Gluten-free banana muffins

After my good friend and fellow blogger Rachel made banana and raspberry muffins I couldn't stop craving muffins! 

Weeks of researching gluten-free banana muffin recipes followed, but none of them seemed to be similar to your standard everyday yummy bananary muffin. FINALLY after combining some recipes I came up with a soft, squidgy and slightly healthy (ish) banana muffin recipe. And here they are! 

Some of them are topped with my healthy granola, which made a nice crunchy change but didn't freeze brilliantly. As I didn't want to eat them all at once (OK I did but my diet said no...) I put most of them in the freezer, and having recently defrosted one (fully, tried the fridge and the kitchen side and kitchen side worked best) and then chucked one in the microwave for 30 seconds and added a bit of vanilla yoghurt... I can safely say that they freeze well! But are best warmed in the microwave.

So! Here is the recipe for all you non-gluten eaters out there! If you are lucky and can eat normal flour, don't be tempted to just swap the rice and corn flour for standard plain flour as it probably wont work.. Instead try Rachel's recipe! Also for those of you judging my use of American cup measurements instead of grams, my scales broke and my student budget wont allow a purchase of new ones. Besides, cups are easier!

1/2 cup of caster sugar

1/2 cup of butter

2 eggs

3 bananas, preferably spotty or almost black

1 1/4 cups of rice flour (I used Dove's Farm)

1/3 cup corn flour

1 teaspoon of Gluten-free baking powder (e.g. Dr Oetker)

1/2 cup of raisins (or choc chips, chopped nuts, anything which takes your fancy!)

sprinkling of cinnamon (optional)

1. Soften the butter in the microwave for a couple of secs.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together with an electric whisk (or by hand if you're hench enough)

3. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking them in properly before adding the next. 

4. Mash the bananas (or wizz them up in a blender until mushy if you are lazy like me!) and add them to the mixture one by one, stirring until they are incorporated into the mix before adding the next.

5. Mix together the rice flour, corn flour and baking powder separately before sifting it into the mix bit by bit.

6. When the flour is all mixed in, stir in the raisins (or another addition of your choice) and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

7. Spoon into muffin cases and bake at 180 degrees until they are golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean, which should be after about 20 minutes depending on your oven. 

Serve hot with some ice cream or yoghurt or just on their own :) 

5 of the best (healthy) ways to eat your porridge

After reading my friend Rachel's blog on slimming food swaps, I was inspired to share with the public my ideas for one of the healthiest breakfasts out there - porridge.

Ahh porridge, the student's best breakfast friend. A healthy, filling, yummy start to your day which doesn't eat into your budget (unless you are GF). I feel as if the porridge craze has really kicked off lately, at least at my uni, as everyone seems to be eating it! Those long hard days slogging in the library are made that little bit better when they are started with a warm, filled, snuggly (there is no better word...) belly, and it often means you won't even need a snack before lunch time, which is perfect for all of us who are trying to fit into our summer clothes again...

But after a few days of your standard porridge + milk combo it slowly gets less and less exciting. So here are a few tips on how to give your porridge the scrummy make over it deserves.

First of all here is how to make a speedy perfect pot of porridge:

Place however many oats you would like (I go for 30g but I use a small bowl) into your bowl and just cover with milk (skimmed if you are being healthy). Give it a quick stir and then put it in the microwave on high for 1 min. Take out and stir again. If it is a little stodgy add a tiny splash of milk and mix in until it is the right consistency. If it is a little runny then put it in the microwave for a little longer. Easy.

1. Add some berries

Oh no! I hear you say, but berries are so expensive and I am just a poor student! Alas, all is not lost. Just check out the frozen section of your larger supermarkets and you will be sure so stumble across a huge range of frozen fruits. I am personally a fan of blueberries, as they add a sweet, but not too sweet, flavour to my porridge and are a superfood so superhealthy! Simply pop your berries in the fridge the night before to defrost and sprinkle them on your porridge after cooking in the morning. I like mixing mine in too so that it all tastes like blueberries, however it does make your porridge go green so is not very pretty...

2. Jazzy bananas

As another easy healthy porridge topping (as opposed to the classic honey/golden syrup/cup of sugar...) place some sliced banana on top of your porridge after cooking, sprinkle, and I mean sprinkle - or it wont be healthy - a teeny bit of brown sugar on top. Whack it under the grill for a couple of mins until it goes golden and dig in. Yum.

3. Apple and cinnamon (and maybe some raisins)

This one requires a little bit more effort as you actually have to stand and stir your porridge at the hob, but I think we can handle it. For this one you will need about 25g of oats (or less than usual), 100ml of milk (or a tad more milk than usual), a small apple cut into chunks and some cinnamon. Throw your oats, milk and a tsp of cinnamon (I love cinnamon, for some people this will be outrageously too much) into a saucepan on a medium heat and stir until almost all the milk has been absorbed. Then chuck in your apple pieces and stir until the rest of the milk has been absorbed and the apples have started to soften. If you are feeling a little devilish or not on a diet, put in a few raisins or dried fruit and give one last stir. Serve up and eat.

4. Trendy bananas

Not to be confused with Jazzy bananas, Trendy bananas will remind you of something like banana bread, aka is delish. Put the same amount of oats and milk into a pan as in the 3rd recipe, and add in half of a chopped banana and a little bit of cinnamon (I really do love it). Stir the mixture until all the milk has been absorbed and the bananas have gone completely mushy and have been combined in the mixture. Spoon the mixture into your favourite bowl and put the other half of the banana on top and maybe even if you are feeling a little bit decadent add some brown sugar. This recipe can easily be combined with Jazzy bananas to make the Ultimate Banana Porridge.

5. Choco-porridge

Now I know this doesn't sound healthy but it is surprisingly not so bad! And is very easy to make into a super-unhealthy-choca-mocha-mania-breakfast if you are that way inclined. For the basic and healthy choco-porridge, you put your standard portion of oats and milk into a bowl and add a teaspoon of cocoa powder. Mix in and put in the oven along the lines of the Perfect Porridge recipe et voila! healthy choco-porridge! For those of you who aren't trying to be slimmy, other exciting things which can be added are:
Nutella: Mix in a teaspoon after cooking
Chocolate chips: Throw some in before cooking to melt them or afterwards for crunch
Melted chocolate bar: The ultimate treat, stir in after cooking.

So there you go 5 yummy healthy ways to eat your porridge to get you through those long hard days of revision!

Gluten Free Healthy Granola

My first recipe on this blog! Hopefully there will be many more (especially after exams have finished!)

For the last 2 months I have been gluten free, after a large binge of cake at my birthday party and feeling horrendously ill afterwards! I have found the transition from gluten to non-gluten pretty easy, replace my pasta, my porridge, my bread etc. and generally carrying on as usual (with a little less cake...). All was going swimmingly, and I even managed to slim down a little, when I was over my best friend's house the other day. She was telling me about her favourite breakfast of the moment - yoghurt, raspberries and granola. Ever since all I could think about is granola! The yummy, crunchy, sweet goodness which goes so well with yoghurt, milk, or just as a snack.

Now, I don't know if you have ever looked at the cereals in the Free From sections of supermarkets, but they don't have the best selection... You can basically only get cornflakes, oats and rice crispies. Not exactly inspiring... Therefore I decided that to curve my granola cravings and actually have yummy cereal, I would have to make my own. So that's what I did! 

So here is my recipe for Gluten Free Healthy Granola. P.s. to make it non-gluten free just use normal oats! 

Ingredients

2 cups of gluten free oats 

1/4 cup of chopped hazelnuts (or any other nutty/chocolatey/fruity item) 

1/4 cup of flaked almonds (ditto above) 

1/2 cup of raisins

1tsp cinnamon

4 tbsp oil (olive or otherwise) 

4 tbsp honey 

 1 egg white

splash vanilla essence

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and cover a baking tray with baking paper. 

2. Mix together the oats, nuts, raisins and cinnamon together in a bowl. 

3. Whisk together the egg white, oil, honey and vanilla essence. 

4. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix it together. 

5. Spread the mixture out onto the tray and cook on the middle shelf for 15 mins. Check the mixture isn't burning and give it a stir. Put back in the oven for another 15 mins until golden. 

6. Take out the oven and give it one last stir and then leave for 30 mins - this is important! if you just get excited and eat it straight away it wont be crunchy and yummy - I made this mistake... 

7. Eat! With yoghurt, fruit or milk :) 

Coffee #1 - Gloucester Road

Another stop on my Gloucester Road café tour, Coffee #1 offers a great cosy escape from the hussle and bussle of the busy main road. Conveniently positioned in the middle of all the kitsch boutique and charity shops, Coffee #1 is a comfy chair-filled café with plenty of original homemade cakes and exciting coffee flavours, especially during a festive season - their pumpkin lattes are not to be missed around Halloween.

*PICTURE YET TO COME*

I often find myself in Coffee #1 on a Saturday evening armed with my books and laptop, as I am sure that it's coffee and cosy interior has healing properties when it comes to curing the essay blues! As it stays open a lot later than the other cafés, around 6:30 on most days, it is perfect for camping out in after lunch and getting lots of work done! For those of you (lucky, lucky) people who don't have thousands of essays to write, it's also a lovely café for meeting up with friends or relatives, or just a stop off point when on a wander up Gloucester Road.

For Food: 8/10
For Atmosphere: 10/10

Check out their website here :) http://www.coffee1.co.uk/our-locations/bishopston/

Rocotillos - Clifton Triangle

Located on the Clifton Triangle, Rocotillos is the perfect place to go for a pinch of American diner and milkshake magic. Although Clifton Triangle is a bit of mad rat run for traffic, as soon as you go into Rocotillos you are transported to the American 1950s world of milkshakes and pancakes. Among locals and tourists the small shiny café is famed for it's breakfasts (which are huge and so yummy) and their milkshakes (which come in a jug to fill up your cup yourself!). Although the milkshakes are a little on the pricey side, they are, without a doubt, totally worth trying.

http://bristolculture.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/rocotillos-bristol/

With an array of classic and crazy flavours, their ice cream filled, super-thick, sickly milkshakes are sure to fill you up, and you could probably have one as a meal on it's own! Their pancakes, traditionally thick and small in the American style, can be served with anything from maple syrup to sausages, and almost live up to those of Boston Tea Party (although as BTP's biggest fan I am a little biased). Perfect for meeting up with friends, or showing off Bristol to visitors, Rocotillos is ideal for a quick snack or a full meal, just mind your pockets!

For Food: 8/10
For Atmosphere:8/10

They don't have a website but check out their Twitter feed here :) https://twitter.com/Rocotillos 

Mocha Mocha - St Michael's Hill

 

As I wrote in my post about Parsons, St Michael's Hill is a great place to go if you are looking for a café or restaurant for a spot of light lunch or a full meal. And if, like me, you are doing a Teashop Tour, one of your stops should definitely be Mocha Mocha. As you walk past the cosy looking interior, the gorgeous waft of fresh coffee and fresh croissants makes it very hard to not go straight in and empty out your pockets for that reviving cup of tea...

 

 

Photo from: http://www.mochamocha.co.uk/

Conveniently situated approximately 15 seconds walk from the University of Bristol languages building (where I spend most of my days), Mocha Mocha has become a little bit of a regular haunt over the last six months. Nothing seems more tempting than the warm glow and comfy seats on offer inside on a rainy or chilly day, and I think I can truly say that they sell the best paninis in town! And their tea isn't so bad either!

The only one teeny tiny complaint I would have is the price of their cakes. Once when out to lunch with my dad, having already filled up on a delicious brie, bacon and cranberry panini, we fancied a slice of their yummy looking carrot cake for our journey back to the South Coast. By slice it was more of a rectangular finger shape, which is nothing to complain of, not everyone likes triangles, but at the dear price of £2 it wasn't exactly affordable... If maybe they brought their cake prices down a tiny bit (or made the slices bigger, hint hint) then I imagine the students would come in their swarms even more so than they already do.

For Food: 9/10
For Atmosphere 9/10

Check out their website here :) http://www.mochamocha.co.uk/

Parsons - St Michael's Hill

St Michael's Hill is a hotspot for cafés and restaurants in Bristol, especially for Bristol University Students. Situated around the back of the University, lots of students pass the cafés and bakerys every day, often stopping for a quick pastry, coffee or the odd panini. In my first year of university (2011-2012) Parsons Bakery on St Michael's Hill was a regular Wednesday afternoon spot for me and my flatmates, with all of their cakes being on sale for 50p! Sadly they have stopped it this year (we probably put them out of business with 20 of us traipsing in every week and buying all the stock for a pittance!) but they are still well stocked with some of the best Cream and Custard Slices in the land.  

Picture from: https://plus.google.com/102492089274470698147/photos?hl=en&socfid=web:lu:kp:placepageimage&socpid=1#102492089274470698147/photos/photo/5744371201255429970

For those of us who have the time (and the money) to have a sit down at Parsons, you can choose your delicious and sickly cakey item of choice, or a yummy sandwich or pizza slice, and a nice warm cup of something and sit upstairs to people watch the length of St Michael's Hill. Although the seating area isn't beautifully furnished, it is still a nice comfy, cosy spot for a cup of tea and, if you haven't cottoned on already, their cake is not to be missed.

A little kinder on the bank balance than Mocha Mocha opposite it is a nice quiet café where you can usually find a seat.

For Food: 9/10
For Atmosphere: 6.5/10

Check out their website here :) http://www.parsonsbakery.co.uk/