All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Apricot and Coconut Granola

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apricot and coconut granola

I used to think I didn’t like dried apricots. As it turns out, I do, but only the extra squidgy unsulphured ones. When you bite into them or pull them apart it’s almost like they are full of thick honey and you can see the strands of sticky apricot trying to hold on to the other half. They are the perfect addition to some apricot and coconut granola; a burst of sunny-day flavours for breakfast is how I like to start my day.

ingredients

You will need (for a big jar of finished granola):

  • 350g oats
  • 150g mixed nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, macadamias, walnuts or whatever you like)
  • 75g seeds (poppy, linseed, sesame or whatever you like)
  • 75g desiccated coconut
  • 125g dried apricots, chopped
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 120ml honey or maple syrup

method

In a large bowl mix together the oats, nuts, seeds and desiccated coconut. read more

Saint Clements Breakfast Juice

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Eating an orange as it comes is something I do not enjoy. Peeling it and eating it makes such a mess and there’s pith everywhere; slicing it into segments and chewing the orange flesh from the skin isn’t particularly pleasant either. However, slicing it and adding to desserts or using the juice is something that I think it worth the time. Nothing beats properly fresh orange juice. A nice glass of Saint Clements breakfast juice was on the cards with my latest delivery of oranges; a fantastically zingy way to start the day. read more

Homemade Easy Granola

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Why bother making your own granola? I mean, the stuff that comes in a nice box all full of stuff can’t really be that different and making your own sounds like such a hassle right? Nope. As it turns out making your own is not only ridiculously easy but it’s so much tastier than anything I’ve tried pre-bought. I find the readymade ones are far too sweet and you spend every morning searching for the elusive hazelnuts you’re pretty sure are meant to be in there. With my homemade easy granola you make up your mind and decide exactly what goes in your breakfast. read more

Review: Rachel’s Organic Lemon Yoghurt

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Lemon Yoghurt with quick granola
I find breakfast is sometimes a bit of an inspirational dead end. I might want toast but then if I’m having a sandwich for lunch I think it’s too much bread, I like cereal but I begrudge paying the price for a box that lasts less than two weeks, fruit doesn’t fill me up enough and I don’t have enough time to do anything more involved. I could get up earlier and make something but I’ll be honest; I stay asleep until the last possible moment. I always make sure to have breakfast though. I need something quick, simple, filling and tasty; cereal bars, muesli or granola with yoghurt keeps me full and it’s great to put together when still half asleep in the morning.

Rachel’s Organic sent me some of their new Greek style lemon yoghurt which I have been enjoying for breakfast. I wasn’t sure how sharp lemon would work with tangy yoghurt but it was very nice and zesty, the yoghurt was lovely and creamy too. My last blog post was for some delicious blueberry, almond and poppy seed cereal bars and they worked a treat with the lemon yoghurt; I think the lemon and blueberries worked particularly well together. I don’t tend to be fully functioning until about half an hour after I wake up so anything that tastes nice that doesn’t involve too much effort on my part is good for me!
Thank you to Rachel’s Organic for the yoghurt. All opinions and words expressed are my own.  read more

Dried Blueberry and Almond Cereal Bars

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Dried Blueberry and Almond Cereal Bars
You know when you buy an ingredient to make something and the remainder of it sits in the cupboard waiting to be used? I had a bit of this going on with oats, flaked almonds, seeds, maple syrup and dried blueberries. To use them (or as many of them as I could) up I made some lovely crumbly cereal bars. I wanted to keep the butter to a minimum to try and keep them a little on the healthy side.

Ingredients

You will need (for 12 cereal bars):

  • 225g oats
  • 100ml maple syrup
  • 150g butter
  • 75g dried blueberries
  • 50g flaked almonds
  • 1 tbsp poppy seeds

Method

Preheat an oven to 180C and lightly grease a baking tray. The one I used was about 20cm x 20cm.

Melt the maple syrup and butter together in a saucepan on a low heat until melted and well combined.

Mix the oats, dried blueberries, almonds and poppy seeds together then pour in the syrup and butter and stir together until well mixed.

Press the mixture into the prepared baking tray and then place into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Mark into pieces while still hot then remove from the tray when cooled. read more

Cardamom infused Porridge with Raspberries

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raspberries on top of porridge
A weekend breakfast is a completely different thing to a weekday breakfast. I don’t know about you but my weekday breakfasts consist of shovelling yoghurt (if I’m lucky I’ve added some fruit or nuts) into my mouth while running around trying to get ready being very careful not to spill anything on myself. It’s not what you would call relaxing. A weekend breakfast is a whole new affair; the possibilities are endless. Pancakes, pastries, fruit, tea, coffee, juice, a full English, toast and jam and many others are all contenders but can sometimes involve a need to purchase these items in advance. This cardamom infused porridge is for one of those mornings where you feel like something luxurious but only have basic ingredients.

Ingredients

You will need (for 2 bowls):

  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup of oats
  • 1 cardamom pod
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • Handful raspberries

Method

Crack open the cardamom and add to the milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk and cardamom very gently for about 20 minutes. Remove the milk from the heat when done. 

Put the oats into another saucepan and then sieve the milk into the oats. Cook the oats, stirring often, on a medium heat to the texture that you like; some like it so rubbery you could bounce it and others prefer it very thin. I go for somewhere in between the two.

When the porridge is ready remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sugar. Stir half of the raspberries into the porridge and then put the remaining berries on top. I enjoyed this with a nice cup of tea. read more

Lime Macerated Cherries with Caramelised Brioche

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Toasted Brioche with Lime Macerated Cherries
Considering how much I like cherries I don’t get the chance to eat very many of them. I have never had much success with a supermarket cherry preferring to take my chances at the farmers’ market where I might be lucky to nab a punnet if I am early enough. The cherries used for this spontaneous dessert were earned by my own fair hand. I was meandering through the market, deliberating how many doughnuts were too many for breakfast, when I was called to help one of the stall holders who couldn’t fill enough punnets to keep up with demand. My reward for much scooping was a big punnet of cherries all to myself.  

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 300g cherries, de-stoned
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • Juice 1 lime
  • 2 slices brioche
  • Butter
  • Demerara sugar

Method

I quite like de-stoning cherries. I find it a therapeutic thing to do and once you get into the swing of things it takes no time at all. I have to admit that my fingers were stained for days afterwards which is not something I’ve ever encountered with cherries before. Put the de-stoned cherries into a bowl with the caster sugar and lime juice and then leave to macerate overnight. Remove the cherries from the fridge an hour or so before you want to eat them so that they are at room temperature. Lightly toast the brioche and then spread generously with butter. Sprinkle over a little demerara sugar and then put under a grill so that the sugar lightly caramelises. Remove from the grill and top with the cherries.

For an impromptu dessert I was pretty pleased with this. The cherries create their own sweet and sour juice which soaks into the sweet bread. It’s crunchy at the edges and gooey in the middle. The lime freshens everything up and the cherries were a lovely shade of deep crimson which looked great on top of the sugar topped bread. Perhaps it was because these were free cherries, maybe it was because I had to work for them but there was something a bit more special about this sweet treat than normal. read more

Spelt and Dark Chocolate Pancakes with Yoghurt and Honey

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spelt chocolate pancakes
When the weather gets like this there is only one way to improve the situation; to fill your belly with buttery things. More specifically spelt and chocolate pancakes. It seems to have been raining forever recently! Each time I glance out of the window there is never even a peep of blue sky and hardly any bright daffodils to remind me it is in fact Spring. But no matter, I have honey at the ready.  Perhaps not the healthiest advice to give, a more svelte person might suggest a nice jog in the park but it wouldn’t quite cut the mustard for me. No, when my fingers are still blue in March I need chocolate and sticky sweet things. That’s where these Spelt and Dark Chocolate Pancakes fit in nicely. Rachel’s Organic sent me some Greek Yoghurt with Honey to try and I thought it would work nicely with these pancakes.

Ingredients

You will need (for around 16 pancakes):

  • 200g spelt flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 40g caster sugar
  • 20g melted butter, plus extra for cooking
  • 1 egg
  • 275ml milk
  • 40g dark chocolate chips
  • Yoghurt with honey to serve

Method

Start by sieving the flour, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together the melted butter, egg and milk until well combined. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture and add the chocolate chips. Give everything a good stir to make sure it is well incorporated.

Heat a little knob of butter in a frying pan until it just starts to foam and then drop the pancake mixture in using around 2 tbsp of the batter for each pancake.

Fry the pancakes until they are golden brown before flipping them over and cooking the other side. Don’t be tempted to flip too early as you could end up with miserable looking pancake. read more

Double Sausage, Cheese and Egg Muffin

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sausage cheese and egg muffin
What’s your guilty pleasure? I have to confess I very much enjoy a particular sausage, cheese and egg muffin from a well known fast food restaurant. I know, shameful. However I am admitting it now as part of trying to cleanse my system. I liked the idea behind the aforementioned muffin; a sausage and egg sandwich really. In order to still enjoy this behemoth breakfast (without the guilt) I needed to try and make my own version. Not only was I going to attempt to fill my guilty pleasure gap I was going to improve on the original.

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 4 cumberland burgers
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 thick slices of mild cheddar cheese
  • 2 muffins

Method

I was lucky to be able to get these cumberland burgers from the farmers’ market and without them it wouldn’t have been the same. I reckon you could make cumberland burgers if you can’t get them by squeezing the sausage meat out of some nice sausages and making burger shapes.

Start by frying the burgers until brown on the outside and cooked through. Meanwhile get another pan on the heat to fry the egg in. I fried my egg inside an upside down pastry cutter so it was the same size as the muffin. Maybe a bit unnecessary but I didn’t want odd shaped egg white hanging out of my muffin; it would have ruined the effect! When the egg is almost ready and the yolk still gooey get the muffins toasting. read more

Quince baked with Honey and Star Anise

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Quince baked with Honey and Star Anise - baked
Being a rare fruit I would have thought that a quince would be grateful when somebody bought it and allowed that person to enjoy its flavour with ease. For something so elusive it puts up a pretty good battle when you want to get into it. You wouldn’t have thought so by looking at it; a curious undulating shape and light brown fuzz all over it looks like a right cutie. The glorious smell entices you in and before you know it you’ve picked up a few felt festooned fruits.

Quinces need time to be tantalising; it’s not one for the lunch box. This is a great way of turning your determinedly firm quinces into soft, sumptuous fruits that you can use in a myriad of different ways. When the ground is covered in fallen leaves and the evenings are slightly cool, the smell of this wafting from the kitchen is unimaginably warming.

You will need:
3 medium quinces
300ml water
3 tbsp runny honey
1 star anise
(Lemons)

You will also need a very sharp knife, determination and a whole lot of lemons. Once exposed to the air the flesh of a quince browns like no other; blink and you’ll think your quince has been replaced by a muddy potato. To prevent this you need to put lemon juice on everything the quince is likely to touch; chopping board, knife and even the quince itself. It’s also advisable to squeeze some lemon juice into a bowl of water to store the quinces when they’ve been peeled. read more

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