate of rainy Britain. Also being used to white Miso I thought it would be interesting to try a darker version as it's ment to have a deeper stronger flavor. If your anemic (like moi) or vegan or even vegetarian and need your B12, Miso is high in it and it can also help your immune system so get it down your gullet lads.

Next is some Buck Wheat puffs! Originally I was looking to see if they did Quinoa puffs but then I found these! I had trouble deciding between these and the Millet Puffs but these had less fat in them (however the Millet had more protein, you win some you lose some). BigOz are a great organic company, all there cereals are gluten free, nut free, GM free and dairy free. BigOz also support some thing called 'Project Le Monde' which helps underprivileged communities in Uganda, so you can feel good while eating your cereal. These buckwheat puffs taste nuttier (and better) then your average rice krispie and have 2.91g of protein per 30g serving which isn't bad for a cereal..

As you can see I've already got in and had a square of this chocolate bar and I can happily say it's wonderful. It's a raw, vegan organic bar of chocolate goodness with goji berries and vanilla. I don't really need to say any more..

 
 To the left is some smoked tofu. Again it's organic which is great and it's a slightly different make to what I normally buy. See, I often buy 'Dragonfly Organic Tofu' which is made locally in Devon but this tofu had less packaging, was cheaper and looked pretty good so I thought, why not? I normally grill my smoked tofu with a little soy sauce to really bring out the smokiness. I really want to try some different tofu products as tofu is really good for you, it's literally just a block of protein and fiber.

 This is the best Jam ever. Honestly.

 It's a high fruit jam and has no added sugar, instead it uses fruit juice concentrate to give it that jammy sweetness. This means its brilliant for diabetics, low GI diets and controlling the amount of refined sugar you intake. PLUS it tastes delicious. I've had these jams before  but never the black cherry one but its so darn good. In nearly every spoon full you get a whole juicy cherry and the jam really tastes of sweet lovely fruit rather then sugar, which I like. A lot.

Get this jam you will thank me.

I also bought (that isn't individually pictured) vegan cheddar cheese, white tea with goji berry and some cartons of strawberry coconut milk alternative, all of these I am exited to try. Below are some pictures of 'The Natural Apothecary Cafe'. The decor was beautiful, there were cushions with tea cups on them, floral wall paper, and quaint little details like a gramophone and miss-match light bulbs. Me and my dad shared a detox juice that contained broccoli, orange, pineapple, milk thistle, macca powder and few other things and a flowering green tea called 'flying snow'  that had coconut shreds in the flower. The Juice was actually really nice and refreshing and the after taste of the broccoli was surprisingly pleasant and went really well with the pineapple. And the tea! Well I think my self as a tea connoisseur and this tea was really wonderful. It was delicate and floral with a sweet coconut after taste and what made it even better was the fact you could see the flower opening up before your eyes. I will definitely be returning.

Healthy vegan version of rice pudding (Coconut, Cinnamon and Date Bulgar and Quinoa pudding)

As a kid rice pudding was the most comforting thing. We didn't have it often and it wasn't always home made but it was still the BEST THING EVER to me. I mean it was creamy sweet cabs, what more do you want at the age of 5? However, rice pudding is really not healthy, unless you count the health benefits from the raisins you sometimes get in it. SO I have been looking for a healthy substitute to satisfy my inner child. Finally I found it and its super creamy (without dairy), tasty (with out refined carbohydrates) and packed with protein (with out sticking a steak in the middle of your dessert). Its my Coconut, Cinnamon and Date Bulgar and Quinoa pudding. The Bulgar and Quinoa mix I bought from Waitrose and is great as it's high protein, unrefined fiber filled goodness but you could replace it with straight Quinoa or any other protein rich whole grain you like.

Coconut, Cinnamon and Date Bulgar and Quinoa pudding

Ingredients
1/2 cup  Bulgar wheat and Quinoa mix (uncooked)
1/2 cup Coconut milk light
10 dates
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tbsp of favorite sweetener (I used stevia)
1 tbsp of dessicated coconut unsweetened




*optional- toppings such as raisins, Goji berries, nuts and seeds 

-Put a small pan of water over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Add your Bulgar and Quinoa and cook for 10 mins. If your using another grain cook in the water till a few minuets before fully cooked (it will finish cooking in the coconut milk)

Dates and Coconut Milk ready for the pan!

- Drain your grains and return to pan. Add the coconut milk, dates, sweetener and cinnamon. Stir till the grains are fully cooked (about a further 2-3 mins), remove from heat and stir in your dessicated coconut.

- Serve up and add your toppings (I topped with Goji berries, raisins, chopped figs and Brazil nuts)

Comfort food at it's healthy best

Date Caramel Cashew Thumbprint Cookies with Cacao Nibs

 Hello world, so I have finally taken the jump and told the parents I've gone VEGAN so I am now officially vegan, I guess. I know it's not much but it's a start! So to celebrate I wanted to make something I have wanted to make for a while.. Date caramel. I have never been a chocolate fanatic, I mean it's nice but I can live with out it. No, what I adore it caramel and fudgey things, so to hear you could have a healthy caramel was mind blowing. I have been afraid to make it cause my blender is awful and extremely noise but it succeeded so it i can make it with 90's blender so can you! These are full of protein so get em' down your gullet and get some guns to rival Popeye's! Or just for good skin and hair, what ever, big cartoon muscle arms are cool but ya know, your life. Anyway here are my...

Date Caramel Cashew Thumbprint Cookies

I am genuinely so so so so so proud of these.. like so proud.

Date Caramel 

Ingredients 

7 dates

3 prunes

1 tbsp of raisins

1 tsp vanilla bean seeds / 2 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

-Soak you dates, prunes and raisin in 5 tbsp of water for about half an hour

- Reserve a tbsp of the soaking liquor (for the cookies) then add the rest to the blender along with the salt and vanilla and blitz till smooth

Cashew Cookie

Ingredients 

1/2 cup of raw cashews

1/4 cup oats

tbsp of plain (or vanilla) protein powder (mine's vegan but its not certificated raw, you can however get raw certificated protein powder online to make this 'fully raw')

1 tsp vanilla bean seeds / 2 tsp vanilla extract

4 dates

2 tsp of granulated sweetener of choice (stevia, coconut palm sugar etc)

1 tbsp of agave

1 tbsp of date caramel soaking liquid

 Pinch of salt

1 tbsp of cacao nibs (optional)

- If you have a stubborn blender, like mine, roughly chop up your dates and nuts. Then throw into your blender with the rest of your ingredients (apart from your agave and soaking liquid).

Ingredients going into the noisiest blender ever

- Blitz in till the nuts and oats have been fully ground down and are starting to clump together into a dough, then add your agave and soaking liquid to help it along and blitz till a dough does form.

- Remove from blender and stir in your cacao nibs (you could use vegan chocolate chips also which would be sweeter but not as healthy and full of antioxidants as cacao nibs, plus I like the crunch you get from the nibs)

- Roll in to balls the size of a large marble the flatten and make a dimple in the center of the cookie (for the caramel)

Ready for the caramel!

- Fill the dimple with the caramel and serve!

KEEP CALM AND MAKE THESE

Just a quickie

Just discovered a new wonderment

Dates stuffed with nut butter

do it


you'll thank me

Beans for tea

Asked to cook dinner;
Sure, that's cool
what's in the cupboard
(looks in the cupboard, nothing but beans)

beans it is then.

I am sure this occasion has happened to many, the attempt at constructing a tasty meal out of beans. Although beans on toast it a great breakfast staple its not exactly the most gastronomic of dishes eh? However although not always celebrated fine dining the humble bean is a health bundle of joy, staying true to the rhyme 'beans, beans good for your heart the more you eat them the more you..'. Beans are full of fiber and protein keeping you full, controlling blood sugar levels and helping you build and repair muscle. So here is a recipe up your sleeve that is nutritious, cheap and is basically made completely out of your cupboard staples. 

Smokey bean stew and home made seed and herb flat breads with cool garlic, mint and coriander dip (all vegan)

 Flat breads

Ingrediants
150g seeded bread flour
50g whole meal flour
50g corn meal
3 tbsp of favourite oil ( garlic or herb infused oils will work nicely too)
140 ml warm water
1 tbsp of agave
1 tsp of salt
7g of yeast

-Mix water and agave together, add yeast and set aside to ferment for 10 mins.
- Meanwhile mix together flours and cornmeal in a big bowl. If you don't have all these flour you can just make up 250g worth of any bread flour combination. Add salt to one side of the bowl and the water/yeast and oil to the other. using your hands bring together to a dough and knead till smooth and elastic.

- Leave in a covered oiled bowl for an hour in a warm place to rise. Then knock the air out of it and knead again break in to golf ball sized balls.
- Roll out the balls into very flat circula disks. Brush with oil and cook on a hot plate or large flat frying pan. Season with salt and pepper.

Smokey Bean stew

Ingredients
1 large carrot
1 large stick of celery
1 large onion
1 green bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic
8 button mushrooms
1 can of baked beans
1/2 can of mixed beans
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup of stock
1 heaped  tbsp of smoked paprika
1 heaped tbsp of favorite Mexican spice blend
2 tsp of mustard
1 tbsp of dark agave/treacle
1 tbsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of tomato purree

- Dice your carrot, celery, onion, garlic and bell pepper. Add to a large pan with a little oil. Saute for 10 mins till the vegetables are browning ever so slightly on the edges. Add the tomato puree and saute for 5 mins adding the spices 1-2 mins before the end. de-glaze with the stock.

pouring shot.

- Add your agave/treacle, soy sauce, mustard and tomatoes and let the mixture reduce till its the consistency of tomato ketchup.
- Slice your mushrooms and add to the pan along with the beans. Cover and cook till the beans are soft and the mushrooms are cooked through. Serve when ready, you can have this stew sitting on the stove all day it only gets better.

Cool garlic, mint and coriander Dip

Ingredients
1 cup vegan plain yogurt
hand full of mint
hand full of coriander
half a clove of garlic
pinch of coarse salt

-In a pestle and mortar add garlic, salt, and some of the mint and coriander (reserving some for garnish later).

- Grind till a thick paste is formed. Add the vegan yogurt and combine.
- Tear up the the rest of the herbs and stir through or place on top to garnish the dip.

All together! Hozaa amigos, enjoy your beans

Special Vegan Almond Cups with the Boy

 Been living with the boyfriend this week so it's taken me a while to get round to posting this but It's worth it, trust. Plus, I got a sue chef whilst making this awesome recipe..

The beau spooning out the vegan chocolate

Vegan Almond Butter, Banana, Maple cinnamon cups!

Ok every one loves (or should love) the classic Reeses combination of salty nutty peanut butter and sweet chocolate and I've seen a lot of home made and healthier versions around the food blog community. However, I wanted create something slightly special that wasn't just vegan chocolate and almond butter. So I added banana, raisins, cinnamon, and maple cinnamon contributing not just extra fucking fab-u-lous taste but extra fiber, potassium and slow releasing energy. Plus a fun little fact for you, bananas have levels of tryptophan, which is converted into serotonin -- the happy-mood brain neurotransmitter. There for bananas are believed to help with low moods and depression.

SO if your down make these you get chocolate and depression boosting tryptophan. Win win.

Special Vegan Almond Cups

Ingrediants
Bar of vegan chocolate
1/2 cup of almond butter
1 ripe banana
2 tbps of maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
hand full of raisins
large pinch of salt

The almond butter and chocolate I like to use

- Melt your chocolate over a double boiler or in a microwave (10 secs at a time)
- Line small cyclicone moulds or mini cup cake cases with the chocolate, smoothing it up the sides t
so it creates 'cups'. I used heart shaped moulds, cause I'm just that cute, and cup cake ones. Cover and leave in the fridge in set

- Mash your banana and fold into the almond butter along with the maple syrup, cinnamon, raisins and salt

- When the chocolate is set remove from molds and fill with nut butter mixture. decorate with sea salt crystals or flakes of vegan chocolate.

VOILAAA