Today I am giving you not only a recipe for mixed berry parfait, but also a recipe that allows you to sing its very name to a Prince song. READ MORE
Today I bring you an 80’s throwback updated. I bring you rock cakes with a twist. That twist being not kale. Oh no. Not quinoa. No. Not bacon jam. No. I bring you the double whammy of coconut flour and goji berries. Fear not, if you don’t have them you can simply swap for good old fashioned, regular, bog-standard flour and our friend the raisin. READ MORE
Babies have no respect for sleep. It’s wasted on them. Kids too. Zero understanding for how wonderful it is and the scarcity of it in adult life.
Sometimes I day-dream about especially long sleeps I remember BK (Before Kids). There was one time, in the late 90’s, after a night shift where I delivered two babies, that I slept for so long I had no idea if it were morning or evening when I awoke. I did what any sensible girl would do and called my Dad. He knew. Dads always know if it’s day or night. READ MORE
Pink, pink, pink. What do we think of pink? I remember loving my one posh pink dress as a child. It had a fairytale hill scene appliqued on the front in pink gingham. But the pink dress was for best. Pink was special.
And in my early adulthood, when I was flying the feminist flag highest, pink was a colour I hated. I raged at the army of pink aimed at little girls; pink domestic drudgery toys, pink dress up uniforms for lower paid jobs than the boys, pink clothed Barbie’s with pneumatic breasts and corset tortured waspish waists. If you’d have asked me, I’d have said pink stinks. READ MORE
What’s that saying? Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper. I’m not sure we have time in our house to breakfast like kings, we’re mostly too busy locating book bags, brushing teeth and discussing the all-important question of which shoe goes on which foot. I am almost never late for anything, but mornings are a rush.
Breakfast may be guilty of being a bit boring in our house, as I suspect it is for many. I asked people on my facebook page what their kids eat and the resounding answer was toast, cereal and some form of English breakfast/pancakes at the weekend when time is more abundant. For what it’s worth my kids mainly eat cereal followed by toast, fruit and/or yoghurt. Pretty wholesome in my book.
Or not. I recently went shopping for some Shredded Wheat as a friend was coming to stay for the weekend – her son loves the stuff. Her little one also has a nut allergy so I of course made a point of checking the ingredients of both the real deal and also the own label alternative (well I am the Bargain Queen after all). The wholesome looking shredded-wheat-knock-off listed no nuts but did include sugar, salt and indeed all manner of chemical things I didn’t like the sound of. I switched back to the branded version with gusto which just contained, well, wheat.
So it felt very topical when a few days later the folks at Organix asked me to take part in their #NoJunk challenge, because, as much as I might have thought breakfast is a wholesome affair in my house, it basically isn’t. I’ve made a very late new year’s resolution to start checking out what’s in the food my children (and my husband and I) eat – with a war declared on junk. This isn’t about not baking treats like cakes and biscuits, in fact homemade treats – where I know what’s in the cake/biscuit/flapjack, are most definitely on the menu. What’s not, are the off the cuff purchases where junk could easily be hiding. In short, I’m going to be studying labels before putting my hands in my pocket.
Here’s a no junk recipe that takes about 3 minutes from grabbing the ingredients to serving. Perfect for busy mornings and a break from the usual cereal and toast. I’m launching the #NoJunk challenge for Organix on Monday – why don’t you sign up too? And maybe share some no junk recipes that feed your family? There’s even a blog hop with a fantastic prize worth £108 of spa goodies!
NB: Photography by Minal Photography.
One year ago: Lemon animal biscuits and Oatmeal & fudge cookies and 5 ways with the humble Victoria sponge
Two years ago: Octonauts cupcakes and Walnut, fudge and fleur de sel biscuits
Three years ago: Mutter paneer and Hot cross biscotti
Ingredients:
Serves 1, scale up as required
Place all the ingredients into a blender, then blitz until all the berries have disappeared. Serve immediately either as it is, over ice or with the rest of the banana for dipping. (You can use a stick blender and measuring jug to blitz the smoothie if you don’t own a blender.)
NB: This was written in support of Organix #NoJunk challenge.
Holly Bell 