Tag: sweet

24May

Blueberry muffins with lime streusel

When people ask if I have a hobby I answer “baking”. Sounds like a cop out but I really don’t have the want to put my time into much else. My husband is a diver, which is a genuine hobby in my eyes, and one that requires you to have genuinely expensive equipment. Sure, the type of diving equipment you buy can make a life or death difference, but I have argued with his diver friends that baking trumps diving when it comes to cost. Obviously they rolled on the floor laughing after I said that, but until you become a serious baker, you’ll never understand how expensive it is to trial new recipes. Sure you can eat the products of your hobby, but all the testing I have done recently makes my freezer look like a cake morgue. In this muffin recipe I like to lightly poke the blueberries, I find this is a nice trick so that your blueberries don’t sick to the bottom. This recipe developed from a cherry cheesecake muffin that ended up exploding in my oven (currently in the freezer). Don’t you agree baking can beat many other hobbies in the money stakes? Blueberry muffin
3 mins read
621 Views
06May

Applesauce banana loaf [Dairy Free]

I am sitting here trying to describe how I have been feeling in these last few days. Tired is the first adjective that comes to mind. At first I thought the word was so salient in my mind because of how the physical side of my job had left me sore in my legs and arms, with 5 am starts thrown in the mix too.  The first course of action for me to counteract this was to dive into a diet of spirulina smoothies and sugar free snacks. The food has given me an energy boost, but on my days off I can’t shake off the wanna-be-in-bed-all-day feeling, so I had to think a little harder about what else I was be doing wrong. Thinking being the key word here, I was in my head too much. I have an emotional job, where you make decisions about people’s lives, and that is something that can be highly rewarding at times, but on the other hands it makes me over analyse every decision I make. It leads to a very judgemental cycle in my head and by the time i get home I am in this deep emotional pit, no one can rescue
3 mins read
674 Views
31Mar

Banana and dark chocolate chia pudding

I  laid in bed yesterday thinking since when did I become such an angry, inpatient person? I have been snapping at everyone recently and even beeped my horn at a slow driver yesterday – a big no-no in England. The feeling of guilt ate me up afterwards. How must I have made that driver feel? What if it was an old lady or a teenager learning how to drive? I am a strong believer in “owning up”, in the sense that I don’t like using external reasons to blame for my own actions. But this week I am going to have to make an exception and blame my period. The changes are palpable, not only in terms of emotions but also in regards to my stomach. My diet has changed considerably in the last few months, I have been trying to cut down on refined sugar and starchy foods and as a result I have been craving chocolate less and less, or in fact any sweet stuff. Result! But do you ever feel like sometimes food rules your emotions? My period then came and like clockwork, chocolate is all I thought about. Food is an emotional thing, and my body
3 mins read
751 Views
22Mar

Coconut and pineapple easter cakes in egg shells

I always make an effort to make something special when big holidays are coming. Something to make the table shine and people smile. We just bought a new house so we’re going through a happy but stressful moment. My husband is working crazy hours, going straight to the new house to do renovations after a full days work in the office. This left me feeling like a single mum (I respect those women so much), meaning that I have had to deal with a lot on my own: work, son, shopping, housework, the dog…here’s hoping this lonesome juggling won’t last much longer. This means our quality time together over the Easter holiday will be brief, so I want to make an extra effort to make the house and the food feel special. I thought that cakes that are hatching out of eggs fit the bill, right?! And thank goodness the weather has officially transitioned to spring, the warmer days inspired me to go for a pineapple and coconut flavour mixture. We are big egg consumers around here so it was easy to collect the shells, but if 20 sounds like too much, halving the recipe works well too. Coconut and
3 mins read
603 Views
18Mar

Honey Chai Easter cookies

The first time I listened to Nirvana was in my cousin’s bedroom. My cousins were quite a few years older and the coolest kids I knew. I got hooked listening to Nevermid and listened to Come As You Are on a loop. I wanted to tell everyone about it. I was a little late to the party though, this was in 98, so my enthusiasm received a lot of eye rolling because Nevermid was so last year, or so the cool kids told me. Eighteen years later I receive somewhat the same reaction when a mere few months ago I expressed my love for Chai lattes. Chai tea, according to snobs around me, was old news. Chai was out, turmeric was in. Although as a teenager I liked to imitate my cousins, these days I no longer feel embarrassed for not having tried all the latest trends. So better late than ever, I have started to experiment with chai spices.  I am no expert, but I played with the spices combination in this recipe at least 10 times now, and it is truly addictive. I am not moving on to turmeric any time soon, I am truly in love with
3 mins read
897 Views
16Feb

Easy peanut butter ice cream

As a petite girl I often have to have my clothes altered to fit me better. I was sharing this with a friend and said I would love to learn how to sew so that I could do it all myself. Said friend was baffled, “why would you want to do that? It is too fiddly to do and hard to learn”. Yes, but it means I can alter clothes to fit me…I even started to dream of making my own dress. I can understand my friend’s line of thought, it is much easier to go shopping for a dress, or even do it as I often do, shop online.  I love that our modern world offers us so much convenience, giving us the time to go do other things we enjoy. But to be very blunt here, I don’t get people that don’t get the feeling of achievement when creating something, be it made of fabric or a nice chocolate cake.These days you can find absolutely anything that your heart desires in a shop, so it doesn’t surprise me that homemade items are highly appreciated presents. I can cross the road and buy a tub of ice cream for less money than
3 mins read
804 Views