Category: Recipes

I have been wanting to make pretzels for ages. Last summer when we were in Savannah we went to a lovely cafe for a drink (and it was so lovely we went back another day)- anyway while we were in there they took out some freshly baked pretzels and gave them to the customers to sample. They were amazing.

Then I saw the Hairy Bakers visit a bakery in Germany, and bake them there. And I was given their book for my birthday.

When we went to the Olympics we saw a pretzel stand, but were so disappointed as we bought one to share, and it turned out to be a doughnut in a pretzel shape. Poor show!

Earlier this week I decided to add baking pretzels to my list of weekend things to do. I used the recipe from the Hairy Bakers book, only I added cinnamon to it to make them a bit sweeter.

Although they take time, they were fine as they fitted around my Saturday morning. I got up, had breakfast, made a cup of mint tea and did some work. Then when the water had cooled, I activated the yeast. Then I changed for my run, and then once changed it was time to make the dough.

The dough needed to rest for an hour- so I went out on a run. 7 miles which I found really tough.  I went to the Sweatshop run on Wednesday, and although I found the last little bit hard, it was not too bad and I still had the energy to run home. I went to pump on Thursday and didn’t do the heaviest weights for legs and back, mostly I kept them the same. Anyway, today I just was not feeling it. The weather was lovely and I did enjoy it, but my legs felt pretty tired and I had to fight the urge to just stop.

Anyway, once home it was time to shape them- this took some time as they had to be rolled into ropes. The recipe said 60cm ropes, but that seemed way too long, so mine were very small (probably more like 30cm). However by the time they rested and baked (time for me to shower and make some tea) they puffed up and lost the pretzel shape, so next time I would try to roll them even thinner.

Once out the oven I spread them with a little melted butter (well Pure spread) and then sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. They were lovely- soft dough and sweet cinnamon sugar- perfect with a cup of tea. Good brain fuel for my next section of work this afternoon!

I also did a bit of baking earlier in the week. I had some chocolate chips left over from my American Soda parcel, so I made some more crispy squares.

Peanut butter + chocolate = perfection in my eyes!

They are so tasty! All credit to Angela (Oh She Glows) for another fantastic recipe. Seriously if you have not given them a go already, then do, because they take hardly any time, and are just delicious.

While I was making them I had a nice cup of chai (this is a herbal one so no black tea, although I mainly bought it because it matched my nail varnish…).

I promise I have eaten some savoury things this week! I got home from work on Tuesday and realised I had forgotten to defrost anything for my dinner- I was planning on having a mexican casserole from the freezer. But luckily I found a beetroot and goats cheese roast thing (from Asda)- I had the first one ages ago and forgot all about it. Served with spinach and frozen roast veg it was pretty tasty, although it still reminds me of something I would eat in a pub. Also it looks a bit like a raw burger/ frozen around the edges still, but it was hot- the pink colour from the beetroot stayed during the cooking.

I also had some lovely sweet potato chilli (might have needed the flash!).

From the freezer- it contained roasted celery, red and yellow peppers, butternut squash, sweet potato, onions from my allotment, then once roasted I cooked them in a pan with a tin of tomatoes, a tiny bit of lazy chilli, and a tin of kidney beans. So good- the sweet potato goes very soft. I had it with some pecan crackers– they were OK but not that great- I think I only ordered them because I had some space in the i-herb parcel and they didn’t weigh much.

Are you a pretzel fan?

Hooray!

I bought some tinned pumpkin when I went to use my almond breeze vouchers (from Waitrose magazine)- plus some yummy multi-grain thins and oatcakes.

I could not wait to get my bake on!

I decided to use coconut sugar to replace regular sugar (Ocado now stock it so I don’t have to order it from i-herb any more)- it seems to work in recipes just fine. The darker one is from i-herb, and the lighter one from Ocado (Tiana brand). Next time I am going to try coconut milk in place of the evaporated milk- I think it is there as a sweetener, and to make it a bit more creamy like custard, as the egg is there to set it I think. So I think it will work. As I am not a massive pastry fan I decided to experiment with filo pastry- then there is hardly any pastry and you get more filling. Although next time I might bake a couple in ramekins for a sort of pumpkin pudding/brulee thing.

Anyway, ingredients: (for 12 mini pies)

1 pack of filo pastry

1 tin pumkin puree

1 small tin evaporated milk (I think it is 170g)

1 egg

220g coconut sugar

1 tbs ground almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground cloves

grated nutmeg

First up, I prepared the filo by slicing it into squares. I then melted a little pure spread, and spread it inside cupcake tins.

In between each layer I put a little more melted spread (but not too much as it can go soggy). While this is going on, preheat the oven to 170C.

In one bowl combine all the other ingredients (pumpkin, evaporated milk, egg, sugar, spices, ground almonds) and mix gently until there are no lumps.

Then spoon into the pastry cases.

They took ages to bake in my oven- they should not wobble when you gently shake the tray. I thought as they were small they would take 25 mins (so check after this time) but I baked them for about 15 mins longer- towards the end I turned the temperature down a little bit to stop the pastry from catching.

Remove right away (I think they will not crisp up otherwise) and leave to cool on a wire rack.

I sprinkled them with a little cinnamon sugar before serving.

I took some to a friends’ house on Saturday evening, and then served up the rest today to mine and Andy’s parents who came over (I heated them back up in the oven for a bit as I think they are so much better served warm). They were delicious- I love the pumpkin pie filling- the nutmeg just goes so well with the pumpkin.

Back to the weekend ramblings:

On Saturday I went for my 11 mile run. I found it much tougher than the 9 miles last weekend, but for the most part I still enjoyed it. The weather was beautiful- the lake was looking wonderful, and it was nice and cool so good running weather even with the sun shining. I think I was more tired, plus I think I left too long a gap between breakfast and going out (lots of cleaning etc before) and so by the time I got home I was very starving- it was nearly 1pm I think. Plus I had not taken any water with me, which was a mistake when I was out for just over 2 hours- a bit too long for me really. I was hallucinating about coconut water for the last mile!

I had one of the rude health pumpkin bars. It tasted a lot like dates (no surprise, it is made mainly of dates, plus almonds, pumpkin seeds, ground pumpkin, apple, spices)- I liked the seeds as they added crunch, and I loved the spices in there (cinnamon and ginger)- it reminded me a little of a nakd gingerbread bar, but a bit more subtle. Verdict? I would like more pumpkin flavour, but it was very tasty and I liked the texture of it.

I had a nuun tab right away, plus some coconut water to help with the rehydration, but it was a bit late as I got a headache quite soon after. Ah well, at least I finished it, and although when I got home I felt exhausted, after a shower and lunch I felt fine; not too stiff or anything, so I think so long as I don’t go crazy this week I should be fine for the next half marathon.

Today started with some greek yoghurt (with raspberry and pomegranate sauce) , a nectarine and cereal. After some work I had a few jobs to do in town, so I treated myself:

Tall soya chai tea latte, with spiced pumpkin syrup. The lady at the till liked the sound of it too! It was very sweet, but I could taste the spices, and it was very creamy (I think there is condensed milk in the syrup?). Anyway, a nice change and I am glad I asked if they would do it because I don’t like coffee but I did want to try the flavour.

Lunch was a speedy affair:

A pitta bread with some honey peanut butter (courtesy of American soda). Delicious and very melty in the warm pitta. Then both sets of parents came over to watch the football- tea and pumpkin pies for half time 🙂

I had a 3 mile run planned so I headed out later in the afternoon. I wore my tights for the first time this year as it seemed a bit chilly, although I had forgotten how annoying they are- I need to wear shorts over them otherwise I spend half my run pulling them back up again. Anyway, 3.2 miles, 31 mins- I thought it would be slower as I ran so far yesterday, but I felt alright.

When I got home I had some of the coconut water that was on offer in Waitrose- it was almost creamy tasting. I liked it anyway. (I wore gloves with a vest- seems a good combo for the weather at the moment as my hands seem to stay cold when the rest of me is warm.)

I had a Rude Health beetroot bar- it was quite pink but I am not sure that the photo shows it up that well. Like the pumpkin one it was mainly dates, with almonds, seeds and 7% beetroot, but the beetroot flavour came through. The bar was still sweet, but had an earthy flavour to it. I liked it although I prefer the pumpkin one because of the spices. I suppose some cocoa powder would be nice (beetroot and chocolate cake is yummy after all) but on its own it was still tasty.

Now I am making a lemon and poppyseed cake to take to my Nan tomorrow. More on that another day!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Do you like the sound of the pumpkin or beetroot bar? 

Hey all

I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend, and avoided the horrible weather. I thought it was meant to be awful today, but we have only had a little rain today.

Anyway, this weekend has been all about tea.

I have been slowly working my way through the mountain of teabags I was sent from teapigs.

Last week I made a latte using a chocolate flake teabag and some vanilla soya milk.

When I got home on Friday I had the chocolate flake tea, just plain with milk. Both versions are very delicious.

The pure lemongrass tea is lovely- so refreshing and delicate.

Of course I have been loving the earl grey tea too (Darjeeling Earl Grey– very refined).

Saturday started with a trip to the allotment, to do a little weeding (there is so much weeding to do all the time!) and plant out some strawberries. I do have pumpkin envy as one plot next to me has at least 3 massive pumpkins growing, whereas only one of my pumpkin plants survived the slugs and is tiny, with only flowers (so no hope for a pumpkin this year). I spent a good hour there, and I picked some raspberries too.

Then after a bit of pottering at home (urgh- housework! Dusting, sweeping and cleaning floors, cleaning bathrooms, sorting out drawers) I headed out on a run. I decided to do 7 miles, and the loop I chose ended up being just under that. It went well, I felt OK, and so my plan for the next few weeks is to do 9 miles, 11 miles, and then I think it is my next half marathon (if I have counted the weeks right).

It was cold! I think I might need to put the vests away soon! I had a yummy peanut 9bar when I got home (the lovely Ffion mentioned that after her review, the lovely people at 9bar were sending out samples)- it was delicious. Plus some of the chocolate soya milk, which turned out to have gone past it’s date about 6 months ago whoops.

I needed warming up, so after my shower I had a mint tea. This was free in the Waitrose magazine, which by the way is free to My Waitrose card holders (have had one of those cards for ages and never sure what the point of it was).

After burning my toast (testing my smoke alarms) for lunch, I went out to the shops for a bit. Right, there was actually a whole stand of Christmas gifts in Debenhams. What is the deal???

I had a chai latte in starbucks (and saw that the pumpkin latte is apparently “coming soon”- wonder if you can have that without syrup?

Next time I think I will sprinkle on some cinnamon too. It was so lovely I sat outside- won’t be able to do that for much longer.

Anyway, I parked in Waitrose so I had to buy something!

There was a £1 off the Twinings tea, so I bought the Earl Grey stuff as although the mint humbug tea was lovely, I have a massive jar of mint tea. Plus baking things- gluten free flour (half price), chocolate drops (on offer), cinnamon sugar (on offer), posh cocoa powder, and rice crispies. I also got some coconut water as the Waitrose magazine had £1 off that too. What can I say, I like the offers!

I had to try the tea, and I love it! It does not quite taste like earl grey, but it did have a hint of an aniseed flavour, and was quite sweetie-like. Good for keeping me going during some work (my brain likes caffeine I think).

Then I got my bake on!

Dark chocolate brownies with raspberries (all from the allotment!) and white chocolate stars (which I added after, because otherwise they melt and turn into a horrible greasy mess). For work 🙂

I was sent another parcel of goodies from American Soda, so I cracked open the pumpkin.

For some pumpkin spice cakes.

Need to learn how to turn the flash off- using a newer camera now

Had one with some tropical rooibos tea (from Sainsbury’s) after dinner (found a mexican casserole in the freezer- win).

Then I chilled out and watched the Great British Bake off, and then a film about some men who decided to run across the Sahara. Amazing.

This morning I went out on a short run (3.6 miles in 34 mins, not bad) before it started to rain. I was expecting it to be awful today, but perhaps we have that saved for tomorrow instead? I have done some more baking and more pottering, and had even more tea whilst watching the Grand Prix.

Tasty breakfast of warmed baked apricots, yoghurt and granola, with a teapigs chai tea.

We are trying to hold out not putting the heating on, but it is getting very chilly now!

What did you get up to this weekend? Has the storm hit yet?