V B 6 - Dried Fruit Oomph

Fad diets. They arrive, we scoff and without any active participation, take account of their strange rules and guidelines. Is it really possible to loose weight whilst eating Camembert? Can we be energised by not eating for 2 days and then indulging for 5? Well here is the latest take, a diet set to hit the headlines in 2014. Are you ready? V B 6. Vegan Before Six. 

This isn't a quick solution, we are talking about a change in lifestyle. The idea is that you eat exclusively vegan meals for breakfast and lunch and are as flexible as you need to be for dinner. So that is no milk, no eggs, no bacon and no cheese before tea. 

Developed by Mark Bittman, this diet has taken off in the States. Bittman has written a book (obviously) outlining the major reasons that eating vegan can make your feel van-tastic. He writes, 'You can live healthier, not just eat healthier, when you eat with your eyes wide open'.

I get it. I can understand how this might make one think harder, pause and actually get cooking but personally I'd be nervous about the breakfast bit. No cereal, no buttered toast and not a dippy egg in sight.  Breakfast would be my achilles heal so I thought of a solution that might work for me, a working mum on the run. May I present dried fruit oomphs.

These were gorgeous energy rockets that I (and my little boy) will enjoy, whether I'm feeling vegan or not. 

Dried Fruit Oomphs 

650g Dried Fruit, the juicer the better

Juice of 1 orange 

1 tbsp golden syrup 

100g rolled porridge oats 

1 Preheat the oven to 160C, fan 140G. 

2 Empty the dried fruit into the bowl of a processor and pulse until they are roughly chopped. Add the golden syrup, orange juice and porridge oats and pulse again until the mixture just comes together. 

3 Divide into 12 and lie on a baking sheet, lined with parchment. 

4 Bake for 20 minutes and leave to cool on a wire rack overnight.