Chorizo & Sweet Potato Hash...

I don't really think of food in terms of breakfast, lunch or dinner... I'm more concerned about the quality of the meal, how it fits in with my goals & if it tastes good... This dish however, is amazing for breakfast, everything from the smell of bacon & chorizo wafting through the house, to the eggs baked on top (I LOVE eggs with a runny centre!!).. If you're finding it boring eating bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast, this is a great alternative. It'd make a great dinner too though!

As much as I love baking, I love savoury dishes like this. There are no rules, and you can substitute or add ingredients depending on your taste preferences or whatever you have in the fridge and it'll still taste great. I posted a photo of this last week on the Facebook page, but I think regardless of the simplicity of the recipe it's important to post them on GLBTK so nobody misses a recipe. After all, the page is all about demonstrating how easy & quick it is to eat well.

• 150g sweet potato, cubed
• 50g chorizo, chopped
• 2 smoked bacon medallions, chopped 
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 large portobello mushroom, sliced
• 5 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 100g spinach
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 4 tbsp passata/chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt & pepper
• 2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 200d. 

Start by chopping all the ingredients to small pieces that will cook quickly. 

In an oven safe skillet, cook the sweet potato for 2-3 minutes in a little coconut oil until slightly softened. 

Add the chorizo & bacon and cook quickly.

Add the onion, mushroom and tomatoes, cooking until just softened. 

Next add the spinach, tomato purée, passata and spices of choice. Cook quickly for approx 2 minutes until the spinach is wilted. 

Finally crack 2 eggs on top of the mixture. Place pan in the preheated oven for 3-4 minutes until the eggs are cooked but the yolks are still soft. 

Serve immediately. 

Summer Berry Pancakes...

Since it's starting to look a lot like summer outside, what better way to start the day than with these Summer Berry Pancakes...

You'll have noticed I'm a big fan of pancakes, mainly because I sometimes get bored with eggs for breakfast. If you're sensible about the ingredients you're adding to your pancakes (as well as your food intake for the rest of the day), there's no reason why pancakes can't be a legitimately healthy breakfast...

If you have the time, I really recommend leaving the pancake batter in the fridge for 15-20 minutes before cooking them. This allows the flax seed/ground almonds to absorb some of the liquid & the baking powder to get to work. The extra resting time will give you really light, fluffy & gently risen pancakes...

For the pancakes: 

• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp buttermilk (or coconut milk if you prefer)
• 1 tbsp ground almonds
• 1 tbsp milled flax seed 
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp GF baking powder

Add all the ingredients to a bowl, whisk well until frothy. As mentioned above, if you have the time allow the pancake batter to rest in the fridge.

Pour heaped spoonfuls of batter onto a hot pan (with a little melted coconut oil).

The pancake is ready to flip when tiny air bubbles appear on the surface.

Repeat until all the batter is used or just make one giant pancake! Yum!

Serve with Greek yoghurt, mixed berry compote (just place 50g of frozen berries in a saucepan with 2 tbsp of water & allow to soften and break apart slightly) and a little toasted unsweetened dessicated coconut & almonds (just toss in a wok over a moderate heat until pale golden... this releases their natural oils and they'll taste awesome!

Sunny Bacon & Eggs..

I love bacon and eggs... really I do, but sometimes I'd like something a little different for breakfast.

I've no doubt a few people reading will think they could never eat this meat & sweet potato hash for breakfast, but believe me, you will adapt very quickly to eating meat in the morning.... If you're still not sure, try this recipe as a quick lunch.. It really doesn't matter what time of the day you eat it, it's going to taste awesome...

This literally takes about 10 minutes to put together... time constraints really are no excuse for eating junk food... 

• 1 small sweet potato, cut into wedges
• 2 pieces smoked bacon, diced 
• 50g chorizo, chopped 
• 4 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 2 tbsp passata
• 1 egg
• chopped fresh parsley

Start by placing the sweet potato wedges in the microwave for 5 minutes, tossing a couple of times to ensure they cook evenly. 

Meanwhile, start by cooking the chorizo & bacon together in a wok over a high heat. 

Add mushrooms (onions are yum here too). Continue to cook mixture for 2-3 minutes. 

Next add passata, tomato purée & chopped herbs. Allow to simmer over a low heat. 

At this stage, the sweet potato wedges will almost be ready so you can fry/poach the egg. 

Once the egg is cooked, serve with wedges and chorizo/bacon. 

Garnish with fresh parsley & sprinkle with a little smoked paprika. 

This literally looks like sunshine on a plate... you won't even consider that bowl of cereal after you've tried this in the morning! 

Super Healthy No-Grain Granola

I'm not even sure I should be calling this granola... I wouldn't go near traditional granola.. Grains & sugar are a no-go area for me... You did know that commercially produced granola is generally toasted in vegetable oil & sugar right? You're basically having a big bowl of sugar for breakfast, and by 10am you're hungry & lacking energy again... sound familiar? Yeah that'll be all the sugar causing a massive insulin spike, and an even worse crash shortly after... 

Honestly, when you look at the contents of some "healthy" granola in the supermarket, you may actually be better off eating Coco Pops! 

Being open to trying new things is really important when you decide to eliminate certain foods from your diet. It's really exciting experimenting and discovering new flavours in the kitchen. One of the main questions people have when I tell them I don't eat grains is "What do you eat for breakfast?".... 

I've stopped thinking of meals in terms of breakfast, lunch and dinner.... I just consider them as meals and eat whatever I fancy. There's nothing wrong with steak for breakfast... it's the marketing execs in the food industry who have convinced us that cereal is the only breakfast food we should be eating... 

A lot of people have said recently that they really miss a bowl of cereal now and again... so  I've come up with an alternative that is actually really really healthy...

Grain & refined sugar free granola really shouldn't work, but this does! 

• 50g almond flour
• 50g walnuts
• 50g flaked almonds
• 30g hazelnuts
• 50g dessicated coconut
• 50g milled flax seed
• 50g sunflower seeds
• 50g pumpkin seeks
• 25g poppy seeds
• 25g coconut flakes
• 4 dried figs, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp coconut oil melted
• 1 tsp raw organic honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 150d. 

Add all the dry ingredients to food processor & pulse for about 30 seconds. You want to grind up the nuts and seeds so you have some finely ground & some coarse pieces. 

Next, melt the coconut oil with the honey & vanilla. 

Add the the dry ingredients and mix well until everything is evenly coated. 

Spread mixture onto a baking tray & bake for approx 35 minutes until everything is toasted. Toss the mixture mid way through to prevent burning. 

Turn off the oven and allow to cool in the warm oven. This allows the mixture to dry out further & crisp up without over cooking. 

Once cool, toss the granola up & break up any large clusters (or leave the large chunks alone... they're pretty delicious too)

You can store this in an airtight container for around 2 weeks. 

Now... I never usually look at calorie content of foods, mainly because I just adopt a common sense approach to eating these days, but I just know someone is going to ask about the calorie content & nutritional value. Obviously there are a lot of nuts in this mixture which are pretty high in calories... BUT... firstly, all the ingredients have excellent nutritional benefits... healthy fats including MCTs from the coconut oil, anti-inflammatory & metabolism boosting properties as well as being 100% natural.... who wouldn't want to eat that? 

I'm not recommending that you chow down on a massive bowl of this with milk like traditional granola... what I am suggesting is that it's a great way to kill off cravings for sugar laced cereal & if you add healthy ingredients like fresh berries & Greek yoghurt, you're having a super healthy & tasty breakfast!**

**50g of this granola with 100g of Greek yogurt & 50g blueberries comes in at around 430kcal.