A variant on Eton Mess

Boxing Day is a time for playing with Christmas presents, for recovering from eating too much the day before but also for wondering what to do with leftover food. I found myself with lots of berries and a packet of individual meringues.  Eton mess came to mind and I did also have cream to spare, but I felt I had already had too much of that yesterday. However, I had Greek style yoghurt on hand, of course. The combination of the yoghurt, raspberries, blackberries, cherries and individual meringues resulted in a delicious combination of flavours and textures. And it wasn’t too sweet or too rich! This is indeed something that I will make again.

Ingredients (per person)

2 individual meringues (bought or pre-made)

3 tbs Greek style yoghurt

Cup of fruit (raspberries, blackberries and cherries) - pip the cherries in advance in you wish

Mode

Place the fruit in a individual bowl 

Spoon over the yoghurt

Add the meringues

Using a spoon crush the meringues and combine the ingredients.

Serve and  enjoy!

Chia, tahini and kefir

Chia, tahini and kefir indeed, but also currants, dried figs and raspberries are combined in this delicious breakfast.  Yes, you have to have a bit of forethought and prepare it the night before.  But the five minutes preparation the night before is well worth the effort. 

This is another breakfast in my series of "Breakfasts without Bread" for those of my friends who believe that there cannot be breakfast without bread! The amounts, where specified, are for one serve. The photo above is of the breakfast ready to eat, and that below was taken just after the ingredients had been put together.

 

Ingredients

2 dessertspoons chia seeds
2 tsp tahini
2 dried figs
Kefir
Currants
Raspberries

Mode

Place the chia seeds in a bowl for an individual serving
Add the tahini and stir to combine well
Chop figs roughly and add
Pour on enough kefir to fill the bowl
Stir to combine, making sure the chia is not in a pocket
Top with a few raspberries (frozen or fresh)
Sprinkle with currants
Place in the refrigerator overnight

Monday breakfast

What I wanted for my Monday morning "breakfast without toast" required 5-10 minutes preparation the night before so that the chia seeds and to a lesser extent the other ingredients could absorb the kefir.  But it was well worth the planning ahead and the ten minutes the night before. And it certainly doesn't take longer to prepare than toast! Enjoy!


Ingredients

3 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon tahini
2 dried figs
1/2 apple
6 raspberries (fresh or frozen)
100-150 mls kefir

Mode

Place chia seeds in bowl which will be used for breakfast
Add tahini to bowl
Roughly chop the figs and place in bowl
Chop the apple into bite size piecesand and add
Mix all ingredients thoroughly
Add kefir to bowl and mix well
Sprinkle raspberries on top
Place in refrigerator overnight
Eat for breakfast and enjoy!!

Raspberry and strained yoghurt icy-poles #blog12daysxmas Day 6

A couple of weeks ago when the mercury hit 41c in Melbourne, I was so cross with myself that I had not had the forethought to make some "icy-poles". However, with hot weather coming up for New Year's Eve and beyond today I got organized and made some. The recipe is very simple: strained yoghurt (what we call Greek yoghurt in Australia) and frozen raspberries.  I just mixed the two ingredients together and spooned the mixture into the moulds. This way you really get both tastes. If you want a sweeter taste, you could add some honey or sugar to the mix, but I prefer the tartness of the raspberry and yoghurt.

I haven't given any measurements but for my moulds I used about three heaped dessertspoons of strained yoghurt and a handful of raspberries for each. But you can experiment depending on what you are making them in. You don't have any moulds? You can make them in muffin tins or make bars wrapped in foil.  Make some before New Year and enjoy in the summer heat!

Ingredients

Strained yoghurt (aka Greek yoghurt)
Frozen raspberries


Mode

Place yoghhurts and raspberries in bowl or jug
Mix together until they are well-combined
Spoon into icy pole moulds
Place into freezer for 10 minutes without sticks
Remove from freezer and insert sticks/lids
Return to freezer
Freeze for at least five hours or until solid (overnight is good)
Loosen from mould by holding under warm water

Kefir and chia pudding

 

This post is for my friend Maria and is my current favourite breakfast!  And it is well worth the five minutes it takes to prepare the night before. It really is quite similar to some other chia puddings that I have posted about where I have used Greek (i.e. strained) yoghurt, but in this one I am using kefir. I love the combinations of the flavours with kefir, tahini, chia seeds, figs and raspberries.  But you can do the recipe with any combination of fruit or dried fruit.  Do what feels good to you or use what you have in the house! The critical elements are the kefir, the tahini and the chia seeds.  The rest is up to you. And with the kefir, use as much or as little as you want. Less kefir will lead to a more solid pudding, and more will obviously lead to a thinner one.

 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon tahini
2 dried figs
6 raspberries (fresh or frozen)
100-150 mls kefir

Mode

Place chia seeds in bowl which will be used for breakfast
Add tahini to bowl
Roughly chop the figs and place in bowl
Add raspberries to bowl
Mix all ingredients thoroughly
Add kefir to bowl and mix well
Place in refrigerator overnight
Eat for breakfast and enjoy!!

Almond chia pudding with raspberries

It is probably a misnomer to call this a pudding as that implies a bit more effort going into the making.  But it is a pudding. I am a chia seed novice and bought some for the first time this week.  So this is really playing.  I have seen people with fabulous chia breakfasts and that's what I wanted too.  It was yummy.  I'll be continuing to experiment.

Ingredients

1 cup almond milk
3 tbs chia seeds
1/4 cup raw almonds
45 gr frozen raspberries
Cinnamon


Mode

Add chia seeds to almond milk in a bowl
Put in the refrigerator overnight to allow the seeds to absorb the almond milk
In the morning remove from the refrigerator
Add almonds and frozen raspberries
Sprinkle with cinnamon
Enjoy!