Tag: Nak’d

Bread baking part 1

So after work today I came home and made some bread. I have really got into making my own bread recently. I didn’t use to eat it that much as I was never really keen on shop bought stuff; too squishy. Also I have been reading up more about where food comes from (I like Michael Pollan’s books) and recently read “Not On the Label ” by Felicity Lawrence. She has an interesting chapter about bread made in factories. Sometimes we would buy some nice ciabatta bread which could be heated up alongside dinner, but it was pretty expensive and still had additives and stabilisers in. So I decided to get some bread flour and make it myself. Since then I have made loads of breads (including tear and share garlic bread, cinnamon raisin bread and sun-dried tomato bread- yum) and people always assume when I say I made it that I use a bread-maker. But I make it properly using my own fair hands! It doesn’t take that long so I think we should all have a go. When I got home I popped the kettle on for some warm water, then weighed out the flour (Dove’s farm Malthouse), added the yeast and salt, and mixed it all up. Then (because I was making tomato-basil bread) I added a tsp olive oil, some basil and some tomato puree. I kneaded it for a few minutes, then left it in a bowl to rise. I went out on a walk (what a lovely evening) and while I was doing the rest of the dinner I made it into the loaf shape and left it on the tray to rise again. So although it takes some preparation (e.g. I can’t bung it in the oven straight away) it doesn’t take long actually doing it, it just needs time in between to rise. But not that much time! Plus now I have the right measurements I don’t get really sticky messy hands.

I have been getting a little carried away with different types of flour. I have strong white, strong wholemeal (makes a nice pizza base), Malthouse, Wholegrain Spelt and Rye. The rye flour is the only one that I have found difficult to use as it seems very dry. It is much lower in gluten than other flours (the gluten is what you stretch when you knead and it is what makes bread springy), and it is recommended to make a loaf using half rye and half normal flour, which I have done and it is ok but not nice like rye bread that you buy!

It’s also pretty ecomonical to make my own bread- a 1.5kg bag of flour would make 6-8 loaves (I usually use 150g flour for a flatbread, 200g flour for a loaf) and to that I need a teaspoon of yeast (I use a little bag of dried yeast which is 99p and lasts for ages) and then any other flavours that I have at home anyway. So £3 for 7 loaves of fresh bread isn’t bad.

So I urge you all to get on and do some good old fashioned bread-making! It is therapeutic to knead the dough, and quite exciting when a “mess” or flour and water suddenly comes together into a proper dough. Plus the house smells so good when it is baking. And you can add your own flavours.

The cranberry orange bread I made was very sweet, so I think I might try it again but next time make cranberry-pecan instead. I had some of this when I was in Vancouver and it was so good.

Now I am so excited because on Facebook Natural Balance Foods have mentioned that New cocoa nudies will be coming out soon! As you all know I do love Nak’d bars, and have a hard time deciding my fave flavour. The oats ones (apple pie/ berry/ cocoa) are good for a snack on the go, filling with the oats and only 99 cals (small bars) so can be a light snack. The nudies ones have a better texture, more like a brownie, and amazing flavours (gingerbread is heaven, cocoa orange is amazing) but with the nuts they are higher in cals so not so easy to squeeze in. But as the fats are healthy fats from the nuts they are a good thing to include (gotta love those healthy fats).

Earlier on they asked for new flavours- I think I had such a long list! I wanted a chocolate mint one, a chocolate cherry one, a carrot cake one, a peanut butter one (like a mini trek bar without the crispies) and a peanut butter cherry/ peanut butter chocolate one.

So I am very excited to hear that they are going to release new flavours- can’t wait to see what they will be!

Back to the bread baking- because this weekend I have the half marathon on Sunday I am going to have pizza on Saturday night (home-made dough)- I might even take some pictures of the steps as I go along. Then Sunday I might make some dough for flatbread before we leave, so I can cook it once I get back.

The kids in my class are all so excited about Sunday- there is a kids fun run and so many of them are taking part! I love it that they are all so excited about it.

This evening after dinner I had some mango sorbet- it was so good! Such a taste of summer. Although it did make me think that with my frozen raspberry/ yoghurt combo I could adapt and use frozen mango chunks to make my own. Once I finish the tub I may well investigate this further.

Well I am off now to finish watching some of the football- Hooray for the weekend!

Nakd -fuelled run

After breakfast of cornflakes and a little Dorset spelt muesli (they didn’t have the simply delicious one so I tried this one- quite nice but not my fave), I made some dough and then headed out on my run. I felt fairly tired part the way through (and spent a lot of time thinking about the half marathon in 2 weeks’ time, not sure how well I will fare on that day), but on the whole I did enjoy it. Listening to music, seeing all the scenery (lots of goslings and cygnets at the lakes again, including two geese with their goslings this time right on the narrow path- cue unexpected interval training!), getting out in the fresh air is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. I had taken with me a packet of Nakd Cherry Raisins and had them after about an hour and a half, to give me the sugar boost for the last few miles. They are super tasty; the cherry flavour is pretty strong, more like cherry sweets than actual cherries, but they were just what I fancied. Much better than jelly beans I am sure!

Once I got home I had a banana and a Nakd (gluten free) Cocoa orange bar. These are amazing! Dates, raisins, cashews and cocoa and mooshed together into one wonderful bar of chocolaty soft chewy yumminess.

After my shower I finished making the bread. This time I used half white flour and half wholemeal flour, and topped it with red pesto, sliced tomatoes and the left over mozzarella (only a small amount), baked for 15 minutes and served with spicy bean soup. Yum. The bread was so good, I am looking forward to when I can use some of my basil on top (it is growing away on the windowsill but still not quite big enough to use the leaves yet).

After that I fancied something sweet so shared a box of Graze rocky mountain mix (pecans, cranberries and dark chocolate buttons)- it is so tasty! Along with some cinnamon chai, delish.

I have been watching the grand prix and pottering about on the internet, later on I might go and plant some potatoes. I got the seed potatoes for cheap last week and it said on the pack they can be planted April and May, and today is still May so I am hoping they will be ok (only got the compost yesterday so couldn’t plant them any sooner).

Later on I shall be having a bean burger with salad and sweet potato and watching 24, and isn’t it great that tomorrow is a bank holiday? Long weekends are just great!

A box of goodies!!

I am so excited again! You know the other day I said that I won an easter egg hunt on the natural balance food website (nak’d and trek bar site)? Well, they arrived today. I have won a lovely bag of Divine chocolate dark chocolate eggs (Fair-trade chocolate- very good) and a box of Organic Dark Chocolate “Cheeky Bunnies”. They look lovely and I will look forward to trying them during the next few days.

I also received a box of samples from Natural Balance Foods (www.naturalbalancefoods.co.uk) and will be reviewing the products on here as I make my way through the box. After work we walked to the cinema, but by the time I got home I was very hungry so I took a Trek Cherry Crunch Protein Flapjack with me to eat in the cinema (I know it’s against the rules but I didn’t want popcorn or ice-cream). Ten grams of protein in a very tasty flapjack bar, it has Nak’d cherry raisins in it and had a strong cherry flavour. The bar had 240ish calories so much lower than a “normal” flapjack and way tastier (in my opinion). My boyfriend had the Oat Crunch Trek Flapjack and this also received thumbs up on taste. I always used to think that a flapjack was a healthy option (due to the oats) and it was only a few years ago (when I started reading labels) that I realised just how syrupy and fatty some of them are. A Blackfriars Cherry and Coconut flapjack has 441 cals and 20g fat per 100g. The original one has 457 cals and 21g fat (I chose these are they are similar flavours to the Trek ones, but some of the ones I looked at has 24g per 100g, and the bars are a pretty hefty size), and apparently these have won a Healthy Magazine Readers Choice award (that’s the Holland and Barrett magazine). I imagine that was for flavour possibly and not because it is a healthy option, but the trouble is things like this are marketed as healthy. Anyway I digress…..

After the cinema (The Ghost, which was ok, not keen on all the dodgy voices and not the best ending) I walked home and cooked dinner. I had a lovely homemade veggie lentil moussaka (made a few weeks ago and frozen- how organised!!) with some butternut squash and green beans- yum.

My back was feeling very stiff after aerobics yesterday, so it was nice to not run today. Tomorrow is supposed to be Body Pump but at the moment I can’t seem to book it so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is on as I have missed the last 2 weeks (was away one week and it wasn’t on the next). If not I’ll have a run tomorrow but I do think it is important to do some strength work and I know I would never push myself as hard as a class does.

Gosh that was a long post!