If you’re struggling with a hormonal imbalance (signs include weight gain, hair loss, mood swings, poor sleep and fatigue) then increasing your cruciferous vegetable intake (like cauliflower and broccoli) can help. This is because they help the body to better metabolise hormones like oestrogen and bind to it in the bowel so it can be eliminated properly.

I am very sensitive to my hormones and make a real point of having lots of cruciferous vegetables – hence the creamy cauliflower soup (topped with a spinach and walnut pesto, pumpkin seeds and flaked almonds for a little something extra). Good for the body and the soul on a wintery day!

Side note: It’s obviously not winter – this post has been sitting in my drafts and I had totally forgotten it was there! Oops – sorry!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 clove roasted garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large white onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and roughly diced (parsnips also work well)
• 2 cups of milk (I used Oatly’s oat milk – Barista edition, but any will do)
• 2 cups chicken/vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper to taste

To garnish (optional)

• Olive oil to drizzle
• Fresh pesto
• Flaked almonds

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, soften the onions in a little olive oil. Add the cauliflower, potatoes, garlic, milk and stock and bring to a boil, then gently simmer for 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.
2. Using a hand blender, blend the mixture until smooth.  Taste and season accordingly, add more water/stock to thin if needed.
3. Serve, top with pesto and almonds if using, and a drizzle of olive oil.

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I’ve been pretty slack on the breakfast front lately, and have been alternating between a protein smoothie and yoghurt and granola. Both are delicious and high in protein but well, it was all getting a bit samey. Overnight oats are such a favourite of mine as I can chuck it all together the night before and breakfast is there and waiting for me in the morning. This vanilla protein overnight oats is a new addition to my repertoire but it’s definitely one I’ll be adding to the breakfast rota.

Serves 2:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oats
• 2 scoops vanilla protein powder (I use OMG! NO WHEY by Kin – a great tasting vegan protein powder)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 3 cups oat milk
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together (I use a big Tupperware container or Kilner jar), cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. In the morning, add milk/water to loosen. Top with berries/almonds/granola/whatever you fancy. That’s the beauty of overnight oats. They are just so versatile and you can mix and match depending on what you fancy!

For more overnight oat ideas see here and here!

The post Vanilla Protein Overnight Oats appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Serves 1:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1.5 cups oat milk
• Pinch of salt
• 1 scoop protein powder ( I use the OMG! NO WHEY Vanilla protein powder by Kin)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 heaped teaspoon peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon macca
• Toppings of your choice – I used pomegranate and bee pollen

Directions:

1. Cook oats with oat milk according to packet instructions and add a pinch of salt
2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and mix well (you may need to add more milk to loosen)
3. Serve in a bowl and top with whatever you fancy!

This works really well as overnight oats too!

The post Peanut Butter Protein Porridge appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Hopefully, you can forgive me with these ‘so easy to throw together you might actually be considered a proper baker’ muffins.

The husband fancied some kind of chocolate fix, and ever the diligent partner (and control freak when it comes to the kitchen) I gladly stepped in (this benefits me hugely as I know I can create something pretty good without any unnecessary sugars). The bananas provide the sweetness so no added sugar is needed (er, although they do have dark chocolate chips which makes them a teensy bit decadent, but hey, life’s about balance eh? You could substitute the dark chocolate for vegan chocolate if you wanted to. Straight out the oven with the chocolate melting and gooey peanut butter centre makes this one of my most favourite happy accidents to date. Please do give them a go and let me know you think!

Prep time: 15 mins

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Blueberry overnight oats (I know I know, I’ll take a break from them soon) is such a winner!

I stirred in protein powder in the morning and topped with passion fruit (is this not the summery-est food? So tropical and tangy). IN LOVE!

Serves 3

Ingredients:

The post Blueberry Overnight Oats appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Cookie perfection.

The pictures honestly don’t even do these justice.

I’m such a big fan of cookies and have never made them before and goodness me did these hit the spot. Is there a better combination that peanut butter and chocolate?

These have little added sugar (especially if you don’t add the agave) and are gluten free (remember the gluten free oats) and thus are totally guilt free.

Enjoy!

Makes 12 cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oat flour (regular oats blended in a blender – I used my nutribullet)
• 1 cup regular oats (I used rolled oats)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of salt (or two!)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup of peanut butter (I used Whole Earth’s crunchy peanut butter)
• 1/4 cup agave (optional – I might omit these next time as the cookies turned out slighter sweeter than expected)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled (optional)
• 1/4 cup (or more!) dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the oat flour, regular oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
2. In another bowl, stir together the vanilla extract, large egg, peanut butter and agave (if using). Add the coconut oil and butter (if using) and stir until well combined.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
4. Cover the dough tightly with cling film and chill for 30 minutes to an hour or until the dough has hardened enough to scoop out cookie balls. (If you chill longer than a day, let the dough sit out for 15 or so minutes so you are able to scoop it into balls).
5. Preheat the oven to 175 °C.
6. Line a baking try with parchment paper.  If you have one, use a cookie/ice-cream scoop (pack the mixture in the scoop very tightly or they may crumble), and scoop out balls of the dough onto your baking tray and flatten into shape (the mixture will be quite sticky – this is perfectly normal).  Press a few more chocolate chips on the tops if desired. If you don’t have a cookie/ice-cream scoop, roll the mixture into 2 inch balls using your hands and flatten into shape, placing the cookies 2″ apart.  If you use this method place the cookies tray back into the fridge for another 15-30 minutes.
7. Depending on the size of the cookies, bake for 9-12 minutes or until very lightly browned around the edges. These will look undone and be soft to the touch (the perfect time to add a few more chocolate chips to the top if you wish!) but rest assured they will harden after cooling.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to stay on the baking sheet for another 2 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.
9. Best eaten slightly warm with a glass of milk!

The post Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

The beauty of overnight oats is that there’s no exact precision when it comes to making it.  The basic rule of thumb is one part oats to one part liquid.   That aside, you can pretty much add what ever ingredients that take your fancy.

These will keep in the fridge covered for 3 days, although you may need to add some more milk to loosen it.

Serves 3

Ingredients:

The post Raspberry overnight oats appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Whenever I’m making it, I think ‘why don’t I make this more often?’. And then I remember. Making pancakes is a messy job. 5 minutes to whizz up all the ingredients. And then somehow in the making process I seem to get the batter EVERYWHERE. All over the kitchen, the walls, the surfaces, me.

No fun.

I am in awe of American families who make 10,000 of these for breakfast and make it look so easy. How do they do that? It takes me about 5000 hours hours to cook the entire lot.  If you have any tips for me please do share!

Moving on. These are my favourite pancakes to date. I used my standard recipe and added some peanut butter to the mix – DIVINE! I hope your pancake flipping skills are much better than mine.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• 1 cup gluten free oats
• 2 medium sized ripe bananas
• 2 medium eggs
• 240g cottage cheese
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• Oat milk to thin to desired consistency

Directions:

1. Blitz all the ingredients together (I used my NutriBullet)
2. Melt butter/coconut oil over a medium flame
3. Spoon two tablespoons of batter onto the pan (I use food rings to keep the pancakes contained)
4. Cook for a few minutes then flip over and cook until done.
5. Serve with whatever takes your fancy – bananas and berries work really well or some dark chocolate chips if you’re feeling fancy!

Disclaimer: That makes it sounds SO easy! Don’t be disheartened if yours end up a bit crap, or a bit burnt, or not round. I always ruin the first few until I get into a bit of a groove (yes I still ate them). The main thing is that they will still taste amazing, are full of protein, have no refined sugar and are gluten free. Winner.

The post Peanut Butter Pancakes appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Over-ripe, about to die bananas make the best banana bread, so don’t ever throw them away.  This is a doddle to make, and will make you look like quite the accomplished baker (even when you’re not – like me – hah!).

Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 50 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 ripe, medium bananas (the more the merrier I say), mashed
• 2 eggs, large
• 1/2 cup organic peanut butter (I used salted, smooth peanut butter but any would do). Almond butter would work well too
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted (can substitute for coconut oil too)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup agave/honey (optional)
• 1 cup of gluten free oats, ground (I use my nutribullet but any kind of blender/food processor will do)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of sea salt
• Handful of dark chocolate chips (optional)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 175°C (I use a fan oven)
2. Line a standard loaf pan (9 x 5 ) with baking parchment (this makes for super easy removal of the banana bread, alternatively you could oil the pan)
3. In a large bowl mix together the oats, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and sea salt
4. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, banana, peanut butter, vanilla essence, butter and agave/honey (if using)
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently stir to combine (be careful not to over mix)
6. Gently fold in the chocolate chips if using
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes or until set in the centre and a knife/tooth pick comes out clean.  It’s easy to burn this so keep an eye on it!
8. Let it cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes before moving to a wire rack to let cool completely (although this almost never happens – there is little else that makes me happier that warm banana bread with melting chocolate chips in the middle!)
9. Dig in!
10. This stores well in an airtight container for up to a week, although ours tends to get devoured way before then.

Additional notes:

This mix also works well as muffins. Instead of filling a loaf pan, divide the batter into muffin cases in a muffin tray and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife runs clear. This batter makes about 14 muffins.

The post Gluten Free Peanut Butter Banana Bread appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Curry’s are very much a part of my culture, and I’ve got to admit I much prefer vegetable based ones these days as they have so much flavour and added goodness.

Good food that tastes good too.

This dish came about rather randomly, as it’s not made in the traditional way.  I had a whole load of root vegetables that needed to be cooked, and so in the oven they went, without much thought of what I was going to do with them after. I had to make something for my 11 month old, and had some chickpeas in the larder, and thus decided to make a curry with it all.

This is the grown up version with more spice and added salt (although if you wanted to make it for the kids I usually just add a pinch of turmeric and some ground cumin for flavour).

If you can manage to wait, let the whole thing sit for a couple of hours (or even better, overnight) as it tastes even better when all the flavours have soaked in.

Ingredients:

• 2 x 400g tins of chickpeas, rinsed and drained, with any loose skins removed and discarded
• Selection of sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips and sweet red peppers, diced (2 of each will suffice)
• 1 large handful spinach, washed
• 2 large cinnamon sticks
• 1 large red onion
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 inch root ginger, minced/grated (top tip – In the supermarkets you can find frozen cubes of garlic and ginger – I always have these to hand)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons medium curry powder
• Pinch of ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder (or adjust to suit your tastes)
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin powder
• 1/4 – 1/2 litre vegetable stock (depending on whether you like your curry thick or runny – I prefer mine on the thicker side)
• 2 tablespoons chopped tomatoes (tinned or fresh)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons coconut cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (to serve)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Place the vegetables on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast for 30-40 minutes or until tender (watch they don’t burn!)
3. Whilst the vegetables are roasting, heat a little olive oil in a medium saucepan over a low/medium heat and add the garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, onion and stir continuously until the onion is translucent
4. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes if using and the remaining spices and stir to coat.  Let the spices cook for a couple of minutes
5. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 20-30 minutes (you can gently ‘mash’ the chickpeas with a potato masher to soften them a little, which also helps the chickpeas absorb the flavour of the spices. Taste and adjust seasoning as required
6. Add the roasted vegetables once they are ready, add the spinach and let simmer for 5 minutes (you don’t want them to simmer for too long otherwise they will over cook and go mushy)
7. Turn the heat off, stir in the coconut cream, top with coriander and serve.

I can happily eat this on its own, but it would also work well served with some cauliflower pilau rice, or good old fashioned brown rice. Enjoy.

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

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