We’ve been winkling out the last of the blackberries from the hedgerows around our home and turning them into jam! Ah jam… swirled into porridge, spread on toast, dolloped on scones. So delicious, but usually loaded with sugar. Enter chia jam… just as tasty, just as pretty and no refined sugar in sight, so it’s a whole load better for you, plus all those tiny chia seeds are packed with protein for extra oomph. Hooray for healthier jam!
Packed with protein and rich in omega-3 oils, we absolutely love this alternative to our regular loaf! The recipe was a ‘eureka’ moment in the early hours of the morning, when I’d been up developing and testing recipes for our new book ‘Superfood Breakfasts‘. It’s full of seeds for depth of flavour and lots of crunch, as well as being gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free & yeast free AND it’s a doddle to make (no kneading or rising required!) Perfect…
Delicious just as it is with squished avocado & tomatoes or toasted and spread with homemade brazil nut butter & chia jam. We’ve been munching on it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hope you enjoy it too!
Big congratulations to one of our FB friends Alethea Mifsud! Your name was first out of the woolly hat and you’ve bagged yourself a copy of our new cookbook, ‘Superfood Breakfasts’. Yay!
Thanks to everyone for your lovely comments and don’t fret if you didn’t win – the book is now available in bookshops and online, plus I’ll be sharing a few sneaky-peek recipes on my blog over the next few weeks, like these Avocado, Nori & Nut Cream Toasts on homemade Quinoa Superseed Loaf! I hope you find some breakfast inspiration to kickstart your days… xx
Very excited indeed to announce that this time next week you’ll be able to buy a copy of our new cookbook, Superfood Breakfasts! Yay… It was a fantastic project to work on with DK and we’re massively proud of of all the tasty recipes and gorgeous pictures.
I’m really hoping you love what we’ve created – 25 healthy and balanced breakfast ideas to kick-start your day, from smoothie bowls & overnight oats to pancakes and breakfast bars to go. Vegetarian, gluten-free and free of refined sugars, the recipes are quick and easy to prepare and very delicious, even if I do say so myself! I loved coming up with the recipes and my family have really enjoyed testing them all… Yum.
To celebrate the launch we’re giving away a copy of the book on Monday 2nd May 2016 to the first person I pull out of my woolly hat (I know it’s April, but it’s still very cold!). All you need to do is leave a comment on this post. Over the coming weeks I’ll post a few recipes to tempt you, so stay tuned and best of luck to you all…
You can pre-order ‘Superfood Breakfasts’ on Amazon or on the DK website. Published by DK on 2 May 2016, £6.99. DK.com with gorgeous photos by Will Heap Photography.
A very tasty and simple fish pie with a difference! We’ve swapped traditional potato mash for a healthier and infinitely more colourful combination of celeriac, sweet potato and carrots. Adding chickpeas ups the protein and gives you the chance to make a gluten-free béchamel sauce! For a speedy meal, you could prepare the pie in advance and simply bung it in the oven when you get home. Perfect…
Fish is such a simple way to load up on essential nutrients and omega oils, but make sure it’s responsibly sourced. We use our local fishmonger and completely trust that everything they sell is top-notch in taste, freshness and ethics, which means we enjoy our fish pie even more. Yum!
I love beetroots! They’re so easy to grow and are a totally gorgeous colour. We’ve been experimenting with beetroot in our breakfast porridge and this is the result. ‘Ta da’… delicious pink porridge!
I used organic beetroot powder for this one, but have also made it with fresh beetroot juice and both work really well. We all skipped out the door this morning. Yum…
A friend asked me to create a banana-free ‘cheesecake’ for those that don’t do bananas… so here it is! Just as yummy and just as good for you with a little tropical twist and not a banana in sight. Dairy free, gluten free and with no refined sugars, this is the perfect guilt-free pud that won’t give you or the children a sugar-rush before bed. Yay!
A homemade and healthier version of an old homegrown favourite! We’re just finishing off the runner bean chutney that we made last summer and are really going to miss it. Especially good with cheese or ham, our chutney is free of refined sugars, very tasty and a fantastic way to make the most of your bountiful runner bean harvests.
I love making chutney in a slow cooker, but this recipe also works brilliantly on the hob. You’ll be dreaming of summer whilst eating your runner bean chutney in the depths of winter. Yay!
This breakfast certainly put an extra spring in our step this morning! A little bowl of creamy yumminess with a big nutrient boost – oats will keep you feeling fuller for longer, blueberries are packed with antioxidants, banana has loads of potassium, cashews and nut milk for protein and cacao nibs for extra crunch and ‘zing’! Yay…
A brilliant little mix & match guide for making raw energy balls, from our new cookbook ‘Energy Bites’. These were the first type of energy balls that I ever made and they’re still my favourite snack! Incredibly quick and easy to make, really good for you and very tasty too. Yay!
This guide will get you started on a simple dried fruit and nut version. Choose one ingredient (or a combination of ingredients) from each column and whizz in a food processor until sticky. Shape into balls and roll in yummy stuff like chia seeds, cacao powder, bee pollen or crushed nuts. Firm up in the fridge for 1 hour (if you can wait that long!) and then eat. They freeze really well too. Simple…
This is one of our favourite meals for eating al fresco down at the allotment garden. We marinate our halloumi, get the little allotment stove going, pull up a couple of fresh beets and away we go. Really simple, really good for you and really tasty. Yay!
Fantastic served on the side or as a main, the herbs and spices bring out the amazing earthy flavours, the nuts and seeds add protein and extra crunch, whilst the cheeses are deliciously creamy… and it’s a spectacular colour too!
Oh my golly gosh! Delicious. A really simple, seasonal dessert using local apples, that won’t give you or your children a frenzied sugar rush before bed! Woohoo. Dairy free, gluten free and free of refined sugars, this is a traditional pud with a healthy twist!
Very tasty with apples, but works equally well with other fruits – try an autumnal version with pears and plums or a tropical one with mango and peach. Sometimes, you’ve just got to eat cake…
Another deliciously healthy recipe from our newly published book ‘Energy Bites’. We absolutely love these granola balls. The children take them to school, Will takes them to work, they even make a gorgeous gift in a ribbon-tied bag!
You can experiment with different nuts and dried fruit, they’re dairy-free, gluten-free, free of refined sugars and can be baked or eaten raw. Brilliantly versatile and seriously yum…
Another pre-publication sneak preview recipe of one of our favourite sweet ‘bites’ from our upcoming book ‘Energy Bites’, which is due out tomorrow! Don’t forget that you can win a copy of the book by simply leaving a comment on the ‘Giveaway’ blog post.
These little balls of sunshine are packed with natural anti-inflamatory turmeric and masses of vitamin C-rich mango, goji berries, lime juice, rosehip and baobab, plus nut protein for vitality. Don’t worry if you can’t lay your hands on any baobab or rosehip powders – they’re a great source of Vitamin-C, but the recipe works just as well without them.
A perfect snack to help ward off the winter blues … in fact they’re a delicious tropical-tasting treat at any time of year! We had such fun creating them and hope you’ll love them as much as we do…
Back in those lazy, hazy days of Summer I was approached by a publisher and asked to collaborate with established cookery writer, Annie Nichols, on a little cookbook of super-healthy and delicious snacks – the sort of thing that I’ve been putting in my kids lunch boxes and taking to our allotment garden for years.
My blog and Instagram were put on hold as I focused on creating, testing and writing recipes and here is the result of all that hard work – ‘Energy Bites’ … with a mega-bright cover! Packed full of sweet and savoury, great tasting, high energy snacks that are incredibly good for you – vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy free and totally free of refined sugar.
I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for ages, as it’s one of our favourite family breakfasts and such a brilliant way to start the day. They’re our ‘secret weapon’ protein-packed pancakes – perfect for that extra boost when there’s digging to be done on the allotment or before we head out orienteering(!) In fact we don’t need an excuse – they’re awesome any time.
Deliciously thick and super tasty, these pancakes have some pretty unusual ingredients and they’re gluten free, with no added refined sugar to boot! Breakfast will never be the same again….
If you feel the need for a bit of extra ‘zing’ in your life, then this super tasty, raw and healthy treat will really hit the spot! It has that slightly naughty, decadent taste of fudge and a definite fudgy texture, but none of the unhealthy ingredients. No refined sugar, no dairy and absolutely deeeelicious. How perfect is that!
Right now, springtime gardening is fabulously full-on, home-schooling is wonderfully all-consuming and keeping the family happy and healthy is a joyful juggling act. Life is crazily busy, but great!
Bring on the healthy fudge…
A few weeks ago I posted the recipe for our rye sourdough ‘starter’ and thought it was high time I followed it up with the recipe for our amazing rye sourdough bread! We experimented for months to get the best balance of ‘crust and crumb’ and I think we’ve pretty much cracked it!
Sourdough bread is the oldest and most original form of leavened bread – made with wild yeast, packed full of tangy taste and much easier on your digestion than a regular loaf of bread. It contains loads of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, plus uniquely balanced proteins and fatty acids and is massively more nutrient dense than commercially produced, highly processed breads.
We make two rye loaves a week and haven’t bought a loaf of bread in ages. It’s delicious fresh out of the oven or toasted with anything and everything on it! I really can’t imagine life without it…
With Easter fast approaching we’ve been having great fun in the kitchen making (and taste-testing!) healthier alternatives to traditional sugar-laden and dairy-packed Easter eggs. These raw truffle-esque chocolate balls are amazingly delicious and really hit the “I need a chocolate” spot …. plus there’s no refined sugar or dairy in sight. Hooray!
Incredibly easy to make, my 12 year old daughter whipped them up in 15 minutes! I suspect it won’t take us quite as long to eat them….
I’m a big fan of homemade bread. There’s something really magical about the process of rising, bashing and baking and nothing beats the smell of a freshly baked loaf wafting around the house! Smells great and tastes even better….
We started making our own rye sourdough a couple of years ago, when we chose to cut back on the amount of wheat in our diets. We felt so good for it and it tasted amazing…there really was no turning back! We now make two loaves every week using the same ‘starter’ that we created all those years ago.
When it’s cold out there, this is such a fantastically warming soup and totally packed with immune-boosting goodness. Really quick and easy to make with some unusual ingredients……and it’s a very pretty colour too! Yum.
‘Free range’ children? What ARE they? I put this question to a group of parents, who said it conjured up images of children running around in the fresh air, nature, fun and laughter. And yes, I wholeheartedly agree. I think being a free range child is about fresh air, connecting with nature, rain, sun, mud and water, but I think there’s more to it than that. For me, free range also means FREEDOM. Freedom for children to think for themselves, freedom to be themselves, freedom to discover themselves and their place in this complicated world and, crucially, freedom from the concerns and worries of adulthood. So how can we as parents support and encourage this type of freedom?
Homegrown Kate 