Not Just Apples

butter bean vanilla cake and sweet potato gnocchi

2012-01-25T01:55:00.000-08:00

heya everyone, it's time for another wiaw post, courtesy of jenn over at peas and crayons :)

it's been a pretty D-licious foodie day really:

♥ more brown rice congee (i think i may have developed a slight addiction?), topped with raspberries and ground flaxseeds. um yum.

♥ mum and i went out for the day to do the £1 challenge (where you each have only £1 and you have to compete to find the best buy in charity stores or health food shops - great game!). my purchase was this smoked mackerel pate from an awesome deli, which we had as a little car picnic in the forest on the way home.

♥ sweet potato buckwheat gnocchi is such fun to make! i sort of followed this recipe from kath eats, but i added buckwheat instead, and added only just enough to make it come to a dough instead of measuring it. anyways, it was delicious, and very filling.

♥ we had it with butter beans, fresh tomato, black pepper and spring onions, thend drizzled with good extra virgin olive oil. fantastic!

♥ butter bean vanilla cake - literally made with a tin of beans. this is the white sponge version of my favorite black bean chocolate cake. thanks to the spunky coconut for the inspiration!

♥ i'll be making another one for my niece's birthday next week, and i'll have my version of the recipe to share with you all. it'll be a classic whipped cream and berry topping, instead of the coconut butter and honey icing i made for this one...

the only problem with cakes made with beans, is that i think they're so totally healthy that i can't stop eating them!

my boyfriend had his first taste of one of my famous bean cakes last weekend (a carrot cake version of this), and he was really impressed... 'it's basically a healthy, protein-packed, tasty version of a regular sponge, isn't it?' - yes, yes indeed. great food for people that frequent the gym... anyone who wants to eat low carb, low GI, wheat free, gluten free, sugar free. basically, this cake is awesome!

so, i hope you enjoyed that incredibly random day of food! and maybe it might inspire you to try putting a tin of beans in your next cake :)

have you made a cake with beans yet? do you enjoy car picnics?

currently listening to: bones by young guns

sweet pepper omelette and buckwheat creme

2012-01-20T08:03:00.000-08:00

it's almost the weekend, and i'm sure you're all excited about a little time off...

the weather here in Wiltshire has taken a turn for the worse - it's been grey and cloudy, and generally just not very nice. thankfully i did have enough light to film a tutorial of brown rice congee for you all on my notjustapples youtube channel, so check that out if you're wondering exactly how to make it.

i'm off to Shepton Mallet to visit my auntie and uncle, and i'm looking forward to some quality time and delicious food (my auntie makes the best risotto). we might even get a little local market shopping in, and maybe lunch out at Wells Cathedral. i hope you all have good plans in mind for the next couple of days too!

now onto my latest eats and treats:

♥ sweet peppers fried in a little butter, then covered with a souffled omelette. i didn't have the right sort of pan for this (we are in dire need of a new non-stick frying pan) so it didn't come out in one piece, but it was darn delicious...

♥ creme of buckwheat - oh my, scrumdidlyumptious. this was my buckwheat porridge recipe blitzed up with a hand blender. instead of following the instructions for proper creme, which would have been silky smooth, it had a delicious texture, which my little brother deemed the best 'faux porridge' he'd ever had.

♥ salmon fishcakes, cous cous and salad - thanks to my gorgeous friend Zoe, who invited me round for some lunch.

♥ the farmer's have ploughed, and re-instated a footpath across their field in a different direction. they laid the way with lots of golden straw, and i couldn't help singing 'follow the yellow brick road' along it's winding way.

i love being able to try out new things for you guys - it does make life so much more interesting and exciting!

are you a silky smooth or a crunchy person? are you up to fun things this weekend? have you ever souffled your omelette?

currently listening to: i can never be by maverick sabre

banana oat drop scones

2012-01-16T04:30:00.000-08:00

good morning! i hope you all had a spectacular weekend, involving plenty of delicious food and lots of laughs with friends and family. this weekend i introduced my boyfriend to the delights of bircher muesli, and we made bolognese for a massive group of students on sunday - really good fun!

today i would like to share another of my favorite recipes from my healthy breakfast recipe cookbook - these banana oat drop scones are easy to make, very delicious and quick too.

♥ with greek yoghurt, homemade jam and a little sliced banana, this is basically brunch perfection.

♥ and a cup of green tea on the side never goes amiss...

banana oat drop scones

serves 4

3/4 cup (180ml) milk

1 egg

1Tbsp coconut oil

1 banana

1-2tsp maple syrup

1 cup (120g) oats

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. blend together the milk, egg, oil, banana and maple syrup in a food processor, or using a hand blender, until smooth.

2. add the dry ingredients to the wet, and blend again. leave overnight, or for at least 15 minutes, until thickened.

3. heat up a frying pan (use a little coconut oil if you don't have a non-stick pan) to a medium temperature.

4. pour tablespoonfuls into the pan, and cook for a few minutes on either side, until golden.

5. serve with yoghurt, homemade jam and fresh fruit.

thanks to everyone that's already bought a copy of my healthy breakfast recipes book - it's been super downloaded on Kindle, which is a fantastic surprise, and it's been reviewed so well by lots of different people, some of which i wanted to share with you (because it's too exciting not to!):

jen of simply breakfast made my coconut loaf recipe, and said of the book "It's the perfect cookbook for me-- there are a lot of different options, including sweet and savory."
the amazing vegetarian cookbook writer, rose elliot, said "It’s inspiring, original, practical and full of tempting recipes. It makes me feel very hungry just reading it!"
salisbury life magazine even printed a little feature about it! (and i'm now sat on several dentist chairs and opticians coffee tables) -

if you still haven't picked up a copy, you can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, Better World Books or uRead...

currently listening to: pumped up kicks by foster the people (awesome tune!)

fried green tomatoes and gram apple cake

2012-01-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

i love simple food. and i'm really enjoying eating smaller portions of lighter, cleaner ingredients now that it's no longer party season. my stomach has breathed a huge sigh of relief and is able to function normally again - save this Wednesday when i massively overdid it in celebration of my breakfast book being featured in a local magazine!

so, lately we've been eating a lot of soup, and a lot of mild vegetable curries. they're quick, cheap, clean and tasty - and perfect for winter evenings when you want something warm and satisfying. you can also pretty much make them out of whatever you have in your fridge... which is perfect!

here are a few of the delicious things i've been treating myself to lately:

♥ fried green tomatoes with homemade spelt rolls, baked squash, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and mayonnaise.

♥ chili tomato lentil soup - this was so so so spicy. i had to have copious amounts of yoghurt in it to soothe the fire on my tongue. note to self: half a dried chili is enough.

♥ after the festive season, i've been drinking so much peppermint tea to get my tummy back into shape, and help it out a little - it really did have to work overtime this Christmas.

♥ an adaptation of maria's quince, pear and apple cake, using gram flour and ground almonds instead of wheat flour - turned out pretty well, and was demolished within 24 hours.

this weekend, i am heading up to see my dad in Essex with my boyfriend Pete. it should be a really great time, and i am taking lunch and dessert along with us to treat him and his wife - still not sure what i'm making, but it'll be gloriously gluten free and very scrumptious!

what fun things are you up to this weekend? are you still going through a post-Christmas detox?

currently listening to: give me everything by pitbull

chickpea pizza crust with feta and broccoli

2012-01-09T02:34:00.000-08:00

happy new year lovely blog readers!

today i want to share with you a recipe that i've used 5 times in the last 2 weeks... it's quick, easy, cheap and very versatile.

chickpea pizza crust is incredible! and once you try it you won't want to eat standard pizza crust any more, because this is far healthier and far tastier (in my humble opinion). it kind of comes from the idea of socca, using gram flour (chickpea/besan flour) instead of regular wheat or grain flour.

the first time i made it was with jonny when we were filming 101 things to do when you're bored (it's number 71!) - i'd had it on my to-do list for ages, and realised that the ingredients were all cheap pantry staples, that it wouldn't matter about using if it went totally wrong. thankfully, it didn't. in fact it went SO well that we made a second batch immediately... and then again the day after.

♥ it looks as good as it tastes i think!

chickpea pizza crust

inspired by the socca crust from nourishing flourishing

1 cup chickpea flour (gram/besan flour)

1/2 cup water

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried rosemary (or other italian herbs)

1. combine the above ingredients in a jug or bowl, and whisk with a fork until smooth.

2. heat up a nonstick pan (i use a pancake pan) to a medium temperature.

3. pour half the batter into the pan, and cook until set.

4. flip it over and cook for another few minutes until golden.

5. place on a cooling rack, and repeat with the rest of the batter.

6. let cool on a rack whilst you make your toppings. this enables the crust to firm up and ensures it doesn't get soggy.

for the topping:

- spread over a thin layer of pesto, tomato paste or homemade tomato sauce. then cover with your favorite veggies, some black pepper and a little cheese. bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese has melted. serve with steamed broccoli or some other green vegetables.

if you don't fall in love with this recipe and want to make it every single day, i will be surprised! i've made it with all sorts of toppings, and the base always tastes crispy, can be eaten in slices with fingers, and supports a good quantity of topping. i've even made a fiorentina with an egg in the middle... yum!

currently listening to: this isn't everything you are by snow patrol

cucumber wakame salad and fish sandwiches

2011-12-28T08:36:00.000-08:00

hello lovely readers! long time no speak. i hope you all had a very wonderful Christmas, and are looking forward to 2012 :)

Christmas was incredible this year, so much fun was had! instead of taking photos galore, i did lots of cooking and eating - helping Farmor cook the usual smorgasbord for Christmas Eve, then we had duck for Christmas lunch, and then a marvellous array of nibbles for dinner... it was yummy. there was nonstop family arriving and departing of course, but that's how i like the festive season to be!

so, i thought i'd share a few of my most recent eats with you, as well as a funny little video:

♥ aubergine carrot noodles with wakame cucumber salad - random weird meal that turned out to be very delicious. i think i have a new found love of wakame... i purchased some dried in Oz, and brought it back with me, and it's so tasty.

♥ more brown rice congee! i seriously love this stuff... i could eat it every morning (if i didn't love oats and buckwheat loads too!)

♥ plenty of walks with little Bruno have been had the last couple of days...

♥ the ultimate fish sandwich, made by my brother's fair hands... crispy fish, boiled egg, radish, cucumber, spinach, mayo, toasted cranks. serious yum.

if you really want to know how to make this sandwich, then check out my latest Youtube video!!:

my favorite gifts this Christmas were my favorite perfume and dark chocolate from my boyfriend Pete (yes, this is the first time you're hearing about this...more later!) and a tiny silicone spatula from my friend Emily, which i've already used 3 times.

so, how was your Christmas? what's your favorite thing to do when you're bored?

currently listening to: dedication to my ex by lloyd - love the beat.

wild mushroom foraging

2011-12-15T06:22:00.000-08:00

a few weeks ago i mentioned that my brother, jonny and i had been out foraging mushrooms from the wild... so today, i thought i'd share some photos, and a little info about what occurred that fateful afternoon.

firstly, it's probably very important to say that you have to be extremely careful when mushroom foraging - some are very poisonous and even deadly. BUT, there are really good guide books and a great wealth of online resources to help guide you to know whether what you've found is actually edible, so it's worth giving it a go, because they can be super nutritious, very tasty, and are of course, FREE.

jonny and i have been meaning to go mushroom hunting for a long time now, and one sunny wednesday afternoon we just decided to go for it. bag in pocket, dog on lead, wellington boots on, off into the local fields and forests to search for fungi.

and we found some nestled in some nettles, in a field full of sheep.

we found two other varieties, but decided that they were too small, and too questionable to bother picking (one lot was growing on a rotting tree stump, the others were randomly growing by the footpath where dogs run, hmm). the ones that we found were massive, so even though we didn't know what variety they were, we figured they were in a good location, and because they weren't red with spots on, that we'd be at least 50% of the way to knowing they were probably edible.

when we got back home, we did some serious online research, checking photo after photo to make 110% sure that we weren't going to poison ourselves. wild about britain was very helpful, as was
this foraging guide to mushrooming. we decided that our mushrooms were shaggy parasols (macrolepiota rhacodes) and that therefore they'd be fine once cooked!

we were absolutely terrified that we might poison ourselves, and so jonny decided that the only way to try them was to cook them very thoroughly, to be on the safe side and avoid 'gastric upset' which can sometimes occur with shaggy parasols.

so what did we do?

♥ firstly, jonny fried them in butter and mixed in some herbs and cream cheese to make a mushroom sauce type thing, which we had with swede fries, swedish red cabbage and chilli chutney. the flavour of the shrooms was very intense, and delicious!

♥ then the following day, we made a mushroom omelette. which was divine! rich flavours, simple, wild ingredients. and i'm sure lots of extra goodness from their having been grown in the outdoors near some sheep.

so next time you fancy a little free wild mushrooming: be appropriately cautious, be thorough in your research for identifying them (make sure to check regional websites for tips on what grows locally and where - UK mushrooming guides will vary from the US and France, for example) and then go for it! but probably don't eat them raw.

have you ever been mushrooming? what's your favorite way to eat mushrooms?

currently loving: the january issue of Vogue - so so pretty...

cherry almond mince pies with a buckwheat crust

2011-12-06T06:17:00.001-08:00

happy advent everyone! today i want to share with you the ultimate homemade mince pie - which happens to be sugar free and gluten free too, as well as packed full of delicious fruits and nuts.

these are so good that my highly critical brother scarfed 3 of them in about 2 minutes, and then proceeded to get one from the local bakery to test, and returned to tell me that mine were superior in all aspects...not too sweet, and with a lovely flavourful crust.

actually, i happen to agree with him. it's very difficult to eat a shop bought mince pie after you've made them yourself. and so i've been making my own for the last few years. it may seem like a long process, but it will be so worth it!

cherry almond mince pies with a buckwheat crust

for the crust:

240g (1 1/2 cup) buckwheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

125g butter, cubed and cold

1 beaten egg (+1 for egg wash)

1 tsp vinegar

3 Tbsp iced water

1. begin by aerating the flour and salt by lifting the flour through your fingers.

2. rub in the cold fat, until it resembles breadcrumbs.

3. beat together the egg, vinegar and water, then stir into the flour using a knife to cut, stir and bring pastry together.

4. form a slightly sticky ball of dough with your hands.

5. knead lightly for 2-3 minutes.

6. flatten and refrigerate. this will keep in the fridge for at least 24 hours, if not a couple of days. or you can make ahead of time and place in the freezer.

for the cherry almond mince meat:

250g (1 1/2 cups) sultanas or raisins

1 lemon, grated and juiced

1 cup hot water

100g (1/2 cup) almonds, finely chopped

2 tsp mixed spice

2 apples, grated

a little freshly grated nutmeg

100g (1/2 cup) canned cherries, drained

1 Tbsp marmalade

1 dsp vanilla extract

100g (1/2 cup) suet (you can use traditional, gluten free or vegetarian)

1. soak the sultanas/raisins in the lemon juice, zest and hot water for about an hour, until plump.

2. mix all the other ingredients in, and then place in a saucepan to simmer for about 1 hour, until pulpy and glossy.

3. this will keep in the fridge for a fortnight, due to the sugar content and the suet. made ahead of time, it will allows the flavours to enfuse even more! you might even have a little leftover for another batch...

to assemble the mince pies:

1. divide your pastry into 4, and roll out until the width of a coin.

2. cut circles out to fit your tart tin or cupcake tray, and smaller ones to act as lids

3. place the large circle in the tray, fill with mincemeat and cover with a lid.

4. brush over with egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar or edible glitter.

5. bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden, at 180c

cook's notes: these freeze beautifully. so make lots, and keep some in a container in the freezer until Christmas Day to enjoy with the family.

i hope you enjoy making these - i love the process, and the smell as they cook, as well as how good they taste reheated and served with a little greek yoghurt or creme fraiche.

currently listening to: the christmas song by nat king cole - the most gorgeous and warming Christmas song ever!

lessons in saving money and budgeting

2011-12-01T03:10:00.001-08:00

otherwise titled, 'what i learnt from the big budget challenge'. thanks to Laura for being a wonderful host for the last two months, and for doing round-ups of everyone's very interesting and helpful posts.

i've personally learnt loads from having done this challenge, and so today i want to share with you all some of the wisdom i've gained, and a few practical tips for ways you can reduce your grocery budget. because, really, it'd be a little pointless if i didn't share my secrets with you all!

first though, let's look at some numbers that have accumulated in the last 2 months...

39 receipts from 11 different places
16 of those were from Waitrose, where a total of £150.60 was spent, with an average of £1.36 per item
9 of those were from Lidl, where a total of £136.93 was spent, with an average of 80p an item
5 of those were in Tesco, where a total of £56.73 was spent
the others were from the market, local Nisa, Well Natural, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's, the local Garden centre and tool shop - totalling £55.71
all in all £399.97 was spent over 2 months for all the food and household items for 3 people. that's £6.45 each day, or £44.44 each week.

things i learnt:

1. we are so very blessed!
2. using herbs and spices to their full potential is key.
3. that using what you have in stock, or what's on offer is far cheaper than planning your meals.
4. foraging wild produce is exciting, delicious, easy and free!
5. eating seasonally is essential for health, happiness and your wallet. local markets are the best place to find good deals on seasonal fruit and veg.
6. growing your own veg is ultimately rewarding.

7. keeping things simple is key - simple flavours, simple combinations, simple meals.
8. that Lidl's is awesome!
9. that shopping around is the best way to get a good deal, and by keeping receipts or a cost book you can figure out where is the cheapest place to buy essential staples.
10. beans and lentils truly are the cheapest and healthiest sources of protein out there, and can be used in a variety of different and exciting ways.
11. making things from scratch is way cheaper.

12. i really don't need any more clothes for a long time...
13. it's easier to be healthy if you spend less money, because you'll be reducing your expensive meat and dairy intake, and increasing the amount of cheap veg and fruit.
14. i don't NEED an everyday intake of dark chocolate and yogurt to keep me going! my body is well equipped to survive and thrive on whatever sustenance i give it :)
15. free exercise is the best exercise!

check out each weekly post in detail for more info on exactly what was spent where and why:
♥ week 1 - in which i lay down my rules for the challenge, and tell you how much we used to spend on groceries...
♥ week 2 - where i bought antique knives for £1 at a local fair, made chickpea marrow torte and foraged lots of blackberries from hedgerows near our house
♥ week 3 - learnt to make barley chappattis, finished my patchwork quilt and went to my first car boot sale where i purchased a huge jumper for only £1
♥ week 4 - where i realised that what we spend on food is ridiculous in comparison to those who have NO food, and we cut our weekly spending budget by £15.
♥ week 5 - when i made raisin oat bannocks, foraged wild apples by the side of the road and enjoyed a hot picnic feast at the allotment with ginger parkin.
♥ week 6 - i discovered sweet red bean paste, had a delivery of woodchip at the allotment and discovered pinhead oatmeal
♥ week 7 - when i made brown rice congee, bought our Christmas ducks for the freezer and roasted allotment squash
♥ week 8 - in which i foraged mushrooms with my brother from an obliging field, sold a coat in a trade store and at chili chutney with everything

currently listening to: god rest ye merry gentlemen by annie lennox - yes, the Christmas playlist has now commenced!

leftover oatmeal pancakes and favorite books

2011-11-30T03:48:00.000-08:00

i hope you're having a great day!

today i simply want to share with you my latest eats, and some links to delicious ideas and recipes:

♥ leftover oatmeal pancakes. what else do you make when you've got leftover oatmeal? instead of following a recipe, i just mixed the leftover oatmeal with a little baking powder, cinnamon and an egg, whisked with a fork, and voila!

♥ tuna melt with crispy kale. a simple, cheap and satisfying lunch - my favorite sort...one that takes longer to prepare than it does to actually eat it.

♥ new potato, cavolo nero kale and tomato tarragon stir fry. a very delicious dinner, whipped up after the realisation that new potatoes were in fact low GI (how did i not know this?) and also because it's so rustically simple and satisfying to cook things with a little creme fraiche, stock and herbs.

♥ homemade mince pies. with buckwheat shortcrust pastry and cherry almond mincemeat filling. oh my word, the recipe is coming soon for this one...

♥ on a walk with dog - there was much fun to be had kicking up all those leaves :)

thanks to peas and crayons for another epic WIAW!

and lastly, i was recently asked for some book recommendations, so i thought i'd share with you this video that i created for my Youtube channel, telling you my fave health and recipe books:

of course, had i taken this video now i would also have to include my very own breakfast cookbook, just because of the acheivement it represents and the amount of times i open it in the week.

what are your favourite cookbooks and health books?

currently listening to: paradise by coldplay - i know you've probably all heard it a million times, but after being thoroughly unconvinced to begin with, i now really love it :)

paprika molasses beans and christmas lights

2011-11-28T02:58:00.001-08:00

hey all! i hope you are starting to feel in the holiday mood, aka happy, generous and thankful. i've been doing my upmost to get into the spirit of the festive season, even though it hasn't snowed like last year, and it's not even december 1st yet. don't judge me, i just l.o.v.e. Christmas.

there are poinsettia's in the house, i've begun compiling this year's holiday playlist, i've been to the local Christmas lights switch on event, and i attended an advent 'darkness to light' procession at Salisbury Cathedral - incredible! with 1300 candles and beautiful choral singing, i felt very festive indeed.

so, i haven't bought my presents yet, not even close really, but i have got a list, which i feel is pretty good going. every year i say i'll do it early, but i never really get round to it. at church yesterday i talked with several women who have already wrapped all their gifts...impressive organisation or what?!

anyway. onto some of my latest eats:

♥ paprika molasses beans with egg fried brown rice and courgette.

you may ask 'why alissa, why on earth, would you make homemade beans when you can buy them for 26p from Lidl?' - the answer is because a) they are delicious, b) i never have before and c) it's good value for money if you make a lot.

making baked beans in a slow cooker is quick and fun, and so much more flavourful than a tin - yes, even an expensive Heinz tin. it's pretty simple to do, with the help of the beautiful as american as apple pie cookbook that i picked up for £1 at a charity shop last month. or, there's a beautiful recipe for Boston beans at just hungry, which is very similar to the one i used, except i added some smoked paprika, Worcestershire sauce and applesauce, and swapped the ketchup for tomato puree and a little red wine vinegar.

seriously good stuff.

♥ curried carrot, sweet potato and broccoli with a fried egg on cranks organic wholemeal with butter bean paste, and a little chilli chutney on the side.

♥ butternut squash mac and cheese with spinach and chopped salad. this is such an awesome recipe - i mixed my butternut 'cheese' sauce with some cooked butter beans for extra protein. yum.

♥ the local Christmas lights switch on event - there were loads of people, and christmas songs, and gorgeous fireworks. a lovely occasion to be part of, and officially the start of the season for me!

currently listening to: a very she & him christmas - i know it's a little early, but i've started compiling some awesome tracks for this year's festivities :)

what's your favorite christmas song? have you ever made your own baked beans?

ps. today i am the featured blogger on Foodista! check it out here...

rice stuffed squash and crispy cavolo nero

2011-11-24T05:12:00.001-08:00

happy thanksgiving everyone! i know i'm not actually American, but i appreciate any opportunity for giving thanks and spending time with family... and to eat pumpkin pie too, of course.

today i want to share a simple recipe for a very delicious dish, that's made with scrummy allotment vegetables and pantry staples...

♥ stuffed squash with brown rice, mushroom, red onion and crispy kale

♥ the crispy cavolo nero kale with it is one of my favorite things to pick up from the market - nutritious, but mostly just really delicious!

mushroom and brown rice stuffed squash with crispy kale

1 small round squash

1 red onion

a couple of handfuls of mushrooms

1 cup cooked brown rice

a little vegetable bouillon

cracked black pepper

fresh parsley

1 ball of mozzarella

4-5 large cavolo nero kale leaves

1 Tbsp butter or coconut oil

1. cut your squash in half, take out the seeds and place face down in a baking tray filled with a little water. bake in the oven until tender - or for about 35-45 minutes.

2. fry your red onion and mushrooms in a frying pan until soft.

3. add the cooked brown rice into the pan, and add in a little water and a sprinkle of vegetable bouillon, black pepper and fresh parsley. simmer until the water has been absorbed.

4. place the mixture in the cooked squash halves.

5. slice up you mozzarella ball, and place on top. place in a hot oven, and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

6. tear the cavolo nero into the frying pan with the butter or coconut oil. fry until the oil has disappeared, and it becomes crispy - whilst the squash is cooking.

7. enjoy! serve with a little dill yogurt dip or homemade ketchup.

cook's notes: this recipe would taste good with most any grain, vegetable combination - the balance is important so that the textures are right. try quinoa and broccoli, buckwheat and red pepper, or chickpea, cauliflower and aubergine.

and now for the latest from the big budget challenge...

well, this week we've not done too badly...

there's currently £7.74 in the account. hmmm. this is a reflection on the reduced budget, and the fact that whenever i go shopping with my mum, i somehow seem to buy loads more for no apparent reason. does anyone else find this?
we spent £8.46 in Waitrose, and £27.84 in Lidl. we purchased a few staples, but lots of fresh produce too - perhaps more than was required however. i added up all the 'extra' things that mum put in the basket, and they totalled £4.16. BUT, then i added up all the extra things i added in the basket so i didn't appear stingy, and that totalled £4.82!!

i got some frozen beans and peas for the freezer, because it's a good quick dinner for someone else to make, and we all adore them.
we haven't eaten any dahl for over a week, or any socca either. there's something a bit weird about having too many veggies in the fridge - i feel i need to eat them all as quick as possible, so they don't 'lose nutrients' or something, and then when there aren't any left i feel like i'm depriving myself.
my brother jonny and i have been mushroom foraging - more pictures and info on that to come soon (there's a sneak preview on my facebook!)... but suffice to say we are both still alive, and neither of us have suffered with 'gastric upset' due to poisonous fungi.
last Saturday i picked up some money that i had earnt from a secondhand clothes store - £22.50 in total for one coat that i never wore. i have spent some of it already, but there's still a little bit of spending money left for the next week! handy for Christmas present buying :)
i have a new job working for my church office - i am so enjoying it, and it's helping me earn a little extra cash as well as spend time with awesome people helping to organise events, and learn a few new skills.
i'm loving eating up the chili chutney that i made for the bonfire banquet - it goes very nicely with loads of things. and also we've been eating carrots, potatoes, squash and red onion from the allotment, even though we haven't gone up there in a while because it's so cold.

currently reading: the tuscan year by elizabeth romer - i'm only on the first few pages, but i'm so excited to learn more about real tuscan living.

dessicated coconut pancakes

2011-11-21T01:57:00.001-08:00

hey everyone! i hope you are all excited about this week and the opportunities it might bring. i never fail to feel enthusiastic about who i might meet, what i might do and things i might learn - every day is a gift, and so very precious to us.

today, i want to share with you a delicious recipe from my new breakfast cookbook, Healthy Breakfast Recipes- these coconut pancakes are made with dessicated coconut, and are very easy, cheap and quick to make and enjoy in the morning.

here's a quick video showing you exactly how to make them - full recipe and photos below:

coconut pancakes recipe

serves 2

1/2 cup (50g) ground dessicated coconut

1 egg

1 tsp agave nectar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp milk

a pinch of salt

1. mix all the ingredients together in a bowl with a fork.

2. leave to rest for 30 minutes, or keep overnight in the fridge.

3. heat a frying pan to a medium temperature, and add in a little coconut oil or butter (if it's nonstick, skip this)

4. once hot, add in spoonfuls of the mixture and wait about 2 minutes before flipping over, cook until golden both sides.

5. serve hot, with a little homemade jam and a dash of coconut cream or applesauce.

cooks notes: if the mixture seems a little too thick, add in a little more milk to bring it too the consistency of whipped mashed potatoes. this depends on the size of your egg and the type of dessicated coconut you use.

♥ i ate all of mine pretty quickly...

what's your favorite pancake recipe? do you use dessicated coconut in your cooking?

currently loving: painting a fleur de lis pattern on this year's Christmas teatowels - it's a very pretty design i think :)

brown rice congee and christmas budgeting

2011-11-17T07:47:00.001-08:00

hey everyone! today's post i want to share with you a favorite breakfast recipe of mine - brown rice congee.

congee is a thai dish involving grinding rice, adding it to boiling water and stirring until thick. it's a great one for those who want to steer clear of wheat and gluten, and is super fast. this is usually a savoury dish, but i prefer it sweetened and served like regular porridge...

if i can't convince you that this is super easy, super yummy, and highly nutritious, then hopefully the photos, and the fact that this will cost you next to nothing to make, will encourage you to give it a go!

♥ it makes a great breakfast, enjoyed along with Vogue and Waitrose Weekend magazine :)

♥ the texture is pleasant, it hardens after you serve it into the bowl, and so cuts like regular oatmeal.

brown rice congee recipe

serves 1 or 2, adapted from the whole life nutrition kitchen

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

2 cups water (or almond/coconut milk)

a sprinkle of salt

1. grind the brown rice in a coffee grinder, until half as flour, half as halved coarse grains (a little like medium oatmeal).

2. heat the water/milk in a small saucepan, then once it reaches a simmer, whisk in the ground rice.

3. bring to a boil, stirring all the time.

4. reduce heat to simmer, cover with a lid and leave to cook for the remainder of the rice's normal cooking time (look at packet for instructions - 10-20 mins is about right).

5. every few minutes remove lid, whisk and add more water/milk if necessary.

6. scoop into bowls, and add your toppings - honey, ground flaxseed and fresh berries tastes wonderful!

cook's notes: you can multiply this recipe to serve a greater number of people! and kick it with some spice at the beginning of cooking time for a little flavour enhancement - cinnamon, cloves or fresh nutmeg would taste gorgeous.

now onto the latest from the big budget challenge:

well, it's been another interesting week - i never seem to have a boring one in terms of budget finds!

there's currently £9.56 in the account. BUT, that's only because this morning when there was over £50, we decided it was time to get our Christmas ducks for the freezer (and because they are currently half price in Waitrose, there's no better time for it). they cost £16.13, and although i personally thought one would be enough, i was overruled.
i also bought some things for the house which were on offer, and we've been needing to get in preparation for Christmas - bathroom sealant (£5), a shower curtain (£7), a compost bin with filter (£4.50 - thank you Tesco), Cillit Bang (£3.05) and super glue (99p - to fix my favorite spoon rest, and not have to buy another one). we want the house to look good for guests in the weeks to come...
olive oil was on half price offer in Waitrose too, so i got some of that.
plus, mum and i have bought double items this week accidentally because we both went shopping - so we've got lots of Cranks wholemeal in the freezer, lots of butter in the fridge and serious quantities of baking powder in the pantry.
and also, yesterday evening we went to the theatre (CFT - Madness of George III, it was amazing!), and on the way there we stopped for some dinner at M&S and so that went on the card too - deli chicken, reduced moroccan hummus and wholewheat bagels to dip = genius cheap supermarket takeaway meal.
the fridge seems to be performing minor miracles, in continuing to remain stocked, even though we keep eating!
last weekend i purchased a couple of plates for £1.80 from Street with my auntie, and i bought a Christmas tree decoration for £2.99 - i do this each year, so one day when i have a tree of my own, i'll have gorgeous memorable decorations to put on it!
i've been snacking on wild hazelnuts - the ultimate in local, free, nutritious snacks!
we've also roasted a giant squash from the allotment - which we've eaten in a variety of ways, in soup, in stir fries, in omelettes. very delicious with lots of cracked black pepper, and totally free.

we've finished writing the Christmas to-do list, in prep for the holiday season. the next thing on the list to prepare for Christmas are some spanakopita, which will be frozen down for Christmas tea, and then i've got to practice my steamed plum and almond pudding - i can't wait!

how are all your budgets looking as you get closer to Christmas?

currently watching: the food hospital on channel 4 - interesting stuff, but there's so much untapped potential in the idea. i just wish they were a little more adventurous.

ps. thanks to the lovely Faye @ Raw Lawyer for reviewing my apple cucumber brown rice salad - so glad you liked it! check out her version and pics here.

poppy barley kasha and russian apple scrambled eggs

2011-11-16T03:25:00.001-08:00

thanks so much for the gorgeous response to my breakfast cookbook, as well as to my red bean paste pancakes! i will try and redo those, and see if i can come up with an easy no-sugar recipe for you all - i have a good idea of how to do it, but it will take a little tweaking :)

today i'm taking part in another WIAW, thanks to Peas and Crayons, but this time with a little Russian twist ♥

i mentioned recently that i was reading 'the food and cooking of russia' - a book i got out of the library in October. i've been taking notes, scribbling down recipes and trying out some interesting flavour combos since then. i love russian food, because it's humble and simple - it has no pretention.

without actually going to russia, this is the closest glimpse i have gained of their culture - you can learn a lot from food...

♥ barley and poppy kasha with sliced fresh plum and honey

this recipe intrigued me so much, and i'm still rather confused. there is seriously great potential in the combination, but i've never seen anyone soak and mash poppy seeds before, so i will have to try several times before it 'releases oil' and stops being crunchy. otherwise the flavour is awesome, and i love barley for breakfast, so it's a winner!

♥ apple scrambled eggs with radish salad and sour cream dressing

not so much a recipe, rather an idea that the book suggests. another simple 'use-what-you've-got' russian meal. simply fry up apple wedges in butter, then add beaten eggs into the pan. add salt, pepper, sour cream and fresh parsley. and then, if you're anything like me, serve it with leftover marrow chickpea torte for a bit of spice.

if you want to make any of your favorite meals russian, consider adding sauerkraut, sour cream, fresh parsley or dried mushrooms. these seemed to be in most of the dishes in the book!

russians seem to get pretty creative with buckwheat groats and barley too, which makes for a very interesting read. and you have to give credit for any place whose staple foods are fermented cabbage, sour cream and boiled eggs.

♥ the side salad was a chopped delight of sliced beetroot, cucumber, radish, tomatoes and greens. yum yum!

♥ one of the simplest things you could ever have is boiled egg on toast, but in russia, it seems, they mix boiled egg with herring, dill and mustard and grill it until it smells fishy. it was so yummy!

traditional methods and recipes of any country are rather hard to come by; most of them have been simplified or quickened for our modern society, thereby destroying both flavour and nutrition.

sometimes our 'advances' are good, like frozen vegetables for instance, but more often than not, by skipping a vital step in the preparation of food, we make things less digestible and miss out on vital nutrients. lots of the recipes in the book are time-consuming, but i personally think it's worth it.

♥ wild hazelnuts / cobnuts - not really russian, but the book is so much about working with what you've got naturally, so wild foraged hazelnuts definitely won as my evening snack!

so, there you have it, a strange day really, but an unexpectedly delicious one. thanks WIAW!

have you ever tried russian food? do you use poppy seeds in your cooking?

currently reading: the bbc weather report for my local area - trying to fit in a little weeding up at the allotment before it gets too cold and the ground too solid to do anything much.

my book is published!

2011-11-14T04:50:00.001-08:00

before i start writing this post, i want to say a massive thank you to every single one of you who reads this blog - without your encouragement and support i might never have published (or even attempted to!) my new recipe compilation. your kind words, helpful criticism and genuine wonderfulness have played such an important role in the creation of the healthy breakfast recipes cookbook.

Healthy Breakfast Recipes is a compilation of my favorite morningtime recipes, all made with whole, unprocessed foods, without sugar or refined flour.

i wanted to create a useful and simple resource for people that celebrates my favorite meal of the day, and encourages a little creativity and variation at breakfast. i hope you can pick this up and be inspired to start the day with exciting flavours, textures and ingredients.

the book features over 70 recipes, and has plenty of gluten free, low gi recipes. it's available as a Kindle as well as paperback, and i hope you'll agree that it's a very reasonable price in both formats. you can see a preview on Amazon, and have a sample sent to your smartphone if you would like.

chapters include:

traditional breakfasts
pancakes & waffles
around the world & european
eggs, scrambles and omelettes
on the go

selected recipes:

strawberry buttermilk waffles
swiss bircher muesli
plum clafoutis
huevos rancheros with chorizo and chili
spelt, cashew and apricot rolls
buckwheat porridge with cinnamon
breakfast burritos with grilled banana
chocolate peanut butter bars

several of the recipes have already featured on this blog, and are listed in my favorite recipes tab, including cinnamon almond milk and coconut banana waffles.

over the next few weeks and months i will be sharing some of the recipes from the book on NJA, and i'll also be videoing some too, so you can see them in action!

purchase your copy from:

♥ amazon uk

♥ amazon us

♥ barnes & noble

♥ powells books

don't you think they'll make great Christmas presents? the cover and illustrations are so beautiful, that had my entire family not already purchased their own copies already, i'd be giving one to each of them along with a packet of homemade granola as gifts...

and please do let me know what you think :)

carrot fudge and red bean paste pancakes

2011-11-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

so, i guess you are looking at the title of this post and thinking that i've completely lost it! well, i have and i haven't. one of these recipes was delicious, and one was a disaster... and both of these have happened because of my new experiments with cheap, thrifty recipes.

let's start with the epic fail, that i like to call carrot smoosh:

♥ this is otherwise known as world war two carrot 'fudge'

and yes, it really was bad. i used this recipe from the frugal wartime recipes of great britain. and i don't know if it's a genuine recipe (my grandma had never heard of the concept) or it was made up for the article out of some piece of hearsay, but i don't think even in wartime you'd be convinced this was either a) fudge or b) tasty. imagine grated carrots mixed with orange juice and set into a jelly, and that's exactly what you get, hence the bright colour.

suffice it to say, i won't be making this recipe again. but i will try my hand a carrot halwa one day.

i even tried to turn the copious amounts of this carrot fudge (that i was going to take to the allotment bonfire party, but would've been too embarrassed) into cupcakes - my mum dared me to turn it into something edible, but the cupcakes still had a dodgy jelly texture that was just quite wrong.

needless to say it provided a lot of laughter, if not sustenance.

but, one disaster that ended up turning into an amazing discovery, occurred when a vegan red bean cupcake recipe decided not to cook.

i experiment all the time, and putting beans into cakes wasn't exactly new for me (my chocolate black bean cake is a greatly requested recipe amongst family and friends). but it turns out that eggs are pretty important, and flax seeds won't cut it when beans are involved.

so after these 'cupcakes' being in the oven for 40 mins without any change in texture or colour, besides becoming a little darker and probably enriching the flavours, i removed them and smooshed them all up in a bowl into a very delicious paste, that reminded me of sweets my dad used to bring back from work trips to Tokyo.

so, i googled what to do with red bean paste.

and since i am a pancake fanatic, i decided upon this shanghai red bean crepe recipe, but exchanged the regular flour for buckwheat (of course)...

♥ these were yummy with a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of sesame seeds!

♥ sweet red bean paste might be an acquired taste, but it's one that i love :)

♥ and you know what, we polished off the lot!

and i'll be making them again for sure! i'll be experimenting with my red bean paste recipe a little before i give it to you, because i'm not sure whether it's best to cook it on the stove, or bake it like before to get the same depth of flavour. it's sugar free and vegan, and i know that the more experimentive of you out there will adore it! the paste keeps for ages in the fridge, and it's lovely in or on pancakes, or in your morning oatmeal (seriously good).

so, moving on to less weird things... the latest update from the big budget challenge:

this week we've done pretty well - the days have completely flown past since my last budget update post, and

there's £37.74 in the bank and £5 cash in my purse. i spent £7 at the market on Tuesday, £5.01 in Waitrose, £6.12 in Lidl and £8.51 in Tesco. that brings me in under budget this week!! instead of being seduced by what looks good, i bought only things we needed to get us through the week.
did you know that a tin of baked beans from Lidl's cost 26p, and it's got the simplest ingredients list i've ever seen, and the smallest amount of carbs?! awesome. i got 4 tins.
the allotment is looking really beautiful - we had a big load of woodchip delivered to do even more ground covering for the winter, and i've been trying to weed the pathways before putting it down. it takes a long time to weed properly, but all the rain we've had has helped soften the earth a little. plus, we've discovered the joy of a thermos full of hot water to make tea whilst we're up there!
last week's apples from this obliging tree are still going well - they are so yummy and crisp, and there's loads left in the fruit bowl, despite my eating one every day.

i picked up a couple of Christmas presents from an antique's market this week - i've been making lots of gifts, like i do every year, but i saw a couple of things that were perfect, and at a very good price, so i bought them - but i only spent £3 in total, so that wasn't bad!
i almost bought a coat from a charity shop for £7.50. it was a Topshop green jacket, in great condition, and at a tenth of it's original price it was an absolute bargain. but the thought of my already crammed wardrobe deterred me from purchasing it.
we've been experimenting with pinhead oatmeal and medium oatmeal to make a delicious hot morning breakfast. i actually prefer the pinhead, because after a good nighttime soak, it cooks quickly and has a very sweet flavour.
i discovered massive pots of herbs and spices at the market for only £2, but resisted buying any until i actually need some, and picked up a tiny sachet of rosemary for just 60p that will fill up a standard herb jar twice. our market is the best.

what's you worst or best kitchen disaster? do you visit your local market?

currently anticipating reading: the help by kathryn stockett - i'm waiting for it to come into the local library (i'm loving my weekly trips to the library!) as it's the first book that will be discussed at the new book club - we had a great first meeting, and it was a lovely venue, and a fab cheap/free social thing to do.

ps. i'm currently doing a giveaway on my AlissaEvelyn youtube channel - check it out if you want to win prizes all the way from Australia!

pan fried chickpeas with tuscan kale and buckwheat toad in the hole

2011-11-07T08:17:00.000-08:00

with all the money saving adventures i've been on recently, we've been experimenting with all sorts of new recipes - some that turn out amazing, and some that kinda flop (literally)...

♥ firstly, spicy pan-fried chickpeas with tuscan kale, along with roasted homegrown carrots (oh my goodness, they have such an amazing flavour!) and steamed broccoli. easy and delicious. i have come across this method of cooking tinned chickpeas on a few blogs, and so i improvised with the spices a little - smoked paprika, cumin and coriander, with onion and garlic softened in the pan in advance.

♥ fish stew a la jamie oliver - his aegean kakavia is so beautiful with any cheap white fish, and using sweet potato instead of regular! very tasty, fresh and yet gorgeous on a cold, wet, windy day.

♥ mostly eating's butternut squash and red lentil dahl is a beautiful thing to make loads of, and eat throughout the week as hot lunch, served with quick barley chapattis and some fresh cucumber tomato salad.

♥ buckwheat toad in the hole was a little experiment, created after a few weeks pondering on the possibility. needless to say it needs a little work, but the taste was really good! i'm thinking a little baking powder might give it the lift it needs, otherwise, there's a coconut popover recipe i might try out... the red cabbage and carrot swede mash were lovely with it though :)

toad in the hole is a peculiar English meal, but one that tastes phenomenal and is a great favorite in our house. i love to add wholegrain mustard into the batter to give it a bit of an extra kick! if you want a standard recipe, check out this classic one on the River Cottage community pages.

have you ever made toad-in-the-hole? what's your favorite traditional recipe?

currently reading: the last few pages of about 5 books, because this evening is the first evening of the new book club in my area i've helped start! and i want to have a clean slate so i can get cracking on the first book in the list - i've always wanted to be part of a book club, and it's taken a while for me to realise that i would need to start one in order to make it happen. i have a list of my top 5 favorite books to bring to discuss at the first meeting, and i'm so excited :)

raisin oat bannocks and money saving adventures

2011-11-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

i'm so glad you all enjoyed my hot picnic feast at the allotment! the ginger parkin is getting even tastier as the days go on, but there are only two squares left, and i shall be very sad once it's all gone...though by that point it'll be the weekend, and i'll have fireworks galore and plenty of hot roast chestnuts to cushion the blow.

today i want to share a simple and quick recipe with you - i love these with a little melted butter, honey, homemade jam or coconut oil for breakfast or as a quick late night snack with a cup of tea.

♥ raisin oat bannocks

raisin oat bannocks recipe

1/2 cup (60g) porridge oats

1/2 cup (75g) spelt flour

a handful of raisins

1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1 tsp honey

warm water or milk (about 300ml or 1 cup)

1. combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

2. mix in the honey, and then add in warm water a drizzle at a time, until the mixture comes together to form a slightly sticky dough.

3. leave for 30 minutes, or overnight, or store in the fridge for use throughout the week. add a little more water if the dough seems dry - the oats will soak up a lot of moisture.

4. shape into flat patties, and cook in a hot dry frying pan, until golden on each side. you can roll out the dough, and cut shapes out with a cookie cutter if you like, but i love the rustic look and speed that hand formed patties give!

5. serve warm!

this is a time honored recipe, that you can make and keep in your fridge throughout the week until you fancy it. bannock is a fabulous name for what is essentially just a flatbread, that is cooked on a dry griddle or campfire.

bannocks are perfect when you're cupboards are a little bare, as they only really need three ingredients (wholegrain flour, baking powder and water). though i've jazzed them up a little here, you can interchange different grain flours (buckwheat, quinoa, gluten free, wholewheat, rye, teff) and add different flavourings too - you could add other dried chopped fruit, spices or make savoury herbs ones.

anyway, i hope you give them a go - they are so easy and deliciously warming for autumn ♥

now onto the business of money saving... courtesy of Laura's big budget challenge!

well the week's are flying past and i can't believe it's already a month into the challenge, how crazy is that?!

so here's a little overview of the current progress:

there's currently £22.38 in the bank - a little less than before because there's a little less money coming in (last week we reduced our input to £15 each) and also because we had family round at the weekend, and they needed to be spoilt a little with wild local mushrooms, exquisite Cornish cheese and creme fraiche! and because mum made a hedgehog slice for church on sunday...
we've spent lots of time up at the allotment preparing the ground for the winter and next season, by laying weed prevention sheeting and bark chips down to make it more manageable. there's also a vast quantity of manure to spread over the beds to enrich the soil and make our food even more nutrient rich!
yesterday on our way back from the doctor's surgery, mum and i stopped by an obliging tree to forage a bunch of wild apples that looked delicious! i took a bite right there and then, and proclaimed it THE tastiest wild apple i've ever eaten, and we now have a whole stash in our fruit bowl ♥

i still haven't bought any clothes!
i am so happy now eating simpler foods, and vegan foods. instead of needing lots of fruit and veg, i am loving wholegrains and pulses, and meals with a few bland coloured veggies. the whole 'anti-oxidant' thing meant that i felt like eating more colorful veggies would bring me better nutrition - but who's to say that's the case?
i'm keeping all the receipts in one place - the 'food receipts' folder, which i am able to look back on and find previous prices, to find where things are cheapest and cross compare prices from different places, to see where things really are good value (for example, the Lidl's veg is sometimes priced by item, and sometimes priced by weight, and sometimes buying by weight can work out quite expensive)

making food with lots of spices and herbs is one of the best ways to keep simple foods varied, exciting and delicious! i pick up big packets of spice for 60p from the local market (which would fill up a regular spice jar twice - not bad), and there's so many interesting one's i've never cooked with, that i can't wait to pick up to experiment with. so far i've picked up the essential refills that i need, like cumin, paprika and cinnamon. last week i got some ground ginger, ready for my oatmeal ginger parkin for bonfire night - yum!
buying fresh ginger and storing it in the freezer has worked really well. it only cost 60p for a large portion from the market stall, and after freezing it, it's actually easier to use - easier to scrape off the skin and much better to grate finely.

there's still so much for me to learn, and it's a continual process, but i am loving it!

currently reading: vogue - i have a few issues on the side to catch up with, but i love the photo shoots in the december issue. absolutely gorgeous, set in mongolia.

an autumnal bonfire banquet

2011-10-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

hello everyone! i hope you had a brilliant weekend, full of delicious food and wonderful company. i spent mine with my awesome mum, grandparents and my brother's family, enjoying an end of season bonfire at the allotment.

i've dreamt about having an allotment picnic ever since having started the project a year and a half ago. and although eating cherry tomatoes straight from the vine or fresh sugar snap peas from the plant is fantastic, it's not quite the feast i had always romantically pictured in my head.

some of you might question why it's taken me until the cold month's to get round to having a picnic among the veggie patch, especially given England's propensity to be overcast, grey and wet in the autumn? well, it's quite logical really. we needed to burn the weeds.

there's been a massive pile stacking up, ever since my return from australia. and the best way to celebrate the end of a productive season, was to burn the lot. and because you need to stand around for while to make sure it all burns properly, you might as well eat good food in the company of lovely family...

♥ my brother had great fun starting the beast a-roaring!

♥ and the first course was enjoyed by all...

it also happens to be coming up for my favorite night of the whole year - bonfire night! a peculiar english tradition that started with a dude named guy fawkes who plotted to blow up the houses of parliament in london... anyway, it was an epic fail, and the government enforced a national public day to remind us all not to try the same thing.

it's a weird "holiday", but i love the way it brings the local community together, and we all actually enjoy being cold. wrapping our hands around a steaming cup of soup or mug of hot chocolate, and piling on warm hats, gloves and scarves. you get hypnotising bonfires, pretty sparklers and magnificent fireworks all in one place, and every person is smiling.

so, when foodbuzz offered me the chance to create my ultimate autumn bonfire feast for this month's 24x24, i was super excited, and started planning out the menu straight away...

♥ for first course we indulged in local wild mushrooms...

♥ i made a mushroom and leek soup, thickened with wholegrain rice and flavoured with thyme. it may not be the most photogenic food, but it was super tasty, easy to make and everyone enjoyed it!

♥ for seconds we ate sausage (because a bonfire night celebration isn't right without), homegrown carrots as fries, and roasted locally grown brussel sprouts. yummy.

♥ they were served with a homemade chili & pepper chutney. a recipe from the 'jamie at home' cookbook, which packs such a spicy punch it had me in tears on friday from the heat. i also made my famous dill dressing with yogurt and mayonnaise - goes down a total treat!

♥ for the third savoury course, we ate butternut squash and spinach pasties with cornish quartz cheddar and homegrown red onion in a buckwheat shortcrust pastry - these were as phenomenal as they sound!

♥ for dessert, we had a scrumped apple and wild blackberry compote with homemade ginger parkin (see recipe and video below) and a dollop of creme fraiche.

♥ my brother also bought some interesting drinks for us to have with the meal... i adore the orchard pig juice! :)

♥ and to truly celebrate the bonfire banquet properly, we played with sparklers! (and there's still another 20 ready to go for the 5th too...)

the logistics of carrying all the yummy food up there was actually pretty easy. big thermos for soup, pyrex for vegetables and sausage, tin foil wrapped pasties in a tin, a le creuset for the apple blackberry smoosh. if you've never had a hot winter picnic, you really should!

and finally, i want to offer up a recipe for you all to try out for november 5th, even if you aren't remotely english, because it's so yummy: ginger parkin.

ginger parkin recipe

225g (1 1/4 cups) medium oatmeal
110g (1 cup) buckwheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp agave nectar
2 Tbsp honey
110g (1/2 cup) butter
1 egg
1 Tbsp milk

1. mix together the oatmeal, buckwheat flour, baking powder, salt and ginger.
2. place the molasses, agave nectar, honey and butter in a saucepan, and place over a low heat.
3. melt until it forms a runny caramel, then stir into the dry ingredients.
4. mix in the egg and the milk, one at a time, until well combined.
5. place in a lined baking try, and bake for about 1 1/2 hours at 150c.

cook's notes: this should bake until very firm, then ought to be left in a tin for a week to soften and get rather unctuous and tasty. otherwise, slice up and enjoy after 24 hours of rest - though this is pretty tough, it still tastes wonderful!

thanks to all my family for celebrating with me, and making it so much fun! i hope we get to have a hot autumn picnic at the allotment every year, and start a new tradition....

have you ever made ginger parkin? how do you celebrate bonfire night? what's your favourite hot picnic food?

ps. to learn a little more about bonfire night, check out this video i made last year with my brother - i hope it explains a little more about it, and gives a sense of the atmosphere of the occasion!

pps. thanks to foodbuzz for hosting this month's 24x24 event!

apple and cucumber brown rice salad (and a budget update)

2011-10-27T02:27:00.000-07:00

yesterday i went to visit my lovely family up near Bath, and i got to see my dad for the first time in ages! i also got lots of cute hugs with my gorgeous niece, and enjoyed a huge roast and trifle for lunch. juliet spent lots of time grabbing hair and touching faces... it's such a wonderful age to be!

before delving into the world of how much money i have saved/spent this last week, i wanted to share a simple recipe with you all - apple and cucumber rice salad.

lunchtimes are becoming more of a takeaway affair, and i love being able to prepare a big batch of something for us all to take to work. it's a pleasure to be able to know your loved ones are eating good and wholesome food throughout the day :)

rice salad is something my swedish grandmother always makes for lunches and special occasions - it's always on the christmas eve table in both sweet and savoury variations. and i've never really made it myself, but now i'm eating more of a vegan, wholegrain diet and trying to save money, it seemed like a great opportunity to experiment with different recipes. plus, i absolutely adore brown rice.

♥ eaten cold with hot baked beans (in the style of it will stop raining!) it is wonderfully crunchy and fresh. i really adore eating with chopsticks too, it makes you eat slower and more graciously, even with all the little grains of rice.

♥ for lunchtime shared with my mum in the grounds of our local cathedral - it was a compliment to the beautiful surroundings and weather we had that day.

apple and cucumber brown rice salad recipe

1 cup brown rice

1/2 a large cucumber

1 apple

1 celery stick

1/4 yellow bell pepper

a handful of raisins

a splash of apple cider vinegar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 Tbsp olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

1/2 onion + 1 tsp turmeric (optional)

1. cook the brown rice in salted water until al dente. drain and run under cold water (this is very important to stop bacteria growing on the rice)

2. dice up the vegetables into cm cubes, and place in a large bowl with the raisins, vinegar, lemon and olive oil.

3. mix the brown rice into the bowl and toss well. season with salt and pepper.

4. for additional flavour and colour, soften the onion in a hot pan with a little butter and the turmeric. mix in thoroughly, and this will produce a beautiful golden colour. don't be tempted to add them in raw, as this will make an unpleasant grainy texture (trust me).

5. it tastes best if left to marinate for an hour or two in the fridge, and this will allow the raisins or other dried fruit to plump up and add to the textures of the dish. make sure to eat within 48 hours.

cook's notes: this recipe has endless variations, depending on what's in your fridge, freezer or storecupboard. the quantities and proportions of ingredients really all come down to taste - so throw in whatever you like!

i also love to add in: boiled eggs, spring onion, olives, chopped fresh herbs, peas, sweetcorn, pomegranate, tomato, sundried tomato, grilled peppers, chilli, red onion, dates, apricots, green beans, roasted pumpkin, avocado, a tin of mixed beans.

and now, drumroll please..., it's time for the big budget challenge update, thanks once again to laura!

the journey is so interesting when you are trying to save money in a big way, but by using lots of different methods - some work, some don't. and you learn so much about yourself in the process...

firstly, "need" and "want" have become 2 very different words. when i go out shopping, i focus on what's actually required, rather than what i fancy or what's on special offer. when writing the list of what we need for that week, i make sure to discern what's appropriate, do we really need it? sometimes it's just a habit that you've fallen into - like needing rooibos tea, even though there's other flavours in the cupboard. or wanting barley flour, when there's spelt available.

another thing that's come from saving up money on this challenge, is perspective. we are so wonderfully fortunate in this country to have pretty much all that we desire, even when we think we're doing badly, it's nothing in comparison with most of the world, particularly the current East African food crisis.

so, last week, when we realised how much we've been able to save, we all discussed giving away half of it to those with real needs. we settled on sending a portion to Tear Fund, who we know will use it wisely to bring food and aid to those in East Africa. it's incredible how we've unknowingly spent so easily before, thinking that the money was 'our well-earnt' cash to spend on food to make us happier and healthier. but actually reducing our spending has made us eat healthier, more locally and seasonally, and eat less too.

so, other updates:

we've now got £47.04 in the account, after having given half to Tear Fund, we also spent £20 on supplies for the allotment. we bought weed protection cover, bark chip and secateurs, so we can prevent the weeds becoming unmanageable next year - an investment, that will reap serious reward, we hope!
we've also spent time this week writing out the planting plan for the allotment next year, so we can work out what seeds to purchase, and what areas to manure or dig over.
the market this week was excellent. i wizzed round in record time, and picked up some interesting produce for the Foodbuzz challenge this coming weekend! see if you can figure out what i'll be making from this list...

i also went to purchase staple ingredients at Tesco, Lidl and Waitrose - coming out with about 5 things from each place, because i've now identified the best places for certain items in terms of value for money (cost, quantity & quality)
i've been cooking a lot with pulses & wholegrains, and loving it! and researching more into street food, to see what flavour combos i can use to make things even more exciting - i loved the chili marrow chilaquiles that i had this week, and the buckwheat spaetzle was another yummy highlight.
i still haven't spent more than £1 on clothing, and continued to avoid the hairdresser's in order to keep growing my hair out.
i have spent a little more on petrol this month, but i've done a personal budget update so i can allow for more visits to family! and i took £5 out of our joint account to cover trips to the allotment - a nice gift from mum and bro.
and most importantly... we've each cut out weekly food spent from £20 to £15, starting next week. so we shall see how it goes with a reduced food allowance. though i think that given the current rate of spending, we should be just fine.

it's so interesting to see how everyone else taking part in the challenge is finding things! i can't wait to continue saving money!

how near is your local market? how often do you visit it? what are your favorite rice salad ingredients?

currently listening to: the healing cancer world summit, hosted by the amazing kevin gianni, and with the MOST fascinating talks by leading cancer researchers in alternative care. over 50,000 have already tuned in, and i can totally say that if you are interested in the way nutrition can impact your health in a big way, then you really ought to listen...

buckwheat spaetzle and lentil tomato hash

2011-10-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

this evening i went to the annual allotment holder's meeting in our local village hall - a very interesting occasion. typically english, and full of characters arguing over water usage and underused plots. i love the allotment and growing our own fruit and veggies, and the social aspect of it is also really fun! sure, there's a bit of gossip, but i prefer the funny vegetable stories and growing tips you get to share with other growers.

we've been eating potatoes, carrots, swedes, tomatoes, beans, courgettes, marrow, fresh mint and spaghetti squash from there. in fact, if we'd grown a bit more up there, at this time of year, we could easily eat only from the allotment (and the wild of course).

but, as well as fresh veg, i've been trying out new pantry staples recipes - using beans, lentils and grains. i figured it was important to change it up a little now i'm incorporating more wholegrains into my diet...

♥ hot spicy lentils with fresh tomatoes and mint, and a multiseed wholegrain muffin. simply fry up an onion, garlic clove and curry paste, then add lentils and stock and simmer until cooked (it depends on the variety of lentil you use for how long this will take).

♥ homemade buckwheat spaetzle with fresh beetroot and diced vegetable bacon salad. spaetzle is actually pretty easy - you make a simple dough mix and then press it through a colander into boiling water. i followed this recipe, but substituted buckwheat flour for the regular, and it worked beautifully!

♥ we grew a few of our own runner beans this year, but they got left on the vine until they were too stringy to eat like normal. so, i podded them, and have been using them in stews. they have such a beautiful colour and flavour.

♥ more of Maria's lovely baked pearl barley - such a perfect breakfast for cold weather :)

such a random post for today - but my latest eats are always a fairly odd combination!

currently watching: Jamie's Great Britain - i do think Mr Oliver is the best! can't wait to see the rest of the series...

chilaquiles with red onion and marrow

2011-10-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

today i want to share with you a new favorite recipe of mine... chilaquiles! i've been going through loads of international street food blogs and recipes, and when i realised i had all the ingredients for this particular dish, i was determined to make it for breakfast. with a twist.

chilaquiles is a traditional Mexican dish, where old tortillas are sliced up and fried, then mixed with salsa, onion, chilli and eggs, then topped with cheese. sounds quite simple and beautiful doesn't it?

so, i "englishified" it. because, i had some leftover grated marrow from making another spicy marrow torte and because we had a bunch of fresh homegrown tomatoes to use up. and after all it is an old-fashioned leftovers recipe, so it seemed only fitting.

♥ it does look pretty appetising don't you think?

chilaquiles is kinda like migas - there's a little confusion over the difference between the two really. anyway, i try not to get hung up on the fine details, and instead i just super highly recommend you try this at home! you could even use some barley chapattis if you have some left - which i must say is pretty tasty :)

you could even make this gluten free or vegan if you wanted...

♥ and it's the quickest recipe too :) i topped mine with ketchup and local cream cheese from the farmer's market (as well as dill - i am totally addicted to the stuff!)

breakfast chilaquiles with red onion and marrow

1 wholewheat tortilla or chapatti
1T butter or coconut oil
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1 tomato, diced
1 handful of grated marrow (or zucchini/courgette, or squash/pumpkin)
a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes
a little sea salt
1 egg

optional: cheese or nutritional yeast, tomato sauce/ketchup, dill + black pepper

1. cut the tortilla into small triangles
2. melt the butter or coconut oil in a frying pan, turning up to a high heat
3. fry the tortilla on both sides until crispy, then place on kitchen paper to cool
4. turn the temperature of the pan down, and then add the red onion, tomato, marrow/courgette, chillies and salt
5. fry until the onion is soft.
6. add in the crispy tortillas and the egg. and cook for 2 minutes.
7. serve topped with salsa and cheese, or more chilli flakes.

cook's notes: to veganise this recipe, replace the egg with a little crumbled tofu. to gluten free-ify this recipe, substitute the tortilla for a gluten free flatbread of your choice.

i adore this recipe! it's so easy and so yummy, and a great way to use up seasonal produce, and get a good balance of protein, carbs and veg in the morning. it's also pretty thrifty too, because it's bulky and interesting without costing much (especially if you make the flatbread yourself)

i hope you are all looking forward to the weekend! i've got some very serious weeding to do tomorrow, as well as finishing the russian cookbook i've been notetaking, and maybe trying out a recipe for carrot fudge that looks unusual and interesting.

have you made chilaquiles or migas before? what is your favorite mexican recipe?

currently reading: the power of a whisper by bill hybels - and i'm also trying to catch-up with the latest downton abbey, because it's so brilliant!

hot wild blackberries and barley chapattis

2011-10-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

hello wonderful readers! how do you like the new header and background? i was having a little play around with it yesterday, and this was my favorite combo...

anyway, enough of the graphic design, lets get down to the most important thing - food! and budget food in particular. i've been loving cooking with wholegrains this week, and trying out new recipes with pulses.

i've even realised that we've got some accidental dried beans up at the allotment - the ones that got left on the plant and forgotten about... the handful i got after keeping the others for next year's planting went into a big hearty stew this week, and were the best beans i've ever had!

in other news, we are starting to go through the masses of blackberries i picked these last few weeks:

♥ warmed in the oven on top of homemade apple sauce, it's like a crumble without the hassle of making the topping. i served it with the tiniest dollop of local cream cheese from the farmer's market, and it was wonderful straight from the hot oven.

♥ there's nothing quite like knowing there's 6 massive bags of frozen blackberries in the freezer! it was worth the hours of solitary picking to know that we've got the most local, organic, free, anti-oxidant rich berries available :)

as well as berries, i've discovered a passion for flatbread, that i knew i had, but never truly indulged. there's nothing as quick and easy as flatbread, and it's the perfect accompaniment to stews, soups and dals.

♥ barley chapattis with honey & thyme (recipe below) with red lentil dal and fresh tomatoes from our garden.

barley chapattis with honey & thyme recipe (makes 4)
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup barley flour
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried thyme
cracked black pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp honey
1/4 cup warm water

1. mix together the dry ingredients, then mix in the wet with your fingers, to form a soft, pliable dough (add more water if necessary).
2. knead together on a floured surface for 10 minutes.
3. divide the dough into 4, and shape into balls.
4. roll each ball out into a flatbread shape.
5. get a flat frying pan or skillet to a medium high temperature, and keep it dry.
6. place each chapatti one at a time into the pan, and cook until it blisters. you could also grill them.

cook's notes: there are endless variations of these flatbreads, and so many flavours you can add to mix it up a little bit. you can also add a little oil or butter to make it more moist, but the honey keeps it flexible and chewy enough. these freeze quite well, but be sure to reheat in a foil packet in the oven to stop them from becoming rockhard.

now, onto the big budget update for this week, courtesy of the lovely Laura:

last week i told you all that we've managed to save over £50 already in the joint account...and this week i'm happy to report:

we've got £76.50 in the account, and i've already got £20 in my purse for the next lot of food shopping! remember how i commented that there was probably far too much food for a week - well i was right, and it's going to last 2 weeks, especially with all the courgettes, tomatoes and squash from the allotment. there's a few spices i'll pick up tomorrow and other necessities like chocolate and tinned chickpeas, but that shouldn't amount to more than £10.
the only expense of the week was mum going to purchase cake-making ingredients for a big traybake for church on sunday - it was not wasted money, because she made an epic carrot cake that everyone adored!
i did my first EVER lot of carboot sale shopping at the weekend. i broke my not-spending any money on clothes rule, by purchasing a jumper for £1! not too bad, given how warm it'll keep me on snowy winter days. i also picked up a couple of plates to photograph on, and a nut cracker to get through the vast quantity of hazelnuts we've had from the local countryside.
i enjoyed wrapping apples for winter storage, and baking a yummy molasses apple tart! wild apples are one of the joys of living in england :) it makes me wonder how i feel compelled to actually pay for them at all!
i've spent a few hours weeding up at the allotment, and planning out next years plot and sowing schedule. we'll be having a big bonfire there the weekend after next, and we'll be taking a hot picnic with us to celebrate the awesome free homegrown produce we've had this year!
on a totally separate note, i finished listing a lot of university books on amazon (a little extra cash to pay for next year's holiday) and completed a handmade quilt i've been working on for over a year...

♥ it's been a loving work in progress for a long while. but i finally finished it!!

what do you think?

and last but not least, i might just be part of this month's foodbuzz 24x24 again. i was so excited to get an acceptance email in my mailbox yesterday! i so loved making a big swedish feast last time, and this time is set to be similarly epic... i can't wait :)

currently reading: sophie dahl's from season to season - i actually unfortunately don't really love this one as much as her first. i got it from the library, but have been disappointed to only find a couple of recipes i actually want to make. such a shame as i use voluptuous delights loads!

molasses apple tart with rye crust

2011-10-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! i hope you had a lovely weekend - i got to see my gorgeous little niece for the first time since coming back from Oz, and it was so wonderful to see her starting to crawl (albeit upside down and using her head!) and making insanely cute noises. i love being an auntie, and i'm enjoying each moment of watching her grow. i've uploaded a couple of photos to my facebook page...

we've been completely taken over by apples in our house. when jonny and i went scrumping, we managed to gather rather a lot...

♥ about 3 times this amount really. one large backpack and two canvas bags. not bad really - especially as they were all free from wild apples trees in our local countryside.

i spent time at the weekend wrapping each apple in newspaper to store over the winter. that's what people always used to do before you get could them imported. it's such a tender and loving thing to wrap each one - treating them in such a precious way, and placing them carefully so they don't bruise. we've now got them in trays in the front porch, where they'll be pretty cool, until spring comes and they've all been eaten, or turned into apple sauce.

♥ i even have jars dedicated to storing the lovely stuff.

one of my favorite easy ways to use up both apples and apple sauce is to make a swedish apple pie - called so because this is what my swedish grandmother makes with her scrumped apples. and it has delighted me for many autumns past.

♥ my version is a little different than Farmor's. it changes each time i make it, but i never put sugar in it, because the apples give it plenty of sweetness anyway. though, i do love putting Swedish pearl sugar on top to make it look pretty!

♥ particularly delightful with a little homemade yogurt...

molasses apple tart with rye crust recipe

for the crust:

150g buckwheat flour

50g rye flour

50g wholewheat flour

125g ghee/coconut oil

1 egg

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp molasses

1 tsp water

for the filling:

6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced thinly

4-5 Tbsp applesauce

1 tsp molasses

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

2 Tbsp sultanas/raisins, optional

1 dsp pearl sugar, optional

1. rub the ghee or coconut oil into the flours, until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.

2. then add in the lemon, egg and molasses and mix thoroughly. use the tips of your fingers to keep it light.

3. add in the water, more if necessary, to form into a ball.

4. press 3/4 of the mixture into a greased quiche tin, and part bake for 10 minutes in a low oven.

5. combine the sliced apples, applesauce, molasses, cinnamon and mixed spice (and raisins if you like) in a pan on a low heat and cook gently for 5 minutes to soften the apple. then pour the mix into the prebaked pastry shell.

6. roll out the rest of the pastry, and arrange in a criss-cross pattern on top of the apple filling. it also looks quite nice if you twist the strips too.

7. sprinkle with the pearl sugar, and bake until golden, or for about 30 minutes in the centre of the oven on a low-moderate heat. when the smell starts to infuse the kitchen, it is almost always ready!

Cook's Notes: you can totally make this with your choice of flours in the crust - just remember the half fat to flour rule, and your crust will never fail! if you really like a very sweet pie crust, you can add in some agave nectar or honey to give it an extra boost.

due to the sheer quantity of malus domestica, we've also been eating apple blackberry crumble, apple porridge, baked apples, bircher muesli, apple pancakes, apple scrambled eggs, apple cabbage coleslaw, apple almond milk tart...

what's your favorite way to eat or cook apples?

currently watching: river cottage - the new vegetable series. it's interesting how hugh fearnley-whittingstall is moving more towards a less meat-filled way of eating!

spicy marrow chickpea torte and big budget update

2011-10-12T04:02:00.000-07:00

so, as you all probably know by now we have an allotment. it's first year was incredible, it did spectacularly well actually, and everyone was jealous of our beautiful plot full of tasty fruits and veggies. nowadays it's in need of a little TLC, a seroius weeding session to allow the plants attempting to bear fruit to thrive. but in the meantime we're still eating lots of fresh mint, carrots, tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini) and marrow.

♥ the marrow is that massive bright yellow thing, of which we have had 5 so far, and will continue to gain another few if we are so remiss in getting up to do some harvesting at our little plot. the other one is a spaghetti squash - i'm looking forward to cooking that humongous whopper!

so the question is, what on earth do you make with marrow? it's really just a courgette that's grown too big for it's own boots, and has huge seeds and a watery texture.

i did some serious googling for recipes and the usual things came up - stuffed marrow (this seems to be the most popular way to eat it, though i've never tried it), marrow and ginger jam (we still have some in our fridge from when we had the same crisis last year and i made a big batch), marrow curry seems also to be an option and some sort of curd like spread called marrow cream (which sounds wonderful).

the thing is that they do store pretty well, so there's not problem there - they develop a pretty tough outer casing, after being left to 'air'. so you can keep using them for a couple of months and you don't have to eat them ASAP.

but, we don't have lots of storage space in our house, and so, we must find a use for it. and once you cut one, you sort of need to use it.

so, along comes a bright idea. i'll make some marrow pakoras! sounds like a brilliant idea doesn't it? and a great way to start using my extra large bag of gram flour i purchased really cheap at Tesco's!

well, it would have been awesome... if it was courgette. unfortunately marrow is far too watery, and even after soaking and squeezing the grated marrow the mix was all soupy. so, instead (because 'waste not, want not' and all that) i decided to throw it in a flan dish and see what happened after some time in the oven.

thankfully, something amazing happened in there.

♥ and ta-da, a wonderful tasty and spicy savoury torte! picnic perfection and great for lunchboxes - vegan, gluten free and dairy free, and cheap - yippee :)

spicy marrow chickpea torte recipe

makes 8-10 servings

2 cups grated marrow (do not squeeze)

1 T olive oil

1 cup gram (chickpea) flour

1 tsp sea salt - i used Maldon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp coriander

a dash of dried chilli flakes

a pinch of cumin and black pepper

1 tsp ground flaxseed

combine all the ingredients together (apart from the flaxseed) and leave for 10 minutes on the side. this enables the marrow to release some of it's juices and turn the mix into more of a batter. then add the flaxseed. stir in gently and then pour into a lightly greased or lined cake tray.

bake in a preheated moderate oven (180c fan) for about 30 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. a knife should come out clean. leave to cool, then slice and serve, or freeze.

cook's notes: at the family picnic, i introduced this as "no-corn cornbread", as it does bear a striking resemblance to it! but i think savoury torte is a nicer description?

so that's another marrow recipe to add to your collection. i've already made it twice, and realised the importance of using a shallow cake pan, instead of attempting to make a 'loaf' type shape with it - though i managed to save it by slicing and rebaking til firm. there's quite a bit in the freezer now, wedged in between heaps of bags of blackberries.

and now for an update on the big budget challenge:

all in all, we're doing really well!

we've managed to save over £50 already, without even really trying. and i've got all the bulk household item's we'll need for a month. it's funny how when you put your mind to something, you can acheive it so quickly.
i've discovered a love for a really good bargain. i've been to most of the local stores seeking out the best value produce. actually in season organic veg is pretty reasonable from the market, and Lidl is also great because they mark things down when they're in season (none of this 2 for 1 rubbish either, proper discounts!)
i spend every Tuesday chatting with local producers and dreaming of new food combinations at the local markets. i was literally buzzing yesterday when i came back from town! though i think i probably bought a little too much than was really necessary. i console myself with knowing that i only took out one ten pound note to spend...

ps. the 6 knives were dinner knives i found at the antiques fair on an 'everything £1' table! the current set has only 4 knives left, and it was getting to be frustrating washing them up each time. i was so thrilled we didn't have to spend £12 on a brand new set of cutlery!

i've been blackberrying three times, and collected enough to fill 6 freezer trays and bags. we also went scrumping (wild apple picking) and ended up with one full backpack and 2 long life produce bags full of tasty wild apples -though i have yet to sort through them and wrap them up in paper for the winter.
i still haven't bought any clothes! yahoo! though i was sorely tempted in town yesterday, i resisted the urge until i've freed up some space in my current wardrobe. i've got a couple of things in mind to list on ebay - but a full clean through might be necessary.
we are all enjoying yummy vegan recipes - we've eaten quite a bit of lentil dahl and barley flatbreads. and i'm experimenting with traditional street foods from around the globe! can't wait to share my tastiest finds with you all...
i found dried beans and coconut milk were cheapest (by basically half) in Tesco
my hair is still growing, and whilst i can't actually tie it in a proper sidebraid yet, i'm so looking forward to being able to by Christmas!
because we're all trying to save money, we've been liftsharing too - which has the added benefit of spending more time with family and friends, which makes life so much better!
as well as discovering new recipes, i've re-discovered some old classics too - like homemade tortillas (with barley and buckwheat), swedish pea soup and barley bannocks.

a family picnic in the forest

2011-10-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

last weekend the family met up at our midway meeting forest, where we used to meet loads when we were younger and walk dogs, play with sticks and generally mess around in the ditches between trees. it was so nice to revisit this memorable place that's halfway between our homes for a picnic in the sunshine.

♥ there was quite a spread - everyone brought something, and i was tasked with bringing interesting salads :)

♥ the sky was an unusually bright blue, with very few clouds and not very much of a breeze. i did wonder whether i'd flown home to the correct country at one point!

♥ i made a cauliflower egg salad (otherwise known as a no-potato potato salad) which everyone had seconds of because it was so delicious. and i made a simple mozzarella mediteranean salad, which was crispy and fresh and perfectly weather appropriate. i also brought the leftovers of a new experiment - spicy chickpea marrow loaf - which tastes phenomenal :)

♥ all in all, it was a truly lovely day. so nice to just be hanging out with family again, and relaxing in their company. i also enjoyed getting my legs out in the sunshine for the final time this year!

we're doing really well with saving money at the moment - as soon as we put our mind to it, it seems there's more money than ever being saved up in the account! how wonderful! i'll be letting you in on my money-saving tips and recipes soon :)

currently reading: the food and cooking of russia by Lesley Chamberlain - so interesting discovering more about this countries traditional foods, dishes and ways of cooking/eating.

pumpkin soup and strawberry chia pudding

2011-10-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

today i've been having a good old google into recipes - you know the sort, you start with the best intention of just looking up one recipe, but this leads to another and another, and before you know it you're typing 'ecuadorian street food' into the google pictures engine. hmm, well, maybe that's just me? i get carried away for ages seeking out new food combinations, and thankfully i have this blog to help channel my enthusiasm!

fyi, you should totally check out LA in Bloom's new webisodes where she cooks some truly yummy food (the one with Cactus and Pomegranate Salsa is my favorite so far), and check out this beautiful link to a recipe for Thai Bean Pancakes called Khanom Buang on importfoods (their street food video series is awesome!). I could go on and on. But instead I'll try and share more of these little links on a more regular basis... how about that?

today i want to share the last of my 'what i ate down under' (or WIADU, lol) photos with you all - because i still had some interesting ones left in my picasa folder that i thought you might be interested to see, or might inspire you in some way. so here we go:

♥ pumpkin soup, coleslaw and green bean & capsicum salad - i miss how cheap coconut milk is in Australia, it's seriously at least half the price, if not one third... :(

♥ red lentil dahl with fresh sliced tomatoes and fried zucchini mushroom salad

♥ fresh Sydney oysters with butter and lemon - i actually quite like oysters (i'm sure it's just my maturing tastebuds - because now there is nothing i wouldn't eat, wahoo!)

♥ chia seed pudding - i had this every single day for the final 3 weeks of my stay in Australia, due simply to the fact that i had to use up what i had left or it'd be chucked. the recipe i used was a simple 1Tbsp chia, 1Tbsp ground flaxseed, 1Tbsp dessicated coconut, 1tsp cinnamon and 2Tbsp yoghurt mixed with a little water, left on the side til 'smooshy'.

♥ dim sum in Sydney, i was at The Rocks for lunch with a friend from the Central Coast, and we spotted this random stand with all these dumplings being griddled, so we asked for one of each and covered them with soy sauce - happy days!

♥ my lunches were a haphazard affair of leftovers and longlife products, especially towards the final few days before departure. this lunch was a bacon broccoli stir fry with mustard. followed by chia seed pudding, topped with tinned apricots and ground flaxseed. quite scrumptious actually.

i did tell you it was random, didn't i? well, i hope you've enjoyed all the Oz related food posts - seeing me try custard apple, enjoy coffee for the first time, go orange picking in the mountains, share falafel with Scandi Foodie, discover hot milo in beautiful Armidale and bake a rather scrummy raspberry hazelnut roll.

thanks for coming with me along the ride ♥

since being back i've been very busy catching up with people and making a massive mess in the kitchen, taking part in the big budget challenge and getting incredibly distracted by the wonders of the internet - i finally got through reading 3000 blog posts that have been waiting on my bloglovin reader.

currently reading: screw work, let's play by john williams - it sure does help me understand my brain a little more! (though that's a questionably good thing...)

the big budget challenge

2011-10-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

i hope you all had a lovely sunny weekend! i tried to make the most of it, by going scrumping and blackberrying with my brother on friday, and enjoying a leisurely picnic with the family for saturday lunch. oh the last days of summer... (sigh)

well, since returning from the land down under, i've been chatting with the family about how food will work in the house from now on. currently, we all put into a pot, and then whenever we need something we go out and buy it with the money that's there. but, given the current state of world finance, it seems like a slightly more methodical approach to bills might be necessary!

so, that's why i'll be taking part in Laura's Big Budget Challenge - to reign in our money, and see if we can't save a little bit of it.

we currently all pay £20 a week, which totals a grand £60 a week - which is £240 a month on food and household goods. now, i don't know what other people spend, but i figure that we overspend by quite a lot - especially after seeing this and this.

i had a real wake up call when i was out in Oz - just how priveleged i am to be able to eat food, let alone good food, let along nutritious food, let alone organic food, let alone a varied diet or fruits and vegetables. the majority of the world eat the same sort of things day in, day out, and in my warped mind, i somehow thought it as my 'right' to be able to have whatever i wanted, and to stuff myself at my leisure and for my "pleasure".

so, it's time for a little rethink. i've been discussing it with the house, and we're all agreed to try to save as much of our food bill as possible - to see just how much money we can save out of our weekly £60. if we can't seem to save, then we'll just have to slash how much we all put in, to £15, then £14, then £13, etc, you get the drift.

Laura has encouraged us to write our own rules/guidelines for this challenge. so, here are mine:

£30 a week food budget - this includes packed lunches for everyone too, and any baking that's done as gifts for other people. i will be doing all the shopping (as two people in control of the cash never seems to work very well), and choosing to shop at Lidl because it's non-branded goods are good quality and really cheap. i will also be taking full advantage of the Asian food store in town and the 'global' aisle at Tesco's to bulk buy gram flour, lentils and pulses, etc.
visit the local markets each week - in order to purchase local eggs, wild game and local fish. also, this means i can take advantage of seasonal offers - and bulk buys - on fruit and veg. it also means that i'm likely to get higher quality, better choice and increased nutrition by buying more locally grown foods.
grow and wild harvest as much as possible - we've already put away a good portion of blackberries in the freezer and apples wrapped in newspaper, but i want to really keep the allotment in good shape also, and keep my eyes peeled for 'free' wild food. nettle soup will have to be attempted over the coming months!
make double batches - somehow i've never really caught on to making twice as much as is necessary, so that some can be frozen for a later date. when i was in Australia, everyone did it! it's just common sense and logical to use the preparation time and energy to heat the oven to make more than is required for one meal... and leftover's/extras often taste better the second day.
eat more vegan food - this is less of a rule and more of a guideline. eating more vegan food will considerably reduce both our carbon footprint and food bills. i'll be experimenting loads with different ways to cook wholegrains and pulses, and trying out new recipes.
learn to be content with simpler meals - i've always loved a huge salad filled with all different fresh ingredients, but it's not always very cost effective. it'll be a big learning curve, but simplifying my diet will probably pay dividends for my future and current health. and most of the world eat a very "monotonous" diet at each meal - we're just really blessed to have ways of storing food,
only buy clothes in charity shops, and replace one for one - i've got pretty good at this already this year, only actually purchasing two new dresses and one sweater, the rest coming from thrift stores. i love secondhand clothes, as they're so much more interesting, and it's way more fun to shop this way!
keep growing hair - as silly as this sounds, when my hair was much shorter, i spent more time and money maintaining it, and far too much time worrying about it, than it was every worth. so for now, i will grow my hair out so i can eventually leave it naturally curly and trim the ends myself.

currently watching: the great british bake off and other fantastic food programmes that i've missed out on over the last few months. although i currently only dedicate about 1 hour of TV time every week, so it's taking me a while to go through them!

growing veggies and keeping chickens

2011-09-29T03:16:00.000-07:00

to those of you who have been reading the blog for a while now, it won't come as much of a surprise to you that i have a keen interest in self sufficient living. i love things from scratch, rather than quick convenience - and i've chosen a lifestyle that nurtures that passion. it allows me time to make my own butter, grow my own veggies, sprout my own alfalfa, and spy out local fresh produce at the market every week.

now that my time in Australia has come to an end, i've had time to reflect on my experience there, and some of the things i learnt.

it was a sincere joy to hang out with a young family in Armidale, who grew muc of their own food and kept their own chickens for eggs. they ate vegetarian food, had no dishwasher or microwave, lit a woodburner each day, homeschooled their kids and they even had a ceramic countertop water filter. they've spent years living this way, and so they've come to know how best to do it - it's no longer a dream way of life, it's reality.

♥ their veggie patch was tended constantly each day, and we ate from it at most evening meals. it was winter, but in Australia that is quite a flexible term, as they were still growing chilis and tomatoes indoors, as well as herbs and leaves outside.

♥ chopping your own firewood is a pretty tough but rewarding thing... quite different from switching on the electric or gas central heating.

♥ the chickens were very happy little birds, laying quite frequently, and keeping the family pretty well stocked in eggs. i'd love to own my own chickens one day, when i've got more garden space out back (or the ideal 1 acre plot - a girl can dream!)

so, we already do quite a lot of eco-friendly food shopping, growing and cooking. and i think doing a little more each day is the way forward - simply spending more time at the allotment and picking wild produce, buying and cooking in bulk, eating less meat and dairy, are all choices that we make every day. and it's often cheaper as well to do things the healthy, eco way... or it should be.

i guess for most people it's the time issue that gets in the way - it is after all far more convenient and quick to go down to the store and buy apple puree instead of picking, peeling, coring, dicing and boiling your own isn't it?

so, i wonder, what things do you do to be more sustainable and eco friendly?

do you use chemical free dishwashing solution? do you dry your clothes outside rather than in the tumble dryer? have you picked any wild produce this year? do you grow your own herbs or sprouts?

currently reading: Dr Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes - very interesting! not totally sure i agree with all he says, but he advocates a low fat vegan diet, which is brilliant! for my regular readers, you know i'm currently sort of low carb primal, sorta. well, i might just try veganism, and see how my diabetes copes... what do you think?

chorizo baked eggs and great cappucino

2011-09-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! well, with only a few precious days down under, i'm trying to squeeze in as many experiences as i can, as well as getting out into the sunshine as much as possible - tomorrow i'm going to a gig in katoomba with a few friends, and then i'll be learning the art of excellent meringues on sunday with a lovely lady called Betty.

i've been treated out a few times since i've been here, and one particular occasion, that i've been waiting to share with you is the delicious Neram cafe experience - which was just so wonderful!

my great aunt and her daughter took me out to this pretty, wholefoods cafe in an art gallery in Armidale for breakfast - my favorite meal of the day. needless to say, i dressed up for the occasion - it's not everyday you get to eat really expensive food in the morning, is it? and it was so worth it.

♥ spicy baked eggs with tomato, chorizo and onion, and a side of fresh toasted sourdough. so so good!

♥ afterwards, i had my first proper coffee... now, i've never liked coffee. i always thought it was bitter and unpleasurable. but, in Armidale, everyone was into coffee in a big way - and i was so intrigued! i figured it was worth trying out, just in case it tasted different, and goodness gracious, it was good!

it turns out that all i've ever drunk is bad quality, burnt or off coffee. freshly ground coffee with perfect temperature frothy milk on top is amazing! granted i won't be drinking it all the time, given that it keeps me awake (this is a new and rather unpleasant discovery) but it's so nice to know that i actually do like it when it's good :)

♥ me, my great aunt and her daughter - waiting patiently for our delicious brekkies. they both had a full fry-up with all the trimmings...

so, i hope you are all well and happy! i've still got so much to share with you guys - i guess that's what happens when you've got limited internet, and i apologise for the delay in posting these last few months. i've got so many exciting plans for things to do when i return to the uk, in terms of the blog, so stay tuned!

currently reading: the moon seems upside down edited by jim mitchell - it's a beautiful collection of love letters, written between two australians during the second world war. i love love stories.

a day out in mosman with scandi foodie

2011-09-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

g'day everyone! the sun decided not to shine this morning, most unusual, instead it tipped it down with rain... perhaps it's getting me ready for going back to England? no matter, i got on with some very serious work, before i head out this afternoon for coffee with a friend in the local organic cafe.

last friday i had the wonderful opportunity to meet up with Maria of Scandi Foodie - if you haven't checked out her blog, then do make sure to have a look, it's full of beautiful and delicious Scandinavian inspired recipes and baked goodies :)

i've been following her blog for ages, and pretty much as soon as i knew i'd be visiting Sydney, i got in touch and we arranged to meet up in Mosman. i had a really fantastic afternoon - we talked about the amazingness of fresh yeast, my new book (which she loves, yey!) and the importance of enjoying your life to the full! she's such an encouraging woman, and so interesting too :)

here's a few photos of our day together:

♥ we walked along the beachfront... very picturesque.

♥ i went into David Jones to check out the spring floral display - it was incredibly beautiful, and i'm so glad i got to see it :)

♥ i came into Mosman on the ferry, before catching bus 230 up to Spit Junction for out meeting - the area is outstanding, with gorgeous houses and lots of boats. in some way it feels very european.

♥ we stopped off at a cafe for coffee and a little lunch, there were so many places to choose from, i'm glad i was with a local who knew where was the best!

♥ i got the mediteranean salad, which was no longer on the menu, but they were happy to do it on request, as Maria has so enjoyed it before. falafel, tahini, aubergine, sundried tomatoes and very crisp leaves. it was massive, and downright delicious!

on our way back from the beach, we stopped in at a few tasty places to check out the local produce - you can always find amazing food in cities. i picked up some date and walnut cake for my train home in The Cheese Shop, and then went to foodie heaven, aka Fourth Village Providore. it blew my mind - they have an incredible cheese room, and deli counter, and a little cafe/restaurant too, as well as loads of european goods. i was so tempted to buy everything, but restrained myself as best i could!

it was so wonderful to meet up with her, and i'm so glad we got the chance! i look forward to more blogger meetups in the future :)

currently loving: walden by henry david thoreau - i just can't get enough of his philosophy, it's mindblowing.

coconut lamingtons and bunless burgers

2011-09-06T00:57:00.000-07:00

so, by now you probably all know via Twitter that i met up with Scandi Foodie in Mosman Bay last week!! it was an awesome afternoon - she's such a wonderful lady, and it was a pleasure to meet her. i haven't been able to upload photos yet due to travelling up north again, but they are on the way...

i'm currently exploring the coastline between Sydney and Port Macquarie with a friend of mine called Barbara, who is an absolute legend of a lady at 73 years old :)

anyway, onto some of my latest eats and treats:

♥ homemade meatballs with basil crumbed green beans and roasted red pepper - most delicious. it was a very welcome lunch for my cousin's student border... he had the biggest smile on his face!

♥ my first proper lamington. no jam - no siree! this was from Moxon's Bakery in Armidale, as light as a feather and perfectly coconutty. i shared it with my new friend Sara, who enjoyed hers heaps too.

♥ a deconstructed burger. if you ever go to Neville's in Armidale and ask for a Works Burger, but with no bun, this is what happens!! it was truly yum, and i'm so grateful to the fab chef who was kind enough to do this for me.

well, that's all folks! another installment from my adventures down under... stay tuned :)

currently loving: writing to my mum - we've been writing proper handwritten letters each week whilst i've been over here. it's as lovely to write and send them as it is to find one in the letterbox!

ridgey didge pies and cinnamon swirls

2011-08-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

hey all! i've only got a couple more weeks left in Australia, boy how time does fly?! well, i've been trying to soak in as much Australian culture as i can...

♥ a meat pie was a must-do up in New England. so i went into ridgey didge pies, and got myself a standard beef - it was good, really good. i hardly ever have pastry or steak, so it was a nice treat. i still think i prefer cornish pasties though...

♥ sometimes as a brit/pommie/englishperson, it's essential to deliver truly english experiences to ozzies also - and broccoli stilton soup doesn't really exist over here in Australia, so i made it for my hosts (using this recipe)... of course they loved it, exclaiming 'how have i lived without this all my life?!' - it really is a good combo.

♥ and then, because i've got a little swedish blood in me, and i hadn't had them in so long, i made some cinnamon rolls for my hosts too - which i've never known anyone to dislike (and my recipe is getting better and better! almost so good i might share it with you soon...)

anyway that's all for now, a little snippet of my life down under for you all.

currently reading: driving over lemons by chris stewart - it's one of those dreamy books that i love to read, because it really and truly is an escape! spanish sunshine, lots of deep fried potatoes and lemon trees - yes please...

ps. i'm so excited - tomorrow i'm going into Sydney, and i'll be meeting up with one of my favorite bloggers ever!! can't wait to show you all photos and tell you all about my lovely lunch :)

hot milo and an apple orchard

2011-08-29T16:41:00.000-07:00

so, i'm back in gosford now, and enjoying the sunshine once again - how nice it is to be at the start of spring, and having 23c days!!

i've still got a couple of photos from lovely Armidale to share with you...

♥ i went out for dinner with a lovely couple called Sophie and Tim - who are really special people, and who fed me the most delicious meal! lasagne and mixed salad, followed by the most lovingly prepared fruit salad.

♥ hot milo is very australian - it tastes like a malteser really, malty chocolate deliciousness. everyone told me that i had to do a TimTam Slam too, which is when you bite off the corners of a TimTam and suck the hot Milo through it til it goes all gooey in the centre. yummy! suffice to say this was a one-off experience (way TOO much refined sugar + flour), but i'm so glad to have tried it :)

♥ i went to see an apple orchard about 15 minutes away from Armidale, and it was so amazing to see their giant fridge full of apples, all so shiny and appetizing. we got 3 types and grades of apples, in huge quantity...and it was so awesome to see the fields full of fruit trees.

i hope you're all well - and i look forward to catching up with you shortly again to share more of my Oz experience...

currently reading: innamincka - the story of nurses in outback australia. it's great learning a little more about life in the most rural parts of oz, so different from the comfort and ease that is found here on the coast.

the goldfish bowl and grilled halloumi

2011-08-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

hello lovely readers! i hope all is well with you :)

today's post is all about a breakfast i was privileged to be taken out to in Armidale, with my dad's cousin Gillian, at the Goldfish Bowl, officially "the nicest restaurant in town".

it's unassuming nature is one of my favorite things about it - you can sit on a cushioned repurposed crate and have one of the best ever cups of coffee you'll ever drink... it's about the food and the atmosphere. it is the very essence of 'cool'.

the breakfast selection was goodlooking, and it was tricky to choose what to have. i went with grilled halloumi, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes - and it was a delight! the flavours were incredible and it was cooked to perfection. i managed to snap a slightly burry iPhone snap...

and Gillian had the ricotta pancakes, which looked insanely good, with fresh berries and maple syrup. wowee!

the Goldfish Bowl is known for it's high quality, local, seasonal produce, and it's impeccable standards and simplicity. i'm so happy to have been out to somewhere quite so delicious!

more from Armidale soon...

currently listening to: pictures by benjamin francis leftwich

celery flax bread and wintry armidale

2011-08-12T03:49:00.000-07:00

g'day! i hope you are all well - and that you've enjoyed the last couple of guestposts from laura and primal kitchen. i know i have :)

well, i'm currently in Armidale, NSW, and enjoying the warm winter sun and beautiful landscape surrounding me. it's a pleasure to see a country town, because it is so far different from the coast - smaller, quainter and friendlier. the architecture is stunning, and i never get bored of it. i do however miss the warmth of the coast... for those of you who think that Oz never gets cold, well, think again - it gets very cold here!

now, onto more foodie related things... a few people have requested the celery flax bread recipe i spoke of a few posts ago - and i'm finally getting round to posting it on my blog:

♥ this recipe makes pizza base, crackers, wraps and bread - all depending on how long you dehydrate it for, and in what shape and thickness you create it.

celery flax bread recipe:
1 cup diced celery
½ an onion, diced
½ cup ground flaxseed
1 ½ Tbsp olive oil
½ Tbsp dried oregano
¾ cup water
a little salt and pepper

1. place all the ingredients in a blender, and mix until thoroughly combined.
2. spread the mixture out on greaseproof paper in circles or large rectangles, and dehydrate for 4-6 hours, cut into triangles and dehydrate again for a few hours until crisp for crackers, or leave just once for pizza base or wraps.

notes: i dehydrated mine in the oven with the door ajar, as i don't have a proper dehydrator. you can of course just bake it quickly with the door shut, and it'll probably be done incredibly quickly!

now onto some recent down under sights:

♥ wottle - an australian icon. and very beautiful!

♥ white chocolate and raspberry torte - i was given this for tea at my cousin's house. it was baked by her lodger, a young uni student, and it was perfection!!

♥ dangar falls - a very long thin waterfall out in the bush... we saw kangaroos up close in the wild, and they hopped up to us as we lit our evening bbq!

currently reading: tilly trotter omnibus - my nickname used to be tilly trotter, but i've not read the book until now... i saw it on the shelf in the house i'm currently staying in, and i've not been able to put it down since (save to write this blog post!)

guest post: a primal kitchen lunchbox

2011-08-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, today we have a treat - a post from one of my favorite ever blogs, Primal Kitchen. We are doing a lunchbox swap, so you can find my latest eats over on her blog. Since I found the blog I've adored the recipes, and especially the lunchboxes...Enjoy and be inspired!

Greetings, fans of Not Just Apples! It is my great pleasure to do a guest blog post lunchbox swap with Alissa - her blog and its pictures simply radiate dedication to a nourishing whole foods lifestyle. I am Primal Kitchen's Family Grokumentarian - I blog over at Primal Kitchen: A Family Grokumentary, where you'll see over a hundred (and counting) pictures and descriptions of lunches that I've packed for my preschooler and my husband.

I am a huge advocate of packing leftovers in lunches if it can be managed. Doing so prevents waste, saves money (instead of creating or buying an entirely new lunch), and leaves one more in control of the ingredients that go into one's food (as opposed to eating out).

Alongside the previous night's leftovers, I usually try to add a couple of fresh options to keep some variety going.

Here are a couple of examples:

Here, I had slow-cooked dark meat chicken with cabbage and carrots for dinner.
The dish was accessorized with a few pickles and a bag of raw almonds for my husband's lunch.

Here's another slow-cooked leftovers lunch.
Roast beef with cubed potatoes in the main dish - on the right is a mix of
watermelon and sliced cherries, as well as a dish of fresh raw sugar snap peas.

I love using kitchen shears to slice meat - saves so much time!

Sometimes, rather than slow-cook, I favor a lunch that comes together quickly under a broiler or on a grill. In this case, I skewered some lamb, and seasoned it with paprika, white ground pepper, and freshly ground sea salt. I sliced several peppers (aka capsicum) into 1 cm strips, and tossed them with coconut oil, garlic powder, paprika, and freshly ground sea salt. The skewers of lamb were in one dish, the peppers in another. I had both under a high heat broiler for about ten minutes, with a break to turn everything over once halfway through.

This process left the lamb nicely rare but with a charred and well-seasoned outside - as I prefer it. This dish could be tossed together (as shown) and then refrigerated overnight in a lunch-appropriate lidded dish, allowing the flavors to meld.

I hope that this mix of lunches has left you with a few new ideas for what you might pack in your lunches in the coming weeks! Enjoy your weekend.

guest post: laura's raw food lunchbox

2011-08-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the lovely Laura for sharing her raw food lunchbox with us! I'll be posting on her blog today, so go over there to check out my version of a raw food lunchbox. The recipes that she's created for this post are fantastic, and I'm so looking forward to trying them...

Hello, I'm Laura from Keeping Healthy Getting Stylish and today I'm exchanging guest posts with the lovely Alissa on the theme of the Healthy Lunch Box!

As both myself and Alissa have been enjoying experimenting with raw foods we thought we would both create a raw lunch box! I love Alissa's blog for her wonderful recipes and beautiful food photography. She also introduced me to adding greens other than spinach to my green smoothies!

Like Alissa, I enjoy adding raw foods into my diet when I crave them. At the moment I love nothing more than a huge salad filled with greens and veggies topped with some beans, tofu or even crumbled raw crackers along with a tasty dressing.

For the lunch box I'm sharing today I thought I'd get a little more experimental!

My lunch box includes: rocket with courgette spaghetti and basil, pine nut and hemp pesto, RAW Health Intensely Italian raw crackers, sugar snap peas, a kiwi and nectarine fruit salad, lemon cashew chia seed pudding in a jar and a royal gala apple:

Here are the recipes for you!

Rocket with courgette spaghetti and basil, hemp, pine nut pesto (serves 1, raw, vegan)

· A bag of rocket leaves
· 2 small courgettes made into 'spaghetti' using a spiraliser (or you could use a veggie peeler to make ribbons instead)

For the pesto (makes about half a cup):

· 2 tbsp pine nuts
· 2 tbsp of hemp oil (or you could use extra virgin olive oil)
· 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast
· 1 cup of fresh basil
· 1 clove of garlic
· 1 tbsp of sweet white miso
· water to thin

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend. This was my first time experimenting with making my own pesto and it tastes amazing! Toss the courgette spaghetti with the pesto and serve on top of the rocket.

This is such a delicious and easy to make pesto, I’ll never buy it from the supermarket again!

Lemon Cashew Chia Seed Pudding (serves 1, raw, vegan)

· 2.5 tbsp of chia seeds
· 1/2 cup of rice milk (or milk of choice)
· Juice from half a lemon
· 1 tsp of lemon zest
· 1 tsp of agave syrup
· 1 tbsp of cashew butter

Combine all ingredients together in a small jar (a near empty cashew butter jar as I used would be perfect!) and leave in the fridge for a few hours to allow the chia to gel. Enjoy!

This is a wonderful tangy, sweet pudding choc full of healthy fats which should keep you full all afternoon!

Here are a few other ideas for raw or semi raw lunches:

· Fresh Asian Salad
· Ginger Cashew Nori Rolls
· Raw wraps - I love using spring green leaves and spreading them with sunflower seed butter, apple, carrot and basil!
· Raw rice salad (just finely chop some cauliflower in a food processor until it resembles rice then added other chopped veggies and herbs)
· Simple green salads with assorted veggies and crumbled raw crackers (one of my current fave lunches!) made even better with a raw dressing like this delicious Green Goddess Dressing
· A blended raw soup
· Cucumber 'boats' filled with a nut pate
· Stuffed peppers filled with a nut pate
· Raw hummus with raw crackers and veggie sticks for dipping
· Raw chocolate brownie bites

Some great blogs to check out for raw food ideas include Choosing Raw and Kristen's Raw.

Have you ever experimented with raw foods? What would be in your perfect lunch box, raw or not?

no-potato 'potato' salad and barley porridge

2011-07-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

hello lovely readers - thanks for your comments on yesterday's post, they always make me smile!

on monday i'm off up north in NSW, taking a 7 hour train trip to get to my destination, where i'll be experiencing an australian country town, rather than beachside. i'm looking forward to seeing new things and meeting new people... and trying new food, as always!

so, now onto my latest eats from the Central Coast - i've been trying out lots of blog recipes this week that have been otherwise piling up in my 'to cook' list for ages:

♥ baked pearl barley porridge - thanks to Scandi Foodie for this recipe, it was gorgeous! i will definitely be cooking it again and again.

♥ chocolate almond cookies - via the spunky coconut, though edited slightly with homemade applesauce rather than honey (which did make them kinda bitter, but i loved them still).

♥ no potato 'potato' salad - via everyday paleo, this was gorgeous! i will be making this repeatedly for the rest of my life, no word of a lie. yum.

so, thanks for catching up with me, i hope you enjoy these recipes!

keep your eyes open for a guest post swap on Monday, it's going to be amazing... make sure to stop by and read, and then hop on over to my guest's blog to find the recipe for the celery flax bread / pizza base - which i know you're all dying to get hold of (and it is incredible, so i won't discourage your enthusiasm!)

currently watching: sister act - so hilarious, love Whoopi in that movie.

mandarin almond torte and coconut chicken

2011-07-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

g'day everyone!

i'm very excited to be taking part in my first ever WIAW post! thanks to Peas and Crayons for hosting it :)

this week is going by pretty quickly so far - i'm not quite sure how it's already Wednesday, but no matter, i've been busy, so that's a really good thing!

♥ breakfast this morning was a beautiful slice of mandarin almond torte - a recipe that would fit nicely into my breakfast cookbook, which is just wonderful to eat in the morning with a little greek yogurt. it's made with pureed boiled mandarins, and it's really zingy and fresh!

♥ i spent the morning with the social committee from the retirement village going into the mangrove mountains to an orange grove to help pick some of their excess crop. so much fun, and we picked loads! i fell in love with their dog Jinny, who gave me the most welcoming lick on the face... (i really do miss our dog, Bruno, back in England)

♥ for lunch a little pizza on raw celery flax bread (more on this to come soon!), with fennel, apple and cucumber salad and leftover cooked pumpkin and celery tops.

♥ for dinner some cauliflower rice, avocado, and coconut chicken nuggets. i'm loving cauliflower rice at the moment - it's so tasty and easy. all i did was to shred up the cauliflower in the food processor, mix in a little dice red onion, curry powder, paprika, pepper and salt. then i put it in the frying pan with a little butter and cooked it for about 10 minutes covered with a saucepan lid, stirring occasionally. i actually had it for breakfast yesterday too... twas delicious!

this evening i'm going out to meet up with new friends, and i'm really excited to take them some of the oranges i picked today too :)

i hope you all have a great day!

currently watching: indiscreet with ingrid bergman and cary grant - it's so brilliant! i love discovering old movies that are totally classic...

gjetost cheese and avocado mash

2011-07-26T04:28:00.000-07:00

g'day! i hope you are all well - the sun is shining once again down under, no more torrential rain (apparently it's been 52 years since they had so much rain in July!), instead blue skies and warm sunshine.

i've been really blessed here in Oz to be living near a store called Harris Farm, which contains loads of weird European foods, as well as lots of local produce and incredible fresh fruit & veg.

well, there's a couple of things that i couldn't resist picking up last time i was there:

♥ gjetost cheese - it's basically caramelised sheep's cheese - sounds gross, but tastes like a sweetie! it's so delicious, and perfect eaten all by eatself straight from the Swedish slicer. naughty, but nice. i'm really not a cheese person, but this reminds me of my Nanna.

♥ proper Swedish crispbread - i've mentioned it in a previous post, but i'm still adoring it. especially with mashed avocado, dill and boiled eggs. and i love the traingular serves!

♥ i've loved Kalles Kaviar for as long as i can remember, and it's beautiful on crispbread or warm toast. of course, with no Ikea down the road, i can't buy Kalles, but i was able to pick up this brilliant creamed cod roe paste - which tastes exactly the same, salty and fishy, yum.

so, there you have it, my treats for the week. it's my firm belief that it's necessary to indulge occasionally in luxurious treats, lest you become boring and normal. so creamed cod roe, triangular crispbread and caramelised Norwegian cheese it is!!

what's your weirdest food favorite?

currently watching: sabrina - an absolute classic (think audrey hepburn, humphrey bogart and william holden all in the same film), which if you've never seen it, you really really should!

thai choko fries with chicken celery stir fry

2011-07-22T01:04:00.000-07:00

today's recipe is one i never would have thought i would create before june this year - in fact i'd honestly never even heard of a choko before. have you?

well, if you haven't, then this is what a choko looks like:

it's quite a bland flavour really, and a cross between a courgette, pear and a watermelon. an odd combination, that leaves me quite confused as to quite how to eat and enjoy this vegetable. most people around here don't seem to have eaten them much, apart from as a bulking ingredient in stews or jams. but, i was determined to do something different with them.

and so, without further ado, i present to you:

♥ thai choko fries

i served the choko fries with a chicken, cabbage and celery stir fry with a little more thai paste and some tomatoes. a very tasty dish!

thai choko fries recipe
1 choko
1 tsp thai curry paste
1-2 Tbsp water/stock
a little butter or coconut oil
salt + pepper

1. simply peel and deseed the choko, then cut into fries.
2. heat up a frying pan with a little butter or coconut oil
3. add the choko and fry for 3-5 minutes.
4. pour in the water or stock and curry paste and cook for a further 3-5 minutes.
5. place on a baking tray and put in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes, until brown and crispy along the edges.

have you ever eaten choko before? and if so, how did you eat them?

currently reading: the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society by mary ann shaffer - it's so good i've already read half of it!

a happy birthday in Sydney!

2011-07-18T16:41:00.000-07:00

thanks for the birthday wishes from you all for last week! i had a grand time, enjoying the Australian sunshine and spending time checking out the sights of Sydney. as well as feeling that little bit wiser as i add another year to my age (24 sounds alright doesn't it?)

♥ i started the day with herbed baked eggs and buttered sourdough toast - a simple treat, that i truly love! it was the perfect birthday breakfast for me.

♥ when we arrived in central Sydney we went to the Rocks for a look around, and of course took the very necessary photo in front of the opera house (what trip to Sydney would be complete without it?)

♥ then we took a ferry across to Watson's bay for lunch. it's got a very European vibe, which makes me feel quite at home, and it's astonishingly beautiful.

♥ we had posh fish & chips from the most famous takeaway restaurant on the quay - Doyle's. it was ok, but i ought to have had a big praw salad in retrospect as i felt pretty queasy afterwards...

♥ the view from the top of The Gap was impressive. you can see the harbour bridge and the central buildings - worth the climb up, for sure.

then we took a bus back into the city, via Bondi Beach and a few other southern suburbs. it was a great way to see the city, albeit a little slow (though that suited me fine). the different districts have their own specialities, and i loved to dream of the lives of it's inhabitants. people watching is one of my favorite pastimes - and buses are perfect for practicing this fine art!

i'm really looking forward to going into Sydney again - perhaps to visit some of the markets and food fairs. and trying out some of the restaurants and cafes too!

i hope you are all well :)

currently reading: ani phyo's raw food essentials - i've wanted to read it for ages, to learn new techniques and find ways of experimenting with different ingredients. i am so glad to finally have a copy to read from the library!

fresh paw paw and swedish rye crispbread

2011-07-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

the foodie experience in australia continues to be amazing! i'm trying to make sure i test out all the weird and wonderful things whilst i have access to them on this side of the world - to determine what things i enjoy, and learn new recipes.

one of my favorite things about shops here is the array of tropical fruits and asian vegetables you can buy - and i hope i can keep sharing amazing new discoveries with you each post. my only wish is that you could try them too - but we haven't quite reached that star trek level of technology yet!

so, here are my latest eats:

♥ fresh paw paw is such good value, and in perfect ripeness. an absolute pleasure to eat! it's different from papaya, and actually tastes more like custard apple in my opinion - very delicious.

♥ in the absence of anyone with tropical fruit knowhow, i seem to be making it up as i go along, which is great for learning about flavour and texture combinations. so, how to serve fresh paw paw? with honey and yogurt, of course! it was actually really good.

♥ welsh rarebit is good in any country. especially next to a big bowl of cinnamon apple compote with peanut butter and yogurt.

♥ leftover brown rice with capsicum, bacon, mushrrom, celery, onion, egg and cheese. so good. enjoyed whilst copying out recipes from my great aunt's collection of cookbooks and magazines.

♥ in harris farm, they have a brand of swedish rye crispbread that is gorgeous! i love the shape and the crunch and it's also pretty cheap too, which is fab. it's the perfect accompaniment to a dill veggie scramble at breakfast.

in the next post i'm going to share with you photos from my birthday in Sydney central!! yes, that's right, i am now the grand old age of 24 - and so much the wiser for it :)

currently listening to: the a team by ed sheeran - it's grown on me...

ps. i've now got 2,500 subscribers on my alissaevelyn youtube channel! so thanks so much for your support, and there'll be a giveaway running shortly ♥

raspberry hazelnut roll and learning to crochet

2011-07-12T18:12:00.000-07:00

g'day! so, i bet you're all wondering what i'm getting up to here down under, and how i'm spending my time? (well, maybe you aren't, but i'm going to tell you anyway!)

well, i'm basically doing the same things i was in the uk - i'm still running my own business, and writing a lot of the time. but, in my spare time, i'm experimenting with new recipes that i've discovered in some very old recipe books, and trying out new ingredients.

the first recipe that i stumbled across (from my great aunt's recipe collection) and absolutely HAD to make right there and then was a version of a raspberry hazelnut meringue roll, with the normal Alissa adjustments of no sugar, no flour, and lots of flavour!

♥ easy to slice, and a great pleasure to share!

♥ and did i mention it tastes amazing?

this is a really easy recipe to make at home, and i urge all of you to try this for your next special occasion - it will go down very well! i was fortunate enough to share this dessert with a few people who have been so gracious and kind to me in my first few weeks in Australia - and they all enjoyed it very much, and were pleased to take a slice of this 'lush mush' home with them too :)

it made 8 servings - the pictures show a half portion ♥

raspberry hazelnut roll

4 eggs
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
1 cup ground hazelnuts
1 cup raspberries
1 cup double cream
a little grated dark chocolate to finish

start by separating your eggs. then place your egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and whisk together with the honey/agave until thick, creamy and lemon colour (usually about 5 minutes with an electric whisk). stir in the hazlenuts.

then in a separate bowl, whisk up the egg whites until stiff peaks. fold the egg whites gently, 1/3 at a time, into the hazelnut mix.

pour the mixture onto greaseproof paper, spread out until thin and even. bake for 20 mins in a moderate oven, or until firm.

remove from oven once golden, wait a few minutes for the initial cool, cover with baking paper and turn over. after another few minutes, roll the meringue cake up lengthways, and leave to cool.

in a clean bowl, whisk up the double cream and then stir in the raspberries. spread the mixture throughout the inside and over the top of the cake roll. sprinkle with grated dark chocolate, and enjoy!

cook's notes: the cake base can be made a day in advance, and kept in an airtight container, or frozen. the prepared and decorated dessert can be kept in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

♥ i'm also taking the opportunity to learn to crochet - what better time to learn this particular skill than when staying on a retirement village?! a lovely lady named Clare was patient enough to sit with me for two and a half hours, until i got it right...

♥ and i'm also enjoying the nearby shops... (if you want to see my first haul video from Oz, check it out here on alissaevelyn)

i hope you are all feeling great and having a happy day :)

currently reading: sunset house by lady fortescue - i've nearly finished now, and am totally loving it!

custard apple and the view from killcare

2011-07-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

so here it is - the long awaited first proper ozzie post!

i've already learnt so much from being here - experiencing new things and meeting new people every day. it has taken me a long while to get to know the prices of things, and where to find good quality/value food. i must admit to finding it a little difficult not being in control of the kitchen, but i do get to do a little cooking to keep my hand in!

i'm currently staying with my great aunt, who lives on a retirement village on the central coast - it's amazing meeting all the 'goldies' here, and one lovely lady has even taught me how to crochet (more pics of that to come!)

so, now onto my latest eats and treats:

♥ the morning i left, i tucked into this delicious oat waffle (recipe in my upcoming book!) - which was incredible with english strawberries and cream.

♥ on arrival in Sydney, i stayed a couple of days with a gorgeous lady called Barbara, who looked after me well and fed me lots of scrummy food. a few days later my great aunt arrived...

♥ i've been enjoying trying out a few new tropical fruits - like custard apple (oh my goodness! pictured below) and proper pawpaw.

♥ i've been getting comfy in Maureen's kitchen, making cheddar, bacon and spinach quiche with a spelt and buckwheat crust (pictured below) as well as a few different cookies and soups. she's a very gracious host, but it's tricky working through the logistics of living with someone new!

♥ when i was staying with Barbara, in those first few days, she took me for lots of exploratory drives around the coastline, which was wonderful! we went to Killcare - a beautiful lookout point, from which one can see Sydney and Manly.

the stores in Australia are jam packed full of interesting produce, and 'gluten free' stuff is a really big thing here. i'm also really fortunate to live right next to an organic food store that is fill to the brim with incredible health foods (and natural beauty products!) which i am eager to experiment with!

i'm in love with harris farms though too - it's an awesome fruit and veg store, with only good food stocked on the shelves. i've purchased a really scrummy coleslaw, yogurt, Swedish crispbread, pumpkin, hummus and apples from there. i sort of wish i could afford to indulge there every day!

currently reading: the earth user's guide to permaculture by rosemary morrow - a fantastic guide to all things to do with permanent-agriculture, very interesting indeed.

dark hot chocolate and easy chicken salad

2011-07-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

thanks for all the buzz about my breakfast book - i'm so excited about it too!!

one of the things i really wanted to get right for the book was a good hot chocolate, and it was so much fun trying out different ways of making it to find the perfect one - can't say my mum minded either!

♥ the perfect dark hot chocolate, and healthy to boot!

♥ chicken salad ingredients - i'm never ever boring with my salads, and at home i had the luxury of using so much homegrown produce, it was always a delight.

♥ the finished dish - in my favorite wooden bowls. how is it that it looks like such a mess but tasted so incredible?!

♥ the chicken salad was video'd for my not just apples youtube channel - here is the final cut, if you haven't already seen it:

currently listening to: the sound of australian birdsong - so loud and mechanical sounding, but kind of majestic in it's own right.

quick apple granola and herbed baked eggs

2011-07-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

g'day! i hope all is well with you...

today's eats are simple, honest and rustic (as per usual, really) and remind me of the amazing food i was fortunate enough to eat back in england, before arriving on this beautiful golden coastline down under.

but before i start i want to just let you all know something really exciting... my proof copy for my breakfast recipe book came in the post yesterday!!! it looks really amazing, although there's still a little bit of editing of fonts and triple checking of recipes to do before it is available on amazon - i can't help but feel so pleased with it, and i hope you will enjoy it too :)

so, now onto tasty British fare:

♥ quick apple granola - homemade coconut granola, with chopped apple and a dash of almond milk over the top. scrumdidlyumptious.

♥ sausage, carrot, barley and tomato stew with green beans and peas. most delicious, and a reminder of the incredibleness of english cuisine - not at all bland or boring!

♥ salad for three. a little bit of everything from the fridge. topped with chopped fresh mint from the garden, and on a bed of homegrown salad leaves.

♥ really, herbed baked eggs should have their own post, because they are absolutely divine, and a new found favorite. this particular recipe is in my upcoming book, but keep your eyes peeled for an australian version...

currently reading: old copies of donna hay magazine - i love them!

ps. if you would like a copy of my new 'healthy breakfast recipes' book to review, please send an email to notjustapples (at) gmail (dot) com!

pan fried komatsuna and tomato chicken bake

2011-07-03T22:15:00.000-07:00

g'day everyone! so here's another delayed set of english photographs - just to tide over until the oz ones get to grips with editing through a dongle! but i hope you find these interesting...

♥ spelt and rye sourdough with dill sauerkraut, avocado, tomatoes, proper english sausages (oh how i already miss these!), and cucumber salad with homegrown sprouts

♥ pan fried komatsuna with butter and pepper, alfalfa salad, boiled egg and mashed tomato sardines - there are plenty of interesting greens here in australia, which i am so looking forward to experimenting with...

♥ chicken with thyme, peppers, cauliflower and tomatoes, baked in the oven until beautiful. good honest food.

♥ served with swedish red cabbage and oven baked carrot and swede fries - this meal was just lovely! it's the sort of dish my grandma would cook, and that's just how i like my food

catch up with you soon!

currently reading: sunset house by lady fortescue - just read the chapter in the coastguard house where she eats freshly caught fish by the sea - aah, perfection.

ps. do you know of any awesome australian food blogs i should be reading?

cherry blossom and pea shucking

2011-06-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

well hello! guess what? i am in australia!! yes, indeed. i made it safe and sound, even though the chilean ash cloud was threatening to ruin it (i touched down the morning before the airport closed, what a blessing!)

unfortunately my photo software is having issues, so for now you won't be able to see my australian photographs, but there's still a few i wanted to show you from this english spring/summer - and i'm sure you won't mind...

♥ the cherry blossom on our tree, which lasted what seemed like a few days (when it had been anticipated for months!) - but it was worth the wait!

♥ beef stew with bay leaves and green veg - simple, honest food.

♥ waitrose always do really good offers - and this particular day they had a bag of pea pods. mum and i had great joy chatting and shucking at the same time!

♥ we had the fresh peas with some oyster mushrooms, komatsuna, and mustard rabbit (which was kind of horrendous, but we ate it anyway! of course.)

so that's all for now... there may be another english installment until we get onto the australian delights of custard apple and lamingtons!

currently watching: old episodes of english crime dramas on ozzie tv - love the television over here! and of course australian masterchef, which is awesome...

pick your own and fresh tulameen raspberries

2011-06-18T01:01:00.000-07:00

on thursday i was invited to Millets Farm Centre near Oxford for a tour of their pick your own farm...

i absolutely adore PYO farms, and so there was no way i was going to refuse the invitation! i was totally intrigued by the farm centre too - i'm always happy to find good quality farm shops, which stock a wide variety of produce, and which sell not one but 2 different brands of raw(ish) ice cream - booja booja and no nuts just coconut were both there!

after an initial browse, and realization of just how incredible the millets farm centre actually is - it has 2 restaurants, kids farm, trout fishery, maize maze, garden centre, bakery. and it does weddings too apparently (not that i'm planning on that any time soon, but you know, it's nice to know). it's quite like dart's farm, near Exeter, which is equally as incredible and makes me want to buy everything because it's local and healthy.

♥ case in point. it's gorgeously displayed, and has a very posh cooling system to keep everything fresh!

♥ so, off to the pick your own section...

♥ we ended up picking a whole load of fresh tulameen raspberries - which are divine - and a handful of elsanta strawberries - not quite ripe, but still excellent. i also got a few rhubarb stalks and one carrot!

♥ the cherries were incredible! i've never seen trees so jam packed with fruit - thanks to the netting to keep the birds off, and the fact that we were the first pickers of the season. i was a very happy woman!

♥ we were talked around the pyo farm by the fruit & veg experts, Orlin and Les. two very genuine guys, who clearly have a passion for what they do, and a genuine desire to nurture their crops in the best way possible. and they do a really good job, because everything tastes good!

♥ the raspberries were my favorite - because they were massive and juicy and so sweet. very incredible. and i picked lots, and ate lots on my way too.

♥ there were a bunch of other bloggers there, and it was great to meet a few, including Aveen from Baking Obsessively. a really lovely lady, who is a very skilled baker, and who's blog includes things like stem ginger cake and chocolate battenburg, how scrumptious!

♥ at the end of the afternoon, we were given a few little goodies to take home - which included the award winning millets apple juice, which was insanely good, and which my brother drank almost all of in the course of one meal.

the best thing about the PYO farm is that you can pick your own vegetables too - beetroot, spinach, broad beans and corn on the cob. i love the idea of having that kind of a connection with your food. you know it's fresh, and you know exactly where it's come from!

currently: packing, because i leave for australia tomorrow!! watch out for posts and videos in the coming months all about my travels down under...

butter croissants and choux farci

2011-06-16T03:28:00.000-07:00

i hope you enjoyed part 1 of my french food photos! here is the second round (with slightly less waxing lyrical about france!):

♥ duck is a really popular meat in france - and you can buy it in all sorts of different forms. one night we had duck confit - which was divine in all it's melt-in-your-mouth goodness. and this evening we had peppered duck steak with green beans and broccoli - fantastic!

♥ breakfasts are a long leisurely affair, which could not take place until we had spent an hour walking to and from the local bakery with croissants and pain au chocolat. i ate bell pepper salad with avocado and boiled eggs most mornings, and indulged in pastry on a few occasions :)

♥ one day we visited Ile de Re, where i ate a fantastic layered prawn salad with sweetcorn, egg and tomato. very scrumptious indeed! (ps. yes, this is the one i tweeted!)

♥ my brother Jonny and i went for a stroll along the beach most evenings, and on a number of occasions we saw other people collecting crabs or other seafood... we tried but weren't so successful!

♥ one of the best places to eat in france are the big supermarkets with cafeterias. it's amazing the food you can get, and it's very high quality.

we went out a few times, but this was my favorite - choux farci (sausagemeat in cabbage in tomato sauce) and a huge side salad. i literally only managed half of it, but could happily have eaten it all because it was so good. i must try and make it myself one day :)

another thing that i didn't photograph but have to tell you about is the amazing organic store we stumbled across about 15 minutes away from where we were staying. it had bulk bins and fresh fruit/veg, it was like a mini wholefoods! the chain is called biomonde, and they have loads of stores across the country. why is it the uk (apart from dart's farm) have not been able to create a decent health food store?

over and out.

currently reading: the simple dollar by trent hamm - very helpful in re-evaluating my goals and budget...

crevettes rose and far breton

2011-06-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

don't you just love the sound of the word nourriture, it's french for food, and i think it's fantastic how it is so similar to the word nourishment... it describes how food should be. something good for the soul and deeply satisfying. that's why you can't buy microwave meals in france, and how the convenience food aisle is really just preserved vegetables.

the french way of eating celebrates real food, and for that it must be praised.

it's so interesting going into foreign supermarkets and towns to see what sort of food is on offer. it totally fascinates me.

for example, on our trip we bought a cooked chicken from the local deli (i am slightly addicted to rotisserie chicken!) and it cost £15! i was fully prepared to pay £5 like i would in the UK, and then was taken aback when the guy said 'quinze euros, s'il vous plait'. but do you know why it was the most expensive chicken ever? it was huge, it was lean, it had been grown 15 km up the road, and it said the exact name of the man who had reared it. and it was really tasty.

the french really value local produce, and that's wonderful! the statistics tell us that the French do typically spend a lot more money on food than other countries - 4% of an american's income goes on food, in france it's 14%! (thanks to michael pollan for that one)

so, we relished going to the local market, savouring the produce and speaking (en francais, oui oui) to the people who grew it. i loved it. it makes me want to move there!

anyway, here are some of the delicious things we ate:

♥ prawns, or crevettes rose, were on offer at the local poissonerie for £6.95 a kilo!! so we ate them about 4 times in the 9 days we were there :)

♥ fresh cherries has just started their season, and were abundant, so we ate those a few times too!

♥ because we're a very adventurous family, we chose the craziest looking fish at the market, which was actually a type of shark - slowly pan fried in butter, it tasted really good. and had an almost meaty texture, a bit like chicken.

♥ artichokes. i really didn't have a clue how to cook it, or choose one, but i was in france so i had to buy one! it was a bit of a failure, because it was inedible (i think i needed to boil it longer?) - but it was so pretty, it was worth the money even without eating it!

♥ far breton - a type of prune flan. it tastes really nice, and has a perfect consistency. we bought it from the market, from a man who was selling cured meats, yet had a big stack of the far breton too. i'd love to make a less refined version of this one day!

check back for more french food photos tomorrow!

and in the meantime, please tell me about how you like to cook artichokes? and what do you like about the French way of eating?

currently listening to: let me go by maverick sabre

dark chocolate mousse and venison meatballs

2011-06-13T01:36:00.000-07:00

buon giorno! i hope your day is going magnificently.

it was so interesting to hear you opinions about making yogurt and sprouting alfalfa. the best things in life are simple and cheap to do really - just watching the miracle of a tiny seed sprouting, or bacteria turn milk into yogurt, amazes me always!

anyway, no more dilly-dallying here today, let's get straight into my latest tasty eats:

♥ blackberry porridge with homemade marrow ginger jam and a sprinkle of cinnamon

♥ dark chocolate mousse - which i filmed for my YT channel, see here

♥ and last but not least, venison meatballs, using venison mince from the local farmer's market and following my grandmother's recipe. with a little grated apple and fresh mint added too. these were ridiculously yummy!

i've got a wonderfully busy week this week - off to Millet's Farm on thursday, which i'm very excited about - and of course, packing and getting all things organised before my departure to australia on sunday. whilst catching up on everyone's blogs too before i jet off, and uploading my food photos from france too...

currently listening to: my tunein radio app on the iphone - i am trying to get some awesome new tunes onto my iphone for my trip, any suggestions?

on a stick: a cookbook review

2011-06-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

hello everyone! hope your day is going swimmingly.

i was recently sent matt armendariz's (from matt bites) new book 'on a stick' for review. and as i always love reading new cookbooks, i was definitely intrigued by this one, as it promised something completely different from any other cookbook i've seen before. 80 recipes, all with things on sticks...? i get stuck after chicken satays, and cheese and pineapple - who wouldn't want more party-perfect foods or great things to barbecue.

and the book definitely delivers in variety, excitement and recipes that are perfect for parties. a few of my favorites are: lamb souvlaki with cucumber yogurt sauce, spam and pineapple skewers (aloha!), spicy cajun skewers, fresh mango and chili powder with lime, grilled fruit skewers with honey mint yogurt. delicious!

♥ i made the Dak Sanjuk from page 55, which were very very delicious and quick to make too. and they look so pretty!

there are however quite a few deep fried recipes, which i can't make because i don't have a deep fat fryer (the only people i know that do are my grandparents), and which i wouldn't want to make because i don't believe all that deep frying would do me any good. and also, there are loads of very sweet recipes, which i wouldn't and can't have either, like cake pops and homemade marshmallows.

but aside from the deep frying and the general sweetness, there are loads of fruit and vegetable recipes, and some really delish looking sauces and dips. and the photography is AWESOME! it's very beautiful. and after all it is matt's profession, so they ought to be incredible :)

♥ the book has an interesting picture on the cover - it did totally intrigue me, that's for sure...

the only time's in my life i've eaten things on a stick have been cheese fondue's as a teen (my mum used to make a mean fondue), chicken satays from the deli counter at waitrose and countless 60's style cheese and pineapple sticks at Christmas parties. so having something new and different is really quite refreshing!

how many times in your life have you eaten food on a stick? and what are your favorite things to eat from a stick?

currently watching: 90210 on 4od - i unashamedly love the glitter and glamour and fashion of it...

yogurt making and alfalfa sprouting

2011-06-09T08:41:00.000-07:00

well hello lovely readers!

by now i'm sure you are all aware of how much of a DIY sort of person i am - no not in the home department, no siree, i mean, i'd rather learn to make butter than buy butter, and i'd rather make homemade granola than pay for it. and i even grow my own vegetables and berries up at the allotment.

but now i've taken one step further in becoming more self sufficient - i've learnt how to make my own yogurt and sprout my own seeds! not inherently complicated things, but have taken a while for me to attempt because my skepticism got in the way (which is unusual for me).

i started out with yogurt making by trying out easiyo - the title makes it sound so simple to do, and i knew that yogurt making should be a more cost effective way of getting a regular portion of yogurt to eat. so i succumbed to the advertising (which is again unusual). and boy, did i regret it! easiyo is simple, once you've found and purchased a packet of the dry mix at great expense, and then regret doing so because you're concerned about the possible health un-benefits a dry mix is (probiotics only survive when chilled, so what's the point?)

anway, fast forward 2 years, and we have a vintage yogurt maker by Bel. my mum used to have one when she was younger, and recalled their simple and efficient wonderfulness. all you have to do is use one pot of live yoghurt (froma previous batch, or from the supermarket), add a little milk powder for thickness and then add some organic UHT milk (i love the one's by Moo). mix it together, pour in the glass cups, switch on and wait for hours. then you have perfectly portioned, delicious set yoghurt. every time. wunderbar!

♥ the wonderful bel yogurt maker...in all her glory!

the next thing was sprouting. which is inherently very simple, but seemed tricky to me a few months ago. i've had this one packet of alfalfa sprouts for years, and i've always thought i had to wait until i purchased a 'sprouting kit' before i could use them. and they are always so expensive i never have... ergo, no sprouts.

until, a few months ago when i figured that people have been sprouting for centuries, and it probably wasn't common to have a plastic strainer lid 100 years ago. it must be possible! and of course, all you actually have to do is soak the alfalfa seeds for 8 hours (it's different with other beans and seeds, so be sure to check), then drain and rinse them twice a day until you want to eat them.

well, though the draining is a bit tricky, it can totally be done with just a steady hand. and then you just need to cover it to stop any pests eating the delicious sprouts. i just sit them on my side, turning occasionally and rinsing occasionally, until they look perfectly green.

♥ you only need one tablespoon of seeds for one big jar, because they grow so large...

♥ and they taste wonderful with everything, giving a fresh texture and lots of important nutrients and minerals - check out this 'why sprout?' article from the nourishing gourmet for details on the health benefits of sprouting.

i've also figured out a way to grow my own salad leaves successfully! all it takes is 3 large tubs with lots of compost, some packet seed and then every 2 weeks you sprinkle some seeds out to grow. they need watering every day too.

♥ and they save money, taste awesome and are so full of nutrients because they are so fresh!

it's funny how some things that are actually really simple to do and have great health benefits can get forgotten about because they are portrayed as wacky or hippie or only what health nuts do. perhaps i've reached a point where i'm happy to be labeled in that way, or perhaps i'd rather save money than worry about how i'm judged.

but i'm so happy to have got all these things in my routine, and am pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to fit in! in the morning, all i do is rinse the sprouts and water the salad leaves and take out a pot of yogurt from the fridge. it's simple, and it's an awesome way to remind me of the simplicity of life (aka, how does all that come from a tiny seed?!?) - it's inspiring and connecting, and a pleasure not a chore.

so, i want to know, how many of you sprout, grow your own salad leaves or make your own yogurt? have you got any extra tips? what are your thoughts?

currently reading: sense and sensibility by jane austen (yes, still)

swedish ettsoppa and catherine wheel sausages

2011-06-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! hope you're all ok ♥

so i'm back from france, and properly befreckled. we had a really lovely time - eating prawns 4 times (who wouldn't at 6.95E per kilo?) and making a few trips to the local markets to stock up on fresh veggies. we also went to the most awesome historical theme park ever, called puy du fou, it is absolutely incredible. i will be uploading pictures soon, i promise!

but first, here's a few of my recent eats:

♥ oat porridge (not coconut, but still pretty good!) with desiccated coconut on top and hot cup of tea

♥ swedish ettsoppa with a started/side of boiled egg, avocado and crispbread with mustard - i was very hungry that day!

♥ catherine wheel sausage (thank you Waitrose!) with broccoli and cauliflower - simple and satisfying primal meal!

currently reading: 2413 posts on my bloglovin reel, they really mount up when you've been away for 2 weeks!!

ps. it's only 2 weeks until i head off to australia!!

lemon pepper fennel with raw broccoli salad

2011-05-29T00:23:00.000-07:00

hey everyone! hope your day is going brilliantly so far :)

today i want to tell you the wonders of fennel! i actually have never really been a big fan of liqorice flavour, but fennel somehow is wonderful, especially when roasted...

♥ and fennel is just so beautiful, isn't it?

♥ quarter the fennel lengthways and roast in a foil wrap with some lemon rind, pepper, salt and olive oil - enjoy!

♥ serve with a raw broccoli salad (marinated in olive oil, with tomato, spinach and gherkin) - i also love the texture of the cooked fennel, it's kind of soft yet with a little bite.

do you like fennel? how do you like to cook or serve it?

currently loving: city life eats lunchboxes - i actually cannot get enough of them!!