Roll Up Maca Crepes

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Maca Roll Up Pancakes

This morning I just needed pancakes, and energy. So I concocted this new recipe using ingredients that would give me energy, including maca powder. It’s basically the ‘original’ healthy caffeine. Just gives you that boost you need without the dip in energy later on that caffeine does to you. I also used almond butter for protein and banana, because who wants pancakes without lashings of nut butter and banana?! It’s also made with buckwheat flour so it’s totally gluten free, as well as dairy free and refined-sugar free. It’s a really quick, easy recipe and so yummy. Give it a go…

Ingredients

1 egg
1 egg white
1 banana, mashed
2 tbsp organic maple syrup
1/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1 tbsp maca powder
Coconut oil for cooking

Method

Mash the banana in a bowl, then add the egg, egg white, maple and almond milk and mix well.

Once combined, add the flour slowly, mixing the whole time, then add the maca. Mix really well.

Get a non-stick pan really hot with a little coconut oil and add 1 ladle full into the pan and flatten. These are more like crepes than American pancakes so they need to be larger and flatter. It shouldn’t take more than 40 seconds on each side with a good pan.

Serve with your choice of filling or topping from homemade chocolate sauce to almond butter or peanut butter, banana, nuts, seeds and fruit.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Vegan Waffles (Gluten, dairy & refined-sugar free)

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Waffles

I finally treated myself to a waffle maker and boy oh boy was it worth it! I had some ideas for gluten, dairy and sugar free waffle recipes so I started experimenting and today’s one came out perfectly… enjoy this, guilt free 🙂

Ingredients – (serves 2. For more, double ingredients)

1 and quarter cup buckwheat flour
1 cup almond milk
1 very ripe large banana
6 tbsp pure organic maple syrup
Pinch Himalayan salt

Method

Heat up your waffle iron and let it get really hot while you do the rest.

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until really well combined.

Gently pour some of the mixture into the waffle mould and shut lid slowly. I found they turned out best when left for 7-10 minutes.

Top with maple syrup or fruit of banana ice cream…

Love,
Lauren

Banoffee Pie

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Banoffee Pie

Having special dietary requirements or wanting to stay in shape doesn’t mean that you can’t serve an impressive dessert at your next dinner party or family gathering. This raw pie is really quick and easy to make, and being free of refined sugar, dairy and wheat or gluten means you can even have it for breakfast! Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 cup raw cashews or macadamias
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup desiccated coconut or homemade coconut flour
1/2 tsp organic vanilla powder, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp himalayan salt
2 tbsp organic virgin coconut oil
1 tbsp organic maple syrup

1 x Raw Caramel recipe

For the cream:
1/2 cup organic coconut cream
1/4 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp organic virgin coconut oil
pinch of himalayan salt
pinch of organic vanilla powder, or 2ml vanilla extract

3 – 4 ripe bananas
1/3 cup of banana chips (I use Nature’s Choice, available at Dischem)

Method

Place all the ingredients for the crust into a food processor and blend until you have a fine crumb which sticks together when pressed. If it’s not sticking you can add another drizzle of coconut oil or maple syrup. Press the crust into a 20cm pie dish, covering the bottom and sides evenly. Prick with a fork and refrigerate until needed.

Make the raw caramel according to the recipe (click on the link above.) Spread about 2/3 of it onto the base of the pie.

Slice the bananas and place them on top of the caramel in concentric circles, until you have almost filled it to the top.

For the cream, place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Pour the cream slowly over the banana, filling the pie to just below the edge of the crust.

Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan to crush the banana chips into crumbs, and sprinkle over the top of the pie. If you don’t have crispy banana chips (as opposed to chewy dried banana) you could use almonds or cashews to get the textural element. Drizzle some caramel over the top of the pie to finish. Refrigerate overnight or minimum 4 hours. This pie keeps well in the fridge for a few days.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Zoodles with Roasted Fennel, Sage & Salmon

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Zoodles with Roasted Fennel, Sage & Salmon

I recently bought a spiralizer and have been excited to start playing with it. I would definitely recommend getting one if you want to eat more healthy food… it was super easy to use and this dish was just as satisfying as a regular pasta. Maybe even more so because I felt so good after eating it!

Roasting the fennel gives it a beautiful caramelized liquorice flavour, which pairs so well with the sage, lemon & salmon. If you don’t eat fish you can simply omit that, and you’ll still have a gorgeous, fresh and healthy supper.

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 large bulb of fennel
12 cloves of garlic
juice of 1 lemon
60ml olive oil
a handful of fresh sage
380g zucchini
another 2 tbsp olive oil
200g hot-smoked salmon

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Use a mandolin to finely slice the fennel. You could just use a sharp knife, but using a mandolin is quicker and easier. Peel the garlic and just use the heel of your chef’s knife to smash them up a bit – you still want biggish pieces. Place the fennel, garlic, lemon, olive oil and sage in an ovenproof dish. Season with himalayan salt and black pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes, until the fennel has caramelized and has a sweet aroma.

Meanwhile, spiralize the zucchini into noodles and flake the salmon. When the fennel comes out the oven, add the zoodles, additional olive oil and salmon. Toss together in the hot dish to warm everything through. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary with more himalayan salt, black pepper or lemon juice. Serve immediately.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Spirulina Smoothie

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Green Spirulina Smoothie

I felt like I needed to be super-duper healthy today, so I picked up the greenest vegetables I could find in my fridge and stuck them in the juicer. Once I was done juicing them, I added them to the blender with a spoonful of spirulina and voila! Spirulina is so thick and icky if you don’t blend it – it can really put you off so make sure you blend it!

Read these amazing facts on spirulina, provided by the amazing Organic Burst where I buy all my superfoods:

  • Supports the immune system. Vitamin B6 and iron in our spirulina powder supports the immune system.
  • Healthy brain and cognitive function. Organic Burst Spirulina powder is rich in Vitamin B6 and contains iron that are known to support healthy cognitive function, in other words your brain power!
  • Weight management. Taken one hour before meals, Organic Burst Spirulina powder can naturally promote the feeling of fullness and prevent over-eating.
  • Healthy heart. Thiamine in Organic Burst Spirulina contributes to the normal function of the heart.
  • Rich, complete and digestible protein source. Spirulina powder is very rich in protein (60-70%), containing 18 amino acids including all essential amino acids. According to studies, spirulina has a very high protein efficiency ratio (PER). Protein in spirulina is four times more absorbable than protein in beef.

Ingredients

Big handful kale
Big handful spring greens
2 celery sticks
Half a cucumber
1 inch fresh ginger
1 lime
1 tsp spirulina

Method

Put all ingredients apart from spirulina and lime in the juicer. Once juiced, add to blender with the juice of one lime and the spirulina and blend on high for a minute with 4 ice cubes,

You are now positively buzzing and vibrating with healthy, clean cells!

Lauren 🙂

Chocolate Chai Baobab Smoothie Bowl

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Chocolate Chai Baobab Smoothie Bowl

You all know how much I love a smoothie bowl, but up until now I hadn’t posted a chocolate one and let’s face it, everyone loves chocolate for breakfast! This way you don’t even have to feel guilty. The raw cacao is a sensational way of getting plant-based protein. I wanted to add some chai flavouring as I just love the taste and thought it would go well with this and it really did… The best ingredient in here is the Baobab. I’m a big fan of superfoods and have a cupboard where I keep spirulina, acai berries, maca, lucuma, cacao and now baobab. Read up on Raine’s explanation of Baobab here…

Ingredients

1 frozen banana
Quarter cup boiling water
1 chai tea bag
Quarter cup almond milk
1 tbsp almond butter
2 dates
1 tbsp raw cacao
1 tsp baobab

 

Method

Before starting, boil the kettle and pour a quarter cup boiling water into a mug and let the chai tea bag steep in it for ten minutes. Put it next to a window so it cools down.

In the meantime, put the rest of the ingredients into a blender. Once the tea is cool, add this to the mix and blend well.

Pour into a bowl and add toppings of choice.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Pan-fried Kingklip with Exotic Mushrooms, Spinach and Canihua

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Pan fried Kingklip with Mushrooms, Spinach & Canihua

As I don’t eat meat often, I try to eat fish once a week. Whether you eat meat or are vegan or vegetarian, it’s very important to be aware of your protein intake, especially if you train regularly. While it’s perfectly possible to get enough protein on a vegan diet, you have to be much more aware of it and put in more effort. It won’t happen by accident! That said, fish is a great clean source of protein for those of us who are not vegan.

Kingklip is a deep sea fish widely found in the coastal waters of southern Africa. It is low in fat and as well as being high in protein, also contains calcium, iodine and iron. If you cannot get kingklip you can use another solid white fish for this recipe.

Canihua is a close relative of quinoa and is native to the Andes. It is gluten-free and scores higher than quinoa in levels of protein, iron, magnesium and calcium. It has a similar flavour to quinoa, but the grains are much smaller.

Ingredients (serves 2)

150g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
150g shimeji mushrooms, separated
6 large cloves of garlic, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil for frying
2 big handfuls spinach, sliced into ribbons
2 tbsp organic tamari
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp raw sesame seeds
1/2 cup canihua (or quinoa)
400g fresh kingklip (2 fillets), skinned

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Place the canihua in a small pot with 1 cup of water and 1/4 tsp himalayan salt. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and cover with a lid. Simmer until all the water has been absorbed and the grains are cooked, about 20 – 25 minutes.

Slowly fry the mushrooms in some olive oil until they start to brown. Add the garlic and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the spinach and stir. Add the tamari and lemon juice and quickly put the lid on so that the steam will cook the spinach. After a couple of minutes remove from the heat. Add the honey, sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and place the kingklip down. Fry until golden and crispy then turn and do the same on the other side. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to an ovenproof dish and roast for about 5 – 7 minutes, until the fish is cooked through. The flesh should be opaque and starting to flake, but not dry.

To plate, put the canihua on the bottom, then the mushrooms and spinach, and top with the fish. Squeeze some lemon over the top and enjoy.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine

Vegan Dinner Plate

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Veggie Plate

Just look how yummy life can be as a vegan! I’m not going to write a long post here, it doesn’t need it! Just going to get straight on to the recipes…

For the sweet potato mash:
Peel a sweet potato and boil. Once ready, mash it in a bowl with some almond milk, salt, pepper and sprinkle with paprika

For the brown rice:
Add half a cup of brown rice to boiling water. Once it starts bubbling, turn down the heat to low, give it a stir, and put the lid on. It will take a good half an hour to cook properly. You can also add a tsp of Bouillon or other organic vegetable stock for taste.

For the salad:
Drain and rinse a tin of chickpeas and add to a bowl.
Cut up a red onion, some cucumber and some dill and add to the bowl.
Drizzle with lemon juice, olive oil, Himalayan salt and pepper.

For the sauteed mushrooms:
Chop a box of mushrooms, one onion and one clove of garlic.
Add the onion to a non-stick frying pan with some coconut oil. After a minute add the garlic, then after another minute add the mushrooms. Sautee for around 7 minutes until you can smell they are ready – you’ll know what I mean! Add some salt and pepper and you can add paprika or other spices if you like.

Add all to a plate and enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Dehydrated Snacks

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Dehydrator mix

I’m a bit obsessed with my dehydrator… It’s just the best way to make tasty but healthy snacks. By dehydrating instead of baking, you keep all the nutrients in the snacks as they stay raw and you can increase your fruit and veg intake but they taste naughty!

Here I made kale chips, banana chips, dried mango and apple chips.

For kale:
Cut up small and cut off hard stalks and mix in a bowl with a little olive oil and a little Himalayan salt – not too much salt as the kale will shrink but the salt won’t so they’ll be really salty if you use too much. Also try Raine’s chocolate kale chips!

For banana chips:
Slice the banana (don’t use any brown bits) and coat with a little lemon juice to preserve

For the mango:
Cut up the pieces quite small and lay on the dehydrating tray – no preservative needed

For the apple:
Core the apple then slice it so you get nice round shapes. Only leave the skin on if they are organic and unwaxed. You can add a little cinnamon also.

Put in the dehydrator on 50-55 degrees and leave for 12 hours. The softer the food the longer it will take so you may need to take the apples and kale out before the mango and banana. Rotate the trays so they all get the hottest part when you can. Remember not to overlap any of the foods as they won’t go as crispy.

Easy yummy snacks for you and the kids!

Love
Lauren

Turmeric Hummus

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Turmeric Hummus

The search for healthy snacks is never ending in my house. I don’t like big meals so I tend to eat little and often so there is nothing better for me than some homemade hummus with some carrot or celery sticks or some gluten-free crackers. Check out my roasted red pepper hummus – that one was to die for (and the picture is way better than this one!) I didn’t have too much time today, I just needed to blitz it in the blender and go. I wanted to use turmeric as it is such an amazing anti-inflammatory and I try to use it in as much food as I can.

Ingredients

2 tins organic chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
Quarter cup purified water
2 tbsp tahini paste
5 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Half tsp Himalayan salt
Half tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp turmeric

Method

Simply blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender until completely smooth – it really is as easy as that! Enjoy with gluten free bread, crackers, rice or quinoa cakes or veggies.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren