Cucumber and watermelon coconut coolers

These coolers are just as perfect for sipping on a hot summers days as they are for replenishing electrolytes after a strenuous bout of exercise.

Good for everybody and every body ;-)

For any fitness foodies out there, or in fact any one into plant based health... if you haven’t already checked it out then Thrive Forward by Brendan Brazier is well worth a look. It’s a fairly new newsletter subscription but so far (a few months in) i’ve been pretty impressed and it’s given me lots of useful info and tips...including inspiration for today’s post.

As ever I made a few tweaks to simplify things (mainly because I didn’t want to wait overnight for the tea to seep) but Brendan’s method probably has the nutritional edge in this respect so I’ve linked it here if you’d prefer to follow it. There are some other recipes and info in his recipe article too.

Out of the two I preferred the watermelon version but both are super refreshing and hydrating- perfect prep for any endurance race!  I will definitely be making them again throughout the summer for sipping in the sun or post workout. (note: I've since made these again and fused the two options by basing the cooler on the watermelon recipe but adding cucumber to sub some watermelon and a few raspberries to maintain the lovely pink colour)

Dress with a straw and a slice of fruit and you can sit by the poolside and smile in the knowledge that good taste need not come with a sugar overload and a mouthful of additives!

Recipe: Watermelon coconut cooler

Serves 2-3 (depending on size of glass)

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups plain coconut water (equivalent to 1 can)

1 cup berry flavoured herbal tea of choice

½ tsp fresh grated ginger

½ tsp coconut sugar (or a couple stevia drops)

Pinch sea salt

1 cup watermelon chunks (unpacked)

Recipe: Cucumber coconut cooler

Serves 2-3 (depending on size of glass)

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups plain coconut water (equivalent to 1 can)

1 cup mint tea

1 tsp lemon or lime juice

½ tsp coconut sugar (or a couple stevia drops)

Pinch sea salt

Approx. 10cm chunk of cucumber- chopped

Method:

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Strain into glasses.

Best consumed within 24 hours. Store in the fridge if not using straight away and shake before drinking.

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.

Tropical chia summer pudding

More coconut and pineapple!

This recipe is a keeper for hot summer afternoons!  I’m planning on making this a few more times in the final lead up to my Tough Mudder event as it was so hydrating and refreshing and I’m in full on hydration mode... irrespective of the fact that the weather in England is still dull and cold most days!

This keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days so make a double batch if you’ve got a hot spell on... and  grab a big spoonful whenever you pass the fridge!

I’m also now wondering whether this mixture could be frozen into ice lollies...that thought literally just popped into my head so I have not yet had a chance try it out....sounds like it could work?

I added a tsp of maca powder as I often try to add it into my ‘fitfood’ recipes for an extra boost and to assist adrenal recovery, but that is totally optional and won’t affect the taste or texture.

Recipe: Tropical chia summer pudding

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 heaped tbs white chia seeds (dark will work fine too but won’t look so pretty!)

1 banana- mashed well

1 tsp maca powder (optional)

½ cup fresh pineapple

¼ cup coconut water (or substitute regular filtered water)

Coconut sprinkles and mint to decorate (optional)

Method:

Blend all ingredients together until smooth. Or if you prefer a chunkier consists you could whip everything together lightly with a fork. (I whipped mine until almost smooth)

Allow to chill and thicken in the fridge for at least an hour before consuming.

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.

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.

Cookies and cream parfait

It seems you loved the carrot cookies! Well to be honest I don’t blame you… to honour their gloriousness I gave them a simple twist that turns a cookie into the basis for a simple no-bake bressert 

You could use any fairly thick cookie here, they can either be soft or a little it crisp but you’ll want to be able to break them into chunks. I reckon the chocolate quinoa cookies, chocolate pillowcakes (these are fat free) or coconut oatmeal cookies would work really well. Or even any of my breakfast cookies!

The cookie forms the base of the parfait and then gets layered up between soft whippy coconut cream…you can infuse this with lemon, orange, cocoa or other flavours to compliment the cookie base, and fresh fruit for extra healthy zing. You can also add a sprinkle topping or cookie crumbs if you wish. Depending on the shape of your bowl you can layer u as many times as you wish. Mine was wide and shallow so I just used cookie chunks at the base.

This would make a refreshing light summer treat (ok so I am getting a bit ahead of myself!) and reminds me bit of trifle (without the jelly layer of course) oh how I miss trifle!

Recipe: Cookie parfait  

Serves 4 (based on original carrot cookie recipe amount)

Ingredients:

10 carrot cookies (or other cookie of choosing)

approx. 1 ½ cups fairly thick coconut cream plus mix ins if required.

approx. 1 ½ cup fruit

toppings of choice or extra cookie crumbs

Method:

Prepare the coconut cream and set this aside

Break up the cookies into small chunks and place the equivalent of 2 small cookies at the bottom of

a dessert dish (or split into two layers if preferred).

Add a dollop of coconut cream to each dish and then layer fresh fruit on top (repeat these layers depending in shape of dish- i.e wine glass?) Finish with some crumbs of the remaining cookies or other sprinkles of choice.

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.

Baked 'coconut cream' cheesecakes

More coconut cream concoctions...this stuff is totally amazing, please don’t roll you eyes at me as I go off on one again!  Try it first...please (if only to shut me up!!)

Ok, so now we've tried it as a creamy whipped topping, as a thick mouse, in a cream egg and as a chilled cheesecake. So how about cooking it?

Yes, you can bake this stuff too!!

My initial reason for doing this was to see whether I could make a light and not too thick mix and then bake it instead of freezing it and still be able to take it out of a pudding mold (i.e muffin case). Without baking these little beauties there would have been no way that I would have been able to remove them...that would have been an absolute mess!

It worked perfectly since the short baking time seals the edges and allows them to pull away from the muffin case or whatever silicone mold you use. Since the edges pull away I would suggest that you would also be fine with metal cake pans- just edge round using a knife to lever them out.

You can add any mix-ins you choose, I tried out a few options but creativity is virtually endless.  I would suggest serving these cheesecakes hot, just for a change and to make the most of the ‘just baked’ feel.

Oh, before I go....here is one more coconut cream idea... a chocolate cookie cream sandwich that I posted over here at the Real Food Source. I based the recipe on my popular chocolate quinoa cookies.

Recipe: Baked coconut cream cheesecakes

Makes 3-4 mini cheesecakes

Ingredients:

2/3 cup soy yoghurt (other yoghurts would probably work well)

3 tbs fine coconut flour

Stevia or syrup of choice to taste

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping mix-in options

2 tsp cocoa powder

Crushed frozen raspberries (frozen are easier to handle to create a mottled not blended look)

Blueberries (frozen are best to avoid burning during baking

Base: I used a variant of my breakfast cookie oat base without the choc chunks, or you could use a smoosh bar style base. Or go for no base at all!

Method

Combine all cheesecake ingredients in a small bowl and stir together well to from a thick paste. Add mix ins as necessary.

Press chosen base mix (if using) in the bottom of mini muffins or cupcake tins (use silicone for ease of removal) and then top with the cheesecake mix  and toppings. Bake for 5-10 mins at 180ºC just until the edges have baked and sealed and the mixture is heated through, no need to be golden. The baking will seal the edges and make for an easy removal.

Serve hot or cold.

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.

‘Magic’ dairy free cream topping... 2 minutes!

Ok, so maybe this topping isn’t actually magic.....but it is almost!

2 base ingredients, 2 minutes and almost infinite variations...plus it’s healthy and allergy friendly.

Seriously could you really ask for any more magic?

Since making the discovery a few weeks ago, I have hinted at this recipe and posted a few of it’s variations for it’s use in recent posts but I figured it was time to give it the attention it deserved and write it’s own dedicated post. It’s all about the topping...and everyone loves a good topping!

As mentioned back in this post, the original idea to use coconut flour to make coconut cream was not my own, The Dairy Free Queen regularly mixes it up into a coconut cream. However I had even greater success when I took this idea to another level and combined it with yoghurt (either dairy or non-dairy works fine- I typically use soy as it’s most readily available to me). It makes the cream super smooth and thick also visually less lumpy (though it still tastes great simply mixed with non-dairy milk as per the original method).

The two base ingredients are coconut flour and yoghurt but there are various additions to tweak it. It has a mild coconut flavour which can easily be disguised with other mix-ins. I have provide two cream options below, but of course there are varying degrees of 'thickness' in between depending on your desired use.  It freezes well and makes an amazing chilled cheese cake! You can also bake it. I made a mini baked cheesecake recipe which I will try and post later this week, though to be honest the unbaked version as in the green smoothie cheesecake is amazing...and may possibly be my preference over baked!

Check out the coconut cream recipes so far below...and then go and make your own. So quick and easy, if you don’t already have coconut flour this is definitely worth buying some for (note I have tried with other flours such as almond and it doesn’t work...I have warned you!)

Chocolate buckwheat bake

Healthy Cadbury's Eggs

Creamy Dark chocolate shake

Green Smoothie Peppermint Cheesecake

Recipe: Cream topping

Makes approx ¾ cup

Thin whippy topping Ingredients:

1/4 cup fine coconut flour

1/3  cup non-dairy milk

1-2 tbs yoghurt of choice

Stevia or syrup to taste

A few drops vanilla extract- optional

OR

Thicker  ‘clotted cream’ style topping ingredients:

½ cup yoghurt (I use soy)

2 tbs fine coconut flour

Stevia or syrup to taste

A few drops vanilla extract- optional

(other flavours also optional)

Method

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir together well. Let sit for a few seconds and test the consistency (coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid), add more wet or dry ingredients as needed

Sneak preview of baked cheesecakes...coming soon!

 
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.

Chewy chocolate quinoa cookies

I’m loving all the healthy high protein ‘flour’ subs i’m trying out at the moment. First it was with whole buckwheat groats (still plenty of those recipes to come) and now it’s also with quinoa.  I mentioned before that I was having a big quinoa kick this month, incorporating it in all sorts of recipes both sweet and savoury. It’d such a versatile ingredient and it’s nutritional profile is hard to beat.

I cook batches of quinoa to freeze in cup sized portions, so it’s so easy to add to any recipe or salad at a moment notice.  This cookie experiment therefore took me literally minutes to throw together and was such a success I’ll definitely be trying it out again very soon. I used cacao nibs to make sure I kept to my sugar free Lent Challenge, you could also use regular dairy free dark chocolate chips if you prefer and for a little extra indulgence I may well give this a go next time, although to be honest I quite liked the bitter crunchy contrast of the nibs.

The coconut flakes combined with the quinoa make for a really soft and chewy cookie. The peanut butter helps bind and gives a mildly peanutty taste but you could sub for cashew or almond butter if you want the chocolate to do all the talking.

Recipe: Chewy chocolate quinoa cookies

Makes 8 small cookies

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa

¼ cup peanut butter (add a pinch of salt if not salted)

¼ cup homemade date syrup and a pinch of stevia (you could use 3 tbs maple syrup of agave if you prefer)

¼ cup unsweeteneed dessicated coconut flakes

¼ cup cocoa nibs or dark choc chips

3 tbs cocoa powder

Method

Mix the peanut butter and date syrup and melt a little in a the microwave on low power if not already drippy. Mix through the remaining ingredients until fully coated.

Scoop into fat cookie dollops and place on a lined baking sheet. Bake at a fairly low temperature (I opted for 160C so as not to risk burning the date syrup) for 10-15 minutes until slightly golden. The cookies will be soft when they come out of the oven and will firm up to touch as they cool but remain soft in the centre.

 


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.

Coconut lentil dhal

A new year...that feels pretty good! A bubble of excitement and potential....anything could happen in the next 365 days!

At the end of last year I quit my job to pursue my passions in the blogging/nutrition/photography/fitness/coaching arenas (yep I couldn't just pick one!) so you should see a few changes in coming weeks and months as I develop, blend and refine my thoughts and decisions further.

For those that follow my Facebook page, you will already have seen my Manifesto. I decided to create a graphic collage of some of my favourite quotes, it is to be printed on a canvas for my bedroom wall  to keep me focussed when at times I flounder.

The New Year is the perfect chance to start a fresh, to act on intentions and set the year off on the right foot. I am actually looking forward to a 'cleaning eating' January....Christmas brought with it way to much sugar and I am looking forward to getting back to basics. Many of my posts this month will be of the savoury variety...though i'm sure I will end up sneaking a few sweets in here and there. ;-)

So, first up....coconut and lentil dhal. I made this side dish along with this chana masala for the New Years Eve party my friend and her fiancé held. We had an Indian feast! I had a smaller portion of the dhal for my lunch (gotta test it out before letting it loose on my friends!) and here I topped it with pan fried onions and some slithers of mango which made for a lovely contrast of flavours.

I hope you enjoyed your own New Years celebrations!

Recipe: Lentil Dhal with onion and mango
Closely inspired by this recipe.

Serves 4 as a side (note the photo only shows approx. 1/3 of the recipe)

Ingredients:

250g red lentils 1 can (400ml) coconut milk
2 medium chopped tomatoes
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 onion finely sliced
300ml water

Topping:
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion roughly sliced
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 cup mango slices

Method:

Add all ingredients (other than topping) to a saucepan, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender.

Meanwhile, fry the sliced onion until softened and crisp at the edges adding the mustard and cumin seeds during the final couple of minutes. Mix with the sliced mango, and serve immediately spooned over the dhal.

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.

Christmas spiced butter

I originally got the idea for this recipe from a magazine I happened to be browsing through a few weeks ago, although I now have no idea where I was when I was browsing and I have no idea which magazine...sorry about that! But I can tell you this, it was such a super simple idea that basically consisted of softening some (non-vegan) butter and whipping into it some Christmas spices. 

I took this one level further by using melted coconut oil and folding in Christmas spices along with some blitzed up dried cranberries for a pretty sparkly berry effect. You could add more or less sweetener to taste depending on how sweet and indulgent you want to make it. I actually used about 1/4 coconut butter as I had a tiny bit of homemade stuff needing to be used but all coconut oil will be fine, I wouldn't recommend all coconut butter as the 'meat' content would not give such a smooth overall blend.

This would make the perfect last minute Christmas gift too, all wrapped up in a little canister with some ideas for use on a little label....imagine it melted and drizzled over pancakes, dolloped on top of a single serve sponge watching it melt over the top or even added too some oats and nuts to make a quick baked granola!

It's barely even a recipe, but of course I've added it below. Feel free to swap in your own favourite spices or add different dried fruits. I'd advise that any dried fruit is blitzed up into very small pieces or chopped very finely so that the resulting 'butter' is not too chunky to use.

Recipe: Christmas spiced butter

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/4 tsp each cinnamon/nutmeg/ginger

pinch allspice

1tbs coconut sugar or rapadura (agave etc may also be fine but I opted for a granulated sweetener to mix through)

1 tbs very finely chopped dried cranberries (or other dried fruit)

Method: 

Melt the coconut oil and mix through all the ingredients. Spoon/pour into a small jar and allow to set. Store at room temperature.

Note: the top photos were taken when the butter had set and these photos were taken when the coconut oil was still liquidy, hence the darker colour.

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 spiced oat cobbler- for one!

Breakfasts and desserts often become one and the same for me...that's because I like to be a little indulgent with my weekend breakfasts (breaking away from the weekday apple-oats) and I like to be healthy with my desserts!

Plus with many of my breakfast recipes you can simply add a little more sweetener if that's your thing without compromising the recipe at all.

I have made a few different versions of this cobbler.  First attempt was closely based on the breakfast cookie formula, and whilst it was ok, it didn't have the crumbly bite I was after, the characteristically crumbly cobbler topping to contrast the juicy fruit below.  I then made a coconut version with coconut flour and coconut flakes that worked really well. Coconut flour is light and can be quite drying but it does give the crumbly texture I was after, so I then took the concept further and merged the two...

...giving you a coconut oat cobbler! 

You can use a berry, apple or pear fruit base, or a mix of all three, just make sure you have a lots of liquid in your fruit mix as the coconut flour will absorb quite a lot of it. You can also add in a few seeds, nuts, chocolate chunks or whatever you fancy to the mix, I kept mine plain and simple for this experiment.

This recipe would be great multiplied and served in mini ramekins as a breakfast, snack or dessert at any time of the day.  Plus at only 5 minutes from start to finish and so many possible variations, you can't really go wrong.

Recipe: Apple oat cobbler

Ingredients

½ cup fresh or frozen fruit of choice- chopped into approx. 1 cm sized pieces

1 tsp ground chia plus 2 tbs fruit juice or sugar free jam*

¼ cup ground oats

2 tbs coconut flour

1 tbs desiccated coconut

Scant ½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground chia

1 tbs coconut sugar/rapadura

1-2 tbs coconut oil

Pinch cinnamon

Method

Mix the fruit with the chia/juice or jam and spoon into the bottom of a small oven/microwave proof dish.

Mix remaining ingredients together rubbing the coconut through with fingers to from a crumbed dough that lightly holds together- use 1-3 tbs water as necessary to assist.

Add the dough crumbles to the top of the fruit mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon or vanilla bean if desired.

Microwave for 90 seconds or for a crisp golden top oven bake for up to 15 minutes at 180C.

*Note: Coconut flour is drying which gives a lovely crumbly cobbler topping as long as you make sure the fruit mixture below is very moist to start with as the addition of coconut flour will steal a moisture during cooking. Use jam or juice, the flavour of which will depend upon the nature of the fruit used.

Coconut-oak topping oven baked

Oatmeal topping cooked in the microwave.

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.

DAY NINETEEN: Coconut granola

A little twist on my favourite oaty snack…coconut butter style!

crisp baked oatmeal

This experiment was originally inspired by this recipe by Quirky Cooking.  Jo is a fellow Thermomixer and I love her blog for it’s quirky offerings with a mindset similar to my own.

Taking the coconut butter (homemade of course) and its superfood add-ins I simply wanted to go that bit further and add oats…voila, a no-bake granola.  I had hoped that this would break off in large chunks (just the way I like it best) in its raw state, however it was more of a traditional flaky granola style…that was until I baked it!

Ok, so baking it of course means the granola is no longer raw but I can live with that, it gave a lovely contrast to the raw version- 1 recipe 2 ways.  When it was first baked I wasn’t sure quite sure what I thought…hmmmm, it just didn’t quite have the pizazz.  But once cooled properly it really came into its own with an amazing crisp bite, courtesy of the coconut butter.

I will say that is not a low calorie granola with it lashings of coconut butter, but it is full of good-for-you foods and healthy fats so it still ticks the boxes in my book and would be great as a crisp topping, a little goes a long way. Of course you can also vary the add-ins as much as you like to meet your own personal taste.

no-bake soft oatmeal clusters

Recipe: Coconut granola

Makes one baking sheet full

Ingredients

150g coconut butter (not coconut oil)

20g cacao nibs

100g oats

¼ tsp stevia

3 tbs agave

20g each flaked almonds/chia seeds/dried cranberries/dried blueberries/sun flower seeds (or other combinations)

Method

Melt the coconut butter gently until runny. Mix through all remaining ingredients until fully coated in coconut butter.

Press into a large shallow baking pan to form a layer approx1cm thick. Allow to set in the fridgeand use as a raw granola crumble or bake for approx. 10-15 mins until slightly golden. Allow to cool fully before breaking into chunks.

This raw granola actually tasted so good with some soy milk and a dusting of cinnamon

baked is my favourite!

What Vegan MOFO means to me.

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.