A New Healthy Life: Balanced Life Cookbook by Christine Robinson – book review, giveaways and freebie

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of A New Healthy Life: Balanced Life Cookbook by Christine Robinson to review. I was very pleased to be asked to review this book, as I love getting inspiration of new ideas for what to cook.

Here is the book blurb.

Start your journey to a healthier and more balanced lifestyle with A New Healthy Life: Balanced Life Cookbook. This comprehensive cookbook provides readers with all the tools they need to create delicious, nutritious meals that are quick and easy to prepare. Inside, you’ll find simple recipes, meal planning tips, kitchen tricks, and snack ideas that are designed to help you develop healthy eating habits, while also providing alternatives for individuals with dietary limitations. With this cookbook, you’ll learn to make flavorful, nutrient-rich meals that will nourish your body and fuel your soul.

The first few chapters of this book are talking about healthy eating. It is a good introduction as far as it goes but in my opinion there are key elements that have been overlooked. For instance, there are several references to healthy fats and unhealthy fats, but I didn’t spot any mention of which fats fall into each of those two categories.

As a number of the recipes include olive oil, it would be useful for the introduction to describe how much more healthy it is to purchase cold-pressed extra virgin oil, preferably in the smallest size bottles, versus regular olive oil.

Also the introduction makes it sound like we should avoid fried dishes, but not so. I consider my diet to be healthy and yes I do fry sometimes, dishes like omelette or stir-fry.

And after that initial viewpoint on frying, I was quite surprised that the author had actually included some fried recipes, but even more so, that both her vegetarian stir-fries listed 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the ingredients. All vegetable oils are unhealthy fats in my opinion. Unfortunately they are in many processed products including mayonnaise, another ingredient included in a few of the recipes, which again, along with the vegetable oil, I wouldn’t have expected to see in a cookbook targetted at healthy eating. And yes before you point it out, I know, I do need to revisit my own blogged recipes, as many were written before I attempted to remove all seed oils from my diet.

Thankfully her other fried recipes used olive oil which along with other fruit oils is a healthy fat, but even so, did the frittata, tomato and basil soup, turkey chilli and leman garlic shrimp pasta really need as much as 2 tbsp of olive oil. That quantity sounded quite excessive to me and seemed inconsistent with some of her other recipes which did use less. Personally I am careful to wipe just a smear of either animal fat or extra virgin olive oil in the frying pan. That’s all it needs to avoid the food sticking so long as you heat the pan first.

And I couldn’t understand why the zucchini noodles with pesto and grilled chicken required any oil to be added to the grill pan, let alone 2 tbsp. Isn’t the whole point of grilling, that the food is on top of the grill rack, so that any excess fat drips through?

To note some of the recipes could be made even healthier. For instance, I frequently eat overnight oats, but I’ve never needed to add honey or maple syrup which is suggested here, as the fruit is sweet enough.

Illustrations are important to me in a book and it starts well with a photo to accompany every recipe in the breakfast chapter. But from then onwards, the pictures become very intermittent. 2 for lunch and 1 each for the other chapters. What happened?

Some more proof-reading is required as most of the recipe is missing for Roasted Vegetable Pasta, so I can’t tell if it might have an excessive amount of olive oil. But 1/4 cup sounds like it could be a lot. I always get confused by measurements in cups, as I never know which of my different size cups to choose, so I certainly don’t know how many tbsp, a 1/4 cup equates to.

Whilst I’m on the topic of measurements, oven temperatures are only mentioned in Fahrenheit. It would be much more universal to include Celsius and Gas Mark too, as readers will be frustrated if they have to go online to find out the conversion.

It was good to see a chapter included on Gluten-free and Dairy-free recipes, although with only 3 recipes, it did feel rather a token nod. However, some of the recipes in other chapters would also be suitable for these diets.

It would be useful to include a recipe index and how many servings the recipes are for, as they clearly varied from 1 serving upwards. Not essential but an indication of preparation time would be useful too.

So does Healthy Eating mean we can’t have dessert? There was no dessert chapter in this 113 page book. I’m sure there are some healthy desserts.

To summarise, some nice recipes, but otherwise this book could go much further.

A New Healthy Life: Balanced Life Cookbook is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format.

Christine Robinson is a pen name of Nikk’s Micheal who also writes romantic fiction and you may see Nikk’s website here.

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Of course a key element of reviewing a cookery book is to try making some of the recipes. So my first choice was to make Grilled Chicken with Quinoa Salad. I was keen to give this a go as although I frequently cook chicken, I have never grilled it. What a perfect healthy idea, as any fat will drip through the rack. This was really tasty but I do have some comments to make regarding the recipe.

Firstly I feel it is insufficient to just state to cook the quinoa according to package procedure. Playing devil’s advocate here, but I buy my quinoa loose, plastic-free, so I have no package instructions. And in fact this seems to be in line with the author’s budgetting tips of purchasing in bulk.

I would expect the recipe to detail how to cook the quinoa. Since the ingredients state 1 cup of quinoa and 2 cups of chicken broth, my assumption would be that you cook the quinoa in that quantity of broth, but I did some research online and it did seem like 2 cups of liquid might be insufficient. I started with that quantity, but had to top it up a couple of times as all the liquid was absorbed before the quinoa was cooked. I ended up using between 3-4 cups of liquid.

And secondly the recipe does not specify whether the quinoa should be cooled before combining with the other salad ingredients. I made the assumption to let it cool first.

Plus I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a paperback copy of A New Healthy Life: Balanced Life Cookbook to one lucky winner. Open worldwide.

For those of you, who also enjoy the romance genre, please note that all giveaway entrants who sign up to Nikk’s Micheal newsletter via the Rafflecopter will also receive a freebie – an eBook version of her romantic fiction tale “Love in the City”.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

I’d love to hear your suggestions for healthy eating?

Finally if you’re quick, Nikk’s Micheal is running another giveaway herself to win a box set of The Love Chronicles books. Closes 11 August.

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Foraging in my own garden

I’m sure many of you enjoy wild blackberry picking when you are out on a walk, but have you ever foraged for anything more adventurous or unusual? I’ve gathered fallen apples and sweet chestnuts, but I’m too scared to try picking fungi as I don’t know the difference between edible mushrooms and ones which might possibly be poisonous. Perhaps I should sign up for a fungi foraging course. I shall have to look to see if there are any in this part of the UK. Or coastal foraging is another idea which I could fancy trying. And last month, I saw wild garlic in the woodland whilst out on a run. However sometimes you can even find things closer to home in your own garden like dandelions and nettles.

Typically viewed as weeds, both of these have excellent nutritious properties. Nettles are full of vitamins and minerals. So when I was digging out some young nettles that were competing with my herbs and alpine strawberries, I decided to have a go at cooking them. I chopped off the roots before bringing them in and giving them a good wash.

Now these were from my garden, but if you are foraging elsewhere, you will want to bear in mind not to pick from by the roadside or below where dogs may pee. Also gather them young before they start flowering.

I decided to make a nettle soup, but another idea is pesto, although you would still need to cook the nettles first to remove the sting. Think of using them in recipes as an alternative to spinach.

Nettle Soup

Ingredients

1 large bunch of nettles
micro-greens to garnish
2 medium potatoes
1/3 of a leek
1 clove of garlic
10 chives
2x 100ml frozen chicken stock cubes (or vegetable stock if preferred)
pinch of thyme
salt and pepper
milk to mix
1 tbsp cream
knob of butter

Method

Carefully wearing gloves, wash the nettles.
Cut the nettle leaves from the stalks, discarding any which look past their best.
Boil the kettle and pour water into a saucepan.
Tip the nettles into the pan and set aside for a few minutes.
Drain the nettles through a sieve, reserving the water.
Meanwhile chop potatoes, (no need to peel), leeks and chives into small pieces.
Peel and press garlic through garlic press.
Grease the saucepan with butter and gently heat.
Add the garlic, leek and chives and cover with lid.
Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Defrost the chicken stock.
Add the chicken stock and reserved nettle water and potatoes.
Bring pan to the boil, turning down to a simmer.
Cook until potatoes are soft.
Add nettles and continue cooking for a couple of minutes.
Season with thyme, salt and pepper.
Pour into blender and blend until smooth.
Return to pan and add sufficient milk to thin to desired consistency, cooking for a few more minutes.
Stir in cream.
Pour into bowls and garnish with micro greens.
Serve and enjoy.

A very tasty satisfying soup indeed.

I’d love to hear your foraging recipes? I’m contemplating elderflowers and rosehips for cordial. My elder tree is flowering now but only one branch of flowers is in reach. The others are too high up.

Who else has tried nettles?

And finally if you do forage for food in the wild, please remember to leave plenty behind for birds and other creatures.

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Pescatarian Crockpot Cookbook by Martha D’Angelo – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the Pescatarian Crockpot Cookbook by Martha D’Angelo to review. I love browsing through recipe books for new ideas of what to cook, so was delighted to be offered the chance to review this book.

Here is the book blurb.

Learn HOW to make easy, delicious and healthy pescatarian meals with your crockpot slow cooker!
Are you looking for a nutritious diet that is high in protein but doesn’t consist of meat? Have you recently invested in a crockpot and are looking for tasty and healthy recipes? Do you want to switch to a pescatarian diet?

If your answer is a yes to any of these questions, then this book is for you. Make this your first exciting and exclusive PESCATARIAN CROCKPOT COOKBOOK!

Daily Food’s author, Martha D’Angelo will provide you with step by step instructions for the best recipes that will make you crave for more! If you are looking to eat delicious meals that are pescatarian diet-friendly and that you can prepare quickly, look no further. The best part is that you can prepare them all in one crockpot without having to toil for hours in the kitchen.

It can be tough to follow a healthy diet and avoid serious illnesses with most of us’ lifestyle. To lose weight or maintain good health, good food is of utmost importance. You might have tried other diets and already realized that it isn’t as easy as it appears. The time crunch due to all the other commitments that keep you busy can make it challenging to eat healthy home-cooked meals every day; however, this will no longer be an issue. With this PESCATARIAN CROCKPOT COOKBOOK, you will learn how to cook EASY AND DELICIOUS pescatarian meals.

This PESCATARIAN CROCKPOT COOKBOOK includes:

An explanation of what the pescatarian diet is
What foods you can and cannot eat while following the diet
The benefits of following a pescatarian lifestyle
Delicious crockpot recipes for breakfast
Lunch-munch recipies to die for
Delicious fancy dinner meals
Desserts that will amaze your taste buds
And much, much more!

This PESCATARIAN CROCKPOT COOKBOOK is packed with quick and healthy meals that are perfect for vegetarians who eat fish. This cookbook and your crockpot will help you have healthy pescatarian meals on your table in no time! 

So starting with the blurb, this is well written to tempt you in, except in the final paragraph where it says “vegetarians who eat fish”. By definition a vegetarian does not eat fish, so this statement is nonsense. Instead it would be better to clarify on the cover, that a pescatarian is someone who abstains from eating animal flesh with the exception of fish and seafood. This is something which is explained in the introduction, along with all the health benefits and the advantages of cooking in a crockpot.

A crockpot is another name for a slow cooker, so I was anticipating that most of the recipes would be ones that you could prep first thing in the morning, then leave cooking all day whilst you are out at work. But flicking through the recipes, the majority are a lot shorter and some I would question the benefit of using your slow cooker as opposed to another method of cooking. For instance there are a few recipes where salmon is initially cooked in the crockpot before being used elsewhere like Salmon Tortilla Appetizers or Salmon Avocado Lettuce Wraps. Three alternative methods of cooking the salmon for these dishes immediately spring to mind, namely wrapped in foil in the oven, poached on the hob or in the microwave, all of which I would choose in preference over my slow cooker.

This 123 page book follows the traditional format of breakfast dishes, lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts. And I’m pleased to say that no, the desserts do not include fish. Each recipe gives an indication of preparation time, cooking time, servings and nutritional value. However there are quite a number of instances of different cooking durations mentioned in the directions, plus it may vary between models of crockpots, so you will need to use your judgement.

As the book is aimed at beginners it was good to see a balance between recipes using fresh or tinned fish. Unfortunately not so good for the novice is that the recipes use a mixture of units. I particularly would have recommended avoiding the cup measurement, as I look at all my different size cups, wondering which one is optimum to choose.

Some but not all of the recipes are illustrated and all the photos look very tempting. However I did notice some images which didn’t appear to match the recipe they were with. For instance Moroccan Spiced Fish uses steaks or fillets, but the accompanying photograph is of a whole fish served differently to what is described. The book could definitely benefit from some more proof-reading as this same recipe includes both ground coriander and chopped cilantro. These are alternative names for the same plant, so should be named consistently.

Or a recipe like Spinach and Salmon Muffins which makes 4, but is illustrated with a photo of 12. That would be very slow progress if done as 3 batches in the crockpot! So don’t rely on the pictures.

This book has certainly given me inspiration as to how to incorporate more variety of fish into our diet, as I’ve previously tended to stick to just a few trusted recipes.

And I’ve discovered new dishes that I had never heard of previously like Grits and Congee.

The Pescatarian Crockpot Cookbook is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle format. A nice cookery book although I would have preferred to see an illustration for every recipe.

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An integral part of reviewing a cookery book is to test out some of the recipes. So I selected to try making Cajun Shrimp and Rice first from the dinner section. I did make a few adaptions though as follows. Firstly I didn’t have a long grain and wild rice mix, so i just used long grain, also I increased the quantity from 3 ounces to what I would usually do as a rice serving – 60g per person. I skipped the green pepper as I didn’t have any of that in the fridge. The recipe had a discrepancy between water in the ingredients and broth in the directions, so I opted to defrost some stock to use, increasing the amount because of having already chosen to use extra rice. And I guessed how much onion would equate to the required half cup. The cooking time was estimated at 2-4 hours whilst the directions suggested 4-5 hours on low or 2-2.5 hours on high, before adding the shrimp. My slow cooker also has a medium setting, but I opted for the low setting. I checked it at the 3 hour point and the rice was already cooked, so I added the shrimp immediately.

This meal was delicious and the author was probably correct to suggest a smaller amount of rice, as we ended up with a portion left over. Perhaps 40g each might be the answer.

I’d love to hear what fish recipes you enjoy? Have you ever cooked fish in your slow cooker?

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Chicken Fajitas with Spice pods plus giveaway

Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

It has been a little while since I shared a recipe post, as I rather lost my blogging mojo lately following my mum’s death. But now that I am confined to my home apart from when I am volunteering to help the vulnerable or a quick essentials shopping trip or a daily run / walk, it seems time to take up the blogging mantle again.

I think I got my love of cooking from my mum, although it had been a while since she had been able to cook due to increasing frailty herself. As a small child, I can remember kneeling up on a stool at the kitchen table beside her and learning to make the likes of jam tarts and gingerbread men. My mum would encourage me to enter the children’s cookery section at the local WI show. And when I unwisely chose broccoli and melon as ingredients for my cookery practical exam, it was my mum who searched to locate them for me. Those were the days before such items became commonplace on the supermarket shelves all year round. And now for a different reason, they may again have disappeared from the shelves.

I’m certainly feeling rather sad about all the panic buying we are seeing currently, as I’m sure it is leading to increased food waste, particularly with regards to fresh food. So it may still be a little while before I feel ready to post again on my series of “Reducing Waste” topics.

However after turning down a few product review requests whilst grieving, I agreed to do a review for The Spice Pioneer, who caught my attention due to their fabulous tree planting initiative. They kindly sent me a set of their five flavours of spice power pods to try for free. The flavours, which can also all be purchased individually are as follows…..

Fajita
Chicken Lollipops
Chilli Con Carne
Katsu Curry
Peri-Peri Chicken

So I decided to try out the Fajita Power Pod first and cook a tasty Tex-Mex dish of Chicken Fajitas, along with all the traditional accompaniments. The power pod box includes this recipe on the back. However I did adapt it slightly to include an additional vegetable, namely courgette, as due to empty shelves, I couldn’t get three colours of peppers.

Chicken Fajitas

Ingredients (serves 4)

Fajita seasoning
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp oil
1 onion
3 mixed bell peppers
4 skinless chicken breasts

Method

Peel and slice onion.
Peel garlic and squeeze through garlic press.
Slice pepper, (saving seeds to sprinkle in a salad).
Slice chicken into 1cm strips.
In a large bowl, mix the fajita seasoning, garlic, oil, onion and peppers.
Add the chicken, mix to coat evenly and marinade for 10 minutes.
Stir- fry in a large frying pan on medium to high heat for 10-12 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Add more oil while cooking if needed.
Enjoy in heated tortilla wraps with guacamole, salsa, sour cream and a sprinkle of cheese.

I made a batch of tortilla wraps and you can see my guacamole recipe below. But I did cheat with the salsa and used a shop-bought jar. However part of the joy of power pods is the simplicity with the spices being perfectly portioned, so I didn’t feel at all guilty for cheating. In fact, I wished that I had cheated with guacamole too, as my avocado was rather under-ripe for the recipe. The power pod spice mixes aim to make cooking an easy, stress-free and enjoyable experience.

Guacamole

Ingredients

1 avocado
Juice of half a lime
1 small clove of garlic
Half a spring onion

Method

Cut avocado in half and remove stone.
Scoop out avocado flesh, with a fork, roughly mashing it.
Squeeze the juice from half a lime.
Peel garlic and squeeze through garlic press.
Mix together avocado, lime juice and garlic.
If the avocado isn’t that ripe, blend the mixture in a blender.
Serve and enjoy.

I was pleased to see that the power pods are 100% natural ingredients. They are free from oil, preservatives, additives and refined sugar and are also gluten free. The products were all long-dated, best before December 2021 and they have been handmade in the UK. The boxes indicate that you can make your meal for 4 people in just 30 minutes. And they also show how mild or spicy each mix is.

The outer box was nicely sized to fit through a letterbox, so no missing a parcel if your delivery arrives when you are out. And look how well packed it is, certainly no excess packaging.

It is a nice touch to have a recipe suggestion on each packet, plus there are plenty more recipe ideas on The Spice Pioneer website. The power pods can be purchased individually or as a subscription. All are reasonably priced.

Do take a look at The Spice Pioneer website to see the rest of their products. They also sell a range of recipe boxes and gin infusion kits. Great gifts for foodies. Every purchase contributes to their tree planting in the Scottish Highlands, which definitely gets my seal of approval.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a starter set of spice power pods like I received from The Spice Pioneer to one lucky winner. You’ll certainly be able to cook some great easy meals with these.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your recipe suggestions using any of these products. I’m going to make chicken lollipops next, so check back soon to see that recipe.

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Mackerel Pâté

Today I’m sharing a very simple quick recipe for mackerel pâté, that you can make in literally minutes. I love this for a light lunch either on toast, crackers or in a sandwich. Plus it also works as a starter, if you’re entertaining.

Mackerel Pâté

Ingredients

2 smoked mackerel fillets (approx 150g)
75g natural yoghurt (or crème fraiche)
salt and pepper

Method

Remove the skin and any bones you find from the fish.
Flake the fish into small pieces.
Place fish and yoghurt (or crème fraiche) into blender.
Season with salt and pepper.
Blend until smooth.
Chill in refrigerator if desired.
Serve with toast or crackers or in a sandwich.

Voilà. As I said, so quick and easy. And delicious too.

I’d love to hear your go-to recipes when you want something in a hurry?

Now all I need to do, is find where to buy my mackerel plastic free, as I’m trying to reduce my use of plastic. I get the yoghurt in jars from milk&more. The local fishmonger occasionally has plastic free mackerel, but unfortunately not very often.

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Small steps towards a more sustainable Christmas

I know I started off the year with good intentions to keep my blog updated with all the progress I have been making towards reducing plastic, however life got in the way, but yes I’m still continuing down the sustainability path. A light bulb moment for me was that it is not only about reducing plastic. So now I’m trying to focus on the bigger picture of zero waste, carbon footprint, seasonal products and supporting local independent businesses in addition to plastic. But I find it can be hard to prioritise any one of these aspects over the others in certain situations. And I’m continually keeping in mind the mantra Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Refurbish, Repair, Regift, Rehome, Repurpose, Recycle, Replant, Rot.

Looking back, the last news I gave you on this topic was about our fab eco holiday in the summer. Since then I’ve joined local groups, been on workshops and things have been ticking along in the garden. I will try to find time for more blog updates next year, but for now I wanted to focus on Christmas.

At the beginning of November, the boys and I had a good sort through our 3 boxfuls of Christmas decorations, reducing what we were going to keep by about half. The remainder was sorted for charity donations, or repurposing components for crafting, recycling or eco-bricks, with minimal ending up in the waste bin. Around the same time, we sent 3 bagfuls of unused items (toys, stationery, toiletries) to school for including in shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. A great way to do it, compared to preparing an individual shoebox each like we’ve done previously, when I’ve usually ended up buying some items like hats, scarves and gloves cheaply at somewhere like Poundland, since those probably weren’t made very sustainably.

So throughout the year I have been popping into charity shops, sometimes with a boxful to donate, but often just for a browse. And I’ve found plenty of gifts to put aside for the boys, especially including the themes of Dr Who, Star Wars or Marvel as I knew those would feature on their Christmas lists.

For my other half, I’ve chosen an experience, topped up with a few items from the charity shops and edible gifts. And I’ve made a large hamper for my parents of which all the contents are either handmade locally or by me. So I’ve made a couple of soup-in-a-jar mixes, turmeric latte and zero waste candied peel. See below for the recipes.

Looking at the Amazon wish lists of other relatives, I’ve managed to swerve Amazon entirely and bought requested gifts either on the high street or vouchers. Someone else gets a membership. Another gets products I chose for her at a Tropic fundraising party, so supporting both one friend’s fundraising and another friend’s small business. And I helped the boys select edible gifts handmade by disabled people in our local community.

I had to think hard about buying for someone in Canada. Previously I would have just resorted to Amazon, but this year I found Wychbury Ave, a small ethical local business who handcraft soaps and body products. Plus bonus, the owner was prepared to hand-deliver my order.

As regards wrapping and cards, this was more of a bugbear, as I already possess lots of shiny foil-paper, silver tape and glittery cards which I obviously want to use up rather than dispose of, but I can see it lasting quite a while yet. And I did save some paper from last Christmas too. I have been sending about half of my cards as e-cards for the last few years anyhow, but is this anymore eco, when you consider the carbon footprint of the servers? I also handmade a few cards, but didn’t have time for many, although I have always made my own gift tags. So it is probably going to be a number of years before this area hits my eco target. Similarly we have some crackers leftover from last year. I did better earlier in the year with birthday wrapping, using pages from our local newsletter tied only with ribbon. But at least nothing new was purchased. And any gifts that have arrived by post have been left in their packaging.

There does still seem to be a larger pile of gifts than I had hoped, but at least not many have my name on them. I’m particularly pleased that some of the family have made a donation at my request to their local food bank instead of getting me a gift.

Son2 is particularly eco-conscious, and bless him, this is what he wrote as a ps at the end of his letter to Santa – “Please try not to use wrapping paper since it may end up becoming plastic pollution“. So his presents will be loose inside a pillowcase, although I’ve tried to preserve some element of surprise by hiding the more fun items inside the clothing gifts.

And onto the catering. I’ve bought much less food. Nothing for tea, no gammon and wide selection of buffet treats. If anyone is still hungry, they can have a turkey sandwich. Yes we are having turkey for lunch, but it has been hand-reared free range locally by my friend on her smallholding. Fresh vegetables are from our local greengrocer, whilst frozen peas, sweetcorn and yorkshire puddings have been purchased packaging-free. Also no starters. And this year for the first time, we are passing on the Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, since only half the family like them anyhow, plus I am trying to reduce my sugar intake. No Yule log either. We do still have mince pies which I made using mincemeat that was handmade by disabled people in our local community.

We’ve had our artificial Christmas tree for many years, but when I got it out just over a week ago, I realised one of the pieces had broken when it was being taken down last year. I’ve managed to repair it, so hopefully the tree will last us at least a few more years. However only two out of four colours of our LED lights seem to now be working and I’ve discovered they sadly don’t have replaceable bulbs like our previous set did, but we are making do. So much for me stating that they would last for 50,000 hours use, when I reviewed them 6 years ago. But I’ve noticed that none of us are particularly bothered about switching the Christmas lights on, so saving energy. We’ve only ever had one strings of lights at a time, unlike some houses which seem to go overboard on both the amount of lighting and how soon it is up, in some cases even as early as November, but maybe Christmas lights will become a thing of the past in our household.

On the more natural decorative front, I cut a few sprigs of holly, ivy and pine from the garden and wove them around my willow wreath for a front door decoration. It looks a bit lopsided, but I am still pleased with it. I made the wreath early last month after volunteering to help with the willow harvest.

And now to share my recipes. Firstly the zero-waste candied peel. I’ve been saving all types of citrus peel in the freezer, along with other bags of bread crumbs, raw vegetable scraps for stock, apple cores and vegetable peelings. My initial plan was to make my own candied peel that I could either use in cake-making or as a sweet treat. However I wished to avoid sugar, so I have used honey in my recipe instead. But as we eat a lot of citrus fruit, I seemed to have a non-ending supply of citrus peel, so the obvious idea was to gift some of the candied peel. For an additional touch, you could also dip the candied peel in chocolate.

Candied Peel

Ingredients

300g mixed citrus peel (orange, lemon and grapefruit)
250g honey
water

Method

Defrost the peels.
Remove excess pith and cut into narrow strips.
Place in a saucepan of water and bring to the boil.
Boil for 5 minutes, then drain off the water.
Replace with fresh water and bring to the boil again.
This time simmer for 30 minutes.
Strain the water into a jug.
Pour 400ml of the strained water back into the saucepan.
Stir in the honey and strips of peel.
Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the honey.
Simmer for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the liquid has reduced to a thick syrup.
Allow to cool.
Strain off the syrup, (you can store this in the refrigerator to make cordial drinks).
Place sheets of greaseproof paper onto all your cooling racks.
Spread out the peels in a single layer on the paper.
Place the cooling racks in your airing cupboard for 2-3 days until the peels are dry.
Store the candied peels in airtight sterilised jars.
(Optionally dip in melted chocolate).
Enjoy.

Secondly turmeric latte, a tasty drink. Turmeric has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, so this is a great gift for the health benefits.

Turmeric Latte

Ingredients

250g skimmed milk powder
5 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
Pinch of black pepper

Method

Mix all ingredients together.
Store in an airtight sterilised jar.
Attach a label to the jar, detailing the following usage instructions.
Mix 25g into a mug of cold water.
Heat in microwave.
Enjoy.

And finally the soups in a jar. I did two variants, mild coconut curry soup and minestrone soup, but there are so many more possibilities for this. Gift them along with a tin of coconut milk or chopped tomatoes respectively.

Mild Coconut Curry Soup

Ingredients

125g green lentils
125g red lentils
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp dried onion
1 tsp turmeric
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tin coconut milk

Method

Mix together the dried onions, curry powder, turmeric, salt and pepper.
Layer the dry ingredients into a sterilised jar as follows.
Firstly the green lentils.
Then the red lentils.
Then the spice and onion mix.
Cover with a circle of paper.
Place the stock cube on top of the paper.
Seal the jar airtight with lid.
Attach a label to the jar, detailing the following usage instructions.
Place stock cube in 750ml boiling water.
Add contents of jar and can of coconut milk.
Bring to the boil, then reduce heat.
Simmer for 20-25 minutes until lentils are tender.
Enjoy.

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

75g barley
75g red lentils
75g gomitini pasta
1 tbsp dried onion
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/2 garlic powder
Pinch of basil
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of marjoram
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 vegetable stock cube
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Method

Mix together the dried onions, mustard powder, garlic powder, herbs, salt and pepper.
Layer the dry ingredients into a sterilised jar as follows.
Firstly the barley.
Then the red lentils.
Then the pasta.
Then the spice and onion mix.
Cover with a circle of paper.
Place the stock cube on top of the paper.
Seal the jar airtight with lid.
Attach a label to the jar, detailing the following usage instructions.
Place stock cube in 750ml boiling water.
Add contents of jar and can of chopped tomatoes.
Bring to the boil, then reduce heat.
Simmer for 45-50 minutes until barley is tender.
Enjoy.

So these are my first small steps towards a more sustainable Christmas. I am sure there is loads more I could do, so I’d love to hear your eco friendly suggestions and tips for Christmas please.

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Christmas.

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Macadamia Energy Bites

Disclosure.  This post is a review of products I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I do enjoy cooking, so I was very pleased to receive the following selection of products from Buy Whole Foods Online free to review.

Organic Carob Powder 500g
Ceylon Cinnamon Powder (True) 250g
Organic Amla Powder 125g
Raw Wild Flower Bulgarian Honey 900g
Macadamia Nut Halves, Raw 250g

I had already formulated a tentative recipe idea in my head when I chose this selection which was to make some healthy raw energy snacks.

I do like this brand and have previously blogged some TVP meal recipes and my healthy yummy chocolate puds, made using their products. However this was back near the start of this year, so I was keen to see whether they would have taken on board my packaging suggestions, as I hadn’t had any feedback.

I was also pleased to see that everything was long-dated, with best before dates of October 2020 and beyond. Even the nuts, which was quite a pleasant surprise to me.

Now let me tell you a little about these products, especially if like me, you get confused between cocoa, cacao and carob. Carob powder is produced by grinding the dried carob pods into a powder. I have now discovered that unlike cacao and cocoa, carob is naturally caffeine-free and much lower in fat than other forms of chocolate, plus it has a naturally sweet flavour. And 2 tablespoons contains almost 20% of your fibre RDA. It is also a form of calcium, which is great news for the bones as well as the taste buds!

Amla powder is something I hadn’t heard of previously. I have now discovered that it is made from drying Indian gooseberries and grinding them down to make a powder. It is rich in vitamins and minerals and has had Ayurvedic uses for centuries.

Raw honey, unlike your average honey, is unfiltered and unpasteurised, so it retains all the precious nutrients which are normally lost through heating and filtering. Plus raw honey is a natural sweetener free from additives that other conventional honeys may have. And raw honey contains a considerable amount of bee pollen, which is a complete source of protein.

Cinnamon is a spice which I often add to the likes of cookies and buns, but it also works well in savoury dishes too. However I didn’t realise there are variations in the grade of cinnamon. Apparently this Ceylon cinnamon is the purest form of cinnamon you can buy. Packed with nutrition, there are a number of health benefits associated with consuming Ceylon cinnamon on a daily basis including anti-inflammatory properties and easing digestion issues.

Macadamia nuts are something that I buy on an adhoc basis for snacks. Ideal as they are high in protein, fibre and healthy fats. But I’ve also now discovered that they are great for creating your own macadamia nut butter. That is something I’ve never tried yet.

So let me share my Macadamia Energy Bites recipe with you.

Macadamia Energy Bites

Ingredients (makes 10 – 12)

125g macadamia nuts
2 tbsp carob powder
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp amla powder

Method

Grind the nuts in a blender.
Tip ground nuts into a mixing bowl.
Mix in the carob, cinnamon and amla powder.
Mix in the honey.
Break off walnut-size amounts of mixture and roll into small balls.
Serve and enjoy.
These may be stored for upto a week in the fridge.

These were absolutely delicious and didn’t last long. I used half the macadamia nuts in the recipe, so there is only enough left to make one more batch. After that, I need to come up with some more recipe ideas for the other products, particularly the cinnamon, which is a huge packet. I’ve got about a year to use 250g, when a small spice jar usually lasts me about that length of time. I’ll have to see if the boys like cinnamon toast. I used to eat that quite regularly, but haven’t had it in years. So please hit me with your recipe suggestions.

The honey is one standard size extra large jar, but all the dry products come in a wide range of sizes from 50g to the bulk 25kg.

Unfortunately no change in the packaging as yet. Apart from the honey, the products are all in plastic, even if it is labelled as BPA free plastic. I’m still hoping Buy Whole Foods Online will review their product packaging and switch to a paper-based solution. Or the fact that some of them can be purchased in sizes upto 25kg, maybe they could start selling those via bulk stores, so we could take our own containers to fill.

I do recommend that you take a look at the Buy Whole Foods Online store. There is a huge amount to choose from.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway the same selection of products as I received from Buy Whole Foods Online to one lucky winner. You’ll certainly be able to make some tasty treats with these.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear your recipe suggestions using any of these products.

I’ve subsequently seen the most beautiful recipe for Rose and Almond Nougat on the Marvellous Mrs P blog, which I’m wondering how well it would adapt to using macadamia nuts. I’ve got a rose bush in the garden and had been considering the possibility of using the rose hips to make a cordial, but had never considered the potential of the rose petals.

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Organic Cacao Butter Buttons recipes plus giveaway

Cocoa butter (also known as cacao butter) is well known in skincare for its moisturising properties but did you know that it can also be used in the kitchen. I didn’t so I was intrigued when I saw it listed as one of the products that Indigo Herbs were looking for bloggers to review.

Once I realised that it is a raw by-product in the cocoa Industry which can be used to make my own sugar-free chocolate, I immediately applied. I’ve always loved chocolate and I have tried to convince myself that it is good for me, due to the iron content, as I easily get anaemic. However over the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to reduce my processed sugar intake, but chocolate is one of the areas I’ve particularly failed to reduce. Nearly every visit to my local Co-op, I still come back with a bar, patting myself on the back because it is fair-trade and wrapped in foil and paper, ignoring the high sugar content.

So I was very pleased to receive a 500g packet of Indigo Herbs Organic Cacao Butter Buttons free to review.

Cacao has been harvested from the bean for centuries and dates back at least to the days of the Mayan, Inca and Aztec cultures. It has many health benefits. Cacao is the highest wholefood source of the mineral magnesium, an important mineral for heart health, which is rather lacking in most modern diets. It is also a valuable source of iron and an extremely antioxidant-rich superfood. Plus raw cacao is a great mood enhancer due to the abundance of feel good phytonutrients it contains.

The packet states that these organic buttons are 100% vegan, a natural source of healthy fats and an excellent source of essential fatty acids. On opening the packet, the aroma was absolutely divine, like a rich dark chocolate. And here is a birds-eye view into the packet. You can see that they look very similar in appearance to white chocolate chips, but that is where the similarity ends as these buttons are sugar-free. They are smooth to the touch, and melt easily over hot water.

I currently have lots of apples and blackberries to put to good use, so I decided to come up with a recipe using these.

Apple and Blackberry Traybake

Ingredients (makes 16 slices)

100g cacao butter buttons
300g cooking apples
100g blackberries
250g almond flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
25g date sugar
200ml oat milk

Method

Preheat fan oven to 160 degrees C.
Line a 20cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.
Boil a saucepan of water and then turn off.
Melt the cacao butter buttons in a bowl placed in the pan of hot water.
Meanwhile peel, core and dice the apples.
Stir the almond flour, baking powder and date sugar into the melted cacao butter.
Mix in the oat milk.
Stir in the blackberries and chopped apples.
Spoon the mixture into the baking tin.
Cook on middle shelf of oven for about 40 minutes, (until a skewer comes out clean).
Cool on cooling rack.
Cut into 16 pieces.
Serve and enjoy.

This was very tasty and shows how cacao butter can be used in a non-chocolate recipe. However the texture was rather soft, so it would probably have been better to serve this as a pudding rather than as cake. I’ve deliberately kept the recipe vegan and gluten-free, but you could easily adapt it.

And of course, I wanted to try my hand at making my own homemade chocolates. Having been tempted to taste one of the buttons straight from the packet, I knew I was going to have to sweeten the cacao somewhat, but to keep it reasonably healthy, I wanted to add as little of the date syrup as possible, so I gradually added 5g at a time, until discovering that 20g was optimal.

Homemade Chocolates

Ingredients

50g cacao butter buttons
35g cacao powder
20g date syrup

Method

Boil a saucepan of water and then turn off.
Melt the cacao butter buttons in a bowl placed in the pan of hot water.
Mix in the cacao powder.
Stir in the date syrup.
Spoon the mixture into moulds.
Place moulds in fridge for an hour.
Gently press chocolates out of moulds.
Serve and enjoy.

Wow. Thumbs up. These yummy treats both tasted and looked amazing. A nice slightly bitter dark chocolate flavour. I shall definitely be making these on a regular basis. I used moulds which I had repurposed from advent calendars and Easter, but you could alternatively make a bar.

A 500g packet of Indigo Herbs Organic Cacao Butter Buttons currently retails at £12.99 and is also available in 250g or 1kg sizes. They have a long shelf life being dated best before December 2020, although mine will be long gone before then. Unfortunately there is no mention of the cacao being fairtrade. Perhaps that is something that could be looked into.

I also want to talk about the packaging. Regular followers of my blog will know that I began this year with the aim of reducing my household waste, in particular plastic. I’ve gradually broadened this to think of the whole carbon footprint in terms of my purchases and trying to buy more organic and more local products with low food miles. So the buttons get a big tick for being organic. I know the cocoa bean doesn’t grow in the UK, so can’t do much about the fact of the cacao coming from Peru. Just got to accept that. It is the same with other products that I intend to continue purchasing like bananas. One of the things I plan to look into going forwards is how I personally can offset my carbon footprint of these products having been flown halfway across the world for my consumption, with a view to contributing to some environmental projects.

So back to the packaging. Unfortunately there is no mention on the packet of how to dispose of it, which is information I would like to see all food packaging display. I think it looks like either a plastic or a mixed material, probably not easily recycled. It seems reasonably robust, so I will probably be able to repurpose it temporarily as a freezer bag. But what about after that? How about selling them in glass jars instead, or even better loose though refill stores.

I couldn’t actually work out where my nearest stockist is as there seems to be a glitch with that page. Every store on the map seems to currently be listed with a Bristol address.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a 500g pack of cacao buttons courtesy of Indigo Herbs to one lucky winner. Think of all the tempting treats you could make with this.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

Right I’m off to browse the Indigo Herbs website to see what other products they sell. It is thanks to them that I previously discovered my love of chia seeds, something that I now use almost daily. You may check out my chia seed review here.

I’d love to hear your recipes using cacao.

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Disclosure.  This post is a review of a product I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

My journey towards a Plastic Free future – part 8

Latest update on reducing our plastic usage and other waste. Although I’ve baked my own crackers quite a few times now, I was very pleased to discover some crispbread packaged in paper in a nearby village. Son1 can polish off the crackers so quickly, that it is good to have something in the store cupboard again.

I’m now a regular customer at the local independent shops, so I felt able to challenge the greengrocer when I popped in early one morning and saw him chopping off all the outer leaves from the cauliflowers. I asked why he was doing that and he said customers prefer them like that. Well I’m a customer and I would prefer them left on, but I felt my request fell on deaf ears. So it remains a choice between a cauliflower with leaves in plastic from the supermarket, or a plastic-free cauliflower minus leaves from the local greengrocer. I would use the outermost leaves in soups and stock, the next ones in I would steam and the innermost ones I would eat raw in salads. I also asked what would happen to all the wastage. Apparently it goes for the pigs to eat.

And here’s a recipe I promised to share for apple pulp pancakes, made using the pulp from my juicer.

Pulp Pancakes

Ingredients

250g apple pulp
25g melted butter
2 eggs
125ml milk
200g plain flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Melt the butter in a jug in the microwave.
Add all ingredients except oil to a large bowl.
Beat the ingredients together to a batter.
Gently heat oil in a frying pan.
Pour pancake size spoonfuls of batter into the frying pan, to make about 3 pancakes at a time.
Cook for about 2 -3 minutes until small bubbles form on the surface of the pancakes.
Turn and cook the other side for about 2 minutes until golden.
Repeat until all batter has been used.
Serve either warm or cold, either plain or with your choice of topping.
Enjoy.

These are delicious and can be made with other types of pulp. They also have no added sugar, just the sweetness from the pulp.

I mentioned previously that I had saved some seeds to plant. Initially it was just ones like melon, butternut squash and pepper to avoid them ending up in food waste. But then I thought, well why not also try saving a few of those that you would typically eat like tomato. Well I can report that I’ve had mixed success. The tomatoes and peppers came up but no luck initially with either melon or butternut squash, so I had to plant some more of those, which happily did germinate. Of course the real proof of success won’t be until later in the year, as to whether I actually manage to harvest anything from them.

I’ve also bought a few packets of seeds including cauliflower, which are now at the seedling stage. So hopefully I’ll be harvesting my own cauliflowers later and avoiding the chopped off wasted leaves issue.

And on the topic of seeds, which ones can be roasted to eat? I’ve only ever roasted pumpkin seeds. I regularly buy melons, peppers and butternut squash. Anyone know if I could roast any of those seeds?

I’ve never particularly had green fingers but I’m gradually enlarging the area that I started as a vegetable patch last year. Certainly hard work digging as there seem to be so many weed roots. Only managed a few carrots, tomatoes and one pumpkin last year, so hoping for better results this time round. Very pleased with the “reduced to clear” stickered chive and mint plants from the supermarket that I planted in the autumn. They are flourishing marvellously.

I’m always experimenting with chopping up various greens from my garden into my salads, not only chives and mint, but things like carrot tops and beetroot leaves. Recently I tried radish leaves but they were rather bitter, maybe the taste will grow on me. I’ve been wondering about dandelion leaves, as there are lots of those growing here, so I was very interested to read Becky’s blog post on Dandelion Tea Benefits & How to Make Dandelion Tea. I shall certainly have to give some of these suggestions a go.

Also I made a suggestion to the cafe at work a few months back that they reduce waste, by offering the coffee grounds to employees for their gardens and I’m pleased to say that they finally implemented my idea last week, so I’ve brought a couple of bagfuls home. Just drying it out first, but I plan to use some of it as a mulch around the plants and some in my compost bin. That is a much longer term project but slowing filling with a mix of grass mowings, leaves, fruit and vegetable waste plus torn up butchers’ paper. But don’t think I’ll have any compost ready this year.

And I found another crowdfunding initiative to help fund plastic-free organic dry shampoo from KiteNest. See details here. I’m enjoying making a small pledge to these campaigns.

I’d love to hear your eco friendly suggestions and tips please.

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My journey towards a Plastic Free future – part 7

It has been a while since I last gave you an update on how things are going with trying to reduce waste, in particular plastic. I felt I suffered a setback whilst we were on holiday recently. It seems much more difficult when you out of your own zone. Things started going wrong from when we stopped at the services for a meal en-route. We all opted for different fast food outlets and my other half was the only one who got his meal on a china plate with proper cutlery. So thumbs up to Harry Ramsdens for that. The rest of us ended up being served with disposable tableware. I don’t see why they couldn’t all follow Harry Ramsdens lead.

We were doing a house swap to the Wirral and our host had written a note regarding what could go in the recycling bin. Basically cans, glass, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard. So much more limited than what we can recycle at home. No plastic trays, yoghurt pots, etc. I had heard previously that recycling varied from council to council, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this restricted. And no food waste bins either. Although we had a lovely holiday, sadly I sent significantly more to landfill that week than usual. And of course, I didn’t know where to shop locally for least plastic waste, especially when we had to dash straight to the supermarket on arrival to buy a cabbage to feed their tortoise. We opted for Morrisons, but no plastic free cabbages in sight. I later found out that sadly the local greengrocer had closed down permanently, so no options for fruit and vegetables other than the supermarkets.

Also I was very saddened when taking part in a race in beautiful countryside to see single use plastic water bottles discarded littering the route. Several issues come to mind here. Firstly bring your own reusable bottle to carry with you. The run was only 10k and it was a cool day. I didn’t need to hydrate whilst running at all, although admittedly my time was almost twice that of the leaders. Secondly if you do take a bottle from the water station en-route, hold onto it until the end of the race and then recycle it. Obviously not viable for a marathon when you will need to hydrate multiple times, but fine for this kind of distance. And thirdly, perhaps the race organisers could consider other options to plastic bottles, such as compostable paper cups. The goody bag was another area that could be reconsidered, as it was one of those plastic drawstring bags. How about a cloth bag instead.

And here’s a recipe I promised to share for grapefruit cake, made when I was thinking of ideas of what to do with grapefruit and orange peel. The recipe also requires grapefruit juice as well as the zest. Since I had eaten the whole grapefruit, I used bottled grapefruit juice, which I have been buying from the milkman anyhow. But you could squeeze the juice from the grapefruit for this recipe.

Grapefruit Cake

Ingredients

100g date sugar
Zest of 1 large grapefruit
100g greek yoghurt
200g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50ml olive oil
3 eggs
50ml milk

And for glaze
20g date sugar
50ml grapefruit juice

Method

Preheat fan oven to 180 degrees celsius and line a loaf tin.
Grate the zest from the grapefruit.
Mix together yoghurt, date sugar and grapefruit zest in a large bowl.
Whisk in the eggs.
Sieve in the flour and baking powder
Mix in the olive oil and milk.
Spoon mixture into lined tin.
Bake on middle shelf of oven for about 30 minutes, testing that a skewer will come out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.
Meanwhile mix together date sugar and grapefruit juice for glaze.
Make holes in top of cake with a skewer.
Pour glaze over cake slowly, allowing to soak into holes.
Serve and enjoy.

I’ve got bagfuls of citrus and vegetable peelings in the freezer. I tend to pop a handful of vegetable peelings in for crisps whenever I have the oven on. But more recipe suggestions for these would be very welcome. I’ve also been saving seeds out of melons, peppers and butternut squash. Wondering which of these can be eaten or would they grow, if I try to plant them?

And finally I’ve just helped crowdfund for Plastic Free, Tree less, Natural, Toilet Paper from Ty Mor. See details here. I’ll let you know what it is like once it arrives.

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