Chocolate PeanutButter Popcorn Bars

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Its the end of a very healthy January for me (minus the inhalation of cheese on my birthday!) I have managed to meet most of my goals. One of them being to cut out both gluten and dairy, this means my arthritis is feeling a lot better than it did a couple of months ago. Although this cold/damp weather really doesn't help sometimes. I am alsogetting stronger and fitter in the gym, yesterday I reached my PB so far, 60kg squats for 8 reps! Woo! Anyway, I have decided to reward myself with some of these popcorn bars as a treat. 

They are inspired by PretAManger's GF popcorn bars. I love these but sometimes they get too sickly for me and they are also not dairy free. So I thought I would make my own, it took a bit of experimentation but I finally got there in the end. There are two layers to these, the bottom being a sweet honey layer and the top, is a salty chocolatey peanut butter layer. Sweet and Salty is the best combination. I had to actually hide these from Edd, so that they could last for at least a couple of days! 

You will need:

Base Layer -

3 Cups of Popped Corn

1 Cup of GF/DF Puffed Brown Rice

1/2 Cup of Organic Honey

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

2 Teaspoons of Vanilla Essence

Sprinkle Of Salt

Top Layer -

3 Cups of Popped Corn

1 Cup of GF/DF Puffed Brown Rice

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

1 Tablespoon of Raw Cacao Powder

1 1/2 Tablespoon of Peanut Butter (No added sugar or palm oil is best!)

1 Tablespoon of Organic Honey

Sprinkle Of Salt

(Also can add, a bar of 85% + Dark Chocolate for melting on top!)

For the Base Layer:

In a heatproof mixing bowl add the popcorn, using a spoon or your hands, crush the popcorn into small pieces. Then add in the puffed brown rice.

In a saucepan, add all the rest of the ingredients into the pan. Stirring occasionally, waiting for the mixture to start to bubble. Once it starts to bubble, the texture will change so that it is thicker and more sticky. This texture is needed to hold the corn and rice together.

Pour the honey mixture into the mixing bowl and stir using a spoon. It will be very hot so be careful! Make sure that everything is coated in the mixture. Pour into a lined baking dish and squish down. If you put clingfilm over the mixture and use a flat utensil, you can push the mixture down more easily as it doesn't stick. Make sure that the layer is evenly spread out and pushed down as much as you can.

Put in the fridge while you are making the next layer.

For the Top Layer:

Almost the same as the base layer. Put the popcorn and puffed rice into a mixing bowl. Heat up all the ingredients accept the peanut butter in a saucepan. Add the peanut butter in last, so that it doesn't burn. Pour the mixture over the popcorn/rice and mix. Squish onto the the base layer, using the same technique.

Make sure that everything is all evenly spread and pushed down. The more they are squished down, the more likely they will hold together.

I melted some dark chocolate in a bowl over some hot water then decorated the top. Just for an added bit of chocolate! By it being 85% cocoa or more, means there is hardly (if any) dairy/lactose content. 

Put into the fridge for half an hour. Bring out and cut into bars or square shapes. Enjoy and consume immediately or put them in a container for a snack later!

Enjoy!

MB

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Pulled BBQ Chicken

This recipe is inspired by a book called, "Against All Grain' by Danielle Walker. It is full of recipes which are all gluten-free, I highly recommend buying if you are interested in gluten-free cooking. I have altered this recipe so that is it slightly easier and the ingredients are more accessible. This is one of my favourite dishes for a Friday night. Its great because you just put all the ingredients into a slow-cooker and forget about it for a while. 

I have sweet potato chips and my homemade coleslaw (which is dairy-free) with mine, as well as my Guacamolly that goes great! (Click to find recipe)

For the BBQ Chicken -

You can use chicken thighs or breasts, or even a mixture! For this one, I used thighs - 1kg of them!
One Onion
1/2 Cup plus 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Cup of Honey
1/4 Cup Tomato Puree 
Two Tablespoons Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
One 1/2 Tablespoons Gluten-Free BBQ Sauce
2 Teaspoons Fresh Garlic
One and 1/2 Teaspoons Chilli Powder
One Teaspoon Paprika
One Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
3/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon AllSpice
Sea Salt and Black Pepper for Seasoning.


Add all these ingredients into the slow-cooker, make sure all the ingredients are mixed and the chicken is coated in the sauce! I leave mine on for 5 hours on low, or you can do 4 hours on medium, or 3 on high! (You get the idea!) But the slower the better, the flavour becomes more intense with more time.
(If you don't have a slow cooker, put the ingredients into a oven dish and seal. Cook in the oven for around 4/5 hours at 130 degrees.)
In the last hour of the chicken cooking, shred the chicken using two forks. This will get the pulled chicken effect and soak up the bbq sauce even more!

For the coleslaw, I shredded a red cabbage, a white cabbage and 4/5 carrots in a food processor. I then added a couple of teaspoons of apple cider vinegar and some salt and pepper!
For my chips, I chop my sweet potatoes into even rectangular shapes, with the skins still on. Then melt half a cup of coconut oil and some salt + pepper. 
In a large mixing bowl, pour the oil mixture over the chips. Using your hands mix everything up until they are all evenly coated. On a baking tray, spread the chips evenly and bake at 180 degrees for about 30-40 minutes, flipping them half way through. They should be slightly browned and crisp when ready! Add paprika for a flavour kick!

Serve up and enjoy!
Great for leftovers too!

Enjoy!

MB

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GF/DF Peanut Butter Cookies

I think its impossible to eat completely healthy at all times. These cookies are a perfect treat to pick you up when you've been being good for a while. These are extremely addictive! (My boyfriend, Edd managed to inhale 10 in under 5 minutes.) These cookies are both gluten and dairy free. As well as having only 3 ingredients, so they are quick and easy to make. They aren't full of loads of unknown sugary ingredients like shop-bought cookies. They are the good side of naughty, using honey rather than pure caster sugar. 

(Apologies for the terrible photo also! Too busy stuffing my face!)

All you will need is,

One Egg

One Cup of Peanut Butter

1/3 Cup of Honey (I use Organic)

-Sprinkle of Salt

Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk everything together. You can also add dairy free chocolate chips, coconut, fruit or nuts for some added flavour/texture.

On a baking tray with parchment on, spoon thumb-size lumps. The mixture will spread as it is quite runny but thats what makes them gooey when they cook. 

I also added a teaspoon of strawberry jam (Peanut Butter and Jelly is the best combo!) and Nutella onto some of them before they went into the oven. I wanted to experiment of different variations! 

At 180 degrees cook them for 5-8 minutes or, until they are brown around the edges. They will be soft in the middle but will harden slightly once cooled. You want them to be as gooey in the middle as possible, so they don't dry out!

Try topping them, or adding different ingredients in, to get different flavours and variations! 

Enjoy!

MB

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Easy & Simple Banana Pancakes

Finding a breakfast which is quick, easy, tasty and healthy all at the same time can be hard. But I think I have found the perfect recipe for this. This recipe only needs a few ingredients, and most people will have in their kitchen already. These pancakes are a good source of protein, which is the best thing to have for breakfast. Unlike carbs which give us a quick boost of energy, protein in the morning sustains that throughout the day. 'The Meat and Nuts' breakfast is said to be the best protein enriched meal to eat in the morning. But I am not the type of person who fancies steak at 7 o'clock in the morning.

You will need:

One Large Banana
Two Eggs
Pinch of Salt
Sprinkling of Cinnamon
Coconut Oil 

(I also sometimes add in tablespoon of Vanilla Protein Whey Powder , for some more protein and to hold the pancakes together more.
Adding a tablespoon of Coconut Flour, also makes the pancakes hold their shape better. But its up to you!)

I used my nutribullet to mix all the ingredients together, but if you don't have one of those, use a regular blender, handheld mixer or a whisk.

Put all the ingredients in together and mix, until everything is well combined. In a frying pan heat a spoonful of coconut oil. Pour the mixture in, up to you what size you want. I like mine smaller and thicker. Flip over when you start to see bubbles in the mixture. I got about 4/5 out of this mixture and I topped them with some homemade peanut butter and some frozen raspberries!

Enjoy!

MB

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The Wild Food Cafe, London

For my 21st Birthday I got taken to the 'Wild Food Cafe' in Covent Garden, London by my mother. Already there was a queue out the door at 12 o'clock, showing how vastly vegan raw healthy food has spread. We managed to get in immediately and by 12.15, the place was completely full.
I am not much of a vegan eater as I do love meat. But this was an amazing opportunity to be able to eat whatever I wanted from the menu, all dairy and gluten free. (YAY!) For two of us to share, we had the 'Wild Pizza Special' and 'Ayurvedic Super Salad'. The wild pizza was my personal favourite, it had a delicious almond and butternut squash base topped with a tasty pesto. The salad was fresh, colourful and full of flavour. It was nice having a meal that when you finished, you felt good for it and not stuffed to the brim.

The cafe is very well known for their puddings and if you look on their Instagram account, just from the photos you can see why. Every single one of the puddings was both dairy and gluten free, so I had a huge amount of choice. In the end we went for a raw lemon cheesecake and a raw chocolate cream peanut marble cake. Of course, my favourite was the peanut butter chocolate one, it was delicious. I don't know how they managed to make something so tasty with such healthy ingredients. I'm hoping over the next couple of weeks, I can have a go at making my own.

I high recommend this place for a lunch stop, although you gotta get there before 12 to get a place! The place is lively and communal with sharing benches and tables. There is nothing pretentious about this place, although maybe slightly vegan-hippy-buddha. But if your into eating really fresh healthy food, this is the place to go!

Chocolate Buckwheat Pancakes

It was my 21st Birthday on Saturday, so I treated myself to some tasty chocolate buckwheat pancakes! I wasn't worrying too much about what healthy foods I could add, so I just had bananas, blueberries and maple syrup! But everything in the pancakes are, low sugar, dairy and gluten free!

Own Photo

You will need:

One cup of Buckwheat Flour 

One teaspoon of Baking Powder

1/4 cup of Raw Cacao Powder

1/4 teaspoon of Salt 

One cup of Dairy-Free Milk (I used Coconut Milk)

One Organic Free-Range Egg

Half a teaspoon of Vanilla Essence

Firstly put all dry ingredients in a large bowl together, mixing well.

Then add the dairy-free milk, the egg and the vanilla essence and whisk all these ingredients together until they are mixed.

You should start to see little bubbles in the top of the mixture, this means that the baking powder are working. This creates the light fluffy batter that makes the pancakes cook and taste so good.

In a small non-stick pan, heat some coconut oil up. To test the pan is hot enough, drop a teeny amount of the mixture and see if it cooks.

When the pan is hot enough, pour a small amount of mixture in and let the first side cook. When you see bubbles popping, this is when you can flip the pancake over. 

 Stack 'em high, and top them with fruit, sauce, nuts, seeds or bacon!

Enjoy,

MB

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Thursday Night Dinner

I have been trying my best to eat as much fish as I can recently. Oily fish is extremely beneficial as an anti-inflammatory, which is great for my arthritis. They are full of Omega-3 fatty acids, which the body needs but cannot make. So we have to get them through the food sources we eat, fish and nuts. Taking Fish-Oil's or Omega-3 also is another way of getting these fatty acids into our body. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish (particularly fatty fish such as mackerel, lake trout, herring, sardines, albacore tuna, and salmon) at least 2 times a week. Already this week, I have had Salmon, Sea-Bass and last night, Mackerel.

For this, I used:

Two - Four Mackerel Fillets (Depending how many you want or leftovers)

Two Red Peppers (I use Romano/Bell Peppers, the long ones)

One Red Onion

Vine Tomatoes

Two Courgettes 

Coconut Oil

Chilli Flakes

One Lemon

Salt + Pepper

Firstly, I chopped the onion into thin circles. This is my favourite way to have onions, they always seem so much softer and sweeter. I then cut the peppers into even square chunks so that they will roast evenly. Adding the vine tomatoes on top. I sprinkled with chilli-flakes, salt and pepper. Then spoon on some coconut oil. Popped this all into the oven at 180 degrees for about 20/30 minutes. 

In the meantime, I sprinkled my mackerel with some more chilli, salt, pepper and lemon juice. I also added some olive oil and salt to the skin so it would crisp up when it baked. I put the mackerel fillets on top of the roasted vegetables and then baked for a further 15 minutes, flipping the fish over a couple of times.

For some added greens, I made courgetti, using my spiraliser-tool. This has the same texture and tastiness as normal spaghetti but a lot healthier and beneficial for you. 

I just fried this at the last minute in a little coconut oil and pepper for a few minutes. 

Add everything together and you've got a colourful tasty plateful!

Also there was a lot of leftovers for lunch today! Saves time and is perfect at Univeristy or Work!

Enjoy

MB

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2015

Hello and Happy New Year!

I've already made my new years resolutions to be happier, healthier and post more on this blog!

And although this Christmas season has been extremely busy with stuffing food in, I don't actually feel so bad for it.

I decided before Christmas that I wouldn't feel guilty for what I would be drinking or eating, as I had worked had before and I would work even harder afterwards. I read an interesting article on this, by a guy called Charles Poliquin, who is known to be one of the worlds most successful strength coaches. Where he pretty much just says "F*ck It! Eat what you want." So I did!

http://www.strengthsensei.com/dealing-with-holiday-food-treats-and-guilt/

Anyway, for Christmas I received a Nutribullet. Almost like a smoothie/juice maker but with an extraction tool rather than a blender. This apparently gives you more nutrients, rather than having them sucked out. I have stuffed spinach, kale, ginger, coconut water, cashews, bananas, pineapple, almonds, raspberries in it, and one benefit I see already is the quality in my skin is getting better. 

I defintily do not believe in a diet where you drink purely juice to 'detox' yourself. I believe your body naturally detox's itself and you won't get enough protien/fats/carbs in your diet! But its so tasty to have as an added nutrient-filled snack, or along side some eggs in the morning or a quick pick-up if your in a rush! It is also going to be amazing as a mini-foodprocessor for my nut butters, dressings and maybe even some soups recipes!

I also found lots of different ways to have leftover turkey and ham but admitingly I was too busy stuffing my face to bother taking photos and blogging them!
One recipe I did manage to get a snap of, was my 'Turkey Bacon Cranberry Christmas Salad' which was delicious! (Very easy to make too) All I did was fry up some chopped bacon. Shredded some little gem lettuces and rocket leaves, sprinkled across some cold leftover turkey adding the bacon on top. I then fried some tomatoes in coconut oil and some whole grain mustard, added those onto the salad. Topping with a heap of mayonnaise and cranberry sauce! It hit the spot, and was something a little different then turkey curry or bubble and squeak! 

www.instagram.com/mollybuszard

I also was one of those sad strange people who decided to be in the gym on christmas eve and the day after boxing day. I still don't know why. But my training is coming along well and I feeling much more confident in the gym. I still don't see many girls in the weight section! (all the huffing-screaming men throwing weights about scaring them off I presume, they aren't that scary really!) My boyfriend, Edd, having time off from work, means we have been able to go together more. He is showing me a lot more different workouts which is building my confidence up. I can also start to see changes now, small ones but I'm getting there! Be happy with what you have, while you are working on what you want! I can also now squat a little more than my own body weight, 53kg, for 8 reps! Yay!

(I got to anytime fitness, best gym I have been in, and open 24/7! http://www.anytimefitness.co.uk)

Back to university work now before going home to celebrate my 21st Birthday! Where I will be going to the Wild Food Cafe in London, which is full of lots of raw amazing food, I'll be sure to post some pictures for you! 

I hope that this year is a good one for you all, and especially a happy one! I feel that 2015 is going to be a very healthy year!

I will be using this blog not only to put recipes up, but to keep me motivated and track my process. I hope you enjoy reading either way!

MB

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