Category: Breakfast

A game changer…

Laura Nana5 Comments

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. 

Notella – nutty, chocolate-y deliciousness 

Laura NanaLeave a comment

I heard this weekend that Nutella contains more sugar in it than hazelnuts. 

I’m a big fan of substituting bad things with good things and this weekend I wanted to do a clean eating version of Nutella – for my own sake as well as my sons! I miss it!! 

This recipe made a good jam jar size portion that will keep well in the fridge. 

I’m having it for my 10am snack today slathered on a banana and I also added it to some ‘n-ice’ cream, but we’ll come to that later. 

 
Ingredients 

  • 200g hazelnuts 
  • 50-70ml almond milk or other non-dairy milk
  • 1tsp coconut oil
  • 60g honey
  • 40g of cacao or cocoa powder
  • A small pinch of salt 

Roast the hazelnuts in an oven at 180 for ten minutes. 

Let them cool a little. 

Place in a good strong blender with all the other ingredients and blitz for 5-10 minutes until you have a consistency you are happy with. It may not be as smooth as shop bought but it will be delicious on toast (gluten-free) and will give you more health benefits than its shop bought counterpart. 

‘N-ice cream’ is where you blitz frozen slices of banana with whatever flavour you like (peanut butter, notella, clean jam) and then re-freeze until solid. It’s a fantastic alternative to regular sugary ice cream and perfect to cool down on these hot summery days. 

  

Apricot Granola out of the oven Laura of London Laura Nana

New Granola recipe

Laura NanaLeave a comment

Here’s another granola recipe that I made this morning, similar flavours but a couple of new additions, I wanted it to be more fruity and nutty et voila – dried apricots go amazingly chewy when they’re cooked and replacing flaked almonds with chopped mixed nuts gives a really nice crunch.

Apricot Granola out of the oven Laura of London Laura Nana
Hot out of the oven

To make the compote I regularly have with it, I use half a tub of frozen mixed berries and 1-2 tablespoons of Agave with 1-2 tablespoons of water – all in a saucepan simmered for 5 minutes or so. Taste for tartness and pop in a tupperware container to go in the fridge once its cooled, it’ll keep for a week or so. If it is a little too sharp, add more agave.

Apricot Granola with natural yoghurt and frozen berry compote Laura of London
Apricot Granola with natural yoghurt and frozen berry compote

Dry ingredients 
2.5 cups oats
¼ cup flax seeds – I used Linwoods
¼ cup mixed seeds
¼ cup dried apricots chopped up small
¼ cup seedless raisins
¼ cup ground almonds
½ cup shredded coconut

Apricot Granola Laura of London Laura Nana
Granola with Apricot, coconut, nuts and seeds

Wet ingredients
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp nut butter
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp agave
3 tbsp maple syrup

Granola 'Wet' Ingredients Laura of London
Granola ‘Wet’ Ingredients

Put all the dry ingredients in a big bowl and mix. Put the wet ingredients in a saucepan and heat until they all melt and mix together.

Melted down wet ingredients Laura of London Laura Nana
Melted down wet ingredients

Pour the wet onto the dry ingredients and mix really well. Put it all on a lined baking sheet and into the oven at 180 for 10 minutes. Remove and turn it all over with a fork so other parts get a chance to get brown. Put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes then remove, stir and leave to cool. Pop your amazing cereal in an airtight container ready to use in the morning.

IMG_0081

A Simple Little Smoothie To start a good Sunday

Laura NanaLeave a comment

We’ve got family over for a roast dinner today so for breakfast I want something that’s going to be a good healthy boost and keep me going whilst I cook. 

 

laura of london smoothie ingredients laura nana
simple smoothie ingredients
In my smoothie I’ve added one satsuma, one Granny Smith, two strawberries, a handful of frozen raspberries, bee pollen, milled flax seed and water. 
 
laura of london blitzing the smoothie laura nana
Blitz away
 
It’s deliciously fresh and tasty, not to mention the health benefits, especially when adding things like bee pollen and flax seeds to really pump up the nutrients. 

laura of london smoothie done laura nana
smoothie, clean eating, breakfast