Protein Packed Power Porridge

Breakfast is fast becoming one of my favourite meals to have. From smoothies to porridge to pancakes and everything in between I can't get enough of it! Before I was vegan it was easily my least favourite to the point where most days I skipped it. I didn't like milk so never had cereal, I had yet to discovered I loved peanut butter and that avocado on toast is delicious, so often just settled for a banana and powered through to lunch with coffee. These days I feel like I could eat breakfast foods for every meal and I have so much more energy in the morning!

Porridge is a great option for breakfast as it's quick to make and this version is full of amazing energy boosting foods that are great for your body. The 'protein question' is something vegans or people who follow a plant based diet can find themselves faced with quite often and it's the first thing people think you're missing out on when they realise you don't eat any animal products. However, there are so so many foods that contain protein that are purely plant based its easy to get everything you need without coming close to an animal so it's not something I ever worry about! This recipe is packed full of it without even trying and it's totally delicious.

Oats themselves are a powerhouse of nutrition containing a decent amount of protein (13g per half cup), vitamins, minerals, fibre and of course a great source of slow releasing carbohydrates to keep you feeling full and fuelled throughout the morning - I never run a race without a bowl of porridge in my stomach! They are also said to regulate blood sugar levels and help to prevent heart disease and other health issues which is pretty impressive! The toppings I add to my porridge are also a big hit of protein. My favourites are pumpkin and chia seeds, particularly chia seeds as they are the most protein dense seed and also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, but all are excellent sources of protein so whichever toppers you choose you can't go wrong! The below recipe has just under 20g of protein in just one bowl - plant based protein couldn't be any easier!

The recipe:

1/2 cup oats* (I used rolled or old fashioned oats - not quick cook)

1 cup oat milk (or any non-dairy milk)

1-2 tsp cinnamon

1 banana, sliced (keep half for topping)

1/2-1 cup frozen raspberries (fresh are also great, and I often sub these for blueberries!)

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds**

1 tsp chia seeds**

Add all ingredients to a small pan except the seeds and half the banana and heat over a low heat. Stir mixture often, I like to mash up my fruit a little, until you reach the desired consistency for your porridge - for me that's about 10 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and top with sliced banana and a sprinkle of seeds. Grab a spoon and enjoy! 

*If this is too much or not enough just amend the quantity of oats but keep the oats:liquid ratio at 1:2 and your porridge will always be perfect!

**Other great topping options include sunflower seeds, flax seed, nut butters, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, more fruit...basically anything you like!

Flying Vegan

Eating on the go as a vegan is tough at the best of times and if you're also trying to avoid wheat or sugar or any other intolerances/dietary preferences you might have, only makes things harder! But being on a plane has to be the hardest because there is no where else you can go to find what you want. The best way to deal with it? Make like a Boy Scout and always be prepared! Tomorrow (yes, my exciting new American adventure starts TOMORROW!! Can you believe it?!) will be my third time flying without eating plane food. I did used to make sure I registered as a vegan in advance but after too many times of having products on my tray that I knew weren't vegan and eating dry bagels I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands.

This is the most prepared I've ever been (even have a yoga for planes video from YWA memorised!) and I have to say I'm actually pretty excited to have my inflight meal/feast! As you can see from the picture above I have a wide range of things I'm taking. I should just note here - you can take any food through security and onto a plane but you can't take things like fresh produce, meat or dairy through customs at the other end of your flight so make sure you eat it all first (the hardship!) or leave it on the plane. A lot of food that travels well tends to be dry and processed and obviously most fresh stuff does better in a fridge so I feel it's important to get a balance. Nairn's oatcakes are great travellers and I'm taking an avocado with me to smoosh on top. My plan is to take out the pit and wrap it up right before I go so that I just have to scrape out the middle without the need for a knife. In an ideal world it won't go too brown before I eat it but even if it does, that won't put me off one bit - I love avocado!! Personally I think avocado tastes better at room temp as I find it loses a lot of flavour in the fridge so it's a great choice. The bean salad I've prepared also is at its best at room temp so again it's ideal to travel with. 

Some other things I've made are raw cinnamon raisin cookie dough balls and peanut butter chocolate oat balls both from Texanerin Baking. They are both vegan, gluten and refined sugar free, incredibly easy to make - 5-10mins each tops - and taste amazing! I made them at the weekend and all my family have been snacking on them since. Luckily I put my plane ones aside before they dug in! The Bear yo yo treat is made of apples, pears and raspberries baked and made into dry fruit roll ups. They are designed for kids but they taste so good and are travel sized so brilliant to take on a journey! I've tried a few of their flavours but raspberry is definitely my favourite. Aside from that I have a small pot of nuts, a banana and an apple and seeing as technically I'm only flying during one meal time, I think this pile of goodies will more than satisfy me! If you have any plane, food or travel tips I'd love to hear them!

Coconut Granola Bars!

Recently my friend, Haya, asked me to recommend a good granola bar as they were fed up of buying them and had begun to realise that what they were buying wasn't quite the healthy, energising snack they were aiming for. Most store bought granola bars are full of sugar and syrups that it's more like a candy bar than any thing health giving! Obviously if a candy bar style treat is what you're after then those fit the bill but I prefer mine to pack more of a nutritional punch; especially if I'm using them to fuel my runs! A lot of race and running fuel tends to be gels etc but I prefer to refuel with real food.

Anyway, back to the granola bars! My go-to recipe has always been one from the amazing blog oh she glows. So many amazing vegan, gluten-free and naturally sweetened recipes over there (I prefer not to use refined sugar in any of my food). Naturally this was the link I sent over to my friend! But then came the list of things I actually now do differently to the original recipe so I decided to make a batch today to share on here. These bars are so scrummy you don't miss the sugar at all and they are full of nutritional goodness - what's not to like?! 

I love that these bars are naturally sweetened with dates and the protein punch from the seeds, especially the chia, is amazing - perfect for refuelling on the go! Personally I love the taste of cinnamon so I bumped the quantity of that up a few notches and swapped out the cranberries for unsweetened desiccated coconut (I find the bars hold together in my teeny running pockets better that way - plus I love coconut!). I also sprinkled some on top for aesthetics as I knew I would be taking pictures, but even though I pressed it in, most of it hasn't stuck very well so I wouldn't recommend that if you're planning to wrap them up and stick them in your pocket like me! 

So without further ado, here is my recipe for coconut granola bars (adapted from oh she glows)! If you try them or would like to share your favourite granola bar recipe please let me know! 

Coconut Granola Bars

(Makes 12 bars)

3/4 cup pitted dates

1 cup of water

3/4 cup of oats, ground into a flour

1/2 cup of chia seeds

1/4 unsweetened desiccated coconut (plus extra for sprinkling if you desire!)

1/4 pumpkin seeds

1/4 sunflower seeds

2 tsp of cinnamon

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 150C and prepare an 8x8inch dish or pan (I use a glass dish and don't feel like I need to grease it - the bars come out super easily).

2. Put dates and water in your food processor and blend into a paste. If your dates aren't super soft and your food processor is having trouble breaking them up you can leave them to soak for a while and it should get easier!

2. Put oat flour, chia seeds, coconut, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon and salt into a bowl and mix together. 

3. Add the date paste and the vanilla into the bowl and throughly mix together so everything is coated in the paste.

4. Pour the mixture into your prepared dish and spread it out as evenly as you can. If you want to sprinkle on some coconut do it now!

5. Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes; until firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the dish for at least 20minutes before cutting and removing to a rack to cool completely. 

Once they are cooled I wrap them up and put them in the freezer so they are always fresh when I want them but I imagine they would last about a week in an airtight container in the fridge! 

Green for GLOW

I don't know what it is about waking up to a bright sunny morning but I am absolutely bouncing out of bed these days, full of energy and ready to take on the day! After the months of winter and darkness, feeling like it's still the middle of the night when my alarm goes off and not even getting a shred of daylight by the time I finish work either, it's definitely a welcome change.

Maybe it's the vitamin D factor or maybe it just feels like an appropriate time to actually be getting out of bed (the sun is up and therefore I should be too!) but here I am at 9.30 on a Saturday morning after already having done some yoga in the sunshine and now enjoying a deliciously green smoothie while I type this. It's like heaven!

Smoothies are my favourite way to start the day when it's sunny - and most days even when it's not. I jam pack them full of plant goodness to power me through my morning with as many added benefits for my body as I can. This morning it's my favourite green smoothie right now, full of healthy fats, vitamins and tastes delicious! My skin is something that I've long struggled with so I try and include ingredients that will help it as much as possible.

Avocado makes this smoothie beautifully creamy and is packed full of healthy fats to help keep your skin hydrated and soft and helps regenerate skin cells and reduce redness (hallelujah!). It's also full of vitamins C and E which are both amazing skin antioxidants and help maintain skins firmness and youthfulness.  Spinach is what makes the gorgeous green colour and is one of the most nutrient dense foods out there. It's FULL of vitamins such as A which improve skin tone, B to give protection from the sun, C and E as above and K to improve your complexion by minimising blemishes and dark circles.

Mango is not only delicious and full of vitamins such a A and C as above, it contains many other antioxidants which also improve complexion, rejuvenate your skin, and delay the onset of skin ageing! In addition to being an excellent energy source, banana is loaded with vitamin including B6 which is vital for maintaining skin elasticity. And lastly, but by no means least, nectarine contain vitamins A, C, and K plus beta carotene which also helps keep skin firm and glowing. 

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the benefits of the above foods but it's a pretty impressive résumé for a smoothie don't you think? A wonderfully nourishing way to start the day and fuel you through your morning with glowing, gorgeous skin.

Have a beautiful day everyone!

What's in a name...?

One of the hardest things about starting a blog isn't deciding what you want to talk about or why you want to do it, it's picking a name. It was easy for me to say I didn't want to pigeon hole myself into just talking about say, food or recipes or running or my planned immigration. I knew I wanted to create a place where I could share everything and anything I wanted to but without a specific theme, the opportunities for names seem endless. Trying to find one with traction, that means something to the person writing it is the biggest hurdle.

But here I am so that means I made it! I have to say it took a lot of brainstorming before something I'd been told recently popped into my head and it just clicked. I can't remember the original source or study this came from but its an idea that, as someone who follows a whole food, plant based lifestyle, I absolutely love. Photons are particles of light and are all around us. As plants grow they absorb these photons and embed them into their cells. So when we eat plants as part of our diet we are in fact also eating these light particles and are quite literally glowing from the inside out.

Now I don't know about you but the image of that to me is so beautiful. To be so connected with nature and full of that energy and light is something I strive to achieve on a daily basis and just felt like a perfect reflection of my lifestyle! So here I am, full of photons, ready to begin my next adventure...