The Sweet Life

Its Autumn and the weathers getting much colder than a Kiwi girl living in London for her first Winter is use to! What better than to make a big batch of tasty pumpkin soup for lunches! And thats just what i did! Once again another easy recipe that you can add or change ingredients to. I always make a big batch and then freeze down portions so that i can throw them in the microwave from frozen or take them out and defrost them the night before for my lunches. Another good tip so that you are freezing down small portions are to use large silicon muffin tin trays, fill each muffin hole with pumpkin soup and put the whole tray in the freezer. Once the soup is frozen pop them out of the holes and into freezer bags. Keep in the freezer and take out each portion when needed. Ingredients 1 whole butternut squash or pumpkin (peeled and chopped) 1 onion (diced) 2 cloves of garlic (chopped) 3 small sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped) 3 organic stock cubes 1 1/2 litres of boiled

This recipe is not as quick and easy as most of the other recipes i have recently added but it is super tasty! Its done in 4 layers and needs to be left in the freezer to set for a couple of hours before the last layer is added, then refrozen! So this is definitely a rainy sunday afternoon recipe, or whenever you have a bit of free time. But it is defiantly worth it! Especially if you are a chocolate lover. This recipe also has a few extra ingredients that haven't been in my other recipes - like cacao nibs, which are cacao beans roughly broken into smaller pieces. The packet says and i quote "This is chocolate indulgence in its purest state". It is also uses Tahini, which is a paste made from ground, hulled sesame seeds. Both of these can be found in health stores or online. You could get away with not using cacao nibs in this recipe, so if you can't find them don't stress - they can also be  rather expensive. Liv and Lauren were here once again to try out

I am a huge pizza fan, however we all know pizza is not that good for you! But, who said pizza has to be a naughty treat...this recipe is a tasty and healthy alternative for pizza. I have made this recipe many times and it always works well, but there are a few tips that should be followed. * Make sure you drain the cauliflower really well once cooked - get as much liquid out as possible (i always use a sieve and push hard on the cauliflower with a spoon). * Spread the pizza base out thin so it takes less time to cook and will become crisper. * The longer you bake the base for the crisper it becomes. * The base is not always really crispy and can often be quite soft, but still tastes delicious- this depends on the above tips and how long you end up cooking it for. You can use anything for the topping! I use different toppings every time i make this pizza because it all depends on what i have in the fridge at the time. So please feel free to use any toppings you prefer. Ing

I made these as a gift for a Lauren's birthday and she loved them! I made enough so i could taste test a few and also loved them. They are a perfect small treat for when you have a sweet craving. Yet another SUPER easy recipe with very little ingredients. What would i do without my food processor!!! Ingredients 2 cups of organic desiccated coconut (plus an extra plate covered in desiccated coconut for rolling the balls) 3 tablespoons of honey 1 teaspoon of natural vanilla extract A pinch of salt Method 1. Place all the ingredients into a food processor and blend at high speed for around 5-10 minutes until the coconut has broken down and the mixture is sticking together (it looks more like an almond meal consistency). 2. Using slightly damp hands get about a heaped teaspoon of the mixture and squeeze in your hand (this brings out the oil and helps the mixture stick better together). Squeeze from hand to hand until you have formed a ball. 3. Place in the plate of

I was a bit sceptical at first, i didn't think that you could make a delicious sponge cake with these ingredients. I tried it anyway and added some yogurt and berry filling for flavour and it was soooo good! I had Lauren and Liv over for dinner and we enjoyed it so much we all had 2 huge pieces each, and why not when its guilt -free! This is another recipe that is super simple and easy but tastes amazing! Perfect for a dinner party, dessert, birthday cakes, or just for when you feel like cake! Ingredients THE CAKE 6 eggs 1/2 cup of coconut sugar (which can be found in most health stores or online)  1 and a 1/2 cups of almond meal A pinch of salt THE FILLING/TOPPING 2 cups of thick natural greek yogurt 2 cups of berries (i used raspberries, strawberries and blueberries)  2 squares of organic dark chocolate (i use 90%)  Method 1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. 2. Grease and line 2 round 20cm cake tins. 3. Break the eggs into a large bowl one at a time.

Tonight i was craving something sweet! I haven't had much time in the last few days to make any clean treats so i was looking for something quick and simple...well, i found it! Quickly and easy banana ice cream! I was lucky enough to have frozen a few bananas that were starting to brown last week and they came in super handy tonight! This recipe is super versatile, tonight i had walnuts in the cupboard so i used those but you could use anything! Any kind of nuts, cacao nibs, dried fruits, anything you think that goes well with bananas. This recipe serves two (one big portion) - so double it if you are wanting more :)! Ingredients 3 frozen ripe bananas 2 teaspoons of raw honey 1 tsp of cinnamon 1/4 cup of roughly chopped walnuts (or any flavourings you like) Method 1. Freeze bananas overnight (peel and wrap in glad wrap). 2. Put frozen bananas, raw honey and cinnamon into the food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. 3. Chop the walnuts and car

Bunless Burgers! This post is dedicated to the one and only Burger Queen LC! If anyone in London wants to know a place to go to have an amazing burger, hit up Lauren! She looooooves a good burger :)! So this ones for you! Plus she also fed me wine and we shared clean treats after the stressful night i had whilst making these burgers...#nannydramas!  I wanted to add a bit of spice to these burgers which is why I've added a few extras (only mild spicy). However if you are not a spice fan you can just use any herbs or flavourings you like. I tired both frying the patties and baking them in the oven (healthier alternative). Both were basically the same. I think baking it tends to make the patties slightly drier but i still enjoyed it! This recipe makes 4 large burger patties and enough salad and chips for 3-4 people.   Ingredients PATTIES 500g of lean beef mince 1 Egg 2 Tablespoons of Paleo tomato sauce (see blog post) 2 Tablespoons of sweet chilli Sauce 

This recipe is dedicated to the BFF, Tess. I don't know how many Saturday's we spent down at the Nelson Market searching for 'The Nut Man' and his delicious honey roasted cashews and almonds. I promise you these cashews taste just as good! They are added into the salad for this recipe but i often just make them by themselves and have them stored for snacks. They taste so good! This is my absolute favourite salad. It's my go to dish that i always make when i need to take a plate to a BBQ or a potluck dinner and it always goes down a treat. I often have this salad for lunch or a pre/post work out snack because pumpkin is full of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. You could also have it as a side salad with dinner.   It seems like a random mix of ingredients and i have no idea how i came up with this recipe, i think because i love each one of these ingredients equally i thought they must all taste great together and you know what.... they do! I

This salad is super filling and full of goodness. I've called it an Autumn salad because its full of orange vegetables that remind me of Autumn. You could use any vegetables for this salad and also any meats. You can literally add anything - spices, nuts, raisins, anything you think works well together. This recipe makes enough for 4 servings. Perfect for dinner and then left overs for lunch the next day. Ingredients 2 cloves of garlic 450-500g of lean diced beef 1 cup of organic wholewheat couscous 1 organic (Kallo) vegetable stock cube 1 1/2 cups of boiling water 1 sweet potato 1 orange capsicum 1/3 of a pumpkin/squash 1 large carrot A big handful of baby spinach Coconut oil (for cooking) Any seasonings for the veges (i use onion and garlic granules and mixed herbs) Method 1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. 2. Cut and dice the sweet potato, capsicum, pumpkin, and carrot. Put all vegetables in an oven tray and top with a teaspoon of coconut oi

I am dedicating this utterly mouth watering recipe to Mary who whilst on our recent travels around Europe found herself in the early hours of the morning after a night out in Split (Croatia) trying to buy 8 bounty bar ice creams in the corner shop on the way home. Luckily Liv and I turned around just in time to talk her out of it and explain by the time she ate 3 of them all the rest would have melted... after stealthily taking a handful off the counter and putting them back in the freezer without Mez knowing, she was left with 4 bounty ice creams (but thought she still had 8). She took these back to the boat and din't share them with a soul and let me tell you she enjoyed every last bite of those bounties. Not to mention the many bounty ice creams and gelato (or gelati apparently if you are from Australia) we taste tested in every country we went to in Europe. So now every time i see a bounty bar i think of you (sorry Mez, i had to share:)!) x.  I think i died and wen

Words can not express how much i love this brownie...this recipe is to die for! I literally inhaled my tester piece (which my snapchat friends know all about)! It was out of this world delicious! The brownie itself is crumbly and dry (still tastes amazing) but i tried my piece with a big dollop of natural greek yogurt and it was a match made in heaven! The moisture of the yogurt counteracts the dryness of the brownie and the result is divine! Do try it on its own and if you do find it too dry serve it with some natural greek yogurt. Personally i enjoyed it more with the yogurt :)! To make it even better, if it could get any better, this recipe only has 5 ingredients which makes it so quick and easy and has a very short bake time in the oven. Ingredients  2 cups of walnuts 20 medjool dates (or normal dates if you can't find medjool) 1 teaspoon of natural vanilla extract (you can use normal vanilla extract) 3/4 cup of cacao powder (or cocoa if you must, you can use l

This is the perfect healthy substitute for 'normal' tomato sauce. Full of flavour it works beautifully with nibbles as a dipping sauce, used on meats and vegetables,  in marinades or as a base tomato sauce for pasta and pizza. It is also simple and easy to make! This sauce appears in many of my recipes! Ingredients  3 tomatoes  3 teaspoon of garlic 1 white onion  2-3 tablespoons of ground almonds  Salt and pepper to taste  You can also add herbs (fresh or dried basil works well) and/or spices (cumin also works well i usually add 2 teaspoons of cumin) Method  1. Chop up the tomatoes and put into a saucepan to boil over a medium heat for 5 minutes. 2. Chop up the onion and garlic and add to tomatoes and continue to boil for 2 minutes. 3. Add spices and/or herbs. 4. If needed you can add the ground almonds to thicken the sauce. 5. Simmer the sauce over a low heat for another 10 - 15 minutes. Depending on the consistency you are looking for you can leave

After many failed attempts at getting the 11 year old boy i nanny to 'try new things', i had a conversation with him about his favourite foods which consisted of burgers, ribs, steak, oreo milkshakes, sponge cake, sweets and treats. I've already made him burgers and steak so thought i would attempt ribs. Being a fan of ribs myself i was rather excited about this experiment. I must say i have never cooked ribs before so this was all new to me. Keeping in mind that this 'said boy' doesn't like 'hot' things so i had to do my research and adjust some recipes that used a lot of spices and chilies.  Once i had slaved away for a couple of hours preparing these ribs i was pleasantly surprised with the outcome that was siting on the plate. Knowing that he was going to be my biggest critic i nervously sat the plate down in front of him. I was overly excited while he was more interested in his rubric cube. As he looked and smelled the plate in front of

This yummy recipe was sent to me from my Mum and brings back memories of my childhood.  This mixture allows the pancakes to rise a lot more than standard pancakes. They are more of a pikelet consistency, so you can choose to make smaller pancakes or larger ones. They are plain in flavouring so you can decide to add extra flavorings to the mixture or at the end on top of the pancakes. Some flavorsome added extras could be cacao nibs, almond/peanut butter, raw honey or maple syrup, berries, banana, or natural yogurt.  Ingredients  3 Large Free Range eggs 1 cup of white rice flour 1 heaped teaspoon of baking powder 1/2 cup of milk (almond milk or other milk alternatives can be used)   A pinch of salt Method 1. Separate the eggs, putting the egg whites in one bowl and the egg yokes in another.  2. Add the rice flour, baking powder, and milk to the egg YOKES and mix to a smooth thick batter. 3. Whisk the egg WHITES with the salt until they form stiff

This is my all time favourite breakfast - it's quick, easy, and tastes amazing! I have this at least 3 times a week. It is a great way to get some greens in first thing in the morning, also gives you a good kick start of protein from the eggs, and some good carbs from the sweet potato. You can add any thing to this recipe - any extra greens or you could use pumpkin instead of sweet potato. Ingredients 2 free range eggs A handful of organic baby spinach 1 half of an avocado (sliced) 1 half of a sweet potato (sliced) 1 teaspoon of basil pesto Method 1. Peel and slice the sweet potato into thin circles and put onto a lined oven tray. 2. Drizzle with coconut oil or olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in the oven at 200 degrees for around 20mins (depending on the thickness) - this stage can be pre done the night before if you know you are in a hurry in the morning.I usually do a whole sweet potato and then store the left overs in the fridge so i can j

This recipe is very adaptable and flexible - you can add the flavours you like. Originally i used this recipe to make lemon muffins, which i love. They turned out moist and delicious. I had a few over ripe bananas in the fruit bowl so i decided to use the same recipe to make banana muffins, which also turned out delicious. I'm sure any fruits, dried fruits, or nuts that you add to this recipe will turn out great! I want to try using poppy seeds with the lemon mixture next :)! I used both muffin cases and no muffin cases when i made the lemon muffins and found that using the muffin cases worked a lot better. Make sure you grease the cases as well - i use olive oil cooking spray (pictured below). But when making the banana muffins i only tried using muffin cases and found they stuck to the cases (which i did grease). So you could try just greasing the tins and not using cases and see if that works better. Ingredients  1/3 cup of agave nectar (or raw honey/maple

If you are an avid jam maker you can add your own jam to this recipe. I tried making my own healthy version of raspberry jam but failed miserably so that is still a work in progress. These biscuits are a mouthful of goodness! They are super tasty and the jam gives them a nice sweet taste. As i am still experimenting with making my own jam, for now i use diabetics jam as it has a sugar substituent and  no added sugar. This is the jam i use ( http://www.hawthornhealth.com/food-drink-c3303/sugar-free-jam-c3337/diabetic-raspberry-jelly-jam-430g-p27142/s31137?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=stute-diabetic-raspberry-jelly-jam-430g-stu-022280&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=Cj0KEQjwzK6hBRCbzLz_r_f-3tkBEiQA-zyWsIWIh5Ep4JnV3NQEmdBMWyrfs5YBGQMfdnmxa1hbf68aAtci8P8HAQ ) You could use any flavoured diabetic jam! Ingredients  1/4 cup of desiccated coconut 1/2 cup almond meal (if too wet add more - you can be generous it won't muck up the recipe