5:2 Broccoli & Miso Soup | under 50 calories

Yoo Hoo! I am in week 2 of my Fast Diet Campaign and flying along with the vip and vim only a new assault on fat mountain can supply. I have devised a few corking recipes to keep me happy and well fed on the 500 calorie days.

If you are experimenting with the more relaxed approach to calories and working with 800 - this could give you some serious calorie clout for supper or you can add some protein to up the calorie value of the dish. I'll give you some ideas at the end.

This soup is simple and fast - which could be a lifesaver by lunchtime!

Your Foody Weapons 

400g Broccoli raw (head of small broccoli and some of the stalk)
Handful of spinach raw
1 cup of celery
50g light miso paste
1L boiled water
2 desert spoons lime juice (you can use juice and zest of one fresh lime)
1 scant teaspoon of lazy chilli (more or fresh if you like a bit of spice)


Do This | stand by for delicious off

• Chop the broccoli, put it in the microwave with a little water for 3 mins.
• Boil the kettle and pour 2/3L over two generous teaspoons of miso paste
• Put the broccoli, miso stock and celery into powerful blender. Whizz!
• Add lime juice and chilli to taste and whiz again
• Add rest of water to make a bright green, well blended, awesome unthick soup.

Serves 4 | 43 calories per serve*

Extra Yummy | Calorie Boosts for individual bowls

50g  Greek Yoghurt 48 calories* (float it or mix it - a son gôut).

100g Chorizo 90 calories*

2 tablespoons hummus 70 calories* (stir this in to thicken the soup)

*MFP

Sweet Potatoe in your toaster

Seriously? Yes seriously! I noticed a little video for sweet potatoe in the toaster and I thought I'd road test it. This isn't rocket science but just so you know - we're not making tayto toast here - we're using the toaster to cook the spudslice. It makes a really delicious, fast snack or you could use it as the basis of a lovely lunch with smushed avocado and cheese. 

Get after it!

Choose a nice fat, medium sized, sweet potato - he'll be easier to slice. You are after a thin, even slice the full length of your lovely spud.

Pop the slices into your toaster. You may need to use a couple of cycles to cook it through - I liked mine with a bit of bite left in them. Easier to eat too.

Once popped - you may need to use a pair of tongs to lift out the slices. Then the fun starts.

I had a couple spread with organic peanut butter. Heavenly. 

Podgey had his spread with hummus and reported maximum satisfaction. 

You could have the with cheese, of any description or you could go double sweet and add maple syrup. I wouldn't go honey or Nutella but that's my preference. You could also spread with butter and dust with cinnamon. 

I've mentioned you might have them with avo but what about scrambled eggs and olives or paprika? 

Cream cheese and gherkins or pate?

I wonder if this will work with a butternut squash? Hmm.....

Five Stars from us! *****

More fun with freezy narnas | Frozen Banana Desert

Hello! 

A few years ago I had a very nasty accident with a hand held blender. I won't bore you with the details but I did get a ride in an ambulance with half the contraption strapped to my arm because the ambos were unable to get the blade off my finger... Oh yes! You read that right.

So roll forward and with a new safer blender in my kitchen battery - I find myself with 3 very ripe bananas that even I balk at eating without a bit of creative upcycling.

I give you - my take on a frozen, creamy narna desert. Or Frocrarna - as we will now all call it. 

Frocrarna: Is very versatile - you can chuck pretty much anything into it. I added cocoa powder and ground sunflower, pumpkin and hemp seeds for extra taste and a healthy booster. 

Here is the basic recipe.

3 very ripe bananas

1 tub of ricotta cheese

1/2 cup frozen berries

Put all the ingredients in a powerful blender/food processor like Optimus Prime* and blend whack the dial up to maximum - froothie the schmoozie out of that Frocrarna! 

No put it into a big tub and stick it in the freezer. You will be taking it out every hour or so to beat the crystals out of it - so make sure you have something to do in the meantime. A watched freezer never freezes. 

After about an hour - take the mixture out and beat it by hand or with a hand held blender - break up the crystals and then return it to the freezer for another hour or so. 

If you do it by hand this will use up enough calories for a double helping. Terrue!

Repeat the freezing and beating for a few goes - it really depends on how smooth you want it and how much you can be bothered to take it in and out of the freezer. I just do it every hour or so until it's tea time.

Additions: You can add PNB for the last whip. DELICIOUS! ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS SHIT?! No friend - I am not - you seriously can add peanut butter or wait! Woah there Nelly = what about Nutella - how'd ya like them hazelnuts?

You can also add some protein powder if you want it to pack a bigger punch - do this at the beginning. If cream is your thing then add cream. Go on! You know you want to.

I was going to make mine with marscapone but I accidentally came home with ricotta. Boom - just use what you've got. I originally made this in Cyrpus years ago with 0% fat yoghurt and it really tasted wonderful. These days I would use full fat Greek Yog - which will taste A-MAZE-ing! 

You can skip the narna altogether - but why would you?

You can add good quality cocoa powder and you wouldn't ruin this at all!

Add nuts, ground almonds, some bashed about pecans - or some finely chopped dried apricots and dates. It really just depends on your diet - and what you like. 

When it's ready - scoop it into your best bowls - it really deserves your love and respect.  OK - it looks revolting - but it is absolutely, without parallel among Frocrarna deserts. I promise!

If you don't scoff it all in one go - then you'll need to take the next lot out a little ahead of time and let it soften in the fridge. Beat it and then serve.

Enjoy your Frocrarna - and remember me in your will.

*Froothie Optimus 9400 - Fast Blender - I call mine Optimus Prime - we're in love.

Spiralised Sweet Potatoe & Cavolo Nero

I'm a recent convert to Cavolo Nero - as a child I hated my greens, so the gnarly, dark green-ness of this leaf caused me some trepidation. However, in the spirit of experimentation and because a bag of leaves were on spesh at the supermarket - I've been eating more of it. 

Tonight I have a headache and I need good, comfort food - pronto tonto! 

So I flung together a super quick one pot dish with spiralised sweet potatoe and starring the lovely greens. It was delicious. So I'm sharing it with you.

I added some left over salmon - but you can keep it veggie with some feta or griddled Haloumi - so good,

Ingredients - here's what I had - you can wing it with different seeds, greens etc. 

This served one hungry' poorly chicken.

1/2 good sized sweet patootie - spiralised (if you haven't got one you could create a fine julienne or use a potatoe peeler and peel the whole thing - you can chop your shavings in half length ways if you have the time... But I say get a spiraliser - they ROCK)!

Big handful of Cavolo Nero chopped

6 cured black olives halved

Small handful of cashews toasted

Handful pumpkin seeds toasted

Pesto & Greek yoghurt mixed (I mix 1 tspn pesto to 3 tspns Greek yoghurt) 

Smoked salmon slices

Coconut oil

I did it like a dude.

Melt a chunky spoon ful of coconut oil in a big, high sided pan. 

Add the sweet potatoe and cook gently in the meantime toast our nuts and seeds - keep an eye on them.

If the sweet potatoe sticks a little - just add some water from the kettle - just a smidge. You can do this more than once. 

After five mins add the greens and the olives and cook with the lid on until the greens are tender. 

About another five mins - this really depends on how you like your veggies cooked. I wanted my potatoe soft and my greens well cooked. 

Turn out your potatoe and greens mixture into a big plate and stir in the pesto and yoghurt mixture. 

Add the toasted nuts and seeds

Top with salmon.

Ay Voylar - thass frensh! 

You could add a hit of chilli or a squirt of lemon to lift this dish up to spectacleere - but I wasn't messing and sometimes too many ingredients can spoil your tea - so I took no chances. 

I didn't take a pic - but it looks like autumn on a plate. 

Narna Smoothie

Hello!

I have been struggling with the weather - like everyone else. It plays havoc with my eating habits. All I want is carbs and fat. Toast and butter with extra pnb. Pasta, slathered with thick cream sauce and cheese a lot of cheese. Cheese makes life sunnier. I believe this to be true.

None of this scoffing is doing my waistline any good - and it is also adding to my feelings of sluggish meh-ness. The woman with the massive arse - can't be. Arsed that is... oh keep up!

So this week - I have put in some serious effort to eat good things, yummy things, healthy things. 

This morning I managed a carb wonderment that is both delicious and nutritious. All hail me and the humble narna.

Here we go...

2 ripe bananas (super useful recipe if you are one of those pussies that won't eat properly ripe bananas)

10 pecans (more if you are not counting calories)

5 dates (omit if you are counting calories) - they are not essential but make the smoothie taste caramelly good.

500ml whole bean soy (You can use any type of non dairy milk - tbh you can use dairy if that is your thing - I am a woman of a certain age - so soy milk is a thing now). 

2 desert spoons of 0% Greek Yoghurt (again full fat if you wish - this is the only reduced anything product that I have any truck with).

Put the lot in a high speed blender and whiz until smooth and creamy.

This makes plenty - you could easily share this with your lovey dove. Or if yours is like mine and would prefer to eat his own shoe rather than drink a creamy breakfast bevvy - then you get to consume the lot all by your self! 

I haven't worked out the PP for this - I will return with the information directly. Enjoy x

Green Deal Muffins!

I've just made these little marvels. So lovely and easy peasy. I've been taking a look at The Leptin Diet - I won't bore you with the deets: if you want to find out about the hormone leptin and how important it is to your weight loss campaign then you can find oodles and poodles on line about it.

One of the five simple rules of the Leptin Diet is to eat a high protein brekky - in fact this turns up in lots of advice from trainers, dieticians and all manner of trained experts way WAY more fancy and clever and qualified than I. So I'm not going to witter on about it. I'm just going to share this brilliant little eggy bake.

We'll be having them for breakfast tomorrow - or possibly for lunch. I'm loving oats, almond milk and a teaspoon of pnb at the moment for my protein rich start up - with a fresh juice loaded with ginger against the ridiculous weather we're having.

ONWARDS.... to the pots and pans my dears.

Winter Supper - Fast & Tasty

Hello Chums!

I'm experimenting with my new toy & a quick blog with a couple of pics on the fly seemed like the perfect opportunity to test the handling of my upgraded tablet. I've swerved the iPad mini - despite its super cute size - and I've stepped away from the latest iPad Air - my chap has one winging its way but seriously - this new gem is such a world away from my ageing tech - it feels like I've entered an episode of Dr Who. One where the nanna's go first!

Fancy Salad Hides Bog Standard Spud

I am currently loving the huge sweet potatoes available at my local grocery shop. We scored Boris for a song this afternoon and shoved him in the oven after a light massage with hemp oil & seasalt. I also popped in a few red onions with the skin on - one got chopped up to go with the spud & the others will get whiz zoomed with chopped mushrooms & stock for soup tomorrow. (We are currently giving 5:2 a go chez nous - more of those recipes another time...) 

Sweet Potatoes will do quite quickly - I time them in 30 min intervals & prong them with a sharp knife to gauge their doneness. While he's getting all hot - fling together a salad with whatever you've got in the fridge. 

What you need is a combination of tastes & textures & colour. If you make a boring salad you ought to be shot. It isn't hard to make something delicious - especially if you keep some store cupboard staples. 

Black cured olives chopped

A handful of baby plumb tomatoes halved

Six stalks of asparagus - cut off the tips & chop the stems small

1/4 large ripe avocado chopped chunky

2 sun dried tomatoes chopped

1/4 cucumber chopped into thick chunks & quartered

Spinach

Dates chopped (optional - some people don't do sweet with savoury - you're missing out btw)

Chunk of uncut bacon (from the butcher) sliced thickly & fried crispy - then cut into bits

Mix every thing together - except the spinach. Put the spinach into individual serving bowls & dress with a little hemp oil & lemon juice. In a separate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients & scatter over the spinach.

When the spuds are ready. Cut in half add butter if you like and fill one half with hummus & roasted onion* & the other with pesto & grated cheese.

*take the onion out of the oven & gently pull off the papery skin. Snip the last bit with kitchen scissors. & curing half, peel the leaves off & add to the hummus side of your sweet potato.

Pics taken hastily with the new tech. Not bad for a quick blog - on the go! 

Fancy Fishy Cakey Doo Dah!

Hello chums... I've had a few moments more than usual to fashion something fabulous for supper from the contents of my badly husbanded fridge. I used to love fish-cakes at school, one of the best days of any week would be made superb by the addition of fish-cakes for lunch or even better tea!

Your mum's fish cakes are always better than anyone else's - that is terrrue!

So I thought I'd have a go at making some. My only stipulation -is there shall be no spuds and no flour. Whenever I use plain flour in patty things - it ends up tasting a bit, well floury...

I just went with what I had in the cupboards - so if it feels a bit un-co. That's because it is.

No matter - soldier on my friends. To the recipe!




Ingredients List Starts Here:

1 leek (to be scrupulously honest it was 3/4 of a leek) - chopped finely
butter and oil (to cook leeks)
2 small salmon fillets - cooked and skinned and flaked
1 tin of tuna - well drained
A small handful of olives (cured black), chopped
2 x sun-dried tomatoes and a little oil, chopped
1 lime (zest of and juice of)
1/4 very ripe avocado (I'd say this is totally optional but did add some bindingness)

S&P

For making:

1 egg beaten
1/2 cup cous cous (or polenta whatever you've got)
2 - 4 dsrt spns oats (you can play with the mix and don't worry too much about the amounts)


Making:

Cook the leeks in a small amount of butter and oil until soft, but not taking on colour. Set these aside to cool a bit.

Whiz the cous cous and oats in a coffee grinder to make a finer flour. (You can bash in a pestle and mortar if you don't have a mini-whizzer).

In the meantime mix everything else together - and then add the leeks and the oil/butter from the pan. Mix well - you're going for a sticky mixture - not too wet, so make sure you drain the tuna well and keep an eye on the addition of the lime.

If it does feel a bit too wet - just add some of the cous cous/oats flour and mix it in.

Divide the mixture into 6 to 8. Wet you hands and roll each 1/8th into a ball.

Roll in the beaten egg and then roll in the flour mixture.

Pop on a plate and pat down into a fish cake shape.

Continue until you've made all of your fish cakes.

Put this lot in the fridge - this will help them keep their shape when you cook them, so an hour is good and longer is better.

When you are ready - heat some* oil in a deepish frying pan and cook the fish cakes for around 3 mins on each side, until they are crisp and golden. They should be warm and soft in the centre.

Serve:

I'd say 2 each for a light supper - but me and him are having all three so there!

I'm serving ours with shredded mange touts and blanched, spiralised courgette spaghetti with red, tomato pesto.

There may be some banana ice cream


*this really depends on your taste - I use Healthy Oil and or olive oil because that's what I like - but you can spray the pan, or use sunflower oil - chaque a son gōut! 

Bannana & Cherry Choc 'Icecream'

Oooh! Stop what your doing, chop up two large narnas & stick em in the freezer, pop to Tesco & buy frozen cherries 3 packs of frozen fruit for a fiver when I last looked! 

Then do this ...

Put bananas, two big handfuls of frozen cherries & 1 tablespoon cocoa powder* into a high speed blender - I use Froothie's Optimum - way cheaper than the American bad boys & just as effective!  (*raw, organic if you have - any old dark chocolate powder will do).

Switch on the blender @ low and slowly up the ante - use the tamper to smush the frozen fruit to the middle - eventually it will all start blending.

Don't over blend... 

Add smashed up bits of broken chocolate if you like. I don't like cold chocolate.

Serve immediately - tŵo piggy portions or three to four smaller ones.

You can add almond milk to the stuff stuck in the bottom & whizz - to make a cheeky milk shake too! 

Perfect, creamy, fruity & cool - if you don't add choccy powder it's practically guilt free! 

Tastes like heaven fell into your bowl!

No pic - scoffed it before I even gave a thought to sharing!

Oat Milk Smoothie

What a beautiful day! I yomped across the park to the supermarket to load up on veggies. I spotted a new product in the non-milk, milk section. It's called Oatly and it comes in organic and non-organic options. The organic option is just oats, water and a pinch of salt for £1.48 or 2 for £2.00. The jolly nice people at Oatly also informed me that the oats accounted for 10% of the ingredients.

I figure with just a pinch of salt - that would give me 90% water!

So I also thought I'd have a go and make my own. Turned out really well. I use Flahavan's organic oats - but I'm quite sure nothing horrid would happen to you if you went ahead and used regular old oats.

YOIKS! So sorry - posted this at stoopid O'clock and got the measurements wrong. I doubt it killed ya - and I also doubt you were making fake Oatly at 2am in the morning. I also forgot to mention I put a squeeze of maple syrup into mine... It's all sorted. Let's move on shall we?

Cous Cous Quick Quick

I am home alone for lunch & I wanted something quick - so I flung together left-overs. If you cook then you will always have leftover bits and bobs. Well you will if you're smart enough to always make extra! 

This salad was so quick it's almost too cheeky to post it. But it was so good, and it demonstrates the art of kitchen magic. The kind of spellificarion that comes with a stuffed fridge & a bit of whizzbangery! 

Don't fret if you didn't have stuffed mushrooms last night - chopped raw shrooms will work perfectly! 

Here's what you need...

Left over cous cous (although lets be honest tipping water from a kettle over a 1/3 cup of couscous isn't going to slow you down. I make mine with a bit of chicken stock paste for extra flavour)

Left over Mushroom  Duxelle - posh for cooked, chopped mushroom.

1 large, ripe beef tomato chopped into big pieces

6 black, cured olives chopped

2 desert spoons of toasted pumpkin & sunflower seeds

Grated hard goats cheese (or cheddar, or buffalo mozzarella, feta, griddled haloumi... On an on it might go)

Hemp oil (or good olive oil)

In a bowl mix the cous cous, olives, duxelle, mixed seeds (reserve some for fancy presentation).

Top with chopped tomatoes & grated cheese & finish with a drizzle of hemp oil & a cheeky sprinkle of seeds.

Done & darned delish! 

Super healthy too - you could bump up the happy & serve on a bed of baby spinach or wilted kale. 

I just yummed it out of the bowl!

Enjoy & let me know your variations! 

Oh if you haven't got a bowl of leftover duxelle hanging about either ditch it & stir in some red or green pesto - or chop raw mushrooms finely & stir in to the couscous. Can't say fairer than that!

Mushroom Duxelle | Luli style!

Afternoon all! I've recently developed cravings for mushrooms ... Which is remarkable only because I can't usually be bothered with them - I find cooking them a faff & raw - they rarely appeal. Bland and squeaky... Am I right? So after perfecting mushroom soup - I ventured into new shroom territory & made stuffed mushrooms. 

Turns out life isn't to short to stuff one - as long as its a whopper Portobello Beauty!

Here is my recipe for the stuffing bit. 

Luli Tip | make more than you need - this delicious mix works perfectly in wraps, sarnies, picnic ham'n eggs & stirred into couscous for a super quick lunch!

Recipe Goes Like This 

Duxelle Ingredients

1 pack of mushrooms - finely chopped - I used bog standard creamy coloured ones - any will do!

2 fat cloves of garlic

Handful of cherry tomatoes

1 red onion (quartered & roasted)

1 red pepper (quartered & roasted)

Thyme - plays really well with mushrooms

Chilli flakes 

Salt & pepper to season

Olive oil

Easy As This ...

I chopped mushrooms in Optimus Prime - my high speed blender -using the pulse & making a fine chop & some mushed mush. Tip this into a large pan with heated olive oil with at least a teaspoon of Thyme & a pinch or more of chilli flakes & chopped garlic.

Now cook gently with the lid on. You can use butter instead or additionally - it will taste amazing. Chaque à son gôut. Thass fresh!

Meanwhile add the tomatoes, roasted onion & pepper to the blender & whiz til blended - it doesn't have to be smooth.

When the mushrooms are cooked - add the tomatoey mixture & stir together. Season to taste.

You can add chopped black olives & even a little chorizo here if you like.

This is the Duxelle.

For stuffed Portobello Mushrooms 

Remove the stalk & scrape the gills from the big mushroom - chop finely & add to the mushroom mix. 

If you like spread a little red pesto in the bowl of the mushroom before stuffing with Duxelle - it will taste delicious & you will feel very Cheffy.

Pop in the oven to gently cook the mushrooms @220 for 15 mins. It depends on how cooked you like them. I prefer mine to be a little under. 

Serve topped with slices of pan fried haloumi sprinkled with a bit of lemon juice. 

Or a poached egg would be heavenly oozing over the top of these. If I could poach a perfect egg, my life would be instantly transformed. Proper cooks can poach proper. 

You could also grate good old cheddar & stick it back in the oven to melt it for a few moments for blissful supperage.

Serve with some dark leafy greens drizzled with hemp oil & studed with chopped, raw asparagus... 

If you are a veggie & you want to up the protein - then add a handful of 'minced' cashews to the mushroom mix before you cook it. 

Watermelon Smoothie!

Oooh ooh - we scored a huge watermelon for £2.50 today - and I made this amazing smoothie. It took seconds in my new toy Optimus Prime. You will get excellent results in your blender - you may need to let the narnas soften a little.

I chop up ripe bananas and stick them in ziplock bags in the freezer - so they're ready to go for banana ice cream and smoothies whenever I fancy it!

Recipe:

3 very ripe conference pears - washed and chopped
1 big chunk of a big watermelon (about 1/8)
2 bananas - frozen in chunks
1 large bunch of mint

Put all the ingredients in a high speed blender - and whizz on high for @45seconds - until really smooth.

This made enough for 3 large glasses of smoothie.

Sweet, watermelony, cold and refreshing.

Won't You Come Home Pearl Barley | Summer Salad

Pearl Barley is an underused ingredient if you ask me. It's high in fiber, chock full of b vits and iron and a cup gives you 4gms of protein. It tastes great and it's as cheap as chips - so instead of leaving it in the back of the cupboard until the winter and then chucking it into a soup as an after thought - have a go at this brilliant summer salad that show cases the humble grain!

Heart Healthy Pearl Barley deserves our love.

This salad is brilliant on it's own or alongside some mixed leaves drizzled with hemp oil and lemon juice and we had it with a juicy classic tomato, basil and mozzarella combo. Heavenly!


Pop this lot on your next shopping list:

1 cup of pearl barley (I soak mine over night to make cooking even quicker!)
1 large bunch of parsley (curly or flat) - finely chopped
8 - 10 black olives cured in olive oil (not the soapy horrid things that come in jars or tins) - chopped.
3tspns nutritional yeast (particularly good for vegetarianeenies)
Olive Oil
Soy sauce (optional)
chicken stock (paste)
Hard Goats Cheese (grated) as much as you like!
pumpkin, sunflower, flax seed - toasted (do a pan-full and save any you don't use for spronklings)

You can also add peas - I didn't this time.

I also stir in extras - like ground seeds but this isn't necessary.

Do it like a Luli!

If you've soaked your pearl barley, then give it another rinse and put it in a saucepan with two cups of water. You can use a good heaped teaspoon of chicken paste stock if you like. Let the water come to a gentle simmer and leave it to cook and absorb all the water. @10 - 15 mins. Keep an eye on it - you can hear when it's getting close to sticking - it sort of crackles.

Turn the heat off, stir in the nutritional yeast, and any other ground seeds you're adding - sprinkle with a little olive oil. Put a lid on it and let it steam.

Meanwhile, chop the parsley and olives and grate the cheese.

Stir in the parsley and olives when the grains are still warm.

If you are going to eat it warm -then you can stir in the toasted seeds and the cheese an serve.

If you prefer to eat it cold - then wait for it to cool down before adding the cheese and seeds.

If you are putting in peas - these can go in whenever you feel like it!

I cup of cooked grains is @193 calories and this will make three good servings - so it's pretty waist friendly even with the cheese!

Maca Narna Smoothie

Super quick supper tonight. This is my version of comfort food when I am being healthy! 

Put 500mls of water & 2 desert spoons of good, raw, almond butter into your blender.

I've got an Optimum 9400 high speed beast. If you haven't - just use almond milk. 

Add the following:

2 small bananas 

Handful of spinach

1/2 desert spoon maca powder

1 desert spoon good, cacao (cocoa) powder

1 squeeze of maple syrup (you can use a sweetener of your choice)

4 dates halved

Heaped desert spoon of ground mixed seeds (you can make your own or buy fab combos from a health food shop)

You could also add cinnamon or ginger or vanilla - or go mad & bung in all 3! 

Whiz it up and yum it down! 

If you've got a brute whizzer like an Optimum or a Vitamix then you can whizz for a few mins & gently heat your smoothie. 

But if you're fully raw - then ditch the maple & add ice! 

Mine was off the scale delicious - I'm giving it five stars *****

Raw Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie

Hold onto your hats mateys - I have got my hands on a high speed blender - Vitamix stylee. Although mine is an Aussy brand and he goes by the name of Optimus Prime. He is big and butch and is laying waste to veggies and fruits with the flick of a chunky switch. I am in lurve... L.U.V! 

So I've made my own cheat's Almond Milk - which is so-oh easy. Pay attention because you'll need this later!

Do this:
Put 500ml water into the jug - add 2 desert spoons of raw almond butter* and switch it on! Whack up to overdrive and let it go until you've got super delicious, raw almond milk with absolutely no added anythings!

This smoothie doesn't look as pretty as some do - but it is really tasty - and it is chok full of the really good gear. It makes a lot of smoothie - and if you like you can adjust the amount of almond milk to get the consistency you prefer.

After mine had been in the fridge for a few hours - it thickened up even more - so watch that!

(*Protein Works - are my go-to heroes)

Breakfast Smoothie with Maca

Hello! 

I'm in the middle of a 28 Day Juice Plan - on the weekend you get a 'treat'! Which is almond milk based - so it's creamy and sweet. Last night's was a basic almond milk and banana mix - which I doctored with added spinach -  It was lovely but I made too much. So this morning I'm off plan - and finishing off the left overs... with a few further additions.

This smoothie is delicious, it's packed full of the good gear so it has everything you need to make it to lunch time.

Spring Salads For Rainy Spuds

Here's a couple of fresh spring salads to cheer myself up. It's pouring down with rain & I've put two whopper sweet potatoes in the oven to bake. 

I oil my spuds with hemp oil to add a nutty taste & rub them with sea salt. 

I don't mind if sweet potatoes over cook and leak sticky juice into the baking tray. If I had a red pepper I would roast this too & add it chopped to the lettuce. 

Salad Leaves

Too easy. Baby spinach & chopped gem lettuce mixed together and dressed with lemons & hemp oil. 

Spiralized Courgette Pesto

With the small noodle blade, spiralise a whole courgette. If you haven't got one, then you can julienne your courgette but it's seconds work to spiralise & rinse the spiraliser so why wouldn't you!?

Add 2 teaspoons of good pesto & gently mix. Now add grated old Gouda (or any hard, strong, sharp cheese), 2 teaspoons of capers, a handful of pumpkin seeds and a handful of cashews. 

Perfect, raw, crunchy & indulgent! 

When the spuds are cooked serve with hummus & chopped chorizo & the salady goodness.

Yum!

Breakfast Smoothie | Hello Choccy Narnia

Super quick recipe - mainly to capture the ingredients for my own rememberating. I'm juicing quite a lot at the moment. I do love it - but I do start jonesing for something indulgent and this whopper brekky smoothie hits the spot.

Our lovely Sparks arrived early to do some little niggly jobs - hello light fitting above the kitchen table - that works when you flick the switch at that end... and goodbye steamy bathroom windows - our new spanky fan will banish condensation for EVER...

We were swapping smoothie ingredients. He is pretty hardcore - fermented rice protein anyone? Blearch... right? I'm more your cacao and maple syrup kind of a gal.

Anyhoo while we were nattering - I made this:

Weightwatcher Friendly | Lively Butternut Squash Soup

Making soup has got to be the quickest way to a healthy, hearty lunch or supper. If you're a weightwatcher then you'll be after the holy grail - Zero Point Soup. For me I feel, that for the sake of a couple of points saved - you're missing out on some extra, uber delicious, flavour and nutritional wonderment.

So I unashamedly claim that this soup is WWer friendly - but it isn't zero points. To give it a fair shout-out, it isn't high in points - but it does have delicious, nutritious hemp oil in it - and if you are really going to do it justice - a gert big dollop of hummous too!

There I've laid my cards on the table. 

Successful soup is all in the base and the fixings - that said. We can get on with the recipe...