Breakfast BanCake

'Ello Explorers...

The temperature has suddenly dropped here in Sunny Cornwall meaning warm food and drink are now officially on  the menu. I don't know about you but there are only so any times I can bare to have oatmeal everyday of the week.

Let me introduce to you the BanCake...

Ok, I'm a scruffy cook. Sorry...about...that.

 It looks like a Pancake, tastes like a pancake and is treated like a pancake but it doesn't contain the heavy pancake ingredients. In fact it's rather healthy.

For one you will need:

Put the banana and the cracked egg in to a blender until it forms a smooth paste. You will notice a few air bubbles, so bang the bottom of the blender on the work top until they disappear.This is so the batter stays together in the pan.

Pour the mixture into the pan and cook on a medium heat for a few minutes until it is golden on the underneath, then flip it over.

It will only need one minute on the new side before you can place it on your plate.

Then the fun bit...toppings. You could put pretty much whatever you wanted, from healthy to not so nutritious. Just make it up. 

Here are some suggestions:

Put vanilla in the BanCake Mix

Peaches and Walnuts

Add Blueberries to the pan with the fresh mix.

Use seeds, warm apple and cinnamon for the toppings.

The Cheeky one:
 Peppermint in the mix - sprinkle cocoa powder on top.

The Carby one:
Vanilla in the mix - Honey, oats and yoghurt.

The Protein one:
Vanilla protein in the mix - nuts and Greek yoghurt on top.

Explore...Planning 2015

'Ello Explorers...

I mentioned in my previous blog that I had read the book 'Eat That Frog' recently and it had got me planning.

One of the list I have started to construct is to help me start planning 2015.

You may feel like it is a long way off, but really it is less than two months away and I want next year to be even more epic than this one.

Its pretty vague because my life could go in many directions, as it can for others too, but some goals stay the same. And I can't tell you everything because it's business top secret, sorry.

So, in three sections:

Work:

• Gain a new qualification.
• Start an early morning boot camp.
• Buy a field.
• Start 2015 as a District Manager.
• Finish 2015 as a Regional Manager.

Explore:

• Go to Vegas, for a conference.
• Go to Sardinia, for a wedding.
• Go to Australia.
• Visit somewhere new in the UK.

Eat:

• Something I have never tried in each new place I visit.

Enjoy

• Get into surfing.
• Go penny boarding.
• Go rock climbing.
• Try snowboarding.
• Enter and complete a charitable running race more than 5K.
• Enter and complete a charitable muddy obstacle race.

Ok so I've told you all now, there is no hiding from it, just gotta get on and do it.

I would love to know what targets and goals you all set for yourself, please tell me or tell your friends.

When you tell other people it gives you that little extra push you need to complete it. Trust me you will feel amazing once you complete something you really want to do which is out of your comfort zone. 

Big Love

Enjoy...October

It's the end of October already, I can't believe how fast this year has gone. Time flies when your having fun! But I really feel like I have made the most out of each spare moment I have free, yes I am a little tired, but I don't like wasting time.

I read a book at the beginning of this month and I would seriously urge you all to go and read it if you want to make the most of your time and learn to use your time wisely in a way that will benefit you the most. Over the first few chapter of 'Eat That Frog' by Brian Tracey, I had to keep stopping to write a new list and ended up with about 6 new lists for different areas of my life. That night I only got about three hours sleep because I had so many ideas going around my head. So I advise not to read it in the evening, but please do take the time to educate yourself through this slim and easy to read little beauty. I can honestly say that the organised person that I was before just got a whole new level of organised and production is endless, procrastination is no more!

This month has gone pretty quickly starting off with a flying visit and short break to Barcelona which I have previously written about. You can read about it HERE. I fell in love with the beautiful seaside city and its historical culture.

I spent an evening cooking healthy snacks with my good friend Sam, a fitness instructor learning to eat clean. I love baking and eating and experimenting and I'm glad I got to show her a few tips on how to get over that sugar craving and quick to grab snacks. I also wrote about this so take a look and find some recipes HERE. I try to eat clean on a daily basis because I know it will give me energy, keep a strong immune system and help to make me feel good and I'm glad I can be a help and inspiration to my friends.

A few muddy bike rides have been slotted in to my time off at weekends. I always mean to take it easy and have a rest day from exercise, seeing as my job involves a lot of exercise, but end up doing around 15 miles. I realise that isn't much to a road bike user, or even a regular bike rider, but it feels a lot off road, in the mud. I managed to fill my lungs with fresh air and remind myself how beautiful Cornwall really is. Spending time out alone on my bike may sound a little lonely, but it's nice to have that space and time to not really think about anything in particular.

One of my best girl friends had a birthday, that she was dreading. So three of us travelled ninety minutes up to Exeter for a day of shopping. Now this was the day after initially starting 'Eat that Frog' and one of my lists was for things I would like to buy or how I can update and complete outfits that I had started. So where I would usually go a look around and not really be sure with what I wanted or buy things that are within my safety net. I actually went and bought new seasonal clothing that I wouldn't normally buy to spice up my wardrobe a bit and I felt like I had made a real accomplishment. One of the things I wanted to achieve for the summer was to be more girly and the items that I bout helped towards that. Not only that but a day off shopping with the girls was great fun and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Another list I had made was to do with my home life. Unbelievably I still live at home, after being away for a while and coming back to my parents it's easier to just stay and save money. I'm sure I'm not the only one that says that. But the problem is, everything I own is in my room, including my office. So I planned and organised a room transformation, from what needed to be sorted and organised and thrown away. How I was going to make the environment more comfortable for work and sleep and make it work around my busy life in a way that isn't too stressful. I'm almost done and I think I've done well...so far.

Out of that I have painted my room and bought new accessories to go with it.

Before

After

One Sunday morning I got up early to sell some of my items at a local car boot sale. It's funny what things you may class as 'crap', others may see as treasure. I love the fact that you are not only recycling but raising money to put towards something you want instead of just panning it off to the charity shop. Don't get me wrong, raising money for charity is a great cause to, so all the items remaining go to the relevant cause.

October is the month for Halloween, so a community Zumba class that I teach got transformed into Zombie Zumba. The hour of tricks and treats included not one or two but six halloween themed dance routines, cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and rats peering from under the curtains. All of the attendees had a great time, I love putting effort in to events like this.

Lastly, as it was half term I had time off of work, so spent a morning with my bestest friend and her cheeky monkey two year old boy. The previous week had been her birthday and her due date for her cheeky monkey number two was a week later. So we had an indoor picnic. Cucumber, triangle shaped sandwiches, strawberries, cup cakes and hot chocolate with marshmallows. I said before I like to eat clean, ignore that for a moment. It was great fun and spending time with her little boy who loves to take one bite of everything in site before sharing it with 'Oo Oo' his toy monkey, was hilarious.

A month of catching up with friends, changing my clothing and room to fit the season, exploring, lots of activities and having fun.

Seems like a successful month to me. Next month is planned out already.

What have you got planned of November?

  

Eat...Cooking with Sam

Cooking with Sam.

Last weekend I went to help one of my good friends prepare food for the week ahead.

She is a Fitness Instructor and teaches many classes a week. But has always ate whatever she wanted.

For the month of October, she decided to eat clean and see what happened.

Here's how our evening went:

APPLE SLICES:

Get some apples, carefully slices them finely. Then place on a lined baking tray. Place in the oven at around 150*C and turn after 20 minutes or until golden. Please keep checking they're not burning.

 Roasted Chick Peas: 
For the easy option use tins of chick peas The harder version would be to use dried and follow the instructions on the packet.
You will need:
-2 tins of chick peas.
-2 table spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-1/2 tsp of paprika
-1/2 tsp of cumin
-1/2 tsp of salt.

Method: Place all ingredients on to a baking tray and mix up. Put them in the over at 150*C for around 30 minutes, shaking regularly.

Seeded Nutty Flap Jacks:

We made this up on the night with the ingredients we had, but used:

-1 Banana

-1 pot of Honey

Nuts

Dried Fruit

Enough oat to make a flap jack consistency.

All the ingredients went in to a pot on the cooker to combine together. Then on to a lined baking tray and placed in the oven until golden brown,

Bean and Quinoa Burgers:

These are one of my favourites which I wrote about last week. Take a look HERE

Chocolate Muffins:

Ingredients:

-1 ¾ cup of Oats

-3 Egg whites
-3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
-1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
-1 tsp. Vanilla extract
-1/2 cup Plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)
-1/2 tsp. cream of tartar (or 2 tsp. vinegar)
-1 ½ tsp. Baking powder
-1 ½ tsp. Baking soda
-1/4 tsp. Salt
-1 cup Hot water
-1/2 cup Baking stevia OR 1 cup sweetener of choice that measures like sugar
-1/2 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

In a blender or food processor, mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and the mixture is smooth. Place mixture in a bowl and gently stir in ½ of the chocolate chips (set the rest aside). Scoop mixture into prepared and lined muffin tins. Place muffin tins in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove muffins from the oven (but don’t shut the oven off), and distribute the other half of the chocolate chips on top of each muffin. Place the muffins back into the oven for an additional 2-5 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Note: you could skip this step and put all the chocolate chips into the batter at once and bake the muffins for 12-15 minutes straight. Cool muffins before removing from pan.

Chocolate Quark:

Serves 1:

-1 tbs of Quark

-1/2 tbs of Cocoa Powder

-1/4 tbs of Honey

Method:

Put it all in a bowl and stir. Then eat!

She has found that the muffins and quark help to sort the sugar cravings and the snacks help her to staty away from the convenience foods. 

Why don't you give it a go too.

Eat...Tuna Burgers

High in Protein, healthy, fresh and home made. Customise to the way you want, use it as a treat or as an evening meal. You are going to love this.

This is my favourite meal right now. The mixture can make either two chunky or three slimmer burgers. So I'll have one that night for dinner, one for lunch the next day (usually cold in a lunch box) and freeze the other for another occasion. Of course you could add to the mixture if you are cooking for four.




































 

1x tin of mixed beans. 1x tin of tuna. 3x table spoons of quinoa. 1x medium bowl. 1x masher.

Pour the beans in to the bowl. (I used spicy, but plain is fine also) and mash them up.

Add the tin of Tuna and stir it all together.

Cook the Quinoa as per the instructions on the packet. Mix it all together.

Put the bowl containing all of the ingredients to to the fridge for a minimum of one hour. Add spices such as cumin and paprika with onion at this point if you wish. If you have used plain beans, adding spices will give it more flavour.

When you are ready, cover your hands with flour and make burger shaped patties. Or if your lucky, use a burger press.

Place the burger in a warm and oiled frying pan until golden on each side. Be careful when turning as sometime it can fall apart a little. (you get the hang of it after the first one).

Serve with Avocado, Hallumi cheese, salad, seasonal veg or even a bun if you wish and enjoy.