Chocolate & Peanut Butter, Protein Brownie

There has been a basic protein brownie recipe doing the rounds on Instagram for a few weeks now and it's perfect for those of us who struggle to get enough protein into our diets. Obviously, I couldn't just settle for the basic brownie recipe, I had to put my own spin on it so I added my favourite ingredient: Peanut butter; but not any peanut butter, it was chocolate peanut butter. Yes! A girls food heaven put into a cake. What more could you ask for?

This recipe takes about 5 minutes to prepare and cook, which is no time at all.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter, Protein Brownie

Ingredients

• 60g Protein Powder
• 20g Cocoa Powder 
• 30g Chocolate Peanut Butter ( you can use any flavour)
• 10g Self Rising Flour, or 1/4 tsp of Baking Powder
• 120ml Milk
• Sweetener 

NB: I find the sweetener makes the brownie a bit too sweet, especially as the protein powder is already sweet.

Instructions 

• Blend everything into a smooth paste, pour into an ovenproof dish and then cook on a medium heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, or until the bottom of the protein brownie is cooked. I find the bottom always takes the longest to cook so keep an eye on it and keep the heat low, or the protein brownie will dry out. 

You can serve this protein brownie on its own, or with whipped cream; ice cream; greek yogurt, homemade frozen yogurt -- the list is endless.

Chocolate & PB, Protein Brownie 

I served mine with 0% Greek yogurt and some dark chocolate shavings. Actual food heaven.

Give them a go! 

Spaghetti Squash; With Homemade Tomato Sauce & Chickpea Balls.

In the U.K we don't get this magical squash. I looked everywhere last Autumn to try and find this beauty but I failed and got some VERY strange looks in return when I asked -- I think they thought I was pulling their leg.

This Summer I decided to take matters into my own hands and I grew my own Spaghetti Squash. I worked really hard on maintaining my vegetable garden, every ounce of love went into it and by the beginning of Autumn I was eating my very first, HOMEGROWN Spaghetti Squash and I couldn't have been more proud of myself. I actually did it and I didn't give up when things got tough. For example; when the leaves developed mould -- I just pruned them off and carried on; or when the time the plants developed end rot -- I bought some calcium and ploughed on through. My first year of vegetable growing was very difficult, but it was also very rewarding too because I grew Spaghetti Squash -- Did I mention that already? I grew my very own Spaghetti Squash and it was delicious!

Spaghetti Squash 

When I finally got to cook my first Spaghetti Squash, this was the first dish I made -- Spaghetti Squash, with Homemade Tomato Sauce & Chickpea Balls. It was delicious and I'm not just saying that,  all the flavours went well together and the chickpea balls were delicious.

Spaghetti Squash, With Homemade Tomato Sauce & Chickpea Balls

Obviously since I'd never cooked a Spaghetti Squash before I didn't know how to cook it, so I did a quick Google search and was informed that I should cut it in half and place the squash downward on a baking tray and cook it for 30-40 minutes depending on how big it was. It worked and I had my first plate of Spaghetti Squash 'pasta'. I couldn't have been more excited if Peter Andre had been serving it to me. I was ecstatic.

Ingredients 

• Spaghetti Squash
• Carton of Chopped Tomatoes
• Apple Cider Vinegar
• White Onion
• Basil
• Garlic
• Can of Chickpeas
• Whole Egg, or Egg White.
• Cheddar
• Italian Seasoning
• Himalayan Salt
• Black Pepper
• Spray Oil
• Garlic

NB: You can use as many of the ingredients as you desire, depending on how many you are cooking for.

Instructions

• Cut the Spaghetti Squash in half and place downward on a baking tray, then cook on 200c for 35-40minutes depending on how big the squash is.
• Now place the chopped tomatoes; Garlic; Basil; ACV; and Onion in an oven dish and roast for the same amount of time as the Spaghetti Squash.

Chickpea Balls

• Blend the Chickpeas with the Italian seasoning; Cheddar; Salt; Pepper and Egg; or egg white. You can make the mixture smooth, or chunky it is up to you.
• Next mould the chickpea mixture into balls; spray a baking pan with low fat spray and bake the chickpea balls until they are golden. You could also fry these balls if you don't have room in your oven.

Now for the fun part...

• Use a fork and pull the Spaghetti Squash away from the rind and watch those spaghetti strands appear.
• Next, blend your sauce and top the Spaghetti Squash with as much as you desire, along with the Chickpea Balls.

Et Voila.. Spaghetti Squash, with Homemade Tomato Sauce & Chickpea Balls.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Protein Crempogs; With a Strawberry & Vanilla Compote

It feels like a lifetime ago since I was last able to cook a decent meal and blog about it; actually it feels like forever since I was able to cook a decent meal; enjoy the meal; and also feel full after the meal. Now I remember why I chose to start eating a low carb, high fat diet last year; it’s because it satiates me more than eating high carb, which is how I’ve been eating for the last two weeks in order to get myself through the insanity workouts. Yes that’s right, I am being put through my paces by Shaun T and getting my butt kicked everyday; man those workouts are hard, but satisfying when you start to realise that your stronger than you think; well in my case anyway. Well, today is my rest day and I was taking this opportunity to kick the carbs for the weekend and resort back to eating low carb, high fat, and I just had to make these stunning crempogs.

Chocolate Protein Crempogs, with a Strawberry & Vanilla Compote

Now I know that my last post was crempogs but these are different; I experimented a little with the recipe and also added in some chocolate protein powder, because if it’s one thing I need with these insanity workouts; its protein. I also made a fresh, homemade Strawberry and Vanilla Compote to go with the crempogs and everything went together perfectly; even my sister loved them and thought they were delicious –which they were. 

Chocolate Protein Crempogs; With a Strawberry & Vanilla Compote

I was actually hoping to make this strawberry and vanilla compote with some home-grown strawberries from my garden, but sadly while they are doing better than they ever have, they’re still getting eaten by tiny worms and also the rain isn’t helping with rot – maybe next year. However; I have had a few strawberries from my patch, I'm just saving them for a rainy day. 

Homegrown Strawberries 

I think I have some way to go before I can make a jar of strawberry jam - eeek. 

Yield – 7 Pancakes

Ingredients

• 25g Coconut Flour
• 2 Eggs
• 15g Grass-fed Butter
• 15g Chocolate Protein Powder
• ¼ tsp Baking Soda
• ¼ tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
• 60ml Whole Milk, or Full Cream Milk
• ¼ tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• Coconut Oil (or any oil)
• A touch of Himalayan Salt

Instructions

Before you start your crempogs you will need to make your buttermilk.

In a bowl pour out your milk and add the apple cider vinegar; stir the milk and then leave to stand until you need it.

In a blender or another separate bowl crack your eggs and beat, then add in your coconut flour and combine thoroughly; now you can add in some protein powder and again combine.

Warm your buttermilk either in a pan or microwave, for a few seconds – you will notice the curds have separated from the whey; this is buttermilk, now add in the butter and stir until the butter has melted. Add the bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt to your buttermilk and stir; the buttermilk will start to foam and look like egg whites.

You can now add your buttermilk to the coconut flour mixture and make sure everything is well combined; scraping the sides to make sure no mixture has stuck.

You should now have a nice smooth, chocolaty batter which is slightly thick; leave it for 5 minutes to thicken a little more and then start cooking the crempogs.

Ingredients – Strawberry & Vanilla Compote

• 100g Strawberries
• 1 tsp Honey
• Vanilla Extract or Vanilla pods

Chop your strawberries and place them in a saucepan with enough water to just cover the fruit; the vanilla and honey; bring it all to a boil; and let them cook for a few minutes, when foam starts to reach the surface stir the fruit and reduce the heat – when the compote slides off the back of a spoon slowly and looks almost like jelly; it’s done.

Your pancakes and strawberry compote should be done around the same time, so plate up enjoy.

The Hungry Welsh Girl. 

Aubergine & Courgette Bake

I first made aubergine parmigiana last year while following the ketogenic diet and I fell in love with it. It was everything you needed while following a diet; it was – healthy, hearty, cheesy, vegetarian, and absolutely delicious – which is when I had the idea for this Aubergine and Courgette bake.

After completing day 2 of the insanity workout I needed something – healthy, hearty, cheesy, vegetarian, and absolutely delicious and since I had no parmesan here to make, aubergine parmesan, I decided to combine the aubergine with some courgette, tomato sauce, cheddar and mozzarella, and to my pleasure, it was amazing; although there is always room for improvement – a little cheese sauce would have been lovely, which is exactly what I will add next time. 

Ingredients

• Courgette
• Aubergine 
• Olive Oil
• Chopped Tomatoes
• Basil
• Garlic
• Himalayan Salt
• Cheese
• Mozzarella

Instructions

Slice both your courgette and aubergine into thin slices and place the aubergine on a separate plate with some salt, add a chopping board or another plate on top, then leave for 20 minutes – this will remove any moisture, or bitterness that the aubergine may have.

When you’re waiting for the aubergine you can prepare your tomato sauce. The recipe I have is for a convenient tomato sauce, but if you would prefer to make your own then you can do that - I have a recipe for a homemade tomato sauce coming up soon. 

In a bowl add your chopped tomatoes, crushed garlic, basil and a pinch of Himalayan salt, and combine. Next you will need to wash the salt off the aubergine and then dry the slices with a paper towel. Brush your aubergine slices with some olive oil and fry them on a low heat, until the slices have turned clear in colour - if the aubergine start to burn, add more olive oil.

When all your aubergine slices have been cooked, you can now add the courgette and aubergine to your baking dish, adding tomato sauce and cheese to each layer, and top with the remaining cheese.

Cover the baking dish with foil and cook at 200°c for 40-60 minutes.

It’s as simple as that. 

You can serve the aubergine and courgette bake with a side salad, or more vegetables. I had brussel sprouts with rosemary and more himalayan salt - perfect. 

The Hungry Welsh Girl.

Sesame Covered Carrot Fries, with a Sweet & Spicy Sauce.

I’ve noticed lately that I have started eating vegetables that I never would have touched as a child, even last year I was still sceptical of these vegetables and would avoid them at all costs – now I eat them with enjoyment and look forward to my next recipe experimentation with the vegetable. Carrots were one of those vegetables I just couldn’t get my taste buds to appreciate – until this week. This week I have eaten carrots twice, twice with the same ingredients, and twice with different variations – I must be getting adventurous in my old age because both times I found them delicious, and I’m not just saying it.  

So what did I make? Well, today I made carrot fries. I know what you’re all thinking, I thought the same thing when I saw vegetable fries doing the rounds on Instagram – they’re not potato fries. I’m not entirely sure whether the vegetable fries are supposed to be healthy versions of potato fries - I know they’re fries but they taste nothing like potatoes – obviously. So do people eat these instead of potato fries? I guess I’ll have to do more research. I on the other hand have started experimenting with vegetable fries because I’m a vegetarian and new meal ideas are always welcome to a vegetarian table - although, if I wanted potato fries I would make those too – I see nothing wrong with it.

Sesame Covered Carrot , with a Sweet & Spicy Sauce.

Like every single recipe I ever make, this was simple and quick – I had it for lunch and it took me about 20 minutes to prepare and cook. I actually love how the natural sweetness of the carrots tasted when combined with the sweet and spicy sauce, it was a completely different taste to my Carrot and Parsnip Kinpira - even though the ingredients were the same - minus the parsnip. 

Ingredients – Carrot Fries

• Chunky Carrots
• 1 tbsp – Sesame Seeds
• Coconut or Sesame oil

Instructions

Peel your carrots and cut them into sticks, place them in a bowl with the sesame seeds and oil – if you use coconut oil, make sure to melt it first. Combine the ingredients and place them on a lined baking tray, and pop them into the oven for 20 minutes at 200c. 

Ingredients – Sweet & Spicy Sauce

• 3 tbsp Gluten free Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp - Pure Honey
• 100ml Water
• Chilli
• Coriander
• Garlic Clove
• Ginger

Instructions

Place everything into a saucepan and bring to the boil for 2 minutes, then let the sauce reduce on a low heat until it’s to your desired consistency.

Told you it was simple didn't I?

Now plate up and enjoy. 

Hwyl Fawr

The Hungry Welsh Girl. 

Crempogs with Honey

Last night I devoured a welsh cake in a matter of seconds. It was everything a welsh cake needed to be - not too thick, not too dry, smooth and buttery on your tongue - it was beautiful.  However, for the next hour after I was itching like a dog with fleas - it wasn't fun. That’s when I knew I needed to make something sweet and gluten free. My initial idea was to make Welsh cakes with a healthy twist, but I’d never made Welsh cakes before, so that idea went out the window. That’s when I thought of making pancakes - which were like welsh cakes, but I didn't have any currants, so I decided on plain crempogs.

Crempogs are welsh pancakes, which are usually eaten on Shrove Tuesday. Traditional crempogs are usually thicker than my end result - like Welsh cake thick, but I ran out of coconut flour and made my batter too wet by adding vanilla extract.

Crempogs with Honey. 

As I mentioned above these crempogs were made with coconut flour, which makes them; gluten free, grain free, wheat free, healthy and have a bunch of other benefits that I won’t ramble on about here. However, if you are interested in finding out more on coconut flour, you can visit this website here. Traditional crempogs are made with self rising flour, but obviously I wanted to make healthy pancakes so opted for coconut flour. At first coconut flour can be tricky to use, as it drinks liquid like a thirsty camel, but I’m happy to announce that after a whole year of experimenting with coconut flour and pancakes, I very rarely get a bad batch of pancakes; which is why I knew this recipe was going to be successful.

I was so convinced this recipe was going to be a triumph that I even went as far as to make my own buttermilk – which was super easy to make, and had no nasty ingredients in it just; full cream milk, lemon juice and to let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes, or longer – easy as your ABC. Now that I had my buttermilk it was time to make the crempogs.

Ingredients - Buttermilk

• 80ml Gold Top Jersey Milk - or milk of choice. 
• 1/2 tsp- Lemon Juice, or Apple Cider Vinegar - too much will result in a bitter buttermilk.

Instructions 

In a jar, container, or measuring cup at the milk and lemon juice, then leave stand for 10 minutes, or longer. As soon as your milk splits, you have buttermilk. It's really that simple. 

Yield – 6 Crempogs

Ingredients

• 25g – Coconut Flour
• 2 Eggs
• 15g – Grass-fed, or Organic Butter
• Buttermilk
• ¼ tsp – Baking Powder
• 1/4  tsp – Bicarbonate of Soda
• ½ tsp – Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/8 tsp Himalayan Salt
• Sugar substitute

NB: You can adjust any of the ingredients above to suit yourself, or your dietary needs, although I’m not sure if the end result will be the same.

Instructions

By this point you should have your buttermilk ready, if not follow the steps I noted above.

Warm your buttermilk in a saucepan, or microwave, then pour over the butter and stir until the butter has melted.

Next pour the butter and milk into the coconut flour and combine.  – The coconut flour turned into a lumpy, almost dough- like mass, I’m not sure if this would happen with self-rising flour, but I added a tablespoon of milk and then left it.

 In a separate bowl add the eggs, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, sugar substitute, salt and apple cider vinegar and beat. When everything is well combined add the mixture to the coconut flour and again combine thoroughly, until the mixture turns into a thick, heavy batter – which is what you want. Do not add any more liquid at this stage, or it will turn thin. You will also see little bubbles forming and bursting in the batter, again this is good as it will help your crempogs rise.

Leave the batter for 20 minutes to thicken.

Heat a non stick frying pan on a low heat, with butter, or coconut oil and when the pan is warm enough, spoon in your batter. Your pancakes should immediately start forming bubbles and resemble something like a crumpet, when the top of the pancake looks cooked, flip and cook the other side. Continue this process until all your crempogs are cooked. If you are cooking for more than just yourself – yes I did eat that entire batch to myself – you can put the cooked crempogs into an oven, on a low heat to keep warm.

Because these crempogs were cooked with grass-fed butter, I didn't want to add anymore unnecessary calories so I kept the crempogs simple with a nice helping of pure honey and they were delicious. The crempogs were fluffy from the buttermilk and weren't at all dry from the coconut flour, which can happen with coconut flour, so don’t be alarmed if you alter the above recipe and get a dry, crumbly mess – it’s happened to me too.

Hope you all enjoy these crempogs as much as I did.

Hwyl Fawr

The Hungry Welsh Girl. 

Carrot & Parsnip Kinpira

I remember someone suggesting Carrot Kinpira to me last year, as another vegetarian dish which I could try, but back then vegetables were the last thing I wanted to eat - bread, pasta, and everything except vegetables were what I preferred.

Today however I was stuck for dinner ideas, when I remembered the Carrot Kinpira suggestion, and I just had to try it. Usually I'm not one for carrots, I never liked them growing up and hated them even more throughout my adulthood - until today that is. Today I discovered that carrots aren't the most disgusting vegetable ever grown, I learned that I do in fact like carrots and that this recipe could end up being a firm favourite of mine, both to eat and to experiment with.

Carrot & Parsnip Kinpira

For those of  you who are wondering what Kinpira is, it is basically a Japanese cooking style, which is commonly used to saute, or simmer root vegetables. However, I used my cast iron pan to make this Carrot and Parsnip Kinpira but I think a wok would work much better.

Yield  - 1 Serving 

Ingredients 

• Carrot 
• Parsnip
• Sesame Seed Oil 
• 1 tbls - Sesame Seeds
• Garlic Clove 
• Ginger 
• Chilli, or Chilli Powder
• 1 tbls - Soy Sauce 
• 1 tsp - Honey 
• Himalayan Salt 

Instructions 

Before you start heating the wok you will need to peel some carrots and parsnips with a sharp vegetable peeler, next you will need to julienne the vegetables. There are a few ways to julienne the vegetables, you can manually cut the vegetables into thin, matchsticks, you can use a spiralizer, or a julienne peeler - this is the method I use and its really simple and quick - just watch those fingers. 

Julienned Carrots & Parsnips

When your vegetables are all peeled and julienned, heat a frying pan, or wok with the sesame seed oil, and toss in some crushed garlic and ginger, and saute for a few seconds.

Now you can add in your vegetables and saute them until they are tender, but with some crunch, then add in the; Sesame seeds, Chilli powder, Soy sauce, Salt and Honey, and combine with all the vegetables. 

Plate up in your favourite bowl and enjoy - you could even use a pair of chopsticks for that extra bit of fun.

The Hungry Welsh Girl.