3 Instagram Food Heroes #2

It's that time again to shine the spotlight on three food-based Instagram accounts I've been drooling over recently. Check them out and see more of this deliciousness in all its glory.

Top With Cinnamon

Izy Hossack's beautifully curated feed features (amongst others) more oat-based goodies than you can shake a stick at and me-oh-my, I want to at all of it. Now. Warming baked oatmeals, granola bars and tasty cake, this is a place for proper, considered food with a clean slant, from a food science and nutrition perspective. Check out Izy's equally beautiful website for a shed loads of recipes - her Flourless Browned Butter Brownies are top of my to make list at the moment. Yum. (Also need that avo t-shirt immediately #avo4lyf)

Local Milk

This is well photographed food porn at its finest. Stylist and photographer Beth Kirby's feed is damn good-looking. You won't just find well shot and filtered photos here, you'll find a whole host of lifestyle stuff that is a visual treat. She makes the simplest of foods look exciting and I guarantee you'll get lost in the beauty of images (I definitely lost a good couple of hours trawling through her images the first time round). Enjoy.


Medicinal Kitchen

Where to start with my love for this feed. It started with stumbling across Emma's Genetic Supplements based recipes, as I'm a huge fan of the brand. I delved a bit deeper and found Emma's story, and what a story it is. Coming from a background of ill health, Emma has become a specialist in nutrition and health, and all of her recipes are all multi-allergy friendly (from an allergy kid POV, this is frickin' awesome). She's also recently overcome breast cancer too and is championing being body positive post-op (those fitness competition shots though - I can't helped but feel overwhelmed with admiration and respect). Seriously, go and check out her feed (and her site) - you'll not only feel truly inspired by her journey but come away with a bank of recipes to improve your health to boot.

Who have you been loving on Instagram recently? Who should I be checking out? 

Cacao and Coconut Energy Bites

Picture the scene. It's around mid-afternoon, so naturally time for a big cup of something hot to keep you going for the last couple of hours of the working day. If you, like me, need a bit of sweetness with that 3pm cup of tea, I've got just the thing to stop you reaching for the custard creams.

These energy bites contain natural sweetness from organic dates and are packed with the supplement I've been having a total love-in with recently; maca powder. I can't stress enough the benefits of this malty goodness. It can reduce stress levels, regulate blood sugar levels, increase stamina and makes sure your hormones are in check.

I've adapted these from a recipe over on Laura's ever inspirational site, Wholeheartedly Healthy, but added some raw cacao powder into the mix for an extra bit of afternoon indulgence.

Paleo Sweet Potato Bread

As part of my gluten-free, dairy-free, caffeine-free (fun-free?) diet, I've been experimenting with exciting and just-as-good-as substitutes for some everyday favourites.

We all love bread, right? So if bread doesn't like you, then this could be just the thing. Enter Paleo Sweet Potato Bread. Ground almonds? Good. Eggs? Good. Sweet potatoes? Gooood. This is based on food babe Madeleine Shaw's version, but with a couple of tweaks for a bit of a twist.

This bread is very light and almost soufflé-esque in consistency and manages to feel luxurious and super filling at the same time. All of the bready satisfaction with none of the bloat. And it's paleo and gluten-free to boot. Score.

This recipe calls for steamed sweet potatoes but I actually used some that we chucked on the barbecue over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend and the flesh had such a lovely smokey quality to it that I knew it would add a fantastic richness to the bread.

A fuss-free recipe, all you literally need to do is to whack everything together in a food processor, pop it in the oven and 1.5 hours later, you a have some lovely, light and airy loaf.

What you'll need:

• 400g steamed and pureed sweet potatoes (or use barbecued like I did)
• 300g ground almonds (I used a mixture of dried and leftover pulp from homemade almond milk)
• 4 free range eggs
• Pinch of Himalayan pink sea salt
• 50g coconut oil, softened
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

1. Whizz together the sweet potato puree, eggs and oil in a food processor.
2. Add in the ground almonds, baking powder and salt and mix until until thoroughly combined.
3. Line a loaf tin with baking parchment and pour in the potato mixture, topping with the pumpkin seeds.
4. Bake for between 1 hour 15 mins - 1 hour 30 mins.
5. When golden brown, remove from the oven and leave for an hour to cool before slicing.

A perfect loaf, packed full of goodness.

I'm always on the look for healthier versions of everyday staples, so hit me up with your favourite recipes.

Energising Blueberry & Cacao Smoothie

Easter. It happened. We ate too much chocolate and indulged in a bit too much Bank Holiday booze in the sunshine. 

To get back on track after all of the treats, I whipped up this smoothie following a run along the coast. Packed with rich cacao, you still get a lovely post-Easter chocolatey hit without the guilt, and the addition of the maca and and bee pollen, both of which are full of vitamin B and energy enhancing properties, this super smoothie is the perfect way to get you back into the swing of your healthy eating.

Energising Blueberry & Cacao Smoothie

Makes 2 small glasses

• 100ml homemade cashew milk (method coming soon)
• 1 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 1 tbsp Sunwarrior Protein powder
• 1 tsp maca powder
• 100g frozen blueberries
• 50ml chilled filtered water
• 1 tsp local bee pollen

All you need to do is whizz all of the ingredients, reserving the bee pollen, together in a blender. Pour into a glass, top with the bee pollen and there you have it. Use local bee pollen wherever possible, as this is greater for tackling hayfever symptoms and boosting the immune system.

How are you rebooting after an indulgent Easter weekend?

Recipe: Baked Eggs with Chorizo

I can't get enough of baked eggs at the moment. After a bit of a heavy night at a wedding last weekend, gooey, baked eggs were only thing to sort out our hungover heads.

As we both thought they were so damn good, they were top of the request list for Bank Holiday Sunday brunch this weekend. And to boot? They ain't too bad for you.

Just to make them a bit more special this weekend, I added the Spanish flavour powerhouse that is chorizo. So, if they sound like the perfect brunch to fit the Bank Holiday bill...Get. On. This.

Baked Eggs with Chorizo (serves 2, generously)

• 1 medium white onion, chopped finely
• Quarter of a good-quality chorizo ring, diced
• 2 x 400g chopped tomatoes
• 4 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 4 eggs (I used the beautiful Old Cotsworld Legbar by Clarence Court eggs)
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes / half a fresh chilli
• Salt and pepper
• Handul of strong cheddar cheese
• Salted butter, olive oil

Method:

1. Melt a small amount of salted butter and a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan. Add your chopped onion and sweat for 5 minutes until soft.
2. Add your diced chorizo to the onion and fry until the pieces started to crisp and release their lovely paprika oil.

3. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan, stir and season. Cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes until the mixture starts to thicken.

4. Add your spinach to the tomato sauce mix and cover for 2 minutes.

5. Remove the lid and the spinach will have wilted down. Give the mixture a good stir.

6. Crack your 4 eggs into the pan (I also seasoned the eggs further here with a twist of pepper) and cover for 5-7 minutes.

7. After a few minutes, remove the lid and they will have poached/baked in the tomato mixture. 

8. For a final bit of indulgence, top the eggs with a sprinkling of cheese and let this melt down for 2 minutes.

Voila! Perfect Bank Holiday brunch, non?

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