Mix it Cook it

11 January 2014

Raspberry & Oat Pancakes

♬ 'Tribute' by John Newman

Ingredients that used to bless my morning pancakes were sugar, lemon and nutella, these have now been replaced with honey, oats and raspberries! Pancakes don't have to be a guilty treat or covered in chocolate, time to make them red and beautiful.

Healthy pancakes full of slim ingredients and well tasty. Fluffy, fun and good looking.

Ingredients:

120g Doves gluten free plain flour
10 raspberries

30g rolled oats

20g oatbran

2 tsp caster sugar

130ml skimmed milk

1 large egg

10 raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1 tsp butter

To serve:

Agave nectar or Manuka honey

Fresh raspberries

Method:

Whisk egg with milk and leave to one side.
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, oats and oatbran in a bowl.
Add milk mixture, whisk well and let it stand for 5 minutes. It should be thick when you're ready to fry.
Stir through raspberries, being careful to not crush any.
In a large frying pan melt butter until sizzling hot then use a ladle to pour out four small pancakes.
Cook until light brown on each side.
Serve with agave nectar, fresh raspberries and a fresh juice.

Why wait until pancake day?
Mix it cook it....and flip it.

X

9 January 2014

Spiced Turkey Burger

♬ 'Tribute' by John Newman

I think this is the healthiest burger I've ever made. No yellow cheese slices in sight, no ketchup (I'm still in shock) and still tastes great.

I used to think eating turkey was only during the month of December, until my mum went a bit crazy and stocked up on loads of birds after seeing a price reduction at Waitrose. I never seem to get to the supermarket on time to get to the bargains! My brother is boss of anything reduced, I swear Waitrose spot him a mile off and they hide all their reduction guns. His freezer is stacked with so much meat and fish, probably coming to a grand total of £1. Saying that I did buy five bags of carrots for 40p each from Tesco, two of which have been juiced and given me a slight Sunny D tint to my skin.

Back to turkey talk. This bird has protein, and a sufficient amount of it. Next to chicken, tuna and egg whites, turkey should be in your diet plan especially if you exercise regularly.

I made this turkey burger because:

1.I did day one of Insanity work out and needed something that looked naughty but was actually healthy.

2. I wanted to spice things up a bit.

My mum gave me a pot of green masala, consisting of garlic, green chilli's and ginger. I've mentioned this paste quite a few times, it's the base we always use for any curry back home. Last Christmas my mum made turkey spiced meatballs for my grandma who isn't partial to bland food. I thought I would do exactly the same and make a burger shape instead.

Ingredients for two burgers:

2 cloves of garlic, 1 small green chilli, 1cm chunk of ginger peeled.

100g turkey mince

Half tsp turmeric

Half tsp chilli powder

Half tsp garam masala

1tbsp canola oil

Fresh spinach leaves

Coriander

1 Large carrot, grated

Mango chutney

2 Wholemeal buns

Low fat cottage cheese

Method:

Blend garlic, chilli, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, chilli powder and half tbsp of canola oil.

Use your hands and rub this into turkey mince. Shape into burgers and cover with cling film until ready to fry.

Brush a small frying pan with remainder of canola oil, and then you can fry each burger for 10 minutes. Five minutes on each side, medium heat.

Layer burgers whichever way you like, maybe serve with some sweet potato wedges.

There you have it, a burger which isn't dripping with fat and contains ingredients that act as body fuel.

Now get dancing to John Newman!

8 January 2014

Banana, Bran, Chocolate & Ginger Muffins

SKINNY AND HEALTHY

204 CALORIES EACH

♬ 'Devotion' by Jessie Ware

I was completely hooked on last weekends culinary pull out from The Times magazine, with loads of colourful recipes springing us back into a healthy start to the year, my eyes focused on healthy baked treats. Let's not stop eating cake! Treats are great and well deserved, the trick is to find a good recipe without loads of sugar or fat.

Here's an altered recipe of Jacqueline WhiteHart's blueberry bran muffins. I've made these for a chef at Shoreditch House who always inspires and teaches me to be better when baking.

Makes 10 large muffins

Ingredients:

200ml Flora pro active skimmed milk

1 tbsp lemon juice

150g Doves farm gluten free plain flour

100g Doves farm gluten free self raising flour

1 tbsp oat bran

2 tsp baking powder

Half a tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of sea salt

30g light brown sugar

1 tbsp Manuka honey

1 large egg

50g Green & Blacks white chocolate chopped into chunks

50g Green & Blacks dark chocolate also chopped.

1 large banana

2 tsp cinnamon

1cm ginger finely grated.

Method:

▶ Preheat oven 180°c.
Combine milk and lemon juice in a jug, and let it curdle for a few minutes.
Mix together all the dry ingredients (flours, sugar, raising agents, oats, cinnamon, salt).
Whisk egg with honey then pour onto dry ingredients and stir with a butter knife.
Mash up the banana and add to batter with grated ginger.
Scoop generous amounts into muffin cases and sprinkle dark and white chocolate equally on top.
Bake for 20 minutes until sponge is light brown and chocolate has melted into the muffins.

Eating them when warm is a fabulous idea, do it.

FEATURED ON WWW.52RECIPES.CO.UK

http://www.52recipes.co.uk/2014/01/09/chocolate-ginger-muffins/

Randomly leaving you with the opening verse from my favourite song 'Wildest Moments'.
Full volume, fairy lights on and dance with someone..

"You and I, blurred lines,
We come together every time
Too wrongs, no rights,
We lose ourselves at night."

M

7 January 2014

My Favourite Things

Every week for as long as I can, there will be a few of my favourite things linked to food and music. This post is also inspired by Julie Andrews, read on to find out why.

Let's get straight into it...

The joy this gorgeous pot brings into my life is beyond words. It is my equivalent to ice cream, yes that's right, on a ladies night in you will see me spooning straight out of the tub when everyone else will probably opt for Ben & Jerry's.

AMAZING WITH:

Chopped bananas and Swiss muesli with a dash of skimmed milk.

Chocolate cake

Apple crumble

In a smoothie with banana, spinach and berries.

Five beans rock. They rock so hard that if they were in a band, all other cans of beans would be knocked off the stage and hail to five glory. This is how crazy I am about them and you should be too. Five bean power.

TRY THEM:

With your full English breakfast.

On toast with melted cheese

As a veggie chilli by adding spices and serving with rice.

On a jacket potato.

In a tortilla wrap with rocket and sausage.

Basically anything you would have with your average baked beans.

Carrot, cucumber and ginger juice.

I'm trying to incorporate more fresh juices in my diet, which one will definitely be for breakfast. There maybe some smoothies getting involved to ensure I get my fibre, but I'm excited about trying new concoctions.

Having a juice first thing in the morning feels so flipping good I can't look at cereal anymore. Juicing is a great way to use up apples, carrots, celery and loads more ingredients which will make you feel fresh eyed and awake.

Loads more juices coming up, so start setting up or buy one now!

I love you oats. Normally after a long run I like to make a small bowl of oatmeal with skimmed milk, one chopped banana and a drizzle of manuka honey. Oats are known to keep you fuller for longer and I crave lunch until after a healthy few hours.

Using oats in smoothies and in everyday meals will inject great benefits to your health. Check out this link if you have a few minutes:

http://www.eatmoreoats.com/health.html

TRY:

Adding a tablespoon to any smoothie you make.

Sprinkling oats on top of muffins before you bake them.

Stirring through a handful of oats in a crumble mixture.

Cover mackerel in seasoned oats and lightly fry.

Make your own granola, mainly oat based and top with yoghurt.

Julie Andrews

She is and always will be magical in every way. I recently watched Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music in one sitting (the benefits of Christmas holidays) and was mesmerised by how happy I was after those golden hours of witnessing so many people being lifted by Julie's charm and voice. This is why I want to do a weekly list of my favourite things, this is what most people should do to remind themselves of the simple pleasures in life.

God bless you Julie.

Beyoncé looking beautiful even with a fork in her mouth.

When B and Jay-Z went vegan for 22 days the whole world was in awe and of course another new diet, paired with the recent fasting diet, Paleo and vegan before 6pm came into light.

I'm sorry B, your the hottest lady around but there is no way on earth I'm giving up eggs or honey. Her new album and videos are great to watch, is there anything this woman can't do? My favourite video is definitely 'Grown Woman'.

Intrigued about a plant based diet?

http://www.22daysnutrition.com/

I know it's January and everyone is feeling fat but in all seriousness, if you are wanting to lose weight make sure its for you, celebs like Beyoncé, Abby Clancy, Miranda Kerr and other models who look so fit it makes me cry, all HAVE to look that way.

Eat, drink and exercise in moderation.

Like what you have and make the most of it.