Tag: healing disease

Chocolate Truffle Hearts

1 Comment

There is nothing inside these chocolates that makes them ‘truffles’ necessarily, it’s just that the mixture is so decadent that when it sets thickly – as it does in the heart-shapes moulds I have because they’re so deep – it honestly tastes and feels like Belgian chocolate truffles melting into your mouth, and yet totally free of refined sugar, dairy, gluten, eggs and preservatives.

They look impressive but I’ll let you into a little secret: they are so easy to make! 4 simple ingredients and that’s it. All you need other than that is a saucepan, a spoon and a silicone heart mould. I used one similar to this.

Fancy treating your loved one? Or just want to keep something rich and decadent nearby for those days when you’re really craving chocolate? These are the ones!

Ingredients

5 tbsp coconut oil
5 tbsp raw cacao powder
2-3 tbsp maple syrup (depending on your preference of sweetness)
2 tbsp cashew butter

Method

Simply put all the chocolate ingredients into a saucepan and melt gently over a low heat, stirring often.

Once it’s melted, use a teaspoon to spoon into the little hearts and put it in the fridge to set for a couple of hours then turn out and store in a container in the fridge.

Devour!

Love & health,
Lauren

Summer Lunch Salad

Leave a comment

Winter Lunch Salad

I’m going to give my mum the credit for this one as she came round and made it for me! So yummy and so full wonderful nutritious organic fruits and vegetables and it really filled me up.

Ingredients

Handful fresh spinach
5 radishes
Some asparagus (we only had tinned but best to use fresh, steam first)
Half an avocado
Half a pear
2 boiled eggs
Handful pomegranate
Tsp organic natural maple syrup
Tsp balsamic vinegar

Method

Chop all the veg and put it on a plate then pour the dressings over and add a bit of Himalayan salt if you like. That simple!

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

 

 

 

Mushroom & Spinach Frittata

Leave a comment

Mushroom spinach frittata

Another easy dinner choice, a variation on my last frittata. You can pretty much add anything you want to it – whatever is in the fridge and needs to be used. It’s one of those ‘Thursday night meals’!

Ingredients

6 organic free-range eggs
1 tsp English mustard
2 potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
Half a bag of spinach
A generous helping of button mushrooms
About 8 cherry tomatoes
Handful of parsley
Splash of almond milk
Salt & pepper (I used Oryx desert salt)
Coconut oil or spread of choice for the pan

Method

Boil your potatoes (already sliced) for no more than 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Cut up the tomatoes into quarters, chop the mushrooms, roughly chop the parsley and wash and drain the spinach.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, then add the almond milk, mustard, salt and pepper.

Melt the oil or vegan butter in a large frying pan. Once hot, add the egg mix, then add the potatoes, pushing them down so they are semi-covered by the eggs. Then add the rest of the veg and do the same thing.

Turn the heat to medium-high and let it cook for around 5 minutes. While it’s doing this, turn on your grill.

Once the frittata has cooked on the bottom, put the pan under the grill for a further few minutes, until you can see it has cooked through.

Serve with a crisp, fresh salad.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Savoury Granola

Leave a comment

Savoury Granola

I’ve got to thank my friend Lana for the inspiration on this one, she inspired me to make it. Savoury granola is fast becoming a popular choice of breakfast food in Israel so I thought I’d try it and I really enjoyed it. It almost tastes like popcorn, just much healthier – and you can serve with anything. I had it with Coyo coconut yoghurt but you can have it with eggs or anything else you might have for breakfast.

Ingredients

2 cups organic jumbo oats
3 egg whites, whisked
4 thyme sprigs
Handful walnuts
2 tbsp poppy seeds
3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
Salt & pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and prepare a baking tray with baking paper.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then add in the oats and stir gently.

Break of the small thyme leaves from the sprigs and add these, along with the nuts, seeds, salt and pepper and mix well.

Spread evenly on the baking tray and put in the oven for 30 minutes. Mix after 15 minutes. The eggs will bind the oats so simply break it up with a spoon once its ready and keep in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Winter Detox Smoothie

Leave a comment

Avocado smoothie

It’s all about the detox this winter and although I usually juice my green veg as I prefer the texture, I also like to make the odd smoothie in the vitamix or nutribullet so that I can get the superfoods in like spirulina, and add an avocado which I don’t do when juicing. This one is great to get the metabolism going and boost the immune system on these cold winter days.

Ingredients

Half an avocado
Handful of kale
1 banana
100ml coconut water
1 tsp spirulina
1 probiotic capsule
1 tsb Manuka honey
2 ice cubes

Method

Add all the ingredients to your blender (I used a Vitamix) and open the probiotic capsule and pour it in. Blend, pour and enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

White Chocolate and Flaxseed Blondies

Leave a comment

White chocolate flax blondies

I love an afternoon snack with a matcha latte, and especially as I’m breastfeeding, I need extra energy but I have to make the effort to eat healthy snacks with great nutrients in them so I added flaxseeds to this one for omega 3 essential fatty acids – essential when breastfeeding. These went down a treat in my house and unfortunately I wasn’t left with many for myself!

Ingredients

1 tbsp coconut oil
50g cacao butter
3 tbsp organic natural peanut butter
3 eggs
Pinch Himalayan salt
2 tbsp flaxseeds
70g coconut palm sugar
2 tbsp pure maple
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g ground almonds
Vegan white chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 160. Line a square silicone baking tin with baking paper and grease with coconut oil.

Melt the coconut oil and cacao butter in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan with boiling water. Once it’s melted, add the peanut butter and stir until it all melts in together.

Remove from heat and set aside.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl and once beaten, add the coco palm sugar and whisk with a fork until totally combined. Then add the salt, vanilla and maple and mix.

Add the peanut butter mixture and mix well, then add the ground almonds and flax and mix until combined.

Flatten the mixture out into the prepared baking tin and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes. In my oven it only needed 20. You want it to be moist but cooked through but don’t overcook otherwise it will go dry.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Black Rice with Roasted Butternut, Spring Onion & Pumpkin Seeds

1 Comment

Black rice

In parts of Asia, black rice was given the name ‘forbidden rice’, as it was reserved only for royalty due to its health benefits. It is very high in fibre and antioxidants and is a super anti-inflammatory.

Add to that some butternut squash which is also an anti-inflammatory (and because the contrast of colours look so great!) and some spring onion and pumpkin seeds for calcium, and we have a winning dish.

I bought this black rice ages ago and only got round to cooking it now and this dish is really delicious and so easy to make.

Ingredients

125g organic black rice
2 spring onions, chopped finely
1 butternut squash, chopped in small squares
Handful of pumpkin seeds
Extra virgin olive oil
Organic, natural maple syrup
Balsamic vinegar
Himalayan salt

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Put the rice in a saucepan and cover generously with boiling water and put on a high heat. Once the water starts bubbling, stir, turn the heat down to low and put the lid on. Keep an eye on it. It should take around half an hour to cook.

Peel the butternut squash and cut into small squares. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil and a bit of salt, mix well, and put it in the oven for half an hour.

Once the rice is ready, take it off the heat and put it in a bowl. Add the butternut, spring onion and pumpkin seeds.

Drizzle with a little balsamic vinegar, no more than a tablespoon, and drizzle with some maple syrup, then add a pinch of salt, stir, and serve. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Easy Chicken Rice Vegetable Dinner

Leave a comment

Easy Chicken Rice Veg Dish

Easy, throw-it-together dinners that don’t take too long. We’re all looking for more of these aren’t we? Who has time mid-week to stand in the kitchen for hours making a gourmet meal? Certainly not us! I saw a TV chef making something similar once so I decided to put my own healthy stance on it and create a new version for Two Kitchens.

Of course it goes without saying (because this is our entire ethos at Two Kitchens) that any meat used in our recipes must be organic, free-range from trusted sources. Everything we use in our recipes is organic, but it is especially important when it comes to meat as with vegetables, you ‘only’ have the worry of pesticides and insecticides, with non-organic meat, you have the grass the animals eat which will have the pesticides on it to begin with, then they are also injected with steroids, growth hormones and antibiotics, all of which we consume and absorb when we eat this meat.

Boring stuff aside, this is delicious!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts cut into strips
Coconut oil for frying
Pinch salt and pepper (I used Himalayan salt)
1 tbsp organic honey
2 large onions, chopped
1 red pepper
3 cloves garlic
200g mushrooms, sliced
1/4 tsp mild chilli powder
1 tbsp curry power
1 tsp turmeric
1 mug brown rice
1 mug frozen peas
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 egg for each person dining

Method

Firstly, make the rice and boil the peas (separately but at the same time). Once ready, mix the two together and leave to cool.

Fry the chicken in coconut oil. Coat with honey, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Fry the onions, garlic, pepper and mushrooms then add chilli powder, curry powder and turmeric.

Once ready add the rice (must be cooled) and mix, then add the chicken and mix it all through. If the rice isn’t cool first it will go stodgy.

If you like it, fry an egg and when you dish the food onto a plate, put the egg on top.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Carrot & Coriander Soup

Leave a comment

cc1

Autumn is now upon us in London, and I’m feeling the drop in temperature instantly. I tend to make heaps of soups during the winter months. They are great for lunch as they fill you up but are super nutritious also, if you use the right ingredients. Carrots are a great source of fibre and are also high in vitamins C & K, and once again, here I am trying to increase my vitamin K levels in the lead up to my birth. They are also a good natural source of iron and folate, important not just during pregnancy.

Ingredients

Drizzle of coconut oil
About 8 large carrots
2 potatoes
1 onion
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp organic vegetable stock in 1.5 Litres boiling water
Salt & Pepper
Large handful fresh coriander

Method

Peel and chop all the veg then heat the oil in a large saucepan. Once hot, add the onion and cook for a minute, then add the potato, cook for a further minute, stirring a lot. Finally add the carrots, followed by the ground coriander, then add your stock and mix well.

Add a little pepper, wait until it just starts to boil then turn down, put the lid on and leave it to simmer for about half an hour.

Once all the veg is soft, either use a handheld blender if you have one, or put it all in a food processor, along with the fresh coriander, and blend. Taste to see if it needs any salt and as add required.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Overnight Oats with Mulberries

Leave a comment

Overnight Oats Mulberries

It’s Vitamin K central round my house! As you have probably gathered from my recent posts, I am upping my natural intake of vitamin K in the last eight weeks of pregnancy to prevent having to give my baby the injection after birth. Mulberries are the highest natural source of Vitamin K so I’m stocking up! And what better way to have mulberries than in their natural form, to sweeten up my overnight oats. This was a really delicious breakfast bowl, I’m stuffed! And so satisfied.

Ingredients

1 cup gluten free, organic, rolled oats
2 cups almond milk
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Toppings:
Handful of dried white mulberries
1 banana, chopped
A sprinkle of desiccated coconut

Method

Simply put the ingredients (excluding the toppings) in a bowl, mix well, cover, and leave in the fridge overnight. You don’t need to add the maple syrup, just depends how sweet you like it.

When you’re ready to eat it, add the toppings. Simples!

Enjoy,

Love,
Lauren