Category: Recipes

Hey all

I mentioned the other day that I did some baking over the weekend. First up, a super easy recipe for caramel nut chocolate squares. The caramel mixture is based on a recipe that Montezuma’s posted on their recipe page, but I wanted a really nutty bar (although you could add dried fruits) and I wanted a softer topping so it was easier to cut.

Ingredients:

150g mixed nuts (I used peanuts and almonds)

50g dessicated coconut

1 small tin of condensed milk

1 tbs molasses

25g cornflakes

25g puffed oats (any cereal really)

100g dark chocolate

2 tsp nutella

Line a brownie pan with baking paper.

First up, preheat the oven to 180C. Spread the nuts and coconut on a tray and bake for about 5 mins, until lightly golden.

Meanwhile, heat the condensed milk in a large pan, and add the molasses, Stir together and heat gently- it will turn a deep caramel colour and thicken.

Add the toasted nuts and cereals to the condensed milk mixture, and stir to combine.

Pour this mixture into the brownie pan, and press down. Bake for 20 mins until deep golden in colour. Remove and leave to cool.

Then heat the chocolate (I do it in the microwave- in small bursts and keep stirring) and then stir in the nutella. Pour this over the nut mixture and spread out. (Optional, decorate with sprinkles/ chopped nuts/ coconut).

Leave to cool, and then to set in the fridge before slicing.

The nut mixture once baked.

Covered in the nutella/ chocolate mixture.

And after slicing- check out those chunky nuts.

Yum these were so good 🙂 (We had them for Sunday tea- a treat for the runners and watchers!). I am wondering about trying to make a similar caramel with brown rice syrup- I will post that recipe if it goes well too.

I also made some cookies as we were visiting friends on Saturday night- my friend who is quite picky anyway (no dried fruit, no nuts but she likes peanut butter, no fruit…) is now pregnant and her midwife has said no nuts. So chocolate was pretty much the only option!

I went for fudge cookies.

I chopped up a few bars of fudge (the cadburys ones) and then added them to the Millies Cookies recipe. Some I added in the mixture, and some I put on the top as I was not sure how they would react in the oven.

On the baking tray (the mats I have are looking a bit funny now- I do wash them honest! But the heat seems to make them change colour even though they are meant to be heat safe- it has happened to my loaf pans too).

And then cooling after. I was pretty impressed- the fudge did melt and so where it was close to the edge it had gone off the cookies and onto the tray, but only on a few cookies. I have found that with these mats it is better to leave the cookies to cool on the tray before moving them, otherwise the bottoms sort of fall down. I packed them up in the bunny bag (the pink one in the background) and they made a great gift, even if I do say so myself!

Anyway, two good recipes to remember for another time.

I went for another run today after work although things were conspiring against me- thinking about it now I was not really prepared. Anyway this week the plan is 10 min run, 1 min walk for the same 3 mile route. I managed the first 10 mins fine, but after about 15 mins my calves were getting so stiff (which never normally happens) and I had to stop and stretch. Then I managed the next ten mins (much slower but I felt no energy) but for the final bit my right foot went totally numb.

My problems were: a– Not enough fuel as I had such a busy day at work and all I had time for at lunch was 2 ryvita with hummus (plus grapes at break time and a pear at about half 4). b– Not enough fluid- again busy day meant I only had my 500ml bottle of water, whereas usually I re-fill it at lunch and have some rooibos tea while I mark or something at lunch time. c-Due to rushing home and wanting to be done with my run so I could finish my work I didn’t warm up at all, I just headed out the door. d– I did not sort out the laces on my right shoe (even though I mentioned it yesterday). So hopefully that won’t happen again! In any case sometimes the running fairy is just not with you.

Anyway, after a bath and some dinner I am feeling much better now- might get the foam roller out later and see if that helps my calves a bit too.

Have a lovely evening all 🙂

Yup, an imaginative title indeed!

I have been taking pictures for ages, and not posting them. I was going to do it for WIAW but missed that, so here we go!

Breakfast:

(In my new cup and bowl)– peaches, muesli, almonds and coconut milk left overnight, along with mint tea.

Lunch:

I am having a bit of a crumpet obsession right now- one with pb and jam, and one with lime curd. Plus my lovely Whittards chocolate tea (black tea with coconut, cocoa beans and macadamia nuts). Soooo good!

Tea (who knows what kind it was) with a Hotel Chocolat penguin left over from Christmas. Pretty chocolate lasts a long time because I never want to eat it!

Bread making:

One lot of sourdough with hemp seeds (for a little loaf), and one lot with fruits soaked in lemon green tea (for mini loaves).

Yum!

Dinners:

I took this with me one day- spinach leaves, roasted sweet potato, red and yellow peppers, butternut squash (all roasted in hemp oil), sprinkled with hemp seeds and served with a little tub of hummus.

Spinach, balsamic, roasted squash, peppers, courgettes, baby corn, basil tofu, hemp seeds.

Wholemeal pasta with lovely zest pesto, peppers, courgettes, fresh basil and pine nuts. I am sure I added some cheese on the top too.

Mystery dinner! I defrosted something from the freezer which turned out to be sweet potato burgers/ patties, alongside a salad with cucumber, spinach, pepper, basil tofu and some hummus.

Snacks:

This is the best snack ever! 30g peanut flour, with a little coconut milk to make a sauce, then stirred together with a chocolate alpro pot, and sprinkled with some trail mix.

It is nice with the caramel or vanilla ones too, but the chocolate rules 🙂

Some baking:

I made some of the protein brownies I saw Laura make- as I have hemp protein powder and have not been that enamoured with the flavour. I had to use some raisins as I didn’t have all dates.

I sprinkled the top with some cherry raisins too, to add to the cherry flavour.

I weighed out the ingredients- mine came to:

120g raisins/dates

100g almonds (soaked)

30g dried cherries

30g cocoa powder

50g hemp protein powder

and a few tbs water.

I had one as a snack at work and it was nice- I can taste the hemp in there, but they do taste lovely and gave me energy for the afternoon. The rest are wrapped in cling film in the fridge and ready for other days.

And for fun, a new top:

It is a vest (from Threadless) but with this weather I have not worn it yet.

Running news:

This week I was feeling a bit worried about increasing the distance (this happened to me when I first started running too- I totally lose confidence in myself) but I went out for 5 min run, 1 min walk this week on Tuesday. All was good- but then later on that day I felt like my hip had popped out and needs to pop back in again, and have been limping since. It is not down to the running because I had it on Saturday when we were walking up some steps, but it went away again, and was fine when I got back from my run, it was only much later that it came on. I barely slept on Tuesday night because no position was comfy. I hobbled about all day Wednesday (it seems worse once I have been still for ages so I have tried to keep moving or standing at home) and looked up some stretches on the internet last night which seemed to help. But it is still a bit sore, and not normal, so not sure when I will get my next run in. Grrr. Any ideas how to get it to go back into place?

Hey! After watching a demo at the cake show on Saturday, I was inspired to have a go at making macaroons. As it is my birthday tomorrow I normally make cakes/cookies for work, so it was good timing too. Although I found loads of internet recipes, in the end I chose one from Home Bake by Eric Lanlard.

Preparation seemed to be the key- I made two lots and the second lot seemed better. The egg whites had to be at room temperature, and I weighed out all the other ingredients, lined the baking trays and got the piping bag ready. Whipping up those egg whites made my arm ache- I used an electric whisk but it took ages.

A tip I picked up during the demo was to put the piping bag (end snipped off) in a glass- made for much easier filling. Then if it is dripping you can put the end back in the glass whilst piping, so it does not go everywhere. Optional- have icing sugar and ground almonds all over your worktop.

My first attempt was pink ones, which I flavoured with a little almond extract (they have ground almonds in them anyway), and yes I need to practise my piping skills!

Once they cooled I sandwiched them together with a little dark chocolate spread.

The second batch were lemon flavoured (although the yellow colouring was hard to mix in).

I sandwiched the lemon ones together with lemon curd.

All ready to take to work 🙂

I also made some chocolate orange brownies (my usual brownie recipe with some orange extract and some chocolate orange buttons mixed in) just in case the macaroons didn’t work out! I put them in the cake cases once they were cooked to make them easier for people to eat.

Personally, although they look pretty, I can’t see the appeal particularly- they seem like posh coloured meringues really. But they are fun to do because I get to use my food colourings! I much prefer the taste of the brownies.