Avocado Advocate

Oh Avocado, how   I love thee...let me count the ways! Yes you have guessed it, my Tuesday food is the luscious, fresh green avocado :)

Avocados are truly amazing as they contain in excess of 25 nutrients! These include vitamin A, B, C, E, & K, copper, iron, phosporus, magnesium, and potassium. They are also a great source of fibre and protein as well as containing  beneficial phytochemicals which may protect against various disease and illness.

Below are just a few of the health benefits associated with avocados;

1. Lower Cholesterol
2. Control blood pressure & maintain a healthy heart
3. Fights free radicals
4. Anti-ageing properties - avocados are rich in antioxidants  
5. Cure bad breath (always helpful!)
6. Nourishes your skin and makes you glow!

The wonderful thing about avo's is that they are soooo versatile, you can eat them in so many ways! I love mine in sandwiches with salad, parmesan and egg-free mayo, salads, on toast with tomatoes, on ryvita with vegemite and as you will see below in shakes!

I have a big weakness when it comes to my diet, and that is chocolate milk. I just can't help it. So instead of denying myself I searched for a home made recipe that was healthy and clean; avocados, who knew? 

Chocolate Avocado Milkshake

Ingredients
1/2 ripe avocado
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1-3 tsp agave nectar/maple syrup (alternatively you can use 1 tbsp of brown sugar)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup of almond milk

Method
1. all the ingredients together until smooth and serve over ice
2. Enjoy!

You can add a scoop of protein powder if you want an extra protein hit or to thicken could add a banana. Avocado's are great in smoothies with spinach and kale as well. There are loads of different options all over the net so get inspired!

Breakfast Muffins

How has everyone's weekend been?

I love Sunday's, I always like to wake up early to make the most of the day. I also enjoy treating myself to a delicious blueberry muffin! Now your regular blueberry muffins are not the healthiest of breakfasts, so I have adopted a high protein, eggless version.

This is a paleo inspired recipe. The paleo or paleolithic diet is often referred to as the 'caveman diet' as it is based on the plants, seeds, nuts and of course meat that was available in the paleoloithic times - a period of 2.5million years which ended circa 10,000 years ago. So it is basically un-processed food, based on what was available to humans before the development of agriculture.

I don't follow the diet specifically as I don't eat meat but I do love the fact that it offers some really high protein recipes. For example my breakfast muffins contain almond flour and almond butter in replacement of regular flour and butter. You can use eggs if you wish but as my partner doesn't eat them I use the below recipe which uses mashed banana instead. If using eggs still add some banana though as they are a great source of energy!

Ingredients
- 1cup almond flour
- 1tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 2-3 ripe bananas (dependent on size)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
- 1tbsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup of blueberries
- Oats

Method
1. Add all dry ingredients with the exception of the oats and blueberriesto a bowl and mix
2. In a food processor or using a fork, puree/ mash the bananas
3. Mix all liquid ingredients together in a seperate container (including almond butter)
4. Add liguid ingredients to dry ingredients and mix
5. Once a batter is formed add the blueberries (as many or as little as you like, I love them so have quite a few!)
6. Spoon mixture into muffin cases and sprinkle oats on top
7. Bake in the oven at 180-200degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden with a soft, dry centre
8. ENJOY!
I also love to adapt this recipe to make apple and cinamon muffins and double choc chip muffins! I'll post those recipes the next time I make them :)

Monday Madness

Happy Monday! It's a fresh new week and can be whatever you make of it...

If you're anything like me Monday is one non-stop crazy day that flies by and you don't have enough time to get anything and everything done. Work is rushed, the gym is packed and you need some quick fix energy to keep you going in between.

With that in mind I thought I'd share a delicous recipe with you this evening; my homemade chocolate and cranberry protein bars. They are absolutely delicous; high in protein and great for on the go in between work and the gym!

Chocolate & Cranberry Protein Bars

These are a great snack before or after the gym; you can adjust the recipe to add flavours that you like and are great on the go. The recipe makes 8-10 bars annd they keep in the fridge for about a week; I like to have them as my mid-afternoon chocolate fix as they soothe that sweet craving whilst providing the energy I need for my evening workout.

Ingredients:
1 cup of oats
1/4 cup of flaxseed ( I like Linwoods Flaxseed, Cocoa and berry mix)
2 scoops of chocolate flavoured soya protein powder
2 tsp cocoa powder (optional)
1/4 cup of peanuts (chopped)
1/4 cup of almonds (chopped)
1/4 cup of dried cranberries (chopped)
1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips
3 tablespoons of honey
1/2 cup of organic peanut butter
1/2 cup of almond milk

Preperation:
1. Add all your dry ingredients into a bowl; you can add more or less nuts, fruit or choclate dependent on your taste. This recipe is great with lots of other fruit too (so I'm told) but I'm not a big fan of dried fruits so cranberries were my limit!
2. Mix in the honey and the peanut butter
3. Slowly add the almond milk; you may need more or less than the recipe dictates. You want the mixture to be thick; kinda like the consistency of erm...mud!
4. Line a square dish or baking tin with greaseproof paper and fill with the mixture. Using a spatula spread the mixture evenly in the tray and push down so it is nice and compact
5. Put the mixture in the fridge for 20-30mins to set
6. Enjoy!

Getting Started!

Hello there! Welcome to my first blog :)

So I guess I'm a bit late of the mark beginning a health and fitness blog on the last day of January rather than the 1st... but hey, I like to keep 'em guessing!

Health and fitness have been major interests of mine for years; I love being outside and enjoy running and climbing as well as doing a good old fashioned weights sesh in the gym! All my life I have been a pescetarian however my fella is a complete vegetarian so even fish is now a rarity...I enjoy playing with recipe and food ideas that are vegan and recently invested in a juicer - the best thing ever! We are now completely obsessed with juicing anything and everything!

I'm originally from Cornwall so living in London now has taken a lot of getting used to and adjusting to exercising in the city involves coming up with fun and adventurous ways to get fit...from kickboxing, indoor climbing, parkour, capoeira and all sorts of dance classes :)

So to keep things extra specially interesting I thought; why not tell you guys all about these various extra-curricular activities; what works best, a fun ranking as well as a fitness ranking and all the little things that make a good exercising experience a great one.

My partner is into weight lifting in a BIG way so nutrition is massive part of our lives as I am always researching and experimenting with high protein, low fat, vegetarian and vegan recipes. So far we have come across some amazingly tasty dishes and I absolutely love to share them!

Well that's my introduction, watch this space for postings health, fitness and inspiring recipes!