Smokey Tomato aolive and Lentil Soup

As a youngster there was a cafè in Glebe that made an amazing lentil tomato and olive soup, I can still remember to this day as a 4 or 5 year old getting this with my mum.

Finally decided to do the recipe myself... it was Ah-may-zing!

Ingredients
2 cans chopped or crushed  tomatoes
2/3 cup lentils
1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1 onion, diced
3 cloves smoked garlic, crushed
1 massel stock cube, chicken or vegetarian
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

1- heat olive oil in a large pot on a medium heat,  add paprika, onion and and garlic and sauté on a low heat until the onion is clear and soft.

2- add the rest of the ingredients to the pit.  Fill both empty cans with water and add them to the pot. Cook on a medium heat until the lentils are cooked, around 40 minutes.

Serve with a dash of olive oil and parsley. It's also nice with Greek yoghurt or feta cheese. And a slice of crusty toast too!

Vegan Pesto Potato and Bean salad

I felt like I needed something vegan, I also felt lazy. 

This salad is sooooo tasty, extra easy and extremely cheap! It makes enough for one big lunch or two small ones. 

It can be served with added protein for vegans I would suggest a seed and nut blend, for vegetarians feta cheese, otherwise tuna, salmon or chicken.

Ingredients 

1 medium potato, cubed  

1 1/2 cup green beans, halfed

1 teaspoon pesto (I used sundried tomato) 

1/4 cup black olives, seeded and halved

Handful of cherry tomatoes 

1 teaspoon olive oil 

Squeeze of lemon juice 

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1- boil potato, when they are about 2-3 minutes from done then add the beans.

2- drain, mix in remaining ingredients.

Wallah! 

One Bowl Banana Bread

This recipe makes a very hearty breakfast bread but can be eaten anytime of day.

I had my first slice with a cup of tea as it came out of the oven on Sunday afternoon.

It can be made vegan easily by using an egg substitute like 1 tablespoon of Chia seeds or flaxseed meal soaked with 2.5 tablespoons of water for 5 minutes.

Ingredients
3 ripe bananas
1 eggs 
3 tablespoons rice bran oil
1/4 cup stevia
1/4 coconut sugar
3.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk of choice
1 1/4 cup almond meal or LSA meal
1 1/4 cup flour of choice
1 1/4 cup quinoa flakes 
Optional- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1- preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced.

2- mash bananas in a large bowl.

3- add all the ingredients up until the milk. Whisk together well.

4- add the remaining ingredients and mix. 

5- poured into a lined bread tin and bake for 40 minutes. It should be firm when baked.

Green Smoothie Prep + Recipes

My morning routine is a green smoothie. I don't have time to cut chop and clean in the morning, so make enough freezer friendly smoothie bags for a few weeks ahead.

So in the morning its whiz,  rinse blades and go!

Prep

You can use any fruit you like I recommend pineapple, apple and mango, all tastes good with some orange added. Chop your fruit into small pieces then measure into 1/2 - 1 cup portions in snap lock bags, adding a handful of baby spinach as you go. As you seal the bag push out the air. Then freeze. 

My daily habit is this tasty green smoothie - 

Green Smoothie 

Freezer bag 

• 1/2 cup pineapple, chopped
• Handful baby spinach
• 1/2 cup orange, chopped

In the blender with prepared smoothie bag 

• 200ml Coconut water
• Squeeze of lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp crushed ginger 

Directions

Add all the ingredients to your blender then whiz until smooth.

You can drink straight away, if you do you might like to add some extra water. I often do this or I leave it in my blender bottle and pop it into my lunch bag and drink it after my gym session while I make breakfast at work.

Smoothie Bowl

Coming into summer, refreshing cooling breakfasts are a must. Smoothie bowls are useful if you like to eat, not drink your breakfast.

Bowl: 

Berry Bowl

• 1 cup frozen berries
• 2 TBS Greek yoghurt
• 100ml Coconut water 

Tropical Sensation

• 1 cup frozen Mango and Pineapple
• Pulp of 1 passionfruit
• 100ml coconut water 
• 1 TBS Greek yoghurt

Pineapple Blitz

• 1 cup frozen Pineapple and Apple 
• 1 tsp Lime juice 
• 100ml of brewed and chilled peppermint tea 

Protein Punch

• 1 Frozen Berries
• 1 TBS Greek yoghurt
• 1 scoop strawberry or vanilla protein powder 
• 100ml water or Acai juice 

Choc Protein Hit 

• 1 cup frozen banana 
• 1 scoop choc protein powder 
• 100ml Milk of choice

Green Bowl 

• 1 cup Frozen Pineapple
• handful of spinach
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 100ml coconut water 

Instructions: 

Blend ingredients and place in a bowl. 

Topper: 

 Top with 1/4 cup muesli, a dash of fresh fruit like chopped banana, kiwifruit  blueberries, raspberries or grapes

Make it Super : 

Sprinkle two of the below superfoods (about a between 1 tsp to dessert spoon )

• Goji berries
• Bee Pollen
• Chia seeds
• Pepitas or other seeds of choice 
• Pomegranate 
• coconut flakes
• cacao nibs 
• LSA Meal 

Need sweetening up?

Add a dash of coconut syrup or agave nectar.

PRODUCT REVIEW: The Bar Counter Range

I was quite excited when I saw this new range in Coles - The Bar Counter 

I started off just buying two bars to try then over the coming weeks purchased the whole range.

I like that they have different styles of bars to choose from, which makes it a lot easier if you are following a particular plan e.g. raw, high protein,  no added sugar.

I did try the gluten free range and remember liking them both, but seem to have forgotten to record down my thoughts, so once i buy them again, ill update you all.

I have seen on their instagram a few new flavours due to hit the shelf that sound amazing! Would love to know your thoughts on the range.

RAW

Date almond and chia 
Amazing, i loved the flavour and the texture of this bar! unfortunately due to the dates its quite high in sugar, so you just need to take this into perspective when looking at your fruit intake for the day, dates are a fruit, so probably class this bar as a half serve of fruit. This bar is really simple and clean which i also like the ingredients are simply dates, almond paste, rice protein, chia seeds, walnuts and cashew.

HIGH PROTEIN 

Chocolate  brownie - terrible I will never buy this again, the texture was good for a protein bar but the flavour was horrendous, it was bland and had that real "protein" bar taste to it.


Raspberry truffle - for a protein bar this one is amazing, i have actually bought it three times. great flavour, interesting texture though I think they could improve on that. it tastes like a choc bar and is low in sugar so i like that.


Dark Chocolate Almond 
Terrible, that chewy texture you find far to often in a protein bar, lacking flavour with a few hazelnuts throughout. It was filling, which helped me during the afternoon, however the flavour is just not there - overall bland and chewy.

NO ADDED SUGAR

Milk chocolate hazelnut - OK my level of excitement when I had this bar was way too high. ive pretty much decided I can now deal with my chocolate addiction - just have this bar instead, with its 170 calories and 3.8gm of sugar, it tastes amazing and doesn't taste artificial. I would definitely recommend this if you are looking for a low sugar and low calorie chocolate or sweet alternative.



Dark choc cherry ripe - i think they took the dark chocolate too far on this one, its quite bitter. I was expecting something like a cherry ripe, the texture of this one wasn't great. Its like a chocolate covered muesli bar, that is extra chewy - a bit of a jar workout.



Blueberry, almond and white chocolate  
One I would re-buy. only qualm is that the white chocolate tastes more like yoghurt to me than chocolate, on closer inspection the "white chocolate" is "yoghurt no added sugar chocolate" which is something I have never heard of before? I like the flavour however and the texture is good. sugar 4.4, even though it was quite sweet. gluten and wheat free. Protein 7.7gm.

ANCIENT GRAIN 

Banana Quinoa - if you like banana then this one is for you, it has a very strong banana flavour to it. quite a light texture with lots of grain pieces in it, unfortunately a bit of a jaw workout to eat. The sweetness in this one comes from dates and apple juice concentrate and 6% banana puree. There is an added natural flavour, where I suspect the intensity of the banana comes from. It probably wouldn't be my first choice if i was heading out to get one of the range. 4 grams of fibre is great and one of the lowest calorie bars in the range.



Blueberry, Beetroot and Chia - with 4% beetroot this bar had a lovely purple/red colour, however underneath this the product really just seemed like a muesli bar to me. As I am working towards excluding oats from my diet, its not something I would buy again. quite and oily wet texture, but a delicious taste and nutritionally this bar is fantastic. 4.1g of protein due to whey protein concentrate,  a low 128 calories, 4.0 grams of fibre and organic dried apple in the recipe. A great healthy muesli bar option.

SUPERFOODS 

blueberry cranberry Acai
I feel like they just wanted to make a bar with these buzz products in them. I was expecting something like the Amazonia Acai bars - big disappointment  It was like a muesli bar, that was extremely oily and left a residue in my hands. the only impressive thing was the blueberries were moist. It was mainly oats, so may as well have a Uncle Toby's Muesli Bar for less cost, less calories, basically half as much sugar. 4.6gm of fibre was impressive though.



brown rice almond and chia
This was amazing! Great texture and flavour, perfect as a cake or muffin alternative. This is one of my favourite so far. Will be a regular in my diet!



walnut and flaxseed 
BLAND BLAND BLAND! the texture is so chewy I think my jaw will be aching for days. it is quite dry to touch, however as you chew it has an extremely oily mouth feel. I would not recommend eating this one. Also it has oats if you are gluten free and can't have oats. 4.1 gm fibre

Choc Almond Cookies

This recipe is super easy and make 12 cookies... which in my eyes is plenty of 3pm snacks!

Ingredients

Ingredients 

1 1/2  cup Almond Meal
1/2 cup LSA Meal
3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
2 TBS Chia Seeds
2 TBS Maple Syrup
2 TBS Coconut Oil, melted
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2 TBS Boiling Water

Optional
Sprinkle Coconut Sugar
Dark Chocolate
12 Coconut flakes
4 Goji Berries
Sprinkle Crushed Nuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 160 degrees

1- Sift almond meal, LSA meal, cocoa powder, add chia seeds and mix well.

2- mix baking soda with boiling water and add to dry mix.

3- add maple syrup and melted coconut oil, combine ingredients.

4- roll into 12 even balls and place on baking paper, on an oven tray.

5- press into a cookie shape and top with either coconut pieces, nuts or a goji berries and sprinkle with a little coconut sugar. 

6- bake for 15 minutes, they will harden as they cool. 

If they are too bitter top with some melted dark chocolate, agave syrup or nut butter.  Otherwise for breakfast crumble two cookies over Greek yoghurt with fresh berries.