Peanutbutter Banana crumble

Who doesn’t love dessert? – I definitely do!

Unfortunately most are just a big portion of sugar served with a side of trans fats and pretty much no nutrients…

So what to do? Skip it completely?

No! 

There are so many ways to cheat the system. This recipe is so delicious, it’s easy, wholesome and yes it does contain a bit of sugar BUT it is packed with plenty of nutrients- vitamins, minerals, fiber and healthy fats! And combined with some plain yogurt- which is high in protein- the overall GI of your dessert is lowered, thereby making it a great dessert for the health conscious 🙂

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 1 banana
• 2 large strawberries 
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp raw honey

Method

1. Blend the almonds (I like it when there’s still some big pieces – for that extra crunch) I used my favorite- the NUTRIBULLET 
2. Place honey and Peanutbutter in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for about 30 seconds or until “saucy” soft
3. Mix the crushed almonds and Peanutbutter sauce together with the cinnamon 
4. Cut the banana and strawberries into slices 
5. Fry everythhing in Pan until bananas are golden brown and almonds are nice and crunchy.- +2min be careful the almonds can burn quickly
6. Serve with plain yogurt 

Enjoy!

Love,

Mariella

Peanut Butter Cocoa Recovery smoothie

Recovery is one of the most important aspects of training and it often gets neglected even though we should place much more emphasis on recovering the right way. Without a good recovery meal we are making it more difficult for our bodies to recover from a hard session, thereby putting ourselves at risk for illness and injury.

Personally I prefer to use Whole Foods for my recovery “meal” because I believe that our bodies function best on “god-made” foods. There is definitely a time and place for generic recovery shakes but if you have the time I would say go for the whole food option as you will be getting a whole lot more out of that. Whole Foods are packed with all your macronutrients (carbohydrates,protein, fat) and several micronutrients which will aid the recovery process. 

This smoothie is a great example- and it’s so easy to make especially in your Nutribullet! 

It contains Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat as well as fiber and many micronutrients. 

With a recovery shake one is looking for a carbohydrate to protein ratio of 4:1 to maximize your recovery, and this smoothie comes very close to that- thereby making it a great whole food recovery option 🙂 

Ingredients

• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp cocoa
• 1 cup milk

Method

Blend all ingredients together- I used my all time favorite- my NUTRIBULLET 🙂

Enjoy!

Love,

M x

Roast Pepper Chickpea Dip

This delicious chunky dip is an amazing addition to any party, picnic or snack. You can use it as an alternative to your conventional dips, spread it on your wrap or sandwich or just eat it like that.

It is so easy to make and packed with nutrients. Chickpeas are a great source of fiber, protein and carbohydrates and they keep you full for long meaning food cravings will be a lot less than if you are using a conventional “dip”.

I used my Nutribullet to blend it all together and it worked really well.

Ingredients

• 3 small peppers ( I used one red,yellow and orange)
• Chilli flakes
• Olive oil
• Tahini
• 1 can chickpeas 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius
2. Cut up peppers into slices and place on oven proof dish.
3. Sprinkle some chili flakes over them along with a dash of olive oil 
4. Season with salt and pepper
5. Roast for about 15min
6. Drain the chickpeas and rinse off until you see no more “foam”- this prevents any flatulence
7. Blend the peppers and chickpeas together with the tahini and 2 tbsp olive oil 
8. Season with salt and pepper

Enjoy!

Love,

M x

Lunching 101

Making lunch is often a bigger challenge than we think… Especially in the working world there is often too little time and the food we have access to is not the healthiest, being high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and trans fats and lacking anything that’s good for us. 

So here are a few tips to make a quick and healthy lunch- that you can even throw together at the office when time is of the essence and you still want to make sure you’re fueling your body with plenty of nutrients. 

Having a nutritious and delicious lunch will help you stay fueled and energized for the second half of the day. 

1. Cook an extra portion the night before to take to work the next day to warm up. 
2. “Pimp” up your dinner if you get bored easily by adding things such as humus, rocket, feta, a new dressing or swapping your carbs around i.e. if you used brown rice for dinner, use cous cous or quinoa for lunch.
3. Keep some ingredients at your work place to throw together a yummy bowl if you haven’t had time to prep (see recipe below for ideas)
4. Keep healthy snacks in your drawer/handbag to snack on when hungry to prevent sugar/refined carb cravings when lunch time comes e.g. Nuts,dried fruit,biltong,health bars, dates,fruit 
5. Familiarize yourself with what there is to offer in you surroundings- there are so many health restaurants these days that there is bound to be one close to you
6. If possible, keep a blender in your work place- smoothies are amazing, nutritious,filling and so easy to make. 

Some other easy ideas:

• Rye bread with smashed avocado and a boiled egg
• Buffalo mozzarella with baby tomatoes and some basil pesto
• Chickpea,tuna and avo salad wih balsamic vinegar and olive oil 

One of my personal lunch favorites is my Veggie Haloumi Humus bowl. 

It’s very simple: 

Ingredients

• Julienne beetroot
• Humus
• Rocket
• Chopped peppers
• Avocado
• Haloumi

Method

Place all ingredients in a bowl and enjoy! 

​

​​Love Mariella

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Protein Balls

How often do we crave a delicious snack?! For me personally- VERY often! Unfortunately most quick options are packed with sugar and not so many nutrients. So I came up with this quick and easy recipe to kick all the cravings to the curb! 

Here are 4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Protein Balls! 

Ingredients

• 1 cup Oats
• 1 cup Almond flour (or just blend almonds)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• OPTIONAL: Salted dark chocolate to dip

Method

1. Melt peanut butter in microwave for about 1minute until runny 
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Form bite size balls
4. Dip in melted dark salted chocolate 
5. TIP: if dough isn’t sticky enough just add more melted Peanut Butter

Dark chocolate health muffins

It’s been storming here in Cape Town so what could possibly be better than baking when it’s cold outside?

So here are some delicious muffins that are great to have as a tea time treat, a snack or as a quick breakfast! They are packed with healthy carbohydrates, protein and fats and of course they’re delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup milled almonds
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 tsp guar gum 
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 50g chopped 85% dark chocolate 
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 eggs
• 1 banana
• 2 Tbs honey
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius
2. Grease a tray of muffin tins
3. Mix all the dry ingredients together
4. Add the wet ingredients and mix together
5. Melt the peanut butter in the microwave and mix in
6. Spoon 1 Tbsp of the batter into each muffin 

1. Bake for about 25min or until fork comes out clean
2. Serve with some peanut butter or honey

Love,

Mariella 

x

Peanut butter almond oat cookies

Dont we often find ourselves craving something sweet and delicious but we know that we should probably be more mindful about what we put into our bodies…
These delicious cookies are an all round treat- fueling our bodies with nutrients and being a yummy tea time snack 🙂 

Ingredients

• 1 cup ground almonds
•  1 cup ground oats
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1tbsp cocoa powder
•  1tsp vanilla essence
• 1 egg
• 2 heaped Tbsp peanut butter
• 3tbsp honey

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius

2. Combine all dry ingredients 

3. Mix in the wet ingredients

4. Spoon 1 Tbsp of mixture onto greased baking try and flatten out to form biscuit size

5. Top off with 1/2 tsp peanut butter

6. Bake for about 35min or until golden brown 

Sweet potato butternut soup

It’s getting colder here in Cape Town as winter is upon us and what is better than a nice warm soup? 

This soup is deliciously comforting and packed with goodness to make sure you keep those winter bugs at bay. 

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 small onions
• 1kg sweet potato chopped into cubes
• 500g butternut chopped into cubes
• 2 carrots sliced
• Vegetable broth to make 500ml
• 1 sprig Rosemary
• 1 Tbsp Nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon 
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius 
2. Place the cut up sweet potato, butternut and carrots on a baking tray and brush with some olive oil
3. Season with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg
4. Place cut up rosemary on top of veg
5. Roast veg for about 45min or until soft
6. While veg are roasting fry the onions in a bit of butter until golden brown
7. Place veg in a big pot and blend along with the onions, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
8. Add the chicken broth 
9. Season with salt and pepper
10. For extra creaminess add 1/2 cup full cream plain yogurt 

Enjoy!

Love,

Mariella x

Buckwheat Pancakes

A delicious and easy pancake recipe for those cold winter mornings.

These pancakes are gluten free- buckwheat does not contain any gluten and don’t let the name deceive you- there is no wheat in ‘buckwheat’ and it is not a grain. Buckwheat is a great source of carbohydrates and protein and also contains several other vitamins and minerals such as magnesium, manganese and B vitamins.

So give these delicious pancakes a try, top them off with some peanut butter, banana, honey or anything nice and enjoy!

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 egg
• 1 mashed banana

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together
2. Add all the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well
3. Heat a medium sized pan on medium heat with some coconut oil and place a spoonful of mixture into pan
4. Flip pancake once you see bubbles appearing
5. Top off with anything delicious- I love honey, peanut butter,banana

 

Love ,
Mariella

x

Morning Express Oats

More often than not we do not have much time in the morning to make breakfast (especially after exercising), which often results in breakfast being skipped OR going for a not-so-nutritious option.

So here is a super quick and delicious oats recipe that is guaranteed to keep you fueled and give you a good kick start into the day.

Ingredients (note this could probably feed two people. I made this after a tough interval session on the indoor trainer so i was STARVED)

 

• 3/4 cup oats
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cocoa
• 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter

Method

1. Place the milk,oats,cocoa,cinnamon and 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter in a bowl and microwave for 1 minute and let it soak while you shower and get ready
2. Mix the oats and microwave for another minute and microwave the Peanut Butter for 45seconds to get a nice Peanut Butter sauce
3. Top off with Banana and almonds

 

Love, M