Having trouble getting to sleep? Try this Golden Milk…

Every now and then I go through a phase of not being able to get to sleep or waking up in the night and not being able to drop back off. I’ve recently come up with this hot milk recipe which really helps me to relax and send me off – mainly because of the very clever ingredients within….


Turmeric is known for many health benefits, it’s a powerful anti-inflammatory and has antioxidant properties helping your body to repair itself as you snooze. Nutmeg helps insomnia and vanilla soothes anxiety. Finally, honey promotes relaxation, raising our insulin slightly to release tryptophan which makes us sleepy. 

Ingredients 

  • Cup of milk (nut milk, coconut or cows milk)
  • Pinch of turmeric
  • Pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
  • ½ tsp honey 
  • ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

Add everything except the milk into a sauce pan and add a little milk to make a paste then add the rest of the milk and heat through and serve. 

Sweet dreams!!!

Hot and Healthy Korma

Honestly, this is one of the most satisfying currys we make at home, it’s a great way to build up your chilli heat tolerance if you tend to prefer creamy mild currys. Let me know how you get on!

  • 4 Chicken breasts, sliced or 300g Raw King Prawns
  • 100g Ground almonds
  • 1 can Coconut milk
  • 250g yoghurt

For the ‘massalla’

  • Coriander stalks chopped
  • 1 onion
  • 1 thumb ginger
  • 6-8 cloves garlic
  • 2-3 chillis – depends how hot you want it

Hard Spices

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 5-6 cloves
  • 4-5 cardamom pods
  • 1 stick of cinnamon

Dry Spices

  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander

To Serve

  • Toasted Flaked almonds
  • Toasted desiccated coconut
  • Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

If you’re making this with Chicken, fry the diced pieces in extra virgin coconut oil until nice and brown and set aside – it doesn’t need to be fully cooked through at this point.

Blitz the onion, coriander stalks, garlic, ginger and chilli in a blender with 1 tbsp oil and some salt and pepper. This is your massalla.

In a frying pan, warm some more coconut oil and add the cloves, cardamom, cumin seeds and cinnamon stick until they start to give off a nice aroma. Then add your massalla. Allow this to cook down on a medium heat for about 10 minutes – once most of the water has evaporated.

Then add your dry spice ingredients and the ground almonds. This will make the pan very dry so turn the heat down and let it cook for a minute or so until the aromas start to fill the room and your belly grumbles. Then add the coconut milk and yoghurt.

Give it a taste and adjust accordingly – it may need a little more curry powder, ground cumin or ground coriander at this point and make sure you check for seasoning. If its not sweet enough, drizzle in a teaspoon of honey – but be careful how much you put in.

Add the browned chicken or raw prawns at this point and cook down for 5-10 minutes or so.

Top with a mixture of toasted desiccated coconut, flaked almonds and coriander leaves and serve with rice or chapattis.

Ooh look at my loot!

I went to the health food store yesterday to replenish my stocks and I can’t wait to start using these goodies! 

laura of london
Health Food Shop Loot

I bought Vegan Hemp Protein powder for a pre- or post-work out boost. It’s slow releasing and contains no chemicals which is very important to me. 
 

Hemp Protein Powder
Hemp Protein Powder
 
I also got some apple cider vinegar which on the label says ‘with the mother’ I found this quite amusing and baffling in the shop but have since found out that this is a good thing! It includes strands of proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria that give the product a murky appearance and people believe this to be the reason that cider vinegar is so good for you although this hasn’t yet been supported with scientific studies. 

 

Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
 
I got some more raw extra virgin coconut oil, mainly because it was on special offer. It is so versatile to use in most meals and has some great health benefits – helping to burn fat, increase energy, defending against bacteria and viruses, lowering the risk of heart disease and cholesterol – there is a lot! You can do your own further research to find out more, I don’t cook with anything else these days. 

 

Raw Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
Raw Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
 
I bought some Moringa superfood powder to put in my smoothies, granola and soups. Moringa is a tree grown in sub-Himalayan areas. It is used medicinally to treat a multitude of ailments (anaemia; arthritis; asthma; cancer; constipation; diabetes; diarrhoea; epilepsy; stomach pain; stomach and intestinal ulcers; intestinal spasms; headache; heart problems; high blood pressure; kidney stones; fluid retention; thyroid disorders; and bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections). 

 

Moringa Powder
Moringa Powder
 
I use chia seeds in everything from overnight oats to salad toppings and on top of toast, its a good source of calcium, iron, omega-3 and zinc. Chia seeds are part of the mint family and the seeds can be black, brown or white – the darker seeds have a slightly higher antioxidant concentration. 

 

Chia Seeds
Chia Seeds
 
I can’t wait to get using them, first stop will be a berry smoothie with the Moringa. I fully recommend paying your nearest health food store a visit, have a slow wander round and chat to the staff there – they’re usually very helpful and knowledgeable. 

Obviously, please do your own research before making a purchase, just because the items I’ve purchased for my particular needs may not match yours. If be happy to discuss further, feel free to get in touch with any questions or comments. 

Meal Plan 3 Laura of London

Breakfast, a couple of dinners and a new meal plan – you lucky sods!

Morning all,

I’ve recently started a new job hence the radio silence for a week or two but I’ve got some beauties for you this morning and more to come soon, including (hopefully) a wonderful guest blog from my lovely friend Nicola French!

Cashew cream on toast
Cashew cream on toast

Breakfast this morning is gluten free toast with cashew cream, which you’ll know having read my ‘Game Changer‘ post, this is my new and most favourite sweet treat!

Its been a pretty busy week as I’ve also started going back to the gym. I’m like a kid in a sweet shop with all the class options and had my first PT consult with one of the trainers, I’m really looking forward to getting fitter and leaner over the coming months, make sure you follow my Laura_of_London Instagram to track my progress!

Vietnamese Prawn Rolls Laura of London
Vietnamese Prawn Rolls

We’ve had a couple of nice new recipes this week as well as some good classics – my Vietnamese prawn rolls went down a storm last night with the family, they always taste so clean, healthy and fresh and adding a bit of spice to the dipping sauce makes all the difference!

I also tried to make a couple of new salads, first was a Goats Cheese and Grain salad with a honey lemon dressing and then we had a Steak and roasted veg salad with a lovely peppery mustard dressing.

I’ve made another meal plan for you to try, I really would urge you to try these for a week or to – most of the recipes are available on my site, they’re all clean eating and I’m always available to help chat through any questions you have. I’d love to have any feedback from people who have tried them as I want to make sure they work!

Have a super fantabulous weekend everyone, if you’re in London, it looks to be a nice hot BBQ-tastic one!

Meal Plan 3 Laura of London
Meal Plan 3

Meal Plan 3

Steak Salad Laura of London

Steak Salad

Ingredients

Steak Salad Laura of London
Steak Salad
  • 200-400g Thin cut rump steak
  • 1-2tsp coconut oil
  • Mixture of roasting vegetables – red onion, peppers, sweet potato, tomatoes, courgette etc…
  • Artichokes in olive oil, chopped (optional)
  • Fresh cherry tomatoes
  • 1 bag of Watercress and/or rocket salad
  • 1tsp Wholegrain mustard
  • 1tsp honey, agave or maple syrup
  • 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Spring onions finely chopped

Method

Season the steaks well with salt and pepper. Add 1 tsp of coconut to a frying pan and heat to a very high heat. Use a stopwatch to cook the steaks. You want 30 seconds on one side and 30 seconds on the other then straight onto a plate and cover with foil to rest and cool down.

When the steak are cool you can slice them super thin and use some of the juices that have escaped in your salad dressing.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees and prep your roasting veg – be rough with it but aim for bite-size pieces. Roast for 35 minutes with a little coconut oil then leave to cool down.

Mix up the dressing – steak juices, oil, honey, wholegrain and a little squish of lemon juice if you have any.

Lay out the watercress, artichokes and spring onion with some fresh chopped cherry tomatoes then lay out the steak on top with the roasted veg and pour over some of the dressing and demolish! Enjoy!

Goats cheese and Grain Salad

Goats Cheese and Grain Salad
Goats Cheese and Grain Salad

Ingredients

  • 150g soft goats cheese cut/torn up into smaller pieces
  • 2 ready cooked beetroot balls
  • 2 sweet potatoes
  • Salad leaves
  • 2 spring onions chopped finely
  • 1 tbsp Lemon Thyme leaves
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Merchant Gourmet Grain Mix

Method

Cut the sweet potato up into small chunks and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes in some coconut oil. Leave them to cool. You can do this the night before and leave them in the fridge.

Lay out the grain mix on a serving plate or platter.

Sprinkle over the thyme leaves and spring onion.

Chop the beetroot into bite-size pieces and add to the platter with the goats cheese and sweet potato.

Mix the honey, lemon juice and olive oil and season well with salt and coarse black pepper. Taste the dressing – it should be quite tart with a background sweetness. Adjust with more/less honey or lemon as necessary.

Pour this over the salad then add the salad leaves and toss well together.

Its extra specially tasty with a nice cold cheeky glass of Pinot Grigio 🙂

A game changer…

Trust me, I’m not using that title lightly! I’ve just made something quite amazing from a ridiculously small number of ingredients leaving me in a state of shock!

So this week I’ve been researching the benefits of soaking nuts and grains etc to remove toxins and make proteins and other good nutrients more easily absorbable by the body. 

During the research I came across quite a few posts about ‘cream’ substitutes – especially when looking at vegan sites. 

I tried to make Cashew Cream today and I’ve pretty much polished it off standing in the kitchen cooking dinner!

  
 
It’s super smooth as a result of soaking the cashews and the maple syrup is a great partner in crime. I’m going to have this as ‘Strawberries and cream’, it could easily be a ‘buttercream’ on top of GF cupcakes and might even work with my morning granola/compote concoction. 

If you make anything from my blog, please make this.

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup plain cashews
  • 1/4 cup water 
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • Small pinch of sea salt

Soak the nuts covered in boiled water for 15 minutes. 

Drain and add to a blender with all other ingredients and blitz for 3-4 minutes. 

Add more water and blitz again if you want a thinner ‘cream’.

Done. Taste it. Smile at your genius. Eat.