Bluberry,Lemon and Honey Flapjacks...

We have had gorgeous weather the last couple weeks, perfect for sitting outside in the afternoons or spending the day in the garden. These flapjacks are delicious and a lovely treat with a cup of tea, especially after a day spent gardening.

Ingredients

600g porridge oats

250ml honey

250g blueberries

200ml coconut oil

zest of 1 lemon

Method

1. Heat the coconut oil and honey till melted.
2. Once melted add the oats and blueberries and mix gently till combined.
3. Place in a baking tray and bake in the oven at 180 for 20 min or until lightly golden on top.
4. Once baked leave to cool. Cut into squares with a sharp knife .

The sweet honey is cut by the subtle lemon flavour and sharp blueberries and is the perfect combination of crispy and chewy.

Speculaas Bundt Cake...

 

 Speculaas is not entirely new to me and actually brings back very fond memories of travelling through Belgium with two of my favourite people in the world.

 

 

The  'Speculaas flavour' is becoming more and more popular and It's biscuit spread, Speculoos is even tipped off to be the next Nutella. The flavour is  based on a traditional shortcrust biscuit made around Christmas in the Netherlands and Belgium.        

 

 

The Speclaas spice I have used in this recipe is special and that's because of where it comes from, The Speculaas Spice Company.
Steven created this little taste of the Netherlands based on fond memories and old family recipes.

"The Vandotsch Speculaas is a spice mix of nine organic spices that delivers deliciously warm, sweet and spicy ‘layers’ of taste taking any simple cinnamon taste to another level. "  

It can be used in so many recipes, some of which you can actually pick up off their websites blog . I although tempted to try and bake the traditional biscuits, decided to bake a cake using this wonderful spice.

 



 

Ingredients

The cake

200g Butter

200g Sugar

200g Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

2 tsp Speculaas Spice

4 eggs, beaten

 

Icing

1/2 Cup icing sugar

a little milk

1/2 tsp Speculaas spice

 

Method

1. Cream your butter and sugar together then add your eggs one by one, mixing between each one.

2. Mix in your dry ingredients until all combined.

3. Prepare a bundt tin and then poor in your cake mixture. Tap the tin against the counter to ake sure its even.

4.Bake in the oven at 170 until cooked through and your skewer comes out clean. About 30min. Leave to cool completely.

5. Remove cake from the tin and then prepare your icing. If I am honest when it comes to icing like this I just wing it as exact measurements can vary when it comes to 'your' favoured consistency. But once you have got your icing how you want it and its nice and dribbely...dribble over your cake in a arty way ;)

 

This cake is FABULOUS with a cup of tea.

This cake and spice is something I will make and use over again as its delicious and because it reminds me of travelling with friends and one of my favourite places to visit the Netherlands. Which funny enough is where I am off to in the morning...in an hour to be exact. Better get moving...

 

PLEASE make sure to get your hands on this delicious spice mix and of course share your recipe. Hope you all have a fabulous week and I will post more deliciousness when I am back.

 

you can purchase the spice here .

 

Recipe - mine

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Ice-Cream ...

I have been wanting to make some ice-cream for ages and have been trying to decide if I should make a healthy one or a totally indulgent one... Of course I went for the one full of delicious hip expanding goodness! BUT for all my SW followers and healthier fans I will include a healthy recipe option too. One that is dairy free and vegan friendly :)

Let's start with the naughty one...

 

Ingredients

1 can of condensed milk

1 tub of single cream

2 tbsp. peanut butter, I used manilife peanut butter

50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

 

Method

1. Pop all the ingredients into a bowl except the chocolate and mix together well.

2. Once mixed fold in the chocolate and then transfer into a freezer proof tub.

3. This is non churn ice-cream but I do recommend mixing it a little every hour so the peanuts and chocolate don't sit on the top.

4. In about 3 hours it should be ready to serve but you can leave it over night,just remove from the freezer a few minutes before serving.

 

my happy helper today... handy when it came to drippy ice-ream



This ice-ream is so deliciously creamy, peanutty and chocolately that you could eat the whole tub in one go. But try not to as it is rather sweet.

 

For a healthier version just freeze couple of bananas in chunks. Once frozen whiz up adding your peanut butter and a spoon of coco instead of chocolate. Its instant ice-cream for half the calories but still super yummy!!

 

 

What is your favourite ice-cream, and have you ever made your own?

 

recipe - mine

syns - ALLOT sorry, maybe something for treat night.

Pork with Satay Sauce...

Today I met a lovely fellow Redbourner Hayley, who introduced me to Manilife Peanut Butter. It's so amazingly peanutty and delicious that I just had to cook with it...literally straight away!:P I had planned to create a recipe for the blog today and things just fell right into place and gave me one scrumptious lunch! WIN WIN!

Before I tell you how to make this super scrummy Satay sauce I will tell you a bit about Manilife all natural crunchy Argentinian peanut butter.

Manilife is all natural peanut butter. 'No sugar, no palm oil just really really good nuts sourced straight from Argintina.'

Manilife is peanut butter at it's best. They roast a fresh batch of nuts every week in their London factory and those roasted nuts are the only thing used to make their peanut butter, absolutely nothing else is added.
They say 'Argentine nuts are naturally sweeter and with a fat profile akin to olive oil, naturally better for you as well. You’ll taste the difference.' and believe me you do!

Now let's get into the tasty stuff... well... recipe...

Ingredients

Satay Sauce
2 tbsp , crunchy Peanut Butter - I used Manilife .
2 tbsp, soya sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli, finely chopped - I used my own home grown chilli's!
1 tbsp sugar
1 can of coconut milk
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Coriander, roasted peanuts and chilli to garnish.

Pork
Soya Sauce
Pork loin, cut into strips - you can use chicken in this recipe if you don't like pork or even tofu if you are vegetarian.

Method

1. In a wok soften your onions, garlic and chili in the sesame oil.
2. Add your sugar, soya sauce and peanut butter and stir to combine. Then slowly add your coconut milk till you reach your desired consistency. At this point give it a little taste and add more soya sauce if not salty enough. You want a balance of sweet and savoury with a fiery kick.
3. For the pork just marinade in some soya sauce, place onto skewers and then grill until cooked through.
4. Serve straight away with a sprinkle of fresh coriander and chilli.

Satay sauce can be made beforehand and stored in the fridge.

And there you have it, a quick and easy recipe perfect for lunch, dinner, as a snack or even as an horderve at a party.

And for the peanut butter lovers out there if you haven't tried Manilife peanut butter before...what are you waiting for! It's vegan friendly, its delicious and its nothing but NUTS!

Buy it online for just £5 at www.mani-life.com.

recipe - my own

Dairy Free Pear and Honey Banana Bread...

Today it has rained all day making it a bit of a midweek duvet day watching films, the cooking channel and Come Dine With Me. In between watching all that and entertaining a slightly poorly toddler I decided to do some baking and thanks to a bunch of rather blackened bananas and no butter I ended up with a dairy free banana bread, a recipe I will use over and over again as it was super yummy and one that can be tweaked to your own taste or mood very easily.

Ingredients

Dry
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Wet
3 small/medium blackened bananas, mashed
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
a little water
Extra
I used 1 pear diced and brown sugar for added crunch but you could use raisins, pineapple, chocolate chips, what ever takes your fancy.

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 170 C. In a large bowl whisk your wet ingredients together. Holding back the water.
2. Once combined slowly add your dry ingredients and mix together using a spatula or wooden spoon.
3. Add your pear, or chosen extra, and fold in lightly. Sometimes coating it lightly in flour can help stop it sinking to the bottom. If the batter seems a bit thick you can add the water.
4. Once all mixed, spoon into a prepared loaf tin. I used a little coconut oil. I then sprinkled brown sugar on top.
5. Bake in the oven for 50 - 60 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool in the loaf tin for 10 or so minutes and then turn it out and leave to cool completely before slicing. Top Tip - make sure to use a bread knife.

 

To make my loaf look that little bit tastier I decorated it with a drizzle of honey, honey roasted pinenuts and little roses that I made using the skin of the banana's.

 

For the honey roasted pinenuts I just sprinkled some pinenuts on a baking tray and drizzled them with honey. I then popped them in a hot oven for a few minutes making sure to keep and eye on them so they don't burn. I then left them to cool. Once cooled I scraped them off the baking tray,  this brakes them up slightly but also leaves you with a few whole ones.

 

This banana bread comes out lovely and moist and to be honest would actually be amazing served warm with a glug of custard. A perfect rainy day blues cure, especially with a cup of tea or coffee.

Hope you are all having an amazing week so far.

Sweet Potato Cake with Honey and Cinnomon Icing...

 

 As I'm sure you all know by now sometimes I just feel like baking and today I had the urge to and not for cookies this time but cake and a good cake! One I hadn't made before.

Baking is one thing I really would love to do more but with me it can be a dangerous downward spiral when it comes to staying on plan (Slimming World) But everyone needs a treat once in awhile and baking cake is not only a treat for the tummy but a treat for the soul too. Creating something delicious and pretty from scratch is something that makes me smile from the inside and out, definitely worth the 25 syns a slice :/ ...whoops...I may have had 3...

This recipe is based on a carrot cake recipe and has a similar texture and taste.

Ingredients

2 cups mashed sweet potato
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
8 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. oil
2 cups light brown sugar
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
heaped tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
tsp. freshly grated ginger

icing - standard vanilla butter cream with a tbsp. honey and a tsp. cinnamon.

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 and prepare two round cake tins. Then in a large bowl mix together your dry ingredients and set aside.
2. In another bowl cream together your sugar, butter, oil, vanilla, ginger and eggs. Beating in one egg at a time. hen mix in your sweet potato.
3. Add in the dry ingredients 1 1/3 at a time.

4. Once combined divide into your prepared cake tins and bake in the oven for 30 -35 min or until a skewer comes out clean. The smell from your oven is AMAZING!!
5. Leave to cool completely in the tins and then remove, even off the tops and ice.
6. Decorate with what ever you fancy. I used some pretty flowers from the garden. I was thinking of honeycomb but my attempt to make it was disastrous he he

This cake is perfect with a cup of tea and would be great at any occasion. You know it would even be nice warm with some cinnamon icecream and a drizzle of honey... omg drooling... next bbq, that's desert!
See what I mean...downward spiral lol...

And there you have it an urge for good cake fulfilled and shared. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and are ready for a great week!

A cake so good you just go straight in, no hands needed ;)

recipe - mine

syns - 25 per slice ...SORRY!

Easter - Orange and Marmalade Hot Cross buns...

Happy Easter my fabulous readers! Easter is a very celebrated day in my household not only on this day, Christian Easter Sunday but also in May for Greek Orthodox Easter.

Today however we will celebrate Christian Easter, which is a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And for my little man it means the Easter bunny and LOTS of chocolate he he...

Last year I celebrated by baking a delicious Easter Loaf but this year I thought id stick to something more traditional but still giving it my own twist, Orange and Marmalade Hotcross buns are based on a traditional recipe but have added orange zest and a glaze of marmalade and honey which gives them a lovely citrus flavour with a bitter sweet glaze.

Ingredients

for buns
625g strong white flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp mixed spice
50g cold butter, cubed
85g sugar
zest of 1 large orange
1 1/2 tsp fast action yeast
1 egg, beaten
275ml room temp milk
125g mixed dried fruit.

for glaze
1 tsp marmalade
1tsp honey
heated slightly

for cross
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp water

Method

1. For the buns, sieve the flour, salt and ground mixed spice into a large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter using your fingertips. Make a well in the centre of the mixture, then add the sugar and orange zest and yeast.

2. Add the beaten egg to the flour with the milk. Mix together to a form a soft dough.

3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Carefully work the mixed dried fruit into the dough until well combined. Knead lightly for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.

4. Butter a large mixing bowl then shape the dough into a ball and place it into the prepared bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for one hour to prove.

5. After an hour turn out the proved dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knock back the dough. Shape it into a ball again and return it to the bowl, then cover again with the tea towel and set aside for a further 30 minutes to rise. I didn't say this was a quick process ;)

6. After the 30 min turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten slightly into a bun shape using the palms of your hands. Cover the buns again with the tea towel and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes. Mine were slightly irregular as I had little hands helping...

7. Grease a baking tray with butter and transfer the buns to the tray. I used a large cheesecake tin to get the round shape. Wrap the tray with the buns on it loosely in greaseproof paper, then place inside a large polythene bag. Tie the end of the bag tightly so that no air can get in and set aside in a warm place for a further 40 minutes to rise and treat yourself to a tea or coffee while you wait...again!

8. Preheat the oven to 240C.

9. For the cross, mix the in flour into to a smooth paste with 2 tablespoons of cold water.

10. When the buns have risen, remove the polythene bag and the greaseproof paper. Spoon the flour mixture into a piping bag and pipe a cross on each bun.

11. Put the buns into the oven and bake for 8-12 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. As soon as you remove the buns from the oven, brush them with the heated marmalade and honey mixture, then set aside to cool on a wire rack.

Serve as they are or toasted with a good dollop of softened butter.

These are super tasty and are a great treat on this special day!

recipe - my own

syns - 10+ per serving

St Patricks Day brunch - Boxty...

'top of the morning to ya'...well evening :) I would of liked to post this earlier but as usual time got away from me!
Last year I posted a sweet recipe, so this year I thought id go for a savoury one and one that all my SW lovelies can enjoy too :)

Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake, usually made with both mashed and grated potato. It comes from the Irish word 'bacstai'.
My version however is more like a rosti to help make it syn free but I will post the other recipe for the non SW lovelies.

Ingredients

Large potato, grated
1 spring onion. sliced into rounds
1 eggs, beaten
freshly ground salt and pepper

Method

1. Put your grated potato into a clean tea towel or muslin. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
2. Place your grated potato into a bowl with half the spring onion, the beaten egg and seasoning. You could also add some mashed potato at this point, it would bulk it up. Mix to combine.
3. In a non stick pan, I added a little butter Fry Light for flavour, place three spoonful's of the potato mixture and flatten slightly. Cook them on a medium heat for a few minutes on either side. You want them to brown nicely but cook through. You can also cover for a short time to steam, but don't do it for to long as you don't want them to be soggy!
4. Serve hot with crispy smoked bacon and a sprinkling of fresh spring onion. Or even with some delicious Irish stew.

The traditional way to make them is with mashed and grated potato, flour, bicarb and buttermilk. They resemble an American style pancake once cooked.

I like to eat mine folded in half with a piece of bacon inside along with some fresh spring onion. And of course a pint of Guinness to get you in the St Patricks Day mood!

Have these scrummy potato pancakes for breakfast, lunch or even dinner. They are super quick, easy and versatile.

What did you get up to today for St Patricks?

recipe - mine

syns - pancakes free

          Guinness 6-9

Mother's Day Truffles...

 

Mother's Day, a day to celebrate mummy's everywhere (well in the UK today). And what do mummy's like... chocolate! And what do mummy's want...chocolate! And with these little beauties you can treat mum and still keep her on plan, ok more on plan then you would with most treats ;)

These 3 ingredient truffles are so easy to make and take no time at all! Eaten straight away or piled into a jar ready for mum to dip into when ever the craving possesses her, these little bites of goodness will make any mum smile!

Ingredients

200g Dark Chocolate
50g Milk Chocolate
1 tub fat free quark. (room temperature)
cocoa powder/crushed walnuts

Method

1. Melt your chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Once melted leave to cool slightly.
2. Fold in your quark. Important it must be room temp other wise the chocolate will seize up. If it does just add a little skimmed milk heated in the microwave. Stir until smooth and then place in the fridge to set.
3. After and hour or so remove from the fridge and using a spoon scoop out a little bit of the chocolate and then using slightly wet hands mould into a bite sized ball.
4. Place on a plate dusted with cocoa powder or chopped walnuts and coat the balls and then set aside. Continue this process until you have used up all the chocolate.

Store in a dry cool place and try not to eat them all ;)

Truffles so rich and delicious you wouldn't believe they are low fat! But they are...just 2 syns each!

To all my mummy readers, even if not in the UK, know you are amazing and well done for all you do!!

recipe - my own

syns - 2 syns each

40 Cloves of Garlic Chicken ...

 

 

As I have lost my camera charger YET AGAIN! I haven't been able to photograph any recipes...sigh* So I'm pulling some pics/recipes from my draft file, as I don't want to sink into old habits of just not posting! Plus its been awhile since I have posted a tasty recipe!

 

This recipe is a one pot wonder and is as easy as chucking everything into one pot (well after you peel 40 cloves of garlic that is!lol).

 

Ingredients

5 chicken thighs
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 potatoes, roughly chopped
3 carrots, roughly chopped
pint or two of chicken stock
40 cloves of garlic, peeled
tsp lemon zest (adds a little zing)

Method

1. Brown your chicken thighs off in a pan with a little frylight/oil.
2. Chuck everything into a baking dish, season, pour over the stock and bake into the oven for 40 min to an hour at 180. You want to make sure the chicken is cooked through.

This is a hearty dish and don't panic, as the garlic is cooked whole it doesn't over power the dish. The garlic becomes deliciously sweet, like when roasting.

recipe - mine

syns - free, if you remove the skin

Tomato Spaghetti...

HELLO!!! Goodness it's been forever since I blogged and I can only apologise! But life has been crazy hectic, which I will tell you about in my next post!

I have been super lazy in the kitchen lately but in our house that doesn't mean much...I still get a yummy meal out no matter what, well almost sometimes the boys just have a pizza lol...
Tonight, like most nights lately, I was completely knackered but craved something yummy and settled on tomato spaghetti. It's so quick and basically consists of 3 main ingredients! What else could you ask for when you not up for much cooking?!

Here is how I made it...

Ingredients

2 cans chopped tomato
2 medium/large cloves of garlic, crushed
spaghetti, cooked as per instructions
sea salt and pepper
a little sweetener, optional
tomato paste, optional
sprinkle of chili powder, optional
basil to garnish

Method

1. While your spaghetti is cooking add your garlic and tomato to a deep pan and simmer gently. You want the garlic to infuse with the tomatoes giving it a subtle heat and flavour. If needed add your sweetener and then the chili and seasoning.
2. When the spaghetti is just cooked add to your tomato sauce and stir. Serve hot with a sprinkle of basil and a little extra sea salt.

Couldn't be easier and couldn't be tastier. Feel free to add a little bacon or even chicken if you fancy it!

Now before I head off to bed I just want to thank everyone for being so patient with me and I am hoping to be back posting and creating recipes on a more regular basis soon! Have a wonderful evening...or day :)

recipe - mine

syns - FREE