Innocently Indulgent

Since having my third child I have been increasingly careful about what I eat. When I was pregnant I was a motor mouth in the food department and found myself unable to control my appetite or eating habits. Cake and chocolate were a staple, and this in itself was quite foreign to me.

Having been very fit and healthy prior to getting pregnant, naturally I want to return to this state. Easier said than done. The human body adapts so fast that habits are easily made, and very difficult to break. Let your child sleep one night in your bed, to see how fast habit forms! Struggling with sleep deprivation, general exhaustion and muscles so lax due to the still surging levels of prolactin coursing through my veins, the prospect of hardcore exercise and regime is pretty unrealistic. SO I have gone a bit French Children Don't Throw Food about my approach, diet is not a word I use to describe deprivation, it simply defines the food I eat as a whole, I'm simply being mindful of what I eat. I've cut the crap, in fact I've only had sugar in its processed form a few times in over 2 months. Since then I have craved chocolate a lot less, if I want it that bad I have it, but it's got to be intensely dark. Don't get me wrong I am human and I still bake ridiculously indulgent cakes for my friends and family, I got very close to face planting the Hummingbird Bakery Chocolate brownies I made earlier and to be honest there is a seriously high risk I may still do that. I now treat myself with high protein Trek bars, or Nakd bars but I've also devised a pretty good guilt free cookie that I'm finding very useful as increasingly meals are taken on the run and these little beauties fill a whole nicely. I try and eat lean and green when I can, and keep protein levels high, and carb content low. My diet is predominantly organic and I now have soya milk, oat milk and almond milk instead of cow's milk when I feel like it! 


So that you too can be virtuous and share in the glow of a halo here's my recipe. I can't promise brilliant results every time because, like the ingredients these biscuits evolved rather organically. Every time I make them they are different. If you don't have a specific ingredient use something else. 

Innocently Indulgent Cookies


Set the oven to 170 degrees. I use a fan oven. Line a couple of baking trays with baking parchment.


Ingredients:
1/2 cup oatbran (fine milled)
1/2 cup oats
1/4 spelt flakes
1/4 muesli (sugar free and nutty)
1/4 cup Natural Protein powder (I used Maximuscle Promax)
1 egg beaten
1 banana mashed
2 tbsp goji berries 
1/2 cup raisins (cranberries are nice too)
2 tbsp flax (linseed) seeds
2 tbsp sunflower seeds (or use any nut chopped)
1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp honey

1/2 - 3/4 cup of oat milk


Literally chuck it all in to a bowl, mix it up, and then scoop the batter onto the baking trays - I like them nice and big about the size of the bottom of a small mug or a tumbler. They don't really spread or grow.


Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and the edges are crisp. Let them cool a bit on the trays then transfer to a rack to finish cooling before putting them in an air tight container. 

I am making an effort to go out walking every day, I have no excuse we have 3 dogs that need exercise as much as I do, I also do my Mutu workout as often as I can. See my link widget if you would like to see more about Mutu (I love it). I buy my vegetables from Riverford Organic because I'm weaning my son and I want him to eat vegetables that taste like they should and we are all enjoying more variation as the boxes are seasonal and we get what we are given. More than anything amongst the chaos that is my life, in between spinning the plates, I make a bit of time to meet up with a friend or 2 because all work and no play...Enjoy!