Tropical pineapple and coconut baked oatmeal

It’s like a holiday in a bowl....tropical paradise by the spoonful!

I love my baked oatmeal and I have been experimenting with different flavour combinations recently. This is one of my favourites and it definitely has the’ dessert factor’, in much the same way as this apple and blueberry pie did.

Use large flakes or coconut curls instead of desiccated coconut for the best appearance and texture. The pineapple is so sweet you barely need any additional sweetener but I added a touch of coconut sugar for good measure... just follow your taste buds. For extra indulgence use coconut milk as your ‘milk’ of choice. 

This is definitely one of those ‘mix it up and throw it in the oven’ bakes...healthy, foolproof’ and it simply tastes divine. I ate this as breakfast (with the help of my mum)...but it's totally desert worthy and once against ridiculously healthy in the desert stakes! No excuses...just make it now!

If it’s not hot and sunny where you are quite yet....this will transport you back to your holiday’s with one simple bite!

Do you want more bresert recipes?...sure, no problem...here they are!

Recipe: Tropical pineapple and coconut baked oatmeal

Serves 2

Ingredients:

½ cup oats

1 tbs ground flax

Pinch salt

1 tsp coconut sugar (or other sweetener of choice- optional)

2/3 cup fresh pineapple chunks (or 1 tin)

¼ cup chunky coconut flakes/curls

¾ cup non dairy milk of choice (I used almond but coconut milk would be great!)

1 tsp vanilla extract (or rum flavouring)

Note: for a more ‘grown up’ dessert you could try add some rum for part of the milk content- I haven’t tried this!

Method:

Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl, adding the pineapple and coconut last, sprinkle a few of the coconut flakes over the top surface.

Spoon evenly into a medium pie dish- approx 20cm diameter (the mixture should be approx 2cm deep)

Bake at 180C for approx 30 mins until the top is golden.

Oooh get a little cheeky...cheeky! :-)

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Summer fruit slaw with chia berry dressing

My julienne peeler has been getting a bit of action again! But this time it’s not only with the veggies.

After the success of this simple cucumber and pineapple salsa, I was keen to experiment more with mixing the refreshing subtle taste of cucumber with other fruits.

Here I used any fruits I could get my hands on to julienne. For your reference...no, you cannot julienne a banana. Believe me I tried. It would have been the perfect shape so I am very disappointed! (I even tried with a frozen banana as I was that determined but nope it just wasn’t happening!)

The first time I made this slaw I had a large mango in my fruit bowl and that worked a treat, the second time I didn’t have a mango, hence why the photos below are mango-less but I have still added it to the recipe. I also used rhubarb which gave a great tart flavour contrast, though raw rhubarb is a little tough and stringy so you may want to cook it ever so slightly after julienning it- I left it raw, but it’s just an idea for you to try.

Throw in lots of cucumber, you won’t taste it against the sweetness of the fruits and I also added a simple fruity yoghurt and chia dressing to give an extra touch of sweetness.

Breakfast? Dessert? You choose.

Recipe: Summer fruit slaw

Serves 1

Ingredients:

½ cup cucumber noodles

¼ cup rhubarb noodles (cook lightly if desired)

¼ cup mango noodles

----

1tbs sugar free berry jam

2 tbs non-dairy yoghurt

1 tsp chia seed

Extra fruit/berries to decorate as desired.

Method:

Mix the yoghurt with the sugar free jam and chia seeds and set aside to thicken slightly. 

Prepare the fruit and cucumber noodles and place in a swirl in a serving plate/bowl leaving a well in the centre. Spoon the jam mix into the centre of the slaw.

Decorate with berries  to serve as desired. You could also add a sprinkle of cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, cocoa, coconut, nuts.....

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Apple and blueberry 'birthday' baked oatmeal (or Mother's Day breakfast!)

I hadn't been planning to post today... My big birthday was going to be a nice chilled out morning followed by a trip out this afternoon. Relaxing...what's that!?!

It ended up being a brief trip to the gym, followed by this amazing breakfast (a last minute idea), a few presents to open, a this blog post write up.... and then my trip out, all because I couldn't contain the excitement of this breakfast and quite a few of you on Facebook saw the picture, got curious and wanted the recipe (I don't blame you!!)  This would make the most amazing Mother' Day brunch for those of you in parts of the world that have Mother's Day this weekend- hence why I wanted to post it for you!!

Saying that I did have an hour or so spent 'pottering' about the house, and my pottering took the form of looking through old photo albums and smiling over childhood photos.  Gosh has 30 years reqally gone by...!

This one in particular tickles me.... already behind the camera!  I also seem to have spent a of of time in my underwear?!  I made a little montage for you. I think actually come across as a lovely 'quiet and calm' child....ha ha that's not quite the story my mum would tell you :-)

The recipe is right below. I'm not going to go on and on describing how to make it, how to tastes, ways to vary it etc etc. Quite simple because it tastes amazing (think breakfast brunch or dessert!), it's ridiculously simple and also because....I wanna go out!  Byeeeeeee

P.s I will have more birthday related foodie things to come...just ran out of time this week with my business launch!!

Recipe: Apple and blueberry 'birthday' baked oatmeal

Serves 2 (or 3)

Ingredients

2/3 cup oats

tiny pinch salt

1 1/4 cup apple juice

1 apple- grated

1 tbs chia/flax seed

1/2 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon

large handful frozen blueberries (I haven't tried with fresh so I am not sure of cooking times)

small handful of pumpkin seeds (or other seeds/nuts as preferred)

Method

Mix everything together reserving most of the blueberries and pumpkin seeds to add on the top last. Spoon into a medium oven dish and add the blueberries pumkin seeds. Sprinkle with exra sugar if you like, but this was seriously sweet enough for me (I would even serve it as desert) just from the fruit and fruit juice.

Bake at 180C for approx. 25 mins until the topping is golden. Serve immediately.  

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

‘Breakfast Boost’ sprinkles!

I was going to put together a another ‘intro post’ to publish yesterday...but the day ended up being so crazily busy I will have to do that tomorrow. It’s also coming up to the end of Lent ad therefore the end of my ‘Whole Foods Lent Challenge’ and my ‘6-week to 6-pack Challenge’ so I will fill you in on both of those tomorrow also. Sometimes I wish there were simply more hours in the day!

So, first let me fill you in on yesterday’s events...

I launched my ‘Wholeplus’fitness bar range to the public at my local gym...scary and exciting in equal measures as I just didn’t know what the response would be or quite how much do people really care about their health in the ‘real’ world? It went without a hitch, people loved the products and were really engaging with the simple whole foods concept. It was also so lovely and heartening to know so many people out there do care about what they put in their bodies. I had some really lovely conversations and got some great feedback to develop the products further. I wil keep you posted!

I got a bit carried away and didn’t take many photos... but I am hoping to do another event in a few weeks so will try and take a few more then!

On a whim the night before the event I spontaneously came up with another recipe idea that was also well received... a healthy breakfast mix in to use instead of sugar or syrup on top of oatmeal,  cereal or yoghurt etc. So many people I know enjoy of bowl of healthy porridge BUT then proceed to load it will sugar to sweeten it. This mix-in or topping uses dates ground into course granules and mixed with seeds and various ‘superfoods’ to give a versatile tasty sweet addition with great texture.

These are the only two pictures I got of the event...little cubes of bar tasters, jars of breakfast sprinkle and 2 bowls of truffles.
The jars you see along the back of the table are all the raw ingredients to help engage people with visualising
the 'whole foods' concept.

I made up three different jars of sprinkles for my event, but below is the basic principle I followed and a few ideas to get you going. All ingredients are approximates as I haven’t quite firmed up the recipes yet, and to be honest you can just eye-ball the quantities and throw in things you fancy and then process the mix until the texture looks right to you.

Check out my classic apple oats as shown in the picture...the perfect base for a sprinkly topping! 

Recipe : ‘Breakfast Boost’ sprinkles!

Makes  approx. 450g

Ingredients

250g dates

50g nut butter

100-150g mix of nuts/seeds (I used pumpkin coconut flakes and hemp seed mainly with a little chia thrown in for good measure!)

2 tbs maca powder

1-2 tsp spice – i.e cinnamon, ginger or vanilla

A little sea salt to taste

½ tsp pure stevia powder (note: It’s good to make the mix quite sweet since it will be ‘diluted’ in sweetness when mixed through)

20g coconut oil (if needed to help ‘clump’ the ingredients)

Method

Process the dates with the nut butter until you have small coarse clumpy pieces (i.e 1-2mm grains).

Add all remaining ingredients and pulse to mix until you achieve desired texture. 

Add a little coconut oil at the end if you need a less dry and a more clumpy mixture. (I only needed this when I made a chocolate protein based sprinkle as I used proportionally more dry ingredients).

I imagine this would keep for quite a few weeks in the fridge or a cool cupboard.

(p.s. Geek mode....I love these photos as the jars make great props and I love the shapes they create!)

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Introducing 'Bressert'

Hello.... how are we all doing this fine day?

I am excited as I am adding a new category to my recipe tab (it's the 4th category title in the list)... so now you'll alse be able to search through my 'Bressert' recipes (she says skipping around with overexcitable face.) 

Bressert = A dish healthy enough for breakfast BUT indulgent enough for dessert!

It was only a matter of time before a whole new word was needed...such is the significance of these recipes in my life! To celebrate I have created a new category for all my ‘Bresert’ recipes.

Click here for my full listing of Bresert recipes!

Healthy indulgence is the pinnacle of this blog, bringing the biggest smile to my face and a smug ‘screw you’ to the commercial candies and cakes.... why fill your body with ‘empty’ foods and unpronounceable ingredients when plant based healthy whole foods can taste so much better and fill your body with the fuel it needs?

As I’ve said all along in my ‘who am I’ page.... it’s that challenge that makes me tick, and what better challenge than healthy indulgence! Very soon I’ll also be launching a range of fitness bars based entirely along that theme, it's all very exciting and i'll elaborate more on that very soon....but for now let’s not get side tracked from Bressert!

In case you are need of a little visual reminder these are some of my favourite bresert recipes to date. Most of these recipes I have served up as a breakfast or a snack, so in order to increase the indulgence factor a little you may wish to increase the sweetener for it to become a full on dessert recipe, especially if you are cooking for regular folk who are used to sweeter treats.

Since I don’t like to hang around waiting ages for my breakfast or create something overly complicated first thing in the morning, most of these recipes are also very quick and easy to concoct, or they cook themselves whilst you go off and have a shower or get ready for the day...another good reason to give them a try!

Just to tease you with a little reminder of Bresserts to date....

Quinoa-power breakfast cakes

These little bites of chewy moreishness were inspired by my chewy choc quinoa cookies that I have formed a bit of an addiction too, now every time I cook up a batch of quinoa, I reserve one cup to make a little batch of these cookies straight off, as they literally takes a mere 5 minutes to whip together with pre-cooked quinioa...  anyway I digress...

As much as can I just about justify eating the choc version for breakfast, I wanted something that upped the health factor even further, and to be honest I don’t typically want chocolate for breakfast! How about a quinoa-banana concoction? Now that sounds like a powerful start to the morning, or any time of day.  

I added a peacan half to the top of each and oh my goodness when I tasted these little chewy cookie cakes fresh from the oven the toasted pecan made the whole thing taste like a maple pecan pastry...you know the sort, flaky layers of plaited pastry loaded with sugars and syrups with a few toasted pecans nestled between the goeey layers. Well let me tell you- the toasted pecan combined with a little drizzle of date syrup really does nail it....don't leave the pecans out!

So, 5 minutes to mix, 10 minutes in the oven (perfect time to have a quick shower) and then these beauties are on your breakfast plate or stashed away in your bag for a mid morning pick-me-up. I don’t think you  can ask for much more than that?

This post also ties in very nicely to a new category of recipes that I will be revealing tomorrow...my favourite collection of recipes to date! Hold tight... :-)

  

Recipe: Quinoa pancake patties

Makes 6 pancake patties

Ingredients

1 banana

Pinch stevia

1 tsp chia/flax

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp vanilla

1 cup pre-cooked quinoa

3 tbs oat flour (or other GF flour)

Pecans to finish (either whole or chopped)

Date syrup to drizzle- optional

Method

Mash the banana and mix through all ingredients adding the quinoa and oat flour last.

Scoop into balls and press into flat patties with moist palms or the back of a spoon. Place flattened patties on a lined baking sheet  and press pecans into the top of each. Bake at 180C for 10 minutes until just beginning to turn golden at the edges.

Serve with vegan yoghurt and a drizzle of date or maple syrup

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

Choc-berry buckwheat bake

I have a new favourite....maybe two new favourites! Here we have them combined together in the same dish!

The concept of the buckwheat bake is nothing entirely new since buckwheat has formed the basis of my gluten free cakes and single servings for some time now, but for some reason I have never given it credit in its own right before. So today we celebrate all that is buckwheat!

The concept of the buckwheat bake is not my own and has been explored in various ways over at Ashley’s blog Edible Perspective. This is where I also first came across the general concept of the coconut cream topping (but I've just looked back and can't find the page to link it too-sorry!), I’ve since taken that idea to some crazy new heights (p.s I’m super excited about it!!) You may have seen a photo or two pop up on my Instagram in the last few days.

The buckwheat bake makes the perfect breakfast dessert....my absolute favourite combination. I think these little gems even give my baked oatmeal concoctions a run for their money...craziness indeed!

I have made the buckwheat bake a few times now, in different sizes and varying the cooking technique. Both the oven and microwave work just fine. The photos here show the single serve microwave version but I also made a large oven bake version for Mother’s Day last weekend which was luscious...slightly more moist and fudgy than the microwave version.

You can use any fruit you fancy, I was in the mood for red berries since I was going for a Mother’s Day theme, I also opted for chocolate to max out the indulgence factor, but you could omit this is you preferred. I imagine pumpkin, ginger, apple, pear and banana bread versions would also be amazing.

Ok, I’m going to stop now, I’ve made myself hungry, and have no food to hand. Never a great plan.....

Oh, and the topping...I almost forgot!

I’ll save that for another post :-p

Recipe: Choc cherry buckwheat bake

Serves 3

Ingredients:

½ cup buckwheat flour

2 tbs cocoa powder

½ heaped tsp baking powder

¼ cup date syrup (or 2-3tbs other sweetener o]f choice)

1 tsp almond extract

1 mashed banana (or ¼ cup apple puree or yoghurt)

1 tbs chia or flax

1/3 cup milk of choice (I used soy)

------------------

1 cup of mixed berries (I used frozen blueberries and raspberries)

¼  cup flaked coconut or almonds (I used a mixture)

Method

Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl and then add to the dry, mixing lightly but thoroughly.

 Break up the raspberries a little and mix half of the fruit lightly through the batter- I used frozen fruit to minimise colour running.

Spoon the batter into 3 single serving dishes or one larger dish. Grease the bottom of the dish if you are using a larger dish and not eating directly from it. Press the remaining berries onto the top and sprinkle with the coconut/almond.

Bake at 180C for approx 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes away clean. Note: individual dishes are likely to require less baking time. Alternatively serve into individual dishes and microwave on full power for 2 minutes each.

The microwave version in slightly dryer and cakier than the oven version which I found to be a little more moist and fudgey which I (slightly) preferred.

more buckwheat bakes.. with the first trial of topping (not as smooth)

Mother's Day bake- sorry for 'blue' photos the daylight was not cooperating!

For further guidance on making gluten free choices please see this post.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.