Butternut Mac and Cheese

Okay i had so many requests for the recipe for this that i knew it had to go on here. Theres also a video on my stories on instagram if you want to see how i made this. This does not disappoint at all on flavour, its not too rich but is incredibly cheesy. Its light without being heavy but always leaves you wanting more. Lets cut the chat and get into the recipe its why you are all here after all. Here we go.. this serves around 4 people, judge the pasta on how hungry you are. 

What you will need;

Half a medium butternut squash (roasted at 170 for 20minutes until soft)

1/2tsp onion powder 

1 tub of nush cream cheese (i used the chive one)

1cup veggie stock 

2tbs nutritional yeast 

pinch of salt and pepper 

1/4 cup vegan cheese of choice 

1/4 cup breadcrumbs 

1tsp vegan butter 

200g-250g pasta of choice 

Method; 

Preheat your oven to 180degrees fan. Place pasta onto boil, your going to cook this 3/4 of the way leave the last 1/4 for the oven. Blend the squash, onion powder, cream cheese, veggie stock, nutritional yeast and salt and pepper. When your pasta is ready fold into sauce. add in half of the cheese and place in baking dish. For the topping rub together the cheese, breadcrumbs and butter, sprinkle over the top. Bake in the oven for 15-20minutes until kissed brown on top. Serve with with some greens or enjoy all on its own for the ultimate comfort food. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this be sure to tag me over on social media. Until next time, Helen xx 

Parsnip Gnocchi

Evening everyone, you all when crazy when i popped this picture up for this gnocchi a few weeks ago and finally i wrote down the recipe as i made it again the other day. This dish is inspired by fall and the need for soft fluffy pillows of gnocchi. How much flour your going to need will be based on how wet your vegetables have cooked so try not to over cook them but make sure they are cooked all the way through as they will not mash. This serves 2 people. 

what you need; 

2 medium size parsnips (boiled till super soft)

1 medium size white potato (boiled)

1/2 gluten free flour 

1/4 tsp garlic and onion powder 

150g baby chestnut mushrooms (or just chestnut if you can't find them) chopped up 

2 large handfuls of kale chopped 

1-2tsp of dairy free butter 

Method; 

Mash parsnips and potato in a bowl and season, add in the onion and garlic powder. Now add in your flour, and bring together into a firm dough. Separate dough into tsp sized balls and roll in extra flour. Take a fork and gentle press the balls against the fork while rolling it, this is just for the ascetic purposes you can just leave them as little balls. Boil a pan of water with a pinch of salt in and place gnocchi in and wait till it floats to the top, scoop out onto a paper towel and then empty the water from the pan. Now place a little butter in the pan and add back in the gnocchi be sure to keep it on low heat we don't want it sticking. Add in mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes getting everything some colour, for the final few minutes add in the kale then serve. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this make sure to tag me over of social media! i love looking at your recreations. Until next time, Helen xx 

Peanut Butter Protein Crunch Truffles

Good evening everyone, yes your reading the title right! These were invented for the upcoming storm surf swell at the weekend finally some surfing waves coming my way. I always reach for a little something on my way back home to fill a gap before my next meal. These will be ideal and i can't wait for everyone to try them, they have already been pretty popular today in the house, hopefully there is going to be some left for the weekend. 

Lets dive straight into what your going to need for these truffles, super easy to make and really indulgent. If of course you wish to leave the dark chocolate stage out (why would you do that) you can of course eat them naked and just enjoy the peanut butter goodness. 

Makes around 16 balls;

1/2 cup peanut butter 

1/4 cup protein powder (vanilla is great but can be plain)

1/4 popped cereal (i used popped quinoa you could use rice etc)

1tbs maple syrup 

50g of dark chocolate for dipping/coating 

Method;

Mix peanut butter and maple syrup together until combined. Then mix in the protein powder this should then make a sticky dough add in the popped cereal and distribute in the dough. Roll into balls, melt chocolate and dunk balls into chocolate and place in fridge for 15 minutes. Enjoy! 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, as always if you do decide to make this make sure to tag me over on social media! I love looking at your recreations, until next time, Helen xx 

Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Hi guys, thought i would pop on here to say hello! sorry i have been a little MIA on here the past few months, there has been a lot going on in my personal life. Now lets move on to the reason you are here, these cookies right? I mean who doesn't want a soft fudge-like cookie oozing with chocolate chunks, a slight fluffy centre and slightly crunchy outer layer. Is is a brownie is it a cookie? I will let you all decide for yourselves, either way there are so delicious! Makes 8 thick cookies 

What you need; 

1/4 cup dairy free butter

1/3 cup coconut sugar 

1/4 cup rice malt syrup 

1tbs flax + 4tbs water (left for ten minutes)

1/3 cup coco powder 

3/4 cup buckwheat flour 

1/2 cup plain GF flour 

1/4tsp baking powder 

1/4tsp baking soda 

50g dark chocolate chopped into chunks 

Method;

Mix the butter, sugar and rice malt syrup together. Add in the flax egg and combine. Add in all the flour, coco powder, bp and bs form into a sticky dough. Add in your chocolate chunks  and divide into 8 equal balls, if your want your cookies a little flatter and less cake/fudge like give them a little flatten. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 180fan, leave to cool for 20 minutes before digging in. Enjoy! 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this make sure to tag me over on social media. I absolutely love looking at your recreations! 

Speak soon lovelies! 

Helen xx 

Brownie Batter Oats

Long time no speak guys, just thought i would pop this over on my blog for you all as i always get asked for the recipe when i post these. These oats are for the ultimate chocolate lover and need to be shared with someone, for that this recipe serves 2. Here we go lets get on with what your going to need. 

What you will need;

1 cup of oats 

2tbs cacao powder 

1/2 mashed banana 

2tsp maple syrup 

1/2tsp vanilla 

1 cup milk

Method;

Mix everything together and cook until desired consistency on a medium heat on the hob, you may need to add more milk depending how thick you like it. Top with remaining banana and cacao nibs maybes a little chocolate sauce. Serve between 2 and enjoy eating chocolate for breakfast! 

Until next time, be sure to pop on over to social media and tag me in your recreations!

Speak soon, Helen xx 

Sweet And Smokey BBQ Chickpeas

This is actually my mams sauce recipe that i have tweaked a little here and there to make it vegan and give it that real sweet and smokey flavour. This tastes delicious on tofu baked in the oven or as we are going to do today, roasted chickpeas.

What i will say i have used my air fryer for these chickpeas, so if your doing them in the oven use a tray with some baking paper to help them dry out a little. Right lets dive straight into what your going to need for this recipe. The sauce will cover one large tin of chickpeas and you will still have some left over. 

What you will need;

2tbs tomato puree 

3 tbs maple syrup 

2tsp vegan Worcester sauce

1tsp garlic puree

2tsp tamari 

2tsp liquid smoke 

1/2 tsp vinger 

Pinch of salt 

1tbs of water to thin it out and a little coconut sugar after you have tasted it, you might not need it!

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and dried with a kitchen towel

Method; 

Place chickpeas in air fryer for around 10-15 minutes at 180degrees. Keep checking on them and giving them a toss around make sure they get the same amount of cooking on all sides. For the sauce, simply combine all of the ingredients and mix well. Taste it make sure its to your flavour. Once the chickpeas are ready they should have a little crunch on the outside and still soft in the middle. Warm a little of your sauce over low heat and toss the chickpeas in there to get them nice and coated. Serve with your favourite sides and dig in!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. If you do decide to make this be sure to pop on over on social media and tag me in you recreations. I love looking at them! Also if your not fussed about having that little crunch to the chickpeas you can skip cooking them before the sauce and just pop them straight into it. Just make sure they get reheated fully before digging in and enjoying. 

Until next time, Helen xx 

Chocolate orange oats

One of my favourite oat combinations. Ive had so many of you message me asking how i make my porridge on a morning how i get it so creamy looking, theres one secret to this- oat flour! Ive found by grinding my oats up into a flour or by simply going to the kids section in the supermarket and getting a "smooth" oats is the secret to this. I have been adding some quick cook oats to this now and again as i can not digest oats very well i have found this to be the best way to introduce them. Try 1/4 cup mixed with 3/4 oat flour. 

What you will need; 

1 cup of oats I used (ready brek in the uk) 

1/2 cup oat milk 
1/2 cup water

2 tsp heaped cacao 

1tbs maple syrup

2 tsp sweetfreedom orange spice (or add more cacao)

1 Jaffa orange 

1square of dark chocolate 

1/2 rip banana 

Make oats with cacao, maple and sweetfreedom. Place in a pan and heat for a few minutes on medium heat then turn it down for a few more, keep stirring. One of the other secrets is to add a little more milk in as it starts to cool, constantly stirring. Get it to the right consistency that you like and turn the heat off.  Half the orange and squeeze and zest into cooked porridge. Cut the other into segments removing the skin to place on top along with half a banana and chocolate chunks. Finish off with remaining zest and chocolate shavings.

If you enjoyed this recipe, be sure to pop on over to social media and tag me in your recreations i love looking at them and reposting over on my instagram, speak soon  loves, Helen xx 

7 Ingredient Peanut butter Chocolate Protein Cookies

Ok so ive made these a few times now and i have to say these are so delicious and really easy to make. They make a nice little snack after a workout, If you don't like the added protein powder in these you could easy replace it with some oat flour, rice flour or buckwheat flour. Really depends what you prefer.

 Ive recently got back into working out again after a long time away from the gym and so far its going well and I'm getting stronger for my surfing (which was the idea) so there might be a few protein recipes in the making as i like to have something easy to pick up. Or who needs a workout as an excuse? they are just that good. Right lets get into what your going to need. Makes around 12 small cookies, serving size is up to yourself. Oh and did i mention they are only 7 ingredients? oh yeah... 

What you will need; 

1tbs coconut oil 

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup maple 

1tbs flax (mixed with 3tbs water left for 10 mins)

1 scoop of plant based protein 

1/2 cup oat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda 

large handful of chopped chocolate (30g) 

Method; 

Mix coconut oil and peanut butter and maple together until it combines. Add in the flax egg and mix again. Then add in all of your dry ingredients and mix in your chopped chocolate. Roll into 12 equal ball and flatten with your fingers, these cookies won't spread much but i quite like them quite chunky. Bake at 170fan for 10-15 minutes until golden keep checking on them so they don't burn. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before digging in. Enjoy with a glass of oat milk (try it)

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. If you do decide to make these be sure to tag me over on social media, i love looking at your recreations. Happy baking, until next time, Helen xx 

Sticky Teriyaki Tofu

Evening everyone, i thought i would pop this recipe over on here as i know your all going to want the exact measurements to what i used for the sauce for these bowls. The way i cook this tofu (video) is over on my instagram stories which I'm going to save to my profile. Hope everyone is having a great week so far, lets get onto what your going to need for these sticky bowls. This sauce will cover one packet of firm tofu baked or fried in 1/2tsp of sesame oil. 

What you need;

3 dessert spoon mirin 

2 dessert spoon of dark soy 

1 dessert spoon of maple (or agave syrup)

1 dessert spoon of apple cider vinegar 

1/2tsp onion powder 

1/4 tsp garlic powder and ground ginger 

1/4 cup water 

1tsp heaped cornflour and a little water mixed until cornflour dissolves 

Method 

Place all sauce ingredients and mix together until its smooth. When tofu is ready take out of oven or air fryer. Place sauce in a pan and stir for a few minutes over low/medium heat until it starts to thicken. Then add in the already cooked tofu and coat it in the sauce and keep stirring until it goes nice and sticky. Serve with rice and veggies of choice. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this be sure to tag me over on social media i love looking at your recreations. Until next time, Helen xx 

Sweet Potato Protein Truffles

Okay i shared this recipe over on my instagram and i had great feedback from it so i thought i would pop it on here for easier access for you all. The sweet potato makes these truffles almost fluffy inside.

What you need 

1/2 small sweet potato 

6 mejool dates

1tbs tahini 

1 and 1/2 tbs cocoa powder 

1scoop on vegan protein 

1tbs coconut oil 

splash of vanilla 

1-2tbs water to help mix 

Method 

Blend everything together apart from the protein. Add that at the end using a fork to mix together into a stiff dough. Roll into balls and roll in cacao nibs, cacao or coconut. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this be sure to tag me over on social media, i love looking at your recreations! Until next time, Helen xx 

Blueberry Cheesecake Chia Pudding

Ok so i popped the recipe on my instagram for these beauties over the weekend and everyone seemed to really like the idea, so i thought i would put it on here for everyone to see. It seems like a lot of steps but its not when you make it and they can be made in 5 minutes or go back into the fridge for the next morning. Taste like such a treat for breakfast. 

For the base; 

1 cup of oats 

1tsp coconut oil 

2tsp rice malt syrup 

Mix together to form a crumble and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes at 170fan. It should come out nice and golden. 

Chia pudding;

1/3 cup chia seeds 

1 cup of milk 

1/3 cup coconut yogurt 

Mix milk and chia seeds together leave to stand in the fridge for a few hours or overnight then stir through the yogurt. 

Topping

1/3 cup blueberries 

Splash of water 

Place blueberries in pan over low heat with a splash of water until blueberries burst and it makes a sauce.

Layer up in a cup or jar and a dash of lemon zest. Enjoy. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this, be sure to tag me over on social media! I love looking at your recreations over on there. Until next time, Helen xx 

Chocolate Orange Chia Pudding

I had to put this up on my blog as i had a few messages about it when i put it up as a bowl. I wanted it to be up on here so its easy access when you want to make it. You can easily layer this into a jar or have it on its own as a bowl. Depends how chocolatey you want things to get. Right enough talk lets get on to what your going to need. 

1/3 cup chia seeds

1 and 1/4 cup of milk 

1tbs cacao powder 

2tsp rice malt syrup 

juice of 1/2 a small orange 

Make chia pudding with milk over night in fridge. In the morning mix in the cacao, rice milk and orange juice. Decorate with banana, more orange, granola and hemp seeds. Enjoy! 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this be sure to tag me over on social media. I love looking at your recreations. Until next time, Helen xx 

Double Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ok so I've teased you guys enough with this recipe, its finally here! but was it worth waiting for? Of course it was, its double chocolate muffins for crying out loud. Its got the right balance of sweetness and fluffiness with bits of melting chocolate. I mean whats not to love? I also wanted to create this so you can shove it in a loaf tin and bake a big old chocolate loaf/cake. So the temperatures change and times do as well but i will include both below. Lets get into what your going to need. Makes 1 big loaf or 9-10 giant muffins. 

3 small really ripe bananas

1/4 cup vegan butter (or coconut oil)

1/2 cup milk mixed with 1tsp apple vinegar 

1/4 cup coconut sugar 

2tbs flaxseed mixed with 6tbs water (for 10mins) (use 2 eggs if veggie)

1 cup of GF flour self raising  and 1tsp baking soda 

1/3 cup cacao powder 

1/3 dark chocolate 

If your making muffins or the loaf preheat the oven to 170fan. Next up mash your bananas, butter and sugar together. Don't worry if it looks all separate and weird it'll come together, add in the flax eggs and make sure theres no big lumps in the mixture. Add in the milk and mix again. Now throw in your dry mixture and mix together, if you need a little more milk at this stage add no more than 1/4cup should be the constancy of a thick cake batter. Divide between the muffin tins i like to fill about 3/4 way up the sprinkle a little chocolate in each one so everyone gets equal melting chocolate. Cover with rest of batter and place in the oven. If your making the loaf turn it down to 160 and bake for 45 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out fairly clean. For the muffins keep it at 170 and bake for 20-25 minutes until tooth pick comes out clean. Leaves to cool for 15 minutes in the tins then transfer to a rack before slicing/ devouring. Enjoy! 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do make this loaf/ muffins feel free to tag me over on social media. I love looking at your recreations. Speak soon, Helen xx 

The 7 foods that help me manage my crohns

Hi guys, bit of a different post on here today im here to tell you that i wrote an amazing article for the health website healthline! Yes they asked me to write it i cant quite get my head around that either. If you would like to go read it, it would mean so much to me! I will leave the link here im chatting all about my favourite anti inflammatory foods. 

I hope you enjoy it, let me know about your favourite foods that help you. Speak soon, helen xx 

Hoisin Oyster Mushroom Sandwich

Ok this recipe is really easy and can be easily adapted to suit whatever you want flavour wise, its also amazing as a pulled pork substitute. I made this hoisin mushroom a few weeks back for a sushi bowl. However i could not resist popping it into a sandwich with a little shredded naked slaw of carrots and cabbage and a quick pickle cucumber. I also popped on some spring onions on there because what is the hoisin without that spring onion flavour? nothing i tell you, nothing. Lets dive straight into what your going to need for this, the mushrooms are the most important part of this dish i found mine in sainsbury's I've also seen them in most local market stalls. 

what you will need;

this serves around 2 people 

Around 125g mushrooms 

2tbs of your favourite hoisin sauce 

1/4 tsp onion powder 

1/4 garlic powder 

thin sliced cucumber placed in a little rice vinegar (while you prep rest of the sandwich) 

shredded carrot and cabbage 

1 chopped spring onion 

a little parsley 

2 buns of choice 

Method; 

First off you need to pre cook your mushrooms before you "pull" them so you can either dry fry them in a pan or pop them in the microwave for around 3 minutes until they become soft enough to pull with 2 forks. Once you have pulled them they are ready for the flavours so drain off any water and add in your powders and pop back into the pan. Dry fry for a few minutes then when your happy with the texture add in the sauce and fry for a further minute to make the sauce sticky. Serve with cucumber, shredded carrot and cabbage, spring onion and a little parsley on top. Tip to add a little sauce to the bun at the top to help it all stick together. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, if you do decide to make this pop on over to social media and tag me i love seeing your recreations! until next time, Helen xx 

Nutella Bliss Balls

As the title suggests these are one of my favourite creations to date and only require a handful of ingredients and are so simple to make and are absolutely delicious. Hard to stop at just one. Lets get straight into what we are going to need for these. Makes around 14 balls. 

What you need; 

1/4 cup hazelnuts 

1/4 cup cashews

1/4 oats 

1tbs cacao 

1tsp vanilla 

4 large mejool dates 

1tbs hazelnut butter or any nut butter would work they just won't taste as hazelnut 

More hazelnuts for the centre and more to roll them in 

Method;

Place hazelnuts, cashews, oats and cacao in a blender and blend until a powder forms. Then add in the mejool dates, vanilla and hazelnut butter. Pulse until combined then take a tbs of the ingredients flatten out and place a hazelnut in the centre and roll into a smooth ball if the batter has not come together add a little water. Then to finish roll in chopped hazelnuts and you could drizzle in a little melted dark chocolate. Keep in the fridge but i promise they will not last long. 

Hope you enjoyed this recipe if you do decide to make these be sure to tag me over on social media, until next time, Helen xx 

Sweet Potato Individual Pizza

Quick and easy to throw together, has that chewy base we all want out of pizza crust but it holds together really well when cut into slices. Nothing worse than cutting a slice of pizza and it flops over and you loose your toppings. Now I'm going to put it out there now and tell you that these toppings are maybes not your average ones, but it was all i had left in the house and they were pretty much a happy accident. Lets get on to what your gonna need, this pizza is naturally gluten free and your most likely going to have the ingredients to hand. 

For the base 

1 cooked medium sweet potato 

1/4 cup chickpea flour 

1/4 cup rice flour 

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/4tsp onion powder 

1/4tsp garlic powder 

1/2tsp oil 

salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce 

2tbs tomato puree 

1/4tsp onion and garlic powder 

1tsp italian herb mix 

(All mixed together)

Toppings 

shiitake mushrooms 

courgette

chickpeas (already roasted)

red peppers 

the leaves off pak choi 

Method

Preheat your oven to 180fan/200degrees. Open up the sweet potato i just microwaved mine on a plate for 6minutes until soft inside. Scrape the insides into a bowl and mash with a fork until smooth. Add in the remaining ingredients and keep mashing it will come together into a dough. Get your hands in work it like a dough to make sure its all held together, if not add a little more flour. When your happy its like pizza dough take it out the bowl and sprinkle a little rice flour on the bench, you can now either roll it into a pizza or press it out with your fingers. Place on baking tray lined with baking paper and add your topping. Bake in the oven for 15/20 minutes this will depend on your oven just keep an eye on it. Serve and enjoy. 

I hope you enjoyed this recipe. If you do decide to make this be sure to tag me over on social media, until next time, Helen xx 

Tesco coconut pancakes AD

So another pancake recipe has made it onto the blog, but this one measures up just like all the others that are on here. Its a recipe from Tesco for coconut pancakes with caramelised banana and coconut yogurt. They are so light and fluffy and don't contain a lot of ingredients to make them.

This recipe is also really simple and quick to put together even first thing on a morning. If you cant do that you can always make them ahead of time they keep really well in the fridge overnight and heat in the microwave fine the next morning for 30seconds. 

Ive also tested this recipe with gluten free flour blend from Tesco and they work out perfect with 1:1 replacement of flour. 

Tesco have such a great and wide variety of plant based ingredients to choose from everything listed in this recipe was easy to find and they had a wide selection of brands to choose from. You could literally dump everything into a bowl with these pancakes and mix until all the lumps go and you still couldn't go wrong. I like to pop the mixture into a pipping bag and pipe them directly into the pan, thats of course only if your fussy about wanting that perfectly round pancake. 

Right lets get onto what your going to need, the link to these can be found here on the Tesco site where you can also find loads of other plant based recipes for browsing I've also popped it below. You can also get the ingredients texted to your phone (how cool) so its worth a look over!

Ingredients; 

225g self-raising flour (or gluten free flour)

2 tbsp golden caster sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1⁄2 tsp salt

30ml coconut oil, melted, plus extra for frying

1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract

400ml free-from coconut milk drink

For the caramelised bananas

50g soft brown sugar

100ml free-from coconut milk drink

2 bananas, peeled and sliced into thick rounds

4 tbsp coconut yogurt, to serve

Method:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the caster sugar, baking

powder and salt and mix together. Whisk in the melted

coconut oil, vanilla extract and 375ml coconut milk to create

a smooth batter, about the consistency of thick double

cream – if the batter seems a little thick, add the remaining

coconut milk to loosen.

2. Melt a little coconut oil in a large frying pan, add a large

spoonful of the batter for each pancake, frying in batches

of 2-3. Cook over a low heat for 2-3 mins or until small

bubbles start to appear. Flip over the pancakes and cook for

another 2 mins or until pale golden and well risen. Transfer

to a serving plate and keep warm while you repeat with the

remaining batter to make 12 pancakes.

3. To make the caramelised bananas, heat the sugar and

coconut milk in another frying pan until the sugar has melted

and the mixture is bubbling. Once reduced slightly, add the

sliced bananas and bubble for 2 mins, then flip and cook for

1 min.

4. Serve 3 warm pancakes per person with some of the

bananas, drizzling over any remaining caramel from the pan.Finish with a dollop of coconut yogurt

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, thank you to Tesco for sponsoring this blog post. Try these at home for a treat at the weekend i promise you will not be disappointed. Until next time, Helen xx