Healthy, Easy, Homemade Chocolate Recipe

Here is my much anticipated chocolate recipe for you :)

The great this about this recipe is that it is EASY, and has no refined sugar or E numbers or preservatives, is lactose free and they are SO delicious!

Ingredients: (makes approx. 30 small chocolates)
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup cacao powder (not cocoa) 

2 tablespoons honey (sub maple syrup to make this vegan)

Extras

Special Equipment:

1 (or 2) silicone molds

Method:

-Melt the coconut oil in a bain marie. Once melted, sift in the cacao powder & mix in honey. 

-Carefully spoon the mixture into a silicone mold. Here if you want to add any extras, feel free - a dollop of peanut butter, a sprinkle of sea salt, you could add coarsely chopped almonds...the world is your oyster!

-Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes until fully set.

-Gently remove the chocolate from the mold when they are set, store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

IMPORTANT! Make sure no water (not even a drop) enters the mixture as it will change the texture. Make sure the bowl & any utensils you use are completely dry, and the silicone mold too. 

ENJOY!

Nourishing Raw Seed Falafels

These falafels are SUPER easy to make and are a real SUPER food full of goodness, there is no frying and no soaking of chickpeas and all you need is a food processor.

These falafels will nourish you as the seeds & walnuts are a great source of protein and unsaturated fats, including omega-3 and 6 fatty acids. Between them they also contain a good range of nutrients, including iron, calcium, B2, folate, vitamin E, selenium and beta-carotene, which the body converts into vitamin A.

Yummy & good for you :)

Serve as a snack with hummus, or as a lunch with salad.

Ingredients - makes 24 falafel

130g/1 cup pumpkin seeds

130g/1 cup sunflower seeds

50g/ 1/2 cup walnuts

a big handful of parsley, chopped

5 sun-dried tomato halves, soaked

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons olive oil

freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt & pepper to taste

Recipe

Grind the seeds in a food processor into fine pieces

Finely chop the walnuts, but keep them bigger than the seeds

Add the walnuts, together with the remaining ingredients to the seeds and mix well with your hands or with a spoon.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

Try squeezing the mixture in your hand and if it doesn’t fall apart it is moist enough. Incase it feels dry and crumbles add a tablespoon of water and mix again.

Form the mixture into walnut sized falafel balls and either serve immediately or refrigerate. They will stay fresh for a few days in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Warming Winter Parsnip & Ginger Soup Recipe

A delicious warming parsnip & ginger winter soup recipe for you. Sweet parsnips & fiery ginger: Souper easy & souper yummy, you're welcome!

Method

• Heat a good glug of olive oil in a big saucepan over a medium-low heat and sautee the onion for approx 10minutes, until soft and translucent.

• Add the garlic, ginger, cardamom, cumin & cayenne and stir for a couple of minutes.

• Add in the parsnips and mix them in well before pouring in the stock.

• Season with salt & pepper and simmer the soup until the parsnips are very soft, approx. 15mins.

• Once the parsnips are soft puree the soup with a stick blender until smooth.

• Add the coconut milk and adjust the seasoning. Mix well and....

Ingredients (serves 4)

• olive oil

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 4-5cm piece of ginger, peeled & finely chopped

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 500g parsnips, peeled & cut into small cubes

• 800ml vegetable stock

• 400ml coconut milk

• salt & pepper

Voila, enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's book River Cottage Veg Everyday 

Yummy Granola Bars Recipe

A recipe for DELICIOUS, healthy, and super easy to make granola bars. No added sugar, or any other nasties just lots of super whole foods!  A perfect on-the-go snack. Enjoy!

Makes 24 bars

Ingredients**

• 1.5 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium/large bananas)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups rolled oats (use gluten-free if needed)
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped 
• 1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

**YOU have total freedom to be a little creative with this - don't like almonds? use walnuts, pecans or pistachios. Don't have dried apricots? Use raisins, dried cherries, dates or figs. You get the idea :-)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Line a large oven proof tray with a piece of baking paper so the bars are easier to lift out.
2. In a large bowl, mash the banana until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
3. Place the rolled oats into a food processor (or blender on the lowest speed) and pulse until the oats are coarsely chopped (but still with lots of texture). Stir oats into the banana mixture.
4. Chop (I used my magimix, but do not use a weak food procesor for the nuts) the almonds and apricots and stir these and the rest of the ingredients (seeds, coconut & cinnamon) into the banana-oat mixture until thoroughly combined.
5. You're almost done! Spread mixture out onto the prepared tray. Press down until compacted and smooth out until even. 
6. Bake for 23-27 minutes (I baked for 25 mins.) until firm and lightly golden along the edge. Once ready, bring the tray out and leave to cool for a few minutes then carefully  lift out the whole granola slab with the baking paper. Place granola slab on a cooling rack for 20 minutes.
7. Slice into bars once they are cool and enjoy!

Feel free to leave a comment if you like them!

Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows!

New year.....New me? No, thank you!

Happy New year!

I hope you've had a wonderful break and are ready to start this new year with a spring in your step! It can be easy to fall into the trap of New year = New me, but really we don't need to make any crazy resolutions about how we are going to move mountains (either literally because we will be so strong from working out SO much (!), or figuratively at work or in our personal lives) and become amazing at XY or Z. What we really need to do is learn to love and accept who we already are.

You don't have to move mountains

Simply fall in love with life

Be a tornado of happiness, gratitude & acceptance

You will change the world just be being a warm, kind-hearted human being. 

Anita Krizzan

If we could all learn to love and accept ourselves as we are, the world would be a much happier, peaceful place so my challenge to you this year is to stay you and to love you. 

x

On this note, I am not making any crazy resolutions but I am feeling very dull and heavy after the last few weeks of overindulgence so I will be doing a Cold Pressed Juicery 3 day juice cleanse this week to help me get back to feeling energetic and light again. If you're thinking about doing a cleanse too it's important to prep a few days before - here is a yummy, easy peasy recipe I made yesterday as a pre cleanse meal, enjoy!

Carrot "pasta" with a zing: Easy peasy and Yummy!

After the last few weeks of over indulgence in just about everything I'm feeling rather heavy & dull so I will be starting a 3 day Cold Pressed Juicery Cleanse with the aim to energize my body back up and feel good again!

Before doing any cleanse it is important to prepare your body for a few days before, this means having a few early nights & avoiding meat, processed foods such as bread & pasta, gluten, dairy, processed sugar, saturated fats, alcohol & caffeine for at least 2 days before the cleanse. 

This time around, not eating traditional pasta forced me to come up with another option - Carrot "pasta" with a zing, it's super easy, delicious & very nutritious:

Ingredients 

serves 2 hungry pre-cleansers

8 carrots

2 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons tamari sauce

2 teaspoons grated ginger

2 small garlic cloves grated

a handful of parsely

a handful of seeds (I used pine nuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds)

Chilli flakes optional!

Method:

Peel the carrots and then spiralize (or just grate) your carrots into a big bowl.

Mix the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, ginger & garlic together in a smaller bowl. 

Pour the sauce over the carrots and mix well.

Top with chopped parsley and seeds and chilli flakes if using.

 

Bon appetite!

P.S. If you like this, you may also like my Zoodle Pad Thai recipe :-)

Best Banana Bread Ever!

If you've come to class on a day where I have happened to bake you will have smelt the sweet smells of this delicious banana bread - and if you're lucky enough to have arrived before it was all eaten and tried some you will know how moist & delicious it is! Not only is it so delicious, it is also super easy to make. WARNING, this is not sugar, dairy or gluten free :-) 

So without further ado here is the recipe:

2 large eggs

113g soft butter

200g brown sugar

1 tbs vanilla

150g wholemeal flour

1tsp baking powder

3 ripe bananas

1 cup chopped nuts (optional, I like walnuts or pecans usually)

140g greek yoghurt (or half a cup)

• Preheat oven to 180c. Grease your loaf pan.
• In a large bowl whisk together the soft butter, and sugar. Add the eggs one and a time and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
• Sprinkle the flour and baking soda over the butter mixture and stir to mix until just combined.
• In a separate bowl mash your bananas up  and then fold in the mashed bananas, nuts (if using) and yoghurt into the cake mix.
• Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool before devouring!

Enjoy! xx

Pistachio Dukka Recipe to make you go mmmm!

This delicious Persian combination of nuts, seeds & spices creates a warming, nourishing aroma perfect as we move into Autumn. Make sure to have some yummy bread (go on, it's ok to have bread every once in a while!) ready to dip and go mmmmmm!

Ingredients:

• 120g shelled, unsalted pistachios
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds (I sometimes mix sunflower seeds in too. Optional!)
• a sprig of mint leaves (optional)
• 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

Method:

• Heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade. Scatter the pistachio kernels on a baking tray & roast in the oven for about 5 minutes or until they start to turn golden. Remove & let them cool before roughly chopping them. Heart shape is optional, but food always tastes better with a bit of love.
• In a small, dry pan over medium heat, warm the cumin and coriander seeds until they begin to release their aromas. Enjoy these aromas for a moment before transferring to a pestle & mortar. Crush them here until they are broken up but not too fine.
• In the same pan lightly toast the sesame seeds.
• Add the pistachios to the mortar and bash until they are well crushed in. Add the sesame seeds, chilli flakes, salt (and mint if using). You can leave your dukka like this (a bit chunky) and serve with a dish of olive oil - dip the bread in the oil and then into the dukka - or scatter over soups, pastas, grilled veggies and salads. OR for a more dip like consistency there's one more step:
• Transfer this mixture into a strong blender (I use my NutriBullet with the milling blades) and blend for a few moments until you have more of a dukka powder. Put this powder into a bowl and add olive oil (a little at a time) and mix until you have your desired dip consistency. Viola! 

Feel free to leave a comment if you like it, or discover any variations I should try!

*This recipe is a LahLah adaption of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's from his book "River Cottage Veg Everyday!"

LahLah's Zoodle Pad Thai

Zoodle (zucchini noodle) Pad Thai

If you've never tried a zoodle pad thai then you are missing out because, oh boy is it good! It's also conveniently healthy too ;-) 

I couldn't find a recipe I was happy with online, so I have been experimenting and am finally happy with the results!

The ingredients & recipe might look long, but it really is super simple to make and a lot of the ingredients are cupboard ingredients that you may already have, or will need to buy once and they will be there each time you make this (I'm sure you'll make it more than once, it's that yummy & easy to make!).

Ingredients: (feeds two hungry yogis)

Store Cupboard Ingredients:

• 2 tsp tamarind paste

• 3tbs fish sauce 

• a handful of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

• a pinch of dried chilli flakes

• a pinch of rock salt

• a few good splashes of sesame oil

Fresh Ingredients:

• 4 x zucchini (you will also need a spiralizer. I use this one. If you don't have one you could grate the zucchini on a large hole grater. same same, but different!)

• 1 x red pepper (or your preferred colour of pepper!)

• 1/2 a turnip (optional)

• 3 x spring onions

• 2 x red chilli

• a big handful of mange tout

• a big handful of coriander 

• 1 x lime

• 2 x big garlic cloves (or 3 small)

• a small piece of ginger

• and any other veg you fancy - I would add beansprouts too but I can never find them in Malta!

Method

• Finely chop your spring onions, red chilli and place to one side in a bowl together. Slice your mange tout into thirds and add to this bowl.  Roughly chop your corriander and set aside

•  Make your dressing: crush (or very finely chop) your garlic, grate your ginger and add the tamarind paste, fish sauce and the juice from half the lime to this and mix. 

• Crush the handful of peanuts and a pinch of dried chilli flakes and rock salt in a pestle & mortar until the peanuts become big crumbs. Set aside.

•  Sprialize your zucchini to make your zoodles. I use this very simple spiralizer.

•  Finely slice (julienne them if you want to be fancy) your pepper and 1/2 the turnip (if using). 

• Heat a BIG frying pan or wok on high heat with a few splashes of sesame oil, when it's heated add the zoodles, pepper and turnip to the pan. Lightly coat all in the sesame oil and fry for a few minutes. Don't cook the veg too much, just so it is heated through -approx 4 minutes. 

• Take the zoodle mix off the heat, mix in the spring onions, chilli & mange tout. Add your dressing and mix well. Plate your zoodles and then add some chopped coriander and a sprinkle of your peanut chilli crumbs to the top. Serve with a wedge of lime & extra chilli flakes if you like it hot!

The perfect blend of taste, crunch, spice, yumminess & health!

Enjoy & please feel free to comment if you like it or if you find any delicious variations! Find nourishing retreats on bookretreats.com x x xxx

Souper Summer Soup!

Just because it's summer doesn't mean it has to be the end of soups till the cold starts creeping in again!

Here's a souper easy & light summer soup I've been making recently:

Pea & Pesto Soup

serves 2 hungry soupers

Ingredients:

• 750 ml water
• 375 grams frozen peas
• 1 red onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• a squeeze of lime juice
• 4 tablespoons fresh pesto (for this you will need a big bunch of basil, 2 cloves of garlic, some pinenuts, olive oil and optional parmesan cheese. If you are feeling lazy you can buy the ready made FRESH pesto too, but making it yourself is SO much better :-) ) 
• chill flakes (optional)
• soft ricotta cheese (optional)

Method

Heat a deep pan with some olive oil and add in the red onions to soften them.

Meanwhile fill a kettle and put it on to boil. When it's boiled, & the onions have softened (about 5 mins) measure the amount of water you need and add it into the pan with the onions.

Add the frozen peas, salt and lime juice to the pan and let everything bubble together for 7 minutes.

In the meantime, if you are making your fresh pesto gather all the ingredients (basil, garlic cloves, pinenuts, olive oil and parmesan (optional)) and whizz them all together in a blender & voila you have pesto! It's much nicer and SO easy to make your own then to buy the processed stuff!

Once the 7 minutes have passed, check that the peas are cooked through. If they are ready you can blitz the peas and their liquid together either in a blender or use a stick blender in the pan.

Ladel the souper soup into bowls, putting two table spoons of pesto on top of each portion. I like to also add some chilli flakes and a dollop of soft ricotta cheese into my soup but this is optional.

Bon Appetito! 

This recipe is the LahLah adaptation of a Nigella classic. 

Delicious Fennel, Orange & Quinoa Salad

When I was younger I used to think that fennel was dis-gus-ting, but thankfully my tastebuds have matured to appreciate this delicious vegetable! Yesterday I was even craving some fennel, and I had some beautiful home grown Maltese oranges (the best kind!) so I decided to experiment and make a salad. The result was surprising delicious so I am sharing the recipe here! 

Recipe serves two hungry people, or three dieters!

Ingredients:

1 Fennel bulb chopped

1 cup of cooked quinoa

2 oranges chopped in segments

1 handful of fresh basil, torn or chopped

1 small handful of pistachios

1 small handful of sunflower seeds

1 small handful of pumpkin seeds

1 small handful of pinenuts

For the dressing:

grated lemon rind of half a lemon

grated orange rind of half an orange

juice of half a lemon

juice of half an orange

good glug of olive oil

salt & pepper

a sprinkle of dried chilli if you like chilli!

Method:

Mix the cooked quinoa, chopped fennel, orange segments, fresh basil, pistachio and seeds together in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl, mix all the ingredients for the dressing seasoning with salt, pepper & chilli to your tastes. Mix well and then pour this dressing over the whole salad, toss & enjoy!

EASY PEASY LEMON SQUEEZEY! Feel free to leave any comments as always :-)

LahLah xx