Bonkers about Baking!

Yes I've gone slightly off the rails with my baking recently, due to having a lot of spare time on my hands. I really had no idea that muffins were so easy to make, and I have fun experimenting with them! They're just so handy to have around as well, for breakfasts (heated up with a bit of jam) and for snacks on the go. Today I randomly made some Banana, Blackberry, Flaxseed & Nutella Muffins, which turned out pretty well. In fact, they were still soft, fluffy and gooey even hours after they came out of the oven, and the boy said they were fantastic! We really couldn't get enough of them. I think I'm going to have to stop making muffins for a while now and wait until next week before I bake any more, I just think I'm becoming addicted to them and keep justifying these indulgent little treats by putting fruit inside them. I'll be getting a 'muffin top' soon if I'm not careful... I think the key to limiting myself to just one a day is to get some larger muffin cases so I can make regular sized muffins like you get in coffee shops, then I think I'll feel more satisfied and won't keep reaching for more!

I can't wait to go see my dad at the end of this month and bake some muffins using the fruit from his garden. He has raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, redcurrants & gooseberries - the poor guy won't know what to do with all the muffins I'm gonna be making for him!!! I'd say warm muffins straight from the oven with some pecan soya ice cream would be a heavenly dessert :)

As you can see, my hamster Pep-Pep loves to nibble on freshly made berry muffins too! Nom nom nom...

Oh-ts My Goodness!

Now here's something worth blogging about - a healthy superfood breakfast that tastes like dessert!

A lot of people seem to be blogging nowadays about these vegan overnight oats so I thought I'd give it a go from the recipe they have all been using over at Oh She Glows. It's very simple to throw together the evening before, and then you just layer it up in the morning with your desired toppings. I chose to mix in a teaspoon of cinnamon, a layer of blackcurrant purée and a dollop of vegan chocolate spread.

I used:
- 1/3 cup of oats
- 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
- just under 1 cup soya milk
- 1 small mashed banana
- dash of vanilla essence
- blackcurrant purée
- blob of vegan hazelnut chocolate spread

I wasn't sure what it would taste like, as I've never had chia seeds before. They swell up overnight, becoming soft in texture and look rather like tapioca. The mashed banana really adds sweetness without having to add any extra sugar. Next time I am going to try it with peanut butter & chocolate spread. I can just tell I'm going to be having this breakfast quite regularly over the remaining Summer days!

Berry Smoothies

I have no idea why I don't make smoothies more often. Bananas are the most useful ingredient when making smoothies, as they make them creamy without having to use milk, and make them thick and gloopy - more like a meal than a drink. As I've been snacking all day today and haven't really had any exercise I wasn't really in the mood for a big dinner so I thought I'd get a good healthy smoothie down my throat :)  I'm not the biggest fan of banana - since I was 6 years old I was *convinced* I was allergic to them after throwing up and thinking my throat was swelling and closing in on itself - however, fast forward about 25 years and I discovered I was indeed NOT allergic to them, so started to eat them on a regular basis... so much so that I began to hate them again!  Now I only eat them in smoothies and in dried chip format.

All I did to make this smoothie was blend together one large banana and half a cup of mixed fresh berries with 200ml of fresh orange juice. It's so simple, so cheap, yet so tasty...