BAKING FOR THE BRAVE

Recipe: Banana Bites

Time Taken: Half an hour max

Ingredients: A banana, a big handful of fruit n nut & shitloads of oats

 

Hi readers,

If you’re reading this, that means you must have survived the first Monday of 2015. Did you realise? I literally salute you for your efforts! We’re all Trojans today! And we are survivors.

 

So, I’m Hayley and I survived the first Monday of the year. But parts of today I did not like! Today’s been a tough one! I’ve had a bad exam… I’ve been subject to extortion once more from Specsavers (the swindling bastards)… and I’ve not been feeling superb. And it’s been COLD.

 

However, my Monday hasn’t been the worst. I wasn’t the guy who tried to take a ladder up the escalator with him in Wilko and ripped a hole in the ceiling with it. I wasn’t the Chinese student who was hit by a car on Percy Street. I wasn’t the person who let rip reeeally loudly in pilates (just for the record!). And I bet your Monday hasn’t been the worst on Earth either. Truly, someone will have had a worse day than you. They will!

 

Try to be grateful for something good that came of your Monday. Like, for meeee… Well, firstly, I had pancakes for breakfast this morning and they tasted awesome. I reheated ones from the batch I made yesterday (see my last blog post!) and served em up with banana and honey. This was a TOP shout.

 

Secondly, I walked to uni and both a dog walker and a cyclist smiled at me on the way. I smiled back.

 

Thirdly, my Pilates instructor chatted to me today and said that she liked my leggings. I have been taking her classes at the gym for two years now, along with having been in several of her geography lectures (this woman is a living Wonderwoman), and never thought that she noticed me. I really look up to her. And today she chatted to me. I was dancing inside.

 

Fourthly, I came in this evening from my dreadful exam, to find that my Forever 21 order had arrived… AND EVERYTHING FIT. This never happens. New sales clothes for me!

 

And fifthly, finally, I baked some terrific Banana Bites last night that I munched on for lunch at the library. And they brought sunshine to my tum. One of my best friends (for the blog I’ll call her Floss as I feel this is her true name) gave me the recipe last night and when I got home I literally made some straight away. Saddo I am. And now you have to go bake some so that they can be one of the good things about your day tomorrow!

 

But, before that just have a think, what’s been good about your day today? Have a proper think and I hope you can come up with at least 5 things like I did, even though parts of today were horrendous for me. Always remember to be grateful for each day!

 

Soooo, without further ado, here’s how to bake Banana Bites in ten easy steps...

1. Heat your oven to 200˚C.

2. Use a fork to mash a banana in a bowl.

 

3. Add a big handful of raisins and peanuts.

 

4. Chuck in some oats.

 

5. Stir it up!

 

6. Keep adding oats and stirring until your mix has a consistency like porridge.

7. Grease a baking tray.

8. Spoon your mix onto the tray in 4 biscuit-sized rounds.

 

9. Safely transport your tray into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.

10. When your Banana Bites are golden brown lift em out of the oven and leave to cool on the tray.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: You might want to turn one of the Bites over to check it’s baked underneath and not gooey still. Otherwise, your Bites might go soggy. Not good.

And that’s it! Here’s my Banana Bites fresh out of the oven :)

 

Aren’t these incredible? There’s nothing bad in them! Aaaaaall the ingredients are healthy. So these are a totally guilt-free munch. But it feels like you’re having a massive treat! Banana Bites are chewy and they’re filling and they’re so moreish. And somehow they taste like childhood.

I can’t believe this recipe works. That it’s possible to make something healthy with so small and so healthy a bunch of ingredients. You barely use any dishes. You barely lift a finger, really. Gah. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THESE BEFORE. Thank you endlessly Floss for letting me in on the secret.

Readers, go bake. And know that tomorrow will be a better day.

Munch safely,

Hayley

PLUMBLE

Recipe: Apple and plum crumble

Time taken: 1 ¼ hours

Ingredients: 100g plain flour, 50g marg, 100g sugar, 50g oats, 4 plums and an apple

Hi readers,

Just a fleeting post today, I’m afraid. A quickie! Having slept til almost noon this morning (it’s Christmassss) and then committed to totally finishing all Christmas shopping today (ugh Christmassss) I’ve been running around like a loon! But I DID IT. I achieved! It is DONE for another year. No more. I have wrapped that shit and I’m freeee to move on. Live life again.

And yesterday, I also achieved. I got back to cooking! That’s right. I cooked! My best friend, who I haven’t seen since summer, came over for a wine at mine to catch up! It was a proper girls night in.

Me and the Besty through the years

And I cooked! I made my fabulous maple-roasted root veg to go with some Linda McCartney cheese n leek plaits, then for dessert I rustled up an apple and plum crumble! That’s right, I found ANOTHER USE FOR PLUMS!!

Me? Obsessed with plums? Nooooooo!

Here’s how to make the magic happen…

1.       Heat your oven to 180ᵒC. (I went for 200ᵒC and this was too much, I ended up with burnt patches on the top of my crumble! What a shame! I think 180ᵒC is a safer bet for you to try.)

2.       Remove the stones from your plums, then chop up your plums and apples.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Leave the skins on your fruit! That’s where all the goodness is. :)

3.       Grease an oven proof dish with a little butter.

4.       Tip your fruit into the dish and sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of sugar.

5.       Measure your flour, marg and 50g of your sugar into a bowl.

6.       Rub together with your fingers, until the mix looks like fine breadcrumbs.

7.       Add your oats and stir them into the crumble mix.

8.       Spoon your crumble mix over the top of your fruit, so that all the fruit is covered.

9.       Sprinkle a couple more tablespoons of sugar over the top.

10.   Bake in the oven for 45 minutes! Serve lovely n warm, with a good dollop of custard.

And here’s how apple and plum crumble looks!

(Minus burning, that was my bad)

Plums in crumble is THE BOMB! I’m telling you, readers. I already loved apple crumble and this just made it even more tastier. This was a stroke of ChefBeHereing genius! Adding plums  to this crumble doubled the fruit and doubled the greatness. This was reeeeally tasty, if I may say so. And the Besty said so, too! Plus, she’d bought red velvet cupcakes along, so we literally had the biggest bowls of pudding, all smothered in custard. There were no complaints from either of us!

Alas, readers, I’m off now to go catch up with more friends. This is such a fun time of the year. But if you have any time to spare this Christmas, why not treat your friends and family to some plum and apple crumble?? Try it out! And let me know what you think! I was really happy with how this came out (despite the burnt bits haha) and I’m definitely going to be trying plums in crumble, again sometime soon. Maybe plums with berries might work to make a really red, fruity crumble? Mmm. Or plums with another stoned fruit perhaps, like peach? Not a bad idea. So shout out any plum crumble combinations you think would be a hit, readers, and go give them a go in the kitchen!

Crumble safely this Christmas,

Hayley

HEALTH NUT

Recipe: Apricot Power Bars

Time Taken: An hour

Ingredients: 2 bananas, 100g butter, 80g oats, half a mug of Brazil nuts, half a mug of dried apricots, half a mug of seeds (e.g. sunflower and pumpkin)

Hi readers,

Today is December 14^th. This time in ten days we’ll be celebrating Christmas Eve! Such an exciting thought. But today is still on the 14^th. There’s somewhat of a way to go until Christmas. Boo! But that makes for lots of time for fitting in festive fun in the meanwhile. :)

And I’ve been having looooads of fun! Yesterday, me and the mum bagged ourselves some Christmas edition Starbucks and hit Cineworld to see the new Paddington Bear film… and we loved it! It’s such a wintry, British family film. Yes, a large proportion of the audience were under-10. But there were adults there, too! And, maybe some weren’t accompanying kiddies, like me and my mum… haha, oh well, we’re all young at heart.

Paddington Bear! All the way from Darkest Peru :)

 

And TODAY it’s a big family meal! I get to see cousins, and aunts and uncles, my grandparents, and we’re all drinking and wearing paper hats, I hope. Feasting it up for a big Christmas pub gathering! There’s much excitement over this meal. I can’t wait to catch up on everyone’s lives and hear about their Christmas plans. And eeeeat!

Alas, I’m not actually cooking again today. But yesterday’s blog had me thinking about two things. Firstly, all of the luxury foods in the cupboards at home, and which order I should possibly try to eat them all in. Second, the quote that reads “Love yourself enough to live a healthy lifestyle”. This is really striking a chord with me at the moment! I think perhaps at Christmas, with all the feasts and dinners that come with the occasion, people get a little out of touch with their bodies. Maybe we don’t love ourselves enough at this time of year.

So, today I got up in time to catch a beautiful sunrise in Sheffield. It’s a harsh time of year at the moment, but the weather can make for some spectacular views. And I’m more rural at home than at uni, so there’s real countryside to frame sunrises and sunsets with.

Woodhouse this morning

 

In the spirit of snaffling all and any luxury foods, I decided to chop Brazil nuts on my muesli. Is there any higher indulgence at 9am?? I think not.

My bowlful of billion dollar nuts

 

Then, guilted by breakfast, I signed up for the morning dog walk with my mummy bear and her little spawn of the devil. I was repenting for my nut greed.

Exercising alongside my mum and the Evil Knievel

 

And I was thinking about all the nuts in and trying to be good, and it reminded me of a really good recipe I made last time we had exams at uni! This was a recipe I found for special energy bars, to help my flatmates through revision and the hard times. They were all natural, chock full of things like nuts and seeds and dried fruit, and they went really well! Literally, I didn’t even have exams and I was munching them up. They were very tasty.

Here’s how they look in the recipe photo!

 

So, hopefully over December I’m going to have a go at them again at home, and I’ll be ready with the recipe for when exams come around again in January. Fighting the flab and fighting exams! And guys this recipe is the bomb. You literally need a knife, a fork, a bowl, a pan, a spoon and a baking tray. Minimal equipment required. No decoration on the bars. This recipe’s a no-faff, no-stress affair. Just don’t mention that part to your flatmates. :D

Here’s how to throw together your very own Apricot Power Bars, in ten easy steps…

1.       Heat your oven to 200ᵒC.

2.       Peel your bananas into a pan and mash them up using a fork.

3.       Add your butter to the pan and place on a hob over a medium heat.

4.       Stir gently until the two combine and set this mix aside to cool.

5.       Chop up your nuts and apricots, and chuck them in a bowl.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Don’t chop these too small so that they disappear into the mix! I think it’s nice to chop them a little bigger, so that there are good fruit and nut chunks within the Power Bars.

6.       Add your seeds and oats.

7.       Pour your banana-butter mix over the top of your dry ingredients, and stir this all up into one great modge.

8.       Press the batter on to a baking tray covered with baking paper.

9.       Bake in the oven for half an hour, until golden brown on top.

10.   Safely take your tray out of the oven and leave to cool, before you cut your bars from the slab. And there you have it! Some food for the mind and the soul.

Here’s how mine went…

 

Now, I love dried apricots and they’re full of iron so they’re really good for you, and good to snack on if you’re vegetarian, but if you’re not a fan I guess you could mix the apricot portion in this recipe with raisins perhaps, or swap them entirely for an alternative like dried cranberries? And any vegans out there, you can veganise this recipe by just switching the butter for almond butter! So there are no excuses. This recipe is for everyone.

So give it a try! What do you think to Apricot Power Bars? Tempting to try? Delicious to eat? Those are my personal opinions. Although, I am a lover of literally every ingredients in this recipe. So I’m slightly biased. But still! Please, give this one a go. It’s a really healthy, really fun recipe to try. And I don’t think December calls for anything more, really. Get loving yourselves, readers!

And power on safely,

Hayley

VERRRY VEGAN

Recipe: Vegan-Oatmeal-Choc-Chip-Peanut-Butter-Banana-Bread
(I kid you not)

Adapted and Britishized from the original ‘Baker Bettie’ recipe which can be found here:

http://bakerbettie.com/oatmeal-peanut-butter-chocolate-chip-banana-bread/
 

Time Taken: 1 hour

Ingredients: 250g porridge oats, 3 bananas, 120g peanut putter, 100g dark brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon & 200g chocolate chips.

Good evening readers,

Todayyyy it’s Sunday! The day of rest. The day of the week where you literally are required by the world to expect nothing of yourself. And then even less. The day when putting clothes on… that’s optional. Normally I work on Sundays, but due to my lurgy tonsils I’m not allowed to serve food! So I’m on a holiday from going to work. Cue a mini rave n PARTAY.

And this isn’t the only reason that today is special. Also, this Sunday is the last day in November. There are 3 reasons why this is spectacular…

 1) Our advent calendars begin tomorrow. Mine is a Frozen calendar and I’m very excited to open the first door. And eat chocolate.

 

2) Tomorrow the cleaning rota flips to a new month and we all switch responsibilities. I’m sad not to be in charge of stairs and hallways anymore (total piss-take), but it’s nice because everyone’s tidying their zone ready to hand it over. So the house is LOOKIN’ GOOOOD.

 

3) We’re putting our Christmas decorations up! With just ten days until flat Christmas, we’re going to go for it tonight and we’re going to deck the halls!

 

In such high spirits I decided to treat the house today and bake a banana bread! This is always cause for celebration and some light Hayley-worship, so I never mind the cost or the time taken to prepare it or anything. They donate elderly bananas. I love to bake, and I love to eat banana bread as much as my flatmates do. All is good.

For a while, my flatmates having been calling for me to try out a special new banana bread recipe that they found on Pinterest, so I caved to demand and checked it out. It took some converting of ingredients from US cups to UK grams, and it was a bit of a botched job in the kitchen after a major oat spill and some blender troubles, but this has turned out really well. SO WELL. IT TASTES LIKE HEAVEN. YOU HAVE TO DO IT.

Here’s how…

1. Preheat your oven to 180˚C and use some kitchen towel to wipe a little oil around the edges and bottom of a loaf tin in order to grease it the vegan way.

2. Peel your bananas, place them in a bowl and mash them to a pulp.

3. Put your oats into a blender and pulse to a fine crumb until the oats look almost like flour.

4. Add all your remaining ingredients MINUS THE CHOC CHIPS to the blender. Splash a little tapwater over the top so you mix isn’t too dry and blenddddddddddd.

ChefBeHere Top Top: If, like me, you only have a small smoothie machine not a proper blender, halve all of your ingredients and blend half first and then the other half afterwards.

5. Pour your loaf mix into a mixing bowl and tip in three quarters of your choc chips. Save a quarter for now.

6. Stir it up! Pour this finished loaf mix into your prepared loaf tin.

7. Smooth the top of your loaf so that it’s surface is even and then sprinkle your remaining choc chips over the top of it.

8. Safely transport your loaf into the oven and leave to bake for half an hour.

9. After half an hour, test the middle of the loaf by stabbing it with a knife. If the knife comes out clean then remove your loaf from the oven. If it has mix on it still leave your loaf for another five minutes and keeping checking it every five minutes until it’s baked all the way through.

10. Leave your loaf to cool in its tin for twenty minutes. Then run a sharp knife around the edge of the tin and either shuffle your loaf onto a cooling rack to cool fully, or slice your loaf up and feed it warm to hungry flatmates! Tuck in!

And you should be feasting on something that looks like THIS!

 

Up close and personal with my loaf :P

 

Plated! Not for very long… Muahahahaha...

 

Do you love it? Loaf it? Has your life been changed? I know mine has. Peanut butter goes with banana so well there just aren't words. I have no words.

And what do you think of the veganness of the recipe? I did not mind the lack of flour, butter or eggs. I didn’t really notice. Didn’t miss them whatsoever. What wasn’t there? I could literally be vegan if it meant I could eat this loaf everyday forever. It’s my eternal loaf.

Blend n bake safely kids,

Hayley

PLUMS... ON PORRIDGE?

Recipe: Winter Plum Porridge

Time Taken: Half an hour

Ingredients: Porridge oats, milk, honey, cinnamon, 3 plums, a smidge of butter

 

Good evening readers,

It’s Thursdayyyyyyyy. Literally, I’m losing enthusiasm for this week altogether. I hope today, on this Thursday, you’re significantly more cheer-filled than me! That you’re hogging all the cheer and this is the cause of my gloom. Someone deserves a cheerful Thursday.

I hope you're feeling like this little hero

 

I’m writing from Newcastle University’s Robinson Library and no one here seems to be having a cheerful evening. No one. ‘Cheer’ isn’t the word to describe the atmosphere here. General mood = tired, fed up, depressive, bleak. Cheerless, some might say.

It’s like the setting for a terrible event after which people look back and say “Oh, don’t you wish they’d all been living for the day and they were off somewhere spending their last moments being free and just running and living life to the full”. I sincerely hope to be out of this library, alive and well, sometime soon. And everyone else stuck here, too. There is (fingers-crossed) life post-library.

But meanwhile, I’m taking a study break to share with you the breakthrough I had earlier! It has been, by far, the best part of my day. I’d transcribed an interview by about noon (yay!) and needed food. I wanted plums again, but also I fancied porridge. A dilemma. UNTIL I thought…. Can you put plums on your porridge?

Answer? Hell yes.

Here’s the recipeeeeeeeeeee…

1. Heat your oven to 200˚C.

2. Take three plums, slice them in half, remove the stones and throw those away.

 

3. Grease a little ovenproof dish you arrange your plums inside.

 

4. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and drizzle with a teaspoon of honey.

 

5. Pop the dish into the oven and take a ten minute breather.

 

6. Measure half a cup (I use a McDonald’s LEGO cup) of porridge oats.

 

7. Tip them into a bowl and pour milk over the oats until they’re swimming and the bowl is about full to about the level of porridge you can imagine yourself being able to eat. Stir this up.

 

8. Microwave on full power for two minutes, then take your bowl out and stir before popping it back in the microwave to heat for abooooout just shy of a minute more.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: Keep an eye on the bowl through the microwave door. Your porridge will expand, but you don’t want it to spill over the edges of the bowl. Stop it if it looks like this is about to happen. Your porridge is ready early.

 

9. Safely remove your dish from the oven and cut each plum-half into quarters.

 

10. Sprinkle some cinnamon and drizzle a teaspoon of honey over your porridge. Use a spoon to mix these in, before tipping your plums over the top of your porridge. Tuck in!

 

 

Here’s my gorgeous lunch (I miss it loads!)

 

I LOVE THIS COMBINATION. Literally, it’s so, so rich and indulgent. This is the recipe for someone looking for a big treat. Is this you? Get on it!!

How do people feel about putting plums on porridge? Yay or nay? This recipe gets my yes vote any day, every day, in a heartbeat, without a doubt, to infinity and beyond. Does it get yours?

Spoil yourself safely,

Hayley