Tag: autumn

Blog

Foodie Finds – October 2017

jazzybfit

Firstly, where did October go?! And secondly, how are there only 8 weeks until Christmas…madness! Mind you, that’s not a bad thing as I love the countdown to Christmas 🙂

This months finds contain lots of random goodies such as chocolate orange coffee, white chocolate spread…and a very strange fruit 😉

1) ALDI Red Thai Curry Pea SnacksIMG_8788[1]

These taste just as interesting as they sound, whenever I’m eating them I always get someone asking me about them! I love the fact that they’re made from marrowfat peas, which ups the protein intake, but also it makes them a healthier alternative to crisps. Whats more, they’re baked so they’re no way near as greasy as regular crisps making them the perfect snack. I’ve never tasted flavours like this in any crisp, so worth a try.

IMG_8763[1]2) Beanies Chocolate Orange Coffee

Personally, I’m more of tea kinda girl, but this chocolate orange Beanies has me questioning. Admittedly, the taste is rather subtle but I think this suits something as strong as coffee, although you do still get that chocci orange aftertaste. I love the sound of a few others in their range of strange flavours such as pumpkin spice and cinder toffee which I shall be giving a go.

3) Graze Protein BitesIMG_8661

I was curious after seeing these in my local Tesco, and of course had to buy them especially as graze are renowned for their quirky snacks. The banana flavour actually tastes natural, unlike that artificial banana flavour. You most certainly can’t go wrong with the oat and banana combo, and these certainly do it justice. Also, the packaging is pretty cool with its whole organic theme (such a sucker for nice packaging!).

IMG_90144) Persimmon

Am I the only one who has never heard of this fruit?! When I googled it, it’s also called Sharon fruit…which I have heard of :’) The only way to describe this fruit is that it’s like a sweet pear/kiwi. I added slices to my porridge and pancakes, but for me, the fruit is way too sweet…and that is saying something!

 

5) Soreen Halloween malt loaf IMG_8895

These loaves came in toffee apple or blood orange and chocolate flavours. I love the cake-like texture of Soreen, and when combined with their autumn-inspired flavours, it takes it to the next level of cakey-goodness 😉 Both flavours taste amazing, but I preferred the toffee apple.

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6) Grenade White Choc Protein Spread

This stuff is actually amazing (and so addictive)! I’ve been adding it to pancakes, porridge, toast and smoothie bowls…just about anything I can. It is quite pricey at £6.00 a jar, but it tastes just as good, if not better than their grenade protein bars.

 

Thank you for reading my October foodie finds…now let the Christmas countdown begin,

Jazzy B ❤

Blog, breakfast, Recipies

Autumnal Oats

jazzybfit

No matter what time of year, you can guarantee I’ll be having a warming bowl of oats for breakfast. But now that autumn is here, it’s time to whack out all the spices that I associate with this colder time of year. I’ve put together a few of my favourite autumn-inspired porridge bowls,  featuring all of those classic winter combos and, hopefully, some new ones to jazz up your morning oats.

Classic Autumn Spiced oats:

Kicking it off with this porridge bowl full of all those beloved, warming autumn spices.

Ingredients:

IMG_9134
Topped with almond, cashews, and walnuts.
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • Ginger
  • Cinnamon
  • Honey
  • Nuts
  • Greek Yogurt to top

Method:

  1. Mix your preferred amount of oats with the three spices and a milk of your choice, and cook them how you normally would
  2. Top with a dollop of Greek yoghurt, a drizzle of honey and some nuts and you’re good to go.

Stewed Toffee Apple Oats

These oats were inspired by my favourite treat to have around this time of year – toffee apples! This is definitely my favorite out combo out of the five.

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Served with coconut flakes, and some honey.
Ingredients:

  • Toffee Myprotein flavdrops
  • Cinnamon
  • Vanilla extract
  • Oats

Method:

  1. Slice the apples into chunks, and place in a saucepan with just enough water to cover the apples
  2. Add 10-12 toffee flavdrops, and some cinnamon and leave to simmer for around 5 minutes or until the apples are soft
  3. Make your oats and top with the toffee apples, I also added some honey.

Pumpkin Pie Oats

Like the classic American Thanksgiving dessert, but in oat form. If you like pumpkin infused with lots of lovely spices, this one will be right up your street.

Ingredients:

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Served with raisins, mixed nuts, sweet freedom choc shot, pumpkin seeds and chia seeds.
  •  2 tbsp Pumpkin puree
  • Chia seeds
  • 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract
  • Cinnamon
  • Mixed spice
  • 1.5 – 2tbsp of maple syrup or honey
  • Milk
  • optional toppings: raisins, mixed nuts & pumpkin seeds

Method:

  1. Mix your oats with the pumpkin puree, spices, milk, honey & flavdrops
  2. Cook your oats in your usual way
  3. Serve – I recommend topping your oats with anything chocolate, as the combo of pumpkin and chocolate is delightful.

Pecan and apple porridge

Pecan-topped porridge is so good, and with the addition of the sweetness from the honey and the crisp grated apples, this porridge combo works brilliantly.

Ingredients:

IMG_9256
Topped with apple batons, pecans, coconut flakes and some honey/maple syrup.
  • One apple
  • Pecans
  • Maple syrup to serve
  • 8 Toffee flavdrops or 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

  1. Grate half of the apple and place this in the bowl/saucepan along with your oats, milk, and flavdrrops
  2. Cook the oats is your preferred way
  3. Slice the other half of the apple into thin batons, and serve.

Gingerbread Baked Oatmeal:

Who says you can’t have gingerbread for brekkie? 😉 By baking these oats, it turns them into a cake-like texture…whats not to like?!

Ingredients:

IMG_9198
With Greek yoghurt, apple slices, coconut flakes, and honey.
  • Cinnamon
  • Ginger
  • Mixed spice
  • vanilla extract
  • One egg
  • 1/2 a tsp of baking powder
  • 10 Toffee Flavdrops
  • Oats (I used 60g)
  • Milk (enough to cover the oats)

Method:

  1. Grease an ovenproof dish with some coconut oil, and preheat your oven to 190 degrees
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in the dish
  3. Add the egg, milk, vanilla extract and toffee drops
  4. Place the oats in the oven and bake for between 30-40 minutes (or until golden, and firm on top).

I hope you’ve found something that you want to try,

Jazzy B ❤

Blog, breakfast, Recipies

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

jazzybfit

Autumn is well and truly here, and thank goodness too! I’ve grown to love this time of year mainly for how cosy I feel when I’m all snuggled up with a nice hot choc, and my candles are lit (the only thing that ever gets ‘lit’ in my life ;)).

Not only this, but Autumn means the return of the mighty pumpkin (and all those extra carvings that you could probably display in the Tate). It’s all about the Pumpkin; pumpkin energy balls, pumpkin pie, pumpkin waffles…It’s everywhere! There is so much you can do with pumpkins, so I thought I’d Autumn-ify my Protein Pancake recipe and bring you something inspired from the States.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp of tinned pumpkin puree
  • 1/2 a tsp of baking powder
  • 45g of oats
  • 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract
  • 1-2 tbsp of honey
  • Ginger
  • Cinnamon
  • Mixed spice
  • One egg
  • 1 and a 1/2 tsp Greek yoghurt
  • 50-60ml of your choice of milk
  • Coconut oil (for greasing the pan)

img_92161.jpg

Method:

  1. Preheat your frying pan (on a low heat)
  2. Place the oats in a blender until you get a flour-like texture
  3. Add in the egg, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, honey, spices, baking powder, and yoghurt and blend until combined
  4. Next, add in your choice of milk bit by bit until you get a pourable batter
  5. Put some coconut oil in the pan (now turned up to a medium-high heat) and pour your pancake batter in
  6. Flip each pancake once the edges turn a golden colour
  7. Keep topping the pan up with coconut oil after each couple of pancakes
  8. Serve and enjoy! (I would highly recommend serving them with something chocolatey!)

Nutritional Info:

(Makes 7 small pancakes)

  • 402 calories
  • 57.7g carbs
  • 14.3g protein
  • 12.9g fat

I hope you enjoy these autumn style pumpkin pancakes, and stay safe as storm Brian might get you 😉 (the names they call these storms are absolutely hilarious!)

Jazzy B ❤

 

Blog

Foodie Finds – September 2017

jazzybfit

For me, September is all about new beggings. It’s the time when I welcome the new academic year along with all its challenges and successes, not to mention all the comforts that autumn has to offer. Normally I’m a summer person, but this year I’m going to make an effort to really enjoy autumn and all its beauty. But for now I’m clinging on to whatever may be left of summer, and sharing with you my summer foodie finds. I hope you enjoy.

1) Oomf Protein Porridge Pots

I added banana slices, almonds and dark chocolate.

I packed this in my suitcase whilst going abroad so I had something to have in the morning…as it was an awful flight time! Normally pots like this leave me feeling hungry about an hour after I’ve eaten them, but this one left me satisfied! The flavours are also great, I tried the golden syrup and cinnamon flavours which were both so tasty. I also love that they allow enough room for you to top them with whatever you like. With a whopping 22g of protein and only 10g of sugar, and no washing up 😉 you can’t go wrong! These little pots also feature in my latest blog post, How to Stay Healthy on Holiday.

2) Dr. Zaks Salted Caramel CookieIMG_7732

The thing I like most about this is that it’s like a cookie that you get from a bakery. Normally the texture of protein ‘cookies’ are like rock hard biscuits, which is so disappointing! For me the texture is spot on, it’s so gooey and just melts in the mouth, and the flavour is delicious. Of course, the macros are also excellent with 15g of protein and 2.4g of sugar. They also have a chocolate chip and triple chocolate…deffo on my list to try ;).

3) Pulsin and Beyond Raw Chocolate Chip Brownie

I’ve had a lot of ‘raw’ brownies, but nothing quite compares to this one! The taste is so rich and chocolatey making this treat so moreish. Also, it’s raw (which seems to be the craze at the minute) as it involves all natural ingredients, which haven’t been cooked, therefore helping to retain the nutritional benefits, plus it’s vegan too. If I ever want a natural alternative when I’m fancying something sweet, I shall definitely be returning to this. I had my brownie on top of some porridge oats, which worked a treat making this bar so versatile, but, you could also top your pancakes with it or have it as an evening sweet treat.

4) Grenade Banana Armour 

Grenade has done it again! There isn’t actually a single bar that I don’t love, they’re all so good and this one certainly was no exception. I’ve heard a lot of people on social recommending to heat the bar up in the microwave, and that’s just what I did. It went from an amazing protein bar to an even better protein dessert. It’s also limited edition so I’d go and grab one now!

IMG_76275) Sparkling Ice Water

This is one of those random drinks that I picked up at the airport, I fancied something fizzy, flavoured and kinda healthy and this is what I bought. It was strawberry and Kiwi flavour, and oh my gosh I loved it. Definitely one of those drinks that you can’t stop sipping on…it didn’t even make it on the plane, I’d drunk it that quickly. The whole bottle had only 12 calories, and if that doesn’t convince you enough…it’s green, so novel!

 

Well, that’s my September foodie roundup complete, stay tuned for what other groovy things I can find in October,

Jazzy B ❤