Healthy, Easy, Homemade Chocolate Recipe

Here is my much anticipated chocolate recipe for you :)

The great this about this recipe is that it is EASY, and has no refined sugar or E numbers or preservatives, is lactose free and they are SO delicious!

Ingredients: (makes approx. 30 small chocolates)
1/4 cup virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup cacao powder (not cocoa) 

2 tablespoons honey (sub maple syrup to make this vegan)

Extras

Special Equipment:

1 (or 2) silicone molds

Method:

-Melt the coconut oil in a bain marie. Once melted, sift in the cacao powder & mix in honey. 

-Carefully spoon the mixture into a silicone mold. Here if you want to add any extras, feel free - a dollop of peanut butter, a sprinkle of sea salt, you could add coarsely chopped almonds...the world is your oyster!

-Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes until fully set.

-Gently remove the chocolate from the mold when they are set, store in an airtight container in the fridge. 

IMPORTANT! Make sure no water (not even a drop) enters the mixture as it will change the texture. Make sure the bowl & any utensils you use are completely dry, and the silicone mold too. 

ENJOY!

Yummy Granola Bars Recipe

A recipe for DELICIOUS, healthy, and super easy to make granola bars. No added sugar, or any other nasties just lots of super whole foods!  A perfect on-the-go snack. Enjoy!

Makes 24 bars

Ingredients**

• 1.5 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 medium/large bananas)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups rolled oats (use gluten-free if needed)
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped 
• 1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

**YOU have total freedom to be a little creative with this - don't like almonds? use walnuts, pecans or pistachios. Don't have dried apricots? Use raisins, dried cherries, dates or figs. You get the idea :-)

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 180C. Line a large oven proof tray with a piece of baking paper so the bars are easier to lift out.
2. In a large bowl, mash the banana until smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
3. Place the rolled oats into a food processor (or blender on the lowest speed) and pulse until the oats are coarsely chopped (but still with lots of texture). Stir oats into the banana mixture.
4. Chop (I used my magimix, but do not use a weak food procesor for the nuts) the almonds and apricots and stir these and the rest of the ingredients (seeds, coconut & cinnamon) into the banana-oat mixture until thoroughly combined.
5. You're almost done! Spread mixture out onto the prepared tray. Press down until compacted and smooth out until even. 
6. Bake for 23-27 minutes (I baked for 25 mins.) until firm and lightly golden along the edge. Once ready, bring the tray out and leave to cool for a few minutes then carefully  lift out the whole granola slab with the baking paper. Place granola slab on a cooling rack for 20 minutes.
7. Slice into bars once they are cool and enjoy!

Feel free to leave a comment if you like them!

Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows!

Carrot "pasta" with a zing: Easy peasy and Yummy!

After the last few weeks of over indulgence in just about everything I'm feeling rather heavy & dull so I will be starting a 3 day Cold Pressed Juicery Cleanse with the aim to energize my body back up and feel good again!

Before doing any cleanse it is important to prepare your body for a few days before, this means having a few early nights & avoiding meat, processed foods such as bread & pasta, gluten, dairy, processed sugar, saturated fats, alcohol & caffeine for at least 2 days before the cleanse. 

This time around, not eating traditional pasta forced me to come up with another option - Carrot "pasta" with a zing, it's super easy, delicious & very nutritious:

Ingredients 

serves 2 hungry pre-cleansers

8 carrots

2 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons tamari sauce

2 teaspoons grated ginger

2 small garlic cloves grated

a handful of parsely

a handful of seeds (I used pine nuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds & sunflower seeds)

Chilli flakes optional!

Method:

Peel the carrots and then spiralize (or just grate) your carrots into a big bowl.

Mix the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, ginger & garlic together in a smaller bowl. 

Pour the sauce over the carrots and mix well.

Top with chopped parsley and seeds and chilli flakes if using.

 

Bon appetite!

P.S. If you like this, you may also like my Zoodle Pad Thai recipe :-)

Healthy Christmas Gift Guide!

Of course, we never want to be materialistic, but at this time of year, sometimes it is nice to give a gift. . . and if you're going to give a gift why not make it a healthy gift!

 

For the runner:

A pair of RUNDERWEAR, the lucky wonder pants for runners!

 

For the person who runs from the gym out for a drink:

A BIG, beautiful, warm & cozy wrap or cape to snuggle up in post exercise (and at any time of the day!). I love this Carla Grima wrap, which also ticks the box of being locally made and supporting a small Maltese business!  Zara also have some beautiful, big & cozy wraps. 

For the cook:

- Amelia Freer's book "Eat, Nourish, Glow", an easy-to-understand guide to nutrition with some great recipes.

-Ella Woodward's "Deliciously Ella" cookbook

- A spiralizer (so they can make my Zucchini Phad Thai ;-) )

- A nutribullet, I use mine to make my own almond milk every morning and it is SO simple and has absolutely no chemicals added unlike many store bought almond milks. Also great for making smoothies. 

- A bottle of exquisite olive oil such as Barbuto.

For the yogi in your life:

- a good quality yoga mat (available from LahLah Yoga for €30)

- treat your loved yogi to a membership for unlimited  yoga classes (LahLah Yoga has 1 month, 3 month & 6 month options available) email lisa@lahlahyoga.com for more details. 

- some beautiful yoga wear, I currently LOVE the upside, Teeki & LuluLemon. If you're on a budget TK MAXX normally have some good bargains :-)

For someone who needs a bit of pampering:

- a massage or reiki session with Butterfly Therapies, every time I leave a session with Cat I am floating! Treat yourself or get a voucher for a friend.

- some wonderful, home-made, natural and sustainably made in Malta beauty products  from the Soap Cafe. 

-a luxurious scented candle (secret: although they can be considered a 'boring' gift, most girls love receiving a luxurious scented candle - it's the sort of thing you wouldn't splash out for on yourself but a great gift to receive!)

- a voucher for a private yoga consultation & class, for someone who would prefer to try yoga in the comfort and privacy of their own home. This is perfect for anyone, young or old, flexible or stiff so why not introduce or encourage someone you love to start a healthier lifestyle. 

 

Secret Santa Ideas:

- A beautiful, locally made Carla Grima headband €15

- A voucher for one LahLah Yoga Class €10

- A super duper personalised MAKK creation (price dependent on product!) supporting another small Maltese company too.

- A picture of a fun memory framed with a quote

- Not On The Highstreet has great gift inspiration too, and has a section just for secret santa/stocking fillers too!

Male Pampering:

-why not send him for an old fashioned shave and facial at Antonio's Barber Shop & Gentleman's Quarters

-the Soap Cafe also have a great old fashioned shaving kit. 

 

Although giving gifts is great and it is nice to buy thoughtful gifts for others, remember that there is so much more that one can give all throughout the year than a gift on one day a year. If we all gave more love throughout the year, the world would be a much happier, peaceful place :-)

Happy Christmas

xx

Be kind to your wrists & shoulders sun salutation :-)

I've had a slight injury to my wrist recently which has made sun salutations and vinyasas a no-go for a while. After a week of a very, very gentle practice my body was raring to step it up a bit again, but my wrist not so much, so I came up with this 'Kind for your wrists & shoulders' sun salutation.  

Hope this is useful, and whenever your wrists & shoulders seem a bit tired, listen to your body, give them a break and integrate this into your practice instead for a few days :-)

Namaste!

LahLah's Zoodle Pad Thai

Zoodle (zucchini noodle) Pad Thai

If you've never tried a zoodle pad thai then you are missing out because, oh boy is it good! It's also conveniently healthy too ;-) 

I couldn't find a recipe I was happy with online, so I have been experimenting and am finally happy with the results!

The ingredients & recipe might look long, but it really is super simple to make and a lot of the ingredients are cupboard ingredients that you may already have, or will need to buy once and they will be there each time you make this (I'm sure you'll make it more than once, it's that yummy & easy to make!).

Ingredients: (feeds two hungry yogis)

Store Cupboard Ingredients:

• 2 tsp tamarind paste

• 3tbs fish sauce 

• a handful of dry roasted, unsalted peanuts

• a pinch of dried chilli flakes

• a pinch of rock salt

• a few good splashes of sesame oil

Fresh Ingredients:

• 4 x zucchini (you will also need a spiralizer. I use this one. If you don't have one you could grate the zucchini on a large hole grater. same same, but different!)

• 1 x red pepper (or your preferred colour of pepper!)

• 1/2 a turnip (optional)

• 3 x spring onions

• 2 x red chilli

• a big handful of mange tout

• a big handful of coriander 

• 1 x lime

• 2 x big garlic cloves (or 3 small)

• a small piece of ginger

• and any other veg you fancy - I would add beansprouts too but I can never find them in Malta!

Method

• Finely chop your spring onions, red chilli and place to one side in a bowl together. Slice your mange tout into thirds and add to this bowl.  Roughly chop your corriander and set aside

•  Make your dressing: crush (or very finely chop) your garlic, grate your ginger and add the tamarind paste, fish sauce and the juice from half the lime to this and mix. 

• Crush the handful of peanuts and a pinch of dried chilli flakes and rock salt in a pestle & mortar until the peanuts become big crumbs. Set aside.

•  Sprialize your zucchini to make your zoodles. I use this very simple spiralizer.

•  Finely slice (julienne them if you want to be fancy) your pepper and 1/2 the turnip (if using). 

• Heat a BIG frying pan or wok on high heat with a few splashes of sesame oil, when it's heated add the zoodles, pepper and turnip to the pan. Lightly coat all in the sesame oil and fry for a few minutes. Don't cook the veg too much, just so it is heated through -approx 4 minutes. 

• Take the zoodle mix off the heat, mix in the spring onions, chilli & mange tout. Add your dressing and mix well. Plate your zoodles and then add some chopped coriander and a sprinkle of your peanut chilli crumbs to the top. Serve with a wedge of lime & extra chilli flakes if you like it hot!

The perfect blend of taste, crunch, spice, yumminess & health!

Enjoy & please feel free to comment if you like it or if you find any delicious variations! Find nourishing retreats on bookretreats.com x x xxx

Souper Summer Soup!

Just because it's summer doesn't mean it has to be the end of soups till the cold starts creeping in again!

Here's a souper easy & light summer soup I've been making recently:

Pea & Pesto Soup

serves 2 hungry soupers

Ingredients:

• 750 ml water
• 375 grams frozen peas
• 1 red onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• a squeeze of lime juice
• 4 tablespoons fresh pesto (for this you will need a big bunch of basil, 2 cloves of garlic, some pinenuts, olive oil and optional parmesan cheese. If you are feeling lazy you can buy the ready made FRESH pesto too, but making it yourself is SO much better :-) ) 
• chill flakes (optional)
• soft ricotta cheese (optional)

Method

Heat a deep pan with some olive oil and add in the red onions to soften them.

Meanwhile fill a kettle and put it on to boil. When it's boiled, & the onions have softened (about 5 mins) measure the amount of water you need and add it into the pan with the onions.

Add the frozen peas, salt and lime juice to the pan and let everything bubble together for 7 minutes.

In the meantime, if you are making your fresh pesto gather all the ingredients (basil, garlic cloves, pinenuts, olive oil and parmesan (optional)) and whizz them all together in a blender & voila you have pesto! It's much nicer and SO easy to make your own then to buy the processed stuff!

Once the 7 minutes have passed, check that the peas are cooked through. If they are ready you can blitz the peas and their liquid together either in a blender or use a stick blender in the pan.

Ladel the souper soup into bowls, putting two table spoons of pesto on top of each portion. I like to also add some chilli flakes and a dollop of soft ricotta cheese into my soup but this is optional.

Bon Appetito! 

This recipe is the LahLah adaptation of a Nigella classic.