Month: April 2016

Lemon Chia Energy Bites

Lemon Chia Energy Bites

These lemon chia energy bites provide a delicious boost any time of day! If you have been reading this blog for a while, or you follow me on instagram, you probably know that running is a passion, or maybe even a compulsion of mine. If you 

Healthier Homity Pie

Healthier Homity Pie

A lightened up version of the classic British vegetarian dish, this healthier Homity Pie is a guaranteed crowd pleaser! Poor old St George. He doesn’t get much air time does he? Especially compared to his colleague St Patrick. Even St Andrew and St David get more 

Breakfast Carrot Cake with Whipped Coconut Yogurt

Breakfast Carrot Cake with Whipped Coconut Yogurt

A secretly healthy breakfast carrot cake topped with whipped coconut yogurt. Breakfast just got more delicious! 
Carrot Breakfast Cake with Whipped Coconut Yogurt Frosting

Cake for breakfast. Friends, I have good news, it’s totally a thing these days. This is a secretly healthy cake (Ssssshhhh! No one needs to know!), packed full of oats, dates, carrots, seeds, and most important of all, its topped off with a mixture of whipped Coconut Dream™ Non-Dairy Yogurt, and coconut cream. Kirk actually said that it felt indulgent enough to be dessert, and I was happy that 10 minutes of gentle kitchen pottering yielded a good four days worth of yummy nutritious breakfast food that even the babe would eat.

Breakfast Carrot Cake with Whipped Coconut

Make ahead breakfasts are such a lifesaver for us these days, it makes our mornings just a little less chaotic and stressful when we have something like this breakfast cake, baked oatmeal, or a mega filling smoothie prepped and ready to go. What is your favourite make-ahead breakfast? I’m always looking for fresh ideas!

Breakfast Carrot Cake with Whipped Coconut Enjoy!

Breakfast Carrot Cake with Whipped Coconut Yogurt
 
Prep time
Cook time
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Author:
Serves: 45
Ingredients
  • 2¼ oats
  • ½ cup dried coconut flakes
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp dried ginger
  • pinch of salt
  • 2½ cups almond milk (or whatever milk you have to hand)
  • 1 cup crushed pineapple
  • ¼ cup maple syrup (or honey, or agave)
  • ⅓ cup chopped dates (substitute for raisins or currents if you wish)
  • ½ cup sunflower seeds (walnuts, pecans or pumpkin seeds work well here too)
  • 1½ cups shredded carrots
  • 1 cup chilled coconut cream
  • 1 cup coconut yogurt (1 pot of Coconut Dream™ Non-Dairy Yogurt)
Method
  1. First, put your tin of coconut cream in the fridge the night before you want to make this. (I like to keep one in the fridge so I don't have to remember to do this...!).
  2. Preheat oven to 375F/190C, and grease a 9x9 baking pan
  3. In a large bowl, mix together oats, cinnamon, baking powder and salt, set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, mix the milk, pineapple, and maple syrup. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir to combine
  5. Fold in the dates, seeds and carrots, and dump everything into the greased pan
  6. Bake for about 35 minutes until the edges are golden, and everything looks set (it might seem a little undercooked in the center, but thats ok, it will firm up as it cools
  7. Take the tin of coconut cream, and scoop out one cup of the thick chilled cream (leave the watery part, you want the solid stuff!), and plop it into a large bowl. Add the container of coconut yogurt, and whisk the two together until thick and creamy
  8. When the cake is COMPLETELY cooled, spread the coconut topping on top. I usually make both components at night, and spread the topping on in the morning.

Notes

This is a versatile recipe in terms of the seeds/nuts/fruit you can use.

If we need to make this portable, we cut it into smaller squares and “sandwich” them so that the creamy topping becomes a creamy filling.

You can also serve this warm with a little doll of the topping on the side. If you want to serve it warm after its been topped with the coconut, only heat a little (about 20 seconds in the microwave), or your topping will melt into the cake 🙂

This post is sponsored by Coconut Dream™ Non-Dairy Yogurt. Opinions are my own, always.  Thanks for continuing to support ELK and the brands that help make this site possible!

Chickpea Gyro Bowls

Chickpea Gyro Bowls

Kick the Summer off early with these Mediterranean inspired Chickpea Gyro Bowls!  Last week we were back in Michigan for a blink-and-you-miss-us visit, and my Sis and Bro in law kindly put us up (or rather, kindly put up with us…). When we arrived, my sweet 

Black Forest Smoothie

Black Forest Smoothie

This Black Forest Smoothie tastes so indulgent, it seemed fitting to name it after the classic dessert… you’d never guess there’s sneaky greens in it! When my tot first started eating solids, he would gamely nibble anything we put in front of him. Smugly I 

Strawberry Frozen Greek Yogurt

Strawberry Frozen Greek Yogurt

This creamy, dreamy Strawberry Frozen Greek Yogurt makes for a healthier, refreshing treat!

Strawberry Frozen Greek YogurtStrawberry season is in full swing in Texas, so when The Greek Gods® asked me to come up with a couple of recipes using their yogurt, my mind immediately went to Strawberry Frozen Greek Yogurt. I love eating Froyo in the late Spring and Summer months, so I’m pretty excited about creating a healthier homemade version.

Strawberry Frozen Greek Yogurt

This recipe uses heaps of fresh strawberries, and is sweetened naturally with honey and vanilla. The greek yogurt keeps everything creamy, dreamy and delicious- not to mention that its packed with calcium and protein. I got my ice-cream maker at Christmas, and we have used it a lot, so I highly recommend investing in one if you like frozen treats as much as we do!

Strawberry Frozen Greek Yogurt

Enjoy!

Strawberry Frozen Greek Yogurt
 
Prep time
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Author:
Ingredients
  • 5 cups strawberries, sliced and hulled*
  • ¾ cup honey**
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • zest 1 lemon
  • 2 cups greek yogurt
Method
  1. Place a freezer-proof container in the freezer to chill
  2. Pulse strawberries in a food processor until smooth. Add honey, vanilla, and lemon zest and pulse to combine
  3. Tip the strawberry mixer into a large bowl, and whisk in the greek yogurt until smooth and combined. Put the mixture in the fridge to chill for a minimum of 30 minutes
  4. Once chilled, pour the mixture into the ice cream maker, and churn until the desired consistency is reached (I had to churn mine in two batches, about 15 minutes each), and then quickly transfer to the chilled freezer-proof container, or eat immediately!

Notes

*Only uses fresh strawberries if they are in season, otherwise use defrosted frozen strawberries. You want to take advantage of their natural sweetness!

**This is one of the few recipes where I recommend that you do not use maple syrup in place of honey- the Froyo freezes to a much harder consistency.

This post is sponsored by The Greek Gods®. Opinions are my own, always.  Thanks for continuing to support ELK and the brands that help make this site possible!