A few years ago I fell in love with gardening. I grew everything from chilli peppers, courgettes and herbs; to pak choi lettuce and spaghetti squash. It was an effort and a lot of hardwork, which was made harder by the fact that I had to use plant pots to grow my crops. Nonetheless, I persevered and nurtured my plants like a new mother and received an abundance of squash and other vegetable that Summer. Continue reading “Spaghetti Squash in a Mushroom,Garlic & Parsley Cashew Sauce”
Peanut Butter & Chocolate Ganache Flapjacks
I used to love flapjacks growing up as a kid, the chewiness from the oats combined with the sugar made the little treats so moreish. Now i’m all grown up, I crave flapjacks every so often and as I’m wiser; I now know how easy these babies are to make. But also how easy they are to make healthier too. Continue reading “Peanut Butter & Chocolate Ganache Flapjacks”
Peanut Butter Crusted French Toast
At the beginning of the year I made and ate so much protein French toast that eventually the mere sight of it made me want to gag and the same goes for proats too. I just couldn’t stomach the thought of making either ever again – until Christmas eve when I made this plate of deliciousness. Continue reading “Peanut Butter Crusted French Toast”
Mince Pies for Santa
We all know Santa loves a mince pie or two, but we also know that sometimes mince pies contain alcohol and drinking and driving is strictly prohibited – even for the elves – which is why these mince pies are alcohol free. I haven’t had a mince pie all year, so I was anxiously anticipating for the day to arrive when I could make my own and that day just so happened to be Friday – a week away from Christmas day – and they were worth the wait. I used the marmalade which I had left over from my St Clemente tartlets in my own variation of mince meat and I was impressed; I also added some Irish cream flavouring from the Skinny Syrups range too.
For the pie cases I used the same recipe that I made for the St Clemente tartlets, but doubled it so I would have enough pastry for the lids too. I would recommend making the mince meat a few days to a week prior to when you plan to make these mince pies as the longer it has to soak the better the end result, especially if you decide to use alcohol. I made my mince meat two weeks ahead and the flavour was delicious.
I also have a more up to date mince pie recipe here.
Ingredients: Mince Meat
- 100g Dried Figs
- 100g Soft Dates
- 100g Sultanas
- 50g Walnuts
- 60g Chunky Apple Puree
- 60g St Clemente Marmalade
- 45ml Orange Juice
- 2 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Mixed Spice/Pumpkin Spice
- 45ml Irish Cream Flavouring or Irish Whiskey
- 1/3 cup Sweetener
Ingredients: Pastry
- 100g Rolled Oats
- 50g Sukrin Coconut Flour
- 60g Grass-Fed Butter or Coconut Oil
- 1 Free Range Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/5 Cup Sweetener
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Ice-Cold Water
Directions
- Pre-heat an oven to 170c
- Add the rolled oats to a food processor and blend into a flour, before adding the eggs, baking powder, sweetener and coconut flour and proceed to blend the ingredients together.
- Cube the butter and add it to the mixture and pulse the food processor so that the butter isn’t blended up completely, but chunked through the flour. Continue to add the ice cold water to bring the ingredients into a ball of dough. Cover and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Sterilise a countertop and dust with some flour, before rolling the pastry flat and cutting 8 round shapes from it. Press the pastry into a greased muffin tin and fill with the mince meat. Follow the same process to make the lids, place over the top of the cases, press gently around the sides and pop into the oven for 20 minutes.
NB: You should have about half the mince meat left after you have made these mince pies, you can double the pastry recipe and make more mince pies, or save it and make the mini Christmas cakes I have coming up over the next week.
For more recipes and ideas follow me on Instagram – @TheHungryWelshGirl and tag me in any of the recipes -I would love to see what you create and hear what you all think.
© The Hungry Welsh Girl 2016
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Vegetarian Herb Pate
Do you have a vegetarian or vegan visiting you over the Christmas period? Are you are at a loss as to what to serve them? I know it can be stressful to cook at Christmas time – there’s just so much to get done – then throw a vegetarian or vegan into the mix and you have yourself a very stressful little Christmas; as you not only have to be extra vigilant with the ingredients, but you also have to be aware of cross contamination too. Continue reading “Vegetarian Herb Pate”
St Clemente Tartlets
It’s only the second day of December and I’m already feeling the Christmas blues. I think the older I get, the more I turn into Scrooge and while there are many things about Christmas I have grown to hate, thankfully food isn’t one of them. I’ve been planning my Christmas recipes for weeks, mainly to keep myself sane throughout the festive month, but I also wanted to create some recipes that I hadn’t seen before, because while traditional is lovely, different is even better. Continue reading “St Clemente Tartlets”
2 Ingredient Creamy No Churn Ice-Cream
Processed with VSCO with a6 preset
Ice-cream is one of my favourite dessert foods, it goes well with everything: brownies, cake and cookies and just like the majority of the world I’ve always wanted to make my own ice-cream. But I just don’t have the space in my kitchen for another gadget, which is why this no-churn ice cream recipe is a firm favourite of mine. It’s 2 ingredients and tastes absolutely phenomenal. Continue reading “2 Ingredient Creamy No Churn Ice-Cream”
Quadruple Chocolate & Banana Peanut Butter Cake
I’m sure with the amount of posts I add to Instagram my followers must think I bake all day everyday and while I really wish that were true and I that I could do this for a living, sadly it’s not. The truth is, I just create recipes that are quick and easy and I try to keep ingredients to a minimum when possible, which is why I can bake a batch of cookies and a cake in less than an hour. I won’t lie to you though, it wouldn’t be possible without my sous chef Kenny; he’s just a whizz in the kitchen and makes my life so much easier ( Kenny
Now about that cake…
I felt like something decadent and chocolatey last night and I knew as soon as I woke, I would be making the most 
chocolatey cake I had ever eaten: with banana and peanut butter, because I can’t seem to get enough banana cake lately. For the banana cake to be quadruple chocolate I needed most of the ingredients to be chocolate – duh – and thankfully I had some Reese’s dark chocolate peanut butter hiding unopened in the back of my cupboard and combined with cacao, dark chocolate and chocolate protein powder I had myself a quadruple chocolate, banana and peanut butter cake. While the taste and texture was spot on for me, I was disappointed that the cake didn’t rise into a voluptuous chocolate loaf and this seems to be a common problem with my baking: nothing ever rises. I understand that a cake with protein powder will rise to a point and then deflate like a party balloon – in my experience – when removed from the oven, but this happens even when I don’t use protein powder. Maybe I’m not using enough ingredients? Obviously I’m no Mary Berry, so if anyone knows the answer to this and where I’m going wrong, please feel free to help a girl out and comment below! Diolch Yn Fawr 🙂
Ingredients
- 200g Banana
- 50g Rolled Oats
- 50g Chocolate Protein Powder
- 50g Chocolate Peanut Butter
( I used Reeses)
- 30g Cacao Powder
- 40g Dark Chocolate
- 1 Free Range Egg White
- 1 Free Range Whole Egg
- 100ml Almond Milk
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2 tbsp Stevia
Directions
- Pre-heat your oven to 175c/347F (fan-assisted)
- Add the rolled oats to a food processor and blend until the oats have turned into a powder/flour, now toss in all of the other ingredients ( minus the chocolate) and blend until the batter is smooth.
- Using a knife cut your chocolate into chunks, roll them in a little protein powder and fold them into the cake batter with a spoon.
- Pour the batter into a Teflon loaf tin or line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper, then pop the tin into the oven for 20-25minutes. Stick a knife into the centre of the loaf and if it is clean when removed, the cake is cooked.
If you are vegan, you can omit the eggs and add more banana, or a combination of both apple and banana and use a Vegan Chocolate Protein Powder instead of the vegetarian one I linked to above.
instead of the vegetarian one I linked to above.For more recipes, reviews and ideas follow me on Instagram: @Happy.Hungry.Healthy or Twitter: @HungryWelshGirl and tag me in any recipes you try, I’d love to hear what you think.
Crispy Avocado Frankenstein Fingers
Halloween is just around the corner and I have conjured up some scabtastic, crispy avocado Frankenstein fingers just in time for those Halloween parties – dipped in tomato sauce, you will never know the difference 😉 OK. Obviously you will because the Frankenstein fingers are bloody delicious, even Frankenstein himself would be impressed.
It has taken me a long time to appreciate the taste of avocado: it has always been one of those foods that I have always wanted to like because of it’s health benefits and healthy fats, but the taste and texture is just too overpowering for me. I think it’s the soft, slimy texture of the avocado that sends my gag reflexes into overdrive. I know. I know. It’s not very classy of me, but I have tried adding avocado to most food and I always end up resenting myself for it.
I was first introduced to avocado fries by my sister at the beginning of the year: she had tried them on a trip to paris. I wasn’t sure about them when she first offered one to me: the slimy texture still haunted me from my previous attempts of the fatty fruit, but she assured me that I would love them. Against my better judgement I attempted one of the green fingers she was trying to entice me with, all the while sceptical. Although, lo and behold, as much as I hate to admit it, she was right. I was pleasantly surprised – they were delicious and the crunchy texture from the breadcrumbs detracted from the slimy-ness of the avocado, making it an absolute joy to eat. However, It wasn’t until lunchtime today that I actually made a batch of avocado fries myself: I woke up with a craving for some crunchy fingers, dipped in hot tomato sauce and I just so happened to have bought two avocados last week – it was almost fate.
I knew I wanted my avocado fries to have plenty of flavour, with just a hint of avocado sneaking through and I needed them to have the crispiest coat an avocado had ever been encrusted in and I think I succeeded. Actually, I know I succeeded because these fingers were better than delicious, they were all kinds of moreish and it was one of those rare moments in my life, where I actually wanted to pat myself on the back because boys and girls…I had created a monster – make that a delicious monster: crispy avocado Frankenstein fingers. Had I not been lazy, I would have definitely made myself a second batch, which I think makes it’s safe to say that I have finally found a way to appreciate avocados and after you try these Frankenstein fingers, you will too.
Ingredients
- 1 Large Avocado
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1/2 Cup Cornflakes
- 1 Slice of Wholemeal Bread
- 1 tsp Chilli Flakes
- 1 tsp Coriander Leaf
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Egg White
- Salt to taste
Directions
- Add the bread to a processor and blend until you ave breadcrumbs.
- Next, slice your avocado in half lengthways and gently scoop out the flesh with a spoon – cover the avocados in lemon juice to stop them from oxidising and proceed to slice the avocados into long fingers.
- Crush the cornflakes with your hands, just to make them a bit smaller; add in the garlic, coriander and chilli.
- Separate the yolk from the egg white, add the salt to the white and whisk it for a few seconds, before dipping an avocado finger into the egg white, then into the breadcrumbs, and finally into the cornflakes – make sure the finger is coated evenly, then place it onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and proceed with the method until all avocado fingers have been coated.
- Now pop the Frankenstein fingers into the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Serve with some spicy ketchup and enjoy! I assure you, that they will blow your mind!
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