Vegan Banana Pancakes

Every friday morning I make an extra effort to make a treat breakfast for myself. And I love pancakes. I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The best news is, I have have come up with a gluten free, dairy free and sugar free recipe which are even better than your bog standard pancake. They're good for you and they taste good!

They are a delicious blend of oats, almonds, coconut flour and banana. All of these ingredients combined give you a crisp outside with a soft, squishy center. I devoured my batch, single handedly, in 5 minutes! The blend of wholesome ingredients meant that I had no regrets what-so-ever. 

 They take an easy 5 minutes to make perfectly circular pancakes!

Ingredients for 4 Large pancakes:

1 cup of Rolled Oats

2/3 cup of Ground Almonds

1 1/4 cup Water

2 tablespoons Chia Seed

2 tablespoons Flax Seed 

2 ripe Bananas 

2 tablespoons of pure Maple Syrup/Honey or Agave syrup

2 teaspoons of Cinnamon 

A pinch of Salt 

Coconut Oil for cooking 

For the raspberry spread: 

A handful of Raspberries 

1 tablespoon of Chia Seeds 

1 teaspoon of Honey 

And any toppings you like! 

I went for:

Goji Berries 

Blueberries 

Maple Syrup 

Step One: Start by placing the oats and almonds into a food processor or blender until you've got a light dusty powder. Next slice the banana and add the remaining ingredients into the food processor. If you do not have a food processor, this step can be done the good old fashioned way - with your hands and biceps! Mix it all together until you've made a thick batter. If you did use a food processor i'd advice transferring the batter into a bowl now, its much easier! 

Step Two: Before cooking the pancake it is time to make a raspberry spread. Grab a handful of raspberries, mash them in a bowl and add the chia seeds and honey. Mix them all together and set it aside. 

Step Three: Pop a teaspoon of coconut oil into a pan and let it warm up. Once it is warmed up and melted, add a quarter of the mixture into the pan. Because it is so thick you can use a spoon to spread it out into a perfect circle. Cook the pancake for a minute or so, lift the pancake slightly to check if it is cooked and if it is, flip it over! 

Pop the pancake onto a plate, add some more coconut oil and go again!

Once you have your stack of pancakes, add the raspberry spread and all of the toppings you'd like. 

And tuck in! 

Everything Exeter

Warning: sloppy and photo heavy blog post coming your way. 

For those of you that don't already know, I live in Qatar. And the best way to describe it is a slowly developing sand box, better known as "the place next to Dubai". And I am hugely emphasizing the word slowly...

But my home is in England and it also happens to be where a very special man in my life lives too. How fitting. The combination of home sickness and heart ache isn't pretty and I feel terribly sorry for everyone around me, which is why I made a sneaky trip home for a long weekend to see him. And though it was only four days, they were bloody brilliant. 

I landed in heathrow and I was absolutely bubbling with excitement, I've never run off the plane so fast. And believe me not, I ran. It was the moment I walked through the arrivals door and I saw him, all of my emotions came to life - it was such an amazing feeling. Before I bore you with the slop, here is a little photo diary of our long weekend together. 

When I arrived the first thing we did was go to my family home; where we drank wine, ate chocolate and simply enjoyed being back with each other.

The following morning we hopped on the train to Exeter which is where my mystery man is studying at university. Three hours later, we had arrived and boy oh boy was it chilly. So we wrapped up warm (well I did, he was used to it) and headed out for a bite to eat. Because a hangry Bella isn't a pretty Bella.

While waiting for the bus I snapped a sneaky picture. 

My absolute favorite thing about autumn/winter is the variety of leaves on the floor in an array of different colors. So beautiful. 

A much happier couple with full bellies, and here is the mystery man himself - ladies and gents, meet Freddie. 

And this man certainly knows the way to a happy Bella: my absolute favorite ice cream - the dairy free Booja-Booja ice-cream (my favorite was actually the coconut and vanilla, but this was darn good too). We polished off the whole tub while watching a movie, snuggled up in bed. Movie recommendation - Disconnect. If you're a fan of an intense, captivating movie i'd definitely give this one a watch! And we both enjoyed it and that in itself says something as I am a chick flick kind of gal and he is the polar opposite. 

And we finished our day with all of his lovely friends and a big glass of wine. Or two. Or three...

This was actually day three. Oops. Never the less, today was a beautiful crisp, sunny morning with blue skies. My favorite. 

With full bellies we strolled through the grounds of the university, I couldn't resist the beautiful scenery.  

And talk about a perfect autumn day. 

My inner geography nerd came out when we wondered along the beautiful river Exe...it admittedly excited me far more than it should have. 

Warning: lots of selfie's coming up!

The obligatory "Bella and Freddie pose". 

Could you tell that it was bright? ha. ha.

These beautiful little shops were tucked away along side the river, of course I managed to convince Freddie it was a necessity that we went in. Mwaha.

The next stop - the cathedral. 

And after such a strenuous morning, we stopped for tea and cake. Salted caramel slice, mmm. 

Tea for him, coffee for her. 

Can you guess how we finished our evening? 

Wine and food of-course. 

Unfortunately our last night together came by far too fast and far too soon. Sad face times 100000.

But what better way to celebrate it than to go out for a romantic date night.  We went to a lovely little restaurant called Bill's and if you're ever in Exeter you must try this place out! It was no surprise that we struggled to get a table, but boy am I glad we did. 

Here, ladies and gents, is my handsome date. 

After a lovely meal, we met up with his brother before heading back to bed. 

Then came the worst part of the trip, saying the dreaded "cya". 

But we made the most amazing memories and we had the best weekend together, catching up and simply enjoying each others' company. I am super grateful to have such a special, wonderful and caring man in my life. See you soon!

Until next time. 

Kisses. 

B x

Carb Free Bread

Carbohydrates. A woman’s worst fear. 

Having said that, I do love a slice of toast drowned in butter and jam. Drools. 

But I cannot help but think of how much work I will have to do in the gym to burn it off, not that it stops me from eating it, but it is the thought that counts. 

Carb free bread. As soon as I told my friends about this, the same question was asked over and over – how does that work? And admittedly some thought I had taken healthy eating to a whole new level, but believe me not, this is life changing. And even my mum and dad agree! 

Five Ingredients, One bowl, One bread tin, One oven = one small-ish bread loaf.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Flax meal

1/2 Cup of Ground Almonds

4 Eggs

1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon of Salt

Step One: Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C, whisk all four eggs together into a bowl. Add dry ingredients into the bowl. Mix together. 

Step Two: Pop the mixture into a bread tin, place it in the oven and set your timer for 25 minutes. 

I take this time to watch some Saconne Joly's, read some of my favorite blogs and as soon as the timer goes off I can rush back to the kitchen to retrieve the glorious loaf from the oven. I will admit, i cant wait for it to cool when it comes out. I dive straight in with the knife and enjoy my warm, soft bread. 

Enjoy your guilt free bread eating!

Birds, Booze and Boats

It is November and we are swimming in the sea, are you jealous?

My closest friend, Georgie,  flew back to Doha for the week and it was just what the doctor ordered. To finish off a week of sleepovers and catch ups we went on the boat -not that you'd expect anything less from us. And in true form we had a glass of wine in our hands. (the men were in charge of photo taking and topping up our glasses)

Don't get too comfortable men, eye spy an empty glass!

Too much wine?  I think not.

I'd like to introduce you to Ashleigh and Georgie, these two ladies are very special and have a big place in my heart.

My personal favorite part of the day, lunch time. I am a sucker for nibbles and snacks, and with this view and a glass of wine in hand it made it even better!

A quick turn around and it was back to Georgie's house, can you guess what we did? 

Thats right, ate and drank!

Until this happened! We got ready for a halloween party. I was a skeleton, a personal improvement from my day to day look. Will wasn't what he was, he put his trust into the hands of myself and face-paint. So we improvised and we turned Will into this in under 5 minutes. I know...I have outdone myself. And Georgie was a Zombie/Witch. 

I hope you had a Happy Halloween! 

And now we can get excited for Christmas...