45g Gluten Free oats
2 large tbsp. Greek Yogurt
59g raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries or a mixture
20g Flaked Almonds
45ml Almond milk
1 tsp honey
And that’s it. It will be ready to serve the next day (or the ones after that). If it’s too thick, just add a little more milk.
Really? How long? 15 months or so since my last post, it seems.
How slack.
Things have changed since way back then. I’m now a third the way through my last year at university and everything is crazy busy. Not for me the regular student life. The minute my feet pass over the threshold of my house, I am bombarded with the same question, day after day. “Mum what’s for dinner’. Sometimes I just don’t know the answer and need to make a frantic dash to the local supermarket for something quick and nourishing (but not always massively healthy), to satisfy their constant longing for food.
So, this post doesn’t come attached to a recipe, but photographs of flowers.
Dead roses.
I was given them shortly after Christmas (they weren’t dead then, some of my friends quite like me!). They were beautiful when I was given them, but I knew that when they died, they would take on a new beauty. They lived for ages (what was their secret!), but slowly and surely, they wilted and dried out, like aging skin, but kept their wonderful colours, enhanced by their papery texture. They were crying out to be photographed.
I hope you like them.
At this time of year, I start thinking about festive food. The first job on my list of preparations is to empty out my usually overstocked freezer to make way for dishes prepared ahead of time, to take the strain off Christmas entertaining.
Every year without exception I find bags of blackberries, freshly frozen from one of my many foraging frenzies.
At the end of August and beginning of September, when the warm days of summer are either present or recent enough to imagine the heat on the back of your arms, the blackberries ripen; round and plump glistening like wild garnets. I just can’t resist.
This year I‘ve made jam and chutney and still had plenty of blackberries left. I had the urge to bake (I blame The Great British Bake off- BBC have a lot to answer for!).
I looked for a recipe I could adapt and came across one in my
ever faithful and very stained Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache, by Harry Eastwood.
The recipe also uses courgette, a vegetable that always gets wasted because no one in my family wants to eat it, apart from me.
I just have to make sure that I peel them well, and they never guess what the ‘mystery ingredient’ is’!
2 large unwaxed lemons
3 medium eggs, free range, of course and brought to room temperature
160g Caster sugar
250g peeled topped, tailed, and finely grated courgette (zucchini if you’re in the US)
180g white rice flour
160g ground almonds
2 tsp. baking power
1/2 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp. salt
60g sunflower seeds
150g blackberries
Caption found on http://www.the36thavenue.com
Two sayings that make me feel slightly better for letting my blog slide, although they haven’t worked that well, as I’ve had feelings of guilt for being so neglectful.
It has been a crazy summer with the emotional ups and downs of exams (not mine) and change of school (again, not mine!), holidays, Proms and parties.
I have also made procrastination an art form over the last few months; thinking of things to write about and photograph, but never actually getting my arse into action. I always get inspiration when I can’t get pen to paper/ fingers to keys. When I’m out for a run for example or driving the car (usually collecting/delivering children to various locations), and by the same I’m sat in front of my Mac, I have total writers block. The only way to deal with stubborn grey matter is to ignore it and let it pass and then eventually, thoughts and activity with begin again.
So here is to a fresh start, a new beginning, and hope it never happens again!
February and March is birthday season in our family, which means the obligatory birthday cake or 2, or in the case of my eldest daughter, 4! – Well she was 16!
On this occasion, some of the cakes didn’t need to be gluten free, but one did, and that is where my gluten free cake ‘bible’, ‘Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache’ by Harry Eastwood came in again. It is one of those special books, that has dog-eared pages, splattered with cake mix. The really interesting thing about the recipes is that they all include vegetables in their ingredients.
Handy if you’ve got a glut of anything or just vegetables about to ‘turn’. The other thing is that the vegetables are interchangeable, for example sweet potato instead of butternut squash (lets face it, they’re easier to peel!).
Chocolate cake is a popular choice and this one always goes down well. Continue reading “Light Chocolate Cake- serves 12”
Happy New Year!
I know its February-where did January go? January’s often a month that drags but this year my feet hardly touched the ground, with work, family commitments and the shared stresses of my daughters mock exams. One certainty in the New Year, is the threat of the common cold. I’ve made it my mission this month to eat super healthily, drink plenty of fluids and get plenty of fresh air. It cant be good to be inside all of the time, even when its a bit chilly. So far, I’ve managed to ‘dodge the bullet’ and remained ‘cold’ free.
I’ve also been hoping for some snow. I love the way it’s so bright and muffles the sounds of the street. We had a brief flurry recently, but sadly it didn’t settle, still, there’s always next year.
Soup is the perfect thing to have when it is really cold outside. I have this romantic vision of clutching a mug of soup, standing outside in the snow. To date I’ve yet to do that, but maybe next time we have a winter wonderland I will.
Summertime is my favourite time of year, and I really love all the sunshine foods that available, but I don’t just confine them to the summer, and so on a dull grey February day, of which there is usually plenty, I make this colourful soup.
Roasted Tomato Soup with Basil Puree (serves 4 generously)
1.8kg ripe tomatoes (you need to feel them!), halved
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
4 bay leaves
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
4 medium onions, sliced finely
4 sticks of celery, sliced
1 medium head of fennel, sliced
1/2 fresh chilli, deseeded (more if you like it fiery)
2 tsp tomato puree
2 tsp honey
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and black pepper
Basil Puree
60g fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp good quality balsamic vinegar
To make the basil puree
If you have a mini blender, puree the basil with the salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
If not use a pestle and mortar, crushing up the basil with the salt first before and the rest of the ingredients.
Well Christmas Day is nearly here and what promised to be an organized event has descended into laidback chaos! It started well. I shot some images and designed my Christmas cards. I made lists. Plenty of lists. And then… I couldn’t find my address list (I’m sure that there is a list somewhere on my Mac!) and then the printers messed up my order for my cards, only printing half of them correctly. They were printed again and still weren’t right, and eventually I ran out of time to send most of them. The lists have gone by the wayside, and are now ready to be recycled. But I don’t mind at all. Christmas Eve and the big day itself can be too stressful, when the most important thing is that you are with the people that love you and that you love back. It doesn’t matter if you’re late serving lunch. It’s your home, not a restaurant. It’s nice to be cooked for. I haven’t had Christmas Lunch cooked for me for about 20 or so years. I don’t mind at all because I love cooking, but others really hate it and so a little generosity and kindness should be the theme for the day.
So here’s to a really lovely Christmas Day and a happy healthy 2015!
Ok, I have to admit it- I’m not a massive fan of cauliflower. I’m not keen on the texture or flavour. It’s a brassica like cabbage (which I love) and broccoli (which is ok sometimes) and Brussels Sprouts (NO!)- One group of foods, but not one of them the same as the other, as far as my taste buds are concerned. That is not to say that I don’t eat Cauliflower. I do. It’s so nutritious.
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=13,
It would be wrong not to. I just have to cut it into small pieces and add a different flavour (cauliflower cheese, anyone?) or blend it up and make it into soup. This soup is really spicy, which suits me, but if you really like the taste of cauliflower, then add less harissa paste.
Moroccan Cauliflower Soup– serves 4
1 large cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp. harissa paste
1 litre gluten free chicken or vegetable stock
50g toasted flaked almonds and a little extra to garnish.
Adapted from a recipe by BBC Good Food
Victoria Sponge, Carrot Cake, Coffee cake, Lemon Drizzle Cake, Fruit Cake, I love all of them.
But not all cakes have to be sweet. I love these cakes too! Continue reading “What’s not to love about cake?”
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