A DIFFERENT KIND OF TOMATO & BASIL PASTA

It was definitely a pasta kinda day, however I've grown so bored of tomato sauces that I craved something else, but nothing too stodgy and creamy like carbonara. I had recently done a nice midweek food shop so had a range of ingredients in the fridge for some planned dinners for Jack and I, so although my lunch wasn't planned it turned out V nice and varied. 

This was a meal from my veggie week which I'm happy to say went really well, I took it to 10 days before I went home from uni for a short break and was greeted by the mother of all family BBQs, however I'm definitely enjoying more meat-free options these days - something I certainly couldn't have predicted last year. I think a reason people don't go for veggie options is that they seem less filling, but that's really down to experimentation in the kitchen - something I'm probably going to spend my summer doing, seeing as everyone else has gone home :')

Method:

Turn your oven to 200 degrees celsius and boil the kettle. Chop the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a foil lined tray with a little drizzle of olive oil, garlic granules and pepper. These should take about 10-12 minutes, so will be ready by the time your pasta and veg has boiled. Pour the boiling water over the pasta and after 5 minutes add the chopped broccoli, then with 2 minutes to go, add the spinach.

Drain your pasta & veg and place back in the saucepan with some olive oil. Take the tomatoes out and mix them in, along with crumbled goats cheese (or grated cheddar/mozzarella) and season with salt/pepper and basil leaves.

Notes:

• Don't skip the basil leaves, they taste amazing when you catch a leaf in your mouthful! In the photo you can only see the garnish, however I chucked more leaves into the pasta before draining so they're all mixed in.
• When stirring all the ingredients together, try to break up some of the tomatoes to spread more flavour through the "sauce"
• There is no such thing as too much cheese

And that's it, a really quick and tasty pasta dish that's a nice change from that backup jar of Loyd Grossman sauce. Let me know if you'd make this! I know it isn't really a recipe, more a meal idea, but who doesn't want more food options in their life, eh.

SIMPLE & FRUITY BANANA BREAD

Banana bread is one of those easy fall back options when you're craving something sweet and filling but don't have any chocolate. All you need to do is keep a stock of flour, sugar, baking powder & a tin at the back of your cupboard and neglect your bananas.

In case you've never heard of or tried banana bread before, it's definitely in the cake family. I could research into why it's named bread but really who has the time, life needs a dash of mystery and all that. It's also my favourite cake (bar carrot cake) and doesn't need to be refrigerated (mainly because it's always gone within two days). It's best eaten warm, so please don't torture yourself by waiting for it to cool fully before you dig in, and try microwaving subsequent slices for a few seconds because mmmmm.

Method:

Start by heating your oven to 160/180 degrees celsius and buttering your baking tray, unless you have a case like I did (I'd recommend them! There's not much worse than not being able to excavate a cake from a tin).

Chop up two of your (medium/small) bananas and crush with a fork. TIP: if the banana isn't totally ripe, pop it in the microwave for 30-ish seconds to soften! I use a fork because I like there being little chunks throughout, but don't leave too many as you'll add more later. Leave half a banana for extra chunk making.

Mix the softened butter together with the sugar until it's "fluffy" and there are no cheeky lumps of butter left, then mix in the eggs. You can whisk them up before, but to save on washing up I just do it in the bowl. Sieve in half of your flour and stir until fully blended, then add the rest of the flour, baking powder and mushed up bananas, a sprinkle of cinnamon and mix fully.

Chop some of your blackberries into halves and half of the banana into small chunks then stir them lightly into the cake mixture. Personally I don't like the blackberries to colour the mixture, they should be a surprise when you cut the loaf! Then spoon the mixture into the tin and decorate the top with slices of banana. (I've also marbled almond butter into the mixture at this point before which was divine but I didn't have any to hand this time - just a suggestion!)

Pop into the oven and bake for 20 minutes before checking. I find that the top goes brown pretty quickly, so to prevent it from burning I cover it with foil midway through. The loaf is done once a skewer comes out clean, and this usually takes 50 minutes for me, but keep checking as I guess all ovens vary!


And that's it! Sorry there isn't an "after" photo, it doesn't look that impressive until cut and this one was for Jack's leaving do at work so had to stay pure. I hope you liked this post! I'm planning on doing loads of recipe posts this summer so hopefully I'll get better at the format etc :')

SUN DRIED TOMATO PESTO RECIPE

So this week I've been a little obsessed with that jar of pesto I made from scratch and have since added to nearly every meal. In a bid to turn my messy diet around I've been looking for new foods to try and ways to home-make as much as possible. This is a really easy, quick recipe that makes an interesting addition to lots of meals and snacks. I don't know how long it keeps as I used mine up in just 4 days, oops! :')

You will need:

• A jar of sun dried tomatoes (I used M&S)
• A large handful of fresh basil (I used a full packet from Sainsbury's. You probably can't have too much basil)
• One clove of garlic (to start with, I used three which was overkill, even for me)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 of a lemon
• Pepper
• (Pine nuts) (I didn't use them because I didn't have any, but a handful would be good, I'm sure)

Place the sun dried tomatoes into a food processor (I used my trusty Nutribullet) with a little oil from its jar then add the chopped garlic (crushing would be best as it would reduce the chance of eating a spicy chunk) and hand shredded basil, stalks n' all. Drizzle over some olive oil, but not too much at this stage. It needs a liquid to hold it together but you don't want to overdo it. Then blend it up for a minute or so, until it looks as through it's done (one colour).

Now you can give it a taste test. At this stage I added a squeeze of lemon juice, a few grinds of pepper and more olive oil. These are the three things that you can add a little of, blend, taste test and add more of as many times as necessary once the core ingredients are all in. Once you think its done, pop it in a jar. I added more olive oil once it was in and gave it a little stir. It should have a thicker consistency than your average pesto, but the oil makes it more easily spreadable/mixable!

Food ideas for your new pesto:

• Mixed with pasta, spinach, broccoli and cheese
• Spread on crackers with cheese/avocado
• Mixed with lentils and cheese (trust me)
• Added to passata to make a lush homemade pizza base
• The above but on slices of bread or tortilla wraps - super quick pizzas!
• Spread in sandwiches for an extra tang.

Let me know if you try this recipe out and how you get on!

Polly xo

Uni Room Tour

This post was definitely more suited to pre Christmas. My room had stayed relatively clean for almost 3 months, solely because I was living under the constant belief that I would be writing up a room tour that weekend. Typico of me and my life I only managed to take these photos 2 hours before my train home to Surrey. I had just put myself through a massive tidying/organising sesh to make my return to Leeds as cosy and welcoming as possible... I even dug out the hoover.

Now, if any of you follow me on twitter/snapchat (@pollyvdsz) you may have heard that along with many areas in the North of England, my accommodation flooded on Boxing Day. So, everything in these photos is now in one of two boxes: "water damaged and smelly" and "dry and thrown into this box so probs broken lol". It hasn't really sunk in because I wasn't there and haven't seen any photos of my room in particular, but I know that the water level came up to mattress height so a lot of it is buggered. Very luckily we're all insured and are being put up in a hotel for the next few weeks, so it will be fine. But now, let's take a look at the room that once was...

9 3/4 pillow - Harry Potter Studio Tour | Christmas pillows - Primark | Pinapple & Kitty pillows - Amy Hodkin | Rose gold lamp - Homebase | Phone case - obv sighh.co

Let's just get straight to the main attraction, my bed. It's where I spend the majority of my time, nicely tucked behind that curtain so passers by can't see me. Ground floor struggles. This is also where the vague colour scheme of grey begins. Did I mention I have an almost double sized bed? Just that little detail has made my quality of life SO MUCH better. Being comfy is everything. That double duvet was the only one me and Beth could find at 5:30pm on a Sunday (when we realised we wouldn't have one for the night and probably shouldn't have stopped for that 3rd coffee on the drive to Leeds as 90% of shops were closed) and is in fact the most comfortable I've ever had. Big up to Sainsbury's. 

Under my bed I have a couple of boxes containing clothes I didn't need in my wardrobe and other bits and bobs. My favourite is the box nearest the head of the bed where I keep pyjamas and a hot water bottle. It's V useful because it saves me from chucking my loungewear on the floor. :)

I wish I knew the name of the artist of those two grey prints! 

This is my view from bed. I aim to fill up that wall space with lots of motivational posters, and the two grey ones and two hidden behind that mound of scarfs on the right were from a print festival in the Corn Exchange. I've seen so many craft fairs and the like there, it's lovely! Next to my wash basket is a little radiator and just enough space for me to stand, warm my bum and think about life. Oh and the scarf mound is hanging from a set of hooks attached to the curtain rail. It hasn't fallen down yet...

Mirror - Ikea | Makeup bag - sighh.co | Coffee print | Be good & Brave print | Grey throw - Ikea

Next to my bed is a set of shelves attached to the wall. I store all my face & hair items on top, as well as my water filter because the tap water tastes like metal and worry. Just poking into the picture is my desk chair which I've covered with a lovely grey throw from Ikea. It's a nice trick to improve an ugly (red) piece of furniture, and again, grey. I didn't take pictures of the inside of my wardrobe because that was the one relatively messy part, but I was so surprised that all the clothes I took with me fit just fine. On top of it is my pathetic drying rack which has bent under the weight of my heavy wash loads (I'm trying to be £ efficient).

Plants & their pots - Ikea | Kitty pot - Anthropologie | Mug - John Lewis | Tub - Ikea

Coal/teal print | Grid pot | Copper coaster - Anthropologie

Okay these shelves are my PRIDE AND JOY. It's so important to surround yourself with inspiration and prettiness so above my desk, I've done just that.  From the top left are my design books, held up by the most beautiful bottle of Vodka (thank u mum). The Tough Love prints I sold a few months ago are the biggest feature here, for when I need a kick up the arse emotionally. On the bottom shelf are more notebooks, mostly used as props for product/blog photography, more prints, the NICEST mug from John Lewis that was only £3 (!!), I also picked up a coral version which usually sits on top and matches the print behind perfectly (heh heh). I keep pens in the giant pencil sharpener and rings/watches in that ADORABLE kitty pot. And at the end I store my recipe books in a tub for easy access. I've scattered various plants and cacti around these pieces to add some greenery, which really does make all the difference. Remembering to water them is a right pain though. 

The mysterious red square in the corner is my notice board, but it's really ugly because it hurts to pin photos up so they're very scattered. It may as well not even be a notice board. It feels like wood covered in fabric.

Tray - John Lewis - Acrylic organiser - maybe Muji | White pot - Homebase

This is my attempt at desk organisation. I haven't photographed my desk as a whole which yes is a bit annoying, but we all know social media is only for the highlights. Along from this is my monitor, one of the best purchases ever because I can watch catch up TV & Netflix while I work, woo! Also I don't know why I have so many tapes. I can't use that many tapes.

Porridge soap - Lush | Soap holder - Homebase - Adorable milk bottle - I can't remember!

This is all I'm prepared to show you of my bathroom, as the rest is 40% toilet, 50% shower and 10% blue sink which nobody needs to see in detail. I probably should have photographed the mini basket (from Tiger) I have hanging from the hook on the back of the door. It's SO useful as it has three hooks under it which I use to hang my towels, and in the basket I store face masks. I really advise buying hooks that have more hooks, it's genius. 

Fun fact: on the floor I have a grey squishy matt that has a hole so it can surround a toilet's base. I bought this thinking I was very clever and wise but then got home to realise the toilet's base goes into the wall, not touching the floor, so now I just have a stupid shaped matt.

Black faux fur - Urban Outfitters | Camel - H&M | Green - Anthropologie

My coats hang just as you walk through the door, partially obscuring the already teeny mirror. Below them is now the shoe graveyard.

Little bowl - Urban Outfitters | Plant - a Florist in Leeds | White pot - Anthropologie | Copper plate - Vintage

I bought this large copper plate a few months ago, determined to find a use for it, and actually I think it works well as my little "essentials" drop off as I walk through the door. I've only forgotten my keys ONCE. On it I keep every day items like my keys, spare change, earphones and glasses, as well as some drinks to grab as I leave and a collection of nice tea bags (that I'll definitely be taking with me to uni now I've designed a travel mug!). In the pot I keep pins for the notice board, ready for when I'm prepared to use them. I usually keep a bowl of bananas next to this so I can have one in the morning as I usually don't have the time for a nice breakfast before uni.

And finally, I get to read this sweet piece of decor gifted to me by Beth (thank u) every day before I head out. I adore it.

So there's my uni room! If you're heading to Leeds in September next year and want to know a little more about my accommodation/how I'm finding it, pop me a tweet and I'll see if I can help :)

Polly xo

Relatively Healthy Uni Meals

After seeing how many people tried out my last two recipes (the veggie bake and banana oat pancakes) I thought I'd make an effort to record more meals that I enjoy for you! This post has been a long time coming, but I can't blame myself for focusing on my degree, right? So get those taste buds ready. I hope you enjoy the clickbait titles.

Chunky Mash Meal

I absolutely loved this meal! It was so filling and comforting, plus my leftovers served as the nicest lunch at uni the next day. You can of course mix up the fillings to suit your tongue, but here's what I did.

You will need:

• One large potato
• Smoked bacon 
• Half an onion
• Some broccoli/spinach/peas (a green vegetable of your choice)
• Pesto
• Cheese
• Salt
• Olive oil

There are two ways of cooking your potato. The one I did here was annoyingly complicated and took almost 3 hours. Mainly because the oven wasn't on for the first hour... but let's not dwell. If you'd like to have stuffed jacket potatoes, wash your potato then rub it with a little bit of olive oil and salt before popping it in the oven for an hour at 220 celsius. If you'd like a load of mash, peel your potato, chop it up into medium sized chunks and pop in boiling water until you can easily stick a fork through them. (20-30 mins)

While the potato is cooking, chop up your onions and bacon and pop them in a frying pan. You can use some olive oil for this, but bacon does release its own fat. When they're almost done (onions are floppy and golden, bacon is dark pink) you can add in the greens. If you're boiling the potato you could chuck the greens in there instead for up to 5 minutes.

Once your baked potato is cooked, leave it to cool slightly then chop it in half. Spoon the insides out into a bowl (careful not to break the skin!) and roughly mash with a fork. I say fork because I don't own a masher yet. That's why it's a chunky mash. If you have the time/ability to fully mash a potato with a fork then don't talk to me. If you've boiled the potato, drain them then put them in a bowl and again, roughly mash with a fork. You can then mix in the rest of your ingredients, a couple of spoonfuls of pesto and some grated cheese.

You now have the chunky mash, which you can either put into a baking tray or stuff back into your potato skins. For the latter, I'd do it by hand rather than a spoon. Top both with a sprinkle of cheese then back in the oven for 5 minutes.

 I Love Myself Bangers N Mash

Sometimes you just NEED an internal hug, and you absolutely cannot go wrong with sausages, potato and gravy, but this is my way of making it less boring. My Romanian flatmate found the term "bangers n mash" very odd, and yes it really is... what the heck.

You will need:

• One small sweet potato (or half a medium)
• An onion
• A couple heads of broccoli 
• Butter
• Really nice sausages (I LOVE Cumberland pork & apple ones)
• Gravy (powdered Bisto is my norm)
• One clove of garlic
• Olive oil

Pop your sausages in the oven according to their cooking guidelines. 

Peel and chop up your sweet potato into small-ish chunks, you can see mine below. I like to chop them small because they cook quicker and are easier to mash with a fork. Boil those away in a saucepan for about 15 minutes, and pop some chopped broccoli in half way though. Next time I'll probably add spinach as well for the last 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, fry your chopped onion on a moderate heat in some olive oil, add the garlic, mix up some gravy (however much you need) and pour it in. Leave this sizzling away at a low heat, stirring occasionally.

Once you can easily stick a fork through your sweet potato bits, drain them and then get mashing. I used some Ikea tupperware for this because I still don't have adequately sized bowls, but hey, less washing up! You can add a small amount of butter here if you wish. Add as much as you need to the plate as leave the rest in the fridge for later.

Now all you need to do is add the sausages, pour on your onion gravy and dribble everywhere.

Not A Takeaway Pizza

I'd just like to announce that I've been at uni for 62 days and I haven't bought a readymade pizza yet. Let that sink in. Honestly WHERE is my medal. Well, for those of you trying to count how many you've consumed in your time at uni, or how much that's cost you, this recipe should change ur freakin world. I never thought anything would satisfy me the way a Texas BBQ does.

Essentials:

• Wholemeal wraps
• Passata (tomato puree from a carton/can)
• Paprika (I like the smoked version!)
• Oregano 
• Garlic
• A spoonful of pesto
• A Pinch of salt/pepper

Topping ideas: 

• Chorizo 
• Ham
• Veggie meat alternatives
• Bell peppers
• Broccoli
• Onion
• Mushrooms
• Actually, anything. That's the beauty of pizza.
• Cheese

Turn your oven onto 220 degrees celsius and pop in the wrap on a pizza tray. This will crisp up the wrap so that it doesn't go all soggy when the sauce is applied. I usually have it in the oven while I'm chopping up my ingredients, but if you think that'll take more than 5 minutes, maybe put it in half way through.

Chop up all your ingredients into small pieces. They won't be in the oven for very long so they need to be small enough to cook through. 

I've given you the ingredients I use in my tomato sauce, but measurements are to taste and will vary depending on how many you're cooking for. Start with pouring as much passata as you think you'll need into a small bowl. A teaspoonful of paprika should do, but I don't think there's such a thing as too much paprika. Then sprinkle in the rest of the herbs/seasoning, a spoonful of pesto (or two) and mix well.

Take your wrap(s) out of the oven and spoon on your sauce. Spread a thick layer around, almost touching the edges - there's no crust on this pizza! Then decorate your pizza however your tummy wants and put in the oven for up to 10 minutes. You should check after 6-8 minutes. When the sauce has turned darker and the cheese is bubbling, it's ready!

To serve you could leave it to cool for a minute then cut into pieces to share, fold into a calzone or throw on some lettuce and make it a pizza wrap.

_____

I really hope you enjoyed these recipes! Please let me know if you try any of them and if so, do tweet/instagram me photos!! I'm never not happy to see food.

Polly xo

I have a co designer!

Halls Sweet Halls art print set - £5 - out 27/08/2015

A lot of you probably don't know this yet, but as of July, I got myself a co designer! It's about bloody time I had some help around here, right? Charlotte (Twitter, Instagram) officially joined the Sighh team (I use the term "team" loosely as for the past 2 years, the members were a lonesome me, myself and I) in July. You may recognise her as the person I collaborated with to produce the Cacti phone case.

This post might be a long'n but it is one hell of a milestone for the business and me personally. I want to record this both for me to look back on and, for those who are interested, to know more about what's happening behind the scenes.

Context

Making the decision to allow someone into your design process is VERY HARD, let me tell you. Well it was for me anyway. I'd never designed as part of a team before and honestly I'm not much of a team player. I find it very hard to trust people. This REALLY holds me back in business and in life - but lets save that therapy session for another time! Luckily, Charlotte, the ray of sunshine that she is, has made the process so much easier. thank u charlotte

Fears about working with someone:
-Giving critique. I still take critique personally, but on our uni course they have group crits all the time, so Charlotte is well used to it and takes feedback on board!
-Admin would put them off. Charlotte regularly expresses wanting to help me with the post & packaging. This is a good sign.
-Their style would be too different. I'm so pleasantly surprised by how quickly she's adapted to my way of working and I'm sure our joint effort will develop into something much better as time goes on.

Fears about not working with someone:
-Combusting at uni and having to close the shop for good.
-Never fulfilling my ambition to make Sighh a studio full of young, ambitious designers.
-Never learning how to work closely with another designer.

Mini Interview

So, to introduce you to this Charlotte person I've asked her a few questions which you can read below. Disclaimer: I'm aware about the possibility of extreme bias, she wants to keep her job and all :) lol :)

Introduce yourself to the peoeples.

Hello! My name is Charlotte, I'm 19 and a student studying graphic design at LCA! (Really boring intro, sorry)

Now, I've completely forgotten how we decided to work together. I know I came to you about the cacti drawing you posted on Instagram, but how did it move from a collab to you joining Sighh?

I remember we started talking on twitter because you tweeted something about going to LCA and I was like HI :) I showed you around when you came up, and we had a fun time eating in Giraffe where I had to have pasta filled with beans :-(

After the collab, you mentioned you needed someone to help you if/when you moved to uni and I thought that it would be a great opportunity for me, even if it was just packing and emails! It was the perfect situation because we'd both be doing the same course, at the same uni, and both had a passion for design! I think everything just fell into place after that!

Have you been surprised by anything in particular, now you've seen what goes on behind the scenes?

I think the main thing that's shocked me is the amount of work there actually is! Most people probably assume that you just get an order and post it out, but that's not the case at all. Obviously I'm limited as to what I can do right now, working from home, but I am eager to get stuck in when we move to Leeds! 

Also, searching for the right supplier and making sure all of the samples are correct is something that I wasn't really expecting (probably because Polly is such a perfectionist) and it does cause some problems/delays which you never really hear about otherwise.

What's the worst/most annoying part of the job? (It's okay, I probably feel it too)

Right now, I'd say not being able to help you out! Working through a computer has given me this amazing opportunity BUT I can't wait to start working together properly, I feel a bit out of the loop 300 miles away!

Good answer. Take 10 points. Do you think working for Sighh will help your career/design ability? How?

Oh definitely! It's already taught me so much, especially with working with another person - which is essential experience for design! It will also help me build confidence with talking to proper business people, and hopefully give myself some exposure as an actual designer!

What do you think you add to the business?

This seems like the interview question I never had :) 

Since I've already done my first year, I feel like I'm quite experienced within design already. We're both on the same wavelength, and its great to work together with someone who has a similar knowledge! We can also bounce ideas off each other, which is super helpful and exciting when something great comes along! I'm familiar with all of the same software, and we both have a passion for design, which I think is the main thing.

What's been your favourite project so far?

I'd probably say the university prints! It was the first project that I started from scratch, and had a lot of input in. I'm so excited for them to be released! (My student house definitely needs the bin one).

What's your favourite product?

Its super popular already, but I think the cross stitch design! It's so timeless and matches with everything. Other than that, OBVIOUSLY I have to pick my lil cacti case because that's my baby!

Do you like working for Sighh? :) PS this is not an appropriate time to hand in your notice :)

OF COURSE! It's the best job I've ever had, everything is so flexible and relaxed (most of the time), and its in my desired field so its perfect! Working with Polly is great, I'm so excited to be spending more time together in the coming year.

To Conclude

This doesn't mean I'm done, that I can't be bothered any more. It means I'm finally mature enough to realise someone can only go so far on their own. I'm excited for Sighh to grow further, produce new products, work from a studio, do everything twice as fast as before. All the best design studios are made up of multiple people, and if all goes well, maybe Sighh will evolve into one...

--

Halls Sweet Halls - Making

I decided to preview the Halls Sweet Halls print set in this post because, as she mentioned above, it's the first project which Charlotte had a great deal of input.

I wanted to create passive aggressive prints for uni students, and halls seemed like a good place to start. Given a description of my vision for the set, one and a half quotes and some pointers, she designed these from scratch while I worked on the new tote bag (WOO EXCITING TEASER). Over the week she sent me screen shots of her progression and I gave feedback here and there.

The first row: some of Charlotte's first draft. After more feedback, she produced her final draft - the second row. As you'll notice she experimented with a range of colour schemes, and one of them was perfect. I think it's mature, as unisex as Sighh gets and easy to integrate into a colour schemed room.

It was then my task to take her layouts and make them ABSOLUTELY CENTRED AND COLOUR CO-ORDINATED to achieve the final set, pictured above.

So, what do you think of the prints? Of me EMPLOYING a real human? Let me know in the comments below, or tweet me! @pollyvdsz @SighhDesigns. Ideally more students will join in the future, but we shall see!

Polly xo

Banana + Blackberry Oat Pancakes

Hello people! Long time no blog. My excuse is I've been working tirelessly on new products for Sighh, so have had very little time to wash my hair, let alone plan new posts. But finally, here's something. 

This morning (10am) I was sipping my cuppa tea, mourning over the days where I'd wake up craving breakfast. I seem to have utterly buggered up my morning appetite and it's all too sad. So, I started listing breakfast foods in my head. "Do I want bacon? We do have a lot of bacon. No, nothing that greasy. Muesli? No, I don't feel like excess milk. Porridge? Naa, I'm not feeling that texture right now... but we do have blackberries... and banana" So I decided to fry up some porridge (minus the milk).

Below is a rough breakdown of the ingredients I used, and a couple more that I'd definitely add in the future. This recipe feeds one person, or two not very hungry people, and is gluten free! It's also free of dairy and meat but more and more people seem to be interested in avoiding gluten these days.

• Roughly 1 cup of plain oats (I used the 1/2 cup measurement above, then added more later)
• 1 ripe (mushable) banana, chopped
• 1 egg
• A sprinkle of cinnamon 
• A handful of blackberries
• 1 teaspoon of coconut oil (to fry in) 

Recommended extras/alternatives:

• 1 small apple, grated (can replace the banana, but I do recommend banana)
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Raisins 
• Chopped strawberries
• 1 or 2 squares of dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

Now you've chosen your favourite ingredients, here's how to put them together!

In a small bowl, mush up your banana with a fork (or any professional mushing device you may own). Then add the oats, blackberries/any extras and the egg. You could whisk up your egg separately, but that doesn't make for a pretty blog photo.

Once the mixture is all blended (it should look a little less oaty than the above, this was after just a couple of stirs), check that it isn't runny. You want a thick mixture that you can spoon out onto the pan without it loosing its shape. If it's too runny, it will break when you try to flip it.

Heat up your non-stick frying pan then add the teaspoon of coconut oil. Once melted, blob out a rather heaped tablespoonful of mixture and smooth it out gently with a fork. It probably won't be a perfect circle, but this isn't my first time. *Turns away from camera and flicks hair with spatula*

The first side should take 2-4 minutes, but keep nudging the edges to see if the underside is done. If it's golden brown, and more importantly, holds together, you can flip it. The next side shouldn't take more than a minute!

Now sit down and love yourself for making a quick, healthy breakfast that you can definitely Instagram, provided the right lighting. The banana added an amazing caramel taste, and the combination of blackberries and cinnamon gave a hearty, seasonal taste that made me crave Autumn even more. 

Would you make this? Let me know! I was SO impressed with the response to my veggie bake, and eager to make more tasty foods for us all to try. 

Polly xo