Best green smoothie recipe

I may have discovered the best green smoothies recipe. Well I haven’t discovered it, The Minimalist Baker has. Here it is – http://minimalistbaker.com/my-favorite-green-smoothie/

I used frozen strawberries and raspberries and also added in a tbsp of chia and a tsp of spirulina and wheatgrass. The peanut butter disguises their flavour perfectly and it just tastes like a creamy bananaey peanut butter milkshake.

All three girls nailed it for brekkie too which is the ultimate green smoothies test.

Success at last!

Spoiled Birthday Girl!

So I am feeling very spoiled indeed as Ed has just been given a Vitamix Pro 300 for my birthday!  I have wanted one for ages but couldn’t ever justify the eye-watering price tag.  But when you add up the cost of your magimix, juicer, ice cream maker and then add on the number of days of your life you will save because the Vitamix is so insanely quick and efficient it is mind-boggling – and you can somehow arrive at a point where £600 on a bot of kitchen kit seems like rather good value….!

Anyway… this is my new love:

VITAMIX Professional Series 300 blender and food processor

I love her at least 3 times a day and sit and admire her for the rest… She makes my morning juices, my evening hot chocolates, my lunchtime soups, my curry sauces, my pestos, my hummus, my ice creams, my milkshakes, my smoothies, my sorbets, she is amazing!

The biggest advantage she has over previous lovers is her speed and efficiency.  She is so easy to clean that it never puts you off as it did with the juicer and the magimix.  So you don’t find yourself making a cup of tea every morning instead of the  healthy green juice you promised yourself but now can’t be faffed to make.  I love that there is zero waste with new lover.  Everything goes in, apple cores, pineapple cores, lemon and lime rinds, nuts, seeds, you name it.  And to be able to make fresh, piping hot soup in just 5 minutes is just amazing!

So to anyone hesitating over whether to get one or not – I say go for it!  Even if you have to live on baked bean puree for a few months – it’s worth it!

Easy cheap delicious quick vegan supper!

Tonight’s delicious supper:
Quinoa cooked with bouillon
Chickpeas fried in coconut oil, cumin, paprika and turmeric
Steamed broccoli, edamame beans and baby spinach
Sprinkling of toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds
Drizzle of oil and season.
Voila.
Super cheap, super tasty, super healthy, super quick, super easy!

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Quick fry up…

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Here’s a super quick, easy, cheap and healthy vegan fry up I made this morning to lure everyone out of bed on this fararararareeeeezing February morning.

Garlic mushrooms, plum tomatoes and fresh spinach on toast. Sprinkle some pine nuts, coriander and fresh chilli on top for a bit of zing.

Now we’re ready to face the weekend. Happy weekend all x

Miso-Marinated Portobello Carpaccio (Vegan)

Last night’s ridiculously delicious supper!

Miso-Marinated Portobello Carpaccio (Vegan)

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons red or white miso paste
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons juice plus 2 tablespoons thinly sliced zest from 1 lemon, plus 1 extra whole lemon, cut into wedges
  • 4 portobello mushroom caps, stems and dark gills removed
  • 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 ounces arugula or other spicy greens
  • 2 tablespoons toasted pistachios, roughly chopped or pressed in a mortar and pestle
  • Coarse sea salt such as fleur de sel or Maldon
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Method

  1. Combine miso paste, brown sugar, soy sauce, vegetable oil, and lemon juice in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Marinade in fridge for at least an hour or overnight preferably.
  2. When ready to prepare, preheat oven to 350°F. Remove mushroom caps and wipe off excess marinade with paper towels. Place on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet gill-side-down and roast until top surface is dry and mushroom is tender throughout, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes to cool slightly.
  3. Using a very sharp knife, cut mushrooms on a sharp bias into thin slices. Transfer slices to a serving platter or individual platters, fanning them as you go. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with lemon zest, pistachios, black pepper, and coarse sea salt. Toss arugula with remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, squeezing one of the reserved lemon wedges over the greens. Top mushrooms with arugula and serve.  Et voila!

Thank you ‘Serious Eats’ for this recipe!

Easy, tasty, super healthy light lunch…

I baked some tofu for the first time this week and can’t believe I’ve waited this long to try it.  It’s entirely different to stir-fried tofu and the perfect thing for when you fancy a ‘meatier’ texture but don’t fancy mushrooms…  For this recipe I used firm tofu and then pressed it for 15 mins to get as much moisture out as I could.  Then I cut it into 1 inch cubes and marinated it for 2 hours in soy sauce, rice vinegar, grated fresh ginger, chilli paste, agave and minced garlic.  I then baked it in a hot oven (200 degrees c) for 40 mins so it was really chewy and added it to some lightly steamed baby spinach and squeezed some fresh lemon over it.

Along side this I made a really vibrant tasty salad –

1 cup quinoa, black olives, red and yellow tomatoes, cucumber, pine nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds and torn basil.

Light but filling lunch.  Super easy to make and extraordinarily nutritious!

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Breastfeeding booster!

Our 9lb chubster has an impressive appetite at the moment and therefore so do I!  Am breastfeeding exclusively so am ravenously hungry most of the time!  I made this juice on Saturday morning to make sure I’m getting all the nutrition I need and it was delicious so I thought it was worth sharing the recipe…

1 banana

1 apple

I large handful of spinach

1 stick celery

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 cup water

25ml elderflower cordial

1 tbsp Udo’s Oil

1 tsp acidophilus

1 tsp chia seeds

1 tsp flaxseed

1 tsp chlorella

1 tsp lucuma

Blend it all together and drink!

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Meltdown milkshake!

My older 2 girls are back at school and the change of pace means they are completely cream crackered by the time I collect them mid-afternoon.

So I’ve started giving them a big smoothie as soon as they get home which works as a healthy treat and staves off the 4pm meltdown as well as giving them a much needed energy boost!

Here’s today’s recipe…

2 frozen bananas
1 scoop of vanilla glacé
2 tbsp natural soya yoghurt
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 cup almond milk
Pinch cinnamon
1 squeeze agave nectar
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp flaxseed

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We had a celebratory tea party today as Gogo lost her first tooth!