warm vanilla chia pudding comfort food

Chia Seeds are just lovely and full of omega 3 and a bunch of other good stuff. They kind of make me think of tapioca the way they swell up and pop when you bite them so I had a go at making a warm winter pudding a little bit like the Tapioca pudding my Mum used to make me. This is quick as anything and if you dont mind it cold you can just make it ahead of time, set in the fridge and serve with warm milk.

Recipe

2.5 cups of nut milk or non dairy milk of your choice

1/2 cup of Chia seeds

1 Tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla essence

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

Topping: mixed berries, drizzle of maple syrup, chopped nuts and extra nut milk.

Heat your nut milk until warmish but not hot.

Pour over your chia seeds.

Stir in maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and then leave 10 minutes.

The longer you leave it the firmer it is but 10 minutes is enough to still be warm and quite set.

Scatter some berries over it, drizzle a spiral of maple syrup, sprinkle the chopped nuts and then make a moat of warm nut milk around the edge of the bowl. Look at that! Beautiful and very quick… oh and super nutritious.

If I hadnt eaten it while it was warm and fragrant I would have taken a photo for you but it was too delicious to muck around so you will just have to imagine it for yourself… aroma and all.

Eddie Izzard, you are so right about cake

I was watching the enormously talented Eddie Izzard in his show Stripped the other night, marveling that this lovely and quite insane man ran 43 marathons in 51 days, when he said in regards to cake mix and I quote “they would put it in an oven and it would come out… LESS GOOD.  It was genius before it went in and it came out… eeeeeh”

He is so right! So in his honor I came up with this lovely raw carrot cake recipe and I think Eddie would agree with me that it is better for never having suffered at the hands of an oven.

It is dense and moist which is all I ever ask of a carrot cake and goes perfectly with a scoop of Pina Colada ice cream and as a bonus uses some of that left over pulp from your juicer.

Carrot Cake

ingredients

2 cups of carrot pulp from your juicer or super finely grated carrot

2 cups fine almond meal

1 cup ground flax seed

1 cup dessicated coconut

1/2 cup agave or honey/maple syrup

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1 TBsp coconut butter warmed to liquid state

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

pinch of salt

Method:

mix everything well in a bowl. Press into a spring form cake tin and put in the fridge for 24 hours. Remove cake tin, ice with cashew frosting and serve with ice cream.

Cashew Frosting

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups soaked and drained cashews

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup warmed coconut butter/oil

Juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

Method:

Place the ingredients in a blender and cream to a fine buttery consistancy using a rubber spatula to move the contents around as necessary.

This will firm up in the fridge.

YUM! Raw Power!

Spicy apple cider balls

This Raw Recipe was inspired by the delicious autumnal flavors of New York and makes an excellent snack, dessert, or post exercise yumminess.

Spicy Apple cider balls

1 packed cup dehydrated apple chopped into small pieces soaked in 2 Tble sp spiced apple cider or 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup dried coconut

1/2 cup honey or a little less than 1/2 cup of agave

1/2 cup ground linseed/ground sunflower seed/ground almond

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp orange zest

Stick them all in the food processor and whizz up, stiring every 1 minute or so to get the ingredients evenly distributed. Thicken with more L.S.A if they are too sticky. Roll into balls with your hands and put in the fridge to firm up.

Yes, they are just smartypants tahini balls.

These are loved by my vegan friends, gluten free friends, diary free friends, the kids, the boyfriend and random people that I offer them to at work and at my martial arts class – and of course make great healthy kids snacks. Thank you, thank you…

breakfast crunchy topping

I made up this raw delicious crunchy topping recipe and sprinkle it on fruit for breakfast.  My children will also tell you I sprinkle it on their cereal and muesli because I think that although what they are eating is what is conventionally thought of as healthy food, it is pretty bereft of nutrients as far as I am concerned. This way we are all happy and I win. Just kidding.

This Raw Recipe is quick and will last ages stored in the fridge

Recipe:

1 cup Hemp Meal

1 cup sesame seeds

1 cup ground flax seeds

2 cups sunflower seeds

1 cup almonds

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup goji berries

Process in a food processor until it looks crumbly.

Add 2 cups of dried berries and fruit pieces. I like cranberries and currents but you could use any that you like. This gives the topping its sweetness and makes it yummy.

Store in a sealed container in the fridge and use liberally on your breakfast. Sometimes if I’m in a hurry I just have a bowl of topping with nut milk and don’t bother with the fresh fruit.

This recipe is packed with essential fatty acids, calcium, zinc, protein and goji berry magic and RAW POWER

Enjoy

Beetroot dip

Beetroot makes a very yummy and spectacular looking raw dip.

It should take about 5 minutes to make this Raw Recipe and is a generous serving which is good because everyone loved it and 4 of us ate it in a flash. You may never buy that horrible prepackaged dip again… I know I wont.

Sweet and sticky choc chip brownie. Mint or Orange?

Feel like something sweet?

If I’ve been running a lot or my person trainer has been particularly hard on me then I top up with a little something sweet and sticky. Here’s a Raw Recipe that is pretty easy and totally yummy.

Recipe:

1 cup of almonds preferably soaked and dried

1/2 cup cashews soaked

5 Tbsp Cacao

3 Tbsp Agave/honey or 5 soaked dates

pinch of salt

1 Tbsp orange zest or 1 Tbsp mint leaves finely chopped

3 Tbsp cacao nibs for choc chips

Blend first 5 ingredients in a food processor until they form a dough. You will need to use a spatula a lot to scrape the sides down.

Place in a bowl and mix in the choc chips.

Press into a tray and leave it in the fridge to set or dehydrate for an hour or so.

If you wanted to you could add walnuts at the dough stage either with or without the cacao nibs. And what about a choc cashew frosting?

Very yummy Rawwwwww

Mexican roll ups

Here is my favorite kinda mexican Raw Recipe for when the family are making nachos and I want in without all the carbs, calories, salt and junk. How can they eat that crap?

Recipe:

10 or so lettuce leaves for wrapping

2 ripe avocados diced

3  Roma tomatoes diced

1 Jalapeno pepper diced

1 yellow pepper diced

1 red pepper diced

kernels of 1 ear of corn

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 bunch parsley finely chopped

1 small stalk of celery finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

extra chilli flakes of you like it hot

a sprinkle of nutritional yeast if you want a cheesy flavaor

Mix it together in a bowl and spread it on the lettuce leaves, sprinkle with chilli flakes and nutritional yeast and roll up- take that junk food!  Ha, I will retain my girlish figure AND eat Mexican… Pass me another one.

Tabbouleh

Here is a raw recipe for a quick meal or a salad to accompany falafels or the most divine filling for a lettuce or flat bread wrap- you decide

I like quick food… more time for play.

Tabbouleh

1 cup almonds pulsed in food processor until rice sized

optional 1 Tbsp Hemp seeds/flour. Pulse seeds with almonds

1 cup chopped parsley (flat leaf) pulse with almonds

1/2 cup chopped mint leaves. Pulse with almonds

2 Roma Tomato diced

2 spring onions chopped

1 clove garlic finely minced
Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix it together. Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Serve with lettuce leaves to wrap and a sliced avocado or simply as it is.

Protein Fudge Brownie part 2

I was having a play with the  fudge protein brownie raw recipe today and made a couple of rather delicious improvements. These make great healthy kids snacks.

This recipe includes coconut butter as it apparently has anti viral properties due it’s Lauric Acid content plus it is good for supporting your metabolic rate because of it’s medium chain triglycerides (thats the last of the science talk for this recipe)

Fudge brownie part 2

50g phyto pea protein powder

25g hemp flour

25g chia seeds

50g L.S.A plus any other lightly ground seeds you like

2 Tablespoons Raw Cacao

1 teaspoon stevia or to taste

1 teaspoon maca

4 big tablespoons of nutbutter or tahini

1 tablespoon melted coconut butter.

Method:

Add ingredients one by one in order to a bowl stiring as you go.

Melt the coconut butter in a dish sitting in a bowl of warm water or in your dehydrator.

Once everything is stirred together and forms a crumbly dough line a small container with cling film leaving plenty to go up the edges and over the top.

Pack in the dough, pressing it firmly. Cover the top with the cling film and compress some more.

Place in fridge to set for 30 min.

cut into bars or squares

protein fudge brownie

I wrote this recipe forApril because we both run, both care deeply about nutrition and sometimes want our proteins without a huge amount of nut fats. These make great healthy kids snacks.

This is a great high protein snack for after a workout or if you just need something to keep you going for a couple of hours. I have eaten some pretty strange tasting protein bars in my time- some look great and taste like wax or have a weird after taste. I think it is because of all the ingredients that aren’t food- they are additives or vitamins and minerals isolated from food. That just seems so wrong to me. I like food, actually I love food. Real food, not food-like substances.  Try this out and see if it works for you.

Recipe:

50g pea protein powder

25g hemp flour or protein (flour will be grittier)

4 tablespoons tahini (there is the fat source)

Either ½ teaspoon Stevia (zero carbs) or 2 tablespoons agave/honey (better flavour but has carbs)

Flavour with

1 tablespoon raw cacao

¼ tsp ground ginger (anti inflammatory)

¼ tsp ground cinnamon (anti oxidant)

¼ tsp mixed spice

4 drops vanilla essence

A little bit of water to mix

Optional- ½ cup dried berries like cranberries or currents if you don’t mind the carbs. They need to be small pieces as the brownie will crumble if they are too large. You could always soak and puree them, the brownie will just be slightly denser.

Mix well together in a large bowl. Once it seems to be all mixed through start adding a little bit of water at a time until you are mixing something that resembles cookie dough- it will be in a few big lumps that when you press together forms a dough.

Line a small container with clingfilm (right up the sides and leave some spare) and put the dough in the container. Put the extra cling film over the top of the mix and press down to compress the dough into the shape of the container. Place in fridge.

When it is cold cut into 4 bars. Store in the fridge.

This doesnt have a massive amount of calories if you use stevia. There is some healthy fat from the tahini and plenty of bioavailable protein. You could add rice protein and have a perfect mix of aminos.

I find this brownie delicious and because it is so high in protein if I have it sometime after my green smoothie in the morning I get through to lunchtime without needing any morning tea.

If I’ve come in from a 28km run and had my quick carb hit then this is my 20 minutes later recovery bar.

I have heard so many different recovery programs for endurance running so this may not be yours but it works beautifully for me.

Please leave your comments on how well this recipe worked for you and if you improve it then I’d love to hear from you.

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