Aubergine Cheese Bites

Working from home part time is the best thing ever but also the worst if you're an eater like me. 

Snacks. Errywhere.

So it's gotten to the point where I force myself to actually make snacks instead of eat crisps, cakes and biscuits. I mean, it still happens but a lot lot less because I make things such as these badboys. 

Basically these are great if you fancy pizza but you want to be somewhat healthy but are still of the opinion that cauliflower pizza ISN'T pizza (it's not). 

All you need is...

An Aubergine/Eggplant

2 tomatoes

1 onion

Sea salt

A handful of grated cheddar cheese

Black pepper

A drizzle of olive oil

They are super simple to make - first preheat the oven to 200c and slice the aubergine up into circles that are about 1cm wide. Then place them on a kitchen towel and sprinkle on some salt and allow the slices to dehydrate for about 10 minutes. 

Whilst they are dehydrating get to work chopping up the tomatoes and onion. They should be well diced. And if it's not already, grate the cheese and pop it into a separate bowl.

Place the aubergine slices onto a roasting tray and bake for 15 minutes.  While that's baking, fry down the chopped tomatoes and onions, sprinkle with a little sea salt and black pepper and then set aside. 

Once the aubergine slices are ready take them out and top with the tomatoes and onions and then sprinkle on a generous amount of cheese. Whack the oven up to 230c and cook for around 5 minutes, by which time the cheese should be lovely and melted and bubbly. 

Serve straight outta the oven.

Yum.

Almond Butter Porridge

When I first started my job I would kid myself that I just didn’t have time to eat a healthy breakfast, I would just have a quick bowl of cereal or even worse - nothing at home and then grab a muffin at the station only to find myself hungry again once I sat at my desk. I decided it was time to actually think about I was fuelling my body with. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; it sets you up for the hours ahead so it needs to be substantial.

I love juicing and making smoothies in my Nutribullet some days, and if I opt for one I’ll normally go for my green berry breakfast smoothie or something including banana and oats. But when I’m after something a bit more warming I love to make porridge and more recently I’ve been obsessed with my almond butter offering.

I give myself about 20 minutes in the morning to make and eat my breakfast and that’s ample time to make a hearty bowl of porridge from scratch. I always make mine on the stove too as the idea of microwaving something as healthy as porridge makes no sense to me, and it takes less than 10 minutes. I swear.

You’ll need

Porridge oats

Milk

1 tsp of Almond Butter

A pinch of cinnamon

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Half an apple, chopped (I eat the other half as I get ready – Don’t waste it!)

A few pitted dates, chopped

Honey or Agave Nectar to taste

I find that everyone tends to like their porridge a different consistency so recipe-wise make it the way you enjoy it I love mine really really thick !

Add the cinnamon and the vanilla as the milk is warming and then the almond butter when it is beginning to combine. Continue to mix until the almond butter is completely blended into the porridge. I then pour the porridge into my bowl and then chop my fruit, but you can chop your fruit before hand, totally your call, guys.

The result is sweet and deliciously healthy and if I can whip this up at 5:30 in the morning, you really have no excuses not to try it!