Chocolate peanut banana porridge.

I decided to mix up my regular breakfast porridge and add banana to the main bulk of the porridge instead of as a topping. It tasted good but so sweet! I think I would have it again as a dessert but not for breakfast.

It’s funny I used to have a real sweet too and always lived by the notion that dessert was the best course of a meal. However over the past few years I’ve moved towards having more of a savoury tooth. I’d much rather go for a starter or cheese board than any rich dessert. I think it must be a sign of getting old-haha. But has anyone else gone through this faze too? 

I simply measured out 50g oats as normal then added chopped banana and mashing. I then added around 100ml milk as usual and microwaved for 1 minute. Once heated I added half a scoop of my favourite whey protein – My protein chocolate peanut butter and some chia seeds. 

Try this if you have a sweet tooth! 

Sunday’s breakfast

Instead of my usual porridge for breakfast I was a bit more adventurous and went for scrambled eggs on toast. As I’ve said before I have porridge everyday for breakfast and never get bored of it. It’s all about being diverse with what you serve it with, but this weekend I decided to mix things up a bit.

I’m not really sure why but this week I have been craving scrambled eggs so I cured the craving for Sunday’s breakfast. I added some veggies for extra vitamins and of course served it with coffee. I always need the morning caffeine kick even if it is the weekend.

I just cooked the eggs with a splash of milk, a bit of black pepper and 1/4 of a chopped red pepper in the microwave. I put this on  two slices of seeded bread topped with an olive oil based spread and baby spinach.

This was delicious! It’s not a breakfast I would have on a weekday as I am very much a person of routine and time is limited on work and uni mornings. But it’s something you can all try out even on a weekday if you have a bit more time in the morning than I do.

Sunday brunch.

I met up with my parents in Edinburgh over the weekend and had a great time! It involved a lot of food, drink and importantly walking to burn some of the calories off.

On Sunday we went to a lovely Italian deli and cafe for breakfast. I went for my classic choice of smoked salmon and eggs. It was served with a sourdough style toasted bread. The portion was huge so did me breakfast and almost lunch too. But was so yummy.Full of good fats (and some saturated but you’ve got to get the balance).

I had a flat white on the side to fulfill my much needed caffeine requirement in the morning.

After breakfast we walked around the old and new town and managed to achieve a mega 21000 steps without meaning too. If you are aiming for a step goal, be a tourist and walk round a city for a day. You’ll manage it without even feeling like your putting in much effort I promise you.

Hope you all had a good weekend too!

My new found porridge recipe.

Porridge, oats whatever you want to call it, it features a lot on my blog. It is defintely my go to breakfast most days.

I usually go for pro oats (porridge with a scoop of whey protein) topped with banana. But today I decided to up the fruit content by adding some frozen berries. Simply add a small handful of frozen berries to the oats and milk and put in the microwave. Heat up and stir until you get this cool purple coloured porridge. Then add a scoop of whey protein. Vanilla or unflavoured whey is probably the best to use so you don’t end up with a strange flavour.

I find just eating the porridge like this a bit sour so added a bit of honey. Was delicious!

Still the same breakfast I have most days of porridge but mixed up a bit!

Two ingredient pancakes.

 

I’ve seen these two ingredient pancakes all over the web and have always wanted to give them a shot. I have always thought that if I tried to make them, that they would come out a lot different than expected and quite frankly a mess. But you never know until you try right?

So they are made of two medium eggs and a banana, that’s it!

Simply break up a banana into small chunks and place in a blending cup/ food processor and add crack in two eggs. I used my Breville VBL062 Blend-Active Blender for this. Blitz until a liquid consistency resembling pancake batter is formed.You can use an old fashioned mixing bowl as long as the banana is mashed thoroughly, whisk the eggs in a separate bowl then mix together in one bowl. Heat oil of your choice in a frying pan, I used sunflower oil for this. Once the pan is hot and the oil mostly melted, pour in the batter.Leave for around 5 minutes before attempting to turn over. It may take longer/ quicker than 5 minutes depending on the heat of your cooker but you should pretty much be able to judge if the top is less liquidy and steam starts to protrude from the batter.

Transfer to a plate with a fish slice and add toppings of your choice.

As you can probably tell from the picture I turned mine over a bit too soon, that’s why there is a hole on the surface. You can hide this with your toppings though! (sneaky I know).

I topped mine with sliced apple, peanut butter and honey. Delicious!

Macros (for pancake without toppings):

308kcal

24g CHO

17g Fat (3.8g saturated)

12g Protein

 

My thoughts on staying healthy when travelling.

I’ve just come back from an amazing city break to Berlin. (You can just see me in the photo above in front of the Brandenburg gate). First of all I have to say you all need to visit this fantastic city! It has so much to see with its involvement in many events in history and brilliant night life.

Anyway this post is not a tourist review but gives my opinion on “healthy living” whilst travelling.

I was definitely no near as strict as I normally am with ensuring I was getting my five a day or making healthier meal choices. My motto is that if you’re on holiday you may as well take advantage and eat what you want. Personally I try and eat at least three portions of fruit and veg and get a reasonable amount of fibre (e.g. choosing brown bread instead of white and eating some fruit and veg) but apart from that I eat what I want.

When it comes to exercising whilst away, city breaks are great for cardio. We averaged at around 20,000 steps each day by just enjoying the sights that the city had to offer. It makes you feel a little less guilty for not eating too healthily!

When I get home from being away I do however try and eat healthier and ensure I get back into my exercise routine as soon as possible. I often weigh myself when I get back too just to see what I need to do (if anything) to get to my pre-holiday weight.

A few helpful tips to stay healthy when away:

1. Keep hydrated – especially in a hot country it’s important to carry water with you or continuously buy water from shops/ cafes every few hours.
2. Take protein bars – if you are concerned you won’t be eating enough protein whilst away take some quest bars for example to ensure you do.
3. Take high fibre cereal bars – if getting enough fibre to keep that gut healthy is more your concern then pack some higher fibre cereal bars in your suitcase or even dried prunes.
4. Buy fruit to have when you wake up in the morning – We stayed in a youth hostel in Berlin so often bought a banana or peach etc to have first thing in the morning so that was at least one portion of fruit out of the way.
5. Walk instead of public transport – for one its cheaper and secondly it burns calories. If your destination is only a short walk then try and go by foot.
6. Don’t be too strict – if you are still trying to be healthy and not eat too much junk don’t deprive yourself of the local treats completely. You are on holiday after all!

Overnight oats.

Okay maybe not the prettiest picture you’ve ever seen of overnight oats, but in reality this is what it looks like. It tastes delicious and is a great way to have oats for breakfast in summer!

This was made from 50g oats, 100g natural yoghurt mixed and left in the fridge overnight. I then added honey and blueberries the next morning. 

You can add any topping you want, fruit and seeds is perfect. 

A typical breakfast for me.

Pretty much everyday I start the day off with protein zoats. I just never get bored of porridge, as weird as some of you think it may sound.

These zoats were made from 50g oats, 50g courgette grated, 100ml semi skimmed milk heated in a bowl in the microwave. I then added chocolate brownie protein powder from myprotein and put sliced banana on top. Delicious! 

I also have a pint of water, a glass of orange juice and a standard white coffee to accompany. 

Courgette for breakfast!?

Protein Zoats. This is pretty much my favourite thing to have for breakfast at the moment. Although it may not look the most appetising, it is in fact really delicious! The zoats in the picture are made from semi skimmed milk, oats, courgette, unflavoured whey protein and topped with a bit of honey. This meal is protein packed, is quick to make and best of all has a portion of vegetables in it, without being able to really taste the vegetable!