Browsing Tag

breakfast

Friday Fare, Health

Blueberry Honey Chia Jam

September 6, 2014

Sounds cool right? I have been eating this blueberry honey chia jam for a few weeks now and I absolutely love it! I adapted My Whole Food Life’s recipe and used honey instead of maple syrup, although at first I did test it out with sugar-free maple syrup (from Nature’s Hollow). I personally did not find it as sweet as I would like it to be so I used honey the next time round and it came out perfectly to my taste 🙂

Blueberry Honey chia jam

So what makes this blueberry honey chia jam special? Most commercial varieties, such as Smuckers, tend to use sugar sources such as high fructose corn syrup or just plain old white sugar. I love using honey as a sweetener because not only does it have a fantastic and thick texture, it also contains a variety of minerals and chemicals.

This jam also contains chia seeds (my loves) which are a rich source of fiber, protein, healthy fats (omega-3s), vitamins and minerals. Because of their high fiber and protein content, I have found that chia seeds help keep me fuller for longer. Another bonus (like we need more) is that they are low in calories; 1 tablespoon is roughly around 60 calories!

Blueberry Honey Chia Jam

Anyway, point being is that I loooove this jam! It is yummy, filling and super healthy. Plus, it is a fantastic way to use up any fruit which you think may go off soon. I had a BUNCH of blueberries and was panicking about how I was going to finish them, and so the discovery of chia jam was a blessing.

Blueberry Honey Chia Jam Recipe

Blueberry Honey Chia Jam

Alice Williams
A delicious and healthy way to make jam that is full of fiber!
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Ingredients
  

  • 2 cups bluberries
  • 2-3 tbsp honey
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds

Instructions
 

  • Blend all of the ingredients together in a food processor
  • Transfer to a jam jar or equivalent container and then leave in the fridge overnight to thicken and set

Notes

Adapted from My Whole Food Life

Feel free to substitute in different fruits, and if you do let me know how they turn out!

 Hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Friday Fare! Please remember to subscribe to Honestly Fitness if you enjoy my blog posts and please share the posts and recipes with your friends and families. This chia jam is sure to be a winner with everyone!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Friday Fare

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

May 16, 2014

Okay so I just want to start off by apologizing in advance as the photo’s are not the prettiest But seriously, how pretty can oatmeal really be? Hehe, I tried my best but just be assured that this slow cooker oatmeal TASTES amazing!

So what is this week’s edition of Friday Fare? … Slow cooker oatmeal!

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

My boyfriend bought me a slow cooker a few weeks back and I am literally obsessed with it. It has made meal prep and meals in general so much easier. I mean seriously, all you do is add your ingredients (plus chopping stuff if you need too, which can take a while actually as slow Alice found out) into the slow cooker, set it to low or high, and then leave it for several hours. And voila! Delicious food in mass quantities, mmmmm.

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

Told you the photo’s wouldn’t be fantastic 🙁 SO delicious though

I discovered the idea of slow cooker oatmeal while just searching the web trying to look for alternatives to overnight oats. I really like overnight oats but it’s cold .. and I really like a warm and comforting breakfast. Slow cooker oatmeal presented a lovely way to have a warm and delicious breakfast with minimal effort involved! I like my oatmeal really creamy and rich so I used unsweetened almond and coconut milk as my liquid, but feel free to substitute half for water if you want a less rich oatmeal.

This meal is full of protein and complex carbohydrates and is extremely filling and should keep you feeling full for a good three to four hours.

 

Slow Cooker Oatmeal

Alice Williams
Creamy slow cooker oatmeal; all the taste with none of the effort.
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Servings 2

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup dry steel cut oats
  • 2 and 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk or sub for any milk you like
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • 1. Put all ingredients into your slow cooker
  • 2. Set slow cooker to 'LOW' setting and let the oats cook for 4 hours
  • 3. Eat! You can add anything to these oats (after they are cooked though, I added fruit into the slow cooker and each time it turned out nasty). Some idea's are fresh fruit, honey, natural peanut butter, unsweetened cocoa powder, nuts .. the world is your oyster!
Slow Cooker Oatmeal

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Friday Fare. Now there is no excuse to not eat breakfast since you can make it ahead of time and then just leave them in the slow cooker with the setting set to ‘WARM’ 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice

Friday Fare, Health

Friday Fare – Honey Lavender Oatmeal with Blueberries

March 2, 2014

Ahh, what could be more sweet than honey and lavender? I’ll tell you what … honey and lavender combined with hearty oatmeal and fresh blueberries!

Honey Lavender Oatmeal with Blueberries

After making the Green Post’s delicious Apple Butternut and Lavender pancakes a few weeks ago, I have been thinking of ways to use the lavender that I bought. It has such a beautiful smell and taste, and I knew there had to be a way to incorporate it in a novel way into a recipe. Et voila: my honey lavender oatmeal with blueberries was born!

I don’t have oatmeal as often as I did when I was in England (I was SO cold in England, I needed all the warmth I could get) but I love it because it is a filling, delicious and healthy breakfast meal. Oatmeal is a funny one though because you have to be careful about what type of oats you buy. I recommend you buy traditional rolled oats, or steel cut oats. I would advise you to stay away from instant oatmeal, because apart from the fact that most are flavored (and thus have loads of sugar), instant oatmeal has been highly processed to make it quicker to cook so it is also broken down more quickly by your body resulting in a higher glycaemic index. It isn’t the end of the world if you buy PLAIN instant oatmeal, but if you can, try and buy traditional rolled oats or steel cut oats as they have a lower glycaemic index 🙂

Alright, let’s get down to business!

Honey Lavender Oatmeal

Alice Williams
Melt in your mouth oatmeal with sweet honey and notes of lavender
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Ingredients
  

  • 1/4-1/2 cup oatmeal
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1 tbsp raw honey
  • 1 tsp dried lavender
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • 1. Pour the milk and lavender into a pot. Heat the milk and the lavender on a low heat for 5 minutes to allow the lavender to infuse into the milk. Do NOT boil the milk. After 5 minutes is up, pour the milk back into the pot using a sieve to catch the lavender buds.
  • 2. Now add your oatmeal; as you can see I am using steel cut oats so the time I have to cook these for is longer than traditional rolled oats. Heat the lavender infused milk and oatmeal on a medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes.
  • 3. Once the oatmeal is cooked, transfer it to a bowl and then drizzle 1 tablespoon of honey onto it. I use Eco pollen's raw honey as it is one of the best honey's I have ever tasted.
  • 4. Wait about 5 minutes, or until your oatmeal has cooled slightly, and then add your blueberries.

Notes

Feel free to sub the milk for your preferred milk such as almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk and etc.

Honey Lavender Oatmeal with Blueberries

Honey Lavender Oatmeal with Blueberries

A super-easy and delicious way to enjoy breakfast 🙂

There are so many ways you can get creative with this. Make overnight oats, and add chia seeds, and coconut flakes!

Honey Lavender Oatmeal with Blueberries

NOTE

I am discontinuing the posting of the nutritional information because the numbers can vary so much depending on what brands you use.

Let me know what you think of this recipe, and whether you like the lavender infusion by leaving me a comment below!

Honestly yours,
Alice