Where can I find cooking apples in the States?

I have been here a month now and am getting ready for doing some home cooking. I decided to make an Apple Crumble with a twist, combining the Amercian love for Cinnamon with and english traditional favourite. The problem is cooking apples. I can't find them anywhere. The supermarkets are filled with all kinds of apple varieties in all shades hues and flavours but no-where can I find the humble cooking apple. I am beginning to wonder if it is perhaps something that has slipped from American usage. Back home the tart, larger more robust and often more gnarly looking cooking apple is readily available in supermarkets, and where I moved from just to pick up from free from boxes outside your neighbours driveway as almost everyone has an over abundance. My favourite is the good old Bramley Apple.

So many of my favourite recipes for chutneys, jams, cakes, crumbles, tarts and mmmmm bakes cinnamon apples require a good hearty cooking apple and sadly the gentler more elegant eating apple just doesn't cut the mustard.

Having trowelled through a number of supermarkets on my search I decided try my local farmers market. Nothing. Lots of beautiful apples but none of the fiesty strong apples I yearn for. I suppose for now I'lll just have to make do with Granny Smiths and keep hunting. In the mean time if you know of a cache of cooking apples anywhere in the Las Vegas area  - please let me know!

Well Hello there - its been a while!

Well, we've been slightly busy lately. We've been packing, ebaying, garage saleing, shipping cars across the atlantic, getting the cat rabies jabbed and schlepping across the pond to Las Vegas. Lock stock and barrel. And now we are here (mostly unpacked) and trying to find our feet. The food here is amazing. Everything is so different and its taking a while for us to adjust. Just looking at the kids menu in a resteraunt takes some translating and trying to work out what some things mean. For example just what is a "sloppy joe" or  "slider" these questions need answering - we're sussing t out one step at a time.

On the plus side we've found some great places that sell all our favourites. A fab little cafe called "The Market Grille" that has lots of my favourite mediterranean foods and hummous that Isobel adores. We have found a gorgeous little farmers market, much smaller than what I'm used to at home but with some great foods and crafts. Here in Las Vegas looking at food miles is a little more tricky. The "local" farmers have mostly driven 300+ miles to the market across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or have driven down for the fartherst corners of Utah - but then everything here is the States is so much bigger things are on a completely different scale. I'm used to counting 10's of food miles to make my local selections - so this is ALL new!

I have decided I need a bread maker. I love fresh bread. My Dad has a breadmaker and the smell is incredible and it makes lovely breads. I need a bit more control of the bread we eat. I have been trying all the breads available in the stores here and miss what back home in England we'd see as just a normal loaf, right now I'd even be happy to see a Hovis sliced loaf. Bread here is really different. Firstly the flour seems much much lighter, which gives a much less substantial bread. The other difference is the sugar content which is much higher here, normal breads are even sweeter than a brioche back home. So I am in the market for a breadmaker. Any advice hugely appreaciated, especially on American Models. I might just have to add it to my Christmas Amazon Wish list once I find a good one.

Getting kids to love veg.... and a recipe for Garlic Cauliflower....

I'd count my self as being very lucky. My daughter is a good eater. People have often commented on how fortunate we are that she will try most things and enjoys lots of vegetables and healthy foods. I would argue though that this is not all luck. When she was a baby and we were weaning her I remember reading that children need to try a new taste 10 - 15 times before they like it. Of course some things they will love straight off - but this works right through childhood and I have often used it as my mantra. I'll never force her to eat something she dislikes, but if there is something new on her plate I at least want her to try it. If she doesn't like it she doesn't have to eat it all, as long as she has tried it. And keep re-offering the things they don't like that you want them to eat. If you persist you may well be amazed that in time it begins to be eaten.

My Tips to getting kids to eat veg or new foods:

1) Don't expect kids to eat a whole portion of somthing new. Offer a small amount along with other things. Encourage them to try it - but do not make them eat the whole portion if they dislike it.

2) Offer a range of vegetables with your meal. I like to offer my little girl plenty of options and often she will eat small amounts of a variety of veg whereas being offered a larger portion of one type of veg would have been less successful. Kids get bored easily!

3) Perisit in re-offering the things you know they dislike. Even if you just give them one slice of carrot, get them to have a bite and if they still don't like fine at least they have tried it. By persiting I have got my little one to love things she initially had hates against.

4) Start early... I have been offering a variety of veg since weaning to my little girl and have kept doing so.

5) Set a good example trying to get my daughter to love veg has also meant I have started to eat better myself by tring to set a good example. You can't expect your kids to wolf down thier greens if you clearly avoid them and would rather be down the chip van or in the line at MacDonalds.

6) Offer both cooked and raw vegetables. Lots of kids go through a stage of prefering raw vegetables. I'm happy if my daughter prefers to have her brocolli raw occasionally and am happy to cook ours and leave a raw bit for her.

7) Try offering raw veg with healthy dips as a regular snack. My daughter now views hummus and raw veg sticks as a treat to celebrate.

8) Most kids prefer if their cooked veg still has some texture. Go "al dente" rather than cooked to a mush and you'll be amazed how nuch better they will eat it.

9) Don't be afraid to season vegetables. Although I don't cook with added salt -I do flavour my food with seasonings. Cumin is a lovely gentle spice to use and we love it on roasted vegetables. Garlic is wonderful to add a tasty flavour and its amazing how many kids adore the taste of garlic.

10) Don't offer an alternative. If they don't like thier dinner- don't cook something else. Like it or lump it. You are not a short order cook. I make a family meal every night and that is what we all eat. I know it sounds harsh but believe me it works and pretty quickly too.

I was over at my freinds house for dinner the other night and she made her new garlic cauliflower recipe for me. She had made it when she was craving garlic bread but did not want to eat that nuch bread. So she stumpled on this. I have tweaked it to use fresh garlic and a few other touches. Suffice to say my daughter loved it and went back for second helpings...

1 head of Cauliflower - chopped into smaller florets.
4 cloves of garlic (regular or you could try smoked garlic for a delicious twist.)
A small buch of fresh flat leaf parsley.
A gernerous drizzle of olive oil.

Crush the garlic, chop the fresh herbs and mash to gether with a pestle and mortar. Add your olive oil and drizzle over your cauliflower in a roasting dish. Shake to spread the seasoning around and bake in a hot over (about 180c) for about 20 minute until going golden in places.

I think htis would also be lovely with brocolli!

Eat raw food to help get a flat tum... food enzymes where they come from and what they do for us....

Raw food....

I have to say I love it. My little girl is going through a fad of wanting to eat all her vegetables raw. I've taken to making up a crudite plate for most meals with a dip such as hummus or sour cream or a mild salsa for her to nibble on. I'm quite impressed at how keen she is on raw cauliflower. I'd never really considered offering her many of these raw veg thinking she'd hat ethem - but to my surprise she eats a good deal. I am convinced that there are two factors to this, firstly they get given fruit or raw vegetables (like carrot sticks) for snacks time in school. and secondly we grow so much of our own veg she has a vested interest in them.

It must be good. Gillian McKeith is always waffling on about raw food and food enzymes and how you should eat a high percentage of raw fod each week. Heading towards summer that will get easier but I have been having lots of raw veg snacks between meals. With an oat cakes or rye bread and a smoothing of cashew butter or soy cream cheese. Pretty scrummy actually.

Food Enzymes are contained in raw food and are fabulous to help you with digestion, they also help you to absorb vitamins and minerals. To explain things better they initiate the process of digestion in the mouth and stomach. Food enzymes contain the right tools to digest protein, fats and carbohydrates. Research has proved the importance of raw foods in our diet. The enzymes in raw food help start the process of digestion and reduce the body’s need to produce digestive enzymes.

So all in all - raw food helps you digest your food, process fats and protein and helps you body to absorb all those vitamins and minerals.

Vegan... is it the best way to become a skinny minny?

Just a quick post. I've been pondering the whys and wherefores of wether to stay vegan or not. On the one side its really good for my weightloss so far. I am back down to 10 and a half stone and am a size 10 edging towards an 8. I feel much healthier and the gall stone attacks have gone away.

But I am not being a vegan for the reasons most people are. I do miss cheese, and eggs and meat. I know that some lean meat might be good for me. I have been chatting to my freind Gwen who is a dietician and she thinks now I have got the gall stone situation under control I'd be best to re-introduct lean meat - chicken and fish to my diet and eggs. Which is a relief as the duck started laying again last week after their winter hiatus.

Cutting Out Dairy - some pracical tips.....

This has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I LOVE CHEESE!! In fact I am sure cheese is the main reason I find myself in the grip of gall stones. When I cut out dairy i managed quite well the first few weeks without thinking of cheese too much., but as time went on I began to dream about cheese, pizzas, or melted goats cheese, baked brie with red currant sauce.... you name it. So I decided to explore the world of vegan cheese.

Vegan cheese is of course NOT actually cheese, it is a variety of things masquerading as cheese. Not always the healthiest things either I am sure. So I treated it as an occasional treat. If you are a cheese freak like me and in this position here are a few tips.

Vegan Cream cheese seems to be the most successful of cheese sustitutes, and you can also use it to make reasonable cheesy, creamy sauces too. My favourite was Sheese - they had a good plain and also garlic and herb flavour. The least successful cheese substitutes I found were pretend cheddars.... awful!! they just tasted of old socks, and not in a good stilton blue cheese way - but in a horendous waxy grim sort of way. It was wholly unsuccessful. One surprise treat was cheezely's Blue Cheese sustitute. It looked like polyfill gone hard - but it actually melted - a thing most vegan cheese resolutely refuses to do. I found it was bearable over a salad a little warmed. Or over some toast with some carrot sticks. I even made a blue cheese dip from it which was pretty decent.

Apart from cheese there are the obvious mik, cream and yoghurt. Everyone has thier own favourites. For me I love my cappucinos. After some experimentation I have discovered that Soy Milk makes the best cappucinos. Its not half bad and now i barely notice the difference. If your local coffee shop does not stock it - just keep asking if they do soy milk, and eventually they will relent. Most chain coffee shops have it and if not its worth asking them why not - sometimes they will even run out and get some - its happened to me!

The only other real time I have milk is on my cereal. For this I prefer Rice Milk. I have found it goes off before I can use it all though. So I buy small packs (waitrose stock them) or even mini individual cartons. That way I am not constantly throwing it away, which I ended up doing the first few weeks. There are also options like oat milk and coconut milk, even hemp milk.

For Cream I have two recommendations I work well with. Firstly is Provamel's Soy cream. I have actually been using it long before the gallstones as its a great one to have in the cupbaord. Great for cooking with too! Higly recommended. The other one I have discovered is oatly. Its an oat milk cream, really good for cooking and also for desserts. I have also fund the coconut milk or coconut cream great for cooking with too, and for making fabulous dairy free desserts! Sometime I'll share my coconut ice cream recepie - it amazing!

Yoghurt wise. These days it easy to find the fresh ones in the yoghurt aisle now. These are so much better than the pastuerised ones. I find the Alpro Soy one very good and I use it in lieu of yoghurt or sour cream. Great for dips or on cereal.

I'd also recommend Alpro soy's custard. They do large packs of vanilla and smaller packs of vanilla, chocolate, forest fruits or caramel.

Good Fat, Bad fat.....

Not all fat is bad!! Its amazing how many people have been telling me on my detox how I must be avoiding salad dressings, how can I cook without oil etc. I have to say I have learnt a lot about food on this adventure. But I have learnt a lot about fat. Not calories. That for me is the blessing about this detox - no calories to count, ask me how many calories are in a carrot or a piece of carrot cake and I am so NOT your man. The trick is to find the foods that are good for your body and eat them.

For a good diet in general your body needs fat!! One of the most useful books I found so far has been Ian Marber's book "The Food Doctor - Everyday Diet" mostly becasue he explains things succinctly and clearly. One of his key statements is that you need to "Eat Fat to LooseFat" mad as it sounds it makes perfect sense. ou give your body fats it can process easily and avoid the fats that clog up your system and stick to your ribs! So less saturated fats, less cholesterol - more essential fats such as Omega 3 and 6 rich fats. Seeds oils and cold pressed oils are prefect for this. So Olive Oil, Flax Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Pumpkin Seed Oil, Peanut Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Safflower Oil... all sorts are out there for you to experiment with. Some are great for cooking with - others make fab salad dressings or dipping oils.

Water - Make sure you drink enough......

I have become firm freinds with my Britta Water Filter!! One of the most important things in a detox is to make sure you drink enough water the general advice is 6 cups of water (about 1 litre) a day. Here are some of my top tips.

Fill up your water filter every day and make sure you have drunk all of it by the time you go to bed. I have a 1 litre Britta Filter.

Try not to drink super freezing water. It can be far too much of a shock to the system.

Hot - or warm teas are great for the system. I grow mint in my garden. A fresh ginger mint tea is delicious and great for the digestion. Just add a few leaves of ginger mint (or whatever mint you have in your garden) to a cup of boiling water and let it infuse for a couple of minutes. I usually leave my too cool for 5 mins or after 1 minute add a littel cool water so as not to drink it too hot. The mint tea is also fabulous cold with ice.

Another favourite is ginger tea. This is another one that is great hot or cold. Shave some fresh ginger root into a cup and add boiling water. Leave to steep a few minutes and drink. Again ginger is great for the digestion. It is also wonderful at freshening your breath.


I have been trying to make sure I drink between meals and not glug all my water with my meal. This can make it harder to digest your food. At first it feels like a crazy amount of water but its good! My skin is healthier, I feel more awake and the great thing is I used to suffer quite badly from migraines but it turns out they must have been due to de-hydration - which I had been told can casue headaches. Since the detox I have not had a single migraine and I used to get one or two a month!

The Detox Diet so far.....

This detox of mine has been doing some amazing things to my body. It is 3 months today since I finally gave in and admitted I might need to see a Dr. It turned out what I thought might be some sort of random recurrent food poinsoning turned out in fact to be gallstones. Anyway to cut a long story short I embarked on a detox to try to sort my body as it was clearly trying to tell me something, and all the comments of well you know "fair fat and 40" stung a bit even though I did not consider myself to be either fat or 40 (a few years to go yet!) so I decided it was time to get of my admittedly not small bottom and do something about it.

So three months later and I have lost 3 stone (42lbs) and dropped 3 dress sizes.Half my wardrobe is now on ebay whilst I try to find clothes in a size 10 (6 US) that will fit me these days. I have to say I feel tons healthier. Last week I achieved my "normal" BMI level I am now at 24.9 and it still seems to be dropping. So for my long term health this can only be a good thing. I am literally vanishing. The whoops of joy when I fitted into a pair of size 10 jeans for the first time since I was 20 was hilarious! I've never been particularly miserable with my shape or size, admittedly I was a size 16 but I htink I carried it fairly well and dressed in a way that never made me feel fat, but looking at the BMI scale was quite scary at my old BMI level I was considered to be pretty overweight.

So as I am visually vanishing loads of people keep asking what I have done to loose the weight. People have talked to me lots about calorie counting, GI and other stuff. Honestly I'd consider what I have done to be much easier, becasue Ihave not counted calories, or worked outthe GI levels of different foods or anything like that. The detox programme I have followed has evolved as time has gone on - but essentially it just consists of cutting out food groups for a period of time. I started out my looking at the book "The Liver Detox Diet" by Xandria Williams - I have to admit I did not try any of her recipes but I took the premise from her ofthe food groups to cut out and took it from there. The idea is that you cut out particular food groups and then re-introduce then gradually over a period of time. She recommends re-introducing a food group every two weeks so you can monitor your body's response and check for any sensitivities to particular food groups.

So for those who wanted to know heres what I've been up to. I'll post some of my recipes I've been living off too - although there are some on here already!

The First Two Weeks...

This bit is the hardest and I'll have to admit I cut out more than these groups as I had the gallstones to consider too, but you don't need to! And lets be sensible here - you should of course talk to your Dr before embarking on a weight loss programme blah blah blah... you know the score :)

Why cut out food groups? Essentially you are making freinds with your liver. If your liver can process food properly - your less at risk from stomach, liver and gallbladder realted illnesses and if your liver can process food properly your less likely to put on weight - its like tuning a car - it runs better and more efficiently if you clean it out regularly.

Cut out the following food groups to begin with - it sounds like a lot to start with, but if you really are serious about a detox you need to do it properly - but cutting them all out then re-introducing them slowly with a week or two's break between each re-introduction. You are giving your liver a chance to jumpstart and heal itself. Don't worry its not forever!:

Wheat - this means that it pretty much cuts out snacking and most processed food. Cutting out wheat is very hard to contemplate - but honestly once your there you can survive, and actually if you can put your doubts aside and try some new things there are some really tasty things you can have. My only advice is don't get too carried away with too many of the gluten free substitues as many of them are very sugar packed. Don't forget wheat sneaks into most pre packed food, gravy, soup, cutting out wheat involves lots of label reading! But it is really not as bad as it sounds. I'm sure that cutting out wheat has been one of the key reasons I have lost as much weight as I have so far.


Dairy - Yes this is another tricky one to cut out - but the good it does you is untold! Think what it will do to your cholesterol levels to give your body a break fro a while! We really not meant to consume the amount of dairy that we do anyway, and giving your body a break from dairy will do untold amount of good. For me I'd say wheat and dairy were the two power houses when it came to loosing the weight. There are plenty of substitutes available - or simply try something else completely. Soy cream cheese is pretty good, there are cream substitutes if you can't do without cream in your cooking - so far I have found the soy and oat cream ones very successful and there is rice milk, soy milk (watch out for ones with too much sugar) or even oat milk or just plain water! Its really not as hard as it sounds!

Meat - Give your body a break from meat products for a while. Much meat we eat is packed with cholesterol, the meaty fats that our digestive system has to break down. Cutting out meat is much easier than I had expected - there are so many delicious recipes out there!!

Eggs - For the initial stages of the detox cutting out eggs along with the other dairy and meat products gives your body a good cleanse.

Caffiene - I know coffe is great - believe me I missed it at forst, but I haven't had any in 3 months now and I am coping surpisingly well!

Alcohol - Yes I know - but its worth it!

Refined Sugars - This one was not really too hard to be honest. I never took sugar in tea anyway - only if I was starving hungry and needed a boost. And once you have cut out wheat your pretty well cutting out most things with refined sugars.

Processed Foods - I have my mum to thank for this one. She taight y sister and I to cook from a young age and she cooked most things from scratch. For me its always been the best way to go about it. I know for others it can be hard to give up the jar sauces and the easy ready meals - but the huge difference it makes to your body is so worth it!

Chocolate - Yes REALLY!!


Managing your detox:

I'd recommend if you are going to do a detox you'd be best to get a book like "The liver detox plan" to give you some guidance. You may also find it is best to chat things over with your doctor. The trick of a detox is that it is not a diet in so much as you are not starving yourself, or not allowing yourself yo eat fully. You are simply cutting out the foods which your body needs a break from, and finding those that either you need to cut out long term or that perhaps your body needs to have in moderation.

As you re-introduce each food type you need to look at your body's reaction to that food. Re-introduce slowly over several days, and look carefully at your bowel movements, your stomach - how gassy are you, do you feel lethargic, do you feel sluggish? Or even are you feeling itchy or bloated? Sometimes this can be a way of discovering an intolerance to a food group or type. For me I discovered the foods that trigger my particular gall stone attacks. They were dairy fats (particularly when heated as in a creamy sauce or cheesy pizza) and meat fats - so no more chorizo, sausages, streaky bacon, fatty lamb or duck... But I have to say that avoiding these has done me the world of good. Now I am a UK size 10 and when I started this I was a size 16 pushing a size 18!!

A Day in my Detox...

Well - this period of cutting out whole food groups will not last for ever. My plan is in two months I will start re-introducing the remainong food groups I have cut out - namely Wheat / Dairy and Meat. I am also off Caffiene, Alcohol and (sob) Chocolate. I will re-introduce them over a period of time - then I can see how my body reacts to each food type. Then I will need to stick t a low fat diet - pretty much forever unless I want surgery!

Anyway at the moment the detox is not too bad. Here is a sample of the type of thing I am eating each day.

1) First thing in the morning:
A cup of hot water with a slice of lemon and a slice of fresh ginger root, before I eat or drink anything else. Its supposed to be great for detox and just as an everyday habit.

2) Breakfast:
A small bowl of Munchy Seeds Granola with either some rice milk or all by itself.
A Glass of fresh made smoothie

3) Snack:
A couple of Dr Karg's Spelt and Seed Crackers with a smear of Toffuti Vegan Cream Cheese or a Smear of Pumpkin Seed Butter.
A cup of detox tea.

4) Lunch:
A light vegetable / noodle soup.
A piece of fruit.
A glass of water.

5) Snack:
A few nibbles of Munchy Seeds Original Mix - or a few nibbles of some nuts and Raisins.

6) Dinner
Steamed Vegetables, Oriental Steamed Salmon Parcel, Brown Steamed Rice

Home-made Hummus

I have loved hummus for a long time. Its delicious and has the added advantage of being really good for you. My little one is completely addicted to it and would happily scoff a whole pot of it with some crudites. In fact she did this evening. When she heard I was making hummus she begged to be able to help and to have her favourite snack for supper and she snaffled quite a bit of it.

Over the years I have tried a few recipes for hummus (many completely unsuccessful!) I have come to the conclusion that many of the recipies I made in the past were quicky recipies and were lazy versions so as a result were not up to scratch for me. I dreamed of being able to make a hummus as delicious as the one served in one of my favourite resteraunts "Marroush" - I can't mention the place without my mouth watering for one of thier hot chicken and garlic flatbread sandwiches. I'll be eternally greateful to Ali and Wissam for introducing me to Marroush and to Middle Eastern Cuisine when I was at college.

Through my hit and miss attempts at making it, I have discovered that authentic hummus is always made from well cooked chick peas (known as garbanzo beans to some) and many of the quicky recipies I had tried involved tinned chick peas uncooked. YUK! This often results in a too starchy stiff unpleasantly sour hummus.
So I now make it from dried chickpeas (ok I know they need soaking over night - but really how hard is it to pop them in a dish of water and soak them?) I also discovered that an authentic hummus does not contain both olive oil and tahini. It has one or the other. Now feel free to add what makes it to your taste, but if you want to be authentic then try the two differing flavours, its worth a try. Traditional hummus' real full name would be Hummus bi Tahine! If you are on a weight loss programme you might go for Hummus with Tahini and no Olive oil as opposed to the Hummus with Tahini and Olive oil option, although bear in mind the calories in the tahini!

Home-made Hummus


1 1/2 cups dried chickpeas(garbanzo beans)
1/4 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup lemon juice
Olive oil, Parsley, Paprika, Roasted Garlic or Cumin to garnish

Soak the chickpeas overnight in water. Drain the water, heat in a pan with enough water to cover by at least one inch add a pinch of salt. If you have the patience you can peel the outer skins off each chickpea (a simple squeeze will do it) This will take most of the bitterness from your hummus and make it very smooth. Bring to a boil, skim any residue off the surface, then simmer until the chickpeas are tender, this should take about 1 1/2 hours.

N.B. For quickie Hummus with tinned chickpeas as above but you will only need to simmer the chickpeas for abour 15 minutes.

I have found that using raw garlic gives a fresher tate, whereas roasted garlic gives a much richer, gentler taste. So depending on your taste choose either roasted or raw garlic to use below. If you have the time use my roasted garlic recipe below and squeeze a few roasted cloves into your hummus mix in place of the raw garlic cloves.

Crush your garlic, add the tahini (you may prefer to use a similar amount of extra virgin olive oil if you prefer tot he tahini) and lemon juice and either with a mortar and pestle or a food processor create a smooth sauce. Add the chickpeas and whizz with a food processor (keep the cooking liquid) the longer you process this the better and smoother your end result will be! Add the liquid a bit at a time to achive the consistency you prefer. Authentic hummus is quite liquid not at all clumpy or solid as some shop bought , dry hummus seems to be.You may prefer for taste to use a mixture of cooking liquid and extra virgin olive oil to thin. It really depends on your taste buds.

To serve: In Middle Eastern Cuisine hummus is spread in a shallow bowl and served with a drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with cumin, paprika, whole chick peas or pasrley. Serve with pitta bread, flat bread and crudites.

Another variation I like is to toast about 1 tsp of cumin seeds in a pan and crush them in with the tahini and garlic. This gives a different but delicious taste.

I hope you enjoy it. Miss Small and I adore it - and it has helped her to begin enjoying raw vegetables our favourites include chopped carrots, bell pepper sticks, sugar snap peas, cucumber, brocilli spears, cauliflower spears, all sorts really. We love to eat this with cous cous, quino, jacket potatoes, salads and all sorts of other delicious stuff.

Here is also my Roasted Garlic Recipe. Its gorgeous fresh from the oven, squidged over vegetables, added to hummus, eaten with Mezze. All in all its mouth watering. It can also be made int oa sauce and will keep for a couple of weeks in a jar in the fridge.

Roasted Garlic

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin. Leave the inner skins of each clove intact. Slice off the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.

Use a cupcake or muffin pan and place a garlic head in each hole. Drizzle olive oil over each garlic head, smear to make sure each head is covered well. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 200C / 400F / GM 6 for about 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves are tender.

once you have doen this you can use it a a huge range of dishes. Even if you thought you did not like garlic, roating it makes it sweeter and much more delicious. You might find you are converted!!

Smoothie of the day

I am having lots of smoothies at the moment. They are an easy and delicious way of having lots of fruit and vegetables. Also my little one enjoys them too - so its doubly good for me as I am eating healthily for my detox but also helping her hit her 5 a day targets as well. This morning's was delicious!




Smoothie of the day.

2 cups frozen summer fruits
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup fresh blueberries,
1 Kiwi - peeled and sliced
1 banana - peeled and sliced
1/4 honeydew melon peeled and chopped
3 tsp Aloe Vera Juice
1 cup of water (to thin texture)

The method is easy - stick it in your whizzer and whizz away. I use water to thin rather than juice as I am trying to avoid too much processed stuff for the detox and fresh is better. Sometimes I thin it a bit more for my little one who is not so keen on the super thick texture as me!

Breakfast this morning was lovely - so lovely in fact that my little one stole ALL of the honey dew melon I had sliced for us to share - so I had to go back for more. She also chose the seeds we had this morning. Munchy Seeds Original Mix (as pictured in the dish) its a mixture of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds in thier special sauce. Lovely.

First things first.... I have started over the last few weeks  - every morning - having a "tea" made from hot water, a slice of lemon and a slice of fresh ginger root. This is supposed ot be a great way to start your body off every morning - not just in detox phase. Its also good for healthy Gallbladder function which I need to think about right now. Hot water is aparently better to get your body rolling than cold. I'll be trying to remember to stick to it!

Healthier Wild Mushroom Bruschetta Recipe

 I had a lovely lunch today. Yesterday in the shops I found some forgaged wild mushrooms and thought how nice it would be to do a bruschetta with them. A low fat, gluten free, vegan bruschetta can't be that hard and should be delicious - and sure enough it was. You could of course use wheat bread, real parmesan and a regular pesto and go a bit more crazy with the oil or butter but I used the alternatives and it was fast easy and delicious! I wonder if hubby would venture to try it - he's not really big on mushrooms - hence why I eat them more when he is away!

I used a wheat free ciabatta I found in Waitrose, some Vegan Pesto from Nature's Corner in Newbury, and some Vegan Parmesan found at Tesco's. Its amazing when you look how many alternative are in the larger supermarkets. I am quite impressed! Although I am on a low fat diet some oils are essential and I have a variety I can use to keep my body on track. Flax Seed Oil is rich in Omegas 3 and 6 and is has a wide range of health benefits, another great one is Pumpkin Seed Oil is also packed with health benefits and is said to be particularly good for men suffering from embarrasing disfunctions - aparently the Austrians go wild for it! This is why I have chosen these types of oils as my salad oils rather than only extra virgin olive oil although I do still use it on salads it depends on my mood! The only thing to note is never try to cook with an oil like flax seed as it burns too quickly and like any oil that has burnt becomes carcinogenic.

Think I may have to try this out on my friend tomorrow when we meet for lunch, Anyway - heres the recipe it only takes a few minutes and its delicious!

Healthier Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

Ingredients 
A drizzle of olive oil to brown the mushroom
2 cups sliced wild mushrooms (or you could also portabello or any type of large flat mushroom)
4 thick slices of ciabatta (Italian crusty bread)—or use baguette sliced on the diagonal instead
1 clove garlic - crushed
1 tsp Pesto
A drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar
A drizzle of a salad oil - I use either Munchy Seeds Pumpkin Seed Oil or the Food Doctor's Omega Oil

Directions :

Heat you drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring regularly. While the mushrooms are cooking, toast the ciabatta.


Stir the pesto into the mushroom mix, then spoon equal amounts on top of each bruschetta. Garnish with chopped fresh basil leaves and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle each bruschetta with balsamic vinegar and a small drizzle of your chosen salad oil.

You could also use some parmesan shavings to garnish. Serve immediately.

Of course when I made it I forgot the basil - although there was plenty in the pesto it would be yummy with some fresh basil too!

Butternut & Buckwheat Risotto with Munchy Seeds

One of the aspects of this diet is being Wheat Free. It can make eating really boring, especially if you just stick to rice. Now don't get me wrong I love rice, but too much of a good thing is what can cause food sensitivities in the first place. I am equally trying to make sure that I don't OD on too much soy which could also be bad for me. I don't think the answer to this is to eat tofu and rice every day, yesteday was a little Soy/Tofu heavy - so I am trying to keep myself in check. No soy today.... I'm going for seeds instead Munchy Seeds! Well they are whats in my cupboard and they are fab!

Anyway Tofu aside I've been eating a lot of rice too, rice itself (of course) but also rice flour, rice milk... so I figured I should try out some of the alternative gluten free grains that are out there. So.. today's experiment is Buckwheat. I was pretty sure that Buckwheat would make a great risotto - with a bit of research online I found a few recipies and was all set to experiment and create my own - so this is an alternate version of one of my favourite winter warmers. For my first effort I'm going to try a buckwheat and rice mix... then if its good I might try a full on Buckwheat extravaganza!

So this recipe is a Vegetarian / Dairy Free / Low Fat / Gluten Free recipe, but I have also given a few ideas for the non vegans amongst you and to be honest it really is pretty yummy!

Butternut & Buckwheat Risotto with Munchy Seeds
Serves 4

Ingredients

1/2 a medium butternut squash - diced
a drizzle of Olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
200g (1 cup) Arborio rice (preferably brown)
200g (1 cup) whole raw buckwheat ( I found mine in Waitrose)
1L (4 cups) vegetable stock
2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs chives/basil/oregano
2 tbsp Munchy Seeds (You could go for the the Mix of your Choice - I'd use either the Naken Mix or you could try the Chilli or Cajun Mix for a spicy bite!)

Method

Heat oil in a pan, add the onion and cook over low heat until softened. Add the crushed garlic, rice and buckwheat and stir to coat in oil and toast lightly.

In another pan prepare your stock. Add the butternut squash to your stock - or simply add water instead of stok and use the squash juices as your vegetable stock. Have your stock simmering and ready to be used.

Add 250ml (1cup) of your stock to the buckwheat and rice mixture and stir over a low to medium heat until the stock is absorbed. Add the remaining stock 125ml (1/2 cup) at a time stirring continuously, allow each ladle of stock to be absorbed before adding the next one, until rice is just tender - do not let the rice get too soft or it looses it's edge and makes a less than satisfactory risotto. Stir in butternut and half the fresh herbs with the last ladle of stock. The butternut will begin to msuh down slightly which adds a lovely orangy sauce to the risotto. Remove from the heat and cover with lid for 5 minutes.

N.B. For non Vegan readers - you could also add a tablespoon of cream and grate some freshly grated parmesan into the risotto in the last stage to add a richer creamy flavour. 3

You could of course also use this as a side dish for the meat of your choice.


Let me know if you try it and like it!

Enjoy! xx

Oriental Inspired Vegetable and Noodle Soup

I  think I mentioned the other day how much I had enjoyed the soups I had during my month's sojourn in Korea. I decided today to make a vegetable soup with some rice noodles - something I saw often in Korea. This recipe does not pretend to be authentic but it was really quick and easy to make and was both light and satisfying at the same time. I think that my little one would enjoy it too (I made it for my lunch while she was at school.) I may have to try it out on her this weekend.


Oriental Inspired Vegetable and Noodle Soup

1 pint vegetable stock
2 tsp dark tamari soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
200g thin rice noddles
1/2 a thick grated carrot
About 10 chopped french beans
A sprinkle of enoki mushrooms
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
A sprinkle of bean sprouts

Bring your stock to the boil in a pan. Add the rice noodles, carrot and french beans and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the soy, rice vinegar, chilli, mushrooms and seeds and cook for a further minute. Serve in a soup bowl and sprinkle with bean sprouts.

You could obviously spice t up with stronger chilli or chilli flakes. Or perhaps a dash of Nam Pla or Holy Basil Sauce for a more Thai spicy feel.

All in all a very satisfying lunch!

Mushroom Risotto Vegan or just vegetarian your choice!

I love Mushrooms and rice is one of the few things I can eat with no problems. I am being careful to make sure I eat enough fibre at the moment so am opting more and more for brown rice when it is available. Its harder to find brown risotto rice but if you persist it out there. I get mine from my local health food store.

I am not sure if my small person will like this as she is often suspicious of mushrooms, but I can guarantee if I threw in chicken or diced beef she'd be all over it! I suppose you could beef this recipie up with tofu if you were a vegetarian and in the need for more of a protein fix!

Vegan Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients

1 tbsp dried porcini mushrooms
A drizzle of olive oil
1 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
225g/8oz chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1/4 pint water
350g/12oz arborio rice (preferably brown)
1.2 litres/2 pints hot vegetable stock
2 tbls cream (or soy cream replacer if doing it vegan style)
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (dried will do at a push but its not quite the same)
freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve (or vegan parmesan cheese replacer)

Method

Soak the mushrooms in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain well if you want the risotto very mushroomy then keep the mushroom water to use later - otherwise its lovely as a base for a Miso Soup.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy based saucepan and add the onion and garlic. Fry over a gentle heat for 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add the mushrooms and fry for a further 2-3 minutes, until browned, rhis gives them a better flavour.

Stir in the rice and coat in the oil. Pour in the mushroom water (or 1/4 pint of plain water) and simmer, stirring, until the liquid has been absorbed. Add a ladleful of the stock and simmer, stirring again, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue adding the stock in this way, until all the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is plump and tender, this takes a while but its worth it otherwise your risotto can get over soggy.

Chop the soaked mushrooms and stir in, along with the basil and the cream (or soy cream). Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese or the Vegan Cheese replacer

I had this meal with my favourite Alpro Soy cream and the Soy Parmesan Cheese replacer I bought the other day and lo and behold it was pretty damn good even if I do say so myself. This detox diet is getting easier the more delicious food I discover!

Munchy Seed Salad

A couple of years ago in my professional capacity I worked with a company called "Munchy Seeds" to create the painted "Hand Animals" that grace their colourful packaging. Bodypainter by day - food blogger by night... I've always loved the packaging they created with my work and the nice thing is I also love their products. I've never tired of finding them in a shop and being secretly chuffed. With my current diet they are a fabulous thing to snack on in between meals. Seeds are something I htink is vital to support this type of vegan diet. So I've been adding to and consuming my supply. They come in lots of flavours: there are plain Pumpkin Seeds (Naked Mix), Omega Seeds Mix, Cajun Mix, Vanilla Mix and lots of others too. The vanilla pumpkin seeds are especially good for assuaging a sweet craving which is great for me as too much refined sugar is a no no on this diet.



I have been using them on my salads with great effect. My favourite to use is the Omega Mix which over the past couple of weeks I have been merrily scattering on many of my salads to give them an extra boost!



Although my 5 year old will not eat seeds in salad and is perennially suspicious of seeds in bread she loves eating Munchy Seeds as they come straight from the tub - which amazed me, but who am I to complain. It helps that they make cute little lunchbox size packs.

If you have not come across thier goods yet then give them a go. Thier website is www.munchyseeds.co.uk or you can get them at Waitrose and most good Health Food Stores and Farm shops!

Cheese Craving!

I suppose I'll have to admit that one of the reasons I have found myself here in the throes of Gallbladder Disease is my love of cheese. Its wonderful. I love all different types of cheese, good cheese - mind you none of this processed nonsense! Strong Cheddar, Chevre, Brie and Camembert, Blue Cheeses like Stilton and Gorgonzola - you name it I love it! So you can imagine how difficult to follow this detox diet and go dairy free. I can live without Ice Cream, Milk, Cream etc - but not cheese. My Waitrose trip did not produce any vegan cheese. I knew it existed - but where to find it? Then I remembered a small health food store in Marlborough. I made my way over there dreaming of something that might assuage my cheese cravings only to find they had not had their delivery due to the deep snow and they had dissapointingly empty refridgerator shelves - NO CHEESE!!!

I sulked all the way home vowing to search online to find something available somewhere nearby. I did discover a wealth of vegan "cheese" online available to order and relatively inexpensive - but after selecting a few different types to try I discovered that the shipping cost over over £6 - which was ridiculous. So I sulked some more refusing to spend so much on shipping and consoled myself with a raspberry and mango smoothie. The next day I had to go to Newbury (some 20 miles away) in a search for Duck Feed as the delivery lorry for that had not made it to Marlborough either. With the snow on the roads and lots of ice, the journey to over twice the time it usually does and getting the duck feed to the car was torturous as I had to carry the huge sacks quite a long was as there was a snowed in lorry was blocking the road to the feed store. I did remember though that there was a good healthfood store (Natures Corner) in Newbury, and guess what they were crammed with cheeses of all different types as well as lots of other things - like egg replacer, lovely Dr Karg Spelt Crackers, Oatcakes, and other goodies - I say goodies - well they are to me in my deprived state! So I have stocked up on Toffutti Cream Cheese - plain and garlic and herb, Sheese Mature Cheddar, Cheezely Hard Cheddar, Sheese Blue Cheese, Paremesan and a cheese sauce mix.

So as I type this I am snacking on a few of the delicious Dr Karg Spelt and Poppy Seed Crackers - topped with Toffutti Vegan Cream "Cheese" with Garlic and Herbs. Yum (ish.) Actually in all honesty its really very good, I may have to go back for a second helping - are second helpings allowed on this detox - I don't think so... oh well - everything in moderation! My next test for it is to use it in cooking and see how it shapes up - time will tell but at least I've an inkling of cheese and for now its sorted out my craving!

Reports on the other cheese replacers to follow but so far - so good!

Griddled Portobello Mushroom and Basil Tofu with wilted spinach on a seeded bun with salad.

Well I am home safely from Korea and made it home without falling foul of the dreaded Gallstone attack again. Now I am back on British soil I've been trying to fill my cupboards with food I can eat!! I spent a good half an hour stripping my freezer of all the yummy meals I had made and frozen for lazy days - as of course I cannot eat them at the moment in this detox phase and I thought it best not to leave them there to tempt me. So they are now languishing in the depths of the deep freeze in the garage.

In restocking my cupboards I spent a good 3 hours in Waitrose (our local supermarket) checking labels for wheat, meat, dairy, eggs oh and low fat.... They must have thought I was some mad bag lady. In the end I came out with a trolley packed with what I hope are yummy things.

My first meal of this new revolution was my lunch on returning home.



Griddled Portobello Mushroom and Basil Tofu with wilted spinach on a seeded bun with Lentil Salad and leaves.

Ingredients:
1 large portobello mushroom
1 slice of basil laced tofu
1 scoop of lentil and red pepper salad
1 bun (I used a gluten free seeded bun)
A handful of baby spinach leaves
Salad leaves
Chopped tomato, cucumber, red pepper
Balsamic Vinegar

Admittedly you don't have to go gluten free on this. You could have a lovely chiabatta roll or some french baguette or just a wholemeal bun - but I was pleasantly surprised to find some seeded gluten free buns which although looked a slightly strange texture - after toasting were wonderful.

The tofu was a lovely surprise. I wasn't sure about flavoured Tofu but I will definately be back for more. I sliced off a thin piece (burger sized) and griddled it with a small spritz of olive oil. The Portobello mushroom was also griddled in the same pan. I found it worked well to griddle the tofu and mushroom for about 5 minutes, then remove the tofu add a tiny amount of water onto the mushroom place the spinach onto the mushroom and pop a lid over the pan to steam the mushroom and wilt the spinach for about 1 minute.

Put the Tofu and the mushroom into the bun put the spinach on the top. Then put your salad onto the plate along with the lentil and red pepper salad which I admit was bought ready to eat and drizzle with balsamic vinegar (you may use Extra Virgin Olive Oil as well but I am limiting my fat intake carefully.

Ok so I admit some of this was cheated as it was bought rather than cooked from scratch but it was delicious. The best bit was the portobello mushroom. It was absolutely delicious. Even the lentil salad was good and I have always been a reluctant lentil eater. Possibly I could look back over my childhood to a particular dish "Red Dragon Pie" which I seem to remember involving lentils and aduki beans - it was awful to my childhood palate (although I am sure i would like it now with my grown up tastebuds) but back then it was pure torture and really clouded my ability to consume pulses for decades to come.

Anyway this is not much of a recipe more of a serving suggestion - but surprisingly good all the same! Enjoy!!

Miso Soup

In Korea eating foods that were vegan, wheat free and low in fat was not too tricky as a lot of thier cuisine is influenced by Japanese food. While I was there I had some really delicious soups and decided to find out more. The soup I had loved to much was a White Miso Soup so on my return I decided to find out more.

Miso essentially is a mixture os a broth base (Dashi) and Miso Paste with various additons such as Spring Onions, Tofu or Seaweed you can also have a Miso based soup with some light noodles in it to make it a little more filling. Miso is a comforting soup but not too heavy or thick (I have a textural problem with very grainy soups) The ones we had in Korea my 5 year old loved. The reseraunt we went to had a great set up where you essentially created your own Miso Soup of choice. I wish I had had the presence of mind to take a photo. It would be fabulous to do at a dinner party or event where you wanted to give your guests choice. There were three pots of soup to choose from, one was a fish broth, one was a sea vegetable (seaweed) broth and the last was a light pale garlic broth. You chose your broth and served yourself into your soup bowl, then you added your choices of fillings. There were little dishes of different things you could add, chopped spring onions, enoki mushrooms, diced tofu, chilli flakes, a spicy soy mixture, udon noodles, or long thin rice noodles, and an array of spices and things that I was unsure of what they were. We dined tere several times and I got to try and cerate a variety of soups - it really gave me lots of ideas for healthy but delicious soups.




Whilst I have not got around to making one from fresh yet I have found an instant vegan version it is a white miso soup with tofu and spring onions. I had it for lunch today and it was surprisingly good. Not as good as the delicious homemade soups I had in Korea. Having road tested this instant one I think I'd rather not give it to my little one as it is a little too salty for her palette but once I make my own I'll endeavour to make it less salty and I'm sure she will lap it up. But give me a week or two and I'll be trying out some of the Miso ingredients I have found online and making my own, that is if the delivery man can brave the snow!

The "keep Gallstones at bay" diet so far....

Well the good news is that so far the diet is working... its my "eat like a rabbit or go back to hospital diet"!

I have discovered that foods that are bad for my gallbladder disease are:

Eggs, pork, onion, fowl, milk, coffee, oranges, grapefruit, corn, beans, nuts, in that order.
Trans fats
Hydrogenated, partially-hydrogenated oils
Margarine
Fried Foods
Saturated fats
(even coconut oil until feeling better)
Red meats
Dairy products
Eggs
Coffee, regular or decaf
Chocolate
Ice cream
Black tea
Alcohol, beer, wine, liqueur
Fruit juice
Carbonated water
Tap water
Turnips
Cabbage, cauliflower
Colas and all sodas
Oats (for some people)
Wheat
Barley
Rye
All legumes (beans) as they tend to increase the cholesterol in the bile.
Avoid all artificial sweeteners, sugar, preservatives, refined and bleached foods (like white flour)
Many steamed greens like collard, mustard and kale, also brussel sprouts and broccoli seem to be a problem for some people. Greens (and especially kale and brussel sprouts) are used by the liver to detoxify.

Its a big list - but get the list of good foods.... top of the list is my LEAST favourite food!!! Beetroot!!!!! EEEEWWWWWWWwwww!

Beetroot (YUK!)
Cucumbers
Green beans - are NOT the same as dried
Okra
Sweet potatoes
Avocados - a good way to get needed fats directly from food
Vinegars all types
Garlic and onions help with liver cleansing but not processed types like flakes or powder.
Shallots
Tomatoes - ripe
cold water fish
Lemons (lemon juice in the morning with hot water helps to clean the liver)
Grapes and fresh organic grape juice
apples, berries, papaya, pears
Omega 3 oils like flax or hemp. Use these with fresh lemon juice or vinegar on your salads.

Vegetable juices - Beet and cucumber are especially helpful to gallbladder You can add other green vegetables like tender baby greens, swiss chard, dandelion greens, beet greens, celery, carrots -- avoid the cabbage family)

Avoid all fruit juices except organic grape juice and organic apple (self-juiced is best).




So essentially I have had a lot of soups, and smoothies of fruits and vegetables. I am gutted that I can't even have my favourite things like hummus, and the things that would normally frame a vegan diet. This is going to be very tricky!

I have managed to find a way of hiding beetroot in a shake and not noticing it. My first attempt was HORRIBLE but I gagged it down. Its because I really hate beetroot. My mum always used to cook it and leave it in the fridge in tupperware containers certain in the knowledge would keep the smell in, IT DIDN"T!!!! The smell and TASTE of beetroot would permeate the fridge leaching its way into anything that allowed it - the worst hit was always the milk which would take on a strange beetroot taste and cheese which would carry a beetroot tang.... My whole family except my Mum now loathe beetroot - loathe it with a passion. To this day we all shudder when faced with one! And now its one of the few things I can actually eat.

The good news is I can now eat Nightshades (potatoes/tomatoes etc...) and raw vegetables again having cut them out for almost 2 weeks so this makes life easier. Although I have lost over a stone (15lbs) in 10 days which is incredible. I am soooooo hungry though!!!



Well Hidden Beetroot and Berry Smoothie! Serves 3

1 table spoon of beetroot puree (see below to make)
1 cup of raspberries (frozen will do if out of season for all the berries although fresh is better!)
1 cup strawberries
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blue berries
1 peeled and diced apple
1 peeled and diced pear (ripe)
1/2 cup peeled and diced cucumber
1/4 cup aloe vera goop (see picture above)

First things first to made the beetroot puree - peel and grate a whole beetroot - steam it for about 8 minutes until tender then puree into a smooth paste. Store this is a radioactive proof dish in your fridge - do not - repeat DO NOT trust tupperware to do this. If its all you have then wrap your tupperware container when full of the radio active puree in foil then wrap this in a zip lock back and then your family will not be emotionally scarred for generations to come!!

To make the Aloe Vera Goop take one Aloe Vera leaf, remove the rind to get at the jellyfish like flesh inside. I found running a knife just under the skin a bit like skinning a fish works well. Dice and whizz in a food processer. Bottle this juicy goop and use it vour a few days in your smoothies

The rest is simple - chuck in all into a food processor and whiz until pureed. My little one prefers a little juice added to make it to her preferred consistency. I use apple and raspberry copella juice.

Its pretty tasty even if I say so myself........