All posts filed under: Snacks

Holistic Hot Chocolate

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This is my go-to. I have made this hundreds of times, especially during my grief journey. It is calming, composing, warming and like a kiss on the forehead after a hard day. It’s truely lovely. Chocolatey, rich, slightly spicy, stimulating and nurturing, you won’t reach for a different hot chocolate ever again. This contains cacao, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, a small kiss of cardamom, black pepper, warming fresh ginger, a teeny bit of salt and a pinch of nutmeg.  It will really reduce that tension headache, lift you out of your numbness and give you an inner hug. Let me tell you about how this is fantastic for you – The active compound in turmeric, curcumin, has a huge range of medicinal benefits including being an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-oxidant. As well as this, curcumin is being looked into for alleviating the symptoms of mood disorders. Scientists say that curcumin may provide benefits for mental health disorders by regulating dopamine and serotonin production in the brain (for those of you who don’t know, those are …

Dukkah Massaged Raw Mango Salsa Wraps

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You may not have heard of Dukkah before, and the word may scare you into thinking ‘oh my lord this recipe looks lovely but it’s impossible because what on earth is dukkah aaah’. That was my thought process when I first saw a recipe for potato chips with dukkah. I could do potato chips, but WHAT ON EARTH IS DUKKAH.? Fear not, avid readers, soon you will be so clued up on the tasty world of dukkah you won’t remember your life without it. Dukkah is an Egyptian condiment which is generally a mix of toasted nuts, spices and herbs. It tastes incredible; an earthy, toasty, warm, spicy, aromatic mixture. I like to dip pitta bread in hummus then dukkah. You can add it to your sauces, salads, have it on toast or with your baked potatoes. As it’s made with nuts it’s full of essential minerals and omega 3. I love to use toasted hazelnuts as I love the hearty and slightly-reminiscent-of-chocolate taste. I make my own dukkah, and I will provide the recipe …

Seaweed Wraps with Tahini-Ginger-Soy Dipping Sauce

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These are not for the faint hearted. And by that I mean, if you have never made these before, put some time aside. Like, half an hour (I know, good god). I’m not even being sarcastic. When I was experimenting with this recipe, can you imagine me getting frustrated with the wraps not sticking together, faffing over toasting the seaweed and over burning it, then to only taste the first recipe to find it totally dull?! Many, many facepalms and ‘FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU’s, that’s what. But I got there. Four tries later, we have these beautiful things to make life simpler for you, with the tastiest dipping sauce I have ever tasted. I prefer it to anything I have tried in sushi bars or supermarkets before. This is nori seaweed. If you’ve eaten sushi before, it’s the same seaweed that’s wrapped around it. It has an extremely high mineral content – tons of magnesium, potassium, iodine and iron (source). That’s good news for us as magnesium is essential for keeping our nervous system in check, keeping us …

Kale, Avocado and Blueberry Salad

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Surprise…. a pink dressing!! You’d never believe that vegan food is boring, right? I tell you, you could turn any salad hater into a salad scoffer by just adding toasted nuts. It makes it taste less ‘healthy’. Do you know what I mean? More of a toasty, smoked, carbohydrate-y taste. Lovely. If you’re like me and not much of a raw kale fan, I recommend rinsing the kale under the hot tap for 1-2 minutes and then massaging it with lemon juice and tahini and a bit of salt (1 squeeze of lemon, 1 tsp tahini, a sprinkle of salt) and then massage and squeeze the kale in your hands until it wilts). This takes the edge off of it completely, and allows me to enjoy the taste without blanching at the texture. 1 cup of kale equals lots of fibre, 30 something calories and 0g of fat. It’s great for your digestion, helping everything to pass through and improving that horrible bloated feeling. It’s full of vitamins A, C and K – vitamin K thins …

Fig, Turmeric and Banana Smoothie

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Turmeric?! In a smoothie?! I hear your doubtful cries, but I shall sit here smugly smirking and enjoying the deliciously creamy banana and fig combination and the multitude of anti-anxiety and depression benefits that turmeric has to offer. I literally sound as if I’m on a TV Channel selling watches. Oh well. As you may have read in my recent Butternut Stew Recipe, I’ve been experimenting with Ayurvedic spicing and it’s benefits for mental health. Ayurveda is a 5000 year old holistic system of natural healing originating from India. It stems from two words: ‘Aya‘ meaning ‘Life’ and ‘Veda‘ meaning ‘Study’ or ‘Knowledge of’.  The knowledge of life! It reminds us that health is a vital balance and integration of mind, body, spirit and environment (which is right up my street!). Turmeric is fast becoming recognized for it’s uses in treating depressive disorders. The active compound in turmeric, curcumin, has a huge range of medicinal benefits including being an anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-oxidant. As well as this, curcumin is being looked into for alleviating the …

Chai Spelt Banana Bread (Vegan)

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Moist, delicious and aromatic banana bread subtly infused with cardomom, cloves, pepper and cinnamon with walnuts for the odd crunch. Also, it’s vegan. Sound good? YES. The riper your bananas, the sweeter the bread. I threw in some dates, too, for that extra sweetness. You will find out as I post more on this blog, that I am a bit of a chai nut. I really love chai. It transports me to festival world (where, no kidding, I would happily spend £10 a day solely on chai), where I am warm, happy, carefree and excitable. The aromatic spices used in this bread give it an incredible flavour whilst lending a whole heap of health benefits. Chai spices have been relied on by Ayurveda to soothe digestive problems and act as a revitaliser. Adding cardamom helps to reduce mood swings! I like to think of the spices as ‘soul soothing’ –  grounding, nourishing, warming and sweet. This is so delicious, and it can be eaten in a multitude of ways. You could have it for breakfast, …

Inner Sunshine crackers: two ways (vegan, refined sugar free, gluten free)

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I have named these ‘Inner Sunshine crackers’ as not only do they look so utterly bright, summery and beautiful, I feel refreshed, bright and content after eating them, and as if I’m doing myself a favor in doing so. I’ve only recently learnt that the way food looks has an effect on how I feel whilst I’m eating it.  I have always been a bit of a “it doesn’t matter what it looks like, it’s still going to taste good” person. Whilst this is true, I certainly feel a bigger sense of accomplishment when I’m digging into something pretty. I used to scroll through Pinterest and Instagram, blanching at how much effort the pictures of food seemingly required in order to make them all look so badass, yet when I began to try it myself, I found that it was a simple tweak here and there, a few additions of toppings, or simply the way I layer it onto the plate. Take an extra 1-2 minutes a day to make your food look instagram-worthy: I promise that even …