Being ok with where I'm headed

Hello there!

Long time, no see. To start off with, I want to apologize for dropping off the social media planet. I feel as though recently, I have had a real shifting of life goals and focus of where I see myself being in the future.

Obviously this hasn't happened overnight, and it has been a really interesting process for me. I am not entirely sure when it started but I knew I just wasn't happy with where I was in my 'career'. I felt like I have always forced myself into what I thought was an ideal version of what I wanted to be, or how I felt others wanted me to be. Yes, I am a perfectionist, which can often work in my favor but more often than not, makes me feel as though I'm not doing 'it' right. Weather that be work or life related.

When I was growing up, I always felt like there were specific steps to take and certain milestones everyone reached to get into their career path. You go to school, pick out what you like and what you want to do, choose your subjects accordingly. Then work your butt off to get into the university course that will get you the job you want, then 'tada!' you will be working in a steady and stable full time job (yes, I was a little naive).

So, when after having gone through this whole process, coming out of my university degree still not knowing exactly where I wanted to take my life. I really felt a little bit of a failure, but mainly I felt like I was letting my family down. I am really close with my family, and it felt like I was disappointing them by not slotting straight into a job relating to my degree. Don't get me wrong I loved everything I learnt in my course and still love to build on that nutrition, health and well-being knowledge base that I have acquired. It really is my passion, but I knew that I didn't want to work behind a computer. I really love interacting with people, working with people and helping them on a daily basis.

It has taken me almost 2 years to feel comfortable in my own 'career', while still having future goals and things I want to achieve. This is largely due to having such a strong support base, my family and partner, allowing me to see that so long as I'm happy and can support myself, I can be anything I want to be!

If you have made it to the end of this ramble, well-done and thank you!
I realise that we all go through stages in our lives where we don't even know which way is up, let alone which direction we are heading. What I wish I had know while going through this, was that no matter where I am, it is good enough. That I will be happy, so long as I keep making choices that honor my true self, not what I think would make me look good to others or how I think I 'should' be.


Take home message from this ramble; 

Don't compare your life to others. 

Your life will be different to everyone else's. 

You will have your own purpose and it is just as important as anyone else's.

Live your life to fill your own potential, don't try and shape yourself into something your not to fit certain expectations.

Know you are loved and love in return.

Courtney xo

Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Icing

 

            Hello everyone!

            It's pumpkin season here in Australia, and I thought I would share with you a really simple muffin recipe, that's a great way to sneak some veggies into your diet.
            The muffin mixture doesn't have a strong pumpkin flavour and isn't super sweet. I made up two different batches, one with choc chips and icing (a sweeter tasting muffin), while the second batch was just the muffin mixture with nothing added. Both times they actually came out really tasty. If you wanted to, you could swap out the chocolate chips for dried fruit like sultanas or cranberries.

Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Icing

Plant-based - Gluten Free - Dairy Free

Makes: 6 large muffins

Time: prep 10 minutes

Cooking: 20-25 minutes

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

- 1 cup almond milk

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp coconut oil

- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp baking powder

- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp ground clove

- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

- 1/2 cup chopped dark dairy free chocolate (optional, I also added another 1/8 cup just to top my muffins)

Icing: Optional, they are still tasty without it.
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp coconut nectar
- 4 tbsp hulled tahini

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 170C and line your 6 hole muffin tin or grease them with a touch of coconut oil.

- Pop all of the wet ingredients as well as the coconut sugar into a bowl and combine well.

- In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients, before adding them into the wet ingredients. Stir this through until it's all incorporated, then fold through the chocolate chunks.

- Spoon the mixture into you muffin tins and pop the tray into the oven.

- Remove your muffins after 20-25 minutes or a skewer comes out clean. Allow them to cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the muffins are cooling you can make up your icing by combining all the ingredients into a delish paste. Them once your muffins are cool you can smooth over a layer of icing and presto they are ready to devour!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram and tag me with @cinnamon_courtney so I can see all of your recreations!

"There is nothing about my age that prohibits me from fulfilling my dreams" -Wayne W. Dyer

Foodie Appreciation for April- A Few Of My Current Favourite Foodies On The Internet

            Hello there! Yes this post is a few days late but I'll get my May favourites up in the right month... hopefully! I am currently sitting on my couch going through my Bloglovin' and Instagram feeds, and absolutely loving everything that I'm seeing. I am still so blown away every time I open up my foodie feeds and see all the amazing accounts and awesome talent that is shown by everyone in the health, well-being and nutrition community online!

            I genually love being a part of this community, even though I am a pretty small fish in a very large pond, it can be such a positive and inclusive space that it is hard not to feel a part of something so fun! So, I thought I would stop and take the time to share a few accounts that I have been absolutely loving recently. This list originally consisted of SO, SO MANY accounts because I just couldn't cut it down! Therefore, I have decided that I may split it up and make these kind of posts on a regular basis, maybe monthly? It depends on if you guys like these kinds of posts from me, but honestly, I would love to have a place to share accounts that I am currently loving to read and watch!
(also these are in no particular order!)

MelVFitness

You can also find Mel's website here.

NourishNotPunish

You can also find Evelyn's Blog here.

HealthyAmbitions

You can also find Karly's Blog here.

Adventuring_Home

You can also find her Blog here.

NutritionStripped

You can also find her website here and her youtube channel here.

Thehappycleanvegan

FoodForPeace

SimpleHappyHealth

Oatsohappy

Plantbased.Happiness

Littl._Plvnt

WholesomeBalance

RiceandRaw

You can also find her youtube here. 

AppetiteForHealth

Isabelle Cornish

Naturally_Cassie_

NourishYoBody

               Do you have a health, foodie or wellness blog?
        
               Comment the website address or your instagram user name down below so I can come and check it out! Or just post your favourite blogs down below to share who you have been loving reading this month!

              

Coconut, Berry & Buckwheat Granola

          Hello everyone! The recipe I'm sharing today came about from a happy accident. While i was baking my last recipe, the Anzac Cookies, I made the rookie mistake of forgetting to line the baking tray of the first batch. As a result I ended up having to scrape what was left off of the tray, ending up with a really tasty granola.

           From there, I swapped out the oats to buckwheat groats, and added in dried berries, because berries and macadamias are a match made in heaven! I used a mix of dried sour cherries, organic cranberries and wild blueberries, which gave it a few different flavours, but if you cant get your hands on all of these just use what dried berry you like the best!

           You could use this granola a few different ways, as it has a delicious crunchy texture, you could add it on top of stewed fruit as a crumble topping, or on top of banana nice cream, or you could simply eat it as you would a normal cereal, with fresh fruit and a plant-based milk.

Coconut, Berry & Buckwheat Granola

Plant-based - Gluten Free - Dairy Free

Makes: 4-5 cups of granola

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking- 15 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 cups raw buckwheat groats

- 1/2 cup macadamias, chopped

- 1/2 cup dried berries (I used a mix of sour cherries, organic cranberries and wild blueberries)

- 2/3 cup shredded coconut

- 1/4 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 tbsp maca powder

- 1 tbsp mesquite powder

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 tbsp cinnamon 

- 1/4 cup coconut nectar

- 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 160C.

- Place all of your ingredients into one large bowl and stir them around until it is all combined.

- Pour your mixture over a baking tray so that it forms a single layer. You may need more than one baking tray for this, as it will cook evenly when it has the room to spread out. 

- Mid-way through the cooking time, take it out of the oven and stir it around to make sure it doesn't burn around the edges of the tray, then pop it back in for the remainder of the cooking time.

- Once it has cooked, take it out of the oven and give it another mix before leaving it to cool completely on the tray. It will seem quite sticky and gooey when it first comes out if the oven but as it cools it will firm up.

- Store it in an air tight container, and you can serve it with fruit, banana nice cream, yoghurt, on top of stewed fruit, or simply with a dash of almond milk.

Anzac Cookies

    Oh hey guys! Long time no see. I'm so sorry I have been away from here for a while. I'm currently having quite a bit of trouble with my computer, I was unable to open any of the documents and recipe posts I had started and saved. Totally weird, and if you know me, you know I am completely not a tech savvy person and I couldn't figure out what was going on! Anyway, I have found a temporary solution to the glitch but I'm going to have to figure out a better way to write, save and store my half written posts.

    Now that that boring part is out of the way. I have always loved Anzac cookies, but it's kind of a given for me as I absolutely love oats! So oats in a delicious, portable cookie form is definitely a winner in my books.

Anzac Cookies 

Makes: 20 medium cookies

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking: 15-20 minutes

 

Ingredients:
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
- 3/4 cup shredded coconut
- 3/4 cup macadamias, chopped
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 tbsp hulled tahini
- 1/2 cup rice malt syrup (or your chosen liquid sweetener ie, maple syrup, coconut nectar)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Method:
- Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper. This really is a key step as the mixture will stick like glue to your baking tray without it, and like with my first test batch of this recipe, you will end up with a super tasty granola instead of cookies.

- Pop all of the ingredients into one bowl and combine them together.

- Scoop out small amounts of the mixture and roll it into little balls and place them onto your baking tray. Press down on each one, to flatten it into round cookie shapes. I found it was a lot easier to handle the mixture with damp hands, that way it stuck more to itself than to my hands.

- Place the tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes, allow them to cook until they are nice and golden. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking tray a bit before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.


Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram and tag me with @cinnamon_courtney so I can see all of your recreations!

'I take the win-win approach' - Stephen R. Covey

Cinnamon Buckwheat Pancakes

            When I was little we would often have pancake Sundays, and if I’m completely honest, I really didn’t like pancakes (I was a pretty fussy eater). Although I loved how my family would all come together and cook up a lot of pancakes for a lazy Sunday breakfast together. The left over pancakes would be eaten by my dad and brother throughout the week. So whenever I cook pancakes, it’s ingrained in me to cook up a large batch, so if you don’t want to end up with as many pancakes as this recipe makes, feel free to halve it!

            I recently got my hands on some banana flour and I have to say that it’s delicious! For this recipe if you can’t get your hands on any banana flour, you can just substitute it for buckwheat flour and it works just as well. I got my banana flour from my work at The Source Bulk Foods in Camberwell.

            Also I used coconut nectar as my liquid sweetener, but you could substitute this with your preference of liquid sweetener; like rice malt syrup, molasses, pure maple syrup, agave syrup or honey if you aren’t vegan.

Cinnamon Buckwheat Pancakes

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: around 20 medium pancakes

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Cooking- 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 ¼ cup banana flour, (could swap this for buckwheat flour)

- 2 cups almond milk (or your choice of plant-based milk)

- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted

- 2 tbsp coconut nectar (or your chosen liquid sweetener)

- 1 tbsp baking powder

- Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon (or more if you’re a cinnamon addict like me!)

- Coconut oil for cooking

To Serve per person:

- 1 Banana, sliced

- Drizzle of coconut nectar

- Sprinkle of goji berries

- Sprinkle of shredded coconut

Method:

- Combine the dry ingredients together in a bowl, then form a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add in the wet ingredients. Combine them both together really well until there are no lumps in the batter.

- Heat up a pan to a medium heat and pop a small amount of coconut oil in the pan.

- Once the pan has heated and the coconut oil has melted, pour in around a ¼ of a cup of batter for each pancake, and leave it in there to cook until the little bubbles appear over the top of the pancake. Flip it over to cook for a further minute on the other side, or until it’s golden. Transfer them to a wire rack once they are done, to stop them from getting soggy while you cook up the rest of the batter.

- Cook up the rest of the batter the same way; you may need to add in a touch more coconut oil to the pan as you go.

- To serve, pop them on a plate with fresh sliced banana, a drizzle of coconut nectar, goji berries and shredded coconut. Or just eat them straight from the pan!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘There is plenty for everyone, including me’ – Louise L. Hay

Chocolate Chia Mousse

            Happy Easter everyone! Or happy chocolate and hot cross bun weekend if you don’t celebrate Easter. I have a little naughty but nice chocolate recipe for you here today, that is my go to healthier version of a chocolate dessert when nothing but chocolate will do!

            Now I know a lot of people out there try out ‘healthy swap’ recipes and are disappointed because they taste nothing like the dish they are trying to recreate, I’ve been there too!

            So when I was testing out a chia pudding recipe, I was using almond milk and berries, which did turn out nice but not really what I wanted, I changed it up and used coconut milk and raw cacao powder… and was blown away. I had to force myself to stop eating the whole batch…

            It has an awesome light mousse texture but the coconut milk and raw cacao make it taste like it is a really decadent and rich dessert.

A little bit about C H I A  S E E D S ;

These powerful little seeds are jam packed full of omega 3, fibre and protein.

            ~ One tablespoon of chia contains 3 grams of omega 3 and 6 grams of dietary fibre. This helps increase energy levels, improve digestion and promote healthy hair, skin and nails. They also love to absorb liquid, they can absorb up to 16 times their own weight! This can increase your feelings of fullness after eating as well as helping your body regulate hydration levels.

            ~ As a vegan protein source they are also pretty amazing as they contain all nine of the essential amino acids, which are the building blocks in our bodies and essential for maintaining a healthy functioning you!

            ~ There is also no nutritional difference between the white and the black chia seeds so feel free to use which ever you like for this recipe.

Chocolate Chia Mousse

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Serves: 2 people

Time: prep- 10 minutes

Setting- 5 hrs or overnight

Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup chia seeds

- 400ml or 1 ¾ cup coconut milk

- 3 tbsp liquid sweetener

- 1 tsp Maca (optional)

- 1 tsp Mesquite (optional)

- ¼ cup cacao/carob powder

- ½ tsp vanilla extract or ¼ tsp of vanilla powder

- pinch of cinnamon

- pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Top with:

- Fresh berries, shredded coconut and goji berries – it is quite rich so the fresh berries really help to cut through it.

Method:

- Add all ingredients into a jar and make sure you stir and combine everything well.

- Pop the jar into the fridge to set.

- Serve with a layer of fruit in the centre and then top with fresh berries, coconut and goji.

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations.

‘When I decide to be happy, I attract great things I my life’ – Robert Holden

Source:

The Chia Co. – www.thechiaco.com

Hot Cross Bun Muffins

            Autumn has to be one of my favourite seasons. It’s no longer crazy hot outside, but still a nice enough temperature to want to get out of the house and be outside. I also love storms, the rain and weather that isn’t a simple sun in the sky. It all just seems so amazing to me.

            It also happens to be the season when my birthday is! I had an amazing birthday last weekend with family and friends, and I decided I wanted to make myself a birthday treat! I love fruit and spices in baking and since it’s so close to Easter, I thought, why not add in an Easter theme? So I decided to make myself Birthday Hot Cross Bun Muffins.

These actually work just as well when you just form them into a ball and place them on a greased baking tray, if you don’t feel like making them in muffin tins.

Hot Cross Bun Muffins

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: 8 – 10 medium buns

Time: prep – 20 minutes

Cooking – 20 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 cup almond meal

- 1 cup arrowroot flour

- 2/3 cup buckwheat flour

- 1 tsp baking powder

- ½ tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- ½ tsp nutmeg

- ½ tsp clove

- ½ tsp ginger

- pinch salt

- 2/3 cup sultanas (could also use dark dairy free chocolate here instead)

- 3 flax eggs (1 tbsp flaxseed meal to 3 tbsp of water, left to set for a few minutes)

- ½ cup coconut oil, melted

- 1/3 cup coconut nectar (or chosen liquid sweetener)

Topping:

- 2 tbsp coconut oil, not melted

- 4 tbsp coconut nectar

- 4 tbsp of banana flour or buckwheat flour

(*If you were making chocolate cross buns you can add in a tbsp of cacao powder)

Method:

- Pop the oven onto 170c and line a muffin try with liners or grease with coconut oil. If you don’t want to have them in muffin tins you can simply bake them spread out on a greased baking tray, they do tend to crack on top as they cook because they have a lot more room to move.

- Combine all the dry ingredients except the sultanas, together really well in one bowl and in a separate bowl mix together all of the wet ingredients. Now just pour the dry in with the wet and mix until you have a smooth mix. I put mine into a mixer for a few minutes to ensure the flax egg and all the other ingredients were really well incorporated. Then stir through your sultanas (or dark chocolate chunks), distributing then evenly.

- Form the dough into balls and place them into your muffin tins or onto your baking tray, and then place them into the oven. Bake these for about ten minutes before removing them to pipe on the topping.

- While the buns are in for their first ten minutes of baking, you can put together the icing. Firstly combine the coconut nectar and the flour to form a liquid paste, now add in the coconut oil.

* I have found that the coconut oil needs to be soft but still white and not completely melted. If you use completely melted coconut oil it will split from the coconut nectar and flour when you go to mix it in.

- You can either pipe the topping on to get a neat cross or you can use a knife and spread it on for a more rustic look, then pop them back in the oven for another ten minutes to finish cooking and give the topping a warm golden colour.

- After being in the oven for 20 minutes altogether, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for a while on the trays before transferring them to a cooling rack. Or if your anything like me, just eat them warm straight from the oven!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations.

‘My mind is tranquil. I allow peace into my life’ -Leon Nacson

Millet Meal Porridge Two Ways

 

            So today I have a double whammy for you, because I’m such an indecisive person (you just need to ask my partner how hard it is for me to decide on anything). I have tried each of these versions of millet meal porridge and loved them both, so I couldn’t choose which of the recipes to share. So I ended up deciding, why not both?

            As much as I absolutely love oats, and could gladly eat them everyday, it is nice to try out different ways of doing things. The millet meal porridge base of this recipe was pleasantly surprising for me. I was half expecting it to taste a bit like a gooey, savory, cous cous kind of thing, but it has an amazing creamy and hearty texture that really just warms you up on those cooler mornings. Also millet is actually a seed, and is gluten free, making it a great alternative to porridge oats.

Although both of these porridge toppings are more on the decadent side of breakfasts, the base recipe of this millet meal porridge would be just as delicious simply topped with warm berries, dried fruit or just a tablespoon or two of coconut nectar.

  

Millet Meal Porridge Two Ways

Caramelized Banana and Hazelnut Porridge

Or

Candy Apple and Sultana Porridge

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Serves: 1

Time: Prep- 5 mins

Cooking- 15 mins

Ingredients:

Porridge base

- 1/3 cup millet meal

- 1 cup nut milk

- 1 tsp maca powder (optional)

- 1 tsp mesquite powder (optional)

- ½ tsp cinnamon

Caramelized Banana and Hazelnut Topping

- 1 banana, ½ sliced, ½ mashed (mashed half to be stirred through the porridge base once it has cooked)

- ½ tbsp coconut sugar

- 1 tbsp liquid sweetener (optional)

- 6 or 7 hazelnuts, roughly chopped

Or;

Candy Apple and Sultana Topping

            - ½ apple, thinly sliced

- ½ tbsp coconut sugar

- 1 tbsp liquid sweetener (optional)

- 2 tbsp sultanas

(As this version doesn’t have any sweetener in the porridge base, you may need to taste test the porridge base and add some sweetener in as desired)

Method:

- Place millet meal, nut milk and cinnamon in a saucepan and heat it up until you start to see steam, while stirring to stop lumps forming. Then reduce to a simmer and continue to cook it until the millet meal soaks up all of the nut milk (around 5 minutes). If you find that the mixture is too dry just add in some water until it reaches the consistency you like.

- Now each of the different toppings are cooked the same way which keeps things pretty simple, so which ever recipe topping you choose, here is the instructions for both;

- While the millet meal is cooking, place ½ tbsp of the coconut sugar into a pan.

- Pop either the banana slices or the apple slices on top of the coconut sugar and bring it to a med to hot heat. You will notice the sugar around the bananas or apples will liquefy as it starts to caramelize.

- Allow the first side to become golden before flipping to caramelize the other side. Watch them as if the sugar goes too far it will burn and taste really not nice.

- Once it has had a chance to caramelize on both sides, add in either the hazelnuts or the sultanas, and allow them to warm through in the pan.

- If you are making the banana version, and the remaining mashed half of your banana into the cooked millet meal.

- If you are doing the apple version, taste the millet meal to see if you need any sweetener added.

- Then simply transfer your millet meal porridge into a serving bowl and cover it with your chosen toppings.

- You can also add a tbsp of your desired sweetener here (or even 1 tbsp coconut sugar and 1 tbsp water, to continue with the same flavours), and enjoy!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘I release all criticism’ – Louise L. Hay

Hazelnut Fudge Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Icing

            Last week I was struggling to come up with an idea of what to bake my friend for her birthday, so as I was going through my cookbooks for ideas I saw Lola Berry’s Paleo Chocolate Ganache Birthday Cake, in her new ‘The Happy Cookbook’ and knew exactly what I wanted to bake her.

            This cake is like a mix between healthy Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, at least that’s what I was thinking when putting it together. Also if you do manage to have a little bit of the icing left over after icing your cake, it makes an amazing healthier alternative to Nutella.

Hazelnut Fudge Cake with Chocolate Hazelnut Icing

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: around 10 – 12 servings

Time: prep – 15 minutes

Cooking – 1 hour

Ingredients:

Cake

            - 3 cups hazelnut meal

- ½ cup buckwheat flour

- ¾ cup cacao powder

- 1 cup coconut sugar

- 2 tsp baking powder, gluten and aluminum free

- ½ cup coconut oil, melted

- 3 flax eggs (1 tbsp flaxseed meal to 3 tbsp water per egg)

- 1 cup coconut milk

- Pinch of pink Himalayan salt

Icing

            - 2 cup hazelnut meal

- ¼ cup cacao powder

- 2/3 cup coconut nectar (or preferred liquid sweetener)

- ¼ cup coconut milk (don’t worry if its just under a ¼ cup)

- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

- Pinch of pink Himalayan salt

Top with

            - ½ cup chopped hazelnuts (optional)

* The quantity of coconut milk used in both the cake and icing is equivalent to one 400ml can.

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 170C and grease a spring form cake tin, as it’s easier to get out. If you don’t have one, you can simply line your cake tin with baking paper.

- Combine all the dry ingredients for the cake in one bowl, and then mix together all the wet ingredients for the cake in another bowl before incorporating them both together. Mix this batter together really well; making sure all the flax egg is dispersed evenly. (ie. no light brown nuggets through your cake.)

 

- After it is all combined pour it into you cake tin and place in the oven for an hour, or until the skewer comes out clean. Once the cake is cooked through allow it to cool for a little bit in the cake tin before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely. You could eat the cake as it is now but I really think the icing is worth the effort.

- When your cake is cool it’s time for the icing. Which is as simple as popping everything into a bowl and mixing it together really well!

I just used what coconut milk was left from the can after measuring out what was needed for the cake, because it adds an amazing creaminess and I hate to waste food, so don’t worry if you have under a ¼ of a cup’s worth of coconut milk. If you feel the mixture is a touch too thick you can add in a bit of water or nut milk to loosen it. Once it’s mixed together you can smother the top of the cake in it and sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts.

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘I am flexible and flowing' - Louise L. Hay

My Go To Green Smoothie Bowl

            This is my go to green smoothie bowl for when my body knows it needs an extra dose of greens. It’s a great breakfast dish but I have eaten for all different meals (including dinner… its got veggies in it so its totally acceptable!).

           

            It really is such a sneaky way of getting an extra dose of greens because it really doesn’t taste like your eating a salad, the bananas cover the taste well. It just looks like it will taste of leaves, but really its just a deliciously creamy fruit smoothie.

Green Smoothie Bowl

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Serves: 1 person

Time: 10 minutes

Freeze banana- overnight

Ingredients:

- 1 to 2 frozen bananas

- 1 non-frozen banana

- ½ cup spinach, lightly packed

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- ¼ cup water

- 1 tsp maca powder (optional)

- 1 tbsp coconut sugar (optional)

- You could also add in a scoop of protein powder here, or your chosen pre/pro-biotic, green superfood powder or even matcha tea powder makes a delish addition.

Optional Toppings:

            I usually like to keep it simple here and serve it how it is, but it is also yummy when topped with fresh fruit and granola or muesli.

Method:

- The only real prep you need to do for this is to freeze your bananas the night before. I always have a stash of bananas in my freezer for banana ice cream, smoothie bases or just to eat as is! I’ve found that it’s easiest to peel and chop up the bananas before putting them in the freezer, just store them in an airtight container. Then as you need them, just break off chunks of frozen bananas.

- Once the bananas are frozen its as simple as popping all the ingredients into a blender of food processor and wizzing them up together. You may need to stop and move the mixture around to make sure all the frozen banana is getting broken down.

- After the mixture has combined, simply transfer it to a bowl and coat it in your favourite smoothie toppings!

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

‘I feel no guilt when I say no to someone’ – Brian L. Weiss

Banana Bread

 

            Hello there! Sorry I haven’t posted the last two weeks, I have been busy, busy with an awesome venture, and as I often struggle to push myself to do things when I’m stressed, I decided to take a little break to relax and enjoy the process of change. But now I’m back and so ready to dive right into all things health, lifestyle and food.

The one recipe that I absolutely love but have always struggled with recreating has been banana bread. It goes without saying that if I love bananas as much as I do, then putting them into a deliciously dense and spiced loaf will only make me love this amazing fruit more!

So in keeping things completely honest with you, this recipe has actually taken me a few years of on and off, trial and error to get where it is today. And I absolutely love it!

 

            This recipe is the perfect way to use up bananas that are super ripe. In my house that isn’t very often, but to get a really good flavour you need to use bananas that have no green on their peel and have brown spots all over them. The spottier the better. I have also made this recipe where I added in walnuts and dates; which is an amazing combo with the bananas, but if you wanted to add in any other nut or dried fruit that you have, go for it! Just add in a 1/3 of a cup of each (2/3 of a cup in total) and it will have a good consistency while still holding together, dark chocolate chips would also be a delicious alternative here.

            Having moved out of home I can no longer just borrow my mum’s loaf tin, so instead I have baked mine in 2 medium loaf tins that I own. If you want to, you can just use a larger regular size loaf tin for this recipe but the cooking times will vary and be longer than the cooking time I have found with the smaller loaf tins. Just keep checking the centre of the loaf with a skewer for when it is removed cleanly, and also just press down on the centre of the loaf to make sure that the loaf is relatively springy and doesn’t cave in under your fingers.

Banana Bread

Plant-based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: 2 medium loaves

Time: Prep: 10 min

Cooking: 45min- 1hr

Ingredients:

- 4 small to medium bananas, 3 mashed, 1 for top decoration (optional)

- 3/4 cup almond meal

- 3/4 cup buckwheat flour or brown rice flour

- 2 eggs (or flax eggs, 1 tbsp flaxseed meal, 3 tbsp water, for each ‘egg’)

- 1 tbsp hulled tahini

- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

- 3/4 cup nut milk

- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil

- 2 tbsp rice malt syrup

- 1 tbsp cinnamon

- ½ tsp clove

- ½ tsp nutmeg

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional Extras:

- 1/3 cup pecans, chopped

- 1/3 cup dates, chopped

Method:

- Preheat oven to 180C and grease loaf tins.

- Grab a mug or a small container and make up your flax eggs, and put to the side to set.

- Mix the buckwheat flour, almond meal, spices, baking powder and soda, in a bowl and set aside.

- Combine the flax eggs, vinegar, nut milk, coconut oil, vanilla, tahini, and mashed bananas in a second bowl.

-Once each is combined separately, pour all the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix well.

- Stir through the dates and pecans if you wish to add them in, before transferring the mixture to the greased loaf tin. Top with slices of banana (I quartered my banana lengthways to get 4 long banana strips), before popping in the oven for 45mins- 1 hr, or until a skewer comes out clean.

- Leave the bread to cool in the tin before removing it and transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely before serving. Store in an air-tight container in a cool place or in the fridge.

 

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

'Every thought I think is creating my future' - Louise L. Hay

Roast Tomato Sauce

 

A few days ago I was thinking about what an average day of food would look like for me if I were to write it down on paper. It made me realize that I really am a creature of habit when it comes to my everyday meals. I will eat the same thing over and over until I either think of a new dish I want to eat or until I get sick of it, which doesn’t happen often.

One of my everyday go to meals is always pasta. I choose corn or gluten free pasta that has minimal ingredients, and I will always go for a tomato and vegetable based sauce. I use organic tined tomatoes, and add in whatever vegetable I felt like buying at the start of the week and will try and add in as many colours as possible as it is a good indicator for a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.

But this week I decided to spice things up a bit, as I have recently been trying to make more of my food from scratch (namely almond milk, as I was a little put off by all the extra ingredients in the store bought ones). It has been going great so far so I decided to recreate an all purpose tomato sauce that could be used on pasta or pizza or a simple flavoured sauce to use in place of bottled tomato sauce which I would smother all over oil-free baked potato chips, and this is the recipe I came up with!

Healthy eating doesn’t always mean using crazy hard to find ingredients, it’s also just using simple, natural, fresh whole foods, which are the easiest way to include healthier dishes into your life. If you’re not a fan of using garlic or onion you could easily cut them out of this recipe and it’d still be delicious.

Homemade Roast Tomato Sauce

Plant based – Gluten Free – Dairy Free

Makes: 550 ml (just over 2 cups)

Time: prep- 15 minutes

Cooking- 50 minutes- 1hr

Ingredients

- 8 tomatoes, quartered

- 6 garlic cloves

- 1 onion, cut into wedges

- ¼ tsp ground turmeric

- 1/8 tsp fennel seeds

- ¼ tsp chili flakes

- Pinch pepper and salt

- ½ cup fresh basil leaves

- 1 tbsp rice malt syrup (or any liquid sweetener – ie. honey or coconut nectar)

- Juice of ½ lemon

- coconut oil, for greasing

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 170C, and grease a roasting tray with coconut oil.

- Chop the tomato and onion, and pace them on the roasting tray. Break off 6 cloves of garlic from a bulb, remove any of the outer bulb casings but leave the individual garlic cloves casings on them. This protects the clove from burning in the oven. Lightly press on each garlic clove to break it open a touch, then place them on the roasting tray with the tomato and onions.

- Sprinkle over the fennel seeds, turmeric, chili flakes, salt and pepper, and place the tray in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour.

- Once all the tomatoes, onions and garlic have roasted, remove the garlic cloves and put to one side. Place all the tomatoes and onions to a food processor or blender. Now to add the garlic into this, you only want the roasted clove not the casing, so squish the center out of the garlic clove and discard the casing.

- Add the rice malt syrup, lemon juice and basil, into the food processor and blitz this up to a relatively smooth sauce consistency. How smooth is up to you!

- Keep the sauce in an airtight jar in the fridge, and it will last up to a week.

Let me know how you go if you do try this out yourselves, or post a picture on instagram with the hashtag #cinnamoncourtney so I can see all of your recreations!

'My life works beautifully' - Louise L. Hay