This fantastic Granola is chocolatey and super crunchy. It has very little fat and very little sweetener. All natural, all healthy, ’cause that’s what we’re doing this month. Are you with me?
…and ONLY 6 INGREDIENTS.
INGREDIENTS;
4 Cups whole rolled oats
1 Cup large Coconut flakes
1/2 Cup whole almonds
1/3 Cup honey
1/4 Cup coconut oil
1/4 Cup cacao powder
METHOD:
Pre heat the oven to 160 C / 320 F
In a large bowl mix all the ingredients.
Layer a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the granola mix out evenly over the baking sheet.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Toss the granola around at least 4 times during cooking time making sure it toasts evenly all over.
After 30 minutes. Take out the tray and leave to cool completely before storing away in a large Mason jar or similar.
Will keep for about three to four weeks.
If you are anything like me, you couldn’t wait to get back on track and start with nutritious healthy food now that we’ve started the new year. I feel like I am in desperate need to replenish. How about you?
Although I had a great time during the whole month of December, enough is enough. The first thing I do, is to clean out the fridge and check very well what you have, write it down if necessary. Plan meals to use up leftovers if you have any, and as far as I’m concerned throw out the fattening stuff. Get rid of chips and salty stuff too. We need to get rid of all that water retention, you may not notice it per se, but you’ve got excess water weight for sure, unless you only ate carrots and cucumbers in December. Cleaning your fridge helps you to get the right mindset, it gets you in the mood to fill the fridge with vegetables and beautiful crunchy nutritious foods.
Clean the fridge as you normally would and then rinse with warm water and soda to get rid of any smells. Then what I do is, I get lots of vegetables, wash them, prepare them and put them in containers in the fridge at eye level. So whenever I’m hungry I can pick a healthy snack, Other things I may have are a bowl of hard boiled eggs, fat free yoghurt and low carb fruits. Some nuts are ok too, unless you want to loose a lot of weight then you really need to watch your portions, no more than 1 tablespoon a day.
TIP No. 1: First thing in the morning drink a glass of warm water with the juice of half a lemon. It purifies and detoxes the body from toxins and also kick starts your metabolism. And I mean…..it does wonders.Wait for twenty minutes before consuming anything else. Meanwhile make your detox water for the day.
TIP No. 2: Make Detox water Boil 2 liters of water ( about 0.5 gallon / 8 1/3 Cups) and let it sit for two minutes or so. Pour in a large container or teapot over 2 tablespoons of Dandelion thee, the juice of half a lemon, a few slices of ginger and one bag of green tea. Leave to infuse and drink all of it during the day. If you must, sweeten with little bit of Stevia.
Now let’s make some smoothie packs;
When you have smoothie packs ready in the freezer you will be less tempted to grab something else, and you might even feel a little guilty if you do because you really don’t have any excuses not to have a smoothie (wink).
The first thing you need to do, a day in advance, is to freeze coconut milk in an ice cube tray. It’s the best thing ever, great for smoothies and also for recipes that require just a bit of coconut milk.
Then we are going to freeze two or three more trays with a mixture of yoghurt, flax and almond butter, like this;
32 oz. of high protein yoghurt (more protein will keep you full the longest, I like Skyr)
3 tablespoons flax seeds
6 tablespoons almond butter.
Mix this in a bowl and divide over the ice cube trays. Freeze. When ready divide over six zip lock bags. This is the base. Now add the remaining ingredients and store the bags in the freezer. I have given you a few examples of what to put in the zip lock bags, but you can add whatever you like.
Blueberry Acaï Spinach
1 cup spinach
1 cup blueberries
2 tsp. Acaï powder or a frozen Acaï pack
1/2 banana, sliced
Pineapple Goji
1 cup pineapple cut into chunks
1 tbsp. dried goji berries (I love these)
1 whole banana, sliced
5 frozen coconut milk cubes
Mango Passion Baobab
1 cup Mango chunks
pulp from 1 passion fruit
1 banana
1 tsp. Baobab powder (optional)
1 tangerine in segments
Green Detox
1 cup kale
1 apple or pear, peeled and core removed
1 kiwi
1 lemon segment
1/2 banana
Strawberry Fields
1 1/2 cups strawberries
1 orange, peeled and in segments
1/2 banana
Raspberry Delight
1 Cup raspberries
1/2 Cup strawberries
5 frozen coconut milk cubes
1/2 banana
Chocolate Moca Smoothie
1 banana
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon semi sweet chocolate chips
1/4 avocado
1 tsp. instant expresso powder
(no yogurt cubes in this one, replace with milk of choice)
When ready to use:
Place freezer bag ingredients in a blender and add 1/2 cup almond milk or soy. Blend until smooth. Add a little water if you like it a bit thinner. Enjoy and feel the goodness!
If you try this recipe let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #thecookingspoonblog on instagram! You’ll make my day.
During the holiday season you want to be able to serve a great main dish to your vegetarian guests that’s not just everyone else’s side dishes.
Well here to the rescue with this fantastic vegetarian main course. You can prepare it a day ahead and cook it in the oven on the day itself. Leaving you plenty of time to pour those drinks and catch up with your friends and family.
And we both know that it doesn’t have to be Christmas to serve these delicious stuffed vegetables, how about meatless Monday?
So, give this a try and let me know if you miss the beef? I bet you won’t.
Serves 4 as a main dish or 8 as a side
Ingredients.
2 Aubergines
2 red peppers
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic, peeled and grated
1 pack of Quorn mince or vegetarian mince, 340 grs. / 12 oz.
2 cups cooked spelt or brown rice
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. agave or honey
1 tbsp. flour
1 cup vegetable stock
a handful parsley, chopped
2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1 cup grated cheese like cheddar or gouda or vegan substitute
salt and pepper
Bechamel sauce;
4 tbsp. olive oil
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk of choice
salt and pepper
ground nutmeg, just a dash
Method;
Pre heat oven to 200° / 390°
Wash all the vegetables, dry them and cut them in half. Cut the core and seeds out of the peppers leaving the stalk on. I actually try to cut the stalk in half too so everyone gets a bit of green.
Remove the flesh from the aubergine leaving about a quarter inch of the sides.
Cut up the flesh.
Put a large frying pan on the heat and add one tablespoon of olive oil. Cook the onion and garlic until beginning to colour. Add the aubergine and celery and add the other tablespoon of oil. Season with the Cajun seasoning and cook for about 15 minutes until the aubergine is soft.
Add the quorn and spelt and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the tomato paste and sweetener. Cook for an other minute.
Add the tablespoon of flour and cook for a minute or two. Add a cup of stock and stir around, it should be getting a little thick, the idea is to bind the filling a little bit so it holds better in the vegetables. Fill the peppers and aubergine halves and place them in a baking tray that has been covered with parchment paper.
To make the bechamel sauce;
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a low heat.
Add the flour and whisk into the oil until smooth.
Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and changes to a lighter colour.
Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly to stop lumps forming.
Cook for at least five minutes so the flour is fully cooked.
Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg.
Pour the sauce over the filled vegetables. and cover with aluminum foil, place on a rack in the middle of the oven. After 30 minutes remove the foil and sprinkle generously with the grated cheddar. Return to the oven for additional 20-30 minutes.
If you try this recipe let me know! Leave a comment below and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #thecookingspoon on instagram! You’ll make my day.
Let me introduce you to a new couple, Passion fruit and Kale. They say opposites attract, right?
Kale being strong, textured, dark and rough, and Passion fruit being delicate, perfumed, sweet and juicy.
These two go together so well. I wanted to find something completely different from the most obvious choices to accompany the kale, giving it sweetness and something very different.
The addition of Grapes I love because to me they are like little explosions of sweet juice.
The nuts have had a turn in the pan with a bit of honey and salt to give them crunch and flavour. So to make a long story short, I think you’re really gonna like this one and it’s so pretty too.
The essential trick is to massage the Kale long enough for the right texture, it’s also easier to digest this way and it becomes a little softer.
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients;
1 12 oz./350 gr. bag of (organic) washed and chopped Kale
juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Himalayan Salt
1 tbsp. Raw Honey
freshly Black Pepper
1/2 C. red grapes cut in half
1 passion fruit. (wrinkled fruit means sweeter)
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1/3 C. Walnuts roughly chopped
1 tbsp. Honey
a sprinkling of Himalayan Salt
Method;
Get out a tray and cover with parchment paper.
Put a frying pan on to medium heat. Toast the walnuts for about three minutes until golden, add the salt and honey. Cook for an other minute or so until syrupy and sticky. Take off the heat and pour the nuts onto the tray with parchment paper. Let cool.
Put the Kale in a bowl. Add salt, lemon juice and olive oil. With very clean hands, start massaging and squeezing the kale, for about ten minutes. Until it turns darker and softer.
Spoon out half of the Passion fruit and add the tablespoon honey, incorporate in the kale salad and mix.
Place the Kale on a pretty serving dish or plate. Decorate with the grapes and nuts. Spoon the other half of the passion fruit pulp out on top of the kale salad.
roughly chopped
TCS 