Berr-nana-melon Smoothie

The perfect smoothie for a scorching summer's day

Pink, delicious and super refreshing. This Berr-nana-melon smoothie is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up on a hot summer's day, and is surprisingly filling too!!

The best thing about this smoothie recipe is you can either drink it as a beverage or pour it into popsicle moulds and have them as ice lollies. I am yet to try the ice lollies but I can only imagine how delicious they'd taste.

You could even add a tablespoon of yoghurt to make it a frozen yoghurt popsicle. Ahh. don't you just love fruit?!?!

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INGREDIENTS

1 frozen banana, chopped

1/2 cup frozen mixed berries

1 cup watermelon

1 tbsp water, to help the fruits blend

METHOD

1. Pour all fruits into a blender along with the 1 tbsp of water and pulse until the fruits start to blend. Once the fruits are mixed in with the water, blend the fruits for about 45 - 60 seconds until smooth.

2. Pour into a glass and enjoy! TIP: If you're using a straw, don't forget to make sure it's a metal or paper one! Do your bit for the environment ;)

Chai Spiced Oats

Spice up your breakfast oats (literally) with chai flavours

If you've been making your breakfast oats with just milk – I'm about to change your breakfast game.

This recipe will tickle your tastebuds and give your oats that extra OOMF. Guaranteed to have you feeling ready for the day with a happy tummy.

The addition of caramelised banana really finishes off this dish – a combination of sweet and spiciness makes this one of my favourite oat bowls.

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INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 1/3 cup almond milk (or any other milk you desire)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp runny honey, plus a little more to drizzle over the oats at the end

1 tbsp butter

1 banana

METHOD

1. In a microwavable bowl, mix together oats, cinnamon, ground ginger, all spice and black pepper. Mix the dry ingredients together until well combined, then add in the milk and mix well.

2. Put the oats aside for now whilst you prep your caramelised banana.

3. For the caramelised banana, heat up a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and place butter and honey into the. pan. Allow the butter and honey to melt and bubble, then place your banana slices in. Cook these until they are golden brown and glistening. Flip them over to pan-fry the other side.

4. Begin warming up your oats. Microwave for 2.5-3 minutes on medium power (my microwave's standard power is 600W).

5. Remove oats from the microwave, and take bananas off the pan and into your bowl of oats, along with a little drizzle of honey and sprinkle of cinnamon.

Flourless Cracked-top Sea Salt Chocolate Cookies

Need to satisfy those raging chocolate cravings? You've come to the right place.

Let me set the scene for you. We're in the beginning of lockdown and everyone's panic-buying toilet paper, household necessities – AND FLOUR.

Everyone in the UK will understand the struggle we went through when there was absolutely no flour to be found in any supermarket. I took this opportunity to research flourless desserts to make.

Turns out you can use icing sugar and egg whites to create these wonderful rich discs of joy!

Given I had made a fair few meringues before this, I figured egg whites were a good addition as they achieve a fluffy texture and give meringues a good rise.

NOTE: Do not panic when spooning the batter onto a baking tray – they will look flat and disappointing. But I can reassure you that with just 14 minutes in the oven, they'll look absolutely beautiful.

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INGREDIENTS

350g icing sugar

30g cocoa powder

40g cacao powder

1/2 tsp salt, plus a little more for sprinkling at the end (Kosher Salt works best!)

4 egg whites (or if you have a carton of pure egg whites, you can do 8 tbsp of egg whites)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 165ºC fan. Prepare a baking tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper and leave aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cocoa powder, cacao powder and salt. Mix thoroughly until well combined. Stir it gently with a spatula or wooden spoon as the powdered sugar puffs everywhere and could make a mess.

3. In a small bowl, whip the egg whites with a whisk until they start foaming. Don't over whip them to a stiff peak as this will affect the consistency of the batter.

4. Pour the egg whites and vanilla into the sugar and mix thoroughly until the mixture thickens and changes to a dark brown colour.

5. Grab a large spoon and scoop the batter onto the baking tray. Leave a 2-3 inch gap between the cookies as they will increase in size. You need to work quite quickly with these as the batter will start to disperse on the sheet.

6. Sprinkle a little more salt over the cookies before putting them into the oven. Bake for 14 minutes.

7. Once the cookies are done, allow them to cool completely before doing anything with them!! These cookies are very delicate when warm and if they're picked up too soon they will break.