October

So the clocks have gone back, the nights are going dark and (apparently) around 160,000 people have quit smoking. October is an influential month for more reasons than one.

STOPTOBER - Somebody in the Government woke up one morning and combined the words STOP with OCTOBER, this play on words created enough ammo to make a stop smoking scheme; a month whereby people would quit smoking because they were so drawn in by the pun itself.

During STOPTOBER you can order a Stoptober Pack containing information/help/advice/charts/ideas based on quitting smoking - I don't think the kit contains actual 'Stop Smoking' produce like NiQuitin Patches but clearly it contains enough to stop 160,000 people smoking!

Hands up to everyone who quit smoking through Stoptober, for the others who 'accidentally' missed it, you can get the same kit (for free) on this website at anytime of the year. If it's a pun that you need to motivate yourself then why not formulate:

NO-VEMBER (No Smoking November) 

DITCHCEMBER (Ditch It December)

... Okay i'm kidding my puns were awful and I'm not about to set up a Stop Smoking Campaign and make an artificial deadline, if you want to stop smoking you will. 

Breast Cancer Awareness Month -  Breast Cancer Care chose October to be the month of awareness, the month which pushes everything pink and educates people about the awful disease that is Breast Cancer. You've probably seen groups of women wearing pink, selling pink cupcakes and talking about boobs - Yes this may be the norm for some women, pink/cupcakes/boobs (how stereotypical) but for the others they are campaigning for a cure.

I wanted to think of a way I could support Breast Cancer on my blog, without having to upload a photo of myself head to toe in pink (i'm not a pink person). So I decided to make a pink healthy recipe that's perfect for Autumn.

Clean Healthy Raspberry and Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 9 TBSP of Oat Flour
• 1 1/2 TSP of Baking Powder
• 1 TSP of Ground Cinnamon
• 3 TBSP of Sweetener (I used Stevia- Use whatever you want and sweeten it to your own preference)
• Pinch of Salt
• 2 Ripe Bananas
• Handful of Raspberries 
• 3 Eggs (2 full eggs and 1 for egg whites)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200c

2. Make the Oat Flour by blending up porridge oats.

3. Combine dry ingredients through a sieve and mix together.
4. In a separate bowl, mash raspberries and bananas (minus 1/4 of a banana- Keep this to the side) and whisk the eggs in using 1 egg white and 2 full eggs.
5. Mix all ingredients together.
6. Add to bread tin - Cut up the 1/4 banana you left to the side and place the pieces on top of the mixture (Simply for cute decoration).
 7. Put in the oven for 30-40 minutes - I wasn't 100% sure of the time so just keep an eye on the bread - You can check if it's done by putting a knife in the centre, if it comes out clean then the bread is ready.

As you can see I didn't own a rectangle bread tin, so I made a bread bun.

The recipe may not scream pink but I don't think anything bright pink looks particularly healthy. This banana bread defines 'clean eating' and is perfect for a quick breakfast fix or a healthy dessert.

NOW FOR HALLOWEEN AND BONFIRE NIGHT! Bring on the fake blood and the Bonfire lollies. 

If it's Green it's Good

I've been receiving some lovely messages and feedback about my blog, with one message in particular being repeated - What health product would I recommend - As I couldn't answer this question I took it upon myself to test out a few products - Human Guinea Pig style. Some of them were crappy and some were amazing. So for today I've decided to give you an amazing product.

Wheatgrass Powder.

I've known about this superfood for over a year now but I'd never really got around to trying it  (Something to do with it being bright green and made of grass). Anyway, on my hunt for health products I found myself in a 'Smoothie & Healthy Fast Food Bar' called 'The Shambles Kitchen' formerly known as 'Xing.' This bar is the best healthy-food-place you'll find in York; the menu boasts detoxing smoothies and juices as well as nourishing meals. On this particular day I was looking for a pick-me-up and the man in the shop suggested a shot of Spirulina or Wheatgrass - Having never declined a shot before in my life, I felt obliged to go with his decision. Here's what I got:

Yep that bright green unappealing looking substance is Wheatgrass. I also took a sample of a Banana smoothie to help the taste go down...

Review - I'm not going to lie, it isn't pleasant. It tastes like grass mixed with grit, normally I'd put anyone off anything that tastes like grassy grit but not this. Within 5-10 minutes of shotting the Wheatgrass I immediately felt better, from feeling groggy and ill I became livelier and headache-free. Unsure whether this miracle-effect was a one off I bought myself a bag of Wheatgrass Powder from Holland & Barrett to put it to test at home...

It's £7.99 for 200g at Holland & B however when I bought it, it was 2-4-1 so I got it with a friend and paid half price (Watch out for the H&B sales you can get some cheap buys from time to time)! My first taste at home was a shot of Wheatgrass and water - I nearly died in my kitchen - Seriously do not attempt it on it's own, it's so rank. I also tried it mixed into a smoothie but I wasn't a fan, it overpowers the smoothie's taste. 

Through testing (and vomming) different concoctions I've found the answer:

- 2 x Teaspoons of Wheatgrass Powder mixed with a dash of water and a cordial of your choice. It takes the flavour away completely.

Oh yeah and now for the quick de-brief into why it makes you feel better - I'm not going to give you the health jargon and list of individual minerals and vitamins because i'm pretty sure that nobody even knows (or cares) what they do (including me):

Basically... 3.5g of Wheatgrass Powder is equivalent to 50g of spinach. It boosts the immune system, contains all 9 essential amino acids AND contains an array of vitamins - These are just SOME of the health benefits, there's soooo many more. 

My tip for winter - Stock up on Wheatgrass Powder.

The Porridge Tub Trend

So the British weather has taken a turn for the worst; it is freezing. For weeks i've been looking for an excuse to wear my new winter coat and now that I finally have one, I don't even want to wear it -It's been one of those days.

Anyway, at some point today I came across the fact that it is 'National Porridge Day,' (Who the hell makes this sh*t up). So I thought, why wouldn't I do a blog post on my childhood nightmare. 

Porridge... I'm not sure how people feel about it. Some people have fond porridge memories, sat in a cosy house, eating porridge which has been cooked on the AGA and drizzled with honey. For the Oliver Twist's amongst us it's a stomach turner, porridge is associated with slop and thick gloop...Then there's the modernista's; somewhere, somehow, porridge has become cool. We've fallen into this huge commercial trap of eating it because it comes in cute little tubs that edit well on Instragram:

Hats off to Quaker Oats for charging £1.50 (at least) for a single tub of porridge, a tub which contains sugar, skimmed milk powder and porridge oats - Around 35 measly grams of porridge oats.

Lets just talk about SKIMMED MILK POWDER, as appealing as skimmed milk powder sounds, I don't think i'm in any rush to buy it. In fact, i'm not going to buy it at all, these tubs of porridge can be easily replicated without the skimmed milk powder and without the ridiculous price. A 1kg bag of porridge oats from Tesco costs 75p; that singular bag would make 28 porridge tubs at 2.7p a tub. 

If you're a busy lady whose life has been changed by the miracle that is porridge in a tub, then let me take this opportunity to introduce you to tupperware, it's a modern day miracle, you can fill your tupperware tub with porridge oats the night before and even fill another tub with milk; then when you're ready to eat you can pop them all together in a microwave and Bob's your uncle. If you're particularly picky and only have a kettle to hand during the day then that is also fine, porridge works just as well with water, you might need to add a little extra flavour. 

Porridge should be the go-to breakfast for anyone living an active lifestyle. The slow releasing complex carbs found in the oats leave you feeling fuller for longer. Not like the breakfast 'biscuit' advert, the one  saying how you'll feel full after 1 'biscuit' (it's a lie, they aren't biscuits and they don't even hit the sides). Porridge genuinely fills you up and heats you up. It's also full of fibre and protein, as well as vitamins and minerals, plus it goes with pretty much anything so you can make it as healthy as you want. 

For those of you still wincing at the thought of porridge, why not spice things up, literally... Add some cinnamon, maybe brown sugar, fruit, peanut butter, swap your milk for almond milk or coconut milk, i've even heard of people having marmite on their porridge (vom), whatever your taste, give it a shot.

Here was my porridge this morning:

Coconut, fig and dark chocolate - Delicious.

Nike Discount

Exercise is an expensive hobby; you spend a small fortune on gym clothes that you are expecting to fall off you after 6 months.

Little things like EXTRA SALE DISCOUNT can be a life saver.

So here you go, for all my lovely readers have a further 10% off the Nike Sale.

Visit this link and take an extra 10% off the already discounted clothing using this code: 

DUNK10 

(It's valid from the 3rd-12th October)

Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free Chocolate Truffle Recipe (It Rhymes)

So if like me you're drooling over The Great British Bake Off, wondering if your diet will ever allow you to eat cake again; well look no further.

In fact i've taken it a step beyond cake: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Chocolate Truffles - Perfect for you Paleo people. I'm sorry to those of you who want cake but this recipe relates directly to my 'Why You SHOULD Eat Chocolate' post, i'm basically giving you another excuse to eat chocolate. (Plus eating truffles increases your social class). 

Ingredients:

• 5 ounces of Dark Chocolate (70% or higher)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 120ml of coconut milk (I use Koko Milk) 
• Drop of vanilla extract
• For the topping : 
• Cocoa powder and/or Shredded Coconut

Method:

1. Chop up the chocolate into pieces and place them in a bowl with the coconut oil - Set this aside. 
2. Heat the coconut milk on the hob in a saucepan on a medium heat. Remove it from the heat when it begins to simmer.
3. Pour the hot coconut milk into the coconut oil & chocolate bowl and slowly mix the ingredients together.
4. Finally add in the vanilla extract and continue to slowly stir. 
5. Pour the mixture into a sealable bowl/tub/container and leave it in the fridge until set (around 4-5 hours).

This is when it all gets a little bit fiddly, you need to get your fingers into the mix and form it into little balls - Be quick or the mixture will melt in your fingers. 

Roll the balls in a topping of your choice, I went for cocoa powder and shredded coconut. Once you've coated the balls in your favourite (healthy) topping, pop them back into the fridge for an hour.

And in the words of Nicole Scherzinger, here you have some LITTLE COCO DUSTED BALLS OF DELICIOUSNESS.