ENDLESS SUMMER ENERGY BALLS:

Uh oh it's that time of year. Did you know that about six percent of us suffer from seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.)? The “winter blues” can cause extreme tiredness, an intense craving for carbs (especially sweets), irritability, weight gain, and the desire to avoid social situations. 

Luckily we can go into damage control and agreat way to combat S.A.D. is through your diet! Avoiding sugars, eating lots of Omega-3 fats, foods containing Tryptophan, folic acid, lean proteins, and unprocessed foods are excellent for boosting your mood and energy. Here are the top foods that you should be sneaking into your daily diet.

Dark leafy greens

Dark chocolate

Blueberries

Walnuts, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds

Salmon, Trout, Mackeral

Turkey, chicken breast, pumpkin (all great sources of Tryptophan)

Sooooo here comes my endless summer balls to save the day.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup flaxseeds

1 cup walnuts

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup shredded Coconut

1 scoop (21g) of Collagen beauty greens by Vital proteins (this can be substituted for another brand green supplement)

2 scoops (60g) vanilla vegan protein powder

HOW:

• take a medium size mixing bowl and combine the collagen greens, coconut and protein powder
• In a bullet quickly whiz around the seeds, walnuts and blueberries until combined.
• All the contents of the bullet to the bowl and mix throughly.
• Time to start ballin'! Take a tbs of the mixture at a time and start rolling the balls, the balls should be about 1 inch in diameter. After they are rolled roll them again in cacao powder to help seal them up.
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge and say a giant buh-byeeeeee to S.A.D

MINI NO BAKE VEGAN LEMON & BLUEBERRY "CHEESECAKE"

God damn talk about delicious. This one will have you shocking guests when you tell them it's free of any nasty things and waistline friendly (yes this is one of those fat is your friend things) I'm telling you, it's THAT good.

This is pretty much entirely made in a NutriBullet / Blender and takes no more than 20mins (excluding fridge time). I'm a complete sucker for an easy, low fuss recipe and this is one of them. Not to mention that it ticks all those healthy boxes : Paleo, Dairy free, Gluten free, Sugar free and raw.

Serves 6

Remember this guy is super dense so it serves 6, I love making mini single serve cheesecakes in ramekins or cupcake trays because I love individual portioned desserts and it makes presentation and serving sooo much easier when having guests over for dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups raw cashews

1/2 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup frozen blueberries thawed - save a couple for topping

3 tbs lemon juice

4 tbs coconut oil - melted

4 tbs of grated lemon rind

1/2 Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Crust:

1/3 cup golden flaxseed

2 tbs coconut oil

1/3 cup raw almonds 

2 medjool dates

1 tbs lacuma powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

HOW:

"Cheesecake Filling":

• Soak cashews in water for a minimum of 20mins, ideally 1 hr. The longer you soak them the creamier they will be.
• Take soaked cashews (make sure you've drained them) and place them in a bullet/blender. Blend til smooth.
• Add the blueberries, apple sauce, lemon juice to the cashew mix and continue to blend until creamy.
• Add all other ingredients to the mix and that's right you guessed it, BLEND AGAIN.
• Your "cheesecake" filling should be super smooth by this stage, place it in the freezer to cool down while you start the base!

Crust:

• Once again, all ingredients in the bullet (different cup to the cheesecake mix, that would just be weird and ruin the magic that's about the happen!) Blend until the mixture becomes bread crumb like.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER:

• Take cheesecake mix out of the freezer, try a bit ahhhhh talk about delicious right?!
• Take a ramekin about 2" wide and 2" deep or a glass and press 1/6 of the crust mix into the bottom for your base.
• Spoon 1/6 of the cheesecake mix on top and spread the top smooth.
• Top this bad boy with anything you like! I went with the semi lazy yet effective blueberries and lemon rind twist
• Repeat this X 6
• Place cheesecakes in the fridge for at least 30 mins and BOOM ready to serve. Prepare to have to have your mind blown.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

Serves : 6

Calories per serve: 300

Fat: 22

Carbs: 15

Sugar: 7

Protein: 7

VANILLA BLUEBERRY ACAI BOWL

BOWL HEAVEN. I will never tire of a smoothie bowl they are just too god damn good and the perfect post workout reward.

WHAT YOU NEED:
1 scoop Quest nutrition Vanilla Whey protein (use Vega vanilla protein for vegan and paleo version)
1 cup of almond milk
1 packet of frozen Acai
1 baby banana
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
Seeds nuts and berries to garnish! I use flaxseeds, almonds, dried pomegranate, blueberries and banana.

HOW:
-Blend all ingredients in a Nutri Bullet blender except for toppings
-Pour in bowl, decorate and make it look pretty and TA-DAAAA!