Healthy Breakfast Slice

Lately, I've been on a bit of a health kick.

Having gorged myself over summer and christmas (don't we all?), after a while I realised that I couldn't go a day with out having just one sweet thing, albeit a slice of cake, a cookie, a bowl of ice-cream, whatever - and my bikini body wasn't thanking me.

So, to refocus, I read The Londoner's Anti Diet blog post and went back to basics - focusing on getting my 5+ servings of fruit and veggies a day. It was a question of The Swap. Whenever I had a craving for something sweet and deliciously evil, I would reach for the fruit bowl instead of the cake tin. I swapped carb-laden microwave meals with a vibrant and delicious salad. I found it was easiest to be healthy by packing my school lunches chock full of raw fresh vegetables, such as cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, capsicum,or anything else lying around my fridge, either left whole of chopped into sticks. As for the fruit, summer peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots always get me excited (I'm a bit of a fruit freak), as well as apples, oranges and pears.

If you're sitting here trying to figure out how much one serving is ("That's about one apple, right?"), it is how much you can possibly fit into your cupped hand. So for me at least, that can be an average-sized apple or pear or orange, or about half a dozen cherry tomatoes, or one average-sized carrot. Obviously, the amount of food that counts as one serving for you could be vastly different to the next person, and at a young age when a person is still growing, this is especially true.

I have found that there are literally more results than meets the eye. I feel more energetic, less emotional and moody, plus the self confidence and pat on the back I give myself for eating healthy, for "choosing health over instant gratification".

Despite this latest health craze, I have become increasingly bored with breakfast. Don't get me wrong, I eat breakfast everyday, but have been finding the usual options of "cereal of toast" a bit drab lately. So I made Healthy Breakfast Slice, adapted from The Healthy Food Guide, to liven things up a bit. Eat it warm, drizzled with honey, and it's somewhere between, muesli, porridge and a snack bar, all oaty, fruity and comforting.

Healthy Breakfast Slice

Serves 6

270g whole grain oats

2 medium-ripe bananas, mashed

2 green apples, skin on, grated *I used red

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

3 tablespoons sugar-free apple sauce *I made my own

2 omega-3-enriched eggs *I just used normal eggs

1 tablespoon LSA mix

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line a non-stick 20x30cm slice tin with baking paper.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined.

Press mixture into prepared tin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until slice is golden and firm to the touch. Cool slightly, then cut into squares.

Best served warm, topped with yoghurt and honey