Category: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes · Food

Making Our Own Raw Chocolate with Indigo Herbs

Jayne1 Comment

Indigo Herbs Raw ChocolateSince I’ve been on a ketogenic diet, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about nutrition and what we should be putting in our bodies, which in turn has made me hyper-conscious about what is in the food we eat. Even on a rare “cheat” day, I’m checking labels and have still been known to shun food which are pure sugar or artificial ingredients, which is why I was really intrigued when Indigo Herbs offered to send me one of their raw chocolate kits, containing everything we need to make our own raw chocolates.

So what, I hear you ask, is raw chocolate? Well, the guys at Indigo Herbs say it a lot better than I can:

“Much of the Cacao bean’s natural goodness gets destroyed in the heating process of conventional chocolate making. Consequently the feel good factor often experienced when eating chocolate is significantly more noticeable with raw chocolate because much more of the feel good chemical compounds remain intact. The Cacao bean is naturally so rich in nutrients that when the ingredients are handled and processed at low temperatures, these micro-nutrients remain available.”

The kit was really beautifully packaged and would make an excellent gift for an health-conscious foodie, and it was so simple to make that I let Sausage and Burrito Baby help too. The instructions on the kit are really clear and concise and I think Sausage could actually have managed all by herself if it wasn’t for needing me to sort out the bain marie. We made them at the dining room table and the whole room smelled AMAZING by the time we’d finished.

In terms of taste, the chocolates were genuinely some of the best I’ve ever tried. The brazil nuts and goji berries, combined with the slightly bitter raw chocolate flavour made them feel decadent and satisfying – there’s no way you could over-indulge on these because one or two is enough to well and truly satiate your sweet tooth. Before I cut carbs out of my diet, I had a monster sweet tooth and could eat chocolate almost endlessly, but eating a diet which consists mostly of savoury food has sort of reset my taste buds, making even the smallest morsel of sweet food enough.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSS9WHdDvXs/?taken-by=mumstheword84

Obviously, the beauty of these chocolates is the ingredients. There’s literally nothing in them which isn’t totally natural and the sugar comes from agave nectar which is a low-GI sweetener and doesn’t cause spikes in blood sugar. Nutrition-wise, the chocolates have 72 calories per portion, which is made up of 4.9g carbs, 3.1g fat and 1.2g protein – perfect for someone like me who is on under 20g of carbs per day – keeping these in the fridge to have with a cup of coffee as an afternoon pick-me-up would not only be a welcome addition to a largely savoury menu but is also a real morale booster. There’s huge mental value to being able to treat yourself to something which is basically guilt-free when you’re on a restricted diet.

I’m genuinely really impressed by the kit on so many levels – it looks good, it contains everything you need, its easy to use and the results are fantastic. I’d be thrilled to receive one of these kits as a gift and also love the fact that I feel confident in giving them to my children because the ingredients are all natural. Thanks to Indigo Herbs for introducing us to raw chocolate – we’re definite converts! (Get Your Raw Chocolate Kit here)

Cooking and Recipes

Insightful Information About A Delicious Recipe For Power Pressure Cooker

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Introduction To A Power Pressure Cooker Delicious Recipe

The power pressure cooker in steadily becoming one of the most preferred cookers in many homes. The main reason why more people are preferring this cooker is that it is fast where it cooks within a shorter time than most other cooking options. It is also convenient to use and makes delicious foods. There are many types of foods that can be made using this type of cooker. All what one needs is to know a delicious recipe for power pressure cooker. One of such recipes is beef and broccoli which can optionally be combined with rice.

Ingredients
Boneless beef sliced into small strips
Salt and peeper
Two teaspoons olive oil
Finely chopped medium onion
Three quarter cup bee broth
A third cup of brown sugar
Two table spoons of sesame oil
Three table spoons of cornstarch

Directions

The first step should be to season the beef with salt and pepper. One should then put the olive oil into the cooking pot and then select sauté or browning. When the oil begins to sizzle, one should then add the meat in batches without crowding until all the meat that is there is browned. After this the meat should then be transferred into a plate.

After the meat has been browned and put in a plate one should then add the chopped onion into a pot and then wait for one or two minutes which is the time that the onion takes to soften. After this one should then add garlic and wait for a minute. After the minute is over one should then add the beef broth, the brown sugar, the sesame oil and the soy sauce into the pot. After adding all these things one should stir the pot until the sugar is completely dissolved. The beef that was browned and put in a plate should then be added into the pot and then set the cooking time at twelve minutes. One should select high pressure to ensure the food is cooked within the twelve minutes. When the twelve minutes are over the power pressure cooker will produce a clicking sound which means that the meat has been properly cooked. After the meat has been ready one should combine the cornstarch with water in a separate bowl and stir until it is smooth. This should be added to the power pressure cooker pot containing the beef and then stirred well to ensure the entire content is properly combined.
The next step should be to put the broccoli in a microwave safe bowel together with a quarter cup of water. The broccoli should be micro waved for about three to four minutes until it becomes tender. The broccoli being vegetable does not require a lot of cooking since overcooking can destroy the nutrients. By just microwaving it for the three or four minutes the broccoli becomes ready to be eaten together with the beef. If one does not have a microwave, one can easily place the broccoli inside the power pressure cooker immediately it has finished cooking the beef. This should be done with the lid on since the steam coming from the cooked meat is the one that makes the broccoli tender.

Serving

While serving the cooked beef should be on the bottom of the plate and then the broccoli on top. To make the food even more delicious one can add separately cooked rice provided it has been cooked properly.

Cooking and Recipes · Home

Deluxe Appliances That All Foodies Need In Their Kitchen

Jayne1 Comment

Pixabay.com

Do you love preparing meals in your kitchen just as much as you love eating them? If so, you could probably do with pimping out your kitchen with some upscale kitchen appliances. Not only will they help to enhance the overall style of your kitchen, but they will also make your cooking a lot easier. So which appliances do foodies need in their kitchen? Here are some of the best.

Spiralizer

Are you trying to cut down on the amount of carbs you are eating? One of the best ways to make sure you are limiting your intake of carbs is by buying a spiralizer. These nifty little appliances allow you to make spaghetti and noodles. You can use hard vegetables such as courgettes and butternut squash. So you won’t have to fill up on so many pasta-based carbs anymore! Once you have your spiralized veggies, you just have to boil them for a few minutes as you would regular noodles.

Pixabay.com

Conduction Kitchenware

Conduction kitchenware is very trendy right now. And that’s all because many people regard it as a lot safer than regular hobs and pans. In order to use conduction pots and pans, you need to invest in a conduction hob. This then heats up special conduction pans through magnetic heat conduction. They are a lot safer than using a gas or electric hob as the heat instantly cuts out as soon as you remove the pan from the hob’s surface. And this drastically reduces the chances of you burning yourself.

Stylish Cutlery

The cutlery in a kitchen is one of the most overlooked parts of a kitchen. But it can really add some extra style to your dining table once it has been set. Take a look at an online one stock cookware shop to see the different styles of cutlery that you can get. Stainless steel sets are the most popular, as they add a great sophisticated look to a kitchen and dining table. However, you can also use cutlery with patterned plastic handles to add some colour.

Pixabay.com

Sausage Maker

Do you really want to wow your friends at your next dinner party? Then why not impress them with some homemade sausages. You can find compact sausage makers for quite reasonable prices these days. If you want some inspiration for recipes, you can consult your local butcher or take a look at online recipes.

Coffee Maker

Are you pretty much a zombie in the morning before you have your first cup of coffee? If so, it sounds like you could do with a coffee maker in your kitchen! There are a number of different types. You could get a French press. This is a simple coffee pot that you need to plunge to filter the water through ground coffee beans. It is very easy to use, and you won’t need to buy filter papers for it. True coffee aficionados love AeroPress appliances. These filter the ground coffee beans through a microfilter and make a good cup of coffee in hardly any time at all.

You can also get your own cotton candy makers, which rae great fun to use with the kids. Head over to Jane’s Kitchen Miracles to find out which is the best.

Cooking and Recipes

Bread Maker Low Carb Recipe

Jayne4 Comments

bread maker low carb recipeFor the past year and a half, Husband has been on a kick to get himself healthier by watching what he eats and doing a combination of running and weight lifting; he’s done amazingly well and his fitness levels are really impressive. I’m usually the main cook of the household so it’s been my mission to find as many new and varied recipes to keep his diet healthy but interesting as there’s nothing worse that the same 5 chicken breast dinners on rotation when you’re trying to improve your health!

One of his main requirements is to keep his carb intake as low as possible, as new research shows that it’s not fat which causes weight problems but carbs and refined sugars, which can make eating anything bread-based really tricky. However, investing in a bread maker has really helped because it means we can make our own low-carb loaves without needing to worry about finding pre-made ones in the shops. Here’s the recipe we use:

Low Carb Breadmaker Recipe
Recipe Type: Low Carb/Keto
Cuisine: Bread
Author: Jayne Crammond
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 loaf
A low carb recipe for your breadmaker
Ingredients
  • 1⁄2 cup water
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine
  • 2 tablespoons Splenda sugar substitute
  • 1⁄3 cup ground flax seeds
  • 1⁄4 cup soy flour
  • 3⁄4 cup vital wheat gluten flour
  • 1 teaspoon dried yeast
Instructions
  1. Using a 1 pound capacity bread maker, combine ingredients according to order given in bread maker manual.
  2. Select ‘light’ browning setting.
  3. Don’t remove bread until it is cooled.
  4. Cut into slices, and store, covered, in the refrigerator.

It’s such a simple, easy to make recipe if you have a bread maker, which is basically zero effort but yields a really decent loaf of bread without the worry about going over daily carb allowances. We tend to use erythritol as our sugar substitute because it’s a sugar alcohol and doesn’t cause a spike in sugar levels, which is exactly what you want if you’re trying to maintain ketosis in your body.

For more information about the recipe, using a bread maker, or just fancy a chat about ‘going keto’, please do leave me a comment below. Happy baking!

 

Cooking and Recipes · Food · Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker Challenge – Pulled Beef Chilli

JayneLeave a comment

Pulled Beef ChilliChilli is one of those dishes which is a bit of an issue in our house. My mother-in-law is from one of the Southern states in America and therefore makes literally the best chilli I’ve ever tasted. She’s shared her recipe with me, but it NEVER tastes as good as when she makes it, so I rarely bother any more as mine is just a pale imitation! However, I’ve been desperate for some sort of chilli dish, which is where this version came from. “Pulled” dishes are a huge hit here, with pulled pork being one of our faves, and it seems to make meat go really far, so a pulled beef chilli seemed like a perfect thing for my experiments this week. Here’s how I made it:

Pulled Beef Chilli

Slow Cooker Challenge – Pulled Beef Chilli
Recipe Type: Slow Cooker
Cuisine: TexMex
Author: Jayne Crammond
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12 portions
A smoky chilli made with brisket, which is slow cooked before being pulled.
Ingredients
  • 1.4kg beef brisket (about 3lb)
  • 2 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 400g carton of passata
  • 4-5 slices of pickled jalapenos, chopped
  • 2tbsp chipotle chilli paste
  • 2 chopped onions
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 500ml beef stock (about a pint)
  • 1 400g can of kidney beans (drained)
  • 2 Tbsp chilli powder
  • 8 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp coriander (powdered)
  • 1 Tbsp paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Salt and pepper to season
  • Splash of olive oil
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and brown the brisket on all sides.
  2. Place the brisket into the slow cooker
  3. Cook the pepper, onion and garlic in the same pan until the onions just start to brown
  4. One everything is cooked, throw the chipotle paste and chopped jalapenos into the pan and stir through
  5. Put the contents of the pan into the slow cooker, followed by the kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and passata. Stir to combine everything and coat the brisket.
  6. Add the spices and the stock
  7. Stir again and cook on low for 6-8 hours
  8. Remove the cooked brisket from the slow cooker and shred with two forks
  9. Place the shredded meat back into the sauce and stir well to combine
  10. Serve with warm tortillas, guacamole and sour cream

I must admit, along with the dish I have planned for the final meal of this challenge, this was the meal I was MOST looking forward to trying and I’m not gonna lie…I think this was probably the BEST thing I’ve ever cooked in my slow cooker! The meat was melt-in-the-mouth tender and the combination of the sweet tomato and the smoky, spicy chipotle and jalapeños was TO DIE FOR. The flavour was so intense and the amount of spice was still  the right side of pleasurable. I was conscious of making it a dish that the girls could still tolerate and while they’re by NO means a pair of chilli wusses, Husband and I could have stood to have it a smidge spicier, but as it stood, it was still delicious with a bit of a kick.

I must warn you, when paired with tortillas, guacamole and sour cream this is definitely not an elegant dish; only eat this with people you love, who don’t mind seeing you with sauce running down your chin! However, the mess was well worth is and the whole family declared it a success!

Have you made anything in the slow cooker this week? If so, don’t forget to blog about it and link up below!

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