the quickest, most delicious dinner you will ever make.

It's getting to that time in the semester - the end is in sight, your stress level is through the roof and you don't have time to make something elaborate.   You want something fresh, simple and that will take that five minutes you have spare to smash something delicious together... enter your new superhero!  The lettuce leaf tempeh taco!

You will need:
1 big Cos Lettuce
2-3 Tomatoes of your choice
1 large ripe Hass Avocado
1 block of seasoned Tempeh (splash out and grab a good one such as Tallyho Farms Biodynamic Tempeh)
Hommus
Dried Chilli
Bit of Coconut Oil

Cut up tempeh into slices approximately 1cm thick and throw into a pan with the coconut oil over a medium- high heat,  they will cook whilst you prepare your other ingredients so keep an eye on them and give them a shake once in a while.

Wash lettuce and cut into large squares.  lay them flat on plates and squash some avo into the middle of each one.  Slice up tomato and put a couple of slices into each lettuce "taco" on top of the avo.  spread a bit of hommus on top of the tomato and spinkle some chilli flakes.

Next, take your sliced tempeh from the frypan and put a few bits on top of the hommus. 

Wrap up each lettuce leaf and eat - whilst reviewing your lecture notes.

gluten free pear and dark chocolate crumble.

Crumble of any sort is very popular in my house. I love stewed fruit and my boyfriend thinks that the crumble-y topping is pretty much the best thing ever.  I've recently started converting all of our favourite sweet treats to a healthier, gluten free option.  It's worked well sometimes, and... not so well others.  There's been a lot of rock cupcakes, but things are improving.
About a month or so ago, I went to my pal Sarah's house for dinner.  She had recently gone gluten free and I said I'd make a desert - Sarah loves apple crumble, so I said I'd make it happen.  It happened alright, it happened in a most amazing way.  This time I've modified the recipe again to include Buerre Bosc Pears (in season right now!) and to jazz it up a bit, dark chocolate. I'm also pretty obsessed with including seeds in my baking at the moment, so I've added some seeds to the topping to healthy it up a bit!


8 Buerre Bosc Pears
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 block (i know! you can use as little or as much as you like, think of the antioxidants!) of lindt dark chocolate


1 cup quinoa flakes
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat four
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
3 tablespoon rice milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
pinch teaspoon salt
handful of sesame seeds
handful of pepitas/pumpkin seeds


Directions
Preheat oven to about 180C

Chop up pears,  I like it a bit chunky but whatever suits you. Dissolve the arrowroot in water and set aside.  Place pears in a baking dish of your choice and add the sugar and spice, mix it all in and pour the arrowroot mix over the top. After you have done this, smash up the chocolate and place all over the top. It should look a bit like this:

Pretty impressive huh?  To prepare the topping, in a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add oil, rice milk, and vanilla.  I like to use my hands here to really combine the wet and dry ingredients, you might also need a little more coconut oil.  I like to use coconut oil for two reasons, the first being that I like the subtle coconut taste it adds to my baking.  Secondly,  it's stable at high temperatures, which means it won't oxidize and become a nasty oil.

 Crumble topping over the apples, and sprinkle sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds over the top.

Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

good morning sailor!

As are most people, when it comes to breakfast I am a creature of habit.  I like something to be super tasty and filling.  I'm not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination so it has to be easy. Museli fits all of the criteria for me, but most commercial cereals either have a bucket of sugar per serving, have been processed to within an inch of their life or contain honey (which, is a grey area for vegans - i avoid it).

 Enter Loving Earth's Raw Activated Deluxe Buckini's.  The activated buckwheat (which actually isn't a wheat at all!) is caramelized with agave, cinnamon and mesquite is mixed in with a whole bunch of superfoods such as goji berries, chia seeds, activated pepitas, and activated nuts. delicious!

It covers my morning sugar requirements without being too sweet and keeps me full until my mid morning snack. Here is my breakfast this morning.  I added bonsoy, organic strawberries and an organic banana. I've been enjoying this so much that I am excited to get out of bed and get to the kitchen so I can eat this!

I should also mention that this product is vegan, gluten free and low GI.