Life can be sweet.

 There is no getting away from the fact, no matter how hard I try to train myself otherwise, I love sweet things.  Despite having a hugely healthy diet, and being aware of how important it is for that diet to be balanced, rich in good protein and fat, I still need to know that after a savoury dish there is a dessert on its' way - I know this is all just psychological!
But that's the great thing about cooking, and loving to experiment with food and new ingredients - I get to make great desserts that are actually healthy, and can omit the ingredients that I prefer not to eat (wheat, dairy and too much sugar).  I am constantly suggesting people avoid wheat and dairy for various health issues (bloating, flatulence, indigestion, constipation - sound familiar?), and the reaction is always the same - how can I possibly live without so much?  Well you just need to change the way you think about foods and start playing.  So yes, you really can have this amazing gluten and dairy-free chocolate cake!
The other thing I like to do is to find a product that I really love and then figure out how to make it myself - this normally means it will be tastier (as I can include my favourite ingredients) and will most certainly be cheaper.
This recipe came about after I tried Chia Pods - perfect little pots of dessert that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, gluten and dairy free and contain only natural sugar.  My recipe is obviously even tastier!

Orange and Mango Chia Puds

Serves 2-3

1 orange
1 mango, peeled and destoned
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp goji berries
2-3 tbsp non-dairy milk

- Grate the rind of the orange and then peel the orange and place the flesh into a food processor with the flesh of the mango.
- Process for a few seconds to break everything down.
- Add the grated orange rind, chia seeds, goji berries and milk and process again for 20-30 seconds, scrapping down any mixture that has escaped up the side of the bowl.
- Leave to stand for 5 minutes - this will allow the chia seeds to do their work - they expand and soften and turn everything to jelly!
- Blitz again one more time for a few seconds and then pour into bowls and serve, or place in the fridge for later.

Happy Eating!

J xx

Autumn Colours

No doubt you will have heard of the expression 'eating a rainbow', but how much of this advice do you really follow?
There is a good reason why you should, especially at this time of year.  If people around you are starting to get the sniffles and coughs, then you need to be doubly sure your immune system is in the peak of condition, and that comes from supporting it with great foods that are rich in antioxidants, which are easy to spot as they are the colourful ones!
Firstly you need to know that your body is going to absorb these wonderful nutrients, so if you have any bloating, flatulence or stomach pain issue, you may need to see a health professional to ensure your digestive system is working at the optimum level.
Ensuring you are including colourful foods into your diet is easy - just look at your plate before each meal!  If it's all brown and beige you're doing it wrong!  And that may be because you are buying readymade foods.  For example, the pot of houmous shown here is homemade, but not only do I include all the normal ingredients - chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil, I also add Brazil nuts and parsley - added essential fats, fibre, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin E, plus much more.  There is no comparison on nutrition or price to the shop-bought product.  And served with roasted sweet potatoes and carrots that have been tossed in olive oil, cumin seeds and pumpkin seeds, you have yourself a colourful, nutritious snack.
For those that have a sweet tooth and need a bit of a treat, even this can be healthy and takes little effort -

Mango and Apricot Crumble

Serves 4

175 g dried apricots, roughly chopped
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
1 large mango, peeled, stoned and chopped
100 g raspberries
50 g ground almonds
15 g coconut oil, melted

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas mark 6.
Place the chopped apricots into a bowl and add the orange zest and juice.  Cover and leave to stand for 1 hour.
Place the mango in an ovenproof dish then add the raspberries and finally spoon over the soaked apricots and all the juice.
Sprinkle over the ground almonds followed by the coconut oil and bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden on top.

How many carbs do we really need?

Yes, we all need carbs, but what most people forget is that most foods we consume are carbs - so you don't really need to think about whether you are getting enough, or carbo-loading before training or a sports event.  The truth is, most of us are actually eating far too many carbs.
And what are they anyway?  Well, in the body they are basically sugar (called glucose), and used for energy.  But if you don't need all that energy and you are not burning off all those glucose molecules what happens to them?  Well unfortunately they turn to fat!
So should we eat low fat foods to help combat this?  No we shouldn't.  And why not?  Because if they are low in fat they are normally high in sugar (their great taste has to come from something!), and that sugar, if not burned off, will turn to.......fat!
For how long have we all been focusing on the wrong thing.
It is now widely recognised that sugar is the culprit, not fat - we need good fats to help feed our brain and to keep our cell membranes supple, to allow nutrients in and waste out.
But what we do need to think about is where our carbs come from - it's not all just about bread and pasta (especially as a growing number of people are becoming intolerant to wheat products).  There are so many great natural complex carbs, that will help to sustain long-term energy and also provide other nutrients like fibre and minerals.
Brown rice is a great example - it may take longer to cook and longer to chew, but that is the reason it will sustain you for longer too!  Plus it is rich in manganese, selenium, magnesium, tryptophan, B vitamins and fibre - what's not to like.
And if you have a sweet tooth, adding cinnamon to this lovely pudding may also help with your sugar cravings!

Dairy-free Brown Rice Pudding - cook brown rice according to the pack instructions.  Towards to the end of cooking stir in dairy-free milk, cashew nuts, ground cinnamon and a few raisins, then cook for a little while longer.  Serve with a drizzle of blackstrap molasses - delicious!

Christmas Crumble

It's not as if there isn't enough naughty food to eat at this time of year, but still I love to come up with my own creations.  And after making my own stollen and after that, stollen bread and butter pudding, I still had marzipan in the fridge waiting to be used.
There's nothing I like more than challenging myself to a Ready, Steady, Cook challenge - what can I make from what I have in the kitchen.  So here it is -

Christmas Crumble
Serves 6-8

125 g coconut oil
125 g wholemeal plain flour
150 g rolled oats
pinch ground cinnamon
125 g dark muscovado sugar
50 g pumpkin seeds
2 oranges
3 apples, cored and sliced
3 pears, cored and sliced
100 g marzipan, diced
3 tbsp mincemeat

• Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) Gas Mark 6.
• Place the coconut oil, flour, oats, cinnamon, muscovado sugar and pumpkin seeds in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Grate the zest of the oranges and blend into the crumble.
• Place the apples and pears into a large oven-proof dish.  Segment the oranges over the dish to catch the juice, then stir in the orange segments with the marzipan and mincemeat.
• Spoon over the crumble and bake for 30 minutes, until the crumble is golden.
• Delicious served with creamy natural yoghurt.

Last weekend I headed back home to Norfolk, facing the dreaded drive up the, yet to be made into a duel carriageway, A11.  It brought back memories of all the years I commuted between Norfolk and London, leaving each place at ridiculous times of the night to avoid traffic!

But once there I was in heaven!  On Saturday I raced in the Norfolk Long Distance Sculls - 4600m along the beautiful Yare river, from Bramerton Green to Whittlingham Green - it was the most beautiful day, the water was as flat as a pancake and my sculling partner Anthony steered the most amazing course as always.
So after all my athletic efforts on Saturday I really needed to replenish my body with food, and this was done in grand style on Sunday, by a visit to The Pigs at Edgefield.  There you can try some really unusual combinations of tasty food.   For starters, instead of Spanish Tapas, Norfolk Iffits are served, so you order a few as a starter or even better, lots to share.  I was tempted by Smoked Norfolk Dapple - a delicious Eccles cake served with local Dapple cheese.  Everything is locally scoured and you can even buy produce there too.  But our main reason for being there was the Sunday Pudding Club, where you can eat as much as you like for £5.95!  The only rule is that you always clean your plate before re-filling it - this was not a problem!  The only problem was that they finished serving at 3pm and we had arrived just after 2pm, so not much time! Possibly in retrospect that was a good thing.
Whilst chomping our way through yet another delicious pudding my friend Janie asked it I thought it was possible to make bread and butter pudding with lemon curd in it (one of our favourite things).  I do so love this sort of challenge - the chance to make and eat something I know will be amazing!  See for yourself.

Panettone and Lemon Curd (Bread & Butter) Pudding
Serves 4-6
2g unsalted butter
275g lemon curd
250g Panettone, sliced
3 fresh apricots, stones removed and diced
350ml milk
75ml double cream
2 eggs
25g caster sugar
1.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.  Lightly butter a shallow oven proof dish.
2.  Spread two-thirds of the lemon curd over the base of the dish, then top with the slices of panettone and diced fresh apricots, then spoon the remaining lemon curd roughly over the top.
3.  Place the milk and cream in a small pan and bring to a simmer.  Meanwhile whisk together the eggs and all but 2 tsp of the sugar.
4. Pour the warm milk and cream into the egg mixture, whisking continuously.  Pour the mixture over the panettone and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
5.  Sprinkle the top with the remaining sugar and bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden and bubbling.