Morning muesli with seeds, nuts and fruit

I am someone who needs to snack often, usually in hour-and-a-half intervals. Often I know what time it is, simply because I'm hungry... again. But the other week, I made some muesli on a whim and it kept me full right through til lunchtime. A mini miracle!

Here's a rough recipe if you'd like to make your own. When it comes to the nuts, spices and seeds, you experiment with what you already have at home. I made the first batch with dried apricots (my favourite), chopped almonds and toasted coconut flakes that were leftover from a giant lamington cake. I added pretty much every seed I could find in the cupboard (thank you pantry clean up!) and I think they helped keep me full.

It's especially great topped with yoghurt and summer fruits, like mango, white peaches and blueberries. I like it with a generous splash of milk too.

Morning muesli with seeds, nuts and fruit
Makes a large jar, usually enough to feed 2 for a week

You'll need:

3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup coconut flakes
2 Tbsp chia seeds
2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp pepitas
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/3 hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1/3 cup sultanas
1/3 cup dried apples, diced

Here's how: 

Add the oats to a large mixing bowl, and then add the coconut flakes, seeds and cinnamon. Stir to combine, and add any extra toppings or oats depending on your preference. Then add the hazelnuts and dried fruits, stirring again to mix well. Store in an airtight jar or container. Serve with yoghurt, fresh fruit and milk.

Coconut scrambled eggs with avocado and chilli sauce

This is my favourite at-home breakfast. It's inspired by a beautiful French bakery on our street that serves poached eggs on toast with a generous amount of chilli jam. There's something about hot eggs, toast and coffee that makes me very happy.

For ease (or because I'm lazy), I make scrambled eggs. They're less fussy than poached and more festive than a boiled egg. Using coconut oil, instead of butter or olive oil, also gives the eggs a lovely subtle flavour.

To keep everything hot, I put on a pot of coffee, pop my bread in the toaster and get my avocado and condiments ready before I start on the eggs. It's extra luxurious if you can find a really nice loaf of bread, like the kinds served in cafes.

Coconut scrambled eggs with avocado and chilli sauce

Serves 2 (or one if you're extremely hungry)

You'll need:

1/2 to 1 tsp of coconut oil
4 eggs
A dash of milk or water
Salt and pepper
1 avocado
2 extra large slices of bread (or four regular slices)
Chilli sauce (our favourite, chilli jam would be lovely too)

Here's how:

I like to get everything ready before I start cracking the eggs, so get your bread in the toaster, and have a chopping board ready with the avocado and chilli sauce.

Then, crack the eggs into a medium sized bowl, add a dash of milk or water and whisk lightly.

Heat the coconut oil in a fry pan over medium-high heat. Now's a good time to put your toast on. When the oil is melted, pour in your eggs, and give them a moment to set slightly before you start stirring them gently with a small whisk.

Continue to stir until they're scrambled but not completely cooked. Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Call in some help to spread the avocado over your toast if you have it. When the toast is ready, gently scrape the eggs onto the toast, and top with chilli sauce. We normally have one slice with avocado and eggs, the other with butter and jam.

Enjoy with hot coffee or tea, and some fruit to finish.

P.S - Tony's favourite eggs on toast - a folded omelette with cheese.

Breakfast on the run

Tony and I have been doing heaps of yoga lately - we made it to five classes last week! We found a studio we really love (they serve coffee right after class) and signed up for the six month pass. We go to an early morning class which means taking breakfast and lunch to work. It's taken a bit of getting used to but here are a few things we've landed on :

Bircher muesli + berries

I make a batch of bircher muesli most Sundays. I mix it up in containers (it's less washing up) so we can grab them from the fridge during the week. It's great with berries and cut up stone fruit.

Coconut muffin + smoothie

These double coconut muffins are quick to make, don't have too much sugar, and are so satisfying! I've made them with mangoes but you could use peaches or pears. They keep for 3-4 days, and freeze well too. I bought myself an insulated smoothie cup recently, and will make a green smoothie or a banana one before class so I'm not just eating cake for breakfast :) 

Yoghurt + banana + granola

This is my end-of-the-week special that takes 2 minutes to pack. It's some greek yoghurt, granola in a separate container to keep it crunchy, and a piece of fruit. I make a breakfast bowl when I get to work and it's super filling. You could also make this with a heaped teaspoon of peanut or almond butter instead of the granola, a holiday trick I pinched from Heidi.

P.S One of my teachers has a habit of saying 'feeling strong' when we're in the middle of a tricky pose. It makes me smile because I do not feel strong in that moment but appreciate the positive prompt :)

An easy peasy breakfast with friends

I made my very first batch of cinnamon scrolls in 2017. They were on my list of tiny fun things to try, plus they seemed to be popping up everywhere - in this little book of hygge, on Instagram and in recipe books I bought and borrowed. I tried a recipe from Violet Bakery. It's so good that I now feel like I have a cinnamon-scroll-making superpower :) 

Here's what makes the recipe so great: it's unfussy because it doesn't use yeast, and you can make them ahead of time and store them in the freezer until you're ready to bake (and eat) them.

On the last weekend of the year, we invited some friends round for breakfast. We kept things simple and served cinnamon scrolls, mangoes and coffee. I made the buns the night before, so all we had to do in the morning was prep the mango cheeks (Tony's specialty), make a pot of coffee, and pop the buns in the oven (which also made the house smell delicious).

Easiest breakfast party ever!

Morning smoothie with a caffeine kick

Do you drink coffee all year round? In summer I love having mine cold. Last week I started making a morning smoothie with coffee, banana and cinnamon, based on a favourite smoothie from a Sydney cafe called Bloom. Theirs is called the Crazy Ape :)

This smoothie is best enjoyed iced cold. So if you have a few minutes the night before, brew your coffee and store it in the fridge, and pop a few peeled bananas in the freezer too. This is my go-to breakfast if I'm running around (or running late!) in the morning.

Morning smoothie
Serves 2, though it's easily halved if you're just making one for yourself

You'll need:

2 ripe bananas, frozen
1 cup of espresso, chilled
2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
2 sprinkles of cinnamon
A dash of milk to blend, roughly 1/4 cup

Here's how:

Add your frozen bananas to your blender, breaking them up as you go. Then add the espresso, yoghurt, cinnamon and a dash of milk. Blend and add more milk as required. I like mine as a thickshake, so add as little as possible.

One last tip:

The riper your bananas the better, as they'll be extra sweet. My green grocer discounts them, and lets me choose them from the cold room! I buy about a dozen at a time, and leave peeled frozen bananas in the freezer for smoothies and homemade ice cream. You could also add a teaspoon of cacao or hot chocolate mix (I love Mork Chocolate) to mix it up.

Bircher Muesli with Hazelnut Crumble

After a brief obsession with overnight oats, I've returned to an old faithful - bircher muesli. With fresh berries or banana on top, it's cool and filling. With crunchy hazelnut crumble, it's even better. I make a bircher to go a few times a week, for the days that Tony and I go to yoga before work. It's a little reward for getting up early for class, and gives us some extra time to get a coffee too.

The bircher recipe comes from my friend Vanessa. I've added a few extra things, like chia seeds and bee pollen. You can experiment and add whatever you like! There's a bircher stand at our local farmers markets that uses sunflower seeds in the dry mix, and apple and ginger juice in place of almond milk and apple. The hazelnut and ginger crumble is inspired by the same stand. Their crumble is a bit more cookie-like, and I look forward to having it every Sunday. I've toned mine down for weekday eating :)

Bircher Muesli 

Serves 2

I split the ingredients into two containers as I'm making it, for breakfast on the run. If you'll be having it at home, just make it in the bowls you'll be eating from - it's less washing up!

You'll need:

1 cup of oats
1 green apple, grated
1 cup almond milk (you could use regular milk, apple juice or water)
4 tablespoons of yoghurt

Optional:

A pinch of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of chia seeds
1 teaspoon of bee pollen
Small handful of sultanas

Here's how:

Place all of your dry ingredients in a bowl (or divide equally between two bowls or containers) and mix to combine. Then add your yoghurt, milk and apple (make sure you add the juice too!) and mix again. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight. Bircher keeps pretty well, so you could always make a double batch for the week.

Hazelnut and Ginger Crumble

This is the best bit. Makes enough for 4 bircher bowls

You'll need:

2 handfuls of hazelnuts
4 heaped tablespoons plain flour (I've used wholewheat before and that works too)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Tiny pinch of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons of coconut oil

Here's how:

Set the oven to 160°C and roast your nuts while you prepare your crumble. Place them in a small ovenproof dish and roast for about 10-15 minutes, this will make them extra crunchy. You can smell when they're done! If they're blanched hazelnuts, set them aside to cool. If they still have a dark brown skin, gently squeeze the nuts when cool to remove it. I prefer hazelnuts without their skin, as it's less bitter.

To make the crumble, combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl and lightly whisk to combine. Then add your coconut oil, and pinch the ingredients between your fingers gently, until the mixture has an even crumb-like texture.

Place the mixture in a lined baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, stirring gently at the halfway mark. Set aside to cool and crisp up. Later, gently stir in the hazelnuts and transfer to a jar until you're ready to serve.

To serve, top your bircher with fresh berries, a few scoops of hazelnut crumble, a dollop of yoghurt if you're extra hungry, and a dash of maple syrup to taste. When we're taking ours to go, I keep the berries and the crumble separate so nothing goes soggy. Enjoy with a hot cup of something and have a lovely day :)

My go-to green smoothie

There's something really lovely about coming home after a solid period of travel. After packing my bag every few days for the last fortnight, I've been enjoying really little things about being back home, like making food for myself.

On slow weekends, I love to make a batch of peanut butter and honey granola for the week ahead. And after many delicious meals out, I've been craving fruit and veggies. I've been making this green smoothie, which is sweet, refreshing and not too spinach-y :)

Green smoothie
Adapted from New York Cult Recipes.

Makes one giant smoothie, or two medium-sized ones.

You'll need:

1 ripe banana, peeled and broken into pieces*
100g frozen mango pieces
1 cup mineral water, chilled
A large handful of spinach
1/2 tsp of your favourite honey
A few sprigs of mint (optional)

Here's how:

Pop everything in a blender and blend until combined. Add more water if required. Done!

* The banana can be frozen if you like your smoothie extra cold. My blender isn't the strongest, so I add a ripe room-temperature banana to speed things up.

P.S I've stopped looking at social media in the morning and it's been great. I feel far less rushed and have been using the spare time to make a proper breakfast - like porridge or scrambled eggs on avocado toast. Some days there's even time to make and photograph a smoothie ;) Here's another favourite morning smoothie, which I make a lot in summer.

It's porridge season

I almost bought a porridge cookbook the other day, inspired by this nutty bowl I had in Melbourne. It was sweet, crunchy and full of autumn fruit and I'm going to try and recreate it at home.

For the last few winters I've used this recipe, which I double to make enough for three (I stash one serving in the fridge for rushed weekday mornings). Lately I've been eating it with a big spoonful of yoghurt and jam, a combo I've pinched from this LA cafe.

If you're keen for something even richer, the cafe next to our old home in Sydney used to soak their oats in cream overnight! I've never been game to try it.

P.S Why you should add salt to your oats and invest in a spurtle.

Blueberry and green tea smoothie with honey and mint

If you have a stash of frozen blueberries, this is a super refreshing way to start the day. My favourite breakfast is this smoothie and a thick slice of Vegemite toast with a soft boiled egg on top.

This breakfast is inspired by two much-loved cafes. The Australian twist on egg and soldiers is served at Bloom, near Tony's parent's place and the smoothie comes from ONA on the Lawns, where we love taking visitors for brunch.

Blueberry and green tea smoothie with honey and mint

Serves 1

You will need:
1 cup of blueberries, frozen
Half a banana, frozen and sliced
1 teaspoon of honey or more to taste
About a cup of green or peppermint tea, chilled
A few mint leaves

Here's how:

Make your green tea in advance so it has time to chill in the fridge. Green tea is best brewed at around 80 degrees celsius for just a few minutes. If you don't have a fancy kettle, let your boiled water sit for awhile before you add your tea bag. I normally make two cups of tea, so I can double the recipe or sip on cold green tea later in the day.

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. If all of your fruit is frozen (which makes for a deliciously cold smoothie), you might need a wooden spoon to gently separate the fruit if it freezes together.

Serve immediately.

Tony and I try and have breakfast together most mornings, which sometimes means one of us eating cereal on the bed if the other has a late start but still wants to chat :) Other days... I am sipping a smoothie while trying to throw a packed lunch together and organise an outfit to change into after I ride to work.

Coconut and cherry muesli with almonds

We've just come out of a mini heatwave (it was 39 on Friday!) so I mixed up a big batch of muesli for the week instead of baking granola. Homemade muesli is super quick to make and a bowl keeps me full until lunch time, which is a very rare thing :)

Coconut and cherry muesli with almonds and extras
Serves 4

You will need:
2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 cup of shredded coconut, dried cherries, almonds
2 tbsp pepitas
2 tsp bee pollen (optional, we have a jar in our pantry from making these smoothies. I add it for texture and colour, plus it's meant to be really good for you too!)

Here's how:
Roughly chop the dried cherries and almonds. Place all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Serve with a generous dollop of greek yoghurt, half a sliced banana, a small handful of raspberries and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey. Store the remainder in an air-tight container.

I'm excited to try different combinations of fruits and nuts in the coming weeks, like dried apricot and hazelnut. If you have a nice jar on hand you could easily give this as a gift to new parents or a friend with a lot on their plate.

P.S Five recipes to make for friends

Pink grapefruit and orange juice

I love ordering freshly squeezed juice when I'm out for breakfast and this week I've been making pink grapefruit and orange juice at home. It's super easy and makes my mornings feel a bit more festive.

I've been squeezing one pink grapefruit and an orange if it's just me, and if Tony's home, I'll add an orange or two. On the weekend, I'd drink it with a fresh croissant, or this easy egg roll. On weekdays, it makes my bowl of Weet-Bix seem that little bit cheerier :)