Super easy houmous

There's no two ways about it. Houmous is good. It's good to taste and it's good for you. The chickpea (or Garbanzo bean) is a legume of the family FABACEAE (hence the name of the chickpea water Aquafaba). Chickpeas are naturally high in fiber and protein and are great for digestive health since they regulate blood sugar levels.
There are all sorts of houmous in the UK... not so much in France... And there's usually dairy in it for some reason.

It is originally from the Middle East and in fact, the word hummus means chickpea in Arabic. 

Houmous makes a great sandwich base but can also be eaten with a salad, spread on nice bread or used as a dip with raw vegetables or tortilla crisps.

INGREDIENTS:

200 g cooked chickpeas (rinsed and drained)
2 tablespoons aquafaba
1/2 lemon juice
2 tablespoons lime
1 small clove of garlic, chopped
2 heaped tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
Himalayan pink salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

Put all ingredients in a food processor and mix! :)
Pulse a few times to get a really smooth paste.
Optional but recommended: Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some paprika on top.
Transfer to a glass jar and store in the fridge up to 5 days.

Gluten free Granola

I was brought up on continental breakfast. Bread, butter, jam, a mug of hot cocoa, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a yogurt. Everything was either home made (my father was an Artisan Baker) or organic directly from the farm which I thought was good at the time. I never really questionned it. I was brought up this way, so were my parents and grandparents (although times were extremely tough during the war and they would eat whatever they would put their hands on but that's another story).
I also had severe anemia growing up which is a decrease in the total amount of red blood cells you have in your blood. I suffered from iron deficiency for a long time. I would lose a lot of blood every month. The family doctor always told me it was normal, that my pain was normal, that it was part of growing up... Again, I never questioned his diagnosis. I mean, he was a Doctor! I was put on iron pills for years and took them religiously. I developed other symptoms because of them but I'll explain that in another post.
Coming back to breakfast, it took me a long time to try and taste and find out what I liked and what was actually good for me. You hear all sorts of things about breakfast : "it's the most important meal of the day, you should drink a hot beverage and eat carbs and dairy, you should eat a lot at breakfast that will sustain you til noon" etc etc....
I feel it is really up to everyone to find out! I believe in fasting once in a while (which is what you do during your sleep for hours anyway) so if you are not hungry in the morning then ...don't eat! Don't force yourself. Have some nuts and fruit at hand for later when you do get hungry. I love porridge during the winter months but for a few months now, I've been loving my homemade Granola.
Homemade Granola is the best. Specially when you can make it gluten free and with bits and bobs that you like. Then the one recipe that you have has endless possibilities.
Below is the version that I like best at the moment, on top of a mashed banana. I hope you get to try it!

Makes a whole tall Mason jar

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of organic rolled oats
1 cup of millet flakes (if you don't have any, use unsweetened rice puffs or just go with 2 cups of rolled oats)
3 Tablespoons of melted organic coconut oil
2 Tablespoons of organic raw cacao
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 handful of raw almonds
1 handful of raw hazelnuts
1/3 cup Goji berries
1/2 cup of unsweetened dry raisins or sultanas

METHOD:

Heat up the oven to 180° C. Cover a baking tray with some parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix the oats, millet, cacao, almonds and hazelnuts together with the oil and vanilla extract. Mix until everything is well coated in oil.
Pour onto baking sheet and spread evenly.
Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Take out of the even and let cool.
Once the mixture has cooled down, throw the raisins and the goji berries in there.
Fill the jar and you're good to go!

No-bake choconut balls

Last week I talked about the lovely coconut balls I made that could easily replace your standard truffles. This week, I want to talk about another version that I've made with hazelnuts. And they are the BOMB! They ressemble the Ferrero Rochers that I used to loooove but can't have anymore *sigh* because of endo. These are dairy/soy/palm oil and gluten free! What else do you want? 

(I made it again today with hazelnuts and almonds and it was gorgeous)

INGREDIENTS:

(for about 20 mini balls)

1 cup of hazelnuts

2 Tablespoons of hazelnut oil

1 Tablespoon of organic pure raw cocoa powder

3 Tablespoons of maple syrup

2 Tablespoons of coconut cream

1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to180° C (360° F)

Arrange the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Stir them every four minutes or so. Let them cool for another 10 minutes.

You will need to skin them. I usually transfer them into a bowl, put a plate over it and shake energically.

Separate the hazelnuts from their skin and transfer them into a food processor. Grind them until finely chopped. Scoop out 1/4 cup of the nuts onto a plate and save for later.

Back to your food processor, add the oil, the cocoa powder, the vanilla, the syrup and the coconut cream to the rest of the nuts. Pulse until you get some sort of paste (you might want to scrape down the sides a couple of times).

With a teaspoon take some of the mixture (the size of a small walnut) and press firmly in your palm to start shaping a small ball then roll it into the remaining chopped hazelnuts. 

Put them on a plate or tray and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours. Enjoy!