Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie wm

Chocolate, Banana & Peanut Butter Smoothie

Enjoy this smoothie for breakfast, dessert or post work out. It’s often my treat after a km or 2 at the pool.

It’s a thick, rich, sweet soft serve  smoothie, with the crunch of chia and raw cacao nibs. Plus it’s dairy free! I eat it with the same spoon I use to measure the peanut butter, so that every mouthful has some creamy nut butter in it.

 

YOU NEED

2 small or 1 super large banana, pre peeled and frozen

1 cup of chilled rice milk

1-2 tablespoons raw cacao

1 very generous tablespoon peanut butter

*optional 1 tablespoon chia seeds

 

YOU DO

  1. Blend all the ingredients until smooth.
  2. Garnish with whatever you have on hand – fresh banana, chia seeds, raw cacao nibs, peanut butter, crushed peanuts etc.
  3. Enjoy

 

Yields:  1 serve. 2 if you are more generous than I am.

Time: 1 -2 minutes

 

Tips and Notes

This is why you never throw out super ripe bananas, they make for beautiful smoothies. P.S the more ripe your banana, the sweeter this is.

You can substitute the rice milk for any other plant based milk that is fairly neutral in taste.

I use peanut butter that is just peanuts and has no added oils, salt, fat, sugar etc. The ingredients list just states “peanuts”.

Go for raw cacao over cocoa if you can. It’s less processed and you know there is no hidden sugars or dairy.

I will tell you a secret – I hate raw cacao nibs – on their own, but in this they provide a gorgeous crunch to break up the rich creamy texture.

For a nut free version, replace the peanut butter with a nut free paste.

Maple Pear and Oat Smoothie

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Maple Pear and Oat Smoothie

 

YOU NEED

1 organic pear, core removed (peel left on)

1/4 cup whole grain oats

1 cup Bonsoy

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

 

YOU DO

Blend till smooth.

 

Yields: 1 serve.

Time: 5 minutes.

Avocado, Pomegranate & Lime Bruschetta

Avocado and Pomagrantate on Rye 2 wm

 

Avocado, Pomegranate & Lime Bruschetta

YOU NEED

½ cup of water

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Pinch of rock salt

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 large avocado peeled and cut into a rough dice

4 slices of rye sourdough

handful of washed, crisp baby rocket

¼ cup of pomegranate seeds

cracked black pepper to taste

 

YOU DO

Heat the water in a small pan. Add the garlic and gently simmer for a few minutes. Discard the water and crush the garlic.

Put the crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and lime juice into a bowl and mix till they are well combined.

Stir the avocado through the oil mixture and check the seasoning

Cook the toast and top with the avocado. Garnish with the rocket and pomegranate seeds and finish with a generous amount of cracked black pepper over the top.

 

Yields: You decide.

Time: 10-15 minutes

Notes: There are not many components to this simple dish, so good quality ingredients such as a good olive oil, rock salt, fresh garlic and lime juice and crisp washed baby rocket all make a difference.

I usually take the time to cook garlic for a few minutes for recipes like this. It removes that harsh astringent taste raw garlic can have.

Sunday Scramble… Curry & Coriander Scramble on Rye Sourdough

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Sunday Scramble… Curry & Coriander Scramble on Rye Sourdough

I can unequivocally say that I never thought I would hear this sentence come out of my mouth, but I LOVE scrambled tofu. It has become my favourite vegan breakfast recipe.

Like many people that transition to a plant based diet, I was not a tofu fan by any stretch of the imagination. But I am slowly coming around.

If you have never had scrambled tofu, do yourself a favour and try it before you decide you don’t like it. There are many versions of it, but after much experimentation this is my favourite combination of flavours.

I honestly use to think people were bonkers for trying to replicate scrambled eggs but it turns out they weren’t.

 

YOU NEED

2 slices of rye sour dough

1/4 cup of water

150grams of organic firm tofu

1 tablespoon of tamari

2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon of curry powder

Handful of fresh, washed and roughly chopped coriander

 

YOU DO

Toast the sour dough.

Bring the water to the boil in a non stick pan. Turn the heat down to a simmer and crumble the tofu into the pan. Cook gently until the tofu is heated through and almost all the water has gone.

Add the tamari, nutritional yeast and curry powder. Stir till everything is well combined and continue cooking on a low flame until you get the texture you want. *Some people like their scramble wet, in which case you would serve it now. For a drier texture, continue cooking for another minute or so.

Check the seasoning. Mix the coriander through and serve with the toasted sourdough

 

Yields: 1-2 serves

Time: 5-10 minutes

Notes:  If you don’t have tamari you can substitute it with soy sauce.

Nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast that makes things taste cheesy. You can find it in health food stores and online.

For a super Sunday Scramble I love adding some chopped roasted potatoes, roma cherry tomatoes and fresh spinach to my scramble. Serve it alone or with baked beans, mushrooms and veg sausages.

#dairyfree #eggfree #vegan #veganbreakfastrecipes

Creamy Cinnamon Banana Smoothie

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YOU NEED

2 bananas

1 cup of Bonsoy Soymilk

brown rice syrup to taste

Ground cinnamon

 

YOU DO

Blend the banana, Bonsoy and brown rice syrup until smooth and creamy.

Pour in a glass and dust liberally with the cinnamon.

 

Yields: 1 serve for a hungry person or 2 smaller serves for 2 not so hungry people.

Time: 2 minutes

Choc Banana Soft Serve

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Gorgeous snack, sweet treat or even breakfast for kids of all ages. I always have over ripe frozen bananas in my freezer these days and this is why.

 

YOU NEED

1 large ripe banana

2 teaspoons of raw cacao

 

YOU DO

Peel the banana, cut it into chunky slices, place it in a plastic container and put it in the freezer.

Once it’s frozen, blend with the cacao until it’s smooth.

Serve immediately.

 

Yields: 1 serve

Time: 5 minutes. Plus the freezing time.

Sun in a Glass

This was breakfast today and it was gorgeous. Winter has hit and it’s freezing out side but this was like drinking the sun in a glass <3

 

YOU NEED

2 large oranges

1 over flowing cup of fresh pineapple chunks

¼ cup of coconut yoghurt

 

YOU DO

Juice the oranges and pineapple. Blend the coconut into the juice.

DRINK & LOVE IT!

 

Serves: 1

Time: 5 minutes

Freeze: N/A

Notes: If you are allergic to coconut just use alternative dairy free yoghurt. It will change the flavour but you will still get the stunning natural sweetness of the fruits and a satin creamy finish to your juice.

Banana, Date & Chia Smoothie

YOU NEED

1 large banana

2 Medjool dates (pips removed)

1/2 cup of soy milk

1/2 cup of coconut milk

1 tablespoon of cacao powder

1 teaspoons of chia seeds

 

YOU DO

Blend all ingredients until well combined and smooth.

Serve immediately.

 

Servings:  Serves 1.

Time: 10 minutes.

Freezing:  Not suitable for freezing.

Home Made Cinnamon & Maple Granola

There is something so rewarding and beautiful about anything home made. The best part of this recipe though is the warm, sweet aroma of maple and cinnamon that floats through the house as it bakes. This is perfect for breakfast or as a part of a trail snack between meals.

 

YOU NEED

1/2 cup of hazelnuts

1 cup of slivered almonds

1 .5 cups of rolled oats

1/2 cup of wheat germ

1/2 cup of pure maple syrup

1/2-3/4 of a  teaspoon of ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

 

YOU DO

Preheat your oven to 175c.

Line a large baking tray with baking paper.

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until everything is well coated in the maple syrup.

Pour the mixture onto the tray and spread it out so that it is even. Place the tray in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes check your granola and turn the tray if it is browning too much in one area. Put the tray back in the oven and cook the granola for another 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow the granola cool.  Once it has cooled, break it up and store it in an air tight container.

Enjoy with your favourite dairy free milk.

 

Servings:  Enough for 5 – 7 small serves

Time: Takes about 30 minutes.

Freeze: N/A

Pancakes

I had made countless batches of pancakes and all had been complete failures since avoiding eggs. So I gave up trying myself and starting looking online for a plant based recipe but they contained oil or loads of bi carb soda and/or baking powder, so they tasted metallic so I gave up again.

Then one day I woke up determined to once and for all make perfect vegan pancakes. Another 3 batches of experiments later… I stepped back scratching my head, wondering why I couldn’t achieve what I was looking for. A few deep breaths I went back to basics, made a recipe that was simple and it worked! IT WORKED!

YOU NEED

1 cup of self raising flour

1 cup of Bonsoy milk

1 teaspoon of egg replacer powder

1 pinch of salt

1 tablespoon of sugar

maple syrup

 

YOU DO

Place the milk in a large bowl.

Sift the flour into another bowl. Add the salt, egg replacer powder and sugar and stir to combine. Add the flour mixture (carefully) to the milk and fold then together *gently*. Don’t whisk and beat the batter or work it for too much or for too long. It doesn’t matter if there are some lumps. You want to combine the flour and milk but REALLY do not want to work the ingredients too much. So just be really gentle and fast with this part. Then set the batter aside for 5 – 10 minutes.

Heat a non stick pan on a medium heat (add a spray of oil if you wish) and add a ladle of batter to it. Turn the heat down a little and WAIT for the entire pancake to bubble across the surface. Be patient, at this stage they look like they are going to be so flat but with patience and the right temp they start to rise. Once they have bubbled, then and only then…gently flip it over and cook the other side until golden brown. You want the temperature to be hot enough to push the pancakes up but not too hot that they start to colour too much before you are ready to flip them.

Yields:  Not sure because I was eating as I was going 🙂

Note:  I haven’t tried it with other plant milks yet so don’t know if the result will be the same.