Tag: vegetarian

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

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

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

Pasta with Sweet Potato and Sage Sauce

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Sweet Potato Sage Pasta

Raine and I seem to be so in sync with each other that even though we’re on other sides of the planet, we both made a variation of the same dinner tonight! So she has posted her Butternut & Sage Pasta and here is mine, made with sweet potatoes instead…

People always ask me what can you make for dinner when you’re vegetarian, so I like to experiment with easy, tasty and healthy recipes that people love. This is one of them. The sage is probably the best part of this recipe – I just love the taste. This recipe is seriously indulgent but gluten free and dairy free as well as full of nutrients.

Ingredients

Brown rice pasta – enough for two servings
1 sweet potato
About 10 sage leaves
Handful pine nuts
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
Half cup almond milk
Garlic salt
Himalayan salt
Black pepper

Method

Peel and chop the sweet potato then steam or boil until soft enough to mash.

While it’s boiling, heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan, then add the garlic, pine nuts and sage and cook until pine nuts are roasted and sage is cooked. Once this mix is ready, put in a bowl and set aside.

Start boiling your pasta with a pinch of Himalayan salt. Brown rice pasta usually takes around 8 minutes.

While this is boiling, drain your sweet potato and mash it. Add it to the pan (which you don’t need to wash after the sage and pine nuts) with the milk and mix on a low light until it resembles a thick sauce.

Do not over-cook the pasta. As soon as it’s ready, add it to the pan with the sweet potato and mix it all in, then add the garlic, pine nuts and sage, some garlic salt and pepper (and salt to taste if you want) and mix it all around for about a minute or two, until hot, then serve.

Have a good week everyone.

Love & health,
Lauren

Butternut & Sage Pasta

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Butternut & Sage Pasta

This is a quick and easy family dinner – I literally only had 35 minutes to get food on the table, and that included writing the recipe and taking a photo!

I am in love with sage… it’s such a versatile herb and the tangy, lemony flavour really comes out with roasting. It pairs beautifully with butternut, which is high in beta-carotene and vitamin C.

Ingredients (serves 4)

850g butternut (weighed without the skin or seeds)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus some extra
1 tsp himalayan salt
15 cloves of garlic, cut into quarters
big handful of fresh sage
250g gluten-free organic pasta (I used amaranth, but you could use buckwheat or quinoa)
1/2 lemon
2 heaped tbsp raw pumpkin seeds

Method

Cut the butternut into cubes. On a roasting tray, toss together the butternut, olive oil, salt, garlic and sage. Roast at 200 C for about 30 minutes, until tender.

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

Toss the butternut and pumpkin seeds through the cooked pasta. Add some more olive oil if it looks too dry. Season to taste with lemon juice, himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper. That’s it!

Health & happiness 🙂

Love,
Raine

Homemade Chocolate Sauce

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Great for pancakes, baking and a million other recipes. Here is our chocolate sauce – dairy free and refined-sugar free.

Ingredients

1/4 cup  cacao butter
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup cacao powder
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp almond butter (optional)

Method

Put all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on a low to medium heat, stirring quite regularly. If it’s too thick, add more coconut oil, if it’s too runny, add more cacao powder, and if you like it sweeter, add more maple.

Easy as that!

Love,
Lauren

Valentine’s Pancakes

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These look like they’re filled with some sort of nasty artificial colouring, right? Wrong! Can you guess what the pink colour is? OK I’ll tell you… it’s beetroot! I love my healthy pancake recipe but I wanted to make something extra special for Valentine’s Day without using artificial colouring and all the colourings and flavours we need are already found in nature. I used my usual recipe, just added beetroot and changed it very slightly. I promise it doesn’t taste of beetroot either – they just taste like insanely yummy and fluffy pancakes. So easy to make as well, oh and they’re vegan too!

If you’re trying to be healthy but want to treat your partner to breakfast in bed this Valentine’s Day, you can’t get better than these. Yummy, nutritious – both buckwheat flour and beetroot are good for the blood and lowering cholesterol. The chocolate sauce is full of protein and is a great aphrodisiac – just what you need for Valentine’s Day!

Ingredients

Half cup buckwheat flour
1 beetroot, peeled, chopped and steamed (or ready cooked)
2 tbsp ground flax seeds
5 tbsp purified water
1 ripe banana
Half cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp maple or agave
Pinch Himalayan salt
Coconut oil for cooking

Method

First, mix the flax seeds in a bowl with the water and put in the fridge for 10 minutes to create flax ‘eggs’.

While it’s in the fridge, start preparing the rest. Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Once the flax eggs are ready, add this to the mix and blend until smooth.

Transfer this to a bowl so it’s easier to access with the ladle.

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Use a non-stick pan and heat some coconut oil in the middle, just a little, and when it’s hot, add a small ladle full of the mixture to the centre and spoon it over to create a pancake shape. It will only need around a minute on each side, but all hobs are different so you want it to be fluffy and cooked on the inside but not burnt on the outside. Repeat until the mixture is used up.

Top with homemade chocolate sauce or maple syrup, coconut cream or any topping of choice.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

LOVE,
Lauren

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Simple Homemade Tomato Sauce

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tomato sauce

Every freezer should be stocked with this simple and healthy tomato sauce – it can be used in a myriad of different dishes, and makes life easier for busy moms! Just got home from work and need to make dinner in under half an hour? Defrost this sauce and serve it with some buckwheat or quinoa pasta for a quick but still nutritious family meal.

Tomatoes are high in vitamin C and antioxidants, particularly lycopene. Researchers recently found a connection between tomatoes and bone health, concluding that tomatoes can help to prevent osteoporosis. They are also important for heart health, and have long been hailed as the anti-prostate cancer food of choice.

I like to make up a batch of this sauce and then freeze some of it in ice trays, so that I have small portions handy for my son’s meals (I use 2 – 3 cubes for him) and freeze the rest in one portion for a family meal.

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Ingredients

2 large onions, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 large cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of red wine (optional)
1.3kg fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped, including seeds
small handful of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup dried dates
3/4 tsp himalayan salt
a few leaves of fresh basil

Method

Fry the onions in the olive oil until caramelised. Add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add the wine. There should immediately be a cloud of steam, and a strong smell of alcohol. This is the alcohol in the wine cooking off – so don’t worry, there won’t be any alcohol left over in the sauce. You can omit the wine, but it adds depth of flavour.

Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and dates. Turn the heat down, cover with a lid and simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes. An hour or longer is better – the longer it simmers the more the flavours develop.

Remove the hard stalks of the thyme and then put the sauce in a blender or food processor. For pasta sauces I like a chunkier texture so will use a food processor. For a smoother sauce (for example, for pizza) use a blender. Add the salt and basil and blend until you have the desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly. Traditionally tomato sauce would have quite a bit of sugar added (you’d be mortified to learn how much sugar there is in store-bought tomato sauce or ketchup!) I avoid this by adding the dates. If you feel that it needs more sweetness, add more dates or raw honey or organic maple syrup. If you feel that it needs more acidity, use fresh lemon or organic apple cider vinegar. This all depends on the natural flavour of the tomatoes you’ve used, so just taste and see!

Use immediately or freeze for future use.

Below are examples of how I would use this sauce:

tomato sauce 2

Here I roasted some aubergine with olive oil, salt and black pepper. I added it to the sauce along with some fresh chilli and basil. Served with buckwheat pasta.

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I fried onion, garlic, carrot, red pepper, broccoli and chilli in olive oil. I added the sauce, cooked brown basmati rice, shredded poached chicken and fresh coriander.

Health & happiness!

Love,
Raine