I’ve never really understood the psychological meaning of Mondays until I started working in an office. Before that, working in restaurants, my biggest nightmares were Sundays – demanding parents, messy kids, hungry hungover youngsters in desperate need of a mocha with their chorizo burger.. Such a combination.

To be precise, it’s not about the Mondays for me, rather more about the mornings. It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is, I will snooze my alarm at least twice until I get mentally prepared to leave my cosy bed to face the average Londoner’s biggest challenge: the Tube.

This process may take up to 40 minutes and unfortunately doesn’t leave much room for having breakfast at home… but lots for inventiveness!

Among my many hacks are these quick and easy bars. I make a batch for the week and leave it in the fridge at work (or in an air-tight container) so that I can treat myself to extra laziness.

Happy mornings.

Ingredients

½ C Goji berries
2 Egg whites
1 Banana
1 ts Baking powder
10 Dates
½ C Natural Yogurt
½ C Milk
1 C Barley flour or Oats
1 C Wheat germ
3 TBS Chia seeds
Mixed seeds for topping (optional)

Know-How

In a food processor, pulse the Gojis, dates, eggs, banana, whites, yogurt, milk and baking powder until smooth. Transfer into a bowl and, with a wooden spoon, fold in the barley flour (or oats), the wheat germ and the chia seeds.
Pour the mix into a 20×20 baking tray, top with good seeds and bake at 180°C for 30′ or until golden.

When using barley flour the mix tends to become stickier so some well oiled parchment paper would be useful.