Eat breakfast. Stay smart

I'm back again with another breakfast recipe following Monday's berry sauce and granola. As it is National Breakfast Week, I wanted to make sure you had a few good breakfast ideas to try. Today's recipe comes from a book I was sent called Eat Yourself Smart by Gill Paul. With a title like that, the recipes that are included have to deliver. I chose to create the Apple and Cinnamon Porridge, full of lots of goodness including oats, apples and pecans.

This recipe is a very easy one but it involves using a pan and a hob, so unless you make this ahead on a busy morning, this one is for a lazy weekend breakfast. I made this last Sunday to try and it was very filling and delicious.

For this, you'll need: 2 granny smith apples (cored and chopped into chunks, skin on or off whatever you prefer), 150g porridge oats, 450ml water, 450ml soya milk (I used semi-skimmed milk), 1 tbsp dark brown sugar, 2 tsps ground cinnamon and 1 tsp grated nutmeg. To top you'll also need 50g pecans and 3 tbsp of maple syrup, or alternatively honey/agave nectar.

Pecans are a wonder-nut according to the book boasting benefits such as improved circulation, reduced stress & anxiety, they promote restful sleep and can lift your mood. Certainly, seem like something I'd like to top my porridge with. The Eat Yourself Smart book is great in that it gives you these little details and recommends recipes based on what you want to gain from the ingredients.

The pecans in this recipe need to go in the oven at 150 degrees Celsius for 8 minutes whilst you carry out the rest of the recipe. To create the porridge put the water, milk, sugar and spices into a large pan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, then stir in the oats and apple and simmer for 5 minutes until the oats have absorbed the liquid.

Oats are also said to be a great food to eat, being named in the book as 'grain for the brain'. They are a powerful superfood that helps to improve memory and cognitive ability and boost attention, concentration, mood, energy and alertness. With all that, what a perfect food to eat for breakfast before work or school! To accompany the oats are the granny smith apples, full of goodness to provide energy and reduce stress as well as helping to prevent dementia.

When all the oats are complete, separate into four portions and top with the toasted pecans and drizzle with maple syrup.

The apple, cinnamon and nutmeg are so brilliant together, and the maple syrup just brings an extra bit of sweetness. Definitely a great breakfast to make on a cold Winter's morning.

As it's national breakfast week, do you have any good breakfast recipes to share?

*Eat Yourself Smart sent to myself for review. All opinions my own.

A berry good way to start the day

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day. I'm a lover of breakfast and I'm always excited to eat my first meal of the day. When I was younger it was always a meal that I skipped as I thought it was too early and I just didn't feel up for it. Now that I've gotten into a routine with breakfast I've become a lover. I always try to eat a healthy breakfast but most of the time I end up with cereal or on special occasions, Pop-Tarts!

One day when I was watching one of Niomi Smart's vlogs I saw her making a berry sauce for her pancakes and I decided I could adapt this to use on yoghurt. I also made a batch of this Healthy Homemade Honey Vanilla Granola to accompany it.

To make this sauce you'll need to pick which berries you'd like to use. I chose blueberries, raspberries and cherries. You can use frozen or fresh, it doesn't really matter as they break down the same way. Put them in a small pan with a dash of water and a squeeze of honey then put on a low heat. Keep stirring to ensure they don't burn and squash the berries softly as you go. You'll know by the consistency and how it looks when it's done but I'd say it takes 5-10 minutes.

Let it cool and then store it in an airtight container. I usually get around three uses out of it depending on how much I put on my breakfast. It's super tasty and relatively good for you. It's nice to have something a little different that you've made yourself which looks, and tastes, like it, came from a posh restaurant!

The marvellous wonder ingredient - Greek Yoghurt

For anyone who is dairy intolerant, look away now. I'm going to confess my love for Greek yoghurt. An alternative to regular yoghurt, Greek yoghurt is so versatile and has many benefits for your health. Typically it has double the amount of protein compared to normal yoghurt and is lower in salt and carbohydrates. Whilst trying to be healthier, I have started to include Greek yoghurt much more into my diet. I've been getting creative finding ways that I can use Greek yoghurt in meals. I thought I'd pass on this knowledge by showing you how you can incorporate it more into your diet.

In cooking instead of cream - I recently decided to make a curry using a curry paste and on the label, it asked for double cream. I didn't have any in the house and wasn't prepared to buy any so I thought I'd try and substitute some Greek yoghurt that I had in the fridge. I got it out a little in advance so it was at room temperature to try and ensure it wouldn't curdle when I added it to the hot pan and it worked brilliantly. I added it a bit at a time which gave a great creamy texture to the curry without all the calories of double cream!

As a dip - One of the main ways I use greek yoghurt is as a dip. Before my health kick, I was a big fan of mayonnaise. Since Greek yoghurt came into my life I've been using it as a substitute. Now when I have sweet potatoes I make sure to have a side dip of yoghurt. You can mix this with different herbs and spices to create a different taste.

Instead of sour cream - When I make fajitas these days I tend not to buy sour cream, instead I use yoghurt when putting together my wrap. It does the same job in cooling down the spicy chicken but makes it a healthier dish.

As a breakfast, dessert or snack - I was recently given a meal plan that advised I could have Greek yoghurt with fruit for breakfast with nuts. I jazzed this up a bit with what I had in the kitchen and created this: Greek yoghurt with strawberries, walnuts, almonds, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds - full of protein and good fats! You could even mix up something different for dessert like: Greek yoghurt with banana, chocolate drops and a dollop of almond butter. If you are just wanting a simple snack, some yoghurt with fruit and nuts would be perfect.

In a smoothie - This is where people typically use Greek yoghurt which is great. It adds lots of protein amongst the other bits you blitz up to make a smoothie.

I hope these ideas will make there way into your diets! I can't wait until my holiday this year when I will get to go to a Greek island and taste real Greek yoghurt. Obsessed.

Which ideas are your favourite? If you have any more ways I can use yoghurt let me know.

> Source for some of the information used in this post

Breakfast of Champions - The Breakfast Club, London Bridge

After a late night at the O2 watching WWE, we ventured out late the next morning, after a well-deserved sleep in, to find some food. It was around 12pm when we finally found our venue of choice, The Breakfast Club. I've already visited their restaurant in Soho, so I thought we'd go to the London Bridge one for a change. It was easy enough to find after trekking ages from the wrong tube station, it is like two seconds from the London Bridge station but for some reason, we got off on the one before, and there was plenty of free seats which makes a change from queueing.

I had decided before we arrived that I would be having pancakes. I put all my savoury cravings aside and picked the pancakes with berries whilst Matt went for chorizo hashbrowns with added feta cheese. I also got a mango, orange and strawberry smoothie whilst Matt went for a cup of tea.

My pancakes were amazing! So light and fluffy. With the berries and the vanilla cream, it was so good. The only thing I didn't like was the raspberries as they were very tart, but the blueberries and strawberries went really well with the pancakes. I only managed to eat half of what was on my plate as they were so filling. Matt said that his dish wasn't what he was expecting and on paper, he didn't think it would go but it was delicious. The portion size was huge but he still managed to finish it all off.

The venue had a lot more seats than its sister shop in Soho and as there wasn't anyone waiting to come in it seemed very relaxed. I'd definitely give this Breakfast Club a visit again when I'm in London.

Have you been to any of the Breakfast Club locations? What do you think? Are you a fan or do you think it's overrated?

Graze Breakfast Boxes

I've been a fan of Graze for years now, choosing to opt-in and out of my weekly deliveries when I get a bit bored of them. Graze have really upped their game adding new snacks and different box types to their growing range. Right now I'm opting in and finding lots of new yummy treats including flapjacks, cakes, blends of tea and savoury bites. Now Graze has branched out and are now providing breakfast boxes full of granola and porridge.

In each breakfast box, you receive four packets each the perfect size for your morning bowl. Just as you would with Graze snacks, for the breakfast box you can go on to the site and choose what you like the look of and what you definitely don't want them sending you. I've enjoyed trying some granola I wouldn't normally pick up such as a rocky road one with bits of cherry and a chocolate orange one with chocolate curls and dried orange. I've received two boxes so far but haven't had a chance to eat them all so I think I'll get this box once in a while rather than every week. If you'd like a free breakfast box (new or existing customers) use this code - DanniY29

Healthy Breakfast Idea - Overnight Oats with Strawberry and Mango

Breakfast for me is usually a bowl of chocolate squares or coco pops when I get to work. Not exactly the most healthy of starts to the day! Researching clean/healthy eating led me to overnight oats. At first I thought they seemed very hard to make and that I wouldn't have all the ingredients, but how wrong I was. This is one of the easiest breakfasts that is very filling and can be changed to suit anyone's tastes.

Now please don't be afraid by the look of this (I added a bit too much milk to mine - we all get it wrong sometimes!) it does taste really nice!

Strawberry and Mango Overnight Oats
1/3 cup of oats
1/2 cup of almond milk (can be any milk you fancy)
A squirt of agave nectar (for sweetness - is optional)
1/2 tbsp chia seeds (again optional but good for you!)
2 handfuls of different fruit
These are rough measurements and if you like your oats more milky add more milk. This recipe will develop as you try it!

This recipe is extremely simple as you add all the ingredients together in a bowl or cup like mine (has to have a  lid) then shake it up and leave in the fridge overnight. In the time it spends in the fridge the oats and the chia seeds will soap up the milk and juices from the fruit to produce something like porridge in the morning. The difference is it is cold and full of fruit - very tasty!

I think the cold porridge takes a little getting used to but once you really get into overnight oats you can start making any creations you fancy! I've had strawberry and blueberry, but you could do apple and cinnamon or banana and almond butter - the possibilities are endless! Just to note I used frozen mango in mine, so you don't just need fresh fruit making this recipe even easier! What more do you need ey!

Love to know if you have a go - and if you like it!

Coconut Chia Breakfast Pudding - Little Apple Tree Guest Post

As I move into my new house I wanted to have some amazingly talented bloggers guest posting on Gingerbread Smiles. The lovely Angela volunteered her writing, and cooking skills to offer this amazing recipe! Hope you enjoy!
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Hello, my name is Angela and I run a lifestyle blog over at Little Apple Tree where I write about adventures around the West Country with my family, lovely places to eat, books, and occasionally share my love of Doctor Who. I’m so excited to be able to guest post for the lovely Danni on Gingerbread Smiles!

I'm totally not a morning person. Frankly, mornings suck. No matter how early I go to bed, getting up in the morning is always a struggle and by the time I've blearily staggered around the kitchen fixing Lucas's breakfast and packed lunch, the last thing on my mind is making my own breakfast. Even a smoothie. You're more likely to find me at the coffee shop begging the barista to give me a double espresso and the stickiest bun possible. Not good. Meet my new breakfast saviour--chia pudding!

If you haven't heard of chia seeds, let me tell you a little about them. They're about poppy seed sized and pack a huge nutritional punch. They're high in magnesium, calcium, iron and fibre, with a decent helping of protein. As if that wasn't enough, they are a fantastic source of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. They also soak up incredible amounts of liquid forming a light gel which soothes your stomach and helps keep you hydrated. You can find them at your local health food shop or order from Amazon. Chia pudding is incredibly fast and easy to prepare. Just a little bit of light mixing the night before and you've got a fantastically tasty and nutritious breakfast waiting for you in the morning. Even I can manage to pull the bowl out of the fridge and spoon out a portion.

I've topped this week's chia pudding with oven-poached rhubarb simply because it's in season but you can use anything you fancy. Frozen mango chunks stirred into the pudding before you put it in the fridge overnight are very good--mango and coconut are best buds--and you could even use sliced banana or a dollop of jam if you're in a hurry.

Coconut Chia Breakfast Pudding
Serves 4

400ml can coconut milk
100ml coconut water (or plain old water)
40g honey (preferably raw, but use whatever you have)
50g chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Put the honey, vanilla and about a quarter of the coconut milk in a bowl and mix thoroughly with a whisk until the honey dissolves. Add the water, the rest of the coconut milk and then whisk in the chia seeds. The mixture will probably start to thicken as you're mixing. Cover with clingfilm and chill overnight (or for at least two hours). Overnight is always more convenient for me.

Oven-poached rhubarb

300g (trimmed weight) rhubarb
40g caster sugar zest and juice of half an orange

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan oven). Chop the rhubarb into 5cm (2") lengths and lay in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with the caster sugar, zest and juice. Toss to coat in the sugary juices. Cover tightly with a layer of foil and roast for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for another 5 minutes or until tender when tested with a sharp knife and the juices are syrupy. Cool to room temperature and then transfer to a bowl. To serve, give it a quick stir and then spoon into serving bowls or jars. Top with the poached rhubarb and a sprinkle of chopped pistachios.

Notes

The finished pudding will keep for four days in the fridge. I've kept the rhubarb on the tangy side of things. If you'd like it sweeter, then go ahead and slosh in a bit more sugar. The recipe does halve (or even quarter), so if you're doing a smaller batch, then stick all the ingredients in a jar and shake it up. It also means that you can just grab the jar and go in the morning! You can make a mocha version by swapping the coconut water for a double shot of espresso and a heaped tablespoon of good cocoa powder.
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I definitely can't wait to try this! Make sure you head over to Angela's blog - Little Apple Tree for more amazing recipes!

Sherlock and Speedy's - London

Now I don’t know if you know but recently I have become a HUGE Sherlock fan. If you haven’t watched it, you must! Even if you think "oh heard of it but don’t fancy it", trust me you will. For those of you who do watch it and appreciate the brilliance, you will recognise this place that I dragged my mum to whilst we were down in London. After browsing the Sherlockology site I found the location of Sherlock’s famous door and subsequently the little cafe that sits next to it. So that meant we had to visit.

After getting off the tube at Euston it was only a 5 minute walk (less if you get off at Euston Square) to the door and Speedy’s cafe. There were a couple of people around taking photos of the site, so I wasn't the only weirdo there. After a couple of snaps, we realised we hadn't had breakfast so I convinced mum that we should go to Speedy’s for food. Inside they have adorned their walls with photos of the staff with Benedict and Martin as well as photos they have taken of filming.

We both ordered a tea and then I had toast with tomatoes and mushrooms whilst mum had toast and scrambled egg. It wasn't the most impressive breakfast I've ever had but hey I was in Speedy’s cafe!

If you love Sherlock then you have to visit to get your photo taken with Speedy’s cafe and Sherlock’s door, although I must warn you the number has been changed back to the number it should be on the road, not 221B like we all want it to be.

The Breakfast Club - Soho, London

Before we set off for London I did a bit of searching around to see where was good to eat as I love discovering new cool places. The Breakfast Club was one of the suggestions I got from twitter but I was warned it is really popular and there is usually a queue. They certainly weren't wrong! We waited an hour in the line to get inside, I've never waited that long to get in a restaurant ever but hoped it would live up to its popularity.

When we finally got in after our chilly wait there was still a huge queue behind us, which we felt quite smug about. Inside it was small, quaint and alternative with different nick-knacks pinned to the wall and fairy lights hanging from the ceiling. They seated us in the back and we were soon given our menus.

After waiting outside so long in the cold I needed a hot chocolate to warm me up and although I don’t usually have them I opted for marshmallows. They came in ‘the breakfast club’ mugs, which I really want, and it was the yummiest hot chocolate I have ever had! I would go back just for their hot chocolate!

I had a lot of time to review the menu whilst in the line and wasn't quite sure what to pick as there were so many good things on the menu. I was torn between the posh sausage sandwich and the all American, in the end, it had to be the all American because I wanted pancakes. When it came I was not disappointed all of it was so tasty and full of flavour. There was so much on my plate I had to keep chipping away at each bit otherwise I would have filled up on one bit and not tried the others.

Having to endure the hour-long wait in the queue was worth it as we thoroughly enjoyed our food and drink which was complemented by the friendly staff. I would definitely visit again but next time I might try one of their other locations in the hope it will be less busy than the flagship restaurant.

Whinstone View Bistro Restaurant Review, Great Ayton

Whilst staying at Whinstone View lodges we ventured over to the onsite bistro for tea, and also breakfast in the morning which was included in our nights stay.

It happened to be steak night on a Thursday so we got two steaks with all the extras and our drinks for £32. We both got a 10oz sirloin steak with chips, salad, mushrooms and onion and then I got a Diane sauce and Matt got a peppercorn. These were quickly polished off and we moved onto dessert.

All the dessert options looked amazing but in the end, Matt chose an apple tart which came with cinnamon ice cream and I chose chocolate orange cheesecake which was very nice. I didn't realise until I looked back at the pictures that they had done the sauce in the shape of a Christmas tree on my plate. How sweet!

In the morning we had a choice of continental breakfast options such as cereals and yoghurt or a hot breakfast, or both if you're greedy. We both had some toast and then asked for the breakfast items we prefer. I went for sausages, tomatoes, beans and mushrooms whilst Matt went for fried eggs, sausages and mushrooms. We both then had a cup of tea and some juice.

Both meals we had at the bistro were exceptionally good and we would love to go back again.

Have you been to Whinstone View Bistro before? What did you think?