Friday 16 January 2015

cinnamon and chia seed pancakes :)

...also known as oatmeal banana pancakes. But cinnamon and chia sounds much more exotic ;)

These are really easy to whip up and they taste deeelicious. I honestly prefer them to normal pancakes. They are pretty healthy too - flourless and sugar-free - which means of course that you can eat twice as much as usual. That's my logic at least.. ;)


As Soulja Boy would say, stacks on stacks on stacks..   

Ingredients

Serves 2

 - 2 bananas
 - 2 eggs
 - 1/2 cup oats 
 - 1/2 tsp baking powder
 - 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
 - 1 tsp chia seeds (you can use 1 tsp ground linseed if you don't have chia)
 - pinch of salt

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients in a blender. 
2. Blend to combine. You can choose how smooth you want the mix to be - I like to keep a little bit of bite to the oats.
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Fold a piece of kitchen towel in half and moisten with oil (I use coconut). Carefully rub the pan with oiled towel.
4. Using a tablespoon, place 2-3 spoonfuls of the batter on the pan, depending on the size of your pan. Make sure to only put one spoonful per pancake.
5. Fry until golden-brown on both sides.
6. Serve with your choice of topping - maple syrup, fresh fruit, yogurt, coconut, almond butter.. The choices are endless! 
I like mine served with low fat vanilla yogurt, blueberries, banana, toasted coconut, a dollop of almond butter and a drizzle of honey. Mmmmm...
To make a really quick berry coulis (as seen in the picture below), place a handful of mixed berries in a bowl and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Heat in a microwave on high for two minutes, stirring after one minute. 


Top with some toasted almonds and low-fat greek yogurt. If you're not drooling yet, you need your taste buds checked. 

Friday 2 January 2015

jungle boogie

Apologies for the brief blogging hiatus over the holiday period - my laptop was lost somewhere amidst a deluge of turkey leftovers, Celebration wrappers and one too many bottles of vino. Of course, I could have taken some time out of the many hours spent watching Harry Potter to do something useful with my life - but that would have been a betrayal to the spirit of Christmas, I feel. ;)

I will have a nice European travel post coming your way in the next while, but to tide us over till then, I thought I'd share this painting I did for my boyfriend as part of his Christmas present. He studies Botany in college and has really taken a shine to the old plants, so I decided to draw on the works of Henri Rousseau and create this jungle scene for him..

There's us in the middle there, having a right old laugh. 

I used acrylic paints and colouring pencils, and the page size is A2. It's been a long time since I painted something of this size, and I have to say I'd forgotten how much I enjoy it. It's so relaxing to throw on a record, light some candles or incense and just paint away for a couple of hours - only while wearing old clothes, of course. There is absolutely nothing relaxing about realising you've gotten white acrylic paint all over said boyfriend's good Superdry hoody. Oops. All in the name of art, eh..? :P

This isn't the type of song I'd choose to listen to while painting now, but if you feel like having your own lil jungle boogie, here's Kool and The Gang to take it away: