Bargain-osities

Hihi!

So taking on the narrative for possibly every other health and fitness freakaleak out there, Holland and Barrett is the place to BE right now with their penny sale afoot. Besides the fact that the penny sale only actually accounts for approximately 20% of the store's stock (I'm sure it applied to practically everything the last time it rolled around - le sigh), I did still manage to catch some barGAINS. Namely: coconut oil and spirulina powder (a pantry newbie, but a worldie according to the hype! £13.99 - or 1p, rather, when bought in conjunction with my £14.99 jar of coconut oil).



I've also taken a major shine to the pic'n'mix section of Holland and Barratt (these can only be found in the larger branches, unfortunately), as I've come to the conclusion that it's cheaper to buy certain goodies (i.e. goji berries - with which I've started a full-on love affair - and some more expensive nut varieties i.e. brazil nuts and cashews) in the tubs. With the small tubs priced at £2.99 and the larger ones at £4.99, it makes sense to fill them up to the brim and get more stash for your cash than if you were buying the little plastic packets that contain barely enough to last a day in our house!

While that turned into quite an essay for what would appear to be such a trivial issue, but I'm a firm believer in bulk-buying to save pennies, because ultimately it's quite a lot more expensive for us Fitspo's to survive and feed ourselves well without spending the earth; for example, the price of a multi-pack of crisps is around the equivalent cost of two peaches (or even just the one in some places!). Let's not even go down the fast-food burger vs salad route, because believe me, salads don't come cheap, anywhere! Ironic yes, but hey - it does pay off in the long run (health-wise), and at the end of the day what matters is that you're feeding your body with the nutrients that it thrives upon (aka no cheap shiz). Goji-licious.



I also hasten to add that I'm shaking things up in the hair department. Nope, this doesn't mean that I'm chopping off my mane any time soon. I have merely switched shampoo/conditioner to something hopefully less er, chemically-enhanced, which I hope will breathe new life into my somewhat lack-lustre locks. I invested in the Tara Smith range in M&S, which was a mere fraction of the price it would've been taking into account a) my staff discount, and b) the current deal for a free conditioner with every shampoo purchase (both 250ml bottles). Not bad, eh? This shampoo and conditioner contains naturally-derived ingredients, including soy protein (lubrication), pathenol (strengthening agent), bisabolol and aloe vera (scalp calmer). I'm not very good with anything hair/beauty related, but by the sounds of it, the Tara Smith collection seems a pretty worthwhile hair investment (plus, I initially found the range as recommended online by hair stylist Daniel Dyer at The Lady Magazine. Just in case you decided against trusting my personal instinct!).

I've only had a couple go's but so far so good; my hair feels soft and seriously stroke-able (note: must stop stroking hair in public, very likely that it looks weird), not to mention the pretty packaging (I'm a sucker for marketing). However, my hair does still lack the oomph factor, but that probably has something to do with the fact that I generally leave it to dry au naturelle. Perhaps I should start blow-drying like the hairdressers do, or maybe go to the hairdressers more often come to think about it...

I also picked up some Got2b hair styling oil, which contains argon oil - something that every beauty blogger seems to be going crazy for, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Was something of a steal at £2.80 from Boots (was £4.20). So here's hoping for a future of beautifully flowing tresses (!) (and no more split ends allowed plz). Anyone have any hair-friendly recommendations for moi?

Lemon-infused Coconut Flour Cookies

Sunday has quickly become my favourite day of the week. Why? Because (allowing that I'm not at work) it's appeared to have become my zen day, and preferably consists of all those little things that I like to do when I have lots of hours to spare - my Sunday essentials to pass the time of day being baking, exercising, reading, and writing. Yep, you heard right - I count exercise as an antidote to boredom. It's also a massive stress-buster for me, and eases off my ever-increasing mood swings - damn you, hormones/life/work problems...

Moving swifting onwards and upwards, today I had a massive craving to bake something sweet (it's been a while/a fair few days), and preferably something sweet involving coconut flour.

I know there's a bit of baker's controversy when it comes to coconut flour - it's a bit of a tricky one in the flour department, due to its higher absorbency - which usually calls for a lot of eggs as a necessary compensatory recipe agent. Alas, I searched high and low for egg-less coconut flour recipes (props to Google, my saviour alongside Pinterest - a growing favourite in the social networking race) and found one that seemed legit, and BONUS - was easy enough for me to follow without a load of Katie-klutz-y mishaps occurring (because I decided dropping my boyfriend's dinner allll over the kitchen floor was quite enough for the one day). Le sigh.



These cookies/biscuits require a mere few ingredients, so they are a swizz to prepare (and also don't take too long to cook, and sends sensual aromas of coconut and lemon wafting throughout the house - always a massive side bonus of baking on the regs). This makes 6 mini biscuits - go ahead and double the recipe if you wanna.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Coconut Flour
2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
1 Tablespoon Honey
1/2 Tablespoon Agave Nectar
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Himalayan sea salt
Juice of half a lemon, plus zest (optional)
Raisins for additional sweetness (optional)
(Note: if more liquid is necessary, add a splash of almond milk to get the desired consistency)

Go ahead and mix the dry ingredients before adding the coconut oil, honey, agave, vanilla extract and lemon juice, plus any dried fruit if you're choosing to include it. I have done previously, and it worked well - however, the version I made today were sans-fruit...I'm just using my photos from before due to plain laziness (I'm a bad blogger, don't judge me okay).



Prepare in little cookie-shaped dollops atop a greased, foil-lined baking tray, and bake in the oven at gas mark 4 (350c) for around 10 minutes (or until the cookies are burning crisping slightly on the top. Give them a little poke if you're not sure, but remember they do firm as they cool).

And there we have it - super healthy, low-carb biscuits that are tasty, sweet and ultimately meet that all-important criteria of a biscuit/cookie: crispy on the outside, soft in the middle. Made in the same amount of time it would've taken you to drive to your nearest supermarket and actually buy some cookies - these are seriously impressive.

Check out my Pinterest board of recipes - there are a load on there that I'm desperate to try, and I hope to make the time to do so soon. Perhaps eventually I'll get through them, but we'll take it one Sunday at a time for now...

Chickpea Blondies!

I'm continuously finding new blogs to pore over - and as a result, feel increasingly out of my depth in this whole healthy/fitness blogging community! As in, how am I even supposed to compete with the likes of amazing blogs like this and this?! Even on the basis of photography, these blogs are outstanding - not to mention their content!

One blog of note that's been permanently stuck on my long line of tabs is that of ChocolateCoveredKatie (is it just me or are there millions of food bloggers/bloggers in general called Katie? Or am I just specifically hunting out the Katie bloggers? Maybe so). Anyway, Katie's blog is full of unique, low-cal and super tasty dessert recipes that are simple to follow and easy to make! And with that, I'll introduce these chickpea blondies, a recipe based on this original recipe by Katie (slightly adapted by me).



Ingredients:

300g chickpeas, cooked (I bought a dry packet of chickpeas as it's more economical than buying the canned versions - though be aware that they'll require soaking overnight, plus 150 minutes on the hob! Ouch...maybe not so economical after all...)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt
2 teaspoons brown granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon agave nectar
1 large banana
1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract
1 x 27g pack quick oats (Quakers Oats)
2 heaped Tablespoons peanut butter
1 teaspoon coconut oil
20g dark chocolate chips (optional)

Another failed attempt at using the food processor meant transferring my half-beaten chickpea/banana mix to a bowl - someone buy me a decent food processor please? (A vita-mix would be just ideal! Then I can be like all of the other food bloggers, and life would be sweet)



Never-the-less - blend, beat, mash, fork, destroy all ingredients together until you've got yourself a good, batter-y consistency. The final ingredient should be your chocolate chips, if you wish to include them (it's probably for the best). Grease a baking tin (I used a fairly shallow quiche-style dish, which very, very almost managed to fit the whole shabang inside...but not quite. And that is when paper cupcake holders come into swift action).

Your oven should be pre-heated to 350c or gas mark 4. Slide your filled tray/tin/cupcake holders etc into the upper shelf and watch/smell the magic happen...oh, yes; the smell. Seriously good stuff. Remove from the oven after about 30 minutes, and leave to cool (again - if you manage to resist. Resistence is futile! I've probably said that before, but hey, the phrase will - or should, if my baking's up to scratch - always comply!).

The whole batch totals at just over 1000 cals, so split into 10 portions and you've got yourself a super nutritious and delicious pre/post-workout snack/tea-time treat coming in at a measly 100 calories (also if you're interested, 3.4g fat - 1.2g of which saturates - 27g carbs - 22g fibre, 5.6g sugar - plus 3g protein).

Pure, unadulterated bliss - in blondie form. Go on - tuck in!

Coconut Cake with Banana-Choc Frosting

I decided to make this cake at around midnight last night; a combination of boredom (I was waiting up for my boyfriend to return from a late shift at work), intrigue of the original recipe, and - probably the foremost reason - because today it was, of course, Mother's day.




Knowing that my mum is a lover of coconut, almond/nuts, bananas and chocolate, making this cake seemed a natural decision in terms of the chief ingredients. And it's mighty healthy, too - that kinda goes without saying, seeing as this is a health/fitness blog, after all. The ingredients aren't too "out there", either (don't you just hate finding a recipe with a huge list of ingredients that you've never even heard of before? Or worse...having every ingredient bar one measly item. A baker's life... it sure is cruel sometimes). You might even find that you have every ingredient already stocked up in your cupboards - in which case, what are you waiting for?

Alas, enough of the rambling already - here are the instructions on how to make this wondrous cake. Delve on in.

Ingredients (CAKE):

3 large eggs
240ml milk of choice (I used almond milk - original recipe suggests coconut milk. My kitchen cupboards didn't concur)
3 heaped tablespoons coconut oil
60ml honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
80g ground almonds ('almond flour')
1 tablespoon coconut flour (I think I added 1 more after for a thicker paste - sometimes it's all about experimental baking/winging it...)
100g shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/4 teaspoon salt (a pinch should be adequate!)

FROSTING:

1 ripe banana
4 teaspoons cocoa powder
A little added sweetness (1 teaspoon agave/honey)
10g 90% cacao (dark chocolate)
Preheat your oven to 350c, or gas mark 4. Line a couple of round cake tins with parchment paper, nicely greased with coconut oil.

Onto the messy stuff: mix your eggs with the milk, coconut oil (I heated mine so it resembled liquid oil), honey and vanilla extract. I did this by the power of my bare hands and a fork - feel free to use a blender (I won't judge).

In a separate bowl, mix your ground almonds, coconut flour, salt and shredded coconut. Gradually add the liquid ingredients, continually whisking to create a smooth consistency. (NOTE: This is where I thought the mixture was a little too 'liquid-y', thus the extra bit of added coconut flour. The batter afterwards resembled something like the consistency of runny porridge. TOP TIP: use your baker's instinct, and you'll probs get it bang on).

Pour into your baking trays and place into your oven - bake for 30 minutes. I used this waiting time wisely, exercising in the living room...yes, at 12.30am. Wild, I know. You can do the same, or you could prepare your frosting - probably the better and more desirable option of the two.

So, for the frosting; simply mash up your banana as crazily as possible, then add your cocoa powder and a drizzle of honey/agave if you so wish. That's it! Yep, you still have a good 20 minutes to get on those press-ups, girl...



Once your cake layers are looking spruced up and golden on top, leave them to cook on a wire rack for a good half hour, before spreading the banana-choc frosting on the top of one layer. Place the other layer on top, and you've almost make a cake! The all-important bit is how to decorate the top. You can make some more frosting, but I simply chopped up another, less ripened banana into coins and artfully placed them to cover the cake top. Finally, a drizzle of melted 90% dark chocolate was the icing on the cake (metaphorical and literal), plus an added grated dusting of it as a finishing touch.

I can confirm that this cake went down a treat today. It's light, fluffy in texture, flavoursome, bursting full with goodness, and most definitely hit the spot on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Did you treat your Mum to any tasty culinary delights today? Share your recipes with me, I'd love to find out!