Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Sweet potato, raspberry and avocado flapjacks

8 comments
These are not your typical flapjacks. Most, after all, do not involve avocado. These are also less sweet than a standard flapjack mix and more colourful.


Whilst these are unconventional, they are tasty. The avocado stands in for butter / margarine but doesn't overwhelm in flavour (I couldn't detect it at all) while the sweet potato and raspberries work in harmony to provide subtle sweetness. The only other ingredients are oats, vanilla and (non-dairy) milk. It is a simple and effective mix.

Friday, September 22, 2017

Chocolate beetroot brownie smoothie bowl

4 comments
A little while back, I bought a bag of frozen beetroot with the view to adding it to smoothies. Several months later, just as the weather is turning cold, I finally gave it a go. The result was this chocolate beetroot brownie smoothie bowl - a thick, creamy, chocolatey mix that you can feel good about eating at any time of day.

Friday, September 15, 2017

Jacket potato stuffed with hummus, kale and pepper

8 comments
This really doesn't qualify as a recipe, but sometimes the posts I like best on others' sites are those that give me inspiration without complication. In other words, posts like these, which may offer new ideas for ingredient combinations without lots of preparation time or effort. I'm not sure if this particular mix will be new to you - but it went down well for me this week as a simple but tasty lunch.


With little to say about this dish other than it being simple, quick and tasty, I will share some random other points with this post...

  • Christmas products are officially in the shops. I am not a fan of Christmas marketing this early, but was pleased to see vegan white chocolate santas on sale for just 10p each (in Sainsburys).I bought 12! I think it may have been a labeling error (usually they are £1).




  • For various reasons I won't bore you with, I found myself with time at home this week while Mini Bite was at nursery. It was my first time in the house without her in the 13 months since she was born. It was (and I hope I don't sound like a bad mother for saying this) amazing. I got so much done! It was so quiet! Things stayed where I left them! I will have to find a way to repeat the experience before another 13 months passes.
  • Also coming up as a 'first since Mini Bite's arrival' is my first half marathon in almost 2 years. I'm running the Tonbridge half marathon on the 1st October and am excited to get out there and attempt 13.1 miles again. I've got up to 11 miles in training, so I'm hoping my body remembers the final stretch.
  • It's been a while since I've shared book, TV or movie recommendations. I may organise myself to do a proper summary soon, but for now, I will say that we recently (finally) watched A Theory of Everything and loved it. I was also excited to hear about the new release, Mother, by Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky. However, on reading about it I am not sure I'll actually like the film. If you see it, let me know what you think. Given we never make it out to the cinema, I probably won't watch it for several years anyway.

Jacket potato stuffed with hummus, kale and pepper
Quick, easy and tasty!
Serves 1
Vegan

Author: Bite-sized thoughts


Ingredients
1 potato of a size to suit your appetite
1 cup baby kale leaves or chopped regular kale
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup hummus
Salt and pepper, optional and to taste

Method
If using a microwave, microwave your potato until cooked through - in my case, roughly 7 minutes on medium-high power, turning once at the half way mark. If cooking in the oven, bake until cooked through.

Once cooked, cut the potato in half and scoop the soft potato filling into a small bowl. Stir through the kale, pepper, hummus and seasonings. Scoop back into the potato skin and serve.

What are you eating, or doing, this week?

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Apple and banana cinnamon pikelets

5 comments
I have made apple-containing pikelets many a time, and banana-containing pikelets on occasion, but never blended the two before this week. Mixing the two worked well in allowing for sweetness from both fruits plus the contrasting textures of mashed banana and chopped apple. I recommend these as a simple snack or breakfast free of refined sugar, and as easy to make from basic ingredients.


Yet again I find myself needing to make a note on terminology, with pikelets being the Australian term for small pancakes or 'Scotch pancakes'. It is amazing how much variation exists in food terminology across English speaking countries!

I added rolled oats to the batter of these, as well as flour, but the proportions are such that you can't really detect the oats. You could use all flour it you preferred. I also used hemp seeds in my mix, but chia seeds would work instead, or even flax or pumpkin seeds.

Friday, September 8, 2017

In my kitchen - September 2017

10 comments
I am linking this in to the monthly In My Kitchen round-up, currently hosted by Sherry of Sherry's Pickings.

It is still officially summer, but the mornings are cooler, the evenings darker, and there is starting to be a touch of autumn in the air. So it is in my kitchen too. There have been bowls of porridge as well as overnight oats, fewer frozen desserts, and a greater mix of fruit as the summer berries start to wane. Here are some snippets of other things happening in my kitchen this month.

Perfect for cooler days is this mix of dairy free and sugar free chai latte powder.


It is the first time I've seen a commercial mix like this that doesn't include milk, so I was excited to pick it up. It is a nice change from standard chai tea, although unnaturally sweet from artificial sweetener.

In my kitchen were new, vegan-friendly cranberry and orange flapjack slices from Tesco's own brand 'free from' range.


Saturday, September 2, 2017

Double up strawberry apple bars {vegan + no added sugar}

6 comments
I am rather proud of these bars. They are sweetened entirely by strawberries and apples, but still taste sweet. The fat content comes entirely from coconut and cashew butter, which add flavour as well as texture. All in all, they highlight that whole foods can be sufficient when baking.


I made these last weekend, when the sun was shining and we had an unusually sunny bank holiday Monday. (Unusual because bank holidays in England are characteristically associated with rain.) We did make it down to the coast, to Hastings, where we had a picnic lunch and visited the sea shore. It wasn't so warm that we wanted to swim - and Mini Bite proved scared of the sea anyway! - but we enjoyed our outing. These bars accompanied the picnic.