Heathy Breakfast Flapjack & Get Cooking More

Ok, I'm finally back home in London and back into the swing of University and work. Being back into my routine means eating healthy 80% of the time (this may not happen sometimes).  This means low sugar, no dairy and very few carbs. I've tried my hardest to stick to almond or soy milk, apart from coffee, as it just doesn't taste the same. This can make breakfast a bit tricky. One of my favourite things to eat is Bircher Quinoa porridge, with berries, nuts and almond milk. But eating the same thing can get very boring, so I've made some Breakfast Chocolate Flapjack. It's rich and chocolatey, and full of all the right stuff to get you going in the morning. Its really, really easy to make and is just a matter of chucking all the ingredients into a food processor and letting it set in the fridge over night. The recipe is below.

This week I read an article online stating that now we spend more time watching cooking programs on television than actually cooking. I found myself feeling a little sad about this as cooking brings me more joy than watching a program about cooking. I mean don't get me wrong, I would rather people be watching a cooking program such as The Great British Bakeoff, than some mindless soap. Even still, it made me wonder why have people lost the love for cooking? 

I know for me, that cooking brings not only a sense of achievement, but rather selfishly I love to see people enjoying my food. Nothing brings me more joy to see peoples faces light up and have a good evening over good wine and food. To me food is just more than fuel for the body, food is a social event. 

People often use the "we have no time", or "we can't afford" excuses and thats exactly what they are, excuses. Knocking up a traditional Spaghetti Carbonara (NO CREAM) takes the grand total of 10 minutes to make, a perfect midweek comfort food. A tomato sauce can be made in 20 minutes, plum tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil in a pan simmer, done. 

I want people to really find simple midweek go to basic meals. Some of my favourite meals are done off the cuff, making it up as we go along, using things from the back of the cupboard. Making food is about being creative and learning from mistakes. 

Next time you're out shopping, don't buy the jar of sauce or a chemically overloaded ready meal, get onto the internet and find a simple recipe that you can make quickly from scratch, you won't regret it, I promise. 

Chocolate Breakfast Flapjack

100g Walnuts

100g Almonds

100g Sunflower seeds

100g Soft dates

2 Table spoons of organic honey

1 Banana

1 Tea spoon of cinnamon

1 Table spoon of  raw cacao

1 Table spoon of coconut oil

Put everything together into a food processor, blitz until it forms a paste texture. There will be bigger nut pieces in there, but that makes it better. 

When the consistency is right, transfer the mixture into a lined tin and leave in the fridge over night. Cut into pieces and enjoy with a brew or on the way to work.