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!

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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.

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.

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.

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The post Chickpea Curry appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.

Granola is scrumptious (I’m a big fan of all the crunchy deliciousness), but the store bought versions are full of sugar –  no good.  I never eat it apart from on holiday where I’m a little more relaxed about what I eat (and calories eaten on holiday don’t count right?).

In any case after a recent trip away with much granola consumed, I decided enough was enough, it was time to finally have a go at making it (I know, I know, my life is so rock n roll).

It’s a doddle to make, and makes the house smells amazing when baking (even my food delivery guy commented on the smell – big success).

This is gluten and dairy free, and packed full of protein and goodness.

*Disclaimer – this granola is less of the clustery type version, more of a sprinkle/muesli type version.  I’m going to attempt the clustery version soon (I suspect a bit more oil and less stirring during baking).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of quinoa flakes 
• 1/2 cup of almonds (I used flaked almonds)
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup of coconut flakes (I used desiccated coconut as that’s what I had to hand, but actual flakes would be amazing)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
• 1/4 cup agave

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150°C
2. Line a baking tray with baking parchment
3. Mix all the ingredients together and transfer onto the baking tray
4. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring half way through to check the ingredients don’t burn (this is what causes the mixture to separate.
5. Leave to cool and store in an airtight container (this should keep for a couple of weeks).  This is great over Organic Greek yoghurt topped with berries and banana (or in Mr NS Nutrition’s case, with a spoon straight out of the container!)

The post Quinoa granola – gluten and dairy free appeared first on Neema Savvides | Fertility Nutrition.