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No bake breakfast bars

I got an apology today. From a German Doctor. Mays birth was wrapped with so many emotions. Joy, relief, love but unfortunately there was also fear, abandonment, hurt and worry. The short version is that we were let down by a host of medical staff, from the doctor that admitted me, to the nurses on duty that day. The thing is that everyone is human, we all have bad days, we all have days when we are rushed and tired and stressed, and I can only imagine that in the medical profession all of those things are a million times harder and more serious. But two things happened last week. Firstly I was reading about birth and the author wrote that in birth, despite what traumas may happen, most of us think ‘at least I have a healthy baby’ but, she wrote, you matter too. Secondly I realised that I wasn’t ok with it. This seems so obvious to say but often we are not ok with something and yet we settle for it, or we quash it beneath a flurry of other feelings. Last week I realised that I wasn’t ok with what happened and that I wanted my chance to talk about it and my chance to get an apology that I feel I deserve. That day was supposed to be a magical one. I had no expectations going into it, I was willing and ready to listen and learn from the experienced medical team. I deserved to enjoy it, to feel cared for and accepted, loved and respected. I deserved to feel special because I had just given birth to an amazing baby girl. I had become a mum and I needed a little love for it.

So today, I got on the bike and cycled through the snow. I had a range of tests and then I sat opposite the Dr that delivered May and told her exactly how those 48hrs were for me. She sat, she listened and then she held my arm and apologised. She offered me support, she wrote complaints but most of all she validated that what happened wasn’t ok. And now of course it all feels a lot better.

So I am sitting here, writing this and drinking coffee. The baby is sleeping after a morning at nursery, the husband is running errands. There is an apple cake baking in the oven and a cauldron of ratatouille on the stove to drop round at a friends house. My eyes are burning with tiredness, emotional rather than physical, and i am eating the last of these breakfast bars. These bars have lasted 2 weeks in the freezer and they are amazing. They are the best grab and go bar I have ever made and I love that you keep them frozen but that they are ready to eat within 5 minutes. You dont need to add any chocolate to them but you can if you like – just melt a few pieces of 80% and then spread in a paper thin layer over the finished bars before chilling. These bars are ideal with a coffee in the morning, you can eat them with one hand as you nurse/type/push the pram and i promise they dont lead to any sugar spikes…Im off to lie down for 10minutes and to pat myself on the back briefly.

ps – i took some beautiful photos of these bars but nothing with upload properly so bare with me and I promise more shots will appear soon x

Ingredients
200g dates destoned
60g almond (or peanut or sunflower) butter
80g honey (or maple syrup)
110g chopped nuts and/or dried fruit
140g oats

Method
Line an 8x8inch baking dish or tray
Place the almond butter and the honey into a pan
Place the dates into a food processor with a splash of warm water and process for 5-7 minutes until they broken down and dough like
Place the dates and oats and chopped nuts/fruit into a large bowl and stir well to combine
Warm the honey and nut butter till they are a smooth sauce
Pour over the oat mixture and stir well
Press into the baking dish and then place into the freezer to set
These will keep sealed in the freezer for at least three months
Remove 5-10 mins before you want to enjoy

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Berry baked oatmeal

Breakfast is without a doubt my favourite meal of the day. I love running, coming home, putting on the coffee and pondering what to feed myself with. Luckily, I have a pretty strong morning stomach and thus no food are off limits. Brown rice with miso, greens and chilli. Leftover quinoa pizza. Anything goes. Breakfast to me is a quiet time. I normally eat alone as Alex is off training and I like the calm ritual of it. I like the thought of starting your day well, building foundations and all that. I like that it is, for me, a private meal. A time to indulge my tastebuds and when I really only need consider my own stomach.

Breakfast became especially important to me when I was sick because I found it hard to eat after 4pm. The combination of overtiredness, stress and medication meant post 4pm was a culinary dead zone. It was like this for almost two years. So breakfast held significant value. I would often wait a long time, allowing my body to stretch and wake before eating. I would enjoy the hunger and the thoughts of all the delicious foods that lay ahead. And then I would indulge.

Breakfast is still vital to me. I could happily miss dinner and instead make a plate of nibbles to tide me over to the morning. I could even skip lunch as long as a hearty breakfast had preceded it. There are many ideas as to what meal is best and when we should eat it, but really surely it comes down to your own body and its needs. Maybe its best to simply stop and listen and see when and what you need and want. To me it seems logical to eat when you are hungry and not when you are full.

This baked oatmeal recipe is for those evenings when breakfast seems a long way off. Perhaps your dinner wasn’t as tasty as you had hoped or perhaps it was eaten too early and now the evening seems to be stretching on without a promise of supper.

This baked oatmeal recipe is sweet and filling. It is pure comfort food. I like mine baked the night before, left to cool and then sliced in thick pieces in the morning and served with a dollop of rich coconut yoghurt and some dark berries. It makes the perfect breakfast for overnight guests just simply mix, bake and serve warm with a drizzle of maple syrup and a mug of strong coffee.

Baked Oatmeal- Serves 6

Ingredients
200g rolled oats
100g chopped almonds/pecans plus some additional for sprinkling
3 tbsp maple syrup (honey/agave)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
250ml almond milk
1 chia egg (or one large free range egg)
3 tbsp. coconut oil melted
200g berries (fresh or frozen)

Method
Preheat your oven to 180
Grease a baking dish or a loaf tin with a little coconut oil
Mix the dry ingredients together (oats, almonds, carrots, baking powder, cinnamon and berries) and in a seperate bowl whisk the wet ingredients together
Slowly combine the two and stir well
Pour into your form and sprinkle the top with the extra nuts and any additional berries
Bake for 35mins until the edges are golden brown
Let stand for 10 minutes before serving
This will keep for 5 days in the fridge and can be reheated before eating

Enjoy

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Banana eggy bread

French toast to some this will always be eggy bread to me.

I used to go on Brownie camp every year, and every year we would get eggy bread one morning for breakfast. Depending on your duty that morning you sometimes got to be the lucky one dipping slice after slice of bread ready to feed a troop of hungry mouths. The only bad fate was if you were left till last with the heel of the loaf. Nothing is a bigger let down that heel of the loaf eggy bread. Back then I hadn’t even heard of maple syrup and the only choice of topping was ketchup. I grew up firmly in the eggy bread as a savory breakfast camp and despite the husband and LA’s best efforts maple syrup does not get plate space with my ‘french toast’. With the little one loving finger food, eggy bread is a great breakfast. Its easy and quick to make and is a total family pleaser. This recipe adds in banana but you can leave it out, or add in other flavors like grated carrot, grated apple or just keep it plain and simple.

This banana eggy bread is the baby’s favorite variety. The banana caramelizes and sweetens the bread meaning that you don’t need any extra sweetener or syrup. I like to serve hers on lollipop sticks, interspersed with slices of soft or cooked fruit. She loves pulling the food off and I love that there is less food flung around the kitchen.

Can we just go back to maple syrup for one second. Did it exist in Europe in the 90’s? What about hummus? Chia seeds? There are so many foods now that are a regular part of my diet. Foods that don’t seem exotic to me at all in many ways and yet if I think about them, I think I only tasted them in my twenties for the first time. Along with hummus and maple syrup I could also add sushi, dimsum, thai green curry, tofu, and so many more. What about you?

Thankfully this eggy bread is as good now as it was 25 years ago. This is a recipe that I loved growing up and that my daughter loves now. I hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 large slices of bread
2 eggs whisked
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp cinnamon
1 ripe banana

Method
Whisk together the eggs and the banana
Stir in the cinnamon
Whisk in the milk
Soak the bread slices in the eggy mixture
Once they are well soaked place into a hot oiled pan and cook on either side until golden brown

For little ones, cut into cubes and serve with soft fruit

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YNBO- Tigernut buttermilk pancakes with coconut butter

We just got back from the most beautiful weekend in Cambridge. We have come back reinvigorated, filled with friendship & our kitchen has a few new ingredients to boot.

We got back just in time for this weeks adventures in the tent too, and last night was all about the batter. Was it the first time ever that the ovens were only used in one out of the three challenges? And also is it a bake if it’s not in an oven? Anyway, Great British Batter Off saw the bakers (batterers sounds oh so very wrong) tackle identical Yorkshire puddings, lace pancakes and finally churros. There were some great flavor combinations but personally I have to admit that I missed the baking bit last night. Still, it was fate that pancakes were a challenge & I can home from Cambridge with a bag of unusual flour that I have been itching to use!

I decided for my YNBO batter challenge to make plant based buttermilk pancakes using an ingredient that is totally new to me: tigernuts. Tiger nuts are not actually nuts, they are in fact a tuber & they used to be sold in sweet shops in the 1940s & 50s. They are rich in iron and have a nutrient profile that mirrors…well, breast milk. They are also a pre-biotic too.

They taste creamy, rich & slightly nutty, similar to a cashew. Thanks to a wonderful friend, I am the proud owner of 2kg of tigernut flour & with batter week upon us it seemed like the perfect time to test it out. Tiger nut flour looks not dissimilar to spelt flour. It is nut brown and very finely milled. These pancakes are somehow fluffy & thick and yet dense at the same time. They remind me of buckwheat pancakes. The tiger nuts provide a rich taste and the baking powder gives them lift. The homemade buttermilk helps keep them light & moist (sorry there is no other word!). I added lemon zest to the mix but you don’t have to and these could easily be a savoury base, topped with pesto & roasted vegetables or even made into single bite canapes hosting any toppings you fancy.

The coconut maple butter is inspired by LA and a delicious breakfast at The Butchers Daughter. With the baby asleep in the ergo, I perched on a stool & devoured buckwheat pancakes with berries & melting coconut butter. I practically inhaled them, pausing only to lick stray crumbs off the little ones head. I’ve never had such great pancakes since but these tigernut ones have arrived and are bringing a little bite of Abbot Kinney into our kitchen.Inspired by LA, created in Munich, prompted by Welford Park and facilitated by Cambridge. These are seriously international pancakes.

Ingredients (makes 8 pancakes)
1 cup (250g) tigernut flour

1 cup (250g) spelt flour (or gf flour)

Juice 1 lemon

1 tsp baking powder

1.5 cup (180ml) oat or other milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method
Place the lemon juice into the milk & set aside for 10 mins

Place the flour & baking powder into a large dish

Add the lemony milk & apple cider vinegar and stir well

Leave to sit for 10mins

Ladle the mixture into a hot greased pan letting the pancakes bubble on the upside before flipping over

Ingredients (Coconut maple butter)
8 tbsp desiccated coconut

1 tsp maple syrup

Method
Place the coconut into a food processor or spice grinder

On a medium setting allow to process

Scrape down the sides every minute to keep incorporating

Keep processing till you have a creamy butter

Stir in the maple syrup & serve

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Mama on a Monday – Breakfast cookies

I would like to impart on my daughter my love of breakfast. It is without a doubt my favorite meal of the day. I can easily go with dinner but breakfast makes me happy. It doesn’t have to be big, in fact a large well made coffee and a bowl of berries is perfection, but it does have to taste damn good. There are so many foods that just seem better at breakfast. Soft scrambled eggs, buckwheat pancakes, fruit. Not to mention porridge, bircher and smoothies. The mini one is coming round to the idea of eating in the morning but she is also busy right now, so very very busy. She has just started to stand up and is trying to stand without holding on right now. Every surface needs to be explored and every book shelf needs to be attempted. This means that breakfast for her needs to be quick and for my piece of mind it needs to be nutritionally dense. Every mouthful needs to count.

These breakfast cookies are delicious. I enjoyed one, warm out the oven, baby on one hip, coffee out of short arms reach. They are hearty and naturally sweet. They taste of cinnamon and raisins but with the earthiness of oats.

Oats are a great breakfast food, they are easy to digest but they don’t raise the blood sugar and provide slow release energy. Cinnamon is naturally sweet which means you can use less sweetener and it also has the added benefit of being a great antioxidant. It can be an allergen so make sure you test first. I made 12 cookies from this batch but you could make smaller ‘snack’ size version too.

Depending what your little one likes you could add in apricots or dried berries. If nuts are tolerated then you can substitute one cup of oats for 1 cup of ground almonds or fold in some chopped nuts. You could even add desiccated coconut or orange zest. Customize as you fancy but most of all enjoy.

Ingredients (makes 12 large cookies)
2.5 cups oats (plus 2 tbsp for rolling)

2 tbsp maple syrup/date syrup

1 large banana

1 tbsp apple puree

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp raisins

Method
Preheat your oven to 170C

Place the banana, olive oil, apple puree & cinnamon into your food processor and blitz till pureed

Add in the oats and raisins and blitz unit you have a thick, sticky dough

Line a baking tray with baking paper

Place 2 tbsp of oats into a shallow dish

Using your hands shape spoonfuls of the dough into balls and roll in the oats

Place onto the lined baking tray

Bake for 30 mins flipping once

Enjoy

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