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.
Tag Archives: plant based
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
How to stay healthy on a plane
Here at D&H, we’re a little bit in love with going on holiday. That feeling when you put your out of office on, dust off your bikinis and floaty dresses and stock up on sun cream (at least factor 30 please D&H’ers!). There’s nothing quite like that pre-vacay buzz *Googles last minute sunshine holidays*.
If you’re like us, you might spend the week before you go away scrubbing, exfoliating and pampering yourself to make sure your beach bod is the best it can be. But, stepping onto the tarmac with feet that feel twice their normal size and a tummy that might prompt people to ask when your due date is, you wonder why you even bothered. Add to that the impact that being at 37,000 feet has on your skin, AND the fact that your bowel movements become about as regular as the 153 bus for a week (seriously what is up with that) it’s enough to make a girl burst into tears. Which we have, many a time.
It’s so easy to forget how important it is to stay healthy and look after yourself ON the plane. So put down that gin and tonic, hold the pretzels and listen up, because boy do we have some tips for you… Continue reading
Terry’s who? Grandpa’s four ingredient chocolate orange balls
When I was a little girl, my Grandpa used to have a magical orange tree. All year long it would stand in his lounge producing little tiny oranges which were never bigger than a golf ball. But amazingly once they fell off the tree (so the story goes) they would turn into Terry’s chocolate oranges, packaging and all. Of course we never ACTUALLY saw this happen and my brother, cousins and I always took Grandpa’s word for it.
Even after the truth came out, the tree still continued to produce its ‘fruit’ on birthdays and other special occasions. At the end of last year Mr H and I bought a house together and shortly after moving in a little orange tree turned up on our doorstep, a housewarming present from who else but my darling Grandpa.
But my chocolate orange tree is a little different you see. Mine is like chocolate orange tree 2.0; it produces four ingredient chocolate orange energy balls. Ok so it doesn’t, but I do use the zest of its little fruit to make them. Here’s how;
Makes around 10 small balls
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates
- 1 cup cashews
- 4 tbsp cacao powder
- zest of 1/2 an orange
In a food processor, first blend the cashews until they are all chopped up super small. Then add the dates, cacao and orange zest and blend until all the ingredients are mixed together nicely. Then shape the mixture into small balls and store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Magic!
Love, Mrs H xx
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
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
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.
Four ingredient peanut butter balls
On a recent trip to LA, Mr H and I were blown away by how much our lovely friends across the pond seem to adore peanut butter. Talk about a ‘special relationship’, pretty much every candy bar in existence over there counts our beloved PB among it’s ingredients. Now of course most of these are also filled with all sorts of unpronounceable nasties, so we steered clear of them, but we wholeheartedly indulged in the healthy alternatives we found. Continue reading
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