Nourishing Alex

Apple Pie Oatmeal

Published on December 9, 2019 by nourishingalex2 Comments

The perfect warming porridge for the colder months of the year. Slowly cooked soft sweet cinnamon stewed apples on top of creamy cozy porridge. I love having this with creamy coconut yoghurt. It’s like dessert for breakfast!

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 cup (100g) oats
a pinch of salt
a pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
splash of plant milk (i used almond milk)
1tbsp maple syrup, plus extra to drizzle
1tsp vanilla extract
1 medium sweet apple, chopped into thick chunks
a handful of pecan nuts

Saute the cinnamon apple chunks to a small saucepan with a little water, sprinkle in some cinnamon and cook on a medium heat until it starts to bubble, then turn the heat down to low and simmer the apple for 10-15 mins until the apples are soft and the liquid has evaporated. Stir the pecans in the the apples at the end.
Add the oats to a pan, stir in the salt, cinnamon & a pinch of nutmeg. Pour some boiling water from the kettle until you just covered the oats, give a good stir and soak for 5 mins until gloopy.
Add the oats to the hob, add a splash of almond milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract, then gently heat up on a medium heat, stirring consistently for 5 mins until you have reached your desired consistency. (Add more milk for a creamier consistency, cook for longer for a thicker consistency).
Pour your oats into your bowl, top with the cinnamon apple, some dairy-free coconut yoghurt, pecans & drizzle with maple syrup! Enjoy!

PS – If you ever end up making this recipe, let me know what you think by commenting below. I always love to hear what people think! Or if you managed to take a photo, post it on Instagram and tag @nourishingalex so i can see it and i will share it on my Insta-stories! THANKS! Alex ❤

Gingerbread Porridge

Published on December 9, 2019 by nourishingalexLeave a comment

To get us into the festive season, we love having this gingerbread porridge with gingerbread men sprinkled on top. This has all the gingerbread flavours and whilst cooking, it sends off the most festive aromas. Such a fun way to shake up for porridge in the mornings!

Serves 1

80g oats
pinch of salt
1tsp ground ginger
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp vanilla extract
1tbsp maple syrup/molasses
splash of plant milk according to your desired consistency. (I use oat milk)
1 medium ripe banana, sliced in 1/2

Method

Pour your oats into a saucepan, stir in the ginger, cinnamon & salt then add 1/2 the banana chopped into chunks.
pour over some boiling water from the kettle until it just covers the oats and stir until gloopy. Allow the oats to soak for 5 mins to soften.
Add in the vanilla extract, maple syrup/molasses and splash of plant milk and give it a good stir.
Heat the porridge up on the hob until piping hot and creamy. (Add more milk for a creamier consistency, cook for longer for a thicker consistency).
Serve in your bowl and top with the other half of banana, and your desired toppings. I added dairy-free coconut yoghurt, pomegranate, some vegan gingerbread men, sprinkled with extra cinnamon and drizzled with more maple syrup. Enjoy!

PS – If you make this recipe, i would love to hear what you think! Let me know what you think by commenting below. Or if you take a photo, post it on Instagram and tag @nourishingalex and i will happily share it on my Insta-Stories! THANKS, Alex ❤

Simple Italian Tomato Pasta with red kidney beans

Published on December 4, 2019 by nourishingalexLeave a comment

This is one of my go to pasta recipes, because its just so easy and simple to make yet so hearty and satisfying. The Italian tomato sauce is so so flavoursome and there is plenty of plant protein from the kidney beans! You must sprinkle the pasta with lots of nutritional yeast when you serve it in your bowl, because you haveeee to. Okay? It’s so good 😛

Serves 2

Ingredients

2-3 servings of pasta
400g can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 small onion, diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced/2 tsp garlic granules
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
400g can plum/chopped tomatoes
juice of 1/2 lemon
1tbsp cornflower
1 tsp sriracha sauce (optional for a little kick SO yum)
1 tsp coconut sugar/brown sugar/maple syrup
salt & pepper, to taste

Method

To make the tomato sauce, sauté the onion & minced garlic cloves in a saucepan using a little water/oil on a medium/high heat for 10 mins until the onion is see through.
Turn the heat down a lil, then add the tomato purée, stir in the dried herbs (and garlic granules if your not using garlic cloves). Cook for 1 min until fragrant.⁣
Pour in your can of tomatoes, lemon juice, sugar, sriracha & cornflower. Season with salt and pepper, bring to boil, then turn the heat down to simmer for 10 mins until piping hot.⁣
Meanwhile cook the pasta and the red kidney beans together in a pan of boiling water at the same time according to pasta cooking instructions. ⁣
Once the pasta is cooked as the beans are soft. Drain the water from the pan through a colander, then add the beans and pasta back into the pan.⁣
Pour your tomato sauce over the pasta and stir it all in. (You can also wilt in some spinach if you like) Serve, sprinkle with nutritional yeast and enjoy!

Lentil, Cauliflower & Coconut Dal

Published on December 2, 2019 by nourishingalex2 Comments

Easy Simple Lentil, Cauliflower & Coconut Dal! I love this meal so much because it’s just so easy and simple to make, it’s budget friendly using mainly just pantry ingredients, and so delicious and comforting. It’s such a cozy meal especially during the cold winter evenings, but i love it in any weather with a side of salad. You can also freeze leftovers to use for meals during the week.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 2 tsp garlic granules)
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
250/300g frozen cauliflower florets
1/2 can (200g) chopped tomatoes
400g can coconut milk
240g can lentils, drained & rinsed
juice of 1 lime
salt & pepper, to taste

Method

Saute the onion & minced garlic in a saucepan with a little water (or oil if preferred) and cook on a high heat setting for 10 mins until the onion is see-through.
Stir in all the spices, cook for 2 mins until fragrant.
Pour in the coconut milk, 1/2 can chopped tomatoes, lentils, frozen cauliflower & lime juice, then bring to boil. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low, stirring occasionally, let it simmer for 30 mins until the sauce has thickened and reduced down.
Season with salt & pepper, serve with rice & enjoy!

Sweet Potato & Lentil Shepherds Pie

Published on November 21, 2019November 21, 2019 by nourishingalexLeave a comment

Easy and delicious vegan shepherds pie. So comforting, satisfying and full of so much goodness! This is one of our favourite family meals! We could eat this everyday!

You can also freeze your leftovers in the freezer for meals during the week!

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

1kg sweet potatoes, peeled & washed
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 2tsp garlic powder)
1 medium carrot, finely diced
200g chestnut mushrooms, diced
1tsp dried basil
1tsp dried oregano
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 can lentils, drained & rinsed
1/2 can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 knob vegan butter
A sprinkle of nutritional yeast (optional)
Salt & pepper, to taste

Method

Preheat oven to 200C/180C fan/400F/gas 6.
To make the sweet potato mash: slice up your sweet potatoes and place them in a pan of boiling water. Cook until nice and soft, then drain the water from the pan, add a knob of vegan butter, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast, season with salt & pepper, then mash until fluffy and creamy. Set aside.
Next sauté the onion, garlic & finely chopped carrot in a large separate saucepan on high for 10 minutes using a little water to steam fry until the onion is see-through and the carrot is almost soft.
Add in the diced mushrooms, further cook for another 5 minutes until the mushrooms are soft.
Stir in the dried herbs, cook for 1 min until fragrant, then pour in the chopped tomatoes, 1/2 can red kidney beans & lentils, season with salt & pepper, cook for 6-7mins.
Add the lentil & mushroom filling into a medium sized baking dish, then smooth over the sweet potato mash on top making patterns using a fork.
Bake in the oven and cook for 20 minutes until piping hot and the mash is almost crisp on top. Serve with green veggies! Enjoy!

Easy Bean Chilli

Published on August 8, 2019January 15, 2020 by nourishingalex1 Comment

This easy-to-make delicious bean chilli is so warming and comforting, but we enjoy eating it any time of the year! It’s very budget friendly, using only pantry simple ingredients so perfect for people who are on a low budget, students and parents! You can freeze any leftovers and make yummy meals during the week or keep it chilled in the fridge for 2-3 days!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 medium/small red onion, finely diced
400g can chopped tomatoes
1 vegetable stock cube
3tsp garlic powder/granules
1tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
1tsp dried oregano
1tbsp maple syrup or 1tsp brown sugar
1 tin red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 tin black beans, drained & rinsed
salt & pepper, to taste

Method

Saute the onion in a pan on a medium heat setting with a little water/oil until translucent for around 6 mins.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes, then fill the chopped tomatoes tin with water until it reaches almost to the top, pour the water into the pan then add the vegetable stock. Give it a good stir. (optional – i prefer to blend the tomato mixture using a hand stick blender until smooth, i just prefer the texture this way)
Once blended (if you did) add all the spices and seasonings, maple syrup/sugar and the beans. Bring it all to boil on a high heat setting, then once it all starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with rice, sweetcorn and avocado! Enjoy! 🙂

Creamy Peanut, Sweet potato & Chickpea Curry

Published on August 5, 2019 by nourishingalexLeave a comment

This is my favourite curry of all! It’s so creamy, comforting and fragrant, and so quick and easy to make using just simple pantry ingredients! It’s healthy and very budget friendly too! Everyone will love this, i’m sure! 🙂

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 medium brown onion, diced
2 fat cloves garlic, minced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled & chopped into small cubes
1 tbsp medium curry powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp mild chilli powder
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin chickpeas, drained & rinsed
300ml vegetable stock
2 heaped tbsp smooth peanut butter
salt & pepper, to taste

Method

First steam/boil the sweet potato for 15 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, saute the onion and garlic in a saucepan on a medium heat setting with a little water/oil until translucent.
Add all the spices to the pan, stirring frequently on a low heat until fragrant, then pour in the chopped tomatoes, veg stock & cooked soft sweet potatoes.
Blend the mixture in the saucepan using a handstick blender until super smooth and creamy (NOTE: You may need to add a little water little by little to reach your desired consistency)
Stir in the chickpeas, lime juice & peanut butter to the curry sauce, then turn up the heat to medium, then once it starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low to simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring frequently until thick and creamy. Season with salt and pepper (add more water if desired)
Serve with rice and wilt in some fresh spinach 5 minutes before end of cooking time! Enjoy!

Creamy Garlic & Mushroom Pasta

Published on August 5, 2019 by nourishingalex3 Comments

This is hands down one of my favourite pasta dishes to make, because it’s so easy & quick to make and so light and creamy. Besides, mushrooms and pasta go so well together don’t you think? I used dairy-free yoghurt for the dreamy creamy sauce so it’s light, yet so comforting and creamy and the garlic and other flavours are so tasty together!

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 servings dried pasta of choice
3 cloves garlic, minced
150g mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp dried basil
3-4 tbsp dairy free plain yoghurt (i use coconut yoghurt )
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt & pepper, to taste

Method

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
Meanwhile, saute the garlic in a separate saucepan on a high heat with a little water, or oil if you prefer, stirring frequently until fragrant.
Add the mushrooms into the pan with the garlic, further cook for 5 minutes until the mushrooms have softened.
Stir in the dried basil and cook for a further 1 min until fragrant, then set the mushrooms aside.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain all the water from the pan through a colander, then add them to the pan with the mushrooms and stir everything through.
Add in the yoghurt, nutritional yeast, lemon juice and a little salt and pepper, gently stir everything together until creamy.
Serve into your pasta bowls and ENJOY!

Chocolate Banana Protein Muffins (oil-free & Vegan)

Published on July 21, 2019July 21, 2019 by nourishingalexLeave a comment

When i’m craving something sweet, i want these soft, gooey chocolate protein heavenly oil-free vegan muffins! YUM! These are super delicious and i used my favourite vegan protein powder by MyVegan – Lucky you can get 30% off any MyVegan products by using my discount code ALEX30 at the checkout.

soft
gooey
dense
fudgey
Chocolatey
oil-free
vegan
sweet
bouncy

Makes 12-14 muffins

Ingredients

150g plain flour
150g oat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
100g light soft brown sugar
2 pinches salt
3 tbsp MyVegan Organic Cacao Powder / unsweetened cocoa powder
2 scoops MyVegan Chocolate protein powder , (add discount code ALEX30 for 30% off)
3 overripe bananas, mashed well
400ml any dairy-free milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional add-ins:

100g dark chocolate chips
100g dark chocolate bar, chopped into small pieces
a handful cacao nibs
Sweet Freedom Chocolate Sauce, (to drizzle on the muffins 10 minutes before end of cooking time)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan oven/375F/Gas mark 5, line a muffin tray with paper or silicone muffin cups.
First make the oat flour by measuring 150g oats, then using a hand-stick blender or blender, blitz the oats until you reach a flour consistency.
Add all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, stir well until all is combined, then in a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together including the mashed banana and whisk well.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, then pour the wet into the dry, keep whisking well until everything is combined, until you form a thick but pourable muffin batter. (You can now stir in your optional add-ins such as, chocolate chips or broken up chocolate bar into the batter)
Add a few heaped tbsp of the muffin batter into your muffin cups until you almost reach the top. (I added some broken up chocolate bar pieces on the surface of the muffins before cooking)
Bake the muffins in the oven for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Enjoy!

Blueberry & Banana Vegan Muffins

Published on July 16, 2019 by nourishingalexLeave a comment

These muffins are super soft, fluffy, bouncy, moist and bursting with juicy blueberries with a good hint of cinnamon! We love these muffins so much in our household, So much so, they’re all gone by the end of the day LOL! They make the perfect sweet snack with a cuppa tea!

Makes 12

Ingredients

150g plain flour
150g oat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
100g light soft brown sugar
4 overripe medium bananas, mashed well until gloopey
1 tsp vanilla extract
150ml olive oil/coconut oil/vegetable oil/sunflower oil
2 handfuls fresh blueberries

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C and line a muffin tray with paper/silicone muffin cups.
To make the oat flour, just blend up 150g oats in a blender, or use a handstick blender, until you reach a flour consistency.
Add all the dry ingredients in a mixing bow, stir everything together until combined.
Mix all the wet ingredients in a separate mixing bowl, including the mashed bananas and sugar until well combined.
Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, give it all a good mix for a minute or so until all the ingredients and fully combined.
Finally fold your fresh blueberries into the muffin batter.
Now add a big heaped spoonful of the muffin batter into your muffin cups. You can add some oats on the surface of the muffins for a little crunch and decoration.
Bake your muffins in the oven for 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in the middle of each muffin.
Cool for 10 minutes on a cooling rack before eating! Enjoy with a cup of tea/coffee! 🙂

Easy Chickpea, Sweet Potato & Spinach Curry

Balsamic Maple Glazed Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans & Dried Cranberries

Pasta Salad with a Creamy Avocado Pesto

Apple Pie Oatmeal

Gingerbread Porridge

Simple Italian Tomato Pasta with red kidney beans

Lentil, Cauliflower & Coconut Dal

Sweet Potato & Lentil Shepherds Pie

Easy Bean Chilli

Creamy Peanut, Sweet potato & Chickpea Curry

Creamy Garlic & Mushroom Pasta

Chocolate Banana Protein Muffins (oil-free & Vegan)

Blueberry & Banana Vegan Muffins