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Healthy Always

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Banana Oat Cookies

May 20, 2015 Danijela Unkovich

These cookies tick all the boxes - they're nutritious, cheap, easy-to-make, really yummy and they require the simplest-of-simple ingredients list. Seriously, we're talking mashed banana, rolled oats, desiccated coconut, dried apricots, a sprinkling of chocolate chips, and THAT'S ALL.  They're also totally kid-friendly - get the kids involved in mashing the bananas, counting out the apricots and mixing all the ingredients together with their hands - it'll get a bit messy, but fun! 

A wonderful way to get kids more excited about what they're eating is to get them involved in the preparation process - it may require a little extra patience and time (and most likely clean up), but it's a great educational activity with the wonderful follow-on effect of getting them more invested at meal time (and so hopefully more inclined to try whatever is being served!). Of course, this might not be needed when it comes to eating cookies, but definitely something to keep in mind next time you have a pile of veggies to peel in front of you...

Banana Oat Cookies

Ingredients
4 mashed ripe bananas
2 1/2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
12 dried apricots, diced
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Method
1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line an oven tray with baking paper.

2) Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together until well combined (a big wooden spoon or just your hands will do!).

3) Spoon out large tablespoons of the mixture and assemble into cookie shapes on the oven tray. I say assemble as it will get a little messy! You might need to spend a little time shaping them. A quick way to do it is to  get a cookie cutter and fill each one up with the mixture - when you remove the cookie cutter you'll get even circle shapes.

4) Bake the cookies in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them for the last few minutes to make sure they don't burn.

5) Take them out of the oven. They will be soft. Let them cool for 10 minutes to firm up, before digging in. Enjoy!

Makes 10-12 cookies depending on how big you make them.

In kid friendly, sweet treats, snacks
← Banana Oat Pancakes

Hi, I'm Danijela! I'm a nutritionist from New Zealand. Welcome to my blog, a space I share healthy easy recipe ideas and wellness inspiration. 

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Tino pai te rangi, nē rā? Lovely day, isn’t it?This week has been Maori Language week in NZ, which is about celebrating and promoting one of Aotearoa’s three official languages!😊 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I work clinically on Saturdays, so Sunday's are always a mix of life admin and down time. Today my sister and I trekked up the top of Mount Eden - if you're ever heading to Auckland and want to get your bearings, this volcano (and one of the 50+ volcanoes in this city😅 Check out another one behind me. Volcano inception) is near the middle and has 360 degree views as far as the eye can see. Decked out here in @adidasnz new VRCT jacket (big love to my adidas NZ family for gifting it), which is all about celebrating self-expression and team pride - the patch on the front is customisable, so you can represent what you choose. Looking forward to getting back into @adidasrunners Auckland this coming Tuesday after a few weeks off with travelling!🏃‍♀️ #werepresent #adidasambassador #adidasnz #maorilanguageweek #auckland #mounteden
Acai breakfast bowl🍌🍇Springs well and truly arrived, and it has started to warm up here in NZ! This tasty and refreshing breaky is made with a blend of frozen fruit, antioxidant-rich açai powder, and a few extra (rather non-traditional açai bowl) ingredients, like avocado and protein powder - together, the combination will help fuel you into the morning👌 Recipe over on my blog if you'd like to give it a go - search açai breakfast bowl. I whipped this up in my kitchen BFF - the @brevilleaus Super Q blender. I've been using this piece of equipment for the last six months and love it - it's a commercial grade blender designed for the home kitchen, and is the perfect trio of super powerful, quick, and quiet. For more and to watch me prepare this, head to my stories now #brevillepartner #gifted
Healthier snickers bars🍫🥜 It feels like I’ve had a stream of sweet treats on here lately…I guess that’s how the (content) cookie crumbles sometimes!🤷‍♀️ I’ve updated the snickers bar recipe on my website with some fresh shots. Who is a fan of snickers?! Among the mainstream confectionary bars, the nougat-caramel-peanut trio all enrobed in decadent milk chocolate, is long-standing chocolate royalty. Every once in a while, it’s fun to get creative in the kitchen recreating classics – so here is my take on snickers! It uses chewy, sweet medjool dates as the caramel base – when blended into a puree, they are reminiscent of caramel. These treats are vegan and dairy-free, and are a source of dietary fiber. Head to the blog for the recipe, link in bio #snickers #chocolatebar
Banana oat cookies🍪🍌 These cookies tick all the boxes - they’re easy-to-make, scrummy, nutritious, and require the simplest of simple ingredients list! Can you guess the five ingredients just by looking at them? Recipe over on my blog, link in bio✌️A great one for the kiddies lunchbox! #baking #cookies
Hello from America!🇺🇸 It has been a quiet week posting on here, as I took a little time off while travelling☺️ I’ve been eating up a storm though...from left to right, here’s some favourite eating - a caramel apple (an apple, dunked in caramel - totally still counts toward your 5+ a day riggght!?), a glorious American cheeseburger and fries (key for an epic burger is quality ingredients!🍔), Key Lime pie (named after small key limes found throughout the Florida Keys), Cobb salad (American garden salad with crispy bacon, chicken, egg, cheese, tomato, avocado and a vinegarette), American diner galore where the coffee really is bottomless (and a one-way ticket to jitteriness☕️), and a very *very* early Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and gravy, pumpkin pie, and going around the table saying what you’re grateful for. I casually mentioned to my friend I’d love to experience an American Thanksgiving one day...and she decided to make it happen while I was there!😭💛#america #food
Papaya breakfast boats⛵️ While, at first glance, these look rather fancy-pancy (you’re bound to get a collective ‘oooh’ when serving one), they’re wildly simple to whip up! Simply slice a papaya in halve, scoop out and discard the inner black seeds, then fill the papaya with your fav muesli, a few heaped spoonfuls of yogurt and sliced fruit. If you want to take it up a notch add a drizzle of lime juice and a few edible flowers - the latter totally not necessary, we just had a few growing in the garden👍 I’m posting from Las Vegas atm, as I’m currently on holiday in US (shot this in NZ, don’t worry are on a proper holiday heh😳☺️). This place is pretty gobsmacking - we’re staying on The Strip and everything is big, busy and glittery! Here for another few days before jumping States💃 #breakfastidea #breakfast #yum #papaya
Chia jam and peanut butter on toast🤤 Left is raspberry, right is blueberry! Chia jam is a fun alternative to real deal jam, and I say fun as it’s rather nifty to make! To prepare, simply cook a cup of berries over a low heat on a stove top (I used frozen, as we’re not in berry season in NZ right now) with a good splash of water (around 3 Tbsp) and 1 Tbsp of sweetener (e.g. honey or maple syrup, but also optional!), mixing well as you go. Once the berries are soft, mash with a fork and add a heaped Tbsp/good sprinkle of chia seeds. These nutritious seeds (rich in omega-3, protein, fibre, vitamins and mineral) have the ability to soak water and expand in weight creating a gelling effect - right before your eyes! If it’s too stiff, or gets too stiff over time, add a splash more water and mix. Then enjoy, as you would a regular jam. Only downside, as these aren’t preserved with a high sugar content you have to store in the fridge and they’ll only have a shelf life of about half a week - but I’m sure your batch won’t last that long! #recipeidea #chiajam #jam #toast
Colourful Chickpea Greek Salad🥗🍅🥒New to the blog and a great one to meal prep for the week ahead! I'm a total Greek salad fangirl - the ingredients are simple, but the flavours bold. We grew up eating lots of the stuff, and while I won't argue it's comfort food (I mean geez, it is a salad), I'm very content with a bowlful. This recipe is based off traitional ingredients, but I've introduced chickpeas to the mix, taking it from a side dish into a more hearty balanced meal. Plant-based proteins, like chickpeas, beans or lentils, are awesome tossed through salads as they bump up the protein and fibre content. Both these nutrients are good at helping us to feel full for longer, aiding satiation between meals👌 I also love this salad for its different colours - different coloured produce are indicative of different nutrients, which is one of the reasons we’re told to eat a rainbow🌈 Head to the blog for the recipe if you’d like to give it a whirl. #recipeidea #greeksalad #yum #saladrecipe
Easy peasy avocado chocolate mousse🥑🍫 Ever made mousse out of avocado before? Avocado makes an incredible base for chocolate mousse as, being so lovely and buttery, they blend into a beautiful smooth thick mixture that’s pretty similar in consistency to your standard chocolate mousse. Flavour-wise they're surprisingly undetectable - once blended with the other ingredients, you instead get a deliciously rich chocolate flavour hitting your taste buds! 👨‍🍳To make simply blend together 2 ripe avocados, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/3 cup cocoa/cacao powder, 1/4 cup maple syrup and a pinch of salt until smooth. Eat straight away, or let it sit in the fridge for about an hour to firm (chilling the coconut milk will help create the ideal chocolate-mousse texture!) - that's it! I topped this with plain yoghurt, defrosted frozen berries and cacao nibs. You can experiment and add other goodies to the mix e.g. peanut butter, dates, banana....yum. This dessert is vegan, and dairy-free. Enjoy! #dessert #avocado #chocolatemousse
Juicing verses blending - what’s best?🍊🍏🍉🍋🍍 Juicing and blending are a popular way of getting more fruit and veg into our diet. However, the two processes are different, which means we get different end products - mainly to do with what's left OUT. When we juice we remove the fibrous material of produce, leaving the liquid behind. When we blend, we blend the whole fruit and veg, so all remains - all the skin, all the pulp, all the fibre. There are pro's and con's here - juices will have a more concentrated amount of vitamin and minerals. However, because we remove the bulk in juice (skin, fibre + pulp) we have to rely on way more produce to make up volume - and so some juices will have a pretty high sugar content. Not only this, but fibre also aids satiation aka feelings of fullness, and helps reduce blood sugar spikes - which means we get energy hitting our system in a slower, more sustained, way when fibre is in the mix. I’m def a nutritionist who sits in the camp of eating and drinking with flexibility, but if it’s a battle between the two with only one supreme winner I’m team smoothie, because of all the gut-loving fibre (and with that, less produce and waste needed too!). Not only this, but with smoothies you can add in other goodies - fat-rich foods (e.g. chia seeds, nut butters, avocado) and protein-rich foods (e.g. protein powder and yoghurt) - to help diversify the nutrient profile, and turn your drink into a pretty nutritious meal👍 What's your preference? #smoothiesvsjuices #smoothies #juices
Pesto smothered sourdough topped with buttery scrambled eggs and fresh basil. A yummy balanced breaky providing a good source of complex carbs (bread), protein (eggs) and fat (pesto, butter + egg). If you’re dairy-free (or just want to switch it up) - sub the butter for olive oil, and the pesto for a bit of avocado. Just as ace!🥑 #breakfast #breakfastidea #pesto #egg#breakfast #breakfastidea #pesto #egg
Grilled snapper with pesto, rocket and greek salad🥗🐟 Here’s a super quick weeknight dinner idea that’ll come together in less than 15 minutes! Rub fish fillets of your choice with a light drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of S&P, then put in the oven to grill or bake. While that’s cooking prepare a simple Greek salad - add to a bowl sliced tomato, cucumber, red onion, olives, feta, olive oil and vinegar. Toss well. Serve altogether with a handful of rocket and your grilled fish, and a big squeeze of a lemon wedge. Optional but great - I heart my fish topped with pesto aka the greatest condiment that ever lived (made with basil, olive oil, parmesan, lemon, garlic and pine nuts). Delicious👌 #dinneridea #eattherainbow
Any fried rice fans?🙋‍♀️🍚 New to the blog is a recipe for this shrimp, egg and veg fried rice! It’s a yummy family-friendly meal, that can be whipped up pretty speedy come the end of the day. It’s also forgiving and infinitely variable - use whatever rice is on hand, whatever protein-rich food you’d like (e.g. prawns, tofu, chicken, egg…) and whatever veggies your fridge and freezer is housing. This version has a bit more veg than traditional recipes, and I’ve ensured each serving is a good source of protein - making it quite a balanced and complete meal🥗🥚🍚. I hope you guys enjoy it!🤙☺️#dinneridea #friedrice #familyrecipe #dinnerrecipe #shrimpeggfriedrice
Yoghurt bowl for breaky🌤 To make simply add to a serving bowl 1-2x fruit (whatever’s in your house), a few big heaped dollops of plain unsweetened yoghurt, a good sprinkle of your favourite nutty-seedy-oaty muesli and a few tbsp of nuts/seeds (I’ve done sunflower and pumpkin seeds here). Asource of protein and probiotics (good bugs for our gut!) from the yoghurt; and a plethora of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the fruit, nuts and seeds. I love adding a sprinkle of cinnamon and smidge of manukau honey🤤 NZ is world famous for this kind of honey, which is produced from the manukau tree (indigenous to NZ). It has a unique combinations of compounds which have quite neat documented antimicrobial activities (which is why we’re always told in NZ to have a spoonful growing up when ill!🤧). I shared a blog on this not too long ago, with some really interesting cited research - head over if you’d like a read🤙🍯 #breakfastidea #yoghurtbowl #yum #breakfast #fruit #kiwifruit
Crunchy nut honey joys⭐️ Who remembers these? A quintessential birthday food, they proudly held their place on the party table somewhere between the colourful fairy-bread and bright red cheerio sausages of our youth. They’re sweet, golden and crunchy - a cluster of cornflake pieces, bound in union by castor sugar, honey and melted butter🤤 Here I’ve put a spin on the classic with the introduction of silvered almonds, cashews and sesame seeds, and the removal of castor sugar - these, I promise, are totally sweet enough! The protein-rich nuts/seeds add a little macronutrient diversity to the mix; as well as essential nutrients, like calcium and vitamin E. A good one to make with the kiddies. Recipe on my blog now - link in bio. #recipeidea #healthierbaking #bakingidea #honeyjoys
Happy Sunday🍳 Pan-fried eggs, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes, served with sliced avocado on toast. Full breakfast, gone veggie-style! I’m more a sweet breakfast person (love smoothies, oats, muesli...), but can’t go past a full breaky on the weekend when there’s a bit more time. Quintessential Sunday morning stuff; along with sleep-ins, book reading and general pottering about. #eggs #fullbreakfast #breakfastideas
Winter adventures in the garden🥦🍋🐓 The pace always tends to slow down this time of year before everything rev's up like crazy come Spring. But there's always a good bounty of veg at a much more manageable pace of "what's good for tonight’s meal", opposed to the maniac harvesting fret of summer aka "these courgettes are ONE second away from becoming marrows". We've been harvesting loads off cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, celery, silverbeet and carrots - the broccoli and cauli's always fun to watch as they grow. This year we're getting some NZ natives in the ground, starting with kawakawa (photo #7 - looking forward to brewing tea) and mānuka trees, though not in an attempt to make mānuka honey - we have waaay too many varieties of flowers around. In chicken news, we starting letting ours fully roam and free-range (they otherwise have nice big run where they also hang in), but problem is we have no idea where they're now laying eggs😳 We found about ten the other day piled up in some long grass but had to discard as goodness knows how long they've been sitting there for😅 They’ve also been eating everything they can in the garden, and have learnt to jump over our mini fences we put up around the produce in an attempt to deter😂. Gardening is so much fun - if you haven't given it a whirl I encourage you to try your hand at it! Even just a small pot on the window sill is awesome. It's a great way to form a closer connection and understanding to where food comes from, the seasons and environmental sustainability; as well as to save on food bill, trips to the grocery shops and you’ll find it brings you some of the tastiest produce you'll ever eat to your plate - you cannot get fresher than seasonal and out of your own garden! #communitygarden #dingwalltrust #gardentotable #gardentotablenz
Banana, peanut butter and sunflower seeds on toast🍌 Rich in carbohydrates which provide energy to the body, and so a great pre-run fuel!👌 I shared a blog post on running nutrition a few months back with the @adidasrunners Auckland crew talking all things food and running. The crux of pre, during and post-run nutrition ultimately depends on the parameters of the run - the distance, intensity, timing, environment and what you’re trying to get out of it. Throw on top of that a hefty sprinkle of individuality - what works for one person may not for another! Head over to my blog and search Runners Nutrition 101 if you’d like to read it😊🏃‍♂️ A reminder to my Auckland friends that this evening is @adidasrunners Auckland. Every Tuesday we meet in Britomart in Auckland's CBD for a community run at 6pm. This is open to all fitness levels - we have options of 5km, 7km and 10km with different paces. I’ve found community fitness to be a great way to get active in a fun and supportive environment, and it’s neat watching your fitness build over time - hope to see you there🙏🏻🏃‍♂️☺️ #adidasambassador #adidasnz #adidasrunners #adidasrunnersauckland #running #runningnutrition #banana #peanutbutter
Colourful veg and tofu sesame stir-fry for dinner🥦🌶🥒 I love stir-fries for an easy speedy meal! They're a great way to use up whatever veggies are sitting lonely at the bottom of your crisper. They also take the phrase 'eat the rainbow’ very seriously - different coloured produce are indicative of different nutrients, which is why we should aim to include a rainbow of veggies in our diet🤙🌈 With my fair-share of average stir-fry attempts at home, here are some learnings 1️⃣Pre-cut everything before you start cooking so it's all good to go - cooking stir-fries is fast business! 2️⃣Cut all your veggies as uniform as you can as this will help them cook at a similar rate. 3️⃣Make sure your wok or saute pan is hot, hot, hot when you add your veggies and protein - preheat until you feel heat radiating off (I usually cook my aromatics - ginger and garlic - on a lower heat first so they don't burn, then remove the from the pan to add in at the end) 4️⃣Make a plan of what to add first into the plan - some items might just need 30 seconds to cook over a high heat! 5️⃣Move ingredients around the pan quickly, so everything cooks evenly - hence the name stir-fry👍 This stir fry contains ginger, garlic, tofu, brocolli (stalk included too!), capsicum, carrot, edamame, mushrooms, soya sauce, and sesame seeds + sesame oil to finish🤤 #dinnerchat #stiryfry #recipeidea #dinner
Avocado on toast…topped with egg and salmon! A favourite breaky, that I find as delicious as I do satisfying🤤. I chat often with clients about the importance of satiation and feeling satisfied after meals. There’s many ways we can help ourselves along here - some which involve concepts of mindful eating and paying attention to cues our body gives us when eating (rather than letting our head guide us i.e. “I should stop eating because I think I should!”) as to whether we feel comfortably full or not. Another way can be how we put our meals together, and the ‘balance’ of the dish. Different foods contain different nutrients needed for good health – which is why it’s important we eat a wide variety daily. In the case of protein-rich foods, outside of the necessity of eating it for general health, it has also shown to have a more satiating effect on appetite compared to the other macronutrients carbohydrates (found rich in oats, toast, fruit…) and fats (found rich in oil, nuts, butter...) – meaning when we include it in meals, we often feel full for longer! I like to encourage clients to kick off their day with protein-rich foods at breakfast, whether that’s eggs (sunny-side up, scrambled, boiled, in a frittata, in pancakes…endless ways to enjoy them), salmon (like I’ve included here with eggs!) greek yoghurt (in smoothies, on top of muesli), baked beans of some kind, nuts and seeds (great added to muesli or over porridge), protein powders (in smoothies or mixed into oats) or tofu-scrambles (yum on toast). Do you find it makes a difference to how you feel in the morning?
Tino pai te rangi, nē rā? Lovely day, isn’t it?This week has been Maori Language week in NZ, which is about celebrating and promoting one of Aotearoa’s three official languages!😊 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I work clinically on Saturdays, so Sunday's are always a mix of life admin and down time. Today my sister and I trekked up the top of Mount Eden - if you're ever heading to Auckland and want to get your bearings, this volcano (and one of the 50+ volcanoes in this city😅 Check out another one behind me. Volcano inception) is near the middle and has 360 degree views as far as the eye can see. Decked out here in @adidasnz new VRCT jacket (big love to my adidas NZ family for gifting it), which is all about celebrating self-expression and team pride - the patch on the front is customisable, so you can represent what you choose. Looking forward to getting back into @adidasrunners Auckland this coming Tuesday after a few weeks off with travelling!🏃‍♀️ #werepresent #adidasambassador #adidasnz #maorilanguageweek #auckland #mounteden Acai breakfast bowl🍌🍇Springs well and truly arrived, and it has started to warm up here in NZ! This tasty and refreshing breaky is made with a blend of frozen fruit, antioxidant-rich açai powder, and a few extra (rather non-traditional açai bowl) ingredients, like avocado and protein powder - together, the combination will help fuel you into the morning👌 Recipe over on my blog if you'd like to give it a go - search açai breakfast bowl. I whipped this up in my kitchen BFF - the @brevilleaus Super Q blender. I've been using this piece of equipment for the last six months and love it - it's a commercial grade blender designed for the home kitchen, and is the perfect trio of super powerful, quick, and quiet. For more and to watch me prepare this, head to my stories now #brevillepartner #gifted Healthier snickers bars🍫🥜 It feels like I’ve had a stream of sweet treats on here lately…I guess that’s how the (content) cookie crumbles sometimes!🤷‍♀️ I’ve updated the snickers bar recipe on my website with some fresh shots. Who is a fan of snickers?! Among the mainstream confectionary bars, the nougat-caramel-peanut trio all enrobed in decadent milk chocolate, is long-standing chocolate royalty. Every once in a while, it’s fun to get creative in the kitchen recreating classics – so here is my take on snickers! It uses chewy, sweet medjool dates as the caramel base – when blended into a puree, they are reminiscent of caramel. These treats are vegan and dairy-free, and are a source of dietary fiber. Head to the blog for the recipe, link in bio #snickers #chocolatebar Banana oat cookies🍪🍌 These cookies tick all the boxes - they’re easy-to-make, scrummy, nutritious, and require the simplest of simple ingredients list! Can you guess the five ingredients just by looking at them? Recipe over on my blog, link in bio✌️A great one for the kiddies lunchbox! #baking #cookies Hello from America!🇺🇸 It has been a quiet week posting on here, as I took a little time off while travelling☺️ I’ve been eating up a storm though...from left to right, here’s some favourite eating - a caramel apple (an apple, dunked in caramel - totally still counts toward your 5+ a day riggght!?), a glorious American cheeseburger and fries (key for an epic burger is quality ingredients!🍔), Key Lime pie (named after small key limes found throughout the Florida Keys), Cobb salad (American garden salad with crispy bacon, chicken, egg, cheese, tomato, avocado and a vinegarette), American diner galore where the coffee really is bottomless (and a one-way ticket to jitteriness☕️), and a very *very* early Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and gravy, pumpkin pie, and going around the table saying what you’re grateful for. I casually mentioned to my friend I’d love to experience an American Thanksgiving one day...and she decided to make it happen while I was there!😭💛#america #food Papaya breakfast boats⛵️ While, at first glance, these look rather fancy-pancy (you’re bound to get a collective ‘oooh’ when serving one), they’re wildly simple to whip up! Simply slice a papaya in halve, scoop out and discard the inner black seeds, then fill the papaya with your fav muesli, a few heaped spoonfuls of yogurt and sliced fruit. If you want to take it up a notch add a drizzle of lime juice and a few edible flowers - the latter totally not necessary, we just had a few growing in the garden👍 I’m posting from Las Vegas atm, as I’m currently on holiday in US (shot this in NZ, don’t worry are on a proper holiday heh😳☺️). This place is pretty gobsmacking - we’re staying on The Strip and everything is big, busy and glittery! Here for another few days before jumping States💃 #breakfastidea #breakfast #yum #papaya Chia jam and peanut butter on toast🤤 Left is raspberry, right is blueberry! Chia jam is a fun alternative to real deal jam, and I say fun as it’s rather nifty to make! To prepare, simply cook a cup of berries over a low heat on a stove top (I used frozen, as we’re not in berry season in NZ right now) with a good splash of water (around 3 Tbsp) and 1 Tbsp of sweetener (e.g. honey or maple syrup, but also optional!), mixing well as you go. Once the berries are soft, mash with a fork and add a heaped Tbsp/good sprinkle of chia seeds. These nutritious seeds (rich in omega-3, protein, fibre, vitamins and mineral) have the ability to soak water and expand in weight creating a gelling effect - right before your eyes! If it’s too stiff, or gets too stiff over time, add a splash more water and mix. Then enjoy, as you would a regular jam. Only downside, as these aren’t preserved with a high sugar content you have to store in the fridge and they’ll only have a shelf life of about half a week - but I’m sure your batch won’t last that long! #recipeidea #chiajam #jam #toast Colourful Chickpea Greek Salad🥗🍅🥒New to the blog and a great one to meal prep for the week ahead! I'm a total Greek salad fangirl - the ingredients are simple, but the flavours bold. We grew up eating lots of the stuff, and while I won't argue it's comfort food (I mean geez, it is a salad), I'm very content with a bowlful. This recipe is based off traitional ingredients, but I've introduced chickpeas to the mix, taking it from a side dish into a more hearty balanced meal. Plant-based proteins, like chickpeas, beans or lentils, are awesome tossed through salads as they bump up the protein and fibre content. Both these nutrients are good at helping us to feel full for longer, aiding satiation between meals👌 I also love this salad for its different colours - different coloured produce are indicative of different nutrients, which is one of the reasons we’re told to eat a rainbow🌈 Head to the blog for the recipe if you’d like to give it a whirl. #recipeidea #greeksalad #yum #saladrecipe Easy peasy avocado chocolate mousse🥑🍫 Ever made mousse out of avocado before? Avocado makes an incredible base for chocolate mousse as, being so lovely and buttery, they blend into a beautiful smooth thick mixture that’s pretty similar in consistency to your standard chocolate mousse. Flavour-wise they're surprisingly undetectable - once blended with the other ingredients, you instead get a deliciously rich chocolate flavour hitting your taste buds! 👨‍🍳To make simply blend together 2 ripe avocados, 1/2 cup coconut milk, 1/3 cup cocoa/cacao powder, 1/4 cup maple syrup and a pinch of salt until smooth. Eat straight away, or let it sit in the fridge for about an hour to firm (chilling the coconut milk will help create the ideal chocolate-mousse texture!) - that's it! I topped this with plain yoghurt, defrosted frozen berries and cacao nibs. You can experiment and add other goodies to the mix e.g. peanut butter, dates, banana....yum. This dessert is vegan, and dairy-free. Enjoy! #dessert #avocado #chocolatemousse Juicing verses blending - what’s best?🍊🍏🍉🍋🍍 Juicing and blending are a popular way of getting more fruit and veg into our diet. However, the two processes are different, which means we get different end products - mainly to do with what's left OUT. When we juice we remove the fibrous material of produce, leaving the liquid behind. When we blend, we blend the whole fruit and veg, so all remains - all the skin, all the pulp, all the fibre. There are pro's and con's here - juices will have a more concentrated amount of vitamin and minerals. However, because we remove the bulk in juice (skin, fibre + pulp) we have to rely on way more produce to make up volume - and so some juices will have a pretty high sugar content. Not only this, but fibre also aids satiation aka feelings of fullness, and helps reduce blood sugar spikes - which means we get energy hitting our system in a slower, more sustained, way when fibre is in the mix. I’m def a nutritionist who sits in the camp of eating and drinking with flexibility, but if it’s a battle between the two with only one supreme winner I’m team smoothie, because of all the gut-loving fibre (and with that, less produce and waste needed too!). Not only this, but with smoothies you can add in other goodies - fat-rich foods (e.g. chia seeds, nut butters, avocado) and protein-rich foods (e.g. protein powder and yoghurt) - to help diversify the nutrient profile, and turn your drink into a pretty nutritious meal👍 What's your preference? #smoothiesvsjuices #smoothies #juices Pesto smothered sourdough topped with buttery scrambled eggs and fresh basil. A yummy balanced breaky providing a good source of complex carbs (bread), protein (eggs) and fat (pesto, butter + egg). If you’re dairy-free (or just want to switch it up) - sub the butter for olive oil, and the pesto for a bit of avocado. Just as ace!🥑 #breakfast #breakfastidea #pesto #egg#breakfast #breakfastidea #pesto #egg Grilled snapper with pesto, rocket and greek salad🥗🐟 Here’s a super quick weeknight dinner idea that’ll come together in less than 15 minutes! Rub fish fillets of your choice with a light drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of S&P, then put in the oven to grill or bake. While that’s cooking prepare a simple Greek salad - add to a bowl sliced tomato, cucumber, red onion, olives, feta, olive oil and vinegar. Toss well. Serve altogether with a handful of rocket and your grilled fish, and a big squeeze of a lemon wedge. Optional but great - I heart my fish topped with pesto aka the greatest condiment that ever lived (made with basil, olive oil, parmesan, lemon, garlic and pine nuts). Delicious👌 #dinneridea #eattherainbow Any fried rice fans?🙋‍♀️🍚 New to the blog is a recipe for this shrimp, egg and veg fried rice! It’s a yummy family-friendly meal, that can be whipped up pretty speedy come the end of the day. It’s also forgiving and infinitely variable - use whatever rice is on hand, whatever protein-rich food you’d like (e.g. prawns, tofu, chicken, egg…) and whatever veggies your fridge and freezer is housing. This version has a bit more veg than traditional recipes, and I’ve ensured each serving is a good source of protein - making it quite a balanced and complete meal🥗🥚🍚. I hope you guys enjoy it!🤙☺️#dinneridea #friedrice #familyrecipe #dinnerrecipe #shrimpeggfriedrice Yoghurt bowl for breaky🌤 To make simply add to a serving bowl 1-2x fruit (whatever’s in your house), a few big heaped dollops of plain unsweetened yoghurt, a good sprinkle of your favourite nutty-seedy-oaty muesli and a few tbsp of nuts/seeds (I’ve done sunflower and pumpkin seeds here). Asource of protein and probiotics (good bugs for our gut!) from the yoghurt; and a plethora of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants from the fruit, nuts and seeds. I love adding a sprinkle of cinnamon and smidge of manukau honey🤤 NZ is world famous for this kind of honey, which is produced from the manukau tree (indigenous to NZ). It has a unique combinations of compounds which have quite neat documented antimicrobial activities (which is why we’re always told in NZ to have a spoonful growing up when ill!🤧). I shared a blog on this not too long ago, with some really interesting cited research - head over if you’d like a read🤙🍯 #breakfastidea #yoghurtbowl #yum #breakfast #fruit #kiwifruit Crunchy nut honey joys⭐️ Who remembers these? A quintessential birthday food, they proudly held their place on the party table somewhere between the colourful fairy-bread and bright red cheerio sausages of our youth. They’re sweet, golden and crunchy - a cluster of cornflake pieces, bound in union by castor sugar, honey and melted butter🤤 Here I’ve put a spin on the classic with the introduction of silvered almonds, cashews and sesame seeds, and the removal of castor sugar - these, I promise, are totally sweet enough! The protein-rich nuts/seeds add a little macronutrient diversity to the mix; as well as essential nutrients, like calcium and vitamin E. A good one to make with the kiddies. Recipe on my blog now - link in bio. #recipeidea #healthierbaking #bakingidea #honeyjoys Happy Sunday🍳 Pan-fried eggs, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes, served with sliced avocado on toast. Full breakfast, gone veggie-style! I’m more a sweet breakfast person (love smoothies, oats, muesli...), but can’t go past a full breaky on the weekend when there’s a bit more time. Quintessential Sunday morning stuff; along with sleep-ins, book reading and general pottering about. #eggs #fullbreakfast #breakfastideas Winter adventures in the garden🥦🍋🐓 The pace always tends to slow down this time of year before everything rev's up like crazy come Spring. But there's always a good bounty of veg at a much more manageable pace of "what's good for tonight’s meal", opposed to the maniac harvesting fret of summer aka "these courgettes are ONE second away from becoming marrows". We've been harvesting loads off cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, celery, silverbeet and carrots - the broccoli and cauli's always fun to watch as they grow. This year we're getting some NZ natives in the ground, starting with kawakawa (photo #7 - looking forward to brewing tea) and mānuka trees, though not in an attempt to make mānuka honey - we have waaay too many varieties of flowers around. In chicken news, we starting letting ours fully roam and free-range (they otherwise have nice big run where they also hang in), but problem is we have no idea where they're now laying eggs😳 We found about ten the other day piled up in some long grass but had to discard as goodness knows how long they've been sitting there for😅 They’ve also been eating everything they can in the garden, and have learnt to jump over our mini fences we put up around the produce in an attempt to deter😂. Gardening is so much fun - if you haven't given it a whirl I encourage you to try your hand at it! Even just a small pot on the window sill is awesome. It's a great way to form a closer connection and understanding to where food comes from, the seasons and environmental sustainability; as well as to save on food bill, trips to the grocery shops and you’ll find it brings you some of the tastiest produce you'll ever eat to your plate - you cannot get fresher than seasonal and out of your own garden! #communitygarden #dingwalltrust #gardentotable #gardentotablenz Banana, peanut butter and sunflower seeds on toast🍌 Rich in carbohydrates which provide energy to the body, and so a great pre-run fuel!👌 I shared a blog post on running nutrition a few months back with the @adidasrunners Auckland crew talking all things food and running. The crux of pre, during and post-run nutrition ultimately depends on the parameters of the run - the distance, intensity, timing, environment and what you’re trying to get out of it. Throw on top of that a hefty sprinkle of individuality - what works for one person may not for another! Head over to my blog and search Runners Nutrition 101 if you’d like to read it😊🏃‍♂️ A reminder to my Auckland friends that this evening is @adidasrunners Auckland. Every Tuesday we meet in Britomart in Auckland's CBD for a community run at 6pm. This is open to all fitness levels - we have options of 5km, 7km and 10km with different paces. I’ve found community fitness to be a great way to get active in a fun and supportive environment, and it’s neat watching your fitness build over time - hope to see you there🙏🏻🏃‍♂️☺️ #adidasambassador #adidasnz #adidasrunners #adidasrunnersauckland #running #runningnutrition #banana #peanutbutter Colourful veg and tofu sesame stir-fry for dinner🥦🌶🥒 I love stir-fries for an easy speedy meal! They're a great way to use up whatever veggies are sitting lonely at the bottom of your crisper. They also take the phrase 'eat the rainbow’ very seriously - different coloured produce are indicative of different nutrients, which is why we should aim to include a rainbow of veggies in our diet🤙🌈 With my fair-share of average stir-fry attempts at home, here are some learnings 1️⃣Pre-cut everything before you start cooking so it's all good to go - cooking stir-fries is fast business! 2️⃣Cut all your veggies as uniform as you can as this will help them cook at a similar rate. 3️⃣Make sure your wok or saute pan is hot, hot, hot when you add your veggies and protein - preheat until you feel heat radiating off (I usually cook my aromatics - ginger and garlic - on a lower heat first so they don't burn, then remove the from the pan to add in at the end) 4️⃣Make a plan of what to add first into the plan - some items might just need 30 seconds to cook over a high heat! 5️⃣Move ingredients around the pan quickly, so everything cooks evenly - hence the name stir-fry👍 This stir fry contains ginger, garlic, tofu, brocolli (stalk included too!), capsicum, carrot, edamame, mushrooms, soya sauce, and sesame seeds + sesame oil to finish🤤 #dinnerchat #stiryfry #recipeidea #dinner Avocado on toast…topped with egg and salmon! A favourite breaky, that I find as delicious as I do satisfying🤤. I chat often with clients about the importance of satiation and feeling satisfied after meals. There’s many ways we can help ourselves along here - some which involve concepts of mindful eating and paying attention to cues our body gives us when eating (rather than letting our head guide us i.e. “I should stop eating because I think I should!”) as to whether we feel comfortably full or not. Another way can be how we put our meals together, and the ‘balance’ of the dish. Different foods contain different nutrients needed for good health – which is why it’s important we eat a wide variety daily. In the case of protein-rich foods, outside of the necessity of eating it for general health, it has also shown to have a more satiating effect on appetite compared to the other macronutrients carbohydrates (found rich in oats, toast, fruit…) and fats (found rich in oil, nuts, butter...) – meaning when we include it in meals, we often feel full for longer! I like to encourage clients to kick off their day with protein-rich foods at breakfast, whether that’s eggs (sunny-side up, scrambled, boiled, in a frittata, in pancakes…endless ways to enjoy them), salmon (like I’ve included here with eggs!) greek yoghurt (in smoothies, on top of muesli), baked beans of some kind, nuts and seeds (great added to muesli or over porridge), protein powders (in smoothies or mixed into oats) or tofu-scrambles (yum on toast). Do you find it makes a difference to how you feel in the morning?

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