Mood enhancing superfoods.

Generally speaking, if you follow a good healthy balanced diet, drink plenty of water and take regular exercise,  then that should keep you in tip top condition, but sometimes the stresses and strains of modern day living can take its toll on the body and mind, causing all kinds of problems, from sleep disturbance, hormone imbalance and weight gain/loss, and anxiety.


When this happens, it's time to give our bodies some extra love in the form of supplements and superfoods, and having been suffering from anxiety of late that has left my hormones a little haywire I've been checking out what's available, and here is what I have been stocking up on.

Maca Powder: Made from the root of the Maca plant that originates in the Peruvian Andes,  Maca is a superfood said to have  many benefits, including improving mood, balancing, hormones in both men and women, boosting fertility, sex drive,  energy levels, and is even said to help create a curvaceous bottom when combined with exercise!

Dried Maca root contains 1 protein,  19 essential amino acids, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C and D, minerals iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, sodium, potassium, calcium, several glucosinolates, 20 free fatty acids, and a whole host of other nutrients. Add it to smoothies, or use in pancakes, and other cooking,  it's got a bit of an acquired taste, which takes some getting used to, but also comes in tablet form. 

Omega 3's, An oldy but a goodie, Classed as a good fat, it helps the body in a number of ways, ranging from cardiovascular, development and functioning of the brain, strengthening bones, and supporting the reproductive system and much more.

The best source of omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, comes from fish. Top choices are salmon, (my personal favourite, not too many bones) mackerel, herring, lake trout, sardines, anchovies, and tuna, but can also be found in these superfoods, walnuts, broccoli, edamame beans, chia seeds, and flaxseed oil.

Cacao powder,  good chocolate, in its raw state, taken from the bean before the nutrients are lost due to the heating process, is packed with magnesium, and said to be one of the most complex food substances on Earth, A guilt free treat!

use to Sprinkle over porridge, muesli, granola or other cereals, Blend into smoothiesUse in place of commercial cocoa powders to make a healthy drink. And who doesn't feel in a better mood after consuming chocolate!

What superfood do you turn to in times of need.

Healthy oats pancakes with a little naughty topping...

I'm a big fan of these porridge oat mix pancakes, but after working so hard on our table makeover yesterday, I decided to have a bit of a naughty topping on my healthy pancakes, a sprinkling of icing sugar and golden syrup....

 

A Date with Crazy Jack.

Hello, folks, yes I'm back from my holiday in Cornwall, (I shared a few pics on Instagram)  and slowly getting  myself back into the swing of things, and back into healthy eating, have you ever tried cream from Cornwall? it's so rich that it literally forms a skin in the top, not sure if it's disgusting or yummy. 

Anyway thanks to the fab PR people from the Crazy Jack Organic Brand, who  kindly sent me soft Dates, Desiccated Coconut, and Ground Almonds in the post, I'm snacking on something a little bit healthier now, and using the ingredients to make these Date Energy snack bites. 

The original method provided by Crazy Jack called for making them into balls, but I thought with the school summer holidays just around the corner, it would be great to get the little ones involved by letting them use shape cutters to create some fun snacks.  I only had heart shapes....

Ingredients

1 Cup Crazy Jack Soft Dates

1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

1/2 Cup Crazy Jack Desiccated Coconut

1/3 cocoa Powder

1 tbsp coconut oil 

1/3 Cup Crazy Jack Ground Almonds or

1/3 Cup Goji Berries

Method

1. Put Dates into Food  Processor and pulse until well mixed

2. Add remaining ingredients, and mix until smooth

3. Spoon out mixture and either roll into balls

or press out flat with hand.

4. Use cutter to cut out shapes

5. Coat in desiccated Coconut

6. Place on a parchment paper and baking sheet

and place in fridge

7. Once set Enjoy!

The great thing about these is that they are so versatile, I left out the Cocoa powder because I didn't have any, and added seeds and raisins instead,  or you could add some vanilla essence if you fancy, and cut back on the coconut oil, it's up to you. Just be sure to use good ingredients. 

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Styling and photography Samantha Stansbridge

Ingredients provided by Fuelrefuel.com 

Breakfast in a Jar.

Styling and photography Samantha Stansbridge

When we were in France at the beginning of the month my Husband bought a jar of Bonne Maman strawberry jam, to spread on our croissants for breakfast, and I can tell you that  it was lovely, now the jam is all gone, I'm left with this nice little glass pot, too nice to just throw away, so last night I used it to make up some overnight porridge using wheat free oats, part milk part coconut water, a few raisins, and some vanilla natural yoghurt.  (my dentist tells me I should eat natural yoghurt regularly because it supports the lining of the month, as I suffered nerve damage when I had my wisdom teeth out a few years back)  put all the ingredients in the jar, shake up and leave in the fridge overnight.  Then enjoy a stress-free breakfast in the morning!   

Can't Beat a Club Sandwich.

Photography and styling Samantha Stansbridge

Let me introduce you to the Style Space and Stuff Club Sandwich, for no particular  reason other than I Missed breakfast this morning because we had to take the cat to the vet, and it's now a rather  slow Saturday, so I'm playing with my food in the kitchen and trying to think of something interesting for lunch.  We have brown seeded bread, bacon, a few leftover salad leaves, some sweet cherry tomatoes, and some rather ripe avocado, sounds like the making of a rather good sandwich.....  What's your perfect club sandwich combination?

No Brainer Super

Photography and styling Samantha Stansbridge

Today's Monday Must Haves is dedicated to all you Mums,  Dads, willing friends  or relatives  out there that are doing the half term babysitting duty, and after running around after the little darlings all day you are totally brain dead and in need of a quick no-brainer idea for dinner.  

Having spent the day today looking after a 5-year-old and walking  another friends dog down at the beach, I have to admit to being a bit shall we say, knackered!  And trying to think up a Monday must have when I haven't got anything prepared is well beyond me at the moment, and I'm hungry so having just checked out my Instagram, I'm sharing this simple dinner that I shared a while ago on Instagram.  Enjoy! 

Quick No Brainer super

Potato wedges or oven chips

sprinkled  in mixed dried herbs

olive oil,

garlic salt

 parmesan cheese 

Served with either 

A piece of Salmon, 

with a squeeze of lemon

 chicken drum sticks, 

or spare ribs,  

little olive oil

Wrap fish  in tin foil

and bake on a tray with potatoes wedges.

Serve with salad

and a chilled 

glass of wine.  :-)

Granola Dust Pancakes and Warm Fruit Smoothie.

Do you like fruit smoothies for breakfast? I often make them from frozen fruits blitzed up in the blender, which makes them super cold and can give you a bit of a brain freeze if you drink them down too quick. The warm fruit smoothie came about by accident really, while trying to make a kind of warm berry sauce for my pancakes one morning, I heated up some smoothie in a pan, and what was left I just drank down not wanting to tip it down the sink, and that's when I discovered the warm smoothie. It's a bit like a fruit tea, but with a smoothie texture, and is a gentle wake up for the tummy on cold mornings!

Photography and styling Samantha Stansbridge

Granola Dust 

I blitz up in my Nutri bullet blender using the miller blade

Co-op wheat free porridge oats or Muesli 

A mix of Co-op mixed seeds and dried goji berries and apricot 

Dried raisins or any other 

dried fruit.

Pour into a flip top jar.

Granola Dust Pancakes

Makes about four little ones

Blitz up

Two heap tablespoons of Granola dust 

one egg

one medium banana

splash of milk to loosen adjust accordingly.

Cook on a medium heat, don't turn over too soon or they break up.

Fruit Smoothie

I like to use

One banana

half a green apple

A couple of  scoop of frozen berries, 

I like the forest fruit blend.

coconut water

topped up with

Nina's Save cold pressed Super Blue Juice.

For a warm smoothie just heat gently in a pan.

The warm fruit smoothie also makes a great dipping sauce for pancakes too.

All Photography and styling Samantha Stansbridge

My Granola dust and  pancakes are a variation on the Jamie Oliver ones in his latest book, Everyday Super Food, which I love,  his recipe for the pancakes is easy to miss, I thought I had discovered this first until I came across the recipe after  flicking through the book one day, you can find it on page 18 if you have it. 

Autumn Berries Almond Milk Wheat Free Porridge.

Nothing says Autumn like a bowl full of porridge does it, particularly if it's topped off with some colourful autumn Fruit.  I prefer gluten free porridge these days, as I have a delicate tummy, the good things about gluten free porridge is that it is just as good for you as regular porridge.  Today I'm trying out Almond Milk as an  alternative to cows milk, and to be honest, it tastes pretty darn good! 

Healthy Eating Breakfast Recipe: Chia

Chia seeds apparently, could very well be deserving of the title superfood, as they are said to be among the healthiest foods on the planet,  loaded with nutrients that can be of benefits to both mind and body. 

Short bread biscuit

A little while ago I stumbled across a recipe for short bread biscuits on this blog, and to be perfectly honest it was actually  the lovely photography  of them that caught my attention, but then I had a go and realized just how easy they are to bake, and since then I have been impressing family and friends with them on  a regular basis, who have since  been requesting   the recipe, so, so as not to disappoint them, here it is.  (For a slightly different alternative  and larger quantity see here also)

You will need:

150 g Plain Flour

100 g Butter

50 g Sugar. (you can adjust this if you find it too sweet)

What to do

• Preheat your oven to about 150 °C (this depends on the make of oven) 
• Cream the sugar and butter together, then mix in the flour to resemble bread crumbs, it should all then come together to form a dough, 
• Turn out and knead for a few minutes until the dough is lovely and smooth looking. 
• Roll out on a well floured surface, about 4 mm thickness, then use a cutter in the desired shape to cut out your biscuits, place on some greased baking paper on a tray and bake for 7-10 mins. The biscuits should be turning a  light golden colour at the edges. 
• Take out of the oven  and sprinkle with castor sugar, then  cool. 
• Then if you can resist the urge to eat them as they are, decorate, or as I did with the ones below, whip up some butter icing and sandwich together, as requested by my Hubby.   

Sunday Roast alternative.

My Husband loves his Sunday Roast, but in the middle of summer I don't always share his enthusiasm, especially when have to spend half my Sunday cooking it!  So to keep us both happy, I   sometimes like to cook this version which I discovered on Goop (Gwyneth Paltrow)  a while back.   I love the freshness of the salad as an alternative to cooked veg, and it so much lighter than a full heavy roast dinner in the summer.

Do you have any great  recipes that you like to fall back on from time to time to keep the peace in your family? 

That daily dilemma of what to have for lunch....

I don't know why but I very rarely use avocado, and when I think of them, all that springs to mind is prawn and avocado cocktails very 70's maybe thats why, but I recently received an email  with this lovely recipe for Avocado and roast chicken bruschetta using creamy fleshed, nutty flavoured Hass avocados available over the summer, so while on the hunt for something for lunch the other day  i popped down to my local supermarket and bought some avocados. 

Did you know that  avocados are “the most nutritious of all fruits that are commonly eaten raw” (The Guinness Book of Records)? and  half an avocado counts as one of your 5-a-day,  contain “good oils” (the same oil found in nuts and olive oil). These oils help you feel fuller for longer, and that half a medium avocado (72 grams) has just 137 calories, 50%  fewer than a plain bagel and contain 11 of the 13 known vitamins and minerals.  Plenty of reason for giving it a try wouldn't you say?

Avocado and roast chicken bruschetta

2 Peruvian Hass avocados, halved, pitted and peeled 

 Squeeze of lemon juice 

 4 large slices of bread 

 2-3 handfuls rocket or salad leaves 

- 120g roast chicken, sliced 

 50g sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped 

-A few drops of olive oil 

 A few drops of balsamic vinegar 

 Parmesan cheese shavings 

1. Mash the avocados with a fork, adding a squeeze of lemon juice to prevent them from 

browning. 

2. Toast the bread slices, and spread thickly with the mashed avocado. 

3. Top with rocket or salad leaves, sliced chicken and sun-dried tomatoes. Sprinkle each one 

with a few drops of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then finish off with Parmesan cheese 

shavings. 

Information photography and styling provided by RED Communications Ltd

Taste of Summer, tasty supper.

When the sun shines and the temperature hot's up a little my taste buds want to be excited with something a little more fresh and zingy, but I don't want to spend an age in the kitchen creating it when I could be out enjoying the  longer warmer evenings, so this little dish fits the bill, tasty and quick to cook, and can be cooked in the kitchen or on the BBQ!

For the Marinade 

• Juice of one lime
• one garlic clove crushed
• Fresh Herbs, such as parsley, thyme, or oregano finely chopped
• A glug of olive oil
• Salt pepper.
• Mix all together to make enough to marinade your chicken in.  

For the Chicken

For each chicken breast, gently bash it out a little to make it flatter for easier and quicker cooking, place in a shallow dish and pour over the marinade, if possible leave to marinade for a few hours.

When ready to cook, push  two skewers  through the chicken and either cook on the BBQ or chargrill on a hot griddle pan. 

Serve with a fresh salad and some new potatoes, Jersey ones of course!

Sunday Treats.

During the week breakfast generally consists of a couple of slices of toast washed down 

with a few cups of tea, so at the weekend its nice  to be able to

spend  a bit longer over breakfast and

have a little treat, pancakes and blueberries drizzled with golden syrup.

I like to use Hale & Hearty's 4 grain pancake mix, which is  a gluten free

alternative to flour and it tastes great too! 

What's your little weekend indulgence? 

Chocolate Truffles

I'm having a go at making chocolate truffles today, I've never made them before but after receiving some homemade ones  as a gift  recently, I thought I would give it a go, and I thought these would make a great alternative to Easter Eggs if you are visiting friends or family over the holidays but want something other than chocolate Eggs to take along.  

These ones I made here are strictly for the adults, I added a couple of caps of butterscotch liqueur to a basic truffle mixture found at jamieoliver.com (leaving out the chilly and hazelnuts) this mixture is quite soft, it makes for a great chocolate spread or for dipping strawberries into, but I'd love to try one that sets a bit harder to make more of a bite-able chocolate truffle.  Anyone got any truffle recipes? 

Making Bread.

I'm in the kitchen having a baking day today,  I've just got back from a weekend in france eating all the things I shouldn't french pastries and bread, and now my tummy is protesting, so I'm trying out a wheat free bread mix by Hale & Hearty.  I have to admit that I find most bread alternatives a bit disappointing they always have a real powdery textures to them which I dislike, but  I've tried their wheat and gluten free pancake mix before and that was a huge hit, so I thought I would give the Organic Multi-Seed Bread mix ago.  Its super easy to bake just had water to the mix, spoon into a loaf tin and bake for 1 Hour.

Do you have any healthy wheat free recipes that you particularly like?    

TO EAT : Linguine Mussels and chips.

Linguine Mussels and chips, a perfect combination any day of the week, but great for days when you don't want to spend ages cooking but still want something tasty.  I like to keep a couple of frozen packs in the freezer but you can buy them fresh from the fishmonger if you prefer. 

Now when I cook mine I like to add a little extra single cream to the juice and crush in a clove of garlic, sprinkle in some fresh parsley, just to make me feel like I have actually cooked a meal and not just opened a pack and chucked it into a pan which is more or less what I have done.

Just cook some linguine and some chips and enjoy the with a glass of white wine....

Easy Monday Supper

This supper is great for left over Sunday roast chicken, and is lightly based on Chicken Nasi Goreng from Waitrose which you can see here for how its meant to be.

If however you like to live life on the edge and wing it, here's my 'I haven't got all the right  ingredients' version.

Pack of Tilda pure Basmati rice

Omelette made with two eggs and a splash of milk.

Sliced red pepper

clove of garlic

couple of spoons of soy sauce

Honey

Asparagus tips sliced 

sprouting greens

tiny piece of dried chilli.

Left over chicken breast sliced. 

1.Make your Omelette, though I like to call mine a scrambled Omelette, because I can't seem to quite get it right. which doesn't really matter as its going to be shredded any way.

2.  Add oil to a wok and cook garlic and chilli, then add peppers greens and asparagus, for a few minutes, add chicken and heat through thoroughly.

3. Throw in rice, and cook until heated through, then add soy sauce and pour over a little honey.  Remove the dried chilli at this point, and stir in the shredded omelette, serve with a nice glass of chilled white wine...which I didn't have.....  

Food Styling and Photography Samantha Stansbridge.

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Winter Warmers.

Images Livet Hemma photography Roland Persson, styling Elin Astrom

The days maybe starting to get gradually longer now we are at the beginning of a new year, but January and February can be the colder months for us in the UK, so when its cold outside, there is nothing more comforting then coming home to a hearty warming meal shared with family is there?  I love one pot recipe's, just prepare throw into a pot and cook slowly for a few hours, the house gradually fills with  warming aroma's throughout the day with the promise of a lovely meal to be enjoyed with family and friends.

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Cheese cake mash up..

I'm calling this a cheese cake mash up, as its kind of based on  cheese cake, a simple sweet that you could serve up for family or friends in hardly no time at all.

You will need:

Digestive biscuit
Butter
Whipping Cream
Cream Cheese
Vanilla paste or pod
Fresh summer fruits, strawberries and raspberries
A little icing sugar
Chocolate flake

Now these measurements  aren't exact, its all about personal taste, so adjust accordingly. 

Makes two servings.

Crush up a couple of biscuits and add to this some melted butter, lightly mix then spoon into a dessert glass.

Slice up some strawberries and mix together with some raspberries, 

and give them a gently squish to release some juice,

spoon on top of the biscuit base.

Whip up about 1/4 of a carton of  cream and add a half dessert spoon full of cream cheese 

depending on how cheesy you like it, I added a teaspoon of icing sugar 

at this stage to keep it sweeter.

Add some vanilla paste to the cream and cheese mix, again this is to taste,  and spoon on to the fruit,
top off with crumbles of flake.

Photography and Styling Samantha Stansbridge.

Enjoy!