Tag: chia seeds

Summer Berry Smoothie Bowl

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Summer berry smoothie bowl

The never-ending battle of making breakfasts interesting and fun yet healthy and nutritious for our little ones! Braxton loves smoothies and that is his breakfast most morning but in the summer we can cool it down even more with a delicious, creamy smoothie bowl. There are so many amazing berries available at the moment and berries are excellent anti-oxidants so these were thrown right into our smoothie bowl!

You can really pack these with superfoods to ensure you are getting the best possible amount of nutrients into your kids at the start of the day. I always put acai berry powder in my smoothies as it’s such an incredible anti-oxidant so is great for the immune system, and chia seeds as they are pure protein and the best time of the day to have protein is the morning. Then I decide which out of the following I want to include also: flax seeds, lucuma powder, maca powder, bee pollen, baobab powder, hemp seeds. If you have all these superfoods stocked in your pantry, you will be ensuring your family a great start to each day.

By the way, smoothie bowls are more like ice cream and smoothies are just smoothies.

Ingredients

2 frozen bananas (cut them in slices and set them on a plate to freeze, at least the night before)
Handful frozen blueberries
5 frozen strawberries
Handful redcurrants
Handful damsons or elderberries
Dash of almond milk (or oat, rice or coconut milk)
3 dates
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tsp acai berry powder
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp maca powder
1 tsp hemp seeds

Optional toppings:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Redcurrants
Damsons
Desiccated coconut
Chai seeds
Cherries – stones removed

Method

Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend until an ice cream-like consistency forms and finish with your choice of toppings.

Brax eating smoothie bowl This is how much Brax loved his smoothie bowl!

Love & health,
Lauren & Braxton

Lemon & Poppy Seed Smoothie

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Lemon & Poppy Seed smoothie

This is a beautifully fresh smoothie for the last days of summer. The baobab powder intensifies the tartness of the lemon and provides many health benefits. Baobab is an eco friendly African product, which is high in vitamin C, antioxidants, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Poppy seeds are also high in calcium, magnesium and potassium, as well as iron, zinc and essential fatty acids. Add the vitamin C in the fresh lemon and you’ve got a smoothie which will help to bolster your immunity for the coming winter months.

Ingredients (serves 1)

1 frozen banana
1/2 a lemon, including skin, pips removed
1 tbsp poppy seeds
10ml chia seeds
1 tbsp baobab powder
1/8 tsp organic stevia leaf powder
1 – 2 tsp raw honey, depending on your preference
90ml coconut cream
90ml water
5 ice cubes
optional: 1 scoop plain protein powder (you may need to add some more water)


Method

Combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren & Raine

 

 

 

Breakfast Parfait Extraordinaire

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Breakfast Parfait 1

Did somebody say breakfast parfait?? I haven’t done one of these for a while but I fancied pre-preparing some overnight oats and a chia pudding last night so threw together a parfait this morning with quinoa pops, almond butter and a top layer of blueberry banana acai ice cream and topped with the wonderfully vitamin K-rich mulberries.

Ingredients

Overnight oats layer:
Half a cup of gluten free organic rolled oats
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1/2 tsp organic pure maple syrup

Chia pudding layer:
Half a cup of chia seeds
1 1/2 cups almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp organic pure maple syrup

Ice cream layer:
1 banana, frozen
Handful blueberries
2 acai berry capsules, opened and emptied into the blender

Extras:
Almond butter
Quinoa pops
Mulberries

Method

The night before you want to eat this, make the overnight oats by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl, cover and leave in the fridge overnight. Do the same for the chia pudding.

In the morning, make the ice cream layer by putting the ice cream ingredients into a high speed blender to make ice cream.

Then just layer up all the ingredients and eat!

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Banana Crunch Smoothie Bowl

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Banana Smoothie Bowl

Breakfasts don’t need to be just cereal or toast! I love making up new smoothie ideas for a yummy, filling and nutritious breakfast. Check out our other smoothie bowls on our breakfast page.

Ingredients

1 and a half frozen bananas (slice and freeze the day before)
1 tbsp almond butter
2 medjool dates
Splash of almond milk
Tsp chia seeds
Homemade granola or organic store bought
Some puffed brown rice

Method

Put all the ingredients except the granola and puffed rice into the blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a bowl and top with the granola and and puffed rice (or puffed quinoa) and enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Overnight Chia Oats with Strawberry Compote

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Overnight Oats with Strawberry Compote

Overnight oats is this easiest thing to make and it makes such a nice change from the usual breakfast. You can also do all sorts of flavours and toppings so it never gets boring. Get a good batch of organic, gluten free oats, some almond milk, and some fruit and nuts and you’re ready to go! The chia seeds give extra goodness and protein.

Ingredients

1 cup organic, gluten free oats
1.5 cups almond milk
2 tbsp pure organic maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tbsp chia seeds
A big handful of organic strawberries

Method

Mix your oats, milk, maple, chia seeds and cinnamon in a bowl, cover with cling-film and leave in the fridge overnight.

When you’re ready to eat it the next morning, make the compote by putting the strawberries in the food processor.

Layer both mixtures up in small cups or bowls, top with nuts or seeds of choice. Yummy and so great for the kids!

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Chai Coconut Milk Chia Pudding

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chai chia pudding2

That might sound like a mouthful, and it is… a mouthful of deliciousness and health! “Chia” is the ancient Mayan word for “strength” and these little seeds were prized for their ability to provide long-lasting energy. They provide high nutrition for low calories (almost all of their carbohydrates are in the form of fibre) so this is a great food if you’re trying to lose weight. They are high in protein, fibre, Omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and antioxidants.

You can sprinkle chia seeds over your breakfast or add them to smoothies, but my favourite way to eat them is by making chia pudding. When you soak these little nutritional powerhouses in liquid, they swell and absorb the liquid. The result is a creamy and delicious pudding. Great for breakfast or dessert… and who doesn’t love dessert for breakfast?!

I prefer to grind my spices fresh in a coffee grinder as the flavour is much more intense, but you could use pre-ground spices if you don’t have whole spices or a coffee grinder.


Ingredients

1 stick of cinnamon (3/4 tsp ground)
1 star anise (1/4 tsp ground)
the seeds of 8 green cardamom pods (1/2 tsp ground)
about 1/5 of a whole nutmeg (1/4 tsp ground)
1/4 tsp Himalayan salt
1 – 2 tbsp raw honey or organic maple syrup
2 cups coconut milk (I make my own but you can use an organic tinned one which contains only coconut and water)
90ml chia seeds
60ml hemp seeds

Method

Firstly, grind the spices until you have a fine powder. Place them in a bowl with the honey and salt and a few drops of the coconut milk. Use a whisk to dissolve the honey, and then add the rest of the coconut milk. Add the chia and hemp seeds and whisk well so that the seeds are well distributed through the liquid.
I normally leave it overnight in the fridge, stirring once before I go to bed. If you’re in a hurry, you could stir every hour or so and it should be ready in about 4 hours.

I layered mine with fresh mango, banana, brazil nuts and goji berries for a delicious and energising breakfast.

Health and happiness!

Love,
Raine

Book Club Bakes

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Most book clubs are known for their wine drinking more than talking about books. At my book club it’s more about eating! And when I’m hosting, my fellow book-clubbers expect some tasty treats and today I hope not to disappoint!

I’ve posted the recipes separately and you can find them here – Raw Cacao Chia Cookies & Chunky Monkey Peanut Butter Cookies – but I just wanted to put up this post to show that if you are hosting, whether it be a book club or simply having the girls round (or guys), you can offer your guests some of these quick, easy, healthy and nutritious treats.

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Happy reading!

Love,
Lauren

Peanut Butter Nana Smoothie

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Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Yes yes, here I am again talking about breakfast, but I can’t help it! I just love breakfast! I also think it’s hugely important to get a good amount of protein intake in the morning, but if you’re vegetarian (and you don’t like eating chicken for breakfast!) you have to find other ways, and smoothies are amazing for that. This one is a great pre or post workout smoothie or simply good to start you off with heaps of energy. It also means you can whip it up quickly and drink it on your way out if you’re in a rush.

You can use homemade peanut butter by simply putting peanuts in a Vitamix and blending until they make a butter, or you can use store bought but it MUST be a natural, organic butter with no added ingredients, just peanuts. I like Meridian.

Ingredients

250ml almond milk
1 heaped tbsp peanut butter
2 dates
1 banana (sliced and pre-frozen)
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp flax seeds

Method

Blend and drink!

Happy, healthy thoughts 🙂
Love,
Lauren

Protein Packed Breakfast Parfait

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breakfast parfait2

Tell me this doesn’t make you hungry just by looking at it! I’m in heaven right now eating my breakfast… mostly because I love that I can basically have dessert for breakfast!

So let’s start from the bottom: the bottom layer is my homemade maple and pecan granola, followed by raspberry coconut chia pudding, then some puffed quinoa pops, then my homemade healthy nutella, followed by Meridian Foods natural organic peanut butter, then some more granola sprinkled on the top. This is basically just one big jar of plant protein. I had a bit of this then went for a 45 minute power walk with the dogs. The cacao, quinoa and peanut butter are packed full of protein and the great thing about chia seeds is that although they contain carbohydrates, most of their carbohydrates are not digested by the body as carbohydrates but as fibre, so it speeds up the metabolism and gives you energy at the same time. They are also loaded with anti-oxidants and omega-3 fatty acids; gram for gram, chia seeds contain more omega-3 than salmon…

Ingredients

Homemade granola – click on link for recipe
Raspberry chia pudding – click on link for recipe
Quinoa pops – store bought
Homemade healthy nutella – click on link for recipe
Miridian Foods smooth peanut butter

Method

Simply layer away and enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Raspberry Coconut Chia Pudding

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Chia Pudding with raspberries

Chia seeds are the ultimate health food. Although they contain carbohydrates, most of their carbohydrates are not digested by the body as carbohydrates but as fibre, so it speeds up the metabolism and gives you energy at the same time. They are also loaded with anti-oxidants and omega-3 fatty acids; gram for gram, chia seeds contain more omega-3 than salmon, and they are just an excellent source of protein.

Being a vegetarian doesn’t just mean you don’t eat meat but eat everything on the side, you have to make a conscious effort to know about where to get your protein from and this was a learning curve for me but I make sure I get all my protein from plant-based sources and believe it or not, these sources of protein are actually absorbed better by humans than protein from meat. So chia puddings are the way forward!

Great for baby breakfast!

Ingredients

2 tbsp chia seeds
The creamy bit from 1 can coconut milk (must be the original kind, not light or lower fat) I find the Blue Dragon brand to have the creamiest cream.
5 or 6 raspberries
1 tsp agave nectar (optional)

Method

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, making sure to get an even coating of the chia seeds. Cover with cling film and leave in fridge overnight. If you like it sweet you can add the agave, if not, you can omit this.

Enjoy on its own, as a yoghurt, with granola or as a dessert.

Love,
Lauren