All posts filed under: snacks

Caramel Pecan slice

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It has been a while since I have written. Life took a turn into chaos as we got a new puppy and I suddenly became incredibly busy at work so had very little time to cook anything new or exciting. We lived off soup and oatcakes for a few weeks, which I must admit was good for the waistline but rubbish for my sweet tooth! So to combat both issues I have created something sticky, gooey and crunchy that really hits the sweet tooth spot! I needed to be inspired a little too as it is easy to get out of the way of cooking sometimes. So, when a friend last week asked me what my ‘go to cupboard essentials’ were, it got me thinking again. I realise that there are a few items I always try to keep in stock and that is a selection of nuts, dates, nut butters and eggs. It is pretty amazing what you can make out of these simple ingredients and to just have a handful of nuts with a …

Christmas crumble apple flapjack

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  Well winter has definitely arrived and the Christmas adverts are on our tv so I can’t help myself but think of winter spices and delicious treats. Something has to get me through the next few months when it gets dark by 4pm and all I want to do it put on my pyjamas and hibernate. When I think of Christmas I automatically think of cinnamon, oranges, ginger and dried fruits. So as well as making these flapjacks I am going to bake some apples. These will be stuffed with sultanas, dates, honey and cinnamon and placed in the oven for an hour. To serve I will crumble these flapjacks on top with a large dollop of ice cream. Ingredients: 60 g coconut oil 50 g honey 1 orange 1 apple grated 1 tsp cinnamon 150 g oats half inch grated fresh ginger Glaze: 20g coconut oil half of the orange juice 1 tbsp honey Add the coconut oil, honey, half the juice of the orange, zest and ginger and heat in a pan till …

Millionaire’s Shortbread

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  It has been a while since I posted a blog, I have actually been travelling for the last month seeing friends and family across Asia, and the UK. It has been a great experience and so wonderful to eat so many different foods and learn about new flavour combinations. I have to admit that all the eating out has made me desperate to get back into my kitchen and cook food from scratch again. With Autumn in full swing, if you are anything like me, you will be rather enjoying the fact that winter jumpers are back covering up those ever increasing muffin tops. It’s my winter layer and I can’t help myself as the leaves turn orange, my belt loosens by a notch. However, this winter I am going to try and stick with my refined sugar free diet and will be trying to make a few favourites along the way. Here is my ‘millionaire’s shortbread’ which is a crumbly shortbread base, covered with sticky caramel then topped with chocolate . You can make this dairy …

Coconut and pineapple cake

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I’m supposed to be on a bikini diet, but so far I have baked 3 sweet things in the last 24 hours. I should ban myself from baking rather than saying I’m on a diet. To be honest though, a diet for me is more about eating loads of veg and protein and just not covering it in too many sauces or sloshing gallons of wine down my throat with it. (Easier said than done when the sun is shining and the vino is cold in the fridge!) The worst part about trying to get bikini ready is the starvation part, I just don’t function well on little food so I make sure there are carrot sticks and energy bites ready to munch on in the fridge. I will always have a lunch packed full of proteins like boiled eggs, chickpeas, chicken as it helps me get through the afternoon without hitting 3pm and wanting to eat my fingers as they suddenly look more like sausages I want to put on a BBQ. Also, why is it that …

Buckwheat groat granola

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Granola is one of those items in the supermarket that I no longer buy. I have turned into a bit of a refined sugar free bore recently. I think my friends are a bit annoyed I won’t eat certain things. I want to prove to them how easy it is and that I’m not on a diet, just changed my way of eating slightly. We all start the day by either eating or not eating breakfast and I am in the eat breakfast camp; it sets me up nicely for the day ahead. However I can be a little bit boring about what I eat as am obsessed with eating porridge.  I will eat it with all combinations from honey, cinnamon and berries to a nut butter and maple syrup. I hear you probably thinking, how is that sugar free? Well it isn’t. What I am doing in my life now is basically cutting out processed foods and a lot of those contain added sugar. Also with my baking and cooking I am doing it …

Rhubarb and banana muffins

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I found huge stalks of rhubarb in the supermarket the other day and have gone a little bonkers thinking of a million different recipes I could make using this delicious vegetable. My only issue is that in the past I have always cooked this very bitter ingredient with a lot of sugar and I now try to stick to a refined sugar free diet so will have to try a new version. My mum advised me that the best way to deal with rhubarb is to cook it first, then add sweetness, as it sucks up all the sugar and you end up putting in double if you cook it in sugar first. My favourite natural sweeteners are honey, bananas and dates so I thought I could combine all of these to make some little breakfast muffins. I’m always trying to use wholemeal flour when I can but if you want to make this gluten free, swap the flour and baking powder for gluten free flour, and gluten free baking powder. I am also going to …

‘Hot’ salad

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The glorious hot weather seems to have disappeared and lunches of cold salads and glasses of rosé feel inappropriate as the wind and rain batter across the window. As a result, I am craving something warm and comforting but have a fridge full of raw veg and don’t want any of it to go to waste. There are a few items I buy every time I go to the supermarket, a lemon, garlic, fresh ginger, onion and bananas. If I have these items in stock they feel a good set of basics for many different recipes including hot drinks like fresh ginger and lemon. Bananas are perfect for a quick snack on the go or let them get a little too ripe and you can make my sugar free banana loaf. So as well as having my supermarket must have purchases I also have a number of store cupboard favourites such as tahini, peanut butter and honey. Honey gets used in place of refined sugar where possible and for the peanut butter and tahini, I …

Coconut & lime chunks

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We have had a few weeks of being really naughty recently, sharing a sticky toffee date pudding in a restaurant then practicing making chocolate fondant for a dinner party. And I must not forget the incredible Toblerone cheesecake I had seconds of at a friends house last weekend. These were all totally delicious but didn’t make me feel great.  The rush of ‘high’ from all that sugar, followed quickly by a real ‘low’ and body slump. So I am on the rampage to revamp our eating style and stay away from sugar and dairy packed foods for a while. I always notice I have more energy,  better skin and sleep well when I have a cleaner diet. When I say diet, I am by no means starving myself, I don’t function well if I skip meals, eat tiny portions etc. If that happens then I am angry, headachy and generally a nasty person to be around. Last night we had a delicious Moroccan stew packed full of root vegetables, spinach and lentils. It was gently spiced with …

Baked falafel on tabbouleh

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I adore falafel but I don’t adore how they are made by frying a lot of good ingredients in oil so I have tried making my own baked falafel which are pretty tasty and not too far off the originals. Also, rather than having them in a pitta bread I have made a tabbouleh salad and drizzled them in good olive oil. Alternatively you could water down a little tahini and pour over the top. A dressing I have used in the past on one of my salads is tahini, apple cider vinegar, honey, splash of water, salt and pepper would be delicious on these. Ingredients: 1 cup dried chick peas 4 -5 tbsp plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 3 large garlic cloves (crushed) 1 small onion or 2 shallots (roughly chopped) 1 tbsp harissa paste 1.5 tsp ground cumin Half tsp ground coriander large handful of chopped parsley 1 tsp salt flakes or half tsp pouring salt Soak your dried chickpeas over night in a bowl of water, making sure that there is at least 2 cm …

Pecan Pie – Deliciously Ella style

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I bought the new Deliciously Ella book a couple of weeks ago and I am slowly working my way through some of the recipes. Here is her original: Pecan Pie This has proved a new favourite in our house, and a real hit at a recent dinner party for those who were lactose intolerant. Rather than making one big tart, I made individual ones and halved the ingredient list as this is rather an expensive list of ingredients unless you are feeding 8-10 people. See below for my version of Deliciously Ella’s mini Pecan pies! Ingredients: Tart base: (makes 4 individual pies) 75g almond flour 63g buckwheat flour 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tbsp honey 2 medjool dates (or 5 normal dates) 1 tbsp coconut oil Oven to 180 degrees and grease the tartlet cases with a little coconut oil. In a food processor blend dates then add rest of mixture and blend till sticky. Divide this mixture into your 4 tart cases and bake for about 12 minutes, you will notice it firms up and starts …