I've been tango'd!

Remember the TV advertisements in the UK with the orange man saying "you've been tango'd"?  That's how I've been feeling this week.  You see we leave for England today and I hate to see any of our homegrown fruit go to waste, so I've been busy dehydrating more oranges!

Using a mandoline to slice all the fruit, leaves me smelling strongly of oranges, but also, as they dehydrate, the whole house smells of them! I tried leaving the door closed in the room where the dehydrator was, but when I went in to check on them, it was quite heady and over powering!!!  Made you definitely feel like you had been tango'd!

Even by the time I went to bed, all I could smell was oranges!

But I have to say, I have been loving the orange slices.  I've dipped some of them in sugar free homemade raw chocolate (78%) and they taste just like Terry's chocolate oranges!  And I love that they are crispy.

I will take a few slices back with me to the UK - for my own snacking - and also so others can have a taste.

And just in case you have no idea was being "tango'd" is all about:

 Here is one of the early adverts with the orange man:



And here is a compilation of some modern versions:




Think you may have the idea now?

Overnight oat berry breakfast parfait

While yesterday's OOO-breakfast is yummy - it is quite sweet, even though it has no added sugar - but the sweetness comes from the bananas and mango.  So I made this version of a 'pretty parfait' - OOBBP, using berries instead and changing the oats a little. If you have a sweeter tooth - you can still use this recipe but go for all strawberries - but I like a bit of tartness so added cranberries as well.

Here's the recipe: 3 servings

1/2 cup strawberries
1/2 cup cranberries (can be frozen)
1 cup gluten free oats
1 cup dairy free milk
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened organic apple sauce

Puree the strawberries and cranberries together until smooth in a food processor.

Place the oats, chia seeds, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl and stir together.  Add the apple sauce and mix thoroughly.

To assemble the parfait, divide approx. half of the oat mixture between three serving glasses/bowls.  Add a layer of strawberry/cranberry puree using approx. half of the puree.  Add the remainder of the oat mixture to make a third layer, and finally top with the remainder of the strawberry/cranberry mixture.  Top with a sprinkle of oats and chia seeds. I also added a dehydrated apple ring.

Put in the fridge overnight, during which time the oats will soften and thicken.  This will last for 3 days....if you can stop yourself eating them for lunch as well - which is what I did!

Again, this breakfast is giving you a good dose of omega 3 fatty acids from the chia seeds - and I used flax milk as well. I have found a flax milk I really like, called Good Karma Flax milk - only 25 calories  and 1200 mg omega 3 per cup serving.

You can use fresh or frozen fruit for this - and any berries that you like. I think it would be lovely with blackberries and raspberries together.  Or strawberries with cooked rhubarb - yum!

Which do you think is prettier? The mango/banana or the berry parfait?  I'd go with the berry - love that bright red coloring with the neutral colored oats.  

Overnight Omega 3 Oaty breakfast!

O-O-O breakfast!

I'm not sure if you are like me, but throughout the year, I usually stick to one of two breakfasts with maybe just varying the berries on top:    either my homemade gluten free, sugar free, granola or my homemade GF, sugar free muesli.  I think I just want to get up and not really think about creating something first thing - just reach in the cupboard, pull out my cereal and add a few sprinkles and non dairy milk and start eating.

But then I see all these pretty breakfasts in cookbooks and blogs, and all these smoothies, and I get a bit envious.  The taste of food begins very visually for me, so eating things that look good is important.  And yes, faithful granola and muesli - you do look good - but just not as "pretty" as some other breakfasts out there!

So I had the idea to try making something a bit prettier, but doing it the night before - while dinner is cooking. Then when I get up,  it'll all be ready in the fridge, and I won't even have to add milk!

And thus - two new breakfasts came about - that I made while dinner was cooking. Pretty Parfaits!  Today is the sweet mango banana version.  My Triple O breakfast!

Overnight Omega 3 oaty breakfast!

A lovely combination of oats, mangoes, bananas, flax and chia seeds and non dairy milk make up this overnight breakfast.

Part smoothie, part bircher muesli - a breakfast parfait with plenty of omega 3 essential fatty acids from the flax seeds, the chia seeds and I used flax milk as the non dairy milk!

Make it it in the evening, put it in the fridge and its ready for breakfast in the morning.

Here's the recipe (serves 2):

1 large mango or frozen mango pieces
2 bananas
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
1 cup gluten free oats
4 tablespoons chia seeds
1/3 cup flax milk or non-dairy milk


Peel the mango and cut away the flesh from the stone, or defrost if frozen, and add to a food processor with the bananas and ground flaxseed.  Blend until smooth and creamy.

In a bowl, combine the oats, chia seeds and non dairy milk, stirring well.

Pour half of the mango banana mix in the bottom of two glasses or bowls.  Top with the oat mix, and then add the remaining mango mix as a top layer.  Sprinkle with oats or chia seeds to decorate. Refrigerate overnight.  Serve cold.

Don't try and keep this more than overnight, as the banana in it begins to go a little brown.


This is a wonderful way to start your day with a great dose of omega 3 fatty acids from the flax and chia.  All too often our omega 6: omega 3 ratio is too low in omega 3s, so gives you a good dose in your first meal of the day.  Omega 3s are anti-inflammatory with lots of benefits to your health.

I used white chia seeds in this recipe as I think they look nicer, but you can use black ones instead. Nutritionally, there isn't a difference.

Tomorrow's pretty parfait is a berry parfait instead.  Stay tuned.

Take time to smell the flowers on Fridays

How long is it since you've sat on the lawn and made a daisy chain?

I hope its not too long....and maybe if it is, you'll find time this year to do just that...whether by yourself or with someone else.

I remember sitting with my sister making them when we were little - but I always got frustrated as she had nails and so could split the stems, but I used to bite my nails so couldn't ever do it!

I think with these large daisies in the photos from our garden, even without nails, I'd have been able to do it!  And think what a great big chain I could have made!

These daisies have multiplied so much. I hardly remember us having any before - but this year, they seem to just be happy showing their smiling faces to the sunshine.

I have some friends coming round for lunch tomorrow so I have some daisies for the table and also some in the napkin rings.  Don't think we'll be making daisy chains however....but you never know!!!

Did you take time to stop and smell the flowers this week?  Spending time in nature is good for our health, so how about planning a daisy chain party this year?  Invite a few friends around, sit on the lawn, chatting and making pretty little daisy chains! If you do - please invite me. I'd love to join in. :-D

Minted pea and avocado dip

We've been wondering about whether to try planting an avocado tree in our garden.....We both love avocados, and there is a variety that grows in our area....but I just worry about what we will do if we get a big crop of avocados.

With most fruit or vegetables, there are ways to preserve them and keep enjoying a bumper crop for months ahead, but I don't know of anyway to preserve avocados.  Do you?

Anyhow, while we make our decision, I made a lovely minted pea and avocado dip for our friends coming around this evening.

Here's the recipe:
1 avocado
1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas
2 brazil nuts
handful fresh mint leaves
juice of a lime
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 - 2 tablespoons water



If using frozen peas, rinse them in water to defrost them.

Add all the ingredients, except the water to a food processor and process until smooth. Check the consistency - as this will vary depending on how juicy the lime is - and add water until you get a smooth dip consistency that you like.

Serve on toast or on crackers or as a dip.

You can see in an earlier photo that I made some homemade fat free potato chips/crisps to go with it.  Just sliced potato, crispened in the microwave.

Dehydrating fruit

So here is the dehydrated fruit I made - what is left of it, and before its all gone!

Don't the oranges look nice and glossy!

And I love the waviness of the apples - like they have been gently pleated as they dried.

What is your favorite dried fruit?  I don't like pears - they turn a little gritty, and last year I did some of our green table grapes that we grew - making yummy sultanas.....Maybe I'll have to do persimmons this year... Now if only you could dry quince without cooking them.....

I wonder what my next dehydrator project will be????  Oh, if only there were more hours in the day. I love having so many ideas in my head!

Dehydrating fruit

I had an idea to try dehydrating some citrus fruit.  We are finally coming to the end of all our citrus fruit from the garden but have a few oranges left.  I've never dehydrated citrus before but thought it sounded a nice idea.

And so I sliced them thinly, and added some apples and a couple of strawberries at the same time - might as well fill the dehydrator.

I dried them until they were crispy - and all of them are delicious.

It's great to eat the whole orange - peel as well and because its sliced so thinly, it doesn't taste too bitter.

I had great plans for these crispy snacks - creating something more than just dried fruit - but we ate them before I could finish the plan! I'll have to do some more and not leave them out to be eaten!!

This really is the easiest way to
preserve apples and when our harvest starts later in the year, I know I'll be doing plenty more. You don't have to peel and core the apples - just slice using a mandolin, no need to add anything to them (so unlike bought dried apples, no sulphur or citric acid) - and then just put them in a dehydrator and forget about them for a few hours.

Easy Peasy!  Roll on apple harvest!

A Strawberry Birthday cake

Strawberries are just perfect right now. And so they were my inspiration for a birthday cake for my hubby.

There are a few strawberry fields nearby and their fruit is just heavenly.  But these fresh, unpreserved strawberries go off really quickly, so I decided to use some for the birthday cake and then dehydrate the rest for later, and for decoration.  I already had the dehydrator on for something else, so it was easy to add a couple of thinly sliced strawberries.

The recipe for the cake was a new one for me.  It came from La Tartine Gourmande - but I made a few changes.  For example I halved the recipe, didn't use butter, didn't use buttermilk, didn't use cane sugar, nor eggs.... but you get the general idea!!

Having fresh strawberries in the cake itself made it a very moist cake - you didn't need anything to go with it.  The dehydrating concentrated the strawberry flavor in the strawberry slices and gave a nice crunchy texture to the cake topping.  I'll do that again - and next time, with more than just a couple of strawberries, as they'd make a lovely snack.

The strawberry cake finished off a birthday dinner just nicely.

Take time to smell the flowers on Friday

Today's flower photos are of some of the tall, long flowers in my garden.

I love the foxgloves as it's so good to see all the bees up inside the individual flowers.  And they grow so tall.  They've spread quite a bit in our garden.

The "red" hot pokers (in this case, orange) bring back lots of childhood memories.  I used to hate them then and found them quite scary.  I used to "accidentally" hit them with my tennis racket and break them!  I still don't really care for them much, but they are in the garden, growing nicely, so I guess as I don't have a tennis racket anymore, they are safe.  Did you know their botanical name is  Kniphofia?

Hope you took time to look at the flowers this week. What did you like?

Forks over Knives

The feature film Forks over Knives was released two years ago this week. Have you seen it yet?  It is a very powerful film and seems to really get people thinking  - and subsequently changing their diet and lifestyle.

It examines the claim that most, if not all, of the chronic degenerative diseases can be controlled or even reversed by rejecting animal-based and processed foods.

If you haven't seen it already, here is a trailer:



You can watch the movie on iTunes ($9.99) or on Amazon($3.99), or if you are a Prime Amazon customer, it is free to watch.

I urge you to watch this film.  It can not only change your life, it could actually save your life - allowing you to live longer and healthier.

Belly Button Parsnip

We are taking care of our friends' dog at the moment.  Her name is Bella...or "officially", Bella Rose.

But to us, she is known affectionately by a few others including:

Bella, Bella, Bella
Belly Welly
Belly Parsnip
Buh for Bella
Bella Basket
and most recently
Belly Button and
Belly Button Parsnip

There are reasons for each - but too complicated to explain! And she responds to all of them!

Anyhow I liked her photo today on her bright fatboy bed, taking it easy!  Oh, to have the life of Belly Button Parsnip!

There are many health benefits to having a pet including increased exercise, lower blood pressure, companionship, laughter, date magnets (!)...and many more.  What is the best thing you get from your pet?

Bella's forte is definitely laughter!

Take time to smell the flowers on Friday

It's time for my new Friday blog post series - where I make time to go out into the garden and photograph the pretty flowers!

Today, this rose caught my eye.  It looks like it has been hand painted.

As small buds, just the tips have a dot of deep pink on them.....

And as they open out, the paintbrush adds a little more color.

Isn't it just stunning!  We bought it just a couple of years ago - and its a wonderful addition to our many roses.

I hope you had a little moment this week to stop and smell the roses...or other flowers.  Remember, lifestyle is important. Not just diet.  Spending time in nature is a wonderful calming and relaxing distraction to everything else going on in our day.

Chia Fresca

I never thought I would, but I like chia fresca!

Never being one for tapioca because I always thought it looked like frog spawn, now here I am drinking frog-spawn-looking chia fresca!!

Chia fresca is a mexican drink - with lots of health benefits - mainly due to the chia seeds which are an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acids (more than flax and salmon), high in fiber (1 tablespoon has 5g fiber!), calcium ( 6 x that of milk), magnesium (15 x that in broccoli)....

Here is the recipe:
2 cups water
2 tablespoons chia seeds - I like to use the white ones in my drink
Juice of one or two lemons or limes, depending on your taste.

Directions:
Pour the water into a jug and add the chia seeds, whisking immediately.  Leave for 3 - 4  minutes and whisk again.  Leave for 10 minutes, whisk again and add the citrus juice.  The drink will thicken and become like a gel. Stir before drinking.

Don't say you can see the tadpoles starting to swim!!

Enjoy! If you can get over the look and unusual texture for a drink I'm sure you'll love it ;-D

Brussels Slaw with hazelnuts and dates

I made a lovely coleslaw recipe last week - using brussels sprouts instead of cabbage.  It doesn't taste of brussels sprouts however - and my husband who doesn't like sprouts enjoyed it and then a couple of people in my food as medicine class who don't like sprouts also enjoyed it!

Yeah - a way to enjoy the healthy cruciferous vegetable Brussels Sprouts!

I used a mandoline to slice the sprouts - only slicing until you get to the more solid stalk part, then discarded the real white piece.

Here's the recipe, which I adapted from one at Feasting at home:

2 cups brussels sprouts (approx 1/2 lb)
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped (approx 5 dates)
1/8 cup finely diced red onion
1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon coconut nectar or liquid sweetener
1/2 tablespoon walnut butter
Zest of one orange

1. Finely slice the brussels, beginning at the top of each one and working down to the end, discarding the hard ends.  You can do this by hand or carefully with a mandolin! Place in a bowl.
2. Slice the pitted dates and add to the brussels
3. If not roasted, roast the hazelnuts in a dry pan for a few minutes.  Rub off the skins by placing the nuts in a tea towel and rubbing them together.  Place the roasted nuts in a ziploc bag and crush lightly with a rolling pin or back of a spoon.  Add to the brussels, along with the chopped onion and half the zest.
4. In a separate small bowl, whisk the vinegar, coconut nectar and walnut butter and pour over the slaw. Mix well.  
5. Serve in a bowl/plate, garnished with the remaining zest.

The zest of the orange seems to bring all the flavors together in harmony. I first tried it without, but it is far better with it.

It lasts a couple of days in the fridge - if you can stop eating it!

Let me know if you give it a try.  And yes, the correct term is Brussels Sprout - the S goes on the Brussels. They may have originated in Brussels, Belgium, but it is not certain.