Vanilla & Oat Breakfast Smoothie

Smoothies are a beautiful way to start the day. Every sip is deliciously fulfilling, sweet and nutritious. The best part is that you can make one in the time it takes to make toast - I know what I would rather have! They leave you feeling refreshed and bursting with energy to kick start the day. 

I'm going to be honest with you, this smoothie was made by accident! I was going to make a new recipe for some new pancakes until I tasted the mixture half way through.. It was simply divine. There was absolutely no need to make the pancakes as it turned out to be a fantastically balanced smoothie. The beautiful cinnamon echoes in every sip which perfectly compliments the mellow fragrance of the smooth vanilla and the luscious, sweet bananas and strawberries. What's surprising about this smoothie is it's creaminess. The gorgeous blend of the orgainc oats, smooth vanilla and the ground almonds gives it that creamy texture, whist also giving it the perfect consistency to keep you feeling full throughout the morning. 

I can not explain to you how good this smoothie is. You'll just have to try it to find out!

Serves 2

1 cup organic oats

150g strawberries

3 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup of ground almonds

1 cup of water

1 banana

2 dessert spoons maple syrup

2 tsp cinnamon

Method

Simply put all the ingredients together and blend until smooth. Pour, drink, enjoy. 

Have a lovely day!

Diced Lamb with Creamy Tomato Sauce & Quinoa

This lamb dish is beautifully simple and fantastically creamy, with a punchy paprika kick. It's certainly a dish to make when time and an endless supply of ingredients aren't on your side, but you still want something super light, healthy and nutritious to eat. Students, take note! 

I am a big meat eater and absolutely adore lamb. For me, there is nothing better than enjoying a roast leg of lamb, stuffed with apricots and a good serving of rosemary roast potatoes. However, when you are pushed for time, I'm sure roasting a leg of lamb wouldn't be top of your 'to do' list. This recipe is a creamy meaty delight and you will love it.  Don't be scared off by the term 'creamy'. It suggests that the recipe is highly calorific and high in fat, but this is certainly not the case. The secret behind it's creaminess is thanks to Total 0% plain greek yoghurt. It's thickening and fat free so therefore a great addition to any tomato sauce. 

Serves 2 

1 tin of chopped tomatoes 

1/4 of a freshly grounded nutmeg 

1 1/2 tsp paprika 

1 tsp ground cumin

300g diced lamb

salt & pepper to taste 

olive oil

1 spring onion, finely sliced.

3 dessert spoons total 0% plain yoghurt

2 cups quinoa, 4 cups water

Method

- Put a pan of water onto boil over high heat. Add the quinoa and a pinch of salt. Allow to simmer for 10-12 minutes. If it starts to boil dry, add a little more water. 

- In a large bowl, stir in the nutmeg, paprika, cumin & seasoning to the diced lamb. Put a pan onto high heat, add a drizzle of olive oil and cook the lamb for about 3 minutes or starting to turn golden brown. Stir in the tomato sauce and the yoghurt to the lamb. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes and until the lamb is golden brown. Taste and add more spices/ seasoning accordingly. 

- Whilst the lamb is simmering on a low heat, finely slice the spring onions. Once the quinoa is cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the spring onions.

Serve and enjoy! 

10 Minute Banana & Blueberry Pancakes

After the great success of my coconut, maple and chai seed pancakes, I've been craving pancakes ever since. I was listening to Jack Johnson's album and one of my favourite songs of his came on, 'banana pancakes'. I've always thought it was such a ridiculous thing to sing about and that he had gone slightly mad…but how wrong I was. Let's have a look at some of the lyrics to his song: 

' waking up to early, maybe we could sleep in, make you banana pancakes, pretend that it's the weekend now.' 

Oh JJ, marry me?! He has just got it completely right. Wake up early, make banana pancakes and forget about the rest of the world. That is exactly what I did and how I came up with this recipe. Never did I think I would get recipe inspiration from a song. 

Banana's are a great source of energy, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Did you know that just one banana supplies 35% of  your daily vitamin B-6 requirement that is essential for the production of new cells?! Blueberries are also a great superfood. Not only are they packed with fibre, vitamins and minerals but they also contain several phytochemicals that we never hear about which give blueberries a load of heath benefits. This recipe is simple, quick and easy to make and requires so few ingredients. All you need are oats, nut butter, a banana, blueberries and water. It's the definition of simple goodness. 

Makes 5 small pancakes (serves 1)

1 ripe banana

30g blueberries

50g organic oats

1/4 cup of water

2 teaspoons of nut butter (I used almond butter)

1 dessert spoon flaxseed (optional)

pinch of salt

knob of butter or a little coconut oil to grease

Method

- Set aside 20g of the blueberries and 1/2 a banana. Put the oats, 1/2 banana, 10g of blueberries, water, nut butter and salt into a food processor and blend for about a minute until smooth. Stir in the 20g of blueberries and leave for a couple of minutes to allow the oats to absorb some of the moisture. 

- Heat up a non-stick frying pan until really hot and grease with the butter or coconut oil. Using a dessert spoon, place the mixture into the pan. You may have to do a couple of batches. Cook each side for about 1-2 minutes or until brown. You can tell the first side is done when you can start to see the mixture bubble. It's really important you don't flip the mixture too early. 

- Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup and the remaining 1/2 banana. 

Enjoy!

Gym - 22nd July

Workout: 

Run (5.27K)

- Level 9.5 for 5 minutes then upped the speed to 13 for 2 minutes. This equals 1 set.

- Repeat the set 3 times until you've been running for 28 minutes .

- In the last set, I made the 2 minute sprint harder by running for 1 minute at speed 13 and 30 secs speed 15.5 then 30 back at speed 13.

- For the last two minutes of the run, keep running at 9.5. In the last 10 seconds, do a full out sprint. I did this at speed level 16.

- Stretch to prevent injury

Weights

Chest press: 70lbs - 3 sets, 10 reps 

Leg press: 250lbs - 3 sets, 10 reps - my heaviest yet!

Bike (5.04K)

Duration: 17:45 

Resistance setting: 17

Fishy Fish Cakes with Coriander & Basil

Anyone who has been out for a meal with me will know that I am a huge fish cake fan. I think I can back this up with my Branca restaurant review…! When I have a fish cake, there is one thing that can really annoy me: an unbalanced potato to fish ratio. There is nothing worse than ordering a fishcake and all you can taste is potato. If I wanted a potato cake, I would have ordered a hash brown or a side of mash! OK, rant over but I hope you see my point. 

These fish cakes will never have the potato to fish ratio problem because guess what - they're 100% potato free! They're fresh, fulfilling and oh so fishy. They truly are the fishiest fish cakes around. You can make them in less than 20 minutes and they're so much better than shop bought ones because you can both control and know exactly what goes into them. If you make a large batch, you can always freeze them and save them to enjoy on another day. 

Makes 5 large fish cakes

50g hard white bread*

390g mixed fish (cod, salmon, smoked cod)

small handful fresh basil

small handful fresh coriander 

1 egg

 juice of 1/2 lime or lemon

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil

* I used stale bread as fresh isn't essential. 

Method

- Put the bread into the food processor until fine breadcrumbs are formed. Then add the egg, fresh fish, citrus juice, seasoning and fresh herbs and blitz until a soft paste is formed. 

- Divide the fish cake mixture into 5. Put a frying pan on high heat and add a lug of olive oil. Once the oil is nice and hot, add the fishcakes. You may need to cook them in two batches. Cook each side for 5 minutes until crisp and golden.

- Serve straight away with lemon halves for squeezing over, serve with beautiful veg or a crisp salad. I like to add a spoonful of mango chutney on the side for extra flavour. 

Enjoy!

Gym - 21st July

There were two reasons I had to go to the gym today: 

1) My gym attendance last week was awful - It resulted in my energy levels hitting an all time low and not sleeping very well. This is why exercising is so addictive! It enhances your mood, makes you sleep much better and just makes you feel a lot better about yourself. 

2) I definitely had one too many raw chocolate brownie fingers today… 

Workout: 

35 min run (6.02K): 

- I started at speed level 9.5 then increased it by 0.2 every 5 mins for half an hour.

- After this, I reduced the duration and increased the intensity for the final push! 

- Increase the speed from 10.5 to 11.0 for 1 minute

- level 11.5 for 1 minute 

-  12.5 for 1 minute

- 13 for 3o secs

- Finally, as fast as you can go (15.5) until you feel like you're going to fall off the treadmill. 

- Rapidly decrease the speed to a low jog to warm down. 

Weights:

Chest press - 70lb 31.5kg 3sets 10reps

Row - 3 sets, 10 reps 90lbs

Legs Press - 2 sets 10 reps at 190lbs,  1 set 10 reps 210lbs, 1 set 10reps 230lbs, 1 set 10 reps 250lbs (112.5) 

Bike (8.69K): 

30 minutes - resistance setting 17

Rowing Machine

500m sprint to finish the workout

Feeling good! 

***

Below is a photo I took this evening (Monday 21st), whilst taking my dog on a walk through the sweetcorn fields where I live. It was such a beautiful evening. There is no place I rather be when the English countryside looks like this. Simply idyllic. 

Raw Chocolate Brownie Fingers

I simply can not explain to you how amazing these brownies are. They're rich, sweet, gloriously gooey and without a doubt my favourite go-to treat to satisfy that chocolate craving. I strongly believe these brownies are better than the traditional brownie, maintaining that squishy, melt-in-your-mouth texture. What's better is that they only take 5 minutes to make! They're sugar, dairy and gluten free, only use 5 ingredients and also bursting with fibre and protein - what couldn't there be to like?! 

The secret to these brownies are the medjool dates. They're packed full of fibre which can help lower cholesterol and fight obesity. Did you know that just one date contains 6% or your recommended daily fibre intake?! They're also bursting with all the essential vitamins and minerals needed to maintain a healthy body. Vitamin B-6 tops the vitamin list and are essential to our body for the metabolism of food and formation of new blood cells. Meanwhile potassium tops the mineral list, allowing the body to carry out electrical impulses that stimulate muscles and nerves.

So go on, make these heavenly gooey delights for your family and friends. Trust me, it'll be love at first bite. 

Makes 8 Gooey Fingers:

8 medjool dates

1 cup pecans 

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons spoons maple syrup 

Method:

-  Whiz up pecans and walnuts together in a food processor until crumbly. Then add the (pitted) dates, cocoa powder and maple syrup and blend again. 

- Put into a loaf tin and either refrigerate for 3 hours or freeze for one to allow them to set. Keep in the fridge to maintain freshness.

Enjoy!