Cacao Strawberry Pancakes

I whipped up these pancakes last week as I needed a filling breakfast that felt naughty but was actually good for me...

They are made with half buckwheat and half brown rice flour which means 1) protein 2) fibre and 3) gluten free goodness..

And because I wanted them to be truly scrumptious... I added cacao and fresh strawberries. Boom! Winning combination!

It doesn't take longer than 5 minutes and these are a great option as a pre workout breakfast, say an hour before or a post workout brunch ( ideally you'd want to eat within half hour of training to help muscle recovery).

So what do you need and how do you make these yummy pancakes?

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

2 tsp baking powder (or use 3 tsp arrow root instead)

1 tbsp ground linseeds ( anti inflammatory plant omega 3 action)

2 tsp cinnamon ( helps balance blood sugar)

2 tbsp raw cacao (antioxidant action and energy fuel)

1tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp honey (or raw honey)

1 egg

1 cup almond or any other unsweetened dairy free milk

1/2 cup sliced strawberries

coconut oil ( I use a cold pressed one from Lucy Bee) for frying in the pan

Toppings

Smooth Almond butter (no added sugar)

a few more sliced strawberries

HOW TO DO IT....

It's very complicated...Pop all the ingredients in a bowl and mix till get a smooth batter, about 30 seconds. I know, are you sweating yet?

Heat up a tablespoon of coconut oil in the pan, then use a ladle and pour a little bit of your mix in, don't fill the ladle to the top, do half otherwise you won't be able to fit many pancakes in at the one time..

When they start to bubble on the top, flip them over and leave for another minute. Place them in your favourite plate, add some more coconut oil if you haven't got much left in the pan and pour more batter till all your mix is gone.

I made these pancakes today as well, and 6 came out  but that's because I made three in the shape of Mickey Mouse head...Yes, 36 years old and that's what makes me happy...

So if you make regular medium sized round pancakes you'll probably get 8 or 10 out of this.
Stack them up and sprinkle with more strawberry slices and swirl around some almond butter too for extra flavour, texture and protein.

I can honestly say they taste delicious and the protein content keeps your tummy fuller for longer!

So there you go, enjoy this guilt-free treat. From me, to you.x

Lloyd's favourite Muffins

I wanted to write this post quickly as my lovely friend Lloyd saw the picture of these beauties on my facebook page and asked how to make them. I am of course very happy to oblige :)))

I had made them as my mother is visiting and she was craving gluten free muffins the night before, so as soon as I woke up,  I headed to kitchen and baked these yummy muffins in under 25 minutes. 

The original recipe is from a wonderful blog called Elana's Pantry, which is full of delicious gluten free recipes like this one. I just changed a few things around, added some more and gave it a little Foodolina's spin! 

Almond Flour Peach Muffins 

1 cup almond flour

2 large eggs

1 tbsp coconut palm sugar

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1tbsp ground flaxseeds ( optional) 

1 peach sliced thin ( some of my slices broke so they ended up being smaller) 

1tsp cinnamon 

Little tip: you can use your favourite fruit instead of peaches, I'll be making apple cinnamon and raisins ones today!

Grab two bowls, in one you mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and flaxseed and in the other one you mix sugar, apple cider vinegar, eggs. Then you pop the dry ingredients in the wet ones and mix again while adding your peaches ( keep 4 slices to put on top of the muffins, to make them look extra pretty!).

Line a muffin tray with paper cups and put a scoop of the mixture in each one. 

My suggestion is just be careful not to have too much peaches on the bottom otherwise it'll be too soggy. And nobody likes a soggy bottom...
Add the peach slices you saved on top of each muffin and finally, sprinkle a little more cinnamon.

Place the tray in the oven and bake at 180c, 350 F for 15 minutes or until they become slightly golden on top.
Take them out and leave the about 20 minutes to cool down before stuffing your cute face with them! Enjoy!xxxxx

Purple Smoothie Delight

School is out and summer is in baby!

I finally did my physiology exam yesterday, preparing for it has been hard and it drained me both mentally and physically even though I loved everything I was learning. So now it's time to recharge my batteries, gain some of the weight I lost from too much uni stress and just relax and focus on myself and everything I love!!!

So let's start with the prettiest purple smoothie recipe. Purple is my favourite colour but this is not the only reason why I love this smoothie...It's really tasty, it's fresh and has proteins, antioxidants and good fats. It's a great way to start your day! Most of all, it's very quick to make which is key for me and why I love smoothies so much, you just pop all the ingredients in your blender (best money I ever spent) and in one minute you're ready to go.

INGREDIENTS

1 handful almonds

1 cup brown rice milk or soy milk ( make sure they are unsweetened, I use Rude Health Brown Rice Milk)

1 cup frozen berries (mine was a mix of blueberries and strawberries)

1 probiotic capsule (open it up and pour the powder in )

1tsp vanilla extract

1tbsp chia seeds

1tbsp coconut oil ( I use Lucy Bee)

1 date ( put in hot water while you prepare the other ingredients, this way it'll be softer and plumper, remember to remove the seed!)

OPTIONAL: add 1 handful of spinach or kale for extra calcium and magnesium.

As I said before, all you have to do is add the ingredients to the blender and whizz for a minute. Enjoy!

Happy Scrambled Green Eggs and Smashed Avocado on Rye

I'm writing about this tonight as I've just come home from a lovely spring day filled with new headshots and quality time with my beau and I now realised I haven't got many ingredients for dinner..Oops.

But I do have eggs and one avocado. So I'll have a simpler version of the recipe you'll see below.

I eat this a lot. I love eggs, I love spinach and I ADORE avocado so I really can't go wrong here.

 I normally have it for lunch after a late morning workout or on a Sunday for brunch accompanied by a glass of orange juice (not from concentrate!) but to be honest I could easily have it at any time of the day, like tonight for example.

Eggs are a really good source of protein and avocado, you probably already know, contains vitamin E which is great for your skin and its fat is mostly monounsaturated which is good for you, definitely better for you than saturated fat from processed food.

Now get cooking!

Serves 2:

4 Eggs (possibly free range and organic)

2 Big handfuls of chopped spinach (I add a bit more as I really love it)

1 Thinly Sliced Red Onion or 1 Small Leek

2 tsp Extravirgin Olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

On a low heat, drizzle the oil in the pan and add the chopped onion or leek stirring every now and then till soft.

In the meantime, crack the eggs in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and whisk.

Once the leek is soft, add the chopped spinach and stir for about 30 seconds, till spinach becomes slightly wilted and a beautiful bright green.

Now it's time to add your eggs! And make sure you keep stirring slowly so they don't stick to the pan.

The trick is to take them off the heat when they're still a little runny as they'll cook for a few seconds more even in the plate.

SMASHED AVOCADO

1 Ripe Avocado

1 tsp Extravirgin Olive oil

salt and pepper

A little lemon juice to taste

Spoon the avocado flesh out and into a bowl, add the lemon and oil and smash till smooth, add salt and pepper to taste.

You can toast your rye bread or have it just like it is and then spread you green creamy goodness on it, pop on a plate with the eggs and eat!

Love Frittata

I'm guilty.That's right, I'm one of those people that buys way too many fresh vegetables in advance and then doesn't get around to using all of them and by the end of the week an evil smell coming from the refrigerator reminds me how much food is rotting in my veggie drawer...
But all of this is going to change, first of all because I've seen this sign on a van the other night that said LOVEFOODHATEWASTE and it reminded me of how much I actually do waste.And yet I still complain I have no money, it's all spent on food...Well instead of buying too much, dear Valentina, try and actually use up what you have left first and only then buy more food!
So that's what I did yesterday and something wonderful happened..My first very own recipe!No food blogs, no cookbooks, just a phone call to my mom to make sure i was going in the right direction..Bear in mind I'm Italian and the call to my mother would have happened even if hadn't been cooking so i thought i might as well put it to good use..
And so my super duper colourful Love Frittata was born. I've just decided to call it like that first of all because as I was cooking it I sure did put lots of love into it, as I do with everything I cook, I truly believe food tastes so much better if your heart is in it.Not literally.
Secondly because I did bake it in my heart shaped pan, which I really adore and find makes everything look super cute but not as cute as my boyfriend who tasted it as well and gave me his seal of approval.Success!
I used all the vegetables I had left and they worked so well together I decided this was one for the blog.
I had it for dinner and the day after for lunch but it can also be easily eaten as part of a delicious brunch with friends.

So here it is:

RECIPE:
2 Sweet Potatoes, chopped
1 Courgette,chopped
1 Leek,thinly sliced
A handful of spinach, chopped (all I had left in the bag..)
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp extravirgin olive oil
1tsp dried Mediterranean herbs mix (my grandma gave me mine, I think it's rosemary, origano and thyme.. )
4 eggs
A pinch or two of pink Hymalaian salt (that's what I  had at home but sea salt is perfect as well)
Black pepper to taste

Turn the oven on at 220c, 425F or gas mark 7 (that's what i use as i have a super old gas oven).

First,put the chopped sweet potatoes in a bowl with 1 tbsp of oil, plus a pinch of salt and pepper and some dried herbs but don't worry if you don't have them, it'll work just the same. Toss it all together and then pop it on a baking tray and in the oven for 25-30 min or till the potatoes are nice and soft,half way through move them around so they can cook evenly.
Once they're done, take them out and lower the heat to gas mark 4, 180c, 350F.

Put the garlic cloves in a pan with the oil and when the garlic starts to brown a little, add in the chopped courgettes on a medium heat and kept stirring every now and then for about 10 min till they become soft, add the leeks and let those soften too and last add spinach and parsley and stir for about 2 minutes before turning off the heat.

Put all 4 eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper and whisk.

Now get a baking pan and put all your vegetables in and add the eggs,mix all together and put in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the top is firm.

Take out of the oven and Buon Appetito!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.xxx