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“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.”
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Peanut butter overnight chia seed pudding.
Wow the name of this is a bit of a mouthful! But as you can see I'm experimenting with the chia seeds again - this time for breakfast. This is a quick and easy breakfast, it barely needs a recipe! Full of protein from the peanut butter, fibre from the chia seeds, potassium and slow release energy from the bananas - partner it with a green tea to start your day in style!
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. chia seeds
1 Tbsp. Greek yoghurt
5 Tbsp. milk of your choice (I used rice milk)
1-2 Tbsp. crunchy organic peanut butter (or to taste)
1 overripe banana, mashed
1 Tsp. honey
Throw it all together in a bowl or Mason jar and mix thoroughly - the peanut butter will be the hardest thing to get to mix and not clump. If you're really having trouble with mixing with peanut butter put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, just to loosen up. Seal with a lid or cling film, put in the fridge for at least 2 hours or preferable overnight. Then eat up!
Sunday, 15 June 2014
Jamie Oliver's Union Jacks at Covent Garden
My good friend Shirley is doing a tour of Europe before she returns home to Chile (boo!), so as London was on the list it was a good chance for a final goodbye.. **sniffles**
I had a long list of things she HAD to do: Buck House, London Eye, Parliament, the Natural History Museum, the British Museum… Let's face it, you're never bored in London.
As it turns out, though, we did none of that. We did however go to the West End to see War Horse (highly emotional and such amazing visuals!) and then dine in Covent Garden. I don't think I've had a more chilled London experience, and it was perfect!
Shirley had a list of British foods to sample, such as fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding - and Jamie's restaurant catered for both of these delights!
For starters I went for the ricotta and beetroot salad, with toffee hazelnuts - there was too much beetroot with no flavour (no dressing, salt, nada) but my, those hazelnuts were TO DIE FOR. I ate them up pretty damn fast.
Shirley went for a Cumberland sausage with bacon and wholegrain mushroom - very English! There was none left, so I take that for a good sign.
Mains. Shirley - fish and chips, of course. It wasn't your traditional greasy chips out of a newspaper ordeal (which I must admit does add to the charm), but the fish looked nice enough, if a bit heavy on the batter. Shirley said the actual fish (haddock I believe) tasted a bit funky - metallic, almost.. Uh oh, Jamie..
I ordered the chicken caesar salad, and it was spectacular! I got a whole half a chicken! The skin was crispy and lovely and salty (salt is my weakness!), and the baby gem lettuce fresh and crisp, smothered in the dressing. Ten out of ten for me!
And even though we were pretty full (okay, we were stuffed), we decided to get dessert anyway - don't judge. Shirley got her sticky toffee pudding (admittedly she couldn't finish it, but that's what happens when our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.. Just) but she loved it!
According to Shirley it beat the Snickers ice cream she had in Rome - that's some high praise indeed!
I had a long list of things she HAD to do: Buck House, London Eye, Parliament, the Natural History Museum, the British Museum… Let's face it, you're never bored in London.
Shirley had a list of British foods to sample, such as fish and chips and sticky toffee pudding - and Jamie's restaurant catered for both of these delights!
For starters I went for the ricotta and beetroot salad, with toffee hazelnuts - there was too much beetroot with no flavour (no dressing, salt, nada) but my, those hazelnuts were TO DIE FOR. I ate them up pretty damn fast.
Shirley went for a Cumberland sausage with bacon and wholegrain mushroom - very English! There was none left, so I take that for a good sign.
Mains. Shirley - fish and chips, of course. It wasn't your traditional greasy chips out of a newspaper ordeal (which I must admit does add to the charm), but the fish looked nice enough, if a bit heavy on the batter. Shirley said the actual fish (haddock I believe) tasted a bit funky - metallic, almost.. Uh oh, Jamie..
I ordered the chicken caesar salad, and it was spectacular! I got a whole half a chicken! The skin was crispy and lovely and salty (salt is my weakness!), and the baby gem lettuce fresh and crisp, smothered in the dressing. Ten out of ten for me!
And even though we were pretty full (okay, we were stuffed), we decided to get dessert anyway - don't judge. Shirley got her sticky toffee pudding (admittedly she couldn't finish it, but that's what happens when our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.. Just) but she loved it!
I went for a Marathon bar ice cream (why they couldn't just call it Snickers I've no idea..) and it was heavenly!
According to Shirley it beat the Snickers ice cream she had in Rome - that's some high praise indeed!Thursday, 12 June 2014
Banana chocolate muffins.
Have your bananas gone a little bit past their munching date? No fear, the banana chocolate muffin recipe is here! (That sounded less lame in my head). By mashing up your overripe bananas, you can create something beautiful - aided by chocolate, of course. Handy to grab as a quick breakfast, as we all know (all together now) "breakfast is the most important meal of the day".
This recipe makes 12, and will freeze easily - just leave them to defrost naturally, they'll go soggy if put in the microwave.
Recipe adapted from The Londoner
Ingredients:
1. Preheat oven to 170 C. Prepare your cupcake tins. In one bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add in the beaten eggs and mix well. Add in the bananas and stir until the mixture is totally combined - don't over mix or the batter will become doughy.
2. Divide your mixture between your cupcake tins, and add a dollop of warmed Nutella into each cupcake case (about 1 Tsp. each). Using the end of a spoon, swirl the Nutella around until it looks chocolatey.
This recipe makes 12, and will freeze easily - just leave them to defrost naturally, they'll go soggy if put in the microwave.
Recipe adapted from The Londoner
Ingredients:
- 230g self raising flour
- 150g caster sugar
- 1/2 Tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 large overripe bananas, mashed
- 1 Tsp. good quality vanilla extract
- 3 Tbsp. Nutella or equivalent (I used Whole Earth Lightly Whipped Chocolate Spread), warmed
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 170 C. Prepare your cupcake tins. In one bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add in the beaten eggs and mix well. Add in the bananas and stir until the mixture is totally combined - don't over mix or the batter will become doughy.2. Divide your mixture between your cupcake tins, and add a dollop of warmed Nutella into each cupcake case (about 1 Tsp. each). Using the end of a spoon, swirl the Nutella around until it looks chocolatey.
3. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool slightly and demolish - they're really good slightly warm!
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Strawberry chia seed jam.
There's so much hype at the moment about health foods and super foods - like chia seeds for example, because of their abundance of healthy omega-3 fats and fibre, along with claims that it can combat diabetes and fight belly fat. If this is true then it must be the superman of superfoods! (sorry)
Readily available in most health food shops, I decided to buy them… Then had no idea what to do with them. Just add it to smoothies? You can, but that seemed a bit boring. An overnight oat type thing? On my to-do list, but am currently licking out the last of the peanut butter (it would HAVE to include peanut butter, else it's not a real breakfast). So what?
Jam.
Strawberry jam.
So I have an excuse to make scones.
This particular jam is a melange of two recipes I found online, and only includes 3 ingredients:
Readily available in most health food shops, I decided to buy them… Then had no idea what to do with them. Just add it to smoothies? You can, but that seemed a bit boring. An overnight oat type thing? On my to-do list, but am currently licking out the last of the peanut butter (it would HAVE to include peanut butter, else it's not a real breakfast). So what?
Jam.
Strawberry jam.
So I have an excuse to make scones.
This particular jam is a melange of two recipes I found online, and only includes 3 ingredients:
- 400g strawberries (hulled)
- agave nectar (or honey, maple syrup - basically whatever you have in)
- 2 Tbsp chia seeds
1. Start by whacking the strawbs in a food processor (or you can chop them and mash them up at a later stage - I was just feeling lazy) and whizzing - it doesn't matter if it's not smooth, when you heat it up it'll disintegrate more.
2. Put in a pan and bring to a rolling boil for about 5 minutes, or until it starts to thicken. This is the fruit releasing pectin, which makes it go jam-like.
3. Once thickened, (this is where you'd need to mash it if you didn't use a processor) add the chia seeds and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Pour into a sealable jar, and leave to cool.
Simples.
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
Popcorn cupcakes.
We had a family party on Saturday to celebrate my brother's 18th (he's 19 but missed his 18th by being in America - plonker). I was definitely on kitchen duty - the dishwasher was exhausted by the end of it all!
Mum asked me to do nibbly bits, and what's nicer than a cupcake? Oh I don't know, maybe a cupcake smothered in buttercream, caramel sauce and toffee popcorn? Yeah, that'll do.
Ingredients:
225g caster sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
225g plain flour
1/2 Tsp. bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. salt
110g butter
2 large eggs
50g Greek yoghurt (avoid low fat versions)
200ml whole milk
Equal quantities butter and icing sugar for the frosting, as well as a store-bought caramel sauce and a small bag of toffee popcorn.
Method:
1. Heat oven to 175 C. Mix the sugar with the flour, vanilla extract, bicarb, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and mix until crumbly.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and Greek yoghurt until smooth. Add this to the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
3. Slowly add in the milk.
4. Fill cupcake liners until they are 1/2 full - this is important as they expand quite a lot once in the oven! Bake for about 14 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. Once cool, make the buttercream by mixing equal parts butter and sugar. Add more sugar to taste. Smother the buttercream on the cupcakes, then drizzle on the caramel sauce. Decorate with popcorn and munch!
Mum asked me to do nibbly bits, and what's nicer than a cupcake? Oh I don't know, maybe a cupcake smothered in buttercream, caramel sauce and toffee popcorn? Yeah, that'll do.
Ingredients:
225g caster sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla extract
225g plain flour
1/2 Tsp. bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. salt
110g butter
2 large eggs
50g Greek yoghurt (avoid low fat versions)
200ml whole milk
Equal quantities butter and icing sugar for the frosting, as well as a store-bought caramel sauce and a small bag of toffee popcorn.
Method:
1. Heat oven to 175 C. Mix the sugar with the flour, vanilla extract, bicarb, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and mix until crumbly.
2. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and Greek yoghurt until smooth. Add this to the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
3. Slowly add in the milk.
4. Fill cupcake liners until they are 1/2 full - this is important as they expand quite a lot once in the oven! Bake for about 14 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. Once cool, make the buttercream by mixing equal parts butter and sugar. Add more sugar to taste. Smother the buttercream on the cupcakes, then drizzle on the caramel sauce. Decorate with popcorn and munch!
Monday, 9 June 2014
White fish noodles in tomato sauce.
We'd been away for the weekend, so I had to make do with what we had in already - so my white fish dish was born!
Ingredients: (serves two)
1 pack egg noodles
1 tin chopped tomatoes
4 carrots, chopped
1/2 butternut squash, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 white fish fillets (we had Basa fillets in, but use whatever you have)
2 Tbsp. each of fresh garlic and parsley (dried is fine, but use more)
Olive oil
Salt + pepper
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Put the carrots and butternut squash in a baking dish with a good glug of olive oil, and 1 Tbsp. each of garlic and parsley. Put in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, depending on how big you've cut your veg. In the last ten minutes, add the onion.
2. When your veg is nearly done, put the noodles in a pan of boiling water and heat until cooked. Drain, then place in a ramekin or potato cutter. Put in the oven to crisp up.
3. Get your sauce started. In a pan, add the chopped tomatoes, season and add the rest of the garlic and parsley. Add the carrots, squash and onion from the oven, and coat in the tomato sauce. Leave to simmer.
4. Heat a frying pan on a high heat with a drizzle of oil. Add the fish and cook for 3-4 minutes each side.
5.Check on the noodles! They should be crispy but not overly brown. If so, remove from the oven and place on a warm plate.
6. Assemble! Around the noodles, serve up the roasted veg tomato sauce, then top the noodles with the fish. Eat up!
Ingredients: (serves two)
1 pack egg noodles
1 tin chopped tomatoes
4 carrots, chopped
1/2 butternut squash, chopped
1 onion, diced
2 white fish fillets (we had Basa fillets in, but use whatever you have)
2 Tbsp. each of fresh garlic and parsley (dried is fine, but use more)
Olive oil
Salt + pepper
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Put the carrots and butternut squash in a baking dish with a good glug of olive oil, and 1 Tbsp. each of garlic and parsley. Put in the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes, depending on how big you've cut your veg. In the last ten minutes, add the onion.
2. When your veg is nearly done, put the noodles in a pan of boiling water and heat until cooked. Drain, then place in a ramekin or potato cutter. Put in the oven to crisp up.
3. Get your sauce started. In a pan, add the chopped tomatoes, season and add the rest of the garlic and parsley. Add the carrots, squash and onion from the oven, and coat in the tomato sauce. Leave to simmer.
4. Heat a frying pan on a high heat with a drizzle of oil. Add the fish and cook for 3-4 minutes each side.
5.Check on the noodles! They should be crispy but not overly brown. If so, remove from the oven and place on a warm plate.
6. Assemble! Around the noodles, serve up the roasted veg tomato sauce, then top the noodles with the fish. Eat up!
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