Saturday 24 November 2012

Happy homemade Granola

The best rainy Saturday morning remedy, delicious Green Tea and freshly baked homemade granola.



Grab a saucepan and place over low heat.
Large Table spoon of coconut oil, desert spoon of coconut palm sugar or sweetener of choice, vanilla essence and lots of organic oats. Stir well and put on a baking tray, then place it in the oven or under the grill.
Keep an eye on it as they can burn pretty quick.
Remove from oven and add maca powder, cinnamon, goji berries, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
I don't cook the seeds as I usually soak and dehydrated them, this starts a germination process which releases enzyme inhibitors and makes them more nutritious and easier to digest. The heat would kill these now live nutritious seedlings. If you haven't soaked them then it's ok to cook them.
Let cool and add rice milk or Kara coconut milk or eat warm directly from the pan!

Oats are brilliant at calming the nervous system and helping heat the body through winter. My father always reminded me that the Scottish won their battles on the staying power of their porridge.
Cinnamon balances blood sugar levels and is packed with Anti Oxidants.
Maca is an incredible root that the Inca's used to increase energy and stamina. It's also amazing at balancing hormones and renown for increasing sex drive.
Goji berries contain many of our daily macro nutrients and have been proven to increase energy levels, athletic performance, calmness and the feeling of health and happiness.
What more do you want from your humble Granola?!
p.s make a small batch unless you have diamond force self control. By 1pm I had eaten the lot..........and am working on my new found super human powers :-)

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Cook Off!


In an attempt to ease us softly into and carry us gently through winter my friend Anna and I decided to start hosting small, relaxed dinners. Surrounding ourselves with people we love or those who are loved by people we love and to experiment with delicious new recipes.
Last night we initiated the group with Roast Pork, a large salad full of treats and twists, new Potatoes and a raw chocolate Ganache.
A veritable feast for a Tuesday night.
Our choice in menu was extremely impromptu and having had grand plans for a rack of Lamb the butcher was out of stock and Anna bought Pork, which neither of us had ever cooked before. Having both been vegetarian for many years the source and appreciation of the meat is very important to us both and something we keep at the forefront of our minds.

While Anna was in charge of the roasting I decided that we needed a healthy salad full of sweetness and crunch. Cranberries, apricots and toasted nuts sprung to mind and this is what I ended up with.


Green salad leaves, spinach, pea shoots and tender leaves
Walnuts, pumpkin seeds and cranberries all toasted
Dried apricots finely chopped.

With a dressing of:
Olive oil
White wine vinegar
Freshly squeezed orange
Grated ginger, more than you think if you like ginger
Tamari soy sauce
Honey
Salt and pepper

You will have to taste and explore flavours as I did but it wants to be fairly sweet to go well with the pork.
Thanks to Kyril's advice I toasted the cranberries making them chewy and caramelised and also discovered how these tiny power berries were farmed.
Nutritionally they are a great source of Vit E( Alpha Tocopherol brilliant for anti ageing) and Vit K, as well as a good source of dietary fiber, Vit C and Manganese.
Grown in northern Europe, Canada and northern states of the US they are in season now so make the most of them.


The evening is really about sharing, discovering and connecting and food is a wonderful way to do that.
I feel blessed to have a love of good food, a passion for exploring and a wonderful soul family to share in the Journey.

So "Cook Off " is born and I look forward  to our winter cocoon of  fodder,friends and frolics.