Life of Jana

A while ago I bought a box of 'Get Fruity' snack bars. I ordered them online back when they gave the option to buy either a pack of 6 or a box of 25 but I think now they only sell them in large quantities. Get Fruity have a quite a selection of flavours; I am quite picky when it comes to fruit bars, so I picked Juicy Apricot, Orange & Ginger; Tangy Pineapple, Coconut & Lime Bar; and Moist Mixed Berry Bar.  My order was delayed and when it eventually arrived I was surprised to find that some extra bars had been added to my order - that was really nice of them! The box contained about 25 bars altogether - I had almost the whole month covered! I put one in my bag before going to work or the gym. Get Fruity make some of the best snack bars I have tried. I got so addicted to these! They all have a similar texture - super jucy, soft and have a very natural taste.  My favourite is the Juicy Apricot, Orange & Ginger bar. It has a subtle, sweet taste and you ...

  I love having a quick and easy smoothie for breakfast , lunch or whenever I feel like snacking . Most of the time I use frozen berries but for somet hing di ff erent every now and then I 'll use spinach - I like the mild flavour it gives. I use one or two bananas to sweeten it up a bit and sometimes some fresh raspberries, too. I will usually use coconut water and a little bit of tap water to make it less thick .  My blender is about 500ml so I get two small bottles from it.  Ingredients I use for a spinach smoothie: T wo handfuls of s pinach 1 large banana A h andful of raspberries 200ml coconut water 200ml tap water

It has been almost two months since I last blogegd and I've been missing it a lot! The beginning of the year has been quite hectic for me. I will share more about the year so far later but at the moment I want to share an amazing cupcake recipe I came up with recently!  You will all know by now that I am trying to eat as clean as possible, so I'm always trying to invent something new with healthy ingredients I find in my kitchen. I usually have some small jars of nut butters laying around in the cupboard, just because they are super easy to use in baking. I've noticed that they make muffins and cupcakes moist and soft, so they work as a good substitute for regular dairy butter. Ingredients: 2 eggs  1 cup unsweetened apple sauce  1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk  1/4 cup Greek yogurt 1 tablespoon vanilla extract  4 tablespoons almond butter  2 cups self raising flour 2 tablespoons brown sugar or coconut sugar  1 teaspoon baking soda...

I recently bought a ROO'BAR Super Mix Box which contains 16 bars: 4x Goji Berry, 4x Cacao Nibs, 4x Maca Cranberry and 4x Chia Coconut. These are 50g bars, making them perfect for little snacks between meals. They are also raw, organic, gluten free and suitable for vegans.  Maca Cranberry contains Maca powder, cranberries, dates, almonds and maca powder. This bar is full of antioxidants from cranberries and it has a nutty taste. Cacao Nibs contains almonds, Peruvian cacao nibs, cacao powder and dates. I like the smooth, sweet taste and nutty flavour. The cacao nibs make this bar crunchy. It is definitely my favourite and actually tastes like a real chocolate bar. Chia Coconut contains dates, desiccated coconut, crispy chia seeds and lemon oil. This bar has a very strong taste which I am not a massive fan of. I'm usually a big fan of chia seeds but in raw bars they are not my favourite. Goji Berry contains Goji berries, dried coconut and raw cacao powder. I love Go...

I know I've posted a lot about food recently but it's almost Christmas, so yes, I am a little foodie! I'm trying to eat healthily and have a balanced diet, although I am allowing myself ''cheat snacks''. If you follow my Instagram, you will know. I woke up at 10am this morning. As usual, it's hard to get out of bed on the weekend, so I had a very late breakfast at about 11. I had a quick almond milk, banana and spinach smoothie with 2 rice crackers topped with almond butter and leftover banana. I ran out of my Keen Nut Butter (Almond Smooth) today, so I need to pick up a new jar soon!   I had a good cardio session at gym today - I ran on the treadmill and finished my workout on a Elliptical trainer. When I got home I was exhausted but I am glad I went out and did something active. My post-workout meal included a toasted red onion and chive bagel with cream cheese and ham. I made one for Tristan too and he loved it! Tristan and...

I am a big fan of bananas but I am not always in the mood to bak e with them . I found so many healthy and tasty overnight pudding recipes and tried one out myself. I made it the night before and it makes a delicious and filling breakfast the next morning! I love chocolate, so I added a bit of raw c ocoa ( if you don 't like raw cocoa you can replace it with cinnamon ) and it taste d like melted choco late in a banana pudding! Ingredients: 1 banana 1 tablespoon chia seeds 1 teaspoon of honey 1 t ablespoon o f raw cocoa (or 1 teaspoon o f cinnamo n) 1/2 cup jumbo oats 1/3 cup greek yogurt 1/4 cup almond milk Instructions: Mix together all the liquids: honey, greek yougurt and almond milk M ash a banana with fork Add mashed banana, oats, chia seeds and raw cocoa to the mixture and combine Refrigerate overnight In the morning, top up however you like : dates, walnuts, shredded coconut , almonds or berries.  I topped my overnight oats with...

  I came up with a health y cupcake recipe that I might use as an alternative to my usual C hristmas baking . I also bought these beautiful gold and green foil cases from Amazon - they make my cupcakes so Christmasy! It ' s an easy recipe and do esn't take long to make . I think the most fun part about baking cupcakes is decorating. I picked up these Milk Chocolate Multi Coloured Sprinkles (mini jazzies) from Tesco especiall y for Christ mas and they were only £1 ! I am really happy with how my cupcakes came out - they are so fluffy, light and do n' t taste overly sweet. I can actually taste all of the flavours and t hey are perfect to have with a hot chocolate! Ingredients: 3 bananas 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup) 3 eggs 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups organic self raising flour (or a c ombination of plain and self raising flour) 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 ...

Today has been a really productive day. I got up at around 12pm (yes, I love my bed on the weekends) but I still made it to the gym, wrapped most of the presents for my friends and family and cooked a yummy dinner! I had a quick fruity breakfast/lunch before I headed off to the gym. I am such a big fan of persimmons at the moment but am trying not to eat it every day, as it is quite high in sugar. I added a bit of lemon juice to my fruit and had some tea next to it. After the gym, I decided to have a quick post-workout meal before dinner, so I bought some red onion and chive bagles from my the supermarket. I had a full jar of peanut butter sitting in the cupboard, so I decided to experiment a little. I've never had bagels before nor have I ever had peanut butter unless I was baking with it. Surprisingly, it was actually quite enjoyable - I think topping my peanut butter bagels with fresh cranberries helped a lot to take a away the dry and thick texture.   For our dinner Tr...

This is my second Peanut Butter Truffles recipe (check out my first one here ) and I am so happy with how they came out. I found this recipe a bit easier as there is not so much hassle with chocolate as there is with the other one. Instead of covering them with chocolate, I decided to add chocolate drops to the mixture and they tasted even better! These truffles are very filling and they are perfect to eat when I feel like a snack. Ingredients: 1 cup smooth peanut butter 1/2 cup dates 1/3 cup almonds 1 tablespoon of honey 1/4 cup dark chocolate drops 1 handful of shredded coconut 1 teaspoon of cinnamon  Instructions: Pour shredded coconut onto a large plate and set aside Crush dates and almonds in a food processor In a large bowl, combine the crushed ingredients with peanut butter and honey Mix well and add chocolate drops Roll little balls with your hands and then roll them into the coconut Place them in a container or on a plate and put in the fridge...

I started my morning at 9am as a friend of mine came over to pick up our old Christmas tree ( we're getting a new tree this year so we needed to get rid of the old one - I can't wait to start decorating with Tristan!) . I had a warm glass of water to wake my body up and had a second glass with a slice of lemon. I don't usually drink much water in the morning - I'm usually having tea or coffee which I guess isn't the ideal way to start a day. Once I was settled, I had my Overnight Oats with cranberries, half of a banana and shredded almonds for breakfast. I love this recipe so I'll write more about it another time. Tristan got a £15 voucher from Deliveroo yesterday, so we decided to have Nandos delivered for lunch. I had a Grilled Chicken Burger with avocado, halloumi and mushroom with a side of coleslaw. It was very filling but still quite healthy.  I've been wrapped up in my blanket all day today so it has been quite a relaxing Sunday. I hav...

  Recently, one of my favourite things to bake with has been banana . I always buy big bags of fruit and have found that most of the time I am not able to finish it all. I usually leave bananas until last, as they keep longer and I like them more when they are sweet and soft. Also if I am ever in the mood for baking, ripe bananas are the best!  Another recent obsession of mine has been coconut milk and coconut cream. I use coconut milk in soups, sauces and curries; while I use coconut cream in cakes, muffins, smoothies and cocktails. Rather than buy ready-made coconut creams, I make it myself by seperating it from coconut milk. Coconut cream ''appears'' when you leave your coconut milk to sit in the fridge overnight. The milk separates and the non-liquidy creamy part rises to the top - coconut cream! By shaking the cream you can combine it back into the milk. There is even a way to make a coconut whipped cream, although I've not tried it yet. Ingredients:...

As you all know by now, I love baking cookies. Most of the time they are chocolate cookies. To spice things up a bit, I decided to bake oat cookies this time with what I had in the cupboard - without any chocolate! I bought a little packet of Goji berries from Tesco a couple of weeks ago, usually I will have them in a bowl of fruit, use them for making tea or have them on top of ice cream. I thought I'd try them in cookies!  These came out amazing so I will share my recipe with you! Ingredients:   A handful of dates A handful Goji berries 1/2 cup water (berry soaked water) 1 egg 2 tablespoons peanut butter 2 cups oats 1 - 3 tablespoons coconut flour (just to make it thicker) Directions: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray Soak dried fruit (dates and Goji berries) in a small bowl with water and set aside. Let them soak at least 5 minutes In a larger bowl, beat an egg lightly and add peanut butter. Mix until creamy Add the soaked fruit w...

I have been thinking about chocolate truffles for a while now and I couldn't believe that they were so easy to make! I am a big fan of Dana and John who have a food blog called Minimalist Baker . I'm sure you have all heard about it. Her simple and delicious recipes inspired me to make some raw peanut butter truffles. I changed the recipe a bit to suit my taste and I think they came out pretty good for a first try. They are so simple, healthy and filling!  Ingredients: 1 cup smooth peanut butter 4 tablespoons shredded coconut 3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup a handful of crushed peanuts dark chocolate for dipping Directions: Before making the truffle mixture, crush a handful of peanuts in a food processor In a large bowl, combine the ingredients - peanut butter, honey, shredded coconut and peanuts Roll little 3cm balls with your hands Place them on a tray/small plate/container and freeze for 25 to 30 minutes Melt the chocolate and set aside to coo...