Skinny banana breakfast split 3x ways

1. Your basic & everyday banana split

You can't go wrong with this one, it's so easy I can't even call it an actual recipe. See it more as a good list of measurements/flavour combinations that you can stick to if you are in need of breakfast inspiration.

You might wonder: why should I not just throw all 'ingredients' in a bowl and be done with it? Why put in all the extra effort? What I have learned over the past year is that really taking your time for preparing your meals, makes you a lot more mindfull and satisfied when eating! Whatever your fit-goals are, the road towards reaching them is not always easy and some days you need something extra to keep yourself motivated. Bringing in the extra effort to make myself a beautiful breakfast plate works for me. It's all about making ordinary things extraordianry, by doing so healthy eating won't ever get boring!

So treat yourself today and create this instagram worthy, but simple-as-shit to make breakfast.

Enjoy friends

Serves: 1 

Time: Prep. time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 150 gr low fat quark
• 50 gr blueberries
• 50 gr raspberries or strawberries
• 15 gr almonds
• 1 tablespoon peanut- or almond butter (check the label, make sure it's without added sugars/oils)
• 1 tablespoon mixed seeds (I use hemp-, lin-, chiaseeds)
• cinnamon, to flavour (I like to use a lot)
• mint leaves, chopped finely (optional)

Method:

1. Slice open your banana and put the two halves on your plate.
2. Scoop the quark on top of the nana's.
3. Wash the berries, cut the larger strawberries in halve/halve the raspberries (this makes them look super pretty) and throw them on the plate.
4. Add a generous tablespoon of peanutbutter and the almonds.
5. Sprikle with seeds and cinnamon.
6. Add mint leaves.
7. Grab your spoon and attack plate.

2. Choco-loco banana split

Chocolate and bananas. I don't need to explain more. You can swop the cacao nibs for dark chocolate, but remember this is a less healthy alternative. Also, you can swop the raspberries for strawberries and peccans for walnuts. The combination of cinnamon and cacao works great for this banana split!

Serves: 1 

Time: Prep. time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 150 gr Skyr (or another thick yoghurt like low fat Greek yoghurt)
• 2 teaspoons cacao nibs
• 50 gr pomegranate seeds
• 50 gr raspberries
• 20 gr toasted peccan nuts
• 2 teaspoons homemade healthy nutella (I use Rens Kroes' recipe for this!)
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (use an organic orange)
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• sprinkle of raw cacao

Method:

1. Sprinkle your plate with caca and cinnamon.
2. Slice your banana in half, lengthwise and put the two halves on a plate.
3. Pour the yoghurt on top of your banana.
4. Add pomegranate, raspberries, cacao nibs, healthy nutella and nuts.
5. Sprinkle orange zest on top.

Enjoy!

3. Tropical nana

What do you get when you add tropical fruits such as coconut and pineapple to banana? A tropical fiesta that's for sure!!! You can swop the pineapple for any other tropical fruit such as mango or papaya, but for me the combo pineapple and coconut is unbreakable.

Get your hands on some good quality coyo and don't go for coconut flavoured yoghurt, it's just not the same (I know it is expensive but treat yourself, it's sunday). You can swop the brazillian nuts for (toasted!) cashews, this works good too!

Serves: 1 

Time:  Prep. time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 100 gr coconut yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon dried coconut flakes
• 20 gr brazilian nuts
• 10 gr pistachios
• 1 teaspoon mint leaves
• 60 gr pineapple, in bitesize chunks
• 60 gr fresh coconut meat, in bitesize chunks

Method:

1. Toast the dried coconut flakes in a frying pan on low/medium heat until golden brown (or roast them in the oven for 8-10 minutes on 175 degrees C).
2. Slice open your banana lengthwise and put your two halves on the plate.
3. Scoop the coconut yoghurt on top of the banana.
4. Dress the plate with pineapple and coconut meat cubes.
5. Chop up the mint leaves and pistachios finely.
6. Sprinkle the plate with mint, coconut flakes, pistachios and brazilian nuts.

Enjoy!

My favourite 2 ingredient banana pancakes

Tadaaa! This is the simplest and healthiest pancake recipe I know. It's the 'recipe' I learned from Marjolein, my trainer from Models in Shape when I started my new healthy way of eating and I still make these babies quite often. They are sweet and fluffy and super easy to make!

You can't mess up with the ingredients but baking the pancakes does require some skill. These pancakes do not have the same consistency as your everyday-flour-pancakes. Low heat and patience are your key words for getting your pancakes right! The first times I made them they turned out as scrambled pancakes... Don't let this happen to you and follow the baking instructions carefully.

For the topping part you can do anything you like! In this recipe I'm giving you my favourite toppings but feel free to play around. Top the pancakes with your favourite yoghurt, fruits and nuts etc.

Enjoy! 

Serves: 1 

Time: 

Prep. time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

Banana pancakes:

• 1/2 banana
• 1 egg

Toppings:

• 100 gr Skyr (thick yoghurt from Iceland)
• 1/2 banana, cut in chunks
• 60 gr blueberries
• 60 gr raspberries 
• 20 gr walnuts  or almonds
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons peanutbutter
• coconut oil (for frying)

Method:

Pancakes:

1. Mix together egg and banana using a blender or a fork, until smooth
2. Put a frying pan on low/medium heat (no high heat!!)
3. Heat the pan for a minute
4. Add a small dollop of coconut oil to the pan, let it melt and spread it out over the surface of the pan
5. Add your batter to the pan, forming little round pancakes (I use a measuring cup to make them perfectly round)
6. Let the pancakes bake until they are nearly set in the middle, than gently flip them over using a spatula and bake for about halve a minute until golden
7. Glide the pancakes on an oven-proof plate, and bake some more!

Tip: keep your pancakes warm in an oven at 50 - 100 degrees C

Toppings:

1. Fry the banana chunks in a frying pan in some coconut oil until golden brown
2. Stack your pancakes
3. Scoop the yoghurt on top
4. Wash and cut berries, throw them on the pancake plate and add banana chunks
5. Add walnuts and peanutbutter 
6. Sprinkle with cinnamon
7. Eat! Enjoy!

Super Quick Zucchini & Brown Rice Noodle Ramen

I bring you this suuuper quick and easy ramen! What is ramen? It's a Japanese noodle soup, the base is usually a miso and soy sauce flavoured broth. The flavour possibilities for this dish are endless and there are many different variations.

This recipe follows exactly how I made it this afternoon (I just had to share the recipe with you today because I was so excited about how it turned out!), but you don't have to stick to it!! You can add any vegg you like (think broccoli, green beans, edamame, sweet potato, bean sprouts, paksoi), use up any leftover meat you have hanging around in the fridge: chicken, beef, pork it doesn't matter. I was lucky enough to have some leftover pork belly (I know, not the leanest piece of meat...) from my favourite Chinese restaurant here in Rotterdam! You can use your favourite (healthy) noodles (think soba noodles, glass noodles, wholegrain noodles) or even completely go for veggie noodles. Using a spiralizer you can make carrot, zucchini or even sweet potato noodles. I'm using 1/2 brown rice noodles and 1/2 zucchini noodles, making my ramen really low in carbs.

If you like Asian cuisine, ingredients such as ginger, sesame oil and miso paste are essential to have in your cupboard. If you have them in house already, you can really whip up this soup in a matter of minutes. 

I'm using normal mushrooms as well as dried shitakes. I'm directly soaking the dried mushies in my broth, they add amazing flavour!

This soup makes a great simple lunch, nourishing and quite filling as well. Hope you guys like it.

Enjoy!

Serves: 1 

Time: 

Prep. time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 500 ml water
• 1 good quality stock cube (chicken, vegg, beef etc.)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons miso paste
• 1 medium boiled egg
• 80-100 gr leftover meat (chicken, beef, pork etc.)
• 10 gr brown rice noodles
• 15 gr zucchini noodles (use a spiralizer)
• 3 mushrooms, chopped in quarters
• 10 gr coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 garlic
• squeeze of lemon/lime juice (to taste)
• 1/2 cm fresh ginger
• red chili (to taste)
• sesame seeds (for decoration & taste)
• 10 gr dried shitake mushrooms
• 1/2 carrot, skin removed and chopped

Method:

1. Bring the water to a boil in a small pan, at the stock cube, miso paste, soy sauce and sesame oil
2. Add the garlic using a garlic press, and grate in the ginger (you don't need to peel it)
3. Add mushrooms, spring onion, carrot, dried shitake and brown rice noodles
4. Let your broth boil softly for about 10 minutes, untill the noodles are all dente and the carrots and other veggies have soften
5. Taste your soup and add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste
6. Add your leftover meat and zucchini noodles and let them heat along with the soup for about a minute
7. Pour your broth in a bowl, add your noodles, veggies and meat
8. Slice open your boiled egg and add it to your bowl
9. Dress your bowl with chopped coriander, red chili and sesame seeds to taste

Are you trying this ramen? Let me know I'd love to see!

Xo Fleur

Raw Lemon Raspberry & Chia Jam

I have never been much of a jam fan, but when I saw The Green Kitchen Stories recipe for raw raspberry & chiajam I became curious. So I tried it out and believe me: you need a jar of this goodness in your fridge. Stir it through your oats and yoghurt, spread it over toast and pancakes, yes yes the possibilities are endless.

For regular jam recipes, you heat the fruit on the stove with a lot of (refined) sugar. The substance thickens as the liquid evaporates et voila: jam. What I like about this recipe is that you get this real 'jam' like structure without heating your ingredients, this means you keep all the goodness of the fruit and sweetener (provided that you use good quality grade A maple syrup) such as various vitamins and minerals intact that would otherwise be lost.

The amount of sugar in form of maple syrup you need to add to your jam depends on the sweetness of your raspberries! Taste it and try it. Of course you can also use fresh raspberries but frozen ones are cheaper, and just as good for this recipe.

I added my own twist to TGKS's original recipe! I like to add a bit of extra flavour to this jam, using lemon (but you can also use vanilla). Try it out and see what works for you.

Enjoy!

Serves: 1 jar full

Time: Prep. time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 250 gr frozen raspberries
• 2 tablespoons chiaseed
• 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup
• zest of a 1/2 - 1 lemon (to taste) or 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Get your raspberries out of the freezer, pop them in a bowl and wait until they defrost
2. Use a fork or spoon and mash them up
3. Add chiaseeds, maple syrup and your chosen flavour, either vanilla or lemon
4. Mix together and taste: add more maple syrup/lemon zest/vanilla extract to your liking
5. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes until the chiaseeds have soaked up the juice and you have reached a jam-like substance
6. Pop your jam in an airtight jar and store in the fridge

You can keep your jam for about 1-2 months in the fridge!

Asian stuffed salmon & soy omelet

I get real creative when i'm hungry, these kind of recipes are the result! I have played around more often with omelets and asian flavours, but this omelet... so simple to make with only a few ingredients and SO good. 

I always try to make sure to add as much veggies to my lunch and dinners as possible, this means that I always stuff my omelets with loaaads of vegg. As you can see on the photo, my omelet did not handle this well and broke. If you follow my instructions carefully this won't happen to you :) !

If you have trouble getting your hands on edamame beans you can use a double amount of peas or other greens such as normal green beans/broad beans for example.  

Adding soy sauce to the egg is my latest discovery. It makes the omelet suuuuper flavourful and it adds a beautiful brown colour to the egg. Be careful with adding salt though since the omelet is already quite flavoured and salty from the soy sauce.

Enjoy!

Serves: 1 

Time: 

Prep. time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 good quality eggs (free range and organic if possible)
• 60 gr frozen peas
• 60 gr frozen edamame beans* (soy beans)
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• pinch of horseradish (optional)
• 1/2 avocado, in slices
• 2 slices smoked salmon
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• 1/4 red chili, chopped (or to taste)
• seasalt & black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil 

*you can use fresh peas and edamame beans as well (skip step 1 & 3), I get my frozen and peeled edamame beans at my local Chinese supermarket. 

Method:

1. Put a kettle on with water and bring to a boil (approx. 1/2 l)
2. Put your beans and beans in a bowl together
3. Pour the boiling water over your greens and cover the bowl (e.g. with a plate or a cloth) and let them stand untill they have 'cooked' properly
4. When your beans are all dente (just try one), get rid of the water and rinse your greens with cold water, set aside
5. In another bowl, whisk up your eggs together with the soy sauce and horseradish
6. Put a frying pan on a low to medium heat and let it heat up for about a minute
7. Melt the coconut oil, spread it out over the surface of the pan and add your egg mixture
8. For the first 10 seconds alternate between tilting your pan around and using a spatula to move around the egg, creating waves
9. When the egg has set around the edges but is still 'wet' in the middle: turn of the heat and let your omelet glide on a plate
10. Pour the edamame beans, peas and spring onion on one half of the omelet, add the slices of salmon and avocado
11. Season to perfection with seasalt and pepper and sprinkle over the chili if you like it spicy!

And? Have I persuaded you into making this beauty for lunch? Tag me on Instagram, I'd love to see!

Salted Chocholate & Peanutbutter Bites

I made these champs for my sisters birthday dinner. Chocolate and peanutbutter are both winners of their own, let alone when they are combined! Magic. The seasalt lifts the flavours even more.

These bites are full with flavour and SUPER easy to make! You only need 5 ingredients (ok 6 if you count along the salt) and no oven is involved, you only need your freezer my friends. 

For the base you can use any nuts that you like, I like using a mix of peccans and almonds. If you can, make sure you're using good quality cacao powder, preferably  'raw'. Raw cacao is quite expensive but it is loaded with antioxidants and other thingies that are super good for you. 

The same goes for maple syrup, grade A maple syrup (the syrup they get from the first tap, with the best quality) has the highest amount of beneficial nutrients.  

I like maple syrup because it has a caramel like flavour. Using maple syrup as a sweetener is a better alternative than using regular sugar since processed sugar does not hold any nutrients that your body can use, it's just plain sugar. Also, maple syrup has a lower glycemic index than regular sugar which means it affects your insulin level and blood sugar less. 

For the nutbutter you can use any butter you like (think cashew-, almond-, peanutbutter) you like, make sure your butter is made out of just nuts and does not hold any added sugars or oils. I like using almond butter or crunchy peanut butter!

Keep in mind that this is a healthier way of snacking, but there are still sugar and carbs involved so behave yourself.

Enjoy!

Servings: 1 standard square bakingtray full 

Time:

Prep. time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Base:

• 200 gr raw nuts 
• 4 tbsp raw cacao powder
• 2 tbsp molten coconut oil
• 'grade A' maple syrup (to taste or about 2-4 tbsp)
• seasalt (to taste)

Middle layer:

• 240 ml 100 % nutbutter 
• 6 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp molten coconut oil
• seasalt (to taste)

Top layer:

• 50 gr raw cacao powder
• 8 tbsp molten coconut oil
• 6 tbsp 'grade A' maple syrup
• nuts / seasalt flakes / any decoration you like!

Materials:

• square brownie baking tray

Method:

1. Line up your baking tray with greaseproof paper

Base:

1. Using a blender or food processor, blend your nuts until they are finely ground
2. Add cacao powder, molten coconut oil and maple syrup to your ground nuts, forming a sticky mixture
3. Add a pinch of fine seasalt to lift up the flavours (optional)
4. Press your base dough onto your baking tray to form your base
5. Place the tray in the freezer to make the base nice and firm

Middle layer:

1. Using a mixer or a spatula, combine nutbutter, maple syrup and molten coconut oil
2. Add a good pinch of seasalt to taste
3. Pour your mixture on top of the base and place the tray in the freezer again

Top layer

1. Combine cacao powder, molten coconut oil and maple syrup
2. If the middle layer has set and is firm enough, get your baking tray out of the freezer
3. Using a big knife, slice your piece of art in bite size pieces 
4. Dip each bite into your chocolate mixture
5. Top it with anything you like! Put your bites in a tupper ware box and place back into the freezer to set again, or fridge if you want to indulge right away!

Tip: you can also make them into individual cupcake cups comme ça: