chia and goji toasted muesli

It's a bit of a rainy drizzly day today, so I decided that after the house work, some time in the kitchen was called for.

I wanted to make something that would jazz up my breakfasts a bit, as these days I've just fallen into the pattern of fruit and yogurt to start my day. Toasted muesli is exactly the addition that I'm in need of.

Packed with omega-3's in the chia, antioxidants in the goji and wholegrain's in the oats - this will do my growing baby bump a whole lot of good. Not to mention tastes amazing!

Ingredients

1/4 c organic honey

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 c rolled oats

1/4 c chia seeds

1/2 c goji berries

Method

Melt honey and coconut oil in a small saucepan on the stove.

Once melted, remove from stove and stir in all other ingredients.

Spread on to a parchment lined tray and bake for 20 minutes at 100 C, door slightly ajar.

Keep your eye on it, tossing every 5 minutes or so.

Remove from oven and cool completely before crumbling the mixture.

Store in an airtight container up to a week or two.

rustic protein bars: vegan

We’re off to the snow this weekend for a small taster before our big week on the slopes in August.

Our snow gear has been in storage for 2 years as we missed last year’s season and the one before we were overseas. Digging out our gear was fun, it felt like Christmas again. I was constantly saying ‘Oh, I’d forgotten I had that!’. We hung our jackets and pants on the stairs to get some air, but it only made us more impatient to be at the snow.

So, we’re excited.

Joel is a snow boarder, but I’m a skier from way back. It’s always fun to tease each other on the slopes, as we’ve got totally different styles.

In the mad rush of getting everything together, I wanted to make a healthy and cheap energy hit that we could just take with us on the hill.

Because of the busyness I didn’t spend too long on the pretty-ness of these bars, so they really have that ‘rustic’ look.

I know they look rough, BUT, they are ever so yum and will do the trick for our protein and energy hits.

Ingredients

(makes 16)

Dry

1 c rolled oats

2 c popped amaranth

½ c coconut flakes

¼ c protein powder (I’ve used hemp seed protein)

½ c dried/dehydrated fruit (I recently dehydrated some fresh cranberries and gooseberries – took 12 hours)

¼ c pine nuts

Wet

¼ c agave syrup

¼ c unhulled tahini

2 tblsp coconut butter

½ c water

Heat oven to 130 C and line a loaf/slice tin with baking paper.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Heat the wet ingredients in a small pot over the stove until tahini is well integrated.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir well to combine.

Spoon mixture into the lined tray and press mixture firmly down.

Place in oven and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

Cool completely before slicing.

Can store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or freeze pulling them out as required.