Healthy Granola Bars

Well, detox week was a success!  The scales are being kinder and I feel better in my jeans (jeans never lie, scales sometimes do!).  I stuck to the healthy breakfast smoothie all week, salads for lunch and healthy soups and stews (all veggie) for dinner (except for lunch out on Thursday and a Chinese takeaway last night... oops).  Now, I love my food and that diet alone would not be enough as I am out of the house for 12 hours each day in the week, so I needed some healthy snacks.  Having been initially inspired to detox after discovering goop.com, this week's newsletter had some healthy lunchbox ideas.  The granola bars suggested looked good, and here is the version I made to get me through the week:

Homemade Granola Bars

1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup rolled oats, blitzed in a food processor
A pinch each of the following:
fine salt
ground cinnamon
ground nutmeg
ground ginger
1/4 cup flax seeds/linseeds
1/2 cup dried cherries*
1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped*
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds*
1/4 cup groundnut oil
1/4 cup high quality maple syrup
2 tablespoons honey

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Line a 8” square baking pan with parchment paper (my pan was 9" so my slices were quite flat)

Combine the oats, spices, nuts, seeds and dried fruit in a large mixing bowl.

In a small bowl or jug, whisk together the wet ingredients and then stir them into the dry ingredients.

Put the mixture in the prepared pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula and bake for 25-30 mins or until pale golden. 

Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. Remove to a cutting board, remove the parchment and cut into individual bars or squares.

* Use any combinbation of dried fruit and nuts, made up to 1 cup measurement.  Next time I'll be trying date and walnut I think.

Detox and a Chocolate Cake...

The last few weeks have seen my weight creeping up due to lack of exercise and a fair bit of comfort eating.  It was definitely time to kick start a more healthy way of eating and the best way for me is to have a mini detox.  But, the weekends are the perfect time to do some baking so I got the cake making out of the way on Friday and swiftly delivered it to my parents on Saturday!

The recipe is a delicious one: Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake from Nigella's Feast.  Now, I hadn't made a proper chocolate cake for quite some time, and I hadn't attempted this one before.  I chose it because it was going to use up the carton of sour cream I had in the fridge that was fast approaching its sell-by date.  I couldn't have chosen an easier recipe as both the cake and the icing can be whizzed in the food processor, saving lots of kitchen mess and washing up.  I really loved Nigella's suggestion of placing four strips of greaseproof paper under the cake before icing it, as once you remove them you have a lovely clean plate with not a splodge of icing in sight (well almost!).

The recipe can be found here:  http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=191

And here is my cake being assembled:

The cake went down very well with everyone, it was light, moist and very chocolatey!  Definitely one to make again, and next time I'll find some pretty sugar flowers for decoration.

So, even more reason to detox today and keep me away from the cake!

Breakfast comprised a hot water with fresh lemon slices, followed by a blueberry smoothie* made with almond milk and ground flaxseeds and my mid-morning snack was a handful of natural almonds. By lunchtime I was ravenous and had a HUGE bowl of delicious watercress soup which I made after being inspired by Lucie over at Cooking at Marystow.  I didn't add the milk as I am trying to be dairy-free this week, and I added a handful of freshly chopped chives, parsley, oregano and basil - delicious and healthy!

To keep my mind off food (unsuccesfully!) I kept busy with housework, sorting out clothes and ebaying.

Mid-afternoon I made a refreshing drink, blitzing half a peeled cucumber in the blender with some fresh lime, basil leaves and apple juice and served it over ice*.

And finally, it was dinner time!  Wanting to use up vegetables but also add some protein, I made up a big pot of this delicious mediterranean bean stew which I found over at nigella.com.  I halved the recipe, substituted carrots for the red pepper, passata for the tinned tomatoes, and topped it with some freshly made basil and oregano pesto.

*My new favourite website is goop.com which is beautifully written by Gwyneth Paltrow, very inspiring and great for healthy recipes including the smoothie and cucumber drink. 

Who Will It Be??

For somebody who is pretty much apolitical, I am quite enjoying the UK's general election. Well, I'm enjoying Channel 4's Alternative Election Night if that counts...!

I also liked seeing Tyrrell's Crisps election special flavours in Selfridges today: Cameron's Crunchies "Eton Mess", Clegg's Cocktail "Roasted Veg & Hummus" and Gordon's Gourmet "Scotch Egg & Brown Sauce". I also had the pleasure of meeting the top man at Tyrrell's who was very interested to hear about my favourite flavour which is usually a Valentine's Day special edition but should really be available all year round.

So, the polling stations have now closed and the fate of the nation has been decided. So who will it be?? I won't be staying up all night to find out as I need all the sleep I can get at the moment and the morning will come all to soon!

Sorry for the recent lack of posts, technical issues (lack of laptop) and time have been against me, but I do hope to make amends as I have been eating and photographing as much as I can and have plenty of things that I would like to share with you. :D

Birthdays Continued...

Before I move on to more recent cooking, I must post a few words about my Birthday meal at the Cuckoo which was a lovely leisurely Sunday lunch with my whole family. We were once again looked after by the lovely host, Toby, and treated to hearty portions of home-cooked foods.
I started with delicious gnocchi with crayfish in a light creamy tomato sauce which had a subtle hint of chilli. Followed by roast beef with all the trimmings, one of the best I've had. Dessert was sticky toffee pudding - delicious!
Unfortunately we have no more family Birthdays until May, but we're looking forward to our next visit.

Birthdays!

I have been absent for far too long, and need to make amends. There was lots to talk about in December but no time to write it down! January, until this weekend, has pretty much been a month of eating healthily, not going out much and training for a half marathon. But today was my Birthday (can't mention the number out loud) so time to enjoy myself!

Today has been brilliant, starting off with a short run to blow away the cobwebs, in freezing conditions and a light sprinkling of snow on the ground, but the sun was shining and it was lovely to get out there. After a lovely hot shower and a modest breakfast came a trip to London with good friend Suzanne, who had bought me a ticket to see The Misanthrope with Damian Lewis, Keira Knightly and Tara Fitzgerald.

We started off with the most amazing brunch at The Wolseley on Piccadilly (sorry, no photos allowed), then shopping in one of my favourite stores, Anthropologie, which almost made us late for the theatre! The play was fantastic, and an absolute "must see" especially for anyone who studied the original version for A level French like us!

There was even time for margaritas and nachos after the show - the perfect end to a perfect day!

More celebrations tomorrow to look forward to, with lunch at family favourite The Cuckoo, and drinks with the girls in the evening. More on all of that to follow.

I may have missed my blog's first anniversary which was earlier this month, but it's lovely to be back!

November Restaurants

I don't eat out all the time, but when I do, I like it to be enjoyable. I love quick lunches in Cafe Rouge, bowls of pasta in Strada and pizzas in Pizza Express. Any eating experience is usually pleasurable for me, but in these regular places, it is the company (family and friends) and the conversation that matters.

It is always nice though when you make a bit more effort and go somewhere new. November brought two such places, the first being Iberica in London. My good friend Suz happened to be in London and we arranged to meet when I finished work. I had had this place on my list since reading about it on Bellaphon's blog and as usual, the recommendation was spot on.

We shared beautiful croquetas de jamon (iberico ham croquettes), a selection of Spanish cheeses served with membrillo (quince paste) and the prize for best dish of the night went to the "broken eggs" served with iberico ham and fried potatoes. Great service and delicious food in a stylish setting. If you like Spanish food, give it a try. We finished the evening saying hello to two fellow bloggers, easy to spot by the size of their cameras! Check out Food by Mark and the LondonEater - these guys are much more qualified to give London restaurant reviews than me so check out their excellent blogs.

Another new restaurant I tried this month was The Cuckoo in Cuckfield, a local village restaurant which has been around for years, but recently had a change of ownership. It had been recommended by my cousin John and his wife Caroline, and already tried out by my brother Dom for my sister-in-law Lynne's Birthday. My Dad treated us to Sunday lunch yesterday to celebrate my sister Sarah's Birthday.

For November there was a special set menu at 10.00 for 2 courses and 15.00 for 3. The choices were very good with something to suit everyone and the food came beautifully presented in generous portions. The starter of gambas pil pil was absolutely delicious, and I throroughly enjoyed my local Balcombe pheasant served with parsnip mash and game chips. The roast lamb looked very impressive, and the sea bass served with olive mash and cherry tomatoes was so good, nobody even offered me a mouthful. Desserts were equally tasty, with the chocolate fudge cake served with pistachio ice cream a clear winner.

The building is full of character, with small cosy seating areas, and the interior has been brought up to date with stripped floors, crisp table cloths, soft grey woodwork and funky artwork. Service was friendly and efficient, and there was no problem when a couple of us chose affogatos (espresso poured over vanilla ice cream) rather than the set menu desserts.

Owner Toby and Chef Matthew should be very proud of this lovely little place which is destined to become a local treasure. Their Christmas menu looks fantastic value and we will definitely be back before too long.

November Cookalong 2: Sweet and Simple Bakes Brownies!

Having really enjoyed last month's Cookalong from the lovely Sweet and Simple Bakes, I couldn't wait for the November recipe and I wasn't disappointed to find that it was for delicious snow-flecked brownies! I have made these once before and couldn't wait to make them again but then I got the dreaded flu which developed into an ear and sinus infection. Not only did I feel lousy and lose my appetite but I couldn't taste anything for almost 2 weeks!

Having lost a couple of pounds, I can safely make and enjoy these now! The recipe can be found here, and it is easy to halve the quantities, as I did. Dark chocolate brownies with white chocolate within, what's not to like? My Dad has decided these are the best brownies I have ever made so I'll be sticking to this recipe from now on!