laurasaur

most people underestimate the importance of protein in their diet. Protein is a vital part of a healthy diet and has way too many benefits for me to bother typing out, but a large benefit of making protein part of every meal is that protein requires more energy to digest and makes you feel “full” for longer.

1 medium banana
10 feijoas
30g whey protein isolate (or your protein of choice)
ice

peel the banana and add it to your blender. add the flesh of the feijoas, and blend until smooth. add the protein powder, ice and a spash of water. blend until ice is crushed and smoothie is thick.

So surprising how some things just taste so good together. Cheese and chutney, marmite and chips, tomato sauce and everything.. haha.. Feijoas and Bananas are another awesome combo. And real vanilla bean.. although you can substitute 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract if you want. Nice way to celebrate the first day of a new job… I feel like a proper grown up. Onto my second real job.. it’s all good.

10-20 feijoas, halved and scooped
1-2 ripe bananas sliced small
seeds of 1 vanilla bean
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of butter

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup oats
50g butter at room temperature

Mix fruit and vanilla seeds in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle brown sugar over and dot butter on top.

Mix all dry ingredients in a deep bowl. Cut the butter into rough pieces and rub it into the dry ingredients with the tips of your figures until well mixed in.

Crumble this mixture over the fruit in an even layer. Bake for about 20 minutes at 180C until you can see the caramel mixture bubbling just under the crumble. Let cool slightly before serving.

I’m trying to start a tradition.. pancake Saturdays. So far I have found the best time to do it is when we have people staying.. cooking pancakes for other people is easy and fun and most of all satisfying. I’m attempting to try a different recipe every weekend until I am satisfied.. but I am tempted to stop at these…

Look how perfect they are.. mmmmm. Even without the single egg pan I am lemming at the moment P

Sour cream pancakes

1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Combine eggs, sour cream, water, and vanilla in medium bowl. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until moistened.

Preheat frying pan or skillet over medium heat; grease lightly. Pour about 1-2 tablespoons onto hot pan for each pancake. Cook until tops of pancakes are bubbly; turn and cook until browned the way you like.

Feijoa Juice:
Shell loads of Feijoas.. see first pic. Mix with a handful of ice and blend until smooth. Drink straight away.

Once again I try to replicate a cafe classic. This time I actually semi-succeeded. I made these with frozen berries which is why my batter is still white, when you make these with fresh berries you will end up with pink batter.

As with all muffins, do not overmix the batter or they will be tough and chewy (not in a good way).

250ml (1 cup) milk
1tsp white vinegar or lemon juice
125ml (1/2 cup) oil (I use canola)
1 egg

300g flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g caster sugar
180g white chocolate cut into chunks
200g of berries (mix of what you choose)

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line 12 hole muffin pan with muffin papers.

Mix all wet ingredients (milk, vinegar/lemon, oil and egg) together. In a seperate bowl mix together all remaining ingredients.

Tip the wet mixture into the dry and stir genrly until combined (only mix until no more flour is showing).

Spoon into muffin cases 3/4 full or more for the dome effect and bake for approximtely 20 minutes or until centres spring back when pressed.

Well my blog layout is not done as you can see, I like to test things on my live site. Ill finish it soon I hope…

Made these a week ago twice and they were wolfed down by everyone at work. Definately worth a try…

180g butter
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp mixed spice
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, spice and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins.

Put the mixing bowl in the fridge for about half an hour or for as long as you can stand.

Place on baking sheet with the same space between them as the width of each ball of cookie. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes until golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.