When you think of Nutella, you think 'hazelnut+cocoa', but when you look at the ingredients a typical jar is made up of only 13% hazelnuts! In fact, the first 2 ingredients are sugar and oil! That's not to say you cannot enjoy it from time to time as part of a balanced diet, but if you want to eat it on a daily basis, why not make you own healthy version that tastes equally as good!
Butternut Squash Spaghetti with Black Bean 'Meatballs' To me nothing says comfort like a nice big plate of pasta, especially spaghetti with a tomato sauce - yum! It's one of those meals you can always turn to when you need something to lift your mood and spirt. As delicious as it is, spaghetti usually leaves me feeling heavy and uncomfortable after, which is not the feeling you want to be left with when you're already down and seeking comfort. That's just counterproductive! So I keep trying to find alternatives that taste delicious, but don't leave me with that same gluttonous feeling. I've tried courgette noodles which I know fools no one and can't exactly be called 'spaghetti' because the taste and texture is [...]
Vegan Gluten-free Wagon Wheels Wagon Wheels - another classic British treat I just had to recreate. Do you sense a theme here? It seems I'm drawn to making healthified, vegan and gluten-free versions of some of Britain's favourite treats at the moment. So far I've made my own versions of Oreos, Twix, Snickers, Bounty Bars, Ferrero Rocher, Hobnobs, Jaffa Cakes and now Wagon Wheels! What's next? Who knows, but I'm really enjoyed experimenting with such classic sweet treats, and you seem to be enjoying them too! I say a British classic, however; a quick search online tells me that Wagon Wheels actually originated in Australia before moving base here. Now they seem to be popular the world over, and that doesn't [...]
Vegan & Gluten-free Jaffa Cakes Jaffa cakes are one of those treats that I missed the most since I started avoiding dairy and gluten. Once a Jaffa Cake pack was opened, there was no stopping me. I would gobble the lot! They're such a comforting snack, especially with a nice warm cup of tea. What makes them even more special is that all Jaffa Cakes are produced at a McVitie's factory in Stockport, which is not too far away from where I live and around the corner from my parent's house! I posted a shot of these vegan & gluten-free Jaffa Cakes on my Instagram feed mentioning that I wasn't sure whether they were only available and sold here in the UK. Many of you informed [...]
Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes Only two more days before Pancake Day! You didn't think I would let it pass without sharing another vegan and gluten-free pancake recipe, did you? Last week I made a basic maple pancakes recipe with four basic main ingredients - gluten-free flour, milk, coconut oil and maple syrup. Today I'm sharing a slightly fancier recipe with a few more ingredients including chocolate chips, which is one of my favourite ingredients to add to pancakes. They instantly make them taste so much fancier and more luxurious. and who doesn't like having chocolate for breakfast? What would make these pancakes even more luxurious and special? Drizzling them with melted chocolate of course! You can leave this step out if you think having [...]
Vegan Spicy Black Bean Nachos Since it's Friday today and apparently National Tortilla Chip Day, I just had to make a recipe using tortilla chips. Obviously it's not the healthiest thing in the world but it's ok to have every now and then as a treat. I've made it healthier by adding beans (for fibre and slow energy release), avocado (for an amazing source of fats), tomatoes, onions, and vegan cheese which you can leave out or use any kind of cheese you prefer. Whenever I see nachos on a menu, I'm always so tempted by it. Especially if it's loaded with other delicious ingredients like avocado, tomatoes and jalapenos! But they're always smothered in cheese making them extra delicious of [...]
Mini Banoffee Pies - Vegan & Gluten-free Banoffee pie is a quintessential British dessert that can satisfy even the sweetest sweet tooth. A rich, crumbly biscuit base, a sticky toffee/caramel centre, a layer of banana slices and a thick fluffy layer of whipped cream. Doesn't that sound like the most heavenly combination ever?! Of course the rich deliciousness comes at a price. The downside is that a banoffee pie is typically extremely high in sugar, saturated fat and not much else, apart from the banana layer of course of, the benefits of which are drowned by the use of all the other processed ingredients. A while ago I made my own healthified version of a banoffee pie (see my raw banoffee pie) made using [...]
Maple Pancakes - Vegan & Gluten-free I've made a few variations of a 'basic' pancakes recipe before (like my strawberry choc chip pancakes and English pancakes), but this recipe by far is the easiest! Pancakes shouldn't be complicated and they definitely don't need loads of ingredients and additions to make them taste good! With pancake day around the corner, blogs and social media is saturated with pancake recipes. I wanted to post a recipe that's easy to make, requires very few ingredients and is both vegan and gluten-free. Many of the recipes I've seen are either gluten-free or vegan, but rarely tick both boxes. That's not ideal for someone like me who wants to avoid both irritants to keep [...]
Chocolate Raspberry Sandwich Cookies A smooth and silky raspberry cream sandwiched between two crunchy chocolate heart-shaped cookies. All vegan and dairy-free. High in fibre and good fats not to mention they're super cute! Make these chocolate raspberry sandwich cookies for your other half to show them how much you appreciate them and how much you love having them in your life. You can enjoy these cookies even if you're single! Make them for your best friend, your family or just make them for yourself as a treat. We all know how important it is to treat ourselves to something special every once and a while ;) I posted a recipe for these star shaped cookies a couple of months ago and they [...]
Vegan Blueberry Bounty Bars I'm really enjoying coming up with healthier vegan and gluten-free alternatives to some of my favourite treats and chocolate bars. I've already made my own healthified versions of Twix bars and Snickers and naturally I had to move on to creating a healthier version of bounty bars next! Bounty bars are up there as one of my all time favourite chocolate bars. As you may be able to tell by now, I don't actually just have one favourite - I have many favourites that I like equally. The original bounty offers nothing in terms of nutrition. My version is higher in fibre and minerals like copper, iron, magnesium, zinc and manganese. And even though I used maple syrup to sweeten they're still [...]
