Tahini Espresso Cups - These are Amazing!

When I was 16 my best friend in the world moved to Australia. There was much weeping and wailing and cries of 'but we'll never see each other again!' 

Since then 25 years have past (holy shit!) - and we have stayed in touch over ever changing forms of medium, from letters and phone calls, to Facebook, Sykpe and Instagram. There was even a decidedly odd patch where all her old gang would gather together and record actual tapes filled with inane chat about..... what were they about Jen??! In those years I've also visited her multiple times, lived with her once, and she's been back home to see all of us here. Strong friendships never die!

Right now she lives a most enviable life filled with sunshine, paddle boarding and great local Aussie food. Did I mention she's an incredible cook too?

Today we're lucky enough to have a guest post from her with a recipe for these amazing Tahini Expresso Cups. 

My friend knocked on my front door today with one of these little beauties to try. Of course I accepted! They are so good that I made a batch this afternoon for myself. 


The original recipe comes from Emily Von Euw but has been Tweeked by my gorgeous friend Timenah, who inspires me daily to step out of my comfort zone.

So here it is, it makes 8-10 medium size cup cakes. My tip is use silicon cupcake mould, only fill in total half way and don't over heat your coconut oil.

1/2 cup tahini
3/4 cup coconut oil - melted
1/2 cup raw cashews

Blend the tahini and cashews, slowly add the coconut oil until mix is smooth. Pour into a jug and fill up little moulds just a little. See the photo for a better idea of the desired thickness of the base. Pop in the freezer for 20 minutes or until they are set.


For the centre surprise !
1/2 tbsp raw cacao
175g dates
118 ml strong coffee (I used 4 shots!!)
1/2 tsp vanilla paste (additional extras to taste Maca, lucuma or mesquite)


Blend this mix until smooth.Add a tsp of date mix on top your set tahini mix.Pour remaining tahini mix over and put them to bed in the freezer for 20 minutes.


Last thing.... Try to share with friends. They are so delicious , that it would be easy to devour them in an afternoon!

You can find lots more inspiration from Jen on The Jenerous Life on Facebook and Instagram. 

What Are You Eating?

I've been building up to this post for awhile now. It started with a vague conscientiousness many years ago when I decided to become a vegetarian. I hated the thought of live animals being transported across countries in cramped conditions, of huge factory farms filled with chickens that barely had room to breath, and of dirty pigs being treated as such. 

That crusade lasted 15 years before I slowly felt my body and family needed more than what they were being provided with, and I just didn't have the time (or funnily enough the energy) to delve into what was missing from our diets and where else it could be found. So first the fish returned, then the chicken, then the mince and finally a big fat juicy steak. 

And I have to say I wasn't sorry.

I did continue to buy free range chickens, but for the rest I just couldn't justify the cost, so instead buried my head in the sand in order to justify my choices.

Labelling:

Apart from all that I've always been a food label reader. My parents were ahead of the curve on healthy eating and we would routinely roll our eyes at the latest research they would impart to us.

"Did you know The China Study shows that we can reverse our cholesterol levels on a whole-food, plant based diet?!"

"Fascinating Dad"  

Or what their own parents used to say about certain foodstuffs -

"My father always called white sugar the white death. It'll kill you and your teeth"

*Yawn* 

But anyway, some of it must have sunk in because for as long as I can remember I've been inspecting labels, and have tried to avoid too many E numbers or packets containing ingredients I can't pronounce.

Bad:

Better:

Best:

But sometimes I get lazy and grab the carrot cake without seeing that it is packed with hydrogenated fat, or buy the Pringles for the Saturday night treat, or throw the sugar packed museli bars in the trolley and tell myself they are healthy because they have oats in them. 

Because sometimes it's just easier to kid ourselves.

But do Pringles actually contain any real food at all? And did you know that Nature Valley Granola Bars contain as much sugar as a bowl of fruit loops? And we would never let our kids eat those now would we..?

And then I read this article in the Guardian - Inside the Food Industry. The surprising truth about what you eat. It's a fascinating piece and I urge you to read it for yourself - but here's a very brief summary if you don't have time:

The writer, Joanna Blythman, who goes undercover at an annual food trade show says:

"While exhibitors at most food exhibitions are often keen for you to taste their products, few standholders here had anything instantly edible to offer. Those that did weren’t all that they seemed. Canapé-style cubes of white cheese dusted with herbs and spices sat under a bistro-style blackboard that nonchalantly read “Feta, with Glucono-Delta-Lactone” (a “cyclic ester of gluconic acid” that prolongs shelf life)."


Basically the entire food fair is about using science and technology to create cheaper alternatives to real foodstuffs. 

"Manufacturers who need their tomato sauce to be thick enough not to leak out of its plastic carton – and just a little bit glossy, so that it doesn’t look matt and old after several days in the fridge – were sold the advantages of Microlys®, a “cost-effective” speciality starch that gives “shiny, smooth surface and high viscosity”.

Nice. 

Or how about Butter Buds®,

 "described by its makers as “an enzyme-modified encapsulated butter flavour that has as much as 400 times the flavour intensity of butter” 

Anyone else find this scary?

Now many of us have been label reading for years and have come to know some of the things to avoid and also some of the dirty tricks manufacturers play to trick us into thinking foods are healthier than they actually are. Just because something says 'Natural' doesn't mean it is. 'Low fat' is often packed with sugar. And 'sugar' on a label is often divided up into glucose, fructose, sucrose and probably a host of other 'oses' I know nothing about. 

But things are getting worse. What was entirely new to me was that many of the old identifiably 'bad' ingredients are disappearing. 'Great!' you might think. But unfortunately it's not quite as simple as that. The food industry now knows what we want, and what we want is less additives and more 'real' food and so that is what it is giving us - on the label if not in the actual product.

As Joanna says - 

"Picking up a salami, even the most guarded shopper might relax when they see rosemary extract on the ingredients list – but rosemary extracts are actually “clean-label” substitutes for the old guard of techie-sounding antioxidants (E300-21), such as butylhydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylhydroxytoluene (BHT). Food manufacturers use them to slow down the rate at which foods go rancid, so extending their shelf life."

Gulp.

And that of course is just the tip of the iceberg. Really - go read the article.  

Production:

Last month The Sunday Times published an piece on how our takeaway sandwiches are made. It describes thousands and thousands of ham and cheese, prawn cocktail and egg mayonnaise sandwiches being made by hand (no gloves) and by machine in huge factories before being shipped off to petrol stations, cafes and supermarkets to be eaten by us. Although I'm sure there is nothing particularly bad about the ingredients being used, or how the factories are run - the photos of men and women in hairnets placing limp ham onto a slice of bread that someone earlier down the line had buttered really made my stomach turn.

But then again seeing anything on a massive factory scale is offputting.

Transportation:

And then of course there's the transportation issue.

We are well used to getting our bananas from Brazil and our pineapples from Costa Rica, but did you know that countries all over the world are importing and exporting almost identical quantities of food stuffs:

Madness!

How can this even be a real thing?!

If you want to learn a little bit more watch this:




About 2 minutes in to this video you will hear Zac Goldsmith describe just how wasteful this model is - with English apples being exported all the way to South Africa to be waxed and then transported all the way back to England to be sold. It's hard to believe.

In all honesty this makes me feel a little bit hopeless, but I'm pretty sure if you have a chat to your local greengrocer or butcher they will have a fair idea about what comes from where and hopefully will be promoting some local farms. So we do what we can there I guess - and 'every little helps' as they say...


What to do

Massive factory farming, sandwiches created on conveyor belts, food made in a science lab - it's just not very appealing when you think about it is it? And whilst we can't all grow our own food in our back garden, we can think about how real and local it is when we are making food choices for our family. 

I know from experience it can all be a bit much when faced with the information and the changes we want to make, but I've started thinking about what I can do rather than what I can't. 

So more and more I am choosing 'real' food. Cakes can be made, muesli bars can be created, sandwiches can be thrown together at home, and easy dinners can be cooked from scratch from actual vegetables and 'happy' meat. 

If you want to make some changes but don't know where to start how about this life changing raw brownie from Emily at The Nest - grain, dairy and sugar free it ticks all the wholesome boxes if not the local ones, and proves that healthy treats can be delicious. Tried and test on my hugely fussy 6 year old who absolutely loves them (and obviously doesn't know what's in them).

And there's plenty more where that came from. I've also started a Real Food recipe board on Pinterest if you want to join me for the ride.

So sorry kids, but it looks like I'm passing you on the family baton. 

*Yawn*

Healthy banana choc-chip muffins

I've been making these muffins for years. They are my go-to, easy baking recipe. The kids love them and they are full of goodness so are a win-win-win in my book.

Perfect for breakfast, after-school snack or lunchbox - just don't be surprised if they all disappear in one sitting.

This is also a lovely recipe to get the kids involved in as there are lots of little jobs for lots of little hands.

Recipe:

Dry ingredients:
150g finely ground wholemeal flour (or just plain flour if preferred)
1 heaped tsp baking powder
.5 tsp bicarbonate \ bread soda
75g chocolate chips \chopped up chocolate (or raisins and seeds to make it ultra healthy)
Pinch of salt


Wet ingredients:
2 large bananas
50ml Glenisk natural yoghurt (or other good quality natural yoghurt)
2 tbsp honey
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Sieve the dry ingredients (except the choc-chips) into a large bowl.
In a seperate bowl mash the bananas and mix in the rest of the wet ingredients.
Add the wet mixture and the choc-chips to the dry ingredients
 and gentry stir together.
Divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases placed into muffin trays.
Bake for 15-20 mins and then leave to cool before eating.

Enjoy!

More delicious recipes from blogs I love:
Red Velvet Cupcakes - Romanian Mum

Rack of Irish lamb recipe from M&S

This is not just rack of Irish lamb, this is herb, olive and mustard-crusted rack of lamb from the M&S spring recipe selection.

This is rack of lamb for beginners, so easy an idiot could make it. And I should know.

The simplicity belies a very impressive finished product, so if you are entertaining over Easter (or any other time really) this is a perfect go to dish. No need to be faffing around with multiple types of veg and perfect roast potatoes - this dish is ready in 45 minutes tops from start to finish.

Ingredients: (All available from M&S)

·         380g pack Rosemary Potatoes

·         25g sourdough pavé bread

·         25g Greek Olives with Oregano, finely chopped

·         1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves

·         1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

·         1 tbsp olive oil

·         1 x 330g French-trimmed rack of lamb

·         1 tsp Dijon mustard

·         200g Boston beans or fine green beans

Method:

1.       Heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 (180°C for fan ovens). Cook the potatoes according to the packet instructions.

2.       Put the bread in a food processor and pulse to form rough crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl and stir in the chopped olives, thyme and parsley, then season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3.       Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the lamb. Cook over a high heat until browned all over, then transfer to a board. Remove any excess oil with kitchen paper. 

4.       Spread the mustard over the lamb and press the crumb mixture on top. Put the lamb in a small roasting tin and roast for 25 minutes. Transfer to a board and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the beans in boiling salted water for 3 minutes, until just tender.

5.       Divide the potatoes and beans between 2 plates, then slice the lamb into cutlets to serve.

Per serving:

141 calories 9g fat (3.6g saturated) 8.3g carbohydrates 1.3g sugar 2g fibre 6g protein 0.45g salt

Here's what it looks like coming out of the oven. Convinced yet?

 I've always been a bit scared of this cut for some reason - but I'll be adding it to my collection from now on.

A huge thumbs up and thanks to M&S for a truly delicious meal.

More delicious recipes from blogs I love:

Caramelised Onion Tart Tatin - The Crazy Kitchen
Vegetable Frittata - Mummy Central
Best Apple Recipes - Cats Yellow Days
Batch Cooking - Frugal Family


Disclosure: I was provided with the products by M&S to test out this recipe. All words and pictures are my own. 

Almond Power Bars

These Almond Power Bars are amazing. A perfect pre-workout \ post-workout \ lunchbox \ elevenses snack.

Incredibly delicious it's hard to believe they are actually healthy. But they are.

Almonds help boost energy. Hazelnuts are stuffed full of B vitamins. Sunflower seeds give us Vitamin E and folic acid. Coconut oil helps boost metabolism. Honey aids our immune system. And cacao is packed with antioxidants.

This recipe below is adapted from this one by the very lovely Emily at The Nest, who in turn adapted it from this one.

So see what you have in the cupboard, pick the one that suits you best and then go ahead and make then. I promise you wont be disappointed. Isn't that right Emily?

Bars:

1 cup whole almonds

1 cup ground almonds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 cup hazelnuts

1/2 cup almond butter

1/2 cup coconut oil (melted) 

2 - 3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Put the dry ingredients along with the almond butter into a food processor and pulse for approx 20 seconds. Mix the melted oil and honey into the mixture. Stir well. Put the mixture into a square baking dish and place into the freezer for 30 minutes.

Topping:

1/2 cup cacao powder (I used Natasha's Living Food cacao)

6 tablespoons organic coconut oil (melted)

2 tablespoon organic raw honey

When the bars are ready to come out of the freezer, mix the topping ingredients together and then pour over the bars. Even out the topping and place back into the freezer for another 20 minutes. 

Store in the fridge (dangerous), or freezer (mildly safer). They won't last long either way though. 

Easy Coconut Macaroons

My new love of all things coconut shows no signs of abating.

Over the past few months I've attempting to convert friends and family to the brilliance of coconut oil, but they have stopped listening to my ramblings now and generally run in the opposite direction if they see me wielding a pot of it, so I'm afraid you're stuck with me instead.

I've been using coconut oil for cooking and as a body moisturiser for some time now, and have recently added coconut water to my weekly shopping list for breakfast smoothies and post workout drinks, but things have stepped up a bit since receiving Pat Crocker's new book - Coconut 24/7.

The book is packed with facts and information about each different product of the coconut - from the milk to the pulp to the oil and much more. Each It's a great way to build up knowledge of which form is good for what, and why.

It also contains heaps of recipes for treats, meals, drinks, and a small section on home-made bathroom products like hair conditioner, hand cream and face masks.

I started off small and adapted the very simple recipe for Coconut Macaroons. These are so easy I made them with my 5 year old - and he did most of the making.

The end product is delicious, and they've been going down a storm in the kids school lunch boxes.

Here's how to make them.
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Recipe:

2 large egg whites
1/2 cup coconut sugar crystals (I used 1.5 cups of caster sugar as I didn't have the sugar crystals)
2 cups grated coconut

Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add the sugar and mix well. Add the grated coconut and mix again.

Use a dessert spoon or wet egg cup to make 'mounds' on the parchment paper. Make sure they aren't too close together as the mixture will spread slightly in the oven.

Bake for 15-20 mins until light golden brown.

Drizzle some melted chocolate over the top and try to wait for it to harden before devouring the sweet, golden, chewy delights.

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Next week I'll be moving from the kitchen to the bathroom and making a gorgeous coconut body scrub. Perfect for gifts!


Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of Coconut 24/7 by Harper Collins. 

Really easy chocolate cake

Today was a pyjamas and cups of tea and Sunday papers kind of day. A homemade chocolate cake kind of day. A really easy homemade chocolate cake kind of day.

I realised as I was making it that I have been making the same cake for the past 30 years. It came from a Ladybird 'We can cook' book that still takes pride of place in my recipe book collection.

The 70's edition

So for anyone who has ever struggled with cake making, or has a little persons birthday coming up and isn't sure whether to make or buy - this post is for you.

Really easy chocolate cake recipe:

Our family calls this the 6-6-6-3 method and it can be used for cupcakes and adapted to bigger \ smaller sized cakes as you see fit.

6oz Self raising flour (sieved)
6oz Butter (soft)
6oz Caster sugar
3 eggs

Put it all in a big bowl and mix it up until smooth for a basic cake mixture. For chocolate cake add a large heaped tablespoon of cocoa dissolved in a touch of milk\water so that it looks like a thick paste.

Divide the mixture into 2 round cake tins lined with parchment \ greaseproof paper.

Put in a preheated oven for about 20 mins or until springy to the touch.

Turn out of cake tins and leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the chocolate icing:

Mix 3oz soft butter with 6oz icing sugar and add cocoa as for cake. Fill the middle and top of cake.

Decorate with smarties \ buttons \ maltesers \ hundreds and thousands \ grated chocolate \ whatever takes your fancy.

Tip: You can adapt this recipe to make coffee & walnut cake by substituting the cocoa for coffee, or a plain sponge by leaving it out. Easy peasy.

Enjoy!

Things that piss me off no. 374 - Insalubrious crap being purported as healthy.

There's a lot of behind the scenes talk at the moment about the banning of advertising of 'unhealthy' foods during children's TV programming. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland recently announced that they intend to put a ban on the advertising of foods high in fats, sugar and salt during these specific times, but since then the message has somehow got lost in cheese. (I know, I know - what is it with the Irish and cheese?).

Jim Cogan Image for Irish Farmers Journal

Anyhow, the point of the ban in advertising - which is in line with what is already in place in the UK - is to help stop pester power. So the kids don't see the Coco Pops advert and so they don't want the Coco Pops and so they don't pester Mum to buy the Coco Pops. (But they do because according to BAI most children actually watch TV between 6pm - 9pm, plus they don't just watch Irish terrestrial channels. So RTE starts losing it's advertising budget when Kellogg's dump them and becomes even crappier than it is now. It's a lose\ lose situation).


To be honest I agree that pester power is a pain in the arse. With 3 kids hanging off a shopping trolley shouting for Super Noodles the chances are you're gonna chuck in the Barbecue Beef and run for the tills - but at least you know you are buying them crap.

My big gripe is not the advertising of the rubbish that you know is rubbish, it's when you're stood for 10 minutes in the yogurt aisle trying to work out what actually IS the rubbish. Is it better to buy the one with 'sugar' as the first ingredient or the one that doesn't list sugar at all but has dextrose, fructose, glucose and lactose lined up like unknown cousins at a wedding.

Choosing healthy food for our kids is hard enough without needing a degree in food science to make sense of some of the labeling, and without products like Nutella being advertised as 'a low GI' food 'containing wholesome milk and hazelnuts'. Pah!

Seemingly everything these days is 'natural', 'wholesome'. 'low in fat' or 'a good source of fibre' despite being packed with trans-fats, salt, fake sugar or any other nasty you care to mention.

What Mums need is not a ban on advertising to our kids but a tightening of laws on false advertising and a clear system for the labeling of products that we can all make sense of.

Until that happens the multinationals will always be 10 steps ahead of us and us Mums will be spending longer and longer in the supermarket aisles trying to figure out what 'High Fructose Corn Syrup', 'Kosher Gelatin' and 'Tricalium Phosphate' actually mean.  

 

So I called my Mum the other night. . . .

If you are my Mother there is no need for you to read this one. Use that little arrow thing to click on that little x thing and I'll call you next Thursday ok?

Has she gone?

Ok good.

So....the other evening I cooked a lovely paella for the whole family to tuck into.
Voila:

Naturally the kids weren't too impressed so we had plenty of leftovers.

'You should bring it down to your Mum' helpful husband commented. (She lives about 2 minutes away).

Now normally I wouldn't have bothered, but it really was rather nice. So I gave her a call.

'Hi Mum. Have you eaten yet?'

'No. Why?'

'I have a some lovely paella left over. Want me to pop it down to you'.

There was a longer than required silence before she asked suspiciously 'Well what's in it?'

'Chorizo, prawns, mussels, peppers, peas. It's lovely'

Another contemplative silence.

'Are there still mussels left?'

'Yes there's lots Mum. It's lovely'

Yet another long pause.

'Well alright then' she finally conceded.

'They're not fresh though - they're frozen' I added as an after-thought.

'Oh forget it then.'