Ridiculously Healthy Banana Bread/Muffins

Hey lovelies,

Recently I have been a little quite here on The Raw Serenity and I do apologize for that.

I have been caught up in other commitments and I will admit I have neglected my “down time” which I now know is extremely important to prioritise!

Anyways on the positive side, I have tackled some serious obstacles of mine.

I have taken on some foods that I haven’t eaten in a very long time due to listening to the lies of my eating disorder and I have been trying to remove all of the bullshit brainwashing about certain foods and diets.

The media has been telling us for years that carbs put on weight. They have made us become frightened of eating any type of carbohydrate.

Just like fat, not all carbohydrates put on weight. We need a certain amount of carbohydrates daily in order for our bodies to function correctly.

More than any diet claims there is, the claim about fruit making people put on weight irritates me the most.

That irritates me just by mentioning it, so anyways the main point is ,I am not denying my body of certain foods anymore. Instead I am listening and fueling my body with a wide variety of healthy, whole foods from every food group.

Another claim that frustrates me is that vegan food can’t be delicious and also healthy whole foods can’t taste nearly as good as the processed, refined foods.

So to argue the point, I have created ridiculously delicious and nutritious banana bread /muffins!

They have:

• No added sugar
• Fat Free
• Wholegrain
• No artificial colours or flavours
• No artificial sweeteners
• Organic

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Organic Wholegrain Spelt Flour
• 1 tsp baking Soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp pink Himalayan salt (or regular sea salt)
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 Almond milk (or milk of choice)
• ½ cup date syrup* ( see recipe below)
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 ½ tsp organic vanilla extract
• 2 cups over ripe mashed bananas ( roughly 5 medium bananas)
• 1 tbsp stevia

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Combine dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add wet ingredients into the bowl and mix in with a spoon or hands (don’t over mix).

Pour mixture into muffin liners or bread tin and bake for 20-25mins.

* I made my own date syrup by using two handfuls of dates into the food processer and slowly adding water until it resembled a syrup consistency

So I hate to tell you I told you so but really this recipe proves the point that healthy vegan baking is truly amazing for your health and your taste-buds.

What is one health claim that you are  often correcting for people?

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa

Mexican Taco Salad

Last month I feared eating out. In a recent post I told you how a previous dining experience became a stressful event. I can now proudly tell you that the fear of dining out is gone!

I am not apologetic for being vegan, asking for dressing on the side or making some adjustments to a dish.

I now dine out regularly which is a huge step. A bigger step is that I haven’t been getting stressed out about it (miracles do happen peeps!).

Eating vegan when dining out isn’t all that hard as most places at least have a garden salad you can order if nothing else. However I have recently had an unpleasant experience at an Italian restaurant when I asked if the risotto was vegan.

I firstly had to explain what a vegan was (she must live under a rock) and then after she rolled her eyes at me instead of writing down my name she just wrote vegan.

Her service defiantly annoyed me but deep down I know that she just doesn’t understand.

Anyways the risotto was awesome and it was the first time since I’ve had one in 7 years! Again, let me mention that I didn’t stress over it!

On Sunday my boyfriend took me to some beaches around the area that I haven’t seen before.

The beaches were isolated and so natural. There were no high rises or houses across from the beach but instead bush tracks and palm tree’s surrounding the white sand. It felt amazing to see so much natural beauty.

One the way back home we stopped into a Mexican restaurant as we were both starving.

Looking at the menu I immediately started to recreate meals in my head that I could make a healthier vegan version at home.

Naturally, raw walnut tacos came to mind as they are one of my favourite meals but I wanted something a little more authentic for a Mexican dish.

I made this meal for lunch yesterday and loved every bite. I saw a similar Mexican black bean salad on Pinterest and new it would be the perfect filling inside a raw taco shell.

Ingredients:
Serves 2

1 can organic black beans

¾ cup diced red capsicum

1.5 raw sweet corn cobs

½ sml-med red onion

1 medium ripe avocado

½ -1 tbsp lemon juice

8 cos lettuce leaves

Instructions:

1. Dice capsicum and onion and transfer into a bowl.
2. Rinse and drain black beans and pour them into the bowl.
3. Cut corn off the cob and mix into the beans, capsicum and onion
4. Place avocado and lemon juice into a food processor and mix until it is smooth and creamy
5. Serve on cos lettuce leaves

How easy is that!

Like me, everyone seems to be getting extremely busy at the moment but this just goes to show how quick and easy a nutritious meal can be.

I’d love to know your last Mexican meal that you ate and if you have tried to recreate it at home?

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa x

Loveable Pumpkin Chickpea’s

 

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a tendency to over dose on pumpkin. I can’t help it, pumpkin seriously goes with everything.  From sweet to savoury, the good old pumpkin is a staple in my recipes.

You know how people cover their meals that they aren’t too sure of with sauce or cheese? I’m like this with pumpkin. If I add pumpkin into a meal, I’m never worried about not enjoying it (example: my pumpkin sushi recipe).

I am not 100% in love with raw cauliflower rice (yet!). I love cooked cauliflower rice but haven’t made the full transition to eating it raw.

So today I added all of my favourite ingredients into a mix to place on a bowl of raw cauliflower rice.

It worked, I completely loved every mouthful!

Loveable Pumpkin Chickpea’s

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cooked chickpeas

1/3 heaping cup pumpkin puree

¼ cup diced red capsicum

¼ cauliflower

½ pink lady apple

Flat leaf parsley to garnish

Sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Instructions

(serves 1)

1. Boil pumpkin until soft
2. Dice apple and capsicum
3. Place cauliflower florets into the food processor and process until they become a rice-like texture. Transfer into a bowl
4. Once pumpkin is cooked, puree it and mix it with the diced apple, capsicum and cooked chickpeas.
5. Transfer the mixture onto the bowl of raw cauliflower rice, sprinkle with cinnamon and add parsley to garnish

I really enjoyed this meal (obviously, it had pumpkin in it!) and loved the colours of it!

Now it’s about time I give you an update on my wellness program!

It’s been a month since I started my affirmation program and I’m proud to say that I have kept my promise of sticking with it for an entire month (High Five)!

Thank gosh for mobile phone reminders, post it notes and my alarm, otherwise I may have forgotten about saying affirmations during the day.

Since starting the program of saying daily affirmations out loud, in the mirror and multiple times a day I have felt more self love and appreciation towards myself.

I will defiantly continue with saying daily affirmations but I will however make a change to what the original program entailed.

Daily affirmations have been known to work because when you say something repeatedly for a long period of time, you begin to believe it.

I was saying a different affirmation every day and although I said it multiple times during the day I felt I wasn’t 100% convinced by the time I got to sleep.

I will now be sticking with the same affirmation for an entire week.

I feel this will allow the affirmation “soak” in more. I will be posting my weeks affirmation on twitter so make sure you are following me so you too can feel more love and appreciation towards yourself.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa x

Digestive Green Smoothie

Hi lovelies!

I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to be here for Finding Serenity in my Sunday. I had a busy day but I hope today I can make it up to you by sharing a delicious, ridiculously healthy recipe.

By now you all know about my past struggles with my eating. Because I have neglected my digestive health for many years, it is now suffering because of it.

Even though I have been eating and living a much healthier lifestyle for months now, my digestive system needs to be healed.

I can’t blame it, after all I treated it terribly and didn’t give it the tender, love and care that it deserved.

Now that I am thinking more clearly, I can see and feel just how important it is to look after your digestive system and how uncomfortable it can be when you don’t!

So this smoothie contains a beautiful cocktail of digestive loving ingredients to help reverse any damage and also heal your digestive system.

It tastes damn amazing too with great texture, so seriously you need to get involved right now!

Ingredients

1 big handful of baby spinach leaves

1 sml-med frozen banana

½ sml pink lady apple

1 tsp Bentonite Clay

1tsp spirulina

½  tsp Psyllium husk

20 ml Organic Aloe Vera Juice

8 drops liquid stevia (or to taste)

2 cups chilled water

Instructions

Blend and serve in a wine glass to make digestion sexy!

In other news..

Last week I bought the above vintage design travel mug.

I can now sip on my smoothie on the way to work and also drink hot cacao during the day (YAY).

It has two different designs on each side and most importantly it doesn’t spill!

Question: Do you drink your green smoothies straight away or do you make them and drink them later during the day?

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa x

Perfected Baked Veggie Patties

 

Hey Fab Foodies!

Earlier this week I FINALLY created the perfect baked vegan patties.

I honestly can’t tell you how many attempts I have had to try and get the texture and flavour spot on.

I have tried countless recipes for vegan burger/patties but being the perfectionist that I am, I had a vision in my head and I needed to get it right.

It needs to be baked, not fried.

It was essential that the outside was crisp and the inside a little soft, but not like a hummus texture.

It couldn’t crumble if I were to eat it with my fingers straight from the fridge (let’s not pretend we don’t all do this).

And it had to be gluten and preferably oil free.

So I’m so happy that I have perfected the recipe!

Ingredients

½ cup split red lentils

½ a medium sweet potato

1/3 frozen sweet baby peas (Blanched)

¼ cup grated carrot

3 Tbsp finely diced red onion

1 garlic clove minced

1 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley

6 Tbsp chickpea flour

1/4 tsp (heaped) cumin

¼ tsp (heaped) cinnamon

¼ tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Decent pinch of pink Himalayan salt

 

Instructions:
(makes 9 patties)

1. Soak lentils for at least 8 hours
2. Boil lentils until cooked (roughly 15 mins). Then drain.
3. Pre heat oven to 180 degree’s Celsius
4. Peel and dice the sweet potato. Boil it until cooked then drain
5. In a large mixing bowl, roughly mash the sweet potato with a fork
6. Add the lentils into the bowl and combine with the potato
7. Using a paper towel, dry the grated carrot and blanched peas as much as possible to remove excess moisture
8. Mix in the rest of the ingredients, except the chickpea flour
9. 2 Tbsp at a time mix in the chickpea flour
10. Mould mixture into small palm size patties and place onto baking paper
11. Place in oven until golden brown ( roughly 15-20 mins)

 

I served this with my usual delicious salad which had the lot; Avo, beetroot, zucchini, snow peas, red capsicum and sauerkraut.

I’m so glad I didn’t settle until I got the recipe just right!

I’m sure you will love them as much as I do.

Question: Are you a perfectionist when it comes to cooking?

What’s one dish that took you a while to perfect?

 

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa x

 

Black is the New Green Smoothie

Hi lovelies,

Hope you are all well!

I went to an Ethical Nutrient seminar last night for work, so I’m a little tired today but it was worth it.

I will be talking about this in a future post as I want to let you in on some new research but also the marketingbehind health products.

Today I’ll share with you my favourite “green” smoothie blend.

Green smoothies have really taken off, and for good reason!

They boost your daily green intake, they are high in fiber, packed with anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals from the raw ingredients. And lets also not forget how damn amazing they taste!

So Green Smoothies pretty much rock, but why limit yourself to green when you can have black!

Ingredients
(serves 1)

Large handful of Baby Spinach leaves

1 small frozen Banana (or half large)

½ cup of frozen Blueberries

1 tsp Spirulina

5 drops of Stevia (or to taste)

20ml Aloe Vera juice

400ml chilled water

So it doesn’t look all that pretty but this smoothie is one seriously tasty superfood blend.

I drink this every single day.

It is a perfect after workout drink as it is high in protein from the Spirulina. Plus you get all the vitamins and minerals to keep you fighting fit.

Drinking a green Black smoothie daily is non-negotiable for me.

Because I don’t drink coffee or have any caffeine this gives me loads of energy and doesn’t give me the slump within 30 mins like coffee does.

Do you currently drink green smoothies?

 

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa x

Asian Inspired Cos Cups

I have noticed that the only vegan Asian dish I have cooked is sushi. That’s it!
Sad I know, but that is all about to change.

Other than the basic stir-fry, I’m not very familar with vegan Asian meals.

The reason I haven’t cooked many Asian meals is because of the pressure I once put on myself. I am a bit of a perfectionist, and not having the experience with certain techniques and exotic ingredients, I haven’t been confident enough to try making them.

There are many flavoursome salads and cooked meals waiting for me to make, and practice makes perfect so I am going to start veganising popular Asian favourites.

I created this recipe that was inspired from san choy bow.
I used ingredients that I already on hand and would be somewhat similar to the recipe I once used before I was vegan.

I tweaked this dish from the first time I made it and now it’s spot on!

The flavours complement each other beautifully and it only took me 20 mins to make.

This is a perfect entree or as it turned out for me, a main meal. I couldn’t stop at two cups so I had 5 cups for dinner.

Addictive – you have been warned.

 

Ingredients

( Roughly makes 10 cups – serves 2-3 )

150g organic tempeh

1 cup sliced button mushrooms

1/3 red capsicum

5 bok choy stalks

Cos lettuce leaves

2 Tbsp low sodium tamari sauce

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/8 Tsp grated ginger

Directions

1. Peel mushrooms and wash all vegetables
2. Finely cut mushrooms, capsicum and tempeh in small cubes roughly the same size
3. Finely slice bok choy horizontally
4. Place all sliced vegetables and tempeh into a mixing bowl
5. Mix tamari, balsamic vinegar and ginger in a small cup and poor over the vegetables and tempeh
6. Transfer mixture into a non stick fry pan and cook until mushrooms and bok choy and soft
7. Serve into cos lettuce leaves

I’d love to know your favourite Asian dish!

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa x

Red Lentil & Sweet Potato “Hummus”

The unimaginable happened last week: I ran out of chickpeas.

It felt unnatural, traumatic and impossible for me not have any chickpeas in the house, but it’s true.

I imagine most vegans feel the same way.  Chickpeas are a delicious staple in vegan diet and are extremely versatile.

In a way, I’m glad I ran out of them because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have made this wickedly creamy “hummus”.

I started to look for recipes online but most comments on red lentil hummus were “bland” or “I prefer the original” so I decided to make my own recipe. The most popular comments of all were in regard to calling it a hummus.

Traditional hummus is made from chickpeas, ground sesame seeds, lemon and olive oil. The majority of people know this.

Although substituting red lentils for chickpeas doesn’t technically classify it as a hummus, I still refer to this recipe as a “hummus” because it automatically informs people of the basic ingredients used in the dip.

The reaction towards the naming issue amazed me. I understand that people love their hummus; I too think extremely highly of the chickpea but for it to cause an issue other than having none left, took me by surprise.

I searched for other similar comments towards food substitutes such as, banana nice-cream and cauliflower “rice” but no one questioned their name. Just the hummus.

I think the lesson here is to never underestimate the passion one has for hummus, and secondly if you substitute chickpeas for another bean or lentil always use inverted comers when calling it a hummus. When saying it out loud perhaps curl to figures in the air (like Doctor Evil in Austin Powers) to save you from this dilemma. Or better still just say this thing is freaking awesome; because it is.

Ingredients

½ cup red lentils (uncooked)

1 small sweet potato (or half a large)

3Tb tahini

1 garlic clove

¼ cup lemon juice

Pinch of salt (I used Pink Himalayan)

Directions

1. Soak lentils for 6-8 hours.
2. Rinse the split peas and transfer into a saucepan with the chopped sweet potato and boil for 15-20 mins.
3. Once cooked, drain and give it a quick rinse with cold water.
4. While the split peas and potato are still warm transfer them into the food processor and give it a quick mix. It’s important to do this while they are warm because this how you get a creamy consistency.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it is completely mixed through.
   You may need to add some water or olive oil if you want a thinner consistency.
6. Store in an air tight container for 4-5 days.

This “hummus” (please note the inverted comers used) is anything but bland. I also found that using red split peas made it creamier and smoother.

I’m positive you all will love it!

Be kind to yourself,

Lisa x

Pumpshrooms

When I first decided to go vegan, Pumpshrooms was the first recipe I created. Since then this dish has been served to many guests and become a regular meal of mine.

I created Pumpshrooms (pumpkin stuffed mushrooms) on a night when a few friends were coming over. I wanted to show them how easy, inexpensive and how seriously tasty vegan meals can be.

I cook this dish at least once a week and I love serving them to friends and guests as they always compliment me on how delicious they are.

I love pumpkin the way others love chocolate; I can’t seem to get enough! If we had to get technical, I’d say Kent Pumpkin is my favourite because it’s sweeter than other types and stays moist when roasted.

What really makes these Pumpshrooms stand out is the velvet texture of the pumpkin puree.

To create this texture you will need to use a high speed blender or hand stick blender. I have tried this recipe with all different types of pumpkin, but Kent pumpkin created the perfect texture.

Ingredients

2 Portobello mushrooms

300g-400g Pumpkin (Kent if available)

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1Tb raw walnuts

Directions

1. Turn oven on to 180 degree C
2. Slice pumpkin 2cm thick and place on a tray and transfer into the oven
3. Peel mushrooms and remove the stem
4. Once pumpkin is cooked through, blend pumpkin with a hand blender or high speed blender
5. Spread pumpkin evenly into the mushrooms
6. Sprinkle walnuts and cinnamon on top
7. Place mushrooms back into the hot oven and cook for roughly 10 mins

I absolutely love this dish and I’m sure you will too. It’s everything I look for in a recipe; simple, inexpensive, quick and most importantly delicious!

I’d love to know what your first meal you created was in the comments below!

Lisa x

Brain Food – Soulful Pudding

 

After my last post I now think it is an appropriate time to introduce you to something close to my heart and I have 100% confidence that it will change your life.

If you have read my journey you would be aware that I believe food can act as medicine and people often neglect this most important factor of health and wellbeing.

Most people focus on the physical benefits of food such as low fat, high protein, low carb, no sugar etc and although some of these factors can be healthy (and others damn right dangerous) we aren’t supporting the one thing that has control over bodies: the mind!

Feeding the mind should be our first priority. When we feed our mind we are in a healthy and thoughtful state to be able to make conscious choices that support our overall wellbeing.

There are many foods that are great “brain fuel” but today I want to stress the importance of Omega-3.

There have been several studies that support omega-3 consumption to help fight mood disorders such as depression.Omega-3 influences the production of “neurotrophic factors” which regulate brain cells and can affect gene expression in the brain.

Most people think of fish when they hear Omega 3 and aren’t aware that there are healthier ways to include these important essential fatty acids in their diet.

Some fish contain high levels of methyl-mercury which can lead to ingestion of acceptably high levels of contaminants in large amounts, so you aren’t necessarily doing yourself the world of good by swallowing those pricey fish oil tablets.

Fish contain omega-3 because they eat sea vegetables which include seaweed and algae such as Spirulina. Spirulina is the richest source of nutrients of all foods and also just to put in a fun fact, it is the most protein dense food there is worldwide!

Although many aren’t too happy about jumping into the spirulina (just yet) there is another delicious source that will bring you many benefits other than the satisfying taste: Chia seeds.

Chia seeds are rich in omega-3 and just 25 grams per day is enough to receive the right amount of omega-3 to have a healthy mind and body. These little beauties are also high in protein, calcium, fibre, iron and other vitamins and minerals that chia seeds have to offer, hence why they are called a superfood.

Chia seeds expand 11 times their size when soaked in liquid for as little as 20 minutes. These super seeds also make a perfect pudding so I’m excited to share with you my favourite pudding;

Soulful Pudding

Ingredients:
Serves 1

2 Tbsp Chia seeds (I use white)

2/3 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

1 medium size frozen banana (slightly defrosted)

1.5-2 Tbsp raw cacao

3 raspberries (optional)

Instructions:

1. Blend Banana , milk and cacao together and pour into a bowl
2. Add chia seeds and stir into the mix
   
3. Set aside for 30 mins, stirring occasionally
4. Enjoy!

This is the easiest, most delicious and nutritious pudding there is. I am loving dessert and I bet you will too when you try it.