Healthy Pancakes

Pancakes topped with peanut butter, banana and blueberries on the side

Pancakes are one of the best clean eating healthy treats in existence. They make an amazing breakfast, and can be made using basically the same ingredients you would use to make a bowl of porridge, so therefore you need not worry about the calorie content! You can whip them up in around 10 minutes, and you can go wild with toppings or extra ingredients. I have seen hundreds of different recipes and ways of making the pancakes, but I will share with you the most basic recipe I have used which works well.

Ingredients

To make 1 serving (roughly makes 6 small round pancakes)

40g oat flour (blend oats in a blender)

1 whole egg & 1 egg white, whisked

3 tbsp of liquid of your choice (almond milk, soya milk, milk, water)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

3 tsp stevia

Instructions

1. Mix together the oat flour, whisked egg and liquid until smooth. The mixture needs to be thick but runny, judge this yourself and just add more liquid if it is too thick.

2. Stir in the baking powder, cinnamon and stevia.

3. Heat a small amount of butter/oil/cooking spray in a frying pan on a low temperature.

4. Spoon in the mixture into circles on the frying pan, to whatever size you want your pancakes to be. Remember that they will rise.

5. Leave to cook for about 3/4 minutes until they are nicely browned, then flip.

6. The second side will only need about 1 minute of cooking.

7. Serve, and top with peanut butter and chopped banana, or whatever you fancy!

Done!

I initially struggled when cooking the pancakes, as the mixture always seemed to burn and stick to my frying pan, almost ruining my pan every time I tried to cook them! So I have found that cooking them on quite a low heat solves this issue, I need to learn to be a bit more patient when cooking... 

Variation: 

Chocolate pancakes topped with banana, peanut butter & honey. For chocolate pancakes, just add  1 tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder to the pancake mixture

Keep an eye out, as I am going to try some new ingredients & recipe ideas I have soon, there are so many to try. I think it is going to be pancakes for breakfast everyday for me for the foreseeable future. Nom nom nom!

Lucy x

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Many people who adhere to a healthy eating diet, believe in using cheat meals to keep themselves on the straight and narrow - they find it helps to have something to look forward to. This may work for some people, but I myself enjoy my meals so much that I never feel the need to 'cheat'. There are so many great healthy recipes out there that when you get a pizza/brownie/ice cream craving, there is no excuse to succumb as there are methods of making healthy & clean versions of all these things. You just need to be a bit creative and do some research! 

I want to share with you one of my favourite clean recipes that I have tried so far, the cauliflower crust pizza. At first, I was very reluctant and sceptical to try it, as I really am not a fan of cauliflower and didn't see how it could possibly taste nice in a pizza crust. But one day I realised I had all the ingredients to hand so I thought I'd give it a go. The recipe I used for the crust came from Lauren Conrad's blog, and I decided to top mine with tuna. I can't say it tastes like normal pizza crust, and you will need a knife and fork to eat it due to it being crumbly. But the flavours work so well and it's such a wonderful texture- at only 109 calories per serving and zero carbs you will not be disappointed if you try it. 

Crust:

1 cup of cauliflower, chopped (can be frozen cauliflower)

1 egg, beaten

1 tspn oregano

1 cup of shredded mozzarella

1 clove garlic, crushed

Toppings:

Tomato Purée

1/2 can tuna, drained

1/2 red onion, chopped

6 small squares of mozzarella

1 tblspn cubed avocado

1 tblspn capers

1 large tomato, chopped

Handful of olives

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5, and grease a baking tray

2. Rice the cauliflower by putting into a blender, or by grating. Be sure not to blend it for too long, you are aiming for a rice texture

3. Put the riced cauliflower into a bowl and cook in the microwave for 8 minutes

4. Mix in the beaten egg, oregano, mozzarella and garlic

5. Pour onto the baking tray and pat into a circular shape until it is about 1/2 cm thick

6. Bake for 15 minutes at gas mark 5

7. Take out of the oven, spread an even layer of tomato purée, leaving an inch gap round the edge

8. Layer on all other toppings with the mozzarella on top

9. Grill for about 3 or 4 minutes until the mozzarella has melted

Enjoy!

Toppings

Crust after baking with tomato purée

Pizza before grilling

I really want to try lots of different topping combinations like BBQ chicken, ham & pineapple, Sloppy Giuseppe,  so I am going to think of some clean ways of cooking these combos. You just need to make sure that the toppings you use are pre cooked as you only grill the toppings for a few minutes once on the pizza.

So next time you have a pizza craving, just get out some cauliflower and give this a go! 

Lucy x

Overnight Oats

Oats are a great choice for breakfast as they provide you with slow release energy throughout the day, and are extremely versatile. The amount of different recipes I have come across that use oats is mind-bending. Oats are said to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease, plus the are very high in fibre which will keep you full for hours. Also they are extremely affordable, which is something that really makes the difference for me- seeing as I am on a budget!

Overnight oats are definitely my go to easy breakfast for most days, and one of my favourite ways to have oats. Preparation is done the night before eating, which takes all of about 3 minutes, so you can just grab them and go in the morning- no cooking required! (However, if I have got time, I do like to heat them up in the microwave) Leaving the oats to soak up the liquid overnight makes them super creamy and extra delicious.

You will need a jar, this can either be empty or an almost empty jar of something yummy like peanut butter or jam (the leftovers of the jar get soaked into the oats over night, so it all adds to it!) The size of the jar depends on the portion size you want but remember you don't always have to fill it. Next you will need some oats, I use rolled oats as that is all that's available in my supermarket, but steel cut oats are the best option if you can get your hands on them, as they have been subject to less processing. Then literally add whatever you like! This can be chopped fruit, compotes, nut butters, seeds, whole nuts, protein powders, egg, honey,  yoghurt, the list is literally endless... 

My favourite combination at the moment which I had this morning is pictured above, and the recipe is below...

Half a jar of oats

Almond milk (you can also use water/soy milk/cows milk)

2 tsp Organic no added sugar peanut butter

Half a banana - chopped

Drizzle of honey

1. Half fill your jar with oats

2. Pour in your almond milk, just enough to cover the oats, and stir with a spoon to combine

3. Add 2 tsp of peanut butter over the top so there is an even layer

4. Squish in the chopped banana

5. Drizzle your honey over the top

6. Replace the lid on the jar and leave in the fridge overnight

7. In the morning it is ready to eat cold, or pop the jar in the microwave for 2 minutes with the lid off

et Voila!

I plan to try lots of different combinations in the future, so I will post any successful recipes I discover. What's your favourite overnight oats combination?

Lucy x

Hello!

I have been micro-blogging food & fitness photos on Instagram for a little while now, and I thought it was about time I started a 'full-sized' blog where I can post my pictures & recipes in a little more detail. 

A Little Bit About My Journey So Far...

I started eating clean around the beginning of this year. I was completely inspired by people I started to follow on Instagram who posted amazing pictures of what they ate, and it wasn't until I realised that a lot of the recipes didn't actually require many ingredients or complicated cooking to create, that I decided to give them a go! 

I have been on a mission to lose weight and get fitter since the beginning of 2012, and have tried all sorts of diets which have never worked and left me feeling starved. However, since eating clean food, my body fat percentage has dropped and I never, ever, ever feel hungry. I enjoy my food more than I ever have done, and all whilst getting healthier and fitter. 

I feel that in the UK, so many people are trying to lose weight and become healthier, but not many people have heard of the the term 'clean eating'. There are lots of blogs around with brilliant recipes & tips, but they all seem to originate from America/Sweden/Finland. So I think as of yet- it is still a well kept secret in the UK! 

I am quite addicted to taking photos of my food these days (for which I get the mick taken out of me by my boyfriend!), so I will post them all here and if I try any new recipes then I will share them here also. 

My gym regime has altered quite a lot since the start of my journey, so I will be posting details on that soon.

Thank you for taking the time to read!