I used to love those trays of flapjacks they sell in supermarkets, back when I was young and apparently rather naive. You see I always used to think that the tray of flapjacks was the healthier option, because in my head it was just oats and oats are good for you. So it was ok to eat the whole tray, right? Wrong. My world turned upside down when I once looked at the ingredients list – sugar, golden syrup, palm oil, other nasties – not good for you in the slightest. Continue reading
Tag Archives: sugar free
Spicy sweet potato wedges
Sweet potatoes are SO 2015 (one might even say they were ‘on fleek’ but then one doesn’t actually know what that means so let’s just pretend that didn’t happen). They’ve popped up on the menus of most self-respecting restaurants, burger joints and pubs in town as an alternative to ‘normal’ potatoes and for good reason – they are lower GI (so don’t cause the same spike in blood sugar), they have less starch and in my opinion they are way tastier too. Continue reading
Four ingredient pecan pie balls
If you’ve ever been to the U.S. in the fall (or Autumn as we call it), you might have been lucky enough to be served up a slice of homemade pecan pie. You might even have been lucky enough to enjoy it at a real American Thanksgiving dinner, in which case we are super envious and can you get us an invite next time please? Continue reading
Matcha pea soup
Warning: contains multiple puns (all very much intended)
Loads of people I know have been to Peru, and when they come back all they seem to talk about is Matcha Pea Soup. It must be some sort of national Peruvian dish, but honestly people don’t half go on about it.
Apparently it’s REALLY hard to make it, it literally takes days, it’s totally exhausting but so so worth it.
I didn’t like to tell my friends, but I think they might have been the victims of a tourist trap. I mean I’m sure it was an amazing soup and everything, but they all do seem to have paid quite a lot of money to experience it. Continue reading
Marvellous millionaire shortbread (aka caramel slice)
Millionaire shortbread (which apparently owes its name due to its richness) originated in Scotland in Elizabethan times, and is now enjoyed worldwide. In some countries it goes under the more sensible but less imaginative name of caramel slice, but we’ve tasted that too and it’s just as delicious.
To tell the truth, I can’t even begin to describe how delicious it is, so I would recommend you make it too so that you can understand. And, as the name suggests, it is quite a rich treat so you only need a little slice to satisfy those sweet cravings. Continue reading
Pear, vanilla and ginger cake
Back in 2014 (I’m late to the game, I know) a video of legendary rapper and producer Rick Ross went viral. When asked about his dramatic weight loss he said;
“I eat pears, and shit like that. Shout out to all the pear”.
Watch it here, it’s amazing. And in tribute, I’ve decided to rap the recipe for my pear, vanilla and ginger cake. Because that’s how I roll. Continue reading
Holy guacamole and crunchy corn tortilla chips
Guacamole is a firm favourite in the Hollingsworth household. Our standard weekend lunch pretty much always incorporates a big bowl of guac with some sweet potato wedges (yum) , and I’ll always make it when we have people over for dinner. It’s just the perfect food – so creamy, comforting and delicious, and so ridiculously easy to make. Plus it’s packed full of good fats, antioxidants and vitamins, so it’s really good for you! Continue reading
My ‘no need for a slogan’ chocolate granola
You’re in the cereal aisle at the supermarket. There are boxes upon boxes of brightly coloured cereals, and it’s all terribly overwhelming. They’re all screaming their (slightly passive aggressive) slogans at you – ‘I’d rather have a bowl of Coco Pops’, ‘they’re Grrreat’, ‘keep hunger locked up till lunch’, ‘Snap! Crackle! Pop!’, ‘have you had your Weetabix’ – all of them that is apart from one little unassuming packet in the corner. The oats. Continue reading
Asian quinoa stir fry
This recipe was inspired by a night of reminiscing (read: being made fun of) about my post-university culinary repertoire. My statement dish was a chicken stir fry. Actually, it was my only dish. I used to eat out A LOT, and when I didn’t, this was my go-to dinner.
It’s a good thing Mr H likes chicken, because it’s about all I could rustle up when we started going out six years ago (and if you ask him about my cooking back in the day he will MOST DEFINITELY tell you about the time I dropped a whole pot of white pepper into one such stir fry, attempted to scrape it off and then stubbornly refused to admit that it had rendered all the food inedible so proceeded to eat it to prove a point, red-faced and nose streaming). My mother will also tell you how uninterested I was in cooking despite her best efforts to show me a thing or two in the kitchen. Continue reading
Peanut butter rawreos
My obsession with America started in my early teens, through my love of Abercrombie tracksuit bottoms, anything that said ‘Return to Tiffany’ on it, crappy US sitcoms, and peanut butter Oreos (which I will hereby refer to going forward as PBO’s for no other reason than that I can’t be bothered to keep typing it out).
Luckily as the years went on most of my Stateside loves made their way across the pond to us here in the UK, but unfortunately the PBO’s were the exception. Perhaps they didn’t travel well. Either way, I was pretty sad they never made it onto our supermarket shelves, but hey, life goes on.
These days, my obsessions for baggy track pants and jewellery that looks like it was made for dogs have been replaced by new (and I would hope, slightly classier) obsessions for J Crew, Anthropologie and jewellery that I can’t afford, but my undying love of anything filled with peanut butter (and crappy US sitcoms) still remain.
These peanut butter Raweos are, in my humble opinion, a squillion times better than their unhealthy counterparts. They only have SIX ingredients (that’s 17 less than the PBOs’ 23) and there’s nothing genetically modified about them (if you check the back of a PBO packet you’ll see that a number of their ingredients are GM – scary).
These little delights are packed with protein and good fats, and are great for a little energy boost.
Ingredients
For the ‘biscuit’
- 1 cup cashews
- 1 cup dates
- 3 tbsp cacao powder
For the filling
- 4 tbsp peanut butter
- 4 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tsp maple syrup
Combine the cashews, dates and cacao powder in a food processor and whizz until the ingredients form a sticky mixture. Shape them into round discs and pop them in the freezer while you make the filling.
For the filling, simply whizz up the ingredients in a food processor, then create the Raweos by spreading the filling onto half of the discs and sandwiching the other halves on top. Store them in the fridge or freezer and enjoy!
Love, Mrs H xx
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