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Instagram Inspiration

I've been enjoying a few days of not cooking whils

I've been enjoying a few days of not cooking whilst staying at my parents in Gloucestershire with the boys. My dad always says, "What do you think the boys would like to eat tonight?" And I always say, "I have no idea; I'm not thinking about cooking while I'm here!" 🤣 Not particularly helpful of me, I realise 😳

This was a meal that I *did* really have to think about though. Absolutely *not* one you can just throw together! It's such a simple premise; falafel on homemade flatbreads, served with the simplest homemade houmous and a selection of the most basic salad ingredients. But talk about time-consuming! The question is, was it worth it? The answer is a resounding, "Yes!"

This recipe is from @merchantgourmet 's wonderful Simple plant-based cookbook, and I still have loads to share from it. I decided to share this one next because everyone *loved* it, even the fussy one, and the meat-loving husband couldn't stop saying how delicious it was! The great thing is, the falafel are made with quinoa, which my boys won't touch if it's served as a side, but both guzzled these falafel, the main ingredient of which is quinoa, without even questioning what was in them 😁 And, of course, the homemade flatbreads were a hit, as homemade bread of any sort always is.

If you have the cookbook, I fully advise you make this recipe, just leave yourself plenty of time to fit in all the steps, and be fully prepared to multitask. But know you'll have a dinner table of engrossed eaters, silent aside from the occasional, muffled, "Mmmm, this is delicious!"

Little note: I couldn't find the Merchant Gourmet Red and white quinoa pouch, so I just cooked 150g tricolour quinoa in water with a tsp boullion powder, which gave me just over the required 250g 😊

#plantbased #wholefood #wholefoods #eattherainbow #eatwell #eatrealfood #quinoa #homecooking #homecook #cookingfromscratch #ingredients #balanceddiet #healthyliving #foodphotography #healthyeating #cooking #merchantgourmet #healthy #nutrition #nutritious #delicious #food #learntocook

You know I love a smoothie bowl, but when it's thi

You know I love a smoothie bowl, but when it's this hot, sometimes the only thing that cuts it is an ice lolly. It may sound blindingly obvious, but smoothie mixtures make great ice lollies 😋 I kept this incredibly simple, adding no sweeteners (honey or maple syrup), only fruit, mint leaves for refreshment, plus a tiny splash of oat milk to loosen the mixture.

You can obviously use whatever fruit you have in, and a mixture of fresh and frozen. The amount I made for this is a bit more than fits in four ice-lolly molds, so I added some dates and tiny bit more fruit to the remains, blitzed it again, and enjoyed it as a smoothie bowl until the next day when these were frozen 😄

Ingredients
1 banana
2 flat peaches
3 strawberries
10 fresh or frozen cherries
Two sprigs of fresh mint
Splash of oat milk (approx 2 tbsp)

Peel and chop the banana; hull the strawberries; chop the peaches; remove mint leaves from stems and roughly chop.
Add everything to a blender with a splash of oat milk. Blitz until smooth, then pour into four (or more) ice lolly molds and freeze overnight.
Enjoy with your favourite magazine 😌🍭 I choose @englishhomemag 😊💗

#icelollies #icelollyrecipe #healthyicelollies #healthylifestyle #plantbased #wholefood #wholefoods #eattherainbow #eatwell #eatrealfood #healthylifestyle #homemade #ingredients #cookingfromscratch #familyfood #healthysnacks #sweltering
#fresh #freshfruit #fruiticelollies #holidayrecipes #icelollyrecipe #balancedeating #balanceddiet #vibrantfood #nutrients #nutritious #nutrition

Well, I very unexpectedly have a child-free day to

Well, I very unexpectedly have a child-free day today. We had a child-free weekend away with some very dear friends, which, like most people, we've not had since before the pandemic. But our younger son went with my husband to collect the dog from his parents, and ended up staying there with elder son. This has left me to do the week's meal plan, mow the lawn at 9pm last night(!), do the shopping, do two loads of washing after sorting out all the weekend washing and hang it on the line, create this delicious lunch, and a million other things too!

I seem to have a glut of these nectarines I keep mentioning in my fridge, so I've been making use of them in savoury recipes for lunch, and it's been a delight 😄😋

Here's the recipe for this one 👇

Ingredients
About 3" butternut squash, peeled and thinly sliced
8 cherry tomatoes
2" cucumber
1 nectarine
1/2 a red onion, cut into wedges
Olive oil
Tsp of cinnamon and cumin
1/4 tsp mild chilli powder
Salt and pepper

Dressing
Handful of pecans
Tsp tahini
Tsp set honey (or regular honey or maple syrup)
Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Dessert spoon of apple cider vinegar

Heat the oven to 200° fan.
Place the sliced squash on a baking tray. Scatter over the cherry tomatoes and onion, drizzle with olive oil, shake over the spices, and grind over salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the pecans in a dry frying pan until golden. Set aside.

Put the remaining dressing ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Once the pecans are cool enough, roughly chop and add to the dressing.

Thinly slice the nectarine and cucumber.

Serve the baked squash mixture onto a plate, arrange the nectarine and cucumber, then drizzle with the dressing.

Such a pleasing lunch or light meal 😊💚

#healthy #lunch #lunchinspiration #veggie #vegetarian #veggielunch #plantbased #wholefood #wholefoods #eattherainbow #eatwell #eatrealfood #homecooking #homecook #cookingfromscratch #ingredients #delicious #learntocook #recipe #quickrecipe #nutrition #nutritious #cooking #freshfruit #fruitandveg #healthyeating #healthylifestyle #balancedeating

I love being inspired by other cooks recipes, and

I love being inspired by other cooks recipes, and sometimes like to make my own version of a delicious-looking recipe I've spotted
Yesterday I came across @cookeatlivelove 's account, and, whilst scrolling, I spotted a gorgeous grain and fruit bowl which was the inspiration for my lunch today.

I always feel so refreshed after having a lunch like this, just crammed with loads of nutritious fruits, veggies, nuts and grains, finished off with a yummy dressing. It's pleasantly filling, but doesn't lie on your stomach, and it's so easy to make your own version from your own fridge.

Here's how I made mine:

Ingredients
1 apple, very thinly sliced
3 medjool dates, pitted and chopped
Large handful of blueberries
1 lemon, juiced
Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Tsp honey
1/2 tsp each of cumin, nigella seeds and turmeric

Half a sachet of @merchantgourmet piri piri grains
Handful of walnuts
Handful of watercress
Half an avocado, sliced
Small fennel bulb, sliced, fronds reserved

Place the first seven ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Cook the grains according to packet instructions.
Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan.

Serve the grains onto a plate. Top with watercress and avocado, then arrange the apple dressing mix on top, followed by the sliced fennel. Finish with the toasted walnuts and scatter with the fennel fronds.
Enjoy 😄👍

I love adding fruit to savoury vegetables; it can make a meal so much more exciting 🤗 What do *you* think?

#plantbased #wholefood #wholefoods #eattherainbow #eatwell #eatrealfood #veggie #vegetarian #veggielunch #nutrition #nutritious #learntocook #easyrecipe #recipe #homecooking #homecook #cookingfromscratch #ingredients #delicious #food #fennel #wholegrains #foodphotography #lunch #lunchinspiration #lunchinspo

It's a wonderful thing to have confidence in your

It's a wonderful thing to have confidence in your own ability as a cook. In saying this I don't mean that everything should look like a beautiful gourmet meal, rather that, when you look at a recipe and don't have the specified ingredients, you have the confidence to choose alternatives and the belief that they will work. Or that, if you unexpectedly have to throw a meal together, you can look in your fridge and storecupboard and come up with something from off the top of your head because you know which ingredients go together, or you feel empowered to just experiment with what you have.

You can have a base of ingredients with which to work, and then swap in and out other ingredients, seeing what does and doesn't work for you. And in the world of home cooking, there are no rights or wrongs 😄

I mentioned in my stories the other day that I'm working on some courses, some to be online, others in person, and one of them is all to do with Kitchen Confidence: empowering clients to use their own imaginations to create meals and other dishes, to make recipes their own, and to realise that a recipe can be there to deviate from; it doesn't have to be followed to a T. This is such a great aspect of building confidence in ones own cooking abilities, and why I so often say, use my recipe as a starting point then make it your own by using what you have.

This recipe is Buckwheat pancakes by @deliciouslyella 😋 Except I didn't have any buckwheat flour so I subbed it for wholemeal spelt. And I added a nice handful of frozen fruit, as well as just the banana which is in the recipe. A really obvious, simple swap, yet to understand that using a different flour wont actually ruin the recipe is absolutely empowering. And I had a load of chocolate sauce leftover which I kept and created a special recipe for the following day, because good cooking is also about being creative with leftovers 😄

#creativecooking #eatrealfood #plantbased #wholefood #wholefoods #eattherainbow #cookingfromscratch #ingredients #delicious #pancakes #deliciouslyella #cooking #breakfastoutsidethebox #breakfast #breakfastinspiration #saturdaybreakfast #foodphotography #eatwell #balanceddiet #healthy

Breakfast is one of my favourite meals of the day

Breakfast is one of my favourite meals of the day 😂 Perhaps that should be rephrased to, "At breakfast time, breakfast is my favourite meal of the day" 😁 I simply can't resist coming up with various concoctions, using the healthiest, most nourishing ingredients possible.

I had some beautifully ripe @lidlgb deluxe nectarines to use up, and I love the experience of eating fresh fruit on porridge. There's something about the warmth and stodginess of the porridge juxtaposed with the cool smoothness of fruit, which is tantalising 🤤 I can't resist a caramelized banana though, so I did quickly make some whilst waiting for the porridge to cook.

Here's the full recipe:

Ingredients
45g jumbo rolled oats
1 ripe nectarine, sliced
Half a banana
Handful of blueberries
Dollop of peanut butter
Large coconut flakes
Maple syrup
About 150ml coconut milk
2 tab coconut oil

Place the porridge in a small saucepan and pour over the coconut milk. Use the amount for the thickness and texture you prefer. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then gently simmer for a couple of minutes until cooked. While the porridge is cooking, peel and slice the banana, place the coconut oil in a frying pan, melt, and add the banana, cooking for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.
Turn off the heat and throw in the coconut flakes which will go golden in the residual heat.
Serve the porridge into a bowl, top with the nectarine slices, banana and blueberries, dollop on the peanut butter, drizzle with maple syrup, and sprinkle with the coconut flakes.
Enjoy your beautifully vibrant breakfast 🧡💚💙❤💜

#breakfastoutsidethebox #breakfastbowl #breakfastrecipe #breakfast #oats #porridgeoats #porridge #plantbased #wholefood #wholefoods #eatrealfood #eattherainbow #eatwell #eatforhealth #homecooking #homecook #cookingfromscratch #ingredients #delicious #nutrition #nutritious #cooking #homecooking #breakfastrecipe #learntocook #easyrecipe #vibrantfood #nutrients

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