Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate mousse is one of my favourite things on the planet. One of the things I was saddest about when I had to give up dairy was that I wouldn't be able to have chocolate mousse anymore (the other was cheese pizza). The good news - you can STILL HAVE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE! Oh yes, you CAN! Ingredients: - 2 avocados - 1/4 cup raw cacao powder - Honey, argave syrup or maple syrup or other liquid sweetener to taste Put the ingredients in the blender. Blend. Taste to see if you have enough sweetener. (It's better to start off with less and add in more.) This creates a rich and creamy mousse that you would never imagine is extremely healthy and allergen free. If you want, you can add in other ingredients to make a flavoured mousse - berries, cacao nibs, nuts, etc. But most of the time, who wants to?

Beetroot Soup

I'm not a huge fan of soup recipes normally. i like to make soup from all of the veggie that are left over at the end of the week. But a few are just so remarkablly delicious that you seek out all that you need for that dish.

For me, this is one of these soups!

Because it's a soup, vary amounts depending on what you have and to taste.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup pre-soaked split green peas
- Brocolini (1 bunch)
- Celery (3 stalks)
- Cauliflower (1/2 head)
- 3 beetroots, peeled
- Veggie or chicken stock (approx 1 litre)

Cook all of the ingredients together until vegetables are tender (this will vary greatly, depending on how small you chopped your vegetables).

Blend the soup, adding more water, stock, or salt to taste.

This soup goes brilliantly with the coriander pesto I posted earlier.

Easy Kale Chips

I don't know about you, but I like my food to be super fast and even easier. Or at least I like to have that option.

This food is exactly that! plus delcious, plus it helps you get some more leafy greens in your diet. What's not to love?

Grab a handful or two of baby kale. you can use full grown kale, but then you need to chop it, and who has time for that? Okay, I do, but still, baby kale is the way to go!

Put into a salad bowl, add some olive oil or coconut oil, salt, and whatever other flavourings you want (nutritional yeast! oh my goodness, so good! but you can add other herbs and spices as you would like)

Toss the ingredients so the kale is well covered. Spread on a tray lined with baking paper, and bake for 8 minutes at 180°.

Eat, and try not to eat the whole batch all at once! But if you do, just remember, it's healthy!

Sam's Ultimate Smoothie

I eat smoothies most days for breakfast. They're quick, easy, and the clean-up is a breeze. Oh, and did I mention that they're super easy to make gluten and dairy free, they're nutritous, and they taste GOOD?

Anyway, this is my ulimate smoothie:
- 1 banana
- 1 scoop of vital protein (vanilla)
- 1 tablespoon hulled tahini
- 1 taspoon vital greens
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 3 tablespoons raw cacao
- Milk alternative to blend (I like rice milk best, but use your favourite)

Blend and enjoy!

If it's not sweet enough, add honey to taste.

1. 

Sam's Food Situation (and a recipe)

In case you didn't notice, I spent all weekend in sunny Perth with my wonderful guy, Paul.

The thing is, I spent all my money. Well, I have $70 left, but I'm prioritising dancing and at a pinch being able to get to work over such luxuries as food.

So I'm cooking from my pantry at the moment. Which doesn't sound too bad until you realise that I don't have any gf bread, pasta, or vegetables in the fridge.

Yes, that does make meals slightly more difficult for a gluten free, dairy free vegetarian.

Last night I made up white rice with stir fry frozen vegetables and satay sauce. and finished off the white rice, and satay sauce.

The bread also poses a problem. I have 2-3 slices a day at work with soup, and toast as a regular snack (with nut butter and honey or jam).

So I decided to experiment and make some rolls, and they're actually quite nice!

So here's my recipe for quinoa cheezy bread rolls:

- 1 cup plain gf flour
- 1 cup quinoa flour
- 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
- Nutritional yeast, about 1/3 cup, but more or less depending on preference (nutritional yeast tastes like cheese)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Water and rice milk, to blend

Mix together the dry ingredients, thrn blend together wirh the rice milk and water til you have a doughy consistency.

Break off into roll.shapes (I couldn't be bothered, and just made rough spoonfuls of the mixture) and bake at 200 degrees celcius for 30 minutes.

They're actually quite good - though maybe not with almond butter and jam!

Vanilla and Honey Chia Pudding with Banana

This is one of the easiest desserts to whip up - and the good news is that its so healthy that you can eat it for breakfast!

Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- Rice milk (or other 'milk' of your choice - coconut milk is great too)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla protein powder (I use Vital Protein, it's made from peas)
- Honey to taste
- 1 banana, chopped
- Cinnamon and nutmeg, as desired


Put the chia seeds in a large bowl, and cover to about twice their depth with your milk. Stir, and allow to thicken for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the protein powder, and stir through. Sweeten with a little honey.  You may need more milk, as chia seeds suck up a lot of liquid.

If you want the cinnamon or nutmeg, add them and stir through.  Top with the chopped banana, then drizzle again with honey to taste.

Eat and enjoy!

A note on chia seeds - these are awesome - high in protein, high in calcium, iron, and other minerals.

Cashew Banana Ice-Cream

Who doesn't like ice-cream? If you answered 'Me' then I'm sorry, we can't be friends.

Actually, if you don't like ice-cream, I'm not sorry.

However, if you are not allowed dairy or gluten, this does rather limit your ice-cream options. Which sucks.

To the rescue tomes raw desserts! in this case, raw cashew banana ice-cream!

This is INCREDIBLY easy.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 banana
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- Honey, argave syrup or maple syrup to taste (I used maple syrup)

First, soak 1 cup of cashews for 2 hours or
more. I put them on to soak efore leaving the house for work, and had them all ready for
when I came home.

Drain them, and they're all ready to use!

Once again, this is a super easy blender recipe. Put the cashews in the blender, and blend. Depending on your blender, it may take a while. 

Add the coconut oil and the banana, the your sweetener to taste. (Yay for tasting!)

Put your blend in a freezer safe container and freeze. Take it out and stir every 1/2 hour or so so that it doesn't freeze rock hard. However, if it does, all you need to do is put it in the microwave for 10 seconds.

Easy Corriander Pesto

This is an incredibly easy way of adding a bit of pizazz to your food (or to other people's food).

Ingredients:

- 1 bunch corriander

- approx 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds
- 2 cloves of garlic
- a squeeze of lemon juice
- a little flaxseed oil to blend

Place all the ingrients in a blender, and blend until roughly chopped and combined. depending on the quality of your blender, this can take between a few seconds to a few minutes.

Spoon over savoury dishes, such as pasta, or vegetable soup!