Review- Get Buzzing Banana and Apricot Bars

 

  I was having a merry wonder through my local Waitrose store early and came across these little beauties. Nut Free grabbed my attention first, followed by made in the UK. I’m all for supporting local and uk made products so into the basket they went. 

The packaging is simple, bold and eye catching.  Inside  you get 3 individually wrapped flapjacks, again a bonus as they won’t go stale quickly. So this brings on the next thing- the taste test. Enter my cute (I’m biased I know) toddler. 

  She’s always enthusiastic when trying new things and these were no different. Yummy was what I got when asking her how it tasted, so there you have it.  

 Now I can tolerate small amounts of oats, so tried a mouthful, I would have been rude not to right? I was impressed, I dislike flapjacks that are too sweet, these weren’t, they are also lovely and chewey which I personally think is a bonus in a flapjack. Each bar is 219 calories, so I also wasn’t feeling I had to cycle miles to burn it off either.  

 
  Now today is the first I’d heard of Get buzzing so I thought I’d do a bit of research. Their website is Here. On it you can also see, and buy, their whole product range, which includes a bar made with Wowbutter the peanut butter substitute. So that will be on the to try list for the future. 

  Have you tried any of these products? Which is your favourite flavours? Let me know in the comments below. 

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Mango and Nectarine Milkshake

Good afternoon all, hope the week is treating you well?  This is a quick, easy recipe for a delicious healthy milkshake. No artificial nasties in this beauty.

Now I will confess I do have a brilliant Omniblend blender which makes light work of the ice cubes, but you can use a food processor instead if you have one (hand blenders can struggle with the ice)

Ingredients 

• 225g of your chosen fruit
• 200 ml of a yogurt of your choice – I used fat free Greek style
• 125 ml of milk – I used coconut, but almond or rice or cows milk will work as well.
• Handful of ice cubes

Method

• Put all the ingredients into your blender
• Pulse first
• Blend for a minute or so
• Pour and serve.

The joy of this is that it’s easy (yippee), gluten free, nut free and depending on your milk and yogurt choices can be dairy free as well.   I’m no expert but I think it is suitable for those following a clean eating diet as well.

So there you have it an easy milkshake. If you try this, or experiment with other flavour combinations then let me know how you get on in the comments below.

Banana Bread… Gluten Free

  

I thought I’d share this ever so easy recipe with you all, I hate waste and this recipe is perfect for using up those ripe, spotted bananas that so often get resigned to the compost heap or bin. It’s also a great excuse to make a cake, and is a perfect pick me up with your afternoon cup of tea. 

It’s easily adapted and works well with gluten free and wheat flours alike. The other bonus is that it can be nut free if you need or chose it to be- hurray. I personally think it’s best eaten on the day it’s baked or just after, and you can choose how thick (or thin) you can cut the slices, delicious. 

Ingredients 

• 175g plan flour I used Doves Farm
• 2 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum 
• 125g butter (or dairy free alternative) 
• 150grams caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe bananas 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

NB you can add 60g of chopped walnuts if you desire, I haven’t due to little ones nut allergy 

Method

• Preheat oven to 170oc or gas mark 3 
• In one bowl combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb and xanthan gum by giving them a good mix together. 
• In another bowl melt the butter and combine with the sugar, 
• Beat in each egg
• Mash the bananas and add to the egg/ butter mixture
• Make a well in the dry ingredients and mix together. I use a wooden spoon but you can use a mixer. I then add the vanilla extract. 
• Add the nuts if using them. 
• Put in a lined bread tin and into the oven to bake. 
• Depending on your oven cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. To check if cooked an inserted cocktail stick should come out clean. 

Leave to cool on a wire rack and enjoy the fruits of your labour with a cup of tea. 

 

The Finished Loaf

 

  Hope you enjoy this recipe, and thank you for reading. 

(Mostly) Blackcurrant Jam

   
  As this week is national Afternoon Tea Week I didn’t need much more of an excuse to share this easy jam recipe with you all.   It’s called mostly jam because it’s mostly Blackcurrant with some blueberries as well. Any purists out there please feel free to just stick to one fruit. This is my take on my grandmothers’ recipe, I’m sure she’d be thrilled I’m using and sharing it. 

  For me I love then tangy bursts of Blackcurrant which go famously with a scone and cream or Victoria sponge, especially if you fancy a Change from the traditional strawberry jam.  I also had a glut of these glorious berries ( this year I’ve gone all good life) and didn’t want to waste them. 

The other good news is that this recipe is gluten, dairy and if made if a nut free environment then nut free as well.  Anyway enough of my ramblings I’ll get on to the recipe. 

Equipment 

Jam pan

 Sugar Thermometer

Scales 

Sterilised jam jars and lids.

Ingredients

300 grams/ 10.5 ozs fruit

300 grams /10.5 ozs jam sugar

Juice of a lemon 

200 mls of water 

Method

• The beauty of this recipe is that you can you the whole of the berry. I pick off the stalks then after a good wash put them into the pan. You can top and tail them if you wish or strain the jam through a muslin later but i prefer my jams with a rustic feel so bits/ pips don’t bother me. 
• Pour over the water and heat gently until the water reaches boiling point, the fruit softens and starts to split.
• Simmer for about 20 minutes, the water should have evaporated by now. 
• Add the sugar and lemon juice, cook with a gentle rolling boil until the sugar thermometer reaches 105c / 220F this is your setting point. I should add a saucer put in the freezer and seeing if the jam wrinkles at the edges when put on the cold saucer will also tell you the jam has reached setting point. 
• Leave to cool for a few minutes before pouring in clean sterilised jars. 

Voila there will be roughly 2 jars of yummy jam to enjoy. 

  

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your jam making to go with those afternoon teas. Let me know in the comments box. 

Review- Orgran Vanilla Biscuits

  
  The above can also be known as toddler bribes ( no judging it’s been a long day).  On a free from shopping trip earlier I stumbled across these, the Nut Free logo being what caught my eye first. That saying they are also gluten, dairy and egg free as well as vegan friendly, so a winner all round. 

  Now the real test for a product aimed at children is by the child their self.   After five minutes of floor polishing from mini me for-wait for it- moving her buggy I think we were both exhausted. Once things had calmed done I suggested a drink and a biscuit- que squeals of delight. 

  I can say they are a real winner, small animal shaped biscuits are ideal for little hands and perfect for a little treat. I believe they do come in handy bags for lunch boxes to. My little one polished off a couple before you could say biscuit.  I thought I should try one to ( quality control of course). They have a good crunch and not too sweet, so thumbs up all round. 

 

cute animal shaped biscuits

 

For more information you can visit Orgran’s website Here

Thank you for reading, if you have found any other yummy discoveries then let me know in the comments below.