The viral egg wrap

Most social media recipes should be approached with a healthy dose of scepticism.
Many look super shiny but lack any actual flavour.
So in an ode to weed out the good from the bad, I started giving a few of them a go for research purposes.
There are ones that are an instant nope. I’m particularly thinking of kale salads and “healthy” bowls with zero seasoning when I say this.
I’m all for healthy food but unless it has good flavour it’s unlikely to become a staple source of nourishment.
Anyway, I found a pretty cool viral recipe.
It’s this egg wrap.
Basically an omelette that you slap a wrap onto, let it go crispy then stuff it with veggies.
It ticks the nutrition boxes and makes an awesome breakfast or lunch.

Whilst we are on the topic of wraps, please read the ingredients list.
Many are full of emulsifiers and various additives to keep them being the soft, bendy wraps that we are used to. Sadly these are the very same ingredients that are wreaking out gut health.
They are really hard to digest and cause bloating in most people.
The wraps I used here are by Crosta & Mollica. They don’t use random, chemical ingredients, just natural, real whole foods.
In case you are looking in supermarkets, the Crosta & Mollica wraps are called piadina.
It’s well worth looking for them. They are super tasty and develop a satisfying crispy exterior when toasted.

Ingredients for 1 wrap:

2 eggs
1 wrap
Oil for cooking (I used organic rapeseed oil)
Salt and pepper to season
Feta cheese
Salad veggies for stuffing inside the wrap. Anything goes. I used lambs lettuce, cherry tomatoes and rocket.
Hot sauce. The extra flavour is needed.

Method:
1. Break open the eggs and put them in a bowl. Give them a whisk to mix.
2. Put a frying pan on a medium heat. Ideally, the frying pan should be small/ big enough to fit the wrap snugly.
3. Add a splash of oil to the pan and pour the eggs into it. Let this cook until the edges start to set.
4. Put the wrap on top of the omelette and flip it over.
5. Let the wrap cook for a couple of minutes until it goes crispy.
6. Remove the eggy wrap from the pan and pop it on a plate. Season it will sea salt and black pepper.
7. Stuff the wrap with feta and whatever veggies you chose.
8. Drizzle some hot sauce on it, if it’s your thing.
9. Fold the wrap over. Proceed to stuff it in your face. Enjoy!

Skin-boosting smoothie bowl

The skin is super good at showing us when we are low on nutrients or have just experienced a lovely (irony) bout of stress.
Like many other organs of the body, the skin needs a lot of nutrients to remain in tip-top condition.
Here are some of the nutrients that are especially important:

Vitamin C & Zinc - these both help to repair the skin and assist in growing new healthy skin cells
Vitamin A - this one helps to protect the skin and also plays a role in skin repair
Healthy fats - yes, the skin needs fats, fats keep the moisture in and play a protective role
Protein - this forms the main structure of the skin

There are others but as far as making smoothies/ smoothie bowls goes, these 5 are a great starting point.
Here is how to make this skin-boosting smoothie bowl.

Ingredients for 1

1/2 mug of frozen cherries - for Vitamin C
1/2 mug of frozen blueberries - for Vit c & skin supporting antioxidants
A handful of kale - for Vitamin A
1/2 an avocado - it’s full of healthy fats & skin supporting Vitamin E
3 tablespoons of hemps seeds - for zinc & skin healthy Omega 3 fats - check Good Hemp for hemp seed hearts
1 heaped tablespoon of collagen (optional) - collagen is the main structural protein in the skin, some studies show a benefit to skin health with supplementation, others state it’s increased intakes of protein on the whole that benefit skin health. If you don’t have any collagen powder handy then use a protein powder instead.
1 heaped tablespoon of kefir - I used a coconut kefir by the Coconut Collaborative. Kefir plays a role in gut health which is indirectly linked with skin health.
1-2 dates if you like a sweeter smoothie bowl
3/4s of a mug of milk or milk alternative

Method:
Blend everything using a high-speed blender.
Transfer to a bowl and top with toppings of your choice.

No bake carrot cake flapjacks

Ingredients for 5 flapjacks:
1-2 tablespoons of maple syrup, agave or honey
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 carrot, grated
80g of oats
1 tablespoon each of pumpkin, sunflower, chia and sesame seeds (if you don’t have one, use double of another)
3 tablespoons of desiccated coconut
A handful of Brazil nuts, roughly chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons each of goji berries & raisins
1 scoop of whey protein (optional)
3 tablespoons of any milk
1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon & vanilla essence

Method:
Line a lunch box/ Tupperware with greaseproof paper.
Melt the coconut oil in a small pan.
Add all of the ingredients to a bowl.
Pour in the coconut oil. Stir really well. I mean really well.
Taste to see if you like the flavour & adjust if necessary (i.e. add more honey if it isn’t sweet enough or perhaps a bit more cinnamon).
Press the mixture into the Tupperware and smooth out the top.
Freeze for 30 minutes to firm it up.
Cut into bars and store in the fridge.

Smokey beans on toast

Mostly I cook because I love nice food but there is also a bigger picture: health.

This recipe was created with iron in mind because low iron translates to feeling low.
Without going into too much detail, we need iron to make the right brain chemicals. Without this, we feel low.

This recipe contains around 10mg of iron which is just over half of the total amount of iron needed per day (for women, 100% for men).

Plus there is a good dose of vitamin C. (We need Vit c to absorb iron, so this part is mega useful.)

Ingredients for 1:

1 stick of celery, diced
1 shallot or 1/2 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of chipotle paste or a pinch of chilli flakes
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of beans such as butter beans or cannellini
100g of baby leaf spinach
1 tablespoon of smooth peanut butter
sea salt and black pepper to season
rapeseed oil for cooking
good bread to serve
a handful of fresh parsley to serve (this is high in both iron and vitamin c)
a tablespoon of sour cream to serve (optional)

Method:
Pop a frying pan on a medium heat.
Add a splash of rapeseed oil, the celery & shallot/ onion and cook for a couple of minutes until softened.
Add the paprika and chipotle paste. Stir and cook for a minute.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes, season well with sea salt and black pepper and cook for 10 minutes on a low heat to reduce the sauce.
Add the beans and season again.
Add the spinach bit by bit and stir to wilt it.
Stir in the peanut butter.
Taste to check the seasoning.
Serve on some sourdough bread, topped with fresh parsley and sour cream.