Vegan

Peanut Butter and Jelly Protein Bars

So these tasty little bars have turned out to be a big hit. I don’t think Mr H had ever eaten peanut better until he met me but some 20 years later, while his obsession with the stuff isn’t quite as big as mine, he does still love it! These are a tasty treat and packed with healthy fats, protein and vitamins. Enjoy Ingredients For the biscuit base ½ cup Arbonne vanilla protein powder ½ cup ...

Healthy Homemade Hazelnut Spread - Vegan, gluten free

When I first posted the negative side of the kids favourite spread Nutella I had mums clamouring for me to devise an alternative recipe. Well months later,and tasting after tasting I can honestly say I have cracked it (excuse the pun!). My own daughter has been the guinea pig for my batch testing and when I gave her the jar with a spoonful of this on it she beamed and exclaimed – mummy you’ve ...

Hazelnut Truffles - Vegan, gluten free and raw

These Vegan, Gluten Free, and Raw Hazelnut Truffles first fell into my lap when I was surfing Instagram and my friend Patrycja from the blissful plate had just posted a batch she’d made earlier that day. They looked so delicious that I just had to get busy and start making them. Having been cutting back on my sugar for nearly 4 years I had a play with the quantities as I no longer have the sweet ...

Chocolate banana bread

Inspired by a friend’s chocolate banana bread she posted on FaceBook recently I have created my own vegan, gluten and refined sugar free version which pulls together inspiration from a couple of recipes I’ve been playing with over the last few months. If you’re anything like us, you’ll always have the odd over ripe banana in the fruit bowl. I freeze them into chunks and add them to cakes like ...

Ali's Lemon and Poppy Seed Protein Biscuits

I was off to a business network yesterday and wanted to take a sweet treat which was almost sugar free to show just how delicious eating sugar free can be. I’ve been eating what I call ‘clean’ – mostly plant based and wholefoods - for almost 4 years and it has quite literally changed my life. I no longer have the debilitating headaches I used to suffer with, my brain fog and lethargy have lifted ...

Hot Chocolate Oats

You ’ ve probably all worked out that we all love oats in this house. Being gluten intolerant I ’ ve found it important to create interesting breakfasts to keep me away from pining for toaste and crappy cereal. This month has been all about oats as it ’ s cold on a Saturday morning when Miss H takes to the rowing lake and getting something warm inside her (and me if I ’ m using the time she ’ s ...

Ali's Almond Joy Energy Balls

You know how it is. You have a favourite recipe that you make week in and week out for months and then something changes and you forget all about it. Well that’s what happened to these delicious energy balls. I simply stopped making them – no idea why as I love them, I’d just forgotten all about them. I remembered them this morning and cooked up a batch (technically there’s no real cooking ...

Chilli and rosemary seedy crackers (Vegan)

We love these tasty seedy crackers straight from the tin but they are equally nice with a spicy topping. You can experiment with the flavours but I’ve found the sweetness of the molasses and the fiery nature of the chilli work really well. Ingredients 125g quinoa flakes 50ml rapeseed oil 250g pumpkin seeds 130g sunflower seeds 50g linseeds 3-4 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary ¼ tsp salt 1 – 4 ...

Vegan Chickpea Wraps

Vegan Chickpea Wraps These versatile Chickpea wraps are perfect as an accompaniment to curries or stews but work equally well as a salad wrap or with fajitas. I got the inspiration from the wraps they make on the Italian coast of Liguria. Here they are cooked on a super hot griddle often to great proportions and cut into triangles to serve along side fresh fish and salads. They are delicious on ...

Three Classic Overnight Oats Recipes for a Winter Treat

I’ve been experimenting with overnight oats for a while but I think it’s important to get the flavours right and add some texture too or all you end up with is a mushy goo. If that’s been your experience too, give these three delicious flavours a try – they have become staples in our household. The brilliant things about Overnight Oats is that they’re so easy to make, all you need to do is throw ...

Ali's Favourite Mixed Vegetable Soup

What do you do with all those unused root vegetables at the end of the week? My favourite option is to turn them into nutritious soup. This is one of my favourites. You can add pretty much anything you have to hand but I have a tied and tested recipe which seems to work well with a few tweaks here and there is we have a glut of spinach or chard etc Give it a go and let me know your favourite ...

Ali’s Super Green Juice

I love a green juice mid-morning or mid-afternoon if I’m feeling like I need a break in the office or am just back from a dog walk. They seem to pick me up and provide a spring to my step. All that green goodness is a real energy boost. Although I’ve added so many greens I like to get a scoop of the Arbonne Greens Balance in there too as it has a broad spectrum of fruits and veg in it so you’re ...

Roast pumpkin seeds with fennel and chilli

It’s that time of year. I am scanning the US sites with envy as I see all the amazing halloween displays and goodies to buy. Here in the UK we’ve a little late to join the Halloween party but I’ve been carving pumpkins for years and love the buzz of trick or treating on a cold October night, though I do struggle to give trick or treaters all that sugar as I see it as the enemy on so many levels. ...

Ali’s Beetroot Hummus

I love beetroot but no one else in the Hutchinson house will touch it. I’ve tried adding it to smoothies, chocolate brownies, soups but they still detect it so I’ve now given up and have to eat a whole bunch to myself. Shame! This beetroot hummus recipe came out of necessity. I had cooked some beetroot that had arrived in our organic box but had far more than I needed so was wondering what to do ...

Ali's chia puddings

I love Chia Pudding. It’s amazing how it soaks up liquid to become a gloopy, sticky mess. You need to get the consistency right or it can be a bit frogspawn-ish! So do experiment. Chia seeds are super hydrating, and are bursting with four times more iron than spinach! You can add any fruits that are in season to create a breakfast bowl or supper dessert. I like to add coconut flakes and seeds and ...

Ali’s Superfood Protein Bars

I love a refined sugar free protein bar that is also gluten free and these are just one of my best inventions. Not only are they packed with protein and super foods but they are super tasty – they’ll keep for a week in an airtight container (if you’re lucky) – they never last that long in our house! Give them a try and let me know what you think. Ingredients ½ cup quinoa flakes ½ cup gluten free ...

Ali’s super soulfood pancakes

Pancakes always give a breakfast the feeling of having a treat but now you can feel good about it too. Packed with energy, these chia and flaxseed super soulfood pancakes really pack a punch. They are filled with healthy omega 3, fibre and protein. It’s quite literally rocket fuel for a plantpowered diet. Ingredients For the flaxseed egg 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed 6 tablespoons filtered water ...

Vegetable and Chickpea Tagine with herby Quinoa

Ingredients 2 tbsp coconut oil 2 onions, chopped ½ tsp each ground cinnamon, coriander and cumin 2 large courgettes, cut into chunks about 2cm 2 large tomatoes chopped ·400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 4 tbsp raisins 425ml vegetable stock 300g frozen peas chopped coriander, to serve For quinoa 100g quinoa 300ml hot vegetable tock Handful of fresh herbs chopped - i love to use corriander, ...

Healthy Breakfasts On the Go

When Breakfast needs to be ‘on the go’ these are my 'go to' Jars! Sometimes there simply isn’t time to sit down with the family for breakfast and that’s when a healthy wholefoods diet is key to success, well it is for me anyway. I can simply mix a quick and nutritious shake and drink it on the go. But how about when you need more than that? That’s when my latest invention is perfect. The ...

Want to eat a more Plant based diet?

Want to eat a more Plant based diet? Here’s a few great ways to start. Plant-based foods are becoming more and more popular in people's diets today. More and more individuals are looking for ways they can include aspects of the plant-based lifestyle in their own everyday lives, even if they don’t want to go completely vegan. This is certainly true for me and my family. I eat a pretty much vegan ...

Vegan, gluten free protein boosted Black Bean Chilli

This vegan chilli is gluten free and packed full of protein! As a family we make an effort to eat vegan two or three days a week but with a very sporty teenager in the house I like to know we’re keeping up with our protein intake too. When I was vegetarian in my early 20s and 30s I had such a low protein diet that over time I became quite ill. I was living on carbohydrates and sugar and it really ...

Healthy snack ideas to keep you satisfied

Easy to make nutritious snacks ideas to keep your healthy eating on track! One of the things that has kept me on track with my new ‘healthy’ way of eating is to have plenty of healthy snacks at the ready when I feel the munchies coming on. I always concentrate on the things I can eat rather than fixating about the things I can’t. There are far more positives to eating a healthy wholefoods diet ...

Christmas treats – the healthy version

It’s sometimes really difficult to be good and stay off the wheat and sugar at this time of year. Having a few healthy treats in the fridge or cupboard for when the munchies strike or to divert your focus when the Quality Street start to circulate will help. Here’s a few of my favourites: Ali’s Coconut Lemon Meltaway Snowballs I love having tiny treats available for when the munchies strike and ...

Butternut Squash Curry with Cauliflower Rice

This is my go to recipe when I have a Vegan friend coming for ‘kitchen table’ supper. That makes me sound really posh, as if we had supper at a different table to the kitchen table quite often. We don’t. We used to have a separate dining room but, to be honest, it rarely got used to dining and when it did I felt the pressure to put on a four course spread with fancy napkins and all the trimmings ...

Carrot, Coriander and Red Lentil Soup

I love soup and it’s a super filling soup for the coldest of days. Lentils are really healthy and a great source of protein so I often add them to salad, soups and make them into pates. The soup is especially good if you’re not much of a cook or just want something really quick and simple but that tastes delicious too. Ingredients: 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1kg carrots peeled and chopped 120g red ...