Apple Blueberry Protein Bars

Hey, it's Jess today!

So, in another attempt at this whole lose fat/gain muscle thing, I've started another diet. I'm on day 6 of it now and haven't yet failed - yay! This time, I'm following the LiveFit Trainer plan, created by Jamie Eason. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-introduction.html Just look at her, and you'll see why this seems like a good idea. Sadly, I am going to have to start the plan again exercise wise as my back and knee have been giving me grief all week so I've had to rest early, so I will start again. But the basis of this plan as far as food goes is to eat clean, high-protein meals every 2-3 hours. Meals generally consist of a decent sized portion of lean protein, a restricted portion of clean carbs (think brown rice, sweet potato, quinoa...it does allow certain types of pitta bread etc. but we're keeping this gluten free too), and unlimited vegetables as long as they're grilled, boiled or steamed (OK, I kind of failed, I fried my broccoli last night because I couldn't face it boiled again). Oh, and you're meant to consume 10 egg whites a day. Which I am not, because that would involve spending £60+ a month on eggs which isn't feasible on my stipend. But anyway, I am trying. And clean eating feels good, I haven't been bloated for six whole days or felt guilty about anything I've put past my lips, which is always a good start :)

So one of the small meal options on this plan is homemade protein bars. A recipe for carrot cake bars is provided, as well as chocolate, lemon and pumpkin flavours, but all the recipes include sweeteners such as Stevia or Ideal, which I am really not a fan of using. So I adjusted the recipes to suit what i want to use, and went for apple blueberry flavour.

Makes 8 servings:

1 cup oat bran
2 scoops vanilla whey protein
4 egg whites
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking powder
125g blueberries (1/2 mashed, 1/2 whole)
1 apple, grated
1 tbsp milled flaxseed (optional)
2 tsp chia seeds (optional)
1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
50g flaked almonds (optional)

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine egg whites, mashed blueberries, grated apple and a tbsp or two of water. Mix two bowls. Pour into pyrex dish and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180C.

Simple enough. Divided into eight portions, one bar provides 141 calories, 12g carbs, 11g protein and 7g fat. All the ingredients are approved for livefit, I just edited the original recipes by leaving out the unnatural sweeteners and using blueberries instead. And I added flax and chia seeds to add some omega fats and fibre, and the almonds make them a little denser and add some protein. These could easily be left out though. Mine turned out great though and will definitely be having them as small meal/snack options throughout the day.

(Sorry, I don't know how to make this vegan, when on a diet that requires you to consume 10 egg whites a day veganism isn't something I can really think about :( )

Vegan, Gluten Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake

Jess again today!

So, it was Tom's birthday earlier in January. Any UoM students will know this makes him incredibly unlucky as his birthday falls approximately a week before the start of the January exam period. Booooo. Therefore, we postponed his birthday celebration to this weekend, and we are going to Dough for pizza (the most amazing place in the world for the gluten free and vegan people of Manchester). And I have made him a birthday cake. A vegan, gluten free, chocolate cake, with peanut butter frosting. Everything Tom loves, in a cake.

I spent a very long time looking for a good recipe for this. So many GFV recipes contain a ridiculous number of ingredients that would cost me a month's wages to buy, I was starting to get disheartened. I came across a really easy recipe but decided it looked too easy. Basically, I was really picky. And then I found this http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2013/01/peanut-butter-chocolate-vegan-cupcakes.html and knew it was the one. I just tweaked it a little to make it gluten free (and I made a big cake, not cupcakes).

Ingredients
1 cup gluten free flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup vegan butter, melted (I used sunflower spread)
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used praline rice milk because it sounded nice and I lose all sense of cost in the Eighth Day veggie shop on Oxford Road, but soy milk or almond milk would work just as well)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp golden syrup
1/3 cup hot water with 1 tsp Chia seeds (flaxseed would work the same)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4tsp apple cider vinegar (I don't know how to measure this exactly, I probably used more like 3/4 tsp but whatever, I don't think it made a difference!)
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup blended fruit
Optional - handful dark chocolate chips, cacao nibs

Now where I say blended fruit, I used a whole mashed banana with a handful of mashed blueberries. The original recipe used blackberries, and suggests that any mashable fruit would work - strawberries, other berries, banana, apple...but I decided banana would go best (and I trusted it best) and just threw a few blueberries in for fun. I'd like to try this with blackberries or raspberries, I'll let you know if I do! Also, the original recipe used 1+1/2 cups all purpose white flour, but I substituted 1/2 cup ground almonds in because I think they give a nicer texture in gluten free baking. And the original recipe used just a cup of sugar, but in my experience a bit of golden syrup makes gluten free baking a bit more moist so I tried this.

Heat oven to 190C. First, blend the fruit and add the milk. You could use a food processor but I just did it in a cup by hand. Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl, sifted. Add the blended fruit, melted butter, seed slurry and other ingredients and mix together. Again, I just folded it all in together. At this point I added a handful of dark chocolate chips and a sprinkling of cacao nibs. This isn't needed but I wanted to make it a bit more decadent since it's Tom's birthday. Fold together, pour in your chosen baking tin and bake. Mine took about 30 minutes, but keep checking and go by your oven (if a fork comes out clean, it's done...). Cake done.

Cake mix is luckily not that great licked from the bowl...

 Yes, all my chocolate cakes do look the same...

Peanut Butter Frosting
1/3 cup peanut butter (use whatever type you prefer, other nut butters would work too if you wish!)
1/3 cup vegan butter
2 tsp vanilla
A few splashes of non-dairy milk
1 cup icing sugar
Optional - 2 tsp maple syrup

Basically, blend it all together. Use a whisk or a fork or a spoon or a food processor, whatever you like. Add more milk if its too thick, more sugar if its too runny. Just go with whatever looks best.

What dreams are made of

To decorate the cake, i literally slathered this beautiful frosting all over it, and then added some flaked almonds around the side. Then I spelled H.B. TOM on it with these cute little vegan chocolate chips 

So, this was the final product....

And in all honesty, it was wonderful. Perfect. Glorious. Incredible. I cannot stress how important it is that you make this. Make it into cupcakes, make it into a victoria sandwich with more frosting and some jam in the middle (had i had sandwich tins, this is what I would have done), just make sure you make this. It is vegan, gluten free baking at it's finest, if I do say so myself.


Then, to celebrate Tom's birthday, we ate cake (after our Dough pizzas), dipped fruit and dark chocolate in frosting, drank prosecco and watched Coyote Ugly. He is a man, I do know this, but he embraced his inner woman this day. And I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it.

 You must do this, it is amazing.

 Please make this and please tell me how amazing it goes :)

Vegan Baked Tofu Bourbon Cheesecake

Tom today,

Before I went vegan cheesecakes were my speciality. My mum had a recipe for an oreo cookie cheesecake that once I tried I made for every family/friends dinner we had (or went too) for years. This is an attempt to relive that cheesecake using a recipe I originally made for a blueberry cheesecake. It is possibly marginally healthier than the original version, but definitely an indulgent treat. Therefore perfect for the festive season. I actually made this for christmas day at my parents house, and it went down a treat even with a new york lemon dairy cheesecake sat next to it.

Ingredients:

2 packs 200g Bourbon Creams
25g Soya Margarine
400g pack Silken Tofu
3/4 cup Soy Milk
1/2 cup Golden Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp Cornflour
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste (seriously I can't get over what a great flavour this is. Normally my cheesecakes are lemon-based but this is too perfect)

Method:

For the Base -

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Put half of the bourbons (one pack) in a ziplock bag and bash/crush with a rolling pin (or empty bottle of wine) until finely crushed.
Melt the margarine in the microwave or in a pan
Add the crushed biscuits and mix thoroughly
Press into a springform tin (one you can remove the bottom from) with the back of a spoon, don't be afraid to really squash it down.
Prick the base with a fork gently and then bake in the oven for 20 minutes
In the meantime, blend the remaining ingredients together, except for the extra bourbons
When the base is cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly
Arrange the bourbons on the base so that they fan out from the centre, this way when you cut a slice you get some cheesecake and some pieces of biscuits (this is technically optional but I'd recommend it)
Cover with the cheesecake mixture
Bake for 40 minutes until just set in the centre and browned around the edges
This shouldn't crack like a normal cheesecake and should be okay to take out of the oven now, but if you have time too then it doesn't hurt to leave it in to cool slowly
Serve with soy cream, delicious!

The only thing I would say about this recipe is you probably dont need 2 full packs of bourbons. I went a bit overkill on the extra middle ones. I realised this when I cut myself a slice either side of one of the lines, and discovered I couldn't eat any of it as tofu soaked bourbons bake into a substance that could be used to build houses. So yeah, go easy on the extra bourbons (maybe break them up a bit) and this should be a perfect recipe. If you can managed to make a second layer of biscuit in the centre I will be very impressed as I wasn't sure that would work with this recipe (it's what I would have done with the oreos).

Let us know how your cheesecakes go at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com

With much holiday spirit still going, Tom x

You can see the wall of bourbons on the right, a tad OTT...

Lemon and Coconut Chickpea Macaroons

Tom today,

Ever since going to the christmas markets (if you haven't been yet and are in manchester, GO, albert square, now) and smelling all of the wonderful things that I couldn't eat, I've had a massive craving for coconut macaroons. The smell of them cooking was enough to make my stomach tap it's watch disapprovingly to remind me it was dinner time. So, after a hard day's revision I decided that I would throw something together that vaguely resembled them, put it on the internet, then sit back and bask in the glory of my own genius. Here's what happened.

Ingredients:

1 can Chickpeas (drained and thoroughly washed)

1/2 cup Dessicated Coconut

3 tbsp Coconut Milk (I used creamed coconut in hot water)

1 tsp Baking Powder

6 tbsp Rolled Oats (This came out as roughly 75g when I measured it afterwards)

Pinch of Salt (I always use Maldon - you caught me, I'm a salt snob.)

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Juice and Zest of 1/2 a Lemon

This is another complete make-it-up-as-I-go-along recipe, but my last one went pretty well so I'm hopeful. I used this recipe to make 16 smallish cookies. These worked out to only 77 calories each, which was definitely my favourite bit!

Method:

Preheat an oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Blend the chickpeas in a mixing bowl.

Add all the dry ingredients (coconut, oats, baking powder, salt and sugar) and mix together thoroughly.

Add the vanilla bean paste, lemon (zest and juice) fold through.

Add the coconut milk, stirring gently until the mixture is the right consistency (if you don't need all the milk don't add it, and if it's a bit thick or dry then add a dash of water and mix in.

Spoon cookie-sized balls onto a lightly greased baking tray.

Cook for 15 minutes on the top shelf.

Then, just as they start to brown around the edges, squash them flat with a spoon (I was hoping they would spread like cookies but apparently I was too optimistic here)

Cook for a further 10 minutes until golden.

I am super happy with how these turned out! Only 77 calories apiece. And the smell filling the kitchen is definitely christmas-market-ey enough to satisfy my stomach. I'm starting to get into this style of cooking, however pretty soon I think I'm going to have to bake something hideous and fat filled to balance this out.

(Jess: Tom gave me one of these the day after making them and they were delicious - please try this recipe!)

As always, email any comments or photos you have to me and Jess at twocooksoneblog@gmail.com - we love to hear from you!

Enjoy

A close-up slightly-out-of-focus picture of food on a food blog!? Genius.

Nuritional Info (if made into 16)

                      Calories   Carbs     Fat     Protein     Sodium     Sugar

          Total:     1236        182       45         29             67          113

Per Serving:        77           11        3          2               4            7