As part of our honeymoon Mr H and I spent a week in Tokyo marvelling at everything the amazing city had to offer, getting extremely lost, sitting under cherry blossom trees, people watching for hours on end, but above all, eating. Tokyo has over 10,000 restaurants, ranging from tiny little ones with five seats in a dark alleyway to Michelin starred palaces with impeccable service. You name it, we tried it. The D&H mantra of ‘active avoidance’ certainly came into effect here, as we made sure to try everything once and not feel guilty about it so that we could go home with no foodie regrets.
Category Archives: Recipes
Four ingredient carrot cake balls
Mr H and I are having building work done at the moment, and although we are so excited for the end result, the last few weeks have certainly been a challenge. We’ve fought (and lost) many battles against dust, we’ve had to wash our dishes in the bathroom sink (gross) and our lounge currently looks like a jumble sale threw up on it. The other day we had a powercut. Mr H tried to fix it by swearing at the fuse box, but this didn’t seem to work. Magically the builders fixed it within five minutes the next day (they have superpowers I swear) but I’m now taking matters into my own hands just in case it happens again. Continue reading
Coconuts – why we love them
If we had to take one food to a desert island, it would be coconuts. Although hopefully the desert island in question would already have coconuts growing on luscious palm trees swaying in the wind by a white sandy beach (ahhhh) so we’d get to pick another food, in which case we’d probably choose avocados.
Coconuts are just incredible. Not only can they be worn as brassieres (which, when paired with a fail-safe grass skirt provides the ultimate in Hawaii chic) , but the health benefits are totally other worldly. Coconuts contain lots of good fats, which lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. It has also been suggested that they can curb your appetite and increase fat burning, so could also aid in weight loss. But there’s more. So much more. Coconuts come in many shapes and forms – we’ve listed our faves below as well as our top tips for using them. Continue reading
Quasi goreng (that’s quinoa nasi goreng, obvs)
There’s a lovely little Singaporean restaurant in North West London that my family have been going to for years. My grandpa used to love it (he spent his war years in that part of the world) and always amused the waitresses with his vast vocabulary of Indonesian and Malay swear words. Or at least they used to laugh politely. He would order the nasi goreng without fail each time – it was such a big portion he could never finish it, so (being the Jewish mother he always claimed to be) he always told us we hadn’t eaten enough and made us help him out. I don’t think I’ve ever left that restaurant feeling anything left than stuffed. Continue reading
I quinoa believe it! Four ingredient chocolate peanut butter truffles
Most people we know LOVE chocolate. And peanut butter. But quinoa? We’re not even sure half our friends know how to pronounce it, let alone how to use it in their cooking. So we whipped up these incredible little truffles and served them as petit fours at a dinner party this week, but we kept shtum about our secret ingredient until after the fact. The verdict? They received rave reviews – they aren’t at all heavy or sickly like other truffles can be, and the quinoa gives them a lovely little crunch. They are packed with protein (so a much healthier kind of truffle) plus they are so easy (and inexpensive) to make. Our friends are totally converted. We hope you will be too!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup quinoa, uncooked
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp cacao powder (plus a little extra for dusting)
- 4 tbsp peanut butter
Cook the quinoa by boiling it in water for around 12 minutes. Drain off the excess water and pop it in the fridge to cool for an hour. Once the quinoa has cooled, in a bowl combine it with the maple syrup, cacao and peanut butter. Shape the mixture into balls and dust with cacao. Store in the fridge.
Love, Mrs H xx
Slow cooker Mexican three bean chilli
OHMAGAWD. I have no kitchen. PANIC. That’s me when I was told that in order to have a lovely sparkly new kitchen fitted, it would mean living sans kitchen for a month. Originally I hadn’t given it much thought; ‘June will be warm, we can just eat salads’, I told myself (and a very unhappy looking Mr H). Well it turns out that you just can’t make those sort of assumptions in the UK, as I sit here now huddled in my dressing gown, listening to the wind and rain outside. Continue reading
Indian inspired creamy chai latte
When Mr H and I set off on a magical tour of India two years ago, we had no idea how much of an assault on the senses (in a good way!) it would be. Everywhere we went we were wowed by the noise, the colours and the smells, but above all, the tastes.
Half-baked banana balls
Half-baked, nutty and bananas. If you are what you eat, then Mr D and Mr H would probably say we’ve been overdoing it a little on these. And they would probably be right!
These beauties are the perfect snack – packed with slow-release energy, good fats and tonnes of vitamins and minerals, they are so easy to pop into your lunch box and take to work for a teatime pick-me-up. They are also so easy to pop into your mouth, which is where most of ours seem to end up.
Chickpeas – why we love them
Chickpeas (or Garbanzo beans to our friends across the pond) are, in our opinion, underrated and underappreciated. Whilst they may not be touted as a traditional superfood these little, creamy, nutty, balls of deliciousness are most definitely a super-versatile-food. Continue reading
Throw away the ‘smack’ bars – my hunger-busting apple pie granola bars
The scene is set – it’s 11am in a busy office, you’re trying to press on with your to do list, but your concentration is waning and your colleagues are not enjoying the awkward soundtrack provided by your rumbling tummy.
You just need a quick fix. Anything will do. One of said colleagues offers you a Nutrigrain or a Special K bar. That’s healthy right? You readily accept and scuttle back to your desk.
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