Peanut Butter and Jelly Inspired Super Porridge!

Here’s the thing.  We passionately believe that the times of missing out on treats and delicious food and snacks because you choose a healthy diet are gone.  There are so many ways to get ultra good tasting nutrition using fresh, local, organic, real food ingredients that there’s really no excuse once you’ve handled your bad habits.  This recipe is a perfect example.  Yeh so it’s a bit more calorific than some cardboard cracker with low fat cottage cheese and a watercress leaf, but if you’re enjoying some good excercise as part of your #movement pillar there’s really no need to get all unnecessary about it.  Live a little!

This recipe is inspired by the flavours of peanut butter and jelly on toast.  My old habit?  White bread (basically processed high GI cake full of preservatives) toasted with some sort of spread that’s an excuse for butter with a load of Peanut butter and cheap jam (jelly for our American friends) on top.  The peanut butter would have been any old brand which was about 95% peanuts (with some added sugar, stabilisers & emulsifiers).  The jam was basically a shed load of processed sugar with colourings, flavourings and a little fruit (from concentrate) thrown in as a gesture!

So what am I doing now?   Well I’ve found the Meridian brand of Peanut butter.  It’s super tasty and it’s ingredients list is just the way we like it - 100% organic peanuts - nothing else!  They also do some great other varieties as well like Almond and Cashew Butter (we’re not endorsed my Meridian by the way, we just think their stuff is great.)  Anyway - which ever brand of nut butter you choose make it organic and check the ingredients for hidden nasties 😃

As far as Jam is concerned, well I just don’t bother with any processing for this recipe and get the flavours from fresh fruit.

So enough spouting on about all that stuff, let’s get to the recipe.  This is my way of kick starting my day after I’ve done my fasted HIIT workout at 6am.  I’m feeling alive and awake and I’ve worked hard and showered so enjoy it even more.

Ingredients:

Organic Porridge Oats
Organic milk and coconut or almond milk (basically which ever is your favourite or preferred milk)
Malden Sea Salt Flakes
1 desert spoon of Peanut, Cashew, Almond or preferred nut butter
Half desert spoon of extra virgin coconut oil (the best you can find)
1 teaspoon of local honey (just spikes a little sweetness - optional)

Fresh fruit Salad
You can top with any fruit, but for the jam vibe i’ve gone with:
Strawberries
Ginger
Lemon Juice
Red Grapes
Green Grapes
Cherries
Conference Pear

Additional Toppings
Chia Seeds
Bee Pollen
Pistachio Nuts

Method:

Make your porridge.  I use the oats with half and half regular milk and half coconut milk.  When it’s done add a pinch of Malden Sea salt flakes, the coconut oil, nut butter and honey and stir it all to your desired consistency by adding more milk if you need to.  By the way, this is a great spring / summer breakfast or treat if the weather is warm by serving it cooled.

I like to serve my porridge on a plate instead of a bowl.  It tends to cool it down to just the right temperature so I can eat it straight away without a load of blowing and waiting if I’m on a schedule.

After you have your nutty porridge ready it’s time to add the toppings.

To make the fruit salad above (I do this in advance usually the night before), I start with the cherries.  I use a knife to slice the cherries open like i would an avocado and remove the stone, so I’m left with 2 beautiful half cherries.  This takes a little patience, but it’s part of the ritual for me of eating beautiful fresh food and I love it.

By the way, when it comes to fruit salad, it’s worth making a batch of the stuff as it’s a great go to snack attack muncher to keep in the fridge as well as a really good way of getting some of your fruits in for the day.

Next I cut my grapes in half and add them in with some thin flat strips of ginger.  I don’t eat the ginger in the dish, but adding it to my batch of fruit salad imparts some of the ginger vibe into the whole medley and gives it a special something that’s always missing when I forget to do it.  I slice my strawberries too and throw them in.  Finally i dice up some conference pear.  The grainy texture of a perfectly ripe pear in this combination is great with the other ingredients and they taste amazing.  To finish I put in a good squeeze of lemon juice from half a fresh lemon and pop the lid on, give it a good shake and keep it in the fridge.

So when it comes to add the toping it’s as easy as grabbing your fruit salad snack attack box from the fridge, putting a nice pile of loveliness onto your porridge and then finishing with a sprinkle of bee pollen, chia seeds and pistachios.

The taste is amazing.  The peanut butter still has a slightly sticky vibe and if you don’t stir it in too much you get the odd lump as a surprise.  The fruits go so well with the whole thing and the occasional salty crunch from a pistachio just makes it perfect.

If you make this, post a picture to us on social media.  We love to get feedback from our community.  If you change the fruits and find something amazing let us know.

We hope you enjoy making this super kick starter and wish you love in your quest for a better and more nutritious you.

Above all though, don’t forget to…..

#respectyourtemple
 

Chia Pudding & Removing bad habits

As you know our Director Richie Norton has been on the road recently training some exciting new drivers in Abu Dhabi looking to enter the world of F1.  Getting hold of some of the ingredients we usually take for granted was a real challenge and it’s brought home to us the amazing access we have to Superfoods in the UK.

Bio Science and investigations into natural superfoods is teaching us so much, but we still see so many ignoring the facts and continuing to poison their bodies with junk.   We understand it's not easy breaking habits.  To get started you can simply be open to a healthier set of choices that look amazing and are absolutely delicious.

We've been duped by advertisers pushing that massive greasy pizzas or cupcakes towering with frosting make us feel good when they absolutely DO NOT!  When you get on the track to eating cleaner and really listening to your body after you’ve eaten junk you’ll get it. We promise!  By the way; we love this ad.  We are not endorsing Weightwatchers and don’t necessarily agree with their philosophy, but we do LOVE THIS AD.  My son studied it in his media classes and came home excited to tell me all about it.  It’s extremely powerful.  Watch it and see if it highlights the fact that what we all do is purely habitual.  The great news is that once we realise this we can change it :-)

So how do we move forwards?  Well it’s a gradual thing.  We need to create an empowering alternative to make it easier to win this game of improvement.  Make better choices when you're shopping and play around with some new superfood creations.  Start to learn how to cook clean (there’s plenty of inspiration here on this website) & get your kids involved. They are the future after all.

We deal extensively with replacing bad habits with new empowering ones as part of our programs.  There are also loads of tips here in the website to keep you motivated and on the right track.

So let's start with a beautiful superfood - Chia seeds.  You can use them to sprinkle on all sorts of dishes.  They are relatively tasteless, so you can go savoury or sweet.  They are a great source of soluble fibre and extremely nutritious:

28 grams (1oz) of chia seeds contains:  11 grams of fibre, 4 grams of protein, 9 grams of fat (5 of which are Omega 3), Calcium 18% RDA, Manganese 30% RDA, Magnesium 30% RDA, Phosphorous 27% RDA.  They also contain Zinc, B3 (Niacin), Potassium, B1 (Thiamine) and B2.

Recipe:

Chia pudding.

Method:

Get yourself a big jar and cover the bottom with a tablespoon of chia seeds (available in all health food shops or via Amazon UK in the link at the bottom of this article).  Then you can try either of these methods or make some up yourself.

The awesome looking purple one at the top of this article is Chia with coconut water, blueberries & some fresh mint leaves.  Just add the blueberries and mint to the chia in the jar and top up with the coconut water.  Give them a good stir and pop the lid on.  In time they will exude their halo of goodness and fill up the jar - it's magic and simple!

The one we used to top our porridge is Chia with coconut water, sunflower seeds and goji berries.  Use the same method.

Soaking them brings them to life releasing all the nutrient benefits.  A jar should last you all week.

Try adding a spoon full to your smoothies, use it to top your porridge, eat it with some fresh yogurt or simply eat it from the jar.  It packs a nutritious punch & they keep for up to 2 weeks if refrigerated.  The featured picture is Organic Porridge topped with Banana, Kiwi, Chia Pudding (the goji and sunflower one), bee pollen and a flavour bomb of passion fruit in the middle!  It’s currently in my tummy and has fuelled the writing of this article :-)

If you like what we’re talking about and want to make sure you don’t miss anything you can subscribe to our newsletter here.

#respectyourtemple

Sevenhills Wholefoods Raw Chia Seeds 2kg Buy on Amazon

Zen Valley Big Goji Berries 1KG, 250gx4 packs, Free from Preservative&Sulfite Buy on Amazon

Breakfast Porridge Jars

Breakfast on the move!

We would usually recommend you get up 30 minutes earlier and enjoy a steady and un-rushed breakfast experience, but we’re also realists and know that some of you like to fly about like a pinball.  If you can’t beat em, join em!

The fact is that eating breakfast is so important and if you can’t manage to make some time in the morning to have a proper feed, we’re going to encourage you to get your nutrition in one way or another.

This is a great breakfast hack and doesn’t take any time to make.  For those of you that get up, get in the shower and get out, you can do this the night before and leave it in the fridge.  Just don’t forget to take it with you.  Perhaps leave your keys with it 😉

Breakfast Porridge Jars

Make your porridge which takes a few minutes in the microwave - there’s no excuse!  We like organic gluten free, steel cut porridge oats.  Make it just how you like it, but if you are leaving it in the fridge overnight, make it slightly thinner as it will thicken up as it gets cold and the oats swell.

Put your porridge in an old Coconut Oil jar, or similar and top with your favourite toppings.  Breakfasts like this are an ideal time to get your nut and seed intake on board as well as a great opportunity to smash some fresh fruit into your body.  We’ve gone for berries here, but you can go with what’s in your fruit bowl.  Strawberries and mango is another top choice of ours.  Sprinkle your favourite seeds (chia, poppy, sunflower, pumpkin etc), muesli or trail mix on the top and pop the lid on.

Oh - and don’t forget to take a spoon 😃 

#respectyourtemple