Broad Bean Soup

Just what I needed today after a cold walk with the dogs and collecting leaves with my son for some leaf identification work we were doing.  Such a warming recipe, I served it up with a little drizzle of hemp oil but you could also use olive oil and perhaps some croutons.    mmmm!

Ingredients

3-4 cups of broad beans (frozen or fresh)

1 leek (chopped)

1 onion (chopped)

3 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1-2 red chillies (chopped)

2 tsp of cumin

1 tsp of tumeric

1 tsp of paprika

oat cream, or other dairy free cream ( a dash during blending, optional)

Green Smoothie Bowl

Add all the ingredients apart from the optional cream to the soup pot along with the stock cube and water to just over the vegetables.  Cook for 40-50 mins or until vegetables are tender and blend in the blender (be very careful when blending hot liquids, make sure the blender has the lid on securely) add in the cream of choice if you like to your desired consistency.  Serve with warm wholemeal bread or perhaps a toasted sandwich.

Any questions pop them in the comments below.

Love Angie

If you enjoyed this recipe pop over to my youtube channel for more recipes, holistic health tips, my family life, and my weight loss vlogging!  Thank you! Angie x

Natural Living You Tube Channel


Cacao Halva Fudge

This is a really easy recipe to make and in a few minutes you have created a tray of healthy snacks for the family!  I’ve added a link to a short video below for the recipe if you would rather watch it.

Ingredients

Sesame Seeds x 2 Cups

Medjool Dates x 1 Cup

Organic Cacao (powder) – 1/2 cup

Vanilla Extract – 1Tbsp

Pinch of good quality sea salt

Agave Syrup (raw or the best quality you can find)

Superfood Toppings (optional)

Add the sesame seeds to the food processor and grind on high for a minute or two, add in the medjool dates and blend again on high for about 5 minutes.  Add in the cacao powder, vanilla, salt and a squirt of Agave syrup if the mixture is too dry.  You should then have a slightly sticky dough consistency (not too sticky).

Roll the mixture into balls or shape in a chocolate tray as per the video.  Add superfood toppings of your choice if you have available.

I hope you enjoy this super easy recipe.  Please subscribe to my Youtube channel for future recipes and holistic health tips and ideas.

Natural Living You Tube Channel

Love and Cacao Fudge Balls

Angie x



Chickpea Tuna Wrap

Approx Calories:

This is one of my favourite lunch items at the moment I just love it!  🙂  I’m always on the look out for new sandwich and wrap ideas for lunch and this one just hits the spot.  It’s light and you can also mix it up a bit by adding spring onions or perhaps some chopped celery into the mashed chickpeas.  You could also add a little mayonnaise or sweet chilli sauce for a different flavour.

Ingredients:

A carton or tin of chickpeas

A good squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Salt & Pepper

Optional (chopped celery, chopped spring onions)

Salad ingredients – chopped tomato, cucumber, red onion, lettuce etc.

Wrap of choice – I used an Italian flat bread

Mash the chickpeas together with the lemon juice and optional ingredients.  Season well and add into the wrap, top with the salad ingredients of choice and wrap and serve!  Enjoy!

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If you have any questions please drop me a comment below.

Love and chickpeas!

xx Angie xx

 

 

 


Three Easy Salads

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Three Easy Salad Recipes

I don’t make enough salads but when I do I really enjoy them!  Here are three very easy salads to make at home and they all compliment each other perfectly.  These are great as side dishes to a BBQ, Pizza or Greek style dinner night.  I just love all the beautiful colours they create together.  I’ve provided the recipes below, I haven’t added any specific quantities on some of the main ingredients as it’s always better in this case to tailor the desired quantity to your own tastes and diet requirements.  If you wish you can watch the recipe video on Natural Living YouTube Channel with assembly instructions, click on the link below.

Please feel free to print out this page and keep as a reference.

I would love to see your finished creations please post your pics on my Facebook Page ‘AngieMilneNaturalLiving’ (a link to my page is at the bottom).

Now lets make healthy salad!

Pita Bread Salad

Ingredients:

Pita Bread (cut into squares and lightly fried in olive oil)

Baby Gem Lettuce (chopped into square shaped bits)

Tomato

Cucumber

Green Pepper

Mint or Coriander (freshly chopped or other choice of herbs)

Red Wine Vinegar (about 2 tbsps)

2 tbsp olive oil (cold pressed & preferably organic)

Lemon Juice (about 1 lemon)

3 Tsps of Za’atar Herb Mix

Pomegranate Seeds (1 Pomegranate)

Himalayan Pink Salt or Sea Salt

Mix all the chopped and prepared ingredients together in a large bowl add the desired quantity of mixed dressing ingredients, season and serve with some additional herbs & perhaps a slice of lemon on the top to make it look all pretty.

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Pomegranate Rice Salad

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice

Pomegranate seeds (1 pomegranate)

Juice of 1 Lemon

Chopped Fresh Parsley or coriander

Sliced Red Chillies

Sliced Red Onion

Himalayan Pink Salt

Black Pepper

Leave the rice to cool a little, then add in all the ingredients and season.  Serve with the other salads.

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Tomato and Olive Salad

Ingredients:

Tomatoes

Freshly chopped basil, coriander or some parsley

Sliced Red Onion

Chopped mixed olives

Lemon Juice (about 1/2-1 lemon)

Olive Oil (around 2-4tbsp)

Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Mix all the prepared ingredients together in a large bowl, add the seasonings and dressing ingredients to taste and serve with a sprinkle of additional herbs and extra olive oil if necessary.

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Pink Himalayan salt…

…has many health benefits and you can even purchase it in larger supermarkets now.  Personally I would recommend getting your own grinder and buying it in bulk as it can be over priced in places.

If you click on the image above it will take you to my favourite brand of pink salt.  I’ve always used this brand and would recommend it.  You can also use a cup of this salt in a hot steamy bath and enjoy the benefits of that.  Here are a few links to several further studies and information relating to the healing and health benefits of Pink Himalayan Salt, some of which are referenced.

https://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/himalayan-crystal-salt-benefits/

https://www.reference.com/health/benefits-himalayan-pink-salt-43cc8a4f87d61ace#

Za’atar Herb Mix

You might be wondering what the ingredient Zatar is??  Well…its a middle eastern inspired herb mix which you can buy in bulk already premixed.  It’s awesome in salads, dressings, stews, bakes and once you have a batch it lasts a long time in the cupboard.  I would recommend the Greenfield’s brand of Za’atar.  It smells so delish!  Click on the image for further details.

Angie x


Strawberry & Banana Smoothie

Strawberry & Banana Smoothie Treat Bowl

Delicious strawberry and banana smoothie bowl made with the addition of maca powder and live coconut yoghurt.  The recipe is so easy, blend the smoothie ingredients and pour into a bowl of choice.  Top with all of the toppings, coconut chips, dried bananas, date syrup, chopped pistachios and live coconut yoghurt, drizzle to finish with delicious date syrup!  You can mix up the toppings to your liking.

So delicious – enjoy!

If you want to find out more about the health benefits of consuming maca powder check out the link below:

https://www.themacateam.com/maca-benefits

You can purchase Maca powder from most health food shops but if you would like to purchase it online click on the link below, this is one of my fave suppliers and I have tried many over the years:

Organic Peruvian Maca Powder – 500g (Certified Organic)

 

These are also my fave coconut chips mmm:
Urban Fruit Coconut Chips Straight Up 14 x 25g

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Whipped Shea Butter Cream

sheacream

Organic Whipped Shea Butter and Almond Oil Recipe

This luxurious hand and body cream is amazing for the winter months.  The entire recipe consists of only two ingredients and its really easy to make.  It is particularly good for dry chapped hands, dry skin on your face and for any eczema or psoriasis you may have.

You will need:

A food processor

Storage Jar or Tin

Piping bag

Organic Cold Pressed Almond Oil (3-4tbsp)

Organic Shea Butter (1 1/2 cups)

I put about a cup and a half of shea butter into the food processor and blend on low power until smooth. 

Keep the machine running and add the almond oil into the shea a tbsp at a time, this will fluff up into a thick cream.  Add more almond oil if nessecary until you get the consistency you are after.  Keep checking, it literally takes a few seconds of blending to fluff up.

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe into your suitable container.  This will keep for a long time!  I would say about 6 months to a year.  Check it before use if its been a while. 

The cream is brilliant when used overnight after a nice relaxing hot bath.  I apply the cream to my hands throughout the day during the winter months to prevent cracking and dry skin.  I also add my own essential oil blends but please do your own research when it comes to essential oil use.  I add the oils after the initial shea blend and additional oils and butters can be added to the cream too.

It is important to use Organic Ingredients where affordable as they are so much kinder to your skin, the environment and the producers of such ingredients.  Also look out for Fair trade options for your ingredients as this will ensure you are putting your money towards good causes, small farms, cooperative groups etc. and helps to support those who need it the most.

I hope you enjoyed the video below and I would love to hear of your experiences with this cream, please drop me a comment or two.

Peace, love and blessings to you!

(!!!You should always test new products on your skin before use and list ingredients/check allergies before giving as a present!!!)


Kids Taste Test – Tesco Vegan & GF Snacks

 

A quick funny video of the kids first taste challenge, they were so excited about it Maggie rushed out to purchase all of the snacks for the next one from the Asian grocery store in Aberdeen.

This video consists of 6 snacks from Tesco which are gluten free and/or vegan friendly in an effort to get the kids to try new foods and not be scared off by how things look or appear at first.

Honest opinions are given, kids find it hard to lie lol! 🙂  The mustard I sneaked in at the end was a good surprise.

This video was Maggie’s idea and she made the signs etc. so I can’t take the credit for this one.

Well done Maggie xxxx

 


Melty “cheese” sandwich

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Oh yummy!

I don’t usually use fake meats and cheese because I don’t really feel they add that much to us nutritionally, I could be wrong but sometimes you just fancy some greedy foods!

I picked up some vibites beef slices in Holland and Barrett the other day so I had some vbites beef style slices with a violife cheese slice, tomatoes, jalapeños and some “mayo”.

Melted the lot in the foreman grill and served with a little salad


Chilli, corn bread and potatoes

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We are all soooo full up after our veggie chilli, roasted potatoes, corn bread, rice and cheese(violife).

wow where do I start…ok so first of all the corn bread recipe came from my new awesome book which I would totally recommend purchasing at the link below…it’s called “Peace and Parsnips – vegan cooking for everyone!”  And the recipes all have a different twist which makes things a bit interesting.

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So for the 🌶 I used the following ingredients…

Large potatoes and olive oil

2 or 2 tbsp of coconut oil

Chopped garlic

Chopped onions

Green peppers chopped into cubes

Carrots chopped into cubes

Tin of mixed beans

Tin of kidney beans

2 x tins of tomatoes 🍅

3-4tbsp of cumin seeds or powder

2tbsp of smoked cayenne pepper

chilli flakes to taste

Salt and pepper

Potatoes

Slice the potatoes thinly almost straight through and repeat along the potato, brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Pop in a tray into the oven for 30-40mins until tender.

Cook the chopped onions and garlic in the coconut oil for a few minutes, add the chopped green peppers and carrots and cook for another few minutes.  Add both the tins of mixed beans and the tomatoes, cumin, cayenne pepper, chilli flakes to taste and the salt and pepper to season.  Bubble away on a low simmer for about 15-20mins, cook some rice and serve with the bread and potatoes.