Sunday, 20 July 2014

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich (GF & DF)

Blog Post written in collaboration with my little brother CJ.


I had my brother staying with me this weekend and we decided to make some treats, here is the final instalment combing both recipes.
You will need :

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Banana Smoothie Ice cream

Steps
Step 1. Get 2 cookies 1 for the base and 1 for the top ( see previous blog post for cookie recipe )

Step 2. Get ice cream and lay a spoon full of ice cream on the base cookie ( see previous blog post for ice cream recipe)

 Step 3. Place 2nd cookie on to of the ice cream 

Verdict
I am actually yet to try the combo my self so I will leave this to my brother.

"The ice cream sandwich was amazing, how can I put this in to words, ummmmm, every bite left me jaw dropped and speechless." After laughing our heads of on his description I then asked him to describe flavours and he says "it was sweet, chocolatey and full of flavour" I then asked how was the cookie with the ice cream combination and he says "it was perfect!"




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Saturday, 19 July 2014

Chocolate Banana Smoothie Ice Cream


Blog Post written in collaboration with my little brother CJ.


So as a part of our weekend together the first thing I did was buy a bag of ice to make a chocolate banana smoothie, it was so nice that I thought to myself "we could make an ice cream out of this".  When deciding with my brother what we should do to occupy him, as well as making cookies (see previous blog post) I suggested the ice cream and then said "cookie ice cream sandwiches (see next blog post)


Ingredients :


2 bananas 
4 strawberries 
8 ice cubes 
1 cup of milk 
NestlĂ© nesquik 


Step 1. Cut the 4 strawberries in half, cut both bananas and place in freezer.

Step 2. Once fruit is frozen put in blender along with 4 ice cubes a cup of milk and nestle nesquik  ( 3 spoon fulls .)



Step 3. Gradually add the rest of the ice cubes until mixture thickens



Step 4. Once blended pour into a container and put in freezer.



Step 5. Stir every 30 minutes or so to incorporate frozen parts around the edges of the container



Step 6. Continue step 5 until you have a soft ice cream consistancy then serve


Verdict
As a smoothie, this recipe is great, but to turn it in to an ice cream I feel it needs a few minor adjustments.  I did look at other recipes online and noted that I should have used some cream in addition to the milk to help thicken it, rather than using the ice!

You still get the chelate banana flavour it's just icy rather than creamy, I will definitely try this again with cream to try and get a better outcome.

My brother reckons it's "amazingly sweet", hmmmmmm not to sure about that but at least he liked it.



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FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix (GF & DF)

Blog Post written in collaboration with my little brother CJ.


On a shopping trip to check out the Free From section in Sainsbury's, my little brother suggested that we make some cookies however previously we had only seen GF cake mixes, luckily we found these and finally chose this weekend to make them.


Ingredients

FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix
70g Margarine
1 Egg

Steps :
1. In a mixing bowl , place 70g of softened vegetable margarine

2. Add the sachet of FEEL FREE Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix

3. Add a medium sized egg and mix well with a food mixer or wooden spoon for 2 - 3 minutes to give a workable dough


4. Roll the dough into a stick , approximately 5cm in diameter and wrap in cling film . Place in the fridge for approximately 1 hour

5. After cooling pre-heat the oven to 210° 200 ° fan assisted or gas mark 6. Cut into half centimetre pieces and place on a greased baking tray ,  pressing down slightly with the palm of the hand

6. Bake for approximately 8 - 10 minutes when cooked lift off tray and place on wire rack to cool.


Verdict
The mix was simple as you only need to add 2 ingredients, however the mix did turn out very moist so we put it in the fridge before rolling it in to a stick.  Maybe it was because we were having one of the hottest days of the year so far, but I ended up putting the mix into the freezer to firm up in preparation to slice it but maybe should have been in there a bit longer as it crumbled when we sliced it.

Either way this did not affect the taste of the cookies, they turned out extremely soft and chocolatey.

My brothers verdict is "delicious"




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Saturday, 12 July 2014

Allergy and Free From Show - Haul




Last weekend was the Allergy and Free From Show in Olympia, Kensington, this year they combined the show with the Vegetarian & Vegan and Back Pain Shows, so it was much larger than previous years.

I had an idea before we arrived of the stalls I wanted to go to but when you are faced with so many gluten free products under one roof it is overwhelming plus there was loads of people which resulted in crowds around the popular brands.

So I made sure to get to Udi's, Genius and most definitely had to find Pudology as I have been wanting to try their products for months now.


genius we're selling any 4 products and a shopper bag for £10 so I got  pack of 4 white rolls, lemon cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes and pain au chocolate.


Udi's were sampling a lot of their newer products but we're not selling everything so I just opted for my favourite toffee and chocolate chip muffins then decided to try their new Tiger Bloomer.  These were £1 each.


Here I picked up two packs of the tomato and basil soup, mini breadsticks, tomato corn rolls and chilli corn chips.  Everything was £1 but they only charged £3 for the whole lot!


Nairns had my favourite chocolate chip biscuits, their offer was 5 items for £5, I was just going to get five packs of the chocolate biscuits but as I had been looking for a decent cracker I opted to get two packs of their whole grain crackers, which I sampled before I purchased!


We found this stall opposite nairns and I just tried these peach sweets and had to purchase them at £1 a pack you can't go wrong. They are so flavoursome and don't leave a synthetic sugary after taste like most sweets do.


I finally found and tried Kabuto gluten free rice noodles, they are good! I think they were selling them at 2 for £2.


Got these delicious cupcakes from Ms Cupcake who are based in Brixton (I will definitely need to make a visit to their store) I got 4 cupcakes for £9.50, mint chocolate, red velvet, lemon drop and pink champagne.


I didn't even know that Trek was going to be there, so glad I found them as I got 16 bars for £10, bargain! I got 4 each of oat & raisin, banana bread, cocoa coconut and cocoa oat.


My last purchase of the day was of course, Pudology.  Their offer was 4 for £5, it's such a shame that I can not get these in my area but one of the ladies kindly gave me the order number for tescos so I will see if they can order them in for me. I got banoffee pud, chocolate pud, strawberry pud and lemon pud. Still need to try the chocolate orange pud and if that is as good as the chocolate pud I will be in heaven!


I wish I took a trolley with me, like so many other people had, it was definitely the opportunity to stock up, I was lucky to have some birthday money to spend otherwise I don't think I would have been able to purchase half as much as what I did. I do regret not getting more savoury items like the pastas and pizza bases, also they had a lot of frozen goods on sale but I didn't want to risk them thawing out before I got home, so will definitely need a freezer bag as well and maybe a car!

Key tip, check the dates on some of the items as I noticed they have either a short shelf life or they purposely bring items that are nearing the sell by date, that's fine just make sure the item will freeze well so that you can put it away at home rather than having to eat everything straight away.  Although with all these yummy treats stocked in my cupboard there is no way I will let them go to waste. 






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Sunday, 6 July 2014

Moringa Oleifera

Have you heard of the latest health craze? Moringa Oleifera?

Only recently when I was speaking to one of the nurses had I heard of Moringa, she mentioned it in passing and said that it was meant to help with your skin.  I thought nothing if it until I was shopping at East Street Market and I noticed this packet on a stall.  I took a second look and thought "this is what she was talking about" so I enquired further. They have a website as well - www.modrosel.co.uk - she was selling everything at £10 each but I looks like they have a sale on at the moment as prices online are £8.99.


The lady who was selling this had not only the leaf powder, she had tea bags, capsules, seeds and oil. After speaking with her I settled on the leaf powder as I wanted to add it to my smoothies.  What persuaded me to make this purchase was the multiple nutritional benefits that this leaf has and the several different conditions that it can help.

When she mentioned how it helped a sickle cell sufferer with their crises I was intrigued, how is that possible?


It also claims to help with Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Inflammation, Arthritis, Anaemia, Cholesterol and many other conditions.

When I got home I searched the internet for more information and was shocked as to how beneficial all parts of this one tree could be, I was surprised I had not heard of it before.

I added one tablespoon to my smoothie (milk, banana, mixed frozen fruit) and blended, there was a slight taste to it, however I realised the next day that if you reduce the amount then the taste does not come through.  Oh and it will turn you smoothie green!


Later that week I spoke with another nurse and she said that they are all trying Moringa, in different forms, and comparing notes to see what it does for each person.  She even said that her uncle used it for his diabetes and it helped to control his blood sugar levels, but as soon as he came to the UK he stopped drinking it and his blood sugars shot up!

Coincidence or not I don't know but the week i started using it my joint pain reduced significantly.  So that is enough for me to continue using it, there is no harm in trying right?




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