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Degustabox – February 2017

The months do fly by at the moment – I can tell that by how often the Degustaboxes seem to come around! The February Degustabox was filled will lovely treats and sweets and foodie bits, but a little something for adults too. The first thing the kids went for, of course, were the bags of gummy sweets!  I loved hthe Bebeto Cheese Cake Flavour. Or I should say flavours, plural. It’s like any other gummy sweet, but has three layers in the Jelly Gum, with a buttery base labour, a cake flavoured layer and a berry layer, all in one mouthful. It’s really good! We loved these! The Bebeto Candy Crush Gummy mix was also good – based on the popular game – they had a variety of flavours and shapes. I couldn’t make out from the packaging if these were vegetarian or not, so I’m guessing not, but they are Halal certified.

And then there was the single bar of Diablo No Added Sugar, Cream Filled Milk Chocolate Wafer, which had to be shared three ways. I’m generally disinclined to go for sugar free things as they normally have other things that replace the sugar, and those things are generally not any better for you, but I’ll admit I liked the Diablo bar. The crispy wafers were perfectly crispy, the chocolate layers were sweet but not sickly. I really liked it. I also left half the bar for over a week (I like to leave a bit to eat/drink while I’m writing the actual review) and was surprised to find that it was still crispy despite having been open for that length of time.

The Maui & Sons Dark Chocolate Coated Banana Chips are dried banana chips covered with dark chocolate. I found them a little strange, at first, as I couldn’t ‘get’ the banana, but it came through after the chocolate as a gentle aftertaste. They are vegan, with no preservatives and are gluten free, and I will be buying them again as they are delicious.  I did think they’d be fabulous gently crushed and used in muffins though!

I loved the Peppersmith Peppermints & Chewing gum. They were fresh and sharp, and definitely leave your mouth feeling cool and clean – they are sweetened with Xylitol which is meant to be good for your teeth anyway. And I loved them a little extra because the kids didn’t like them – they were too strong for them. Which means I don’t have to hide them away.

We all love popcorn, so this was welcome on one of the many rainy days we’ve had of late. I must admit that the Willy Chase’s Fit Popcorn – Apple Cider Popcorn was a bit unusual for me, but it grows on you soon enough and is one of those ‘once you start, you can’t stop’ treats.  We received a small bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar with this, which I kind of wished your were meant to drizzle over the popcorn or something, but actually we have bottles of the stuff in the cupboard – we use it a lot – so as this is a small bottle I’m putting it in the camping goods for the summer so we can take some with us! I did like that even this small bottle had traces of The Mother in it, a sure sign of a good Apple Cider Vinegar.

I absolutely loved these Dark Chocolate Americanos, smooth, dark chocolate on the outside, filled with crispy, crunchy coffee beans. I could eat many bags of these. More so as I decided they weren’t for kids.

Double Dutch is a ‘natural premium mixer’ which you can have with spirits or on it’s own. There are different flavours, I believe, of which we received Cucumber and Watermelon, which, let’s face it, pretty much is summer in  a glass. Considering that it really is just flavoured water, I really liked the gold embossing on the labels. It makes it feel rather fancy. Be aware you need a bottle opener for these lids.

I wasn’t at all sure about the Just Bee Honey Water which sounds like it’s going to be really sweet, but it was probably the most surprising item in the box. I really enjoyed it and could definitely see myself buying it again. We received a blueberry flavoured one, and I really loved it. Produced by a family of bee keepers these have no extra sugars and it looks like the company does a lot of work around saving and protecting bees.

Coldress Fruity Greens Juice is really tasty. I don’t like celery at all so I could taste a hint of it in this, but the sweetness of the apple, banana and kiwi covered it sufficiently. There’s also kale and spinach in it, and 150ml makes up one of your 5-a-day, so this 500ml bottle makes up three of them, and it’s something you could certainly keep on your desk or counter and have a sip from now and then as you go through the day.

We’re not really dairy free milk people, so I’ve popped the Koko milk alternative in the cupboard for next time we have smoothies, as it seems a good alternative to almond or other nut milks.

The box also contained a bottle of Blossom Hill Summer Fruits which I have to tell you is amazing stuff. I did wish it was a warm sunny evening while I was sipping it, but even so, it was delicious. This will only be included if you have the alcohol version of the Degustabox, and you’ll receive either summer fruits or elderflower. I will definitely be grabbing this again in the summer as it’s delicious, and is around £4 – £4.50 a bottle, so certainly affordable.

The February Degustabox also contained two small tins Heinz no added sugar beanz and Kabuto Noodles. 

Contents of boxes may vary. The contents of this box were worth roughly £22.50, but boxes cost £12.99 and your first box would be only £5.99 with the code below: Degustabox Discount Code

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One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish – Savoury Crackers

Savoury Crackers

This little One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish project was a labour of love! The resulting savoury crackers were fairly stunning though, we think!Savoury Crackers

If you know Dr Seuss, you know this book title, I think? One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish.

Bizarrely, despite the yellow colouring of the text on Two Fish (on our version of the book), there’s no ‘yellow fish’ reference in the book, but there is a black fish. This may seem irrelevant, except it’s not, when you’re trying to bake multi-coloured and multi-flavoured themed fish crackers!

I know my US friends have something called Goldfish crackers, but we don’t have anything like that, so I had to look for the smallest cookie cutter I could find. I did, in the end, find this one.

I used my regular crackers recipe, and made up a batch of the dough.

Split the dough into equal sizes of the colours you’re going to use. 

I used black, green, yellow, red and blue – just a few drops of a gel based food colouring* worked well so it doesn’t affect either the flavour or make it too wet.Savoury Crackers

  • For flavouring the black fish, I used black onion seed but I think Aniseed (almost licorice in flavour) would work too.
  • For the green fish, I immediately opted for basil, but I thought chive might work well too. And possibly some cheese, but that would reduce the shelf life of the crackers.
  • Yellow fish suit garlic powder or onion powder – I prefer powders, again for the shelf life extending.
  • The red fish had some smoked paprika, but tomato paste would be good too, or chilli if that’s your thing.
  • For blue I went with the sea theme and just sprinkled some sea salt on but these are already fairly salty, so don’t overdo it.

Savoury Crackers

If you’re using the same bowl and don’t want to wash between each colour mixing, do the yellow first, then the blue, followed by the green, then the red and then black.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish – Savoury Crackers
Recipe Type: Snack, Baked, Book Food
Cuisine: Savoury
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: lots
If you use a larger cookie cutter, you’ll take a lot less time than an hour. The mixing of the dough itself takes less than 5 minutes. With these tiny fish 3 – 4 minutes of baking is sufficient (I use a stone try, so just try one to be sure it’s cooked if you use steel or glass.)
Ingredients
  • 520g (4 cups) Plain Flour
  • 10g (2tsp) Salt
  • 4tbs olive oil
  • 250g (1 cup) water
  • Extras
  • 1-2 teaspoons each of:
  • Drieid Basil
  • Black Onion Seeds
  • Garlic or Onion Powder
  • Sea Salt
  • Smoked Paprika
  • Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Black food colouring
Instructions
Thermomix Recipe
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to the Thermomix bowl
  3. Mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 5 till all mixed
  4. Then mix 1 Minute/Speed 3
  5. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  6. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the Thermomix bowl and mix 10 Seconds/ Speed 8.
  7. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  8. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  9. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  10. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don’t need long. Keep and eye on them.
  11. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.
Regular Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 180C/350F
  2. Add all the ingredients to a food processor and mix till well combined and pliable.
  3. Split the dough into 5 equal balls
  4. Add one ball and its extras and colouring back into the food processor and mix till it’s well combined.
  5. Sprinkle flour on a clean surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can.
  6. Cut into shapes using a cookie cutter. Combine the left over excess, roll out and repeat, until all the dough is used.
  7. Repeat till all the colours are done.
  8. Bake for 5-8 minutes, but these fish are tiny so they don’t need long. Keep and eye on them. Loosen the fish from the baking tray as soon as possible, but leave to cool so they can crisp up. Transfer to an airtight container where they should last for a few days. If they lose their crispness, pop them in the oven for a few minutes again.

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One Fish Two Fish

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Chia Mocha Recipe

One of the recipes in this month’s Degustabox was a Chia Mocha, to go with the chia seed samples from The Chia Co. Even though I’m not normally a fan of textured liquids – I don’t even like lumps in my soup – I was keen to try this recipe, because I have a whole pot of chia seeds I don’t really know what to do with! I bought them because I know chia seeds are supposed to be very good for you, then couldn’t figure out what to do with them as I’m not overly keen on either chia jam or chia porridge – too lumpy for me! This recipe was quite surprising though, and is perfect for lovers of coffee with chocolate, or chocolate with coffee – whichever you see a mocha as!

If you don’t give this a good whizz in a food processor, the end result is a lumpy sort of drink – like bubble tea, but really really small bubbles. It’s drinkable if you don’t dislike the texture. Chia Mocha

If you do mix it enough to break down the chia, you’ll end up with a thicker, smoother drink. 

This Chia Mocha is easily adaptable. I changed it to coffee for one, since I am drinking it alone. I just halved the original recipe’s ingredients. I also made it in the Thermomix, but you can use any food processor. I think it would be simple enough to adjust to your tastes. For example if making it again, I’d probably use regular cows milk instead of coconut milk as I prefer a whiter, lighter coffee. If you’re used to black coffee or nut milks, this will be perfectly fine for you!

The chia seeds will cause the drink to thicken up a bit, making a comforting, but invigorating and filling drink.

Here’s the original recipe from Degustabox and below is my adapted to a single serving version.

Chia Mocha

 

 

Chia Mocha Recipe
Recipe Type: Drinks
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 cup
Ingredients
  • 1 cup/250ml/250g prepared coffee (instant or filtered, as you prefer)
  • 80ml/80g coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon cacao powder or cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon chia seeds
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon honey or other sweetener (I used Natvia)
Instructions
  1. Add the all the ingredients to the Thermomix
  2. Put the MC in place
  3. Mix 100C/Speed 5/ 4 Minutes
  4. Make sure the MC is still in place, then Speed 7/30 seconds
  5. Pour and enjoy

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Chia Mocha

 

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Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice

Peanut Butter Slice

This peanut butter slice is adapted from the original Degustabox The Chia Co recipe. I had to make some changes to it as my kids wouldn’t eat cranberries if they were the last food on earth, and human survival depended on them. So I went for the freeze dried raspberries in the cupboard, and filled them out with some cacoa nibs for a raspberry and chocolate flavour to this ‘slice’ which could also quite easily be called a flapjack, except it has no sugar or butter and isn’t baked.Peanut Butter Slice

So, if you want a sugar free, butter free, no-bake flapjack, congratulations. You’ve found it in the form of a peanut butter slice.

I must then immediately caveat that by saying that in the 0 – 4C temperatures we’re having at the moment, these hold really well straight out the fridge. It’s likely that in hot temperatures, you could end up with a delicious peanut butter muesli. Try it and let me know?

Here’s the original recipe from Degustabox:

And here’s the adapted peanut butter slice version.

Chia Raspberry Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice
Recipe Type: Snack
Cuisine: Healthy, Free From
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20 bars
Ingredients
  • 70g whole almonds, roasted
  • 150g oats, toasted
  • 75g raisins
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 50g cacao nibs
  • 5g freeze dried raspberries
  • 2 1/2 tbsp chia seeds (about 15g)
  • 105g honey
  • 100g smooth peanut butter
Instructions
  1. Pre heat the oven to 160C (320F)
  2. Place the oats on a baking tray and toast for 15 – 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn. On a separate tray, toast almonds for 10 – 12 mins, allowing to cool slowly.
  3. Add the almonds to the Thermomix, pulse quickly twice.
  4. Add oats, raisins, coconut, cacao nibs, raspberries, chia seeds, honey and peanut butter.
  5. Mix reverse/speed 4/ 2 minutes
  6. If you’re not using a pan with a removable base, line a 20cmx20cm tray or pan with baking paper, tip the mixture in and press down into the corners, flattening the mixture to make it even.
  7. Cover with cling film or plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
  8. Once it’s set, remove, slice and cut into bars or bites.
  9. Store in the fridge.

These are easily adaptable and are very tasty. They make fabulous breakfast bars on the go and can hold a plethora of hidden healthy foods that might not otherwise go down well. They are very filling and they freeze well too, so  you can make a huge batch, and keep some in the fridge and some in the freezer, so they’re ready when you need them.

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Degustabox – Healthier January Box {Food Subscription Box Review}

Degustabox Discount Code

This month’s DegustaBox arrived today and it’s filled with fab goodies – the majority of which we’ve never tried, and probably wouldn’t choose off a shelf, which is what makes the Degustabox great: it makes you try new things, and find new favourites.

The Degustabox Snacks

The snacks in this month’s box are Popchips Ridges, Yushoi  Snapea Rice Sticks and Snacks Seeds and Sea Salt crakers. Sweet stuff this month are the Fruit-tella sweets.

We’ve had Popchips before, but these are Crazy Hot Popchips Ridges. They are super hot – the kids didn’t like them at all. I couldn’t eat them as they were, but melted some mozzarella over them, and they were delicious. The cheese cuts the spice and makes it very flavourful.  Add some avocado and sour cream and you have a spicy nacho snack. Yum.  These crisps are gluten free, and not fried, so they’re lower in calories. Although, probably not, smothered in cheese!

Speaking of nachos, the Snacks Seeds & Sea Salt crackers have a brilliant little recipe card with ways to use them and the Cheese-Glazed Snack Casserole turns them into a hot nacho meal without crisps. It looks brilliant.  The recipe booklet includes a variety of other dips, all of which look fabulous.  These are wholegrain rye crackers.

Yushoi Snapea’s have been on the shopping list for us since we had them in a Degustabox last year, but I think these are a new flavour for us. The Coconut & Chilli is really tasty, with a light coconut flavour and a very gentle chilli flavour rather than heat. Even the kids liked them (after I assured them they weren’t actually made from peas. Which they are. I’m a terrible mother.) Snapeas are gluten free, made from peas and rice, they are baked and a source of protein. They are high in fibre, nut free, have no MSG or artificial colours or flavours, consist of 72% green peas, suitable for vegetarians, and don’t really taste of peas at all. They are awesome.

Fruit-tella are your standard chewy soft sweet, but they have 30% less sugar. You wouldn’t know it in the eating though. Watch out if you have fillings, they are chewy indeed, but they are delicious. And I’m quite happy with the less sugar thing.

The Degustabox Foods

The Degustabox food this month is Ready cooked Organic and Fairtrade Pearl Quinoa with split peas. This organic, fair trade staple is a great alternative to rice and it’s gluten ffree and suitable for vegetarians. This would be great stuffed in hollowed out pepper.

This moth’s box also includes a 100% off voucher for a pot of The Collective yoghurt. It’s a ‘ridiculously tasty gourmet live yoghurt with a double layer of fresh fruit compote’. I’ve seen these in my local Waitrose, so I will collect one next time I’m down there.

The Degustabox Drinks

There are loads of drinks in this month’s Degustabox.

Firstly there’s Aspire Health Drinks – we received Cranberry and Mango Lemonade.

These are Green Tea extract drinks that are meant to reduce body fat. They contain no calories, no sugar and no fat. They use sucralose as a sweetener, which doesn’t have the same aftertaste as aspartame, so I already like them a lot, just for that.

The Cranberry flavour has a hint of the tartness you’d expect, but it’s not enough to make you pucker up. It does contain taurine (the stuff in red bull too) so shouldn’t be had more than four cans a day. This is not recommended for children, breastfeeding or pregnant women, but is suitable for vegetarians (I expect that means the Taurine is synthetically produced.)

The Mango Lemonade flavour gives you exactly what you expect – a fresh burst of mango, and a refreshing green tea flavour.

Protein Boost offers 20g of protein in a handy little bottle. It tastes like chocolate milk and is quite a thin milk drink. It’s very tasty and certainly doesn’t feel like you’re having a meal in a bottle, but it’s good if you have a busy day and need a bit of endurance.

Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer took me by surprise. I don’t like ginger beer, so expected to have a little taste and bin the rest, but the overwhelming flavour is the sweet raspberry, with a ginger aftertaste. Really delicious!

Hibiscus Drink with Fiery Ginger – well, I don’t like ginger beer – but this was lovely. Initially, there’s a sweet flavour you can’t really put your finger on – that’s the hibiscus – then there’s the after taste of ginger, which it turns out is quite soothing on the throat when you have a cold!

The Degustabox Extras

Extra’s are those things that don’t fall into the above categories, and for this month’s box, that includes Natvia Sugar Substitute and The Chia Company Chia Seeds.

I’ve never used Natvia before, so I thought I’d try that first in something I know very well – my coffee. I normally have no sugar in coffee, but found the flavour unchanged and definitely sweeter than normal. That’s a bonus if you want your coffee with no extra calories, but you miss the sugar. I also tried it in the Chia Mocha recipe, instead of honey, and again, was quite happy with both the flavour and sweetness. I’ll have to try it in baking soon.

Chia seeds are one of those things you buy, then can’t remember what recipe you bought it for, so sit with it in the kitchen for six months. (If you’re like me). Either that, or you know what it is and what it does and use it all the time. I know people enjoy chia porridge and chia jam. For me, I don’t like lumpy things, even soup, so it’s something I really struggle with. If you like bubble tea or sago or rice pudding, you’ll love chia. And it’s meant to have tons of health benefits.  The Degustabox came with two recipes for chia seeds. I’ve adapted them a little to our tastes and circumstances, and you can do the same. The Chia Mocha is here, and the (adapted to) Chia Raspberry & Cacao Nib Peanut Butter Slice is here.

Discount code for new subscriptions

If you’d like to try the Degustabox for yourself, head over to Degustabox and use the discount code below for a whopping £7 off your first box, making it just £5.99.

Degustabox Discount Code

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30+ Honey Based Sweet & Drinks Recipes

Over on my other blog, Diary of a First Child, we’re celebrating Winnie the Pooh at the moment, as it comes up for the 91st anniversary this year. We’ve made various honey-based recipes over the last few weeks, so I decided to do a round-up of honey, honey, honey for those who want to play along at home. Here are 30 food and drinks recipes based on or heavily featuring honey!

Sweets for a Bear Who Likes Honey

Sweets for a bear who likes honey

Healthier With Honey

Healthier with Honey

Cakes & Cookies

cakes and cookies

Ice Cream & Faux-Dairy

Drinks

 

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Honey Dough Balls Recipe

Honey Dough Balls

It’s a Winnie the Pooh time of year again, which means pretty much any time is the time for a little something, so long as that something includes some honey! Knowing this, I made sure to stock up on honey this week, because come Winnie the Pooh Day, we’ll be having honey everything. For human children though, jars of honey don’t seem to be sufficient picnic food, so I’m adding a few delicious honey-based recipes to our honey – repertoire.

These honey dough balls are traditionally an Italian recipe, but I’m sure they won’t mind sharing it with Winnie the Pooh, because really, dough balls smothered in honey? Pooh’d love it. I did consider drizzling condensed milk over – Pooh’s other favourite – but that’s just too much sweet for me.

“Pooh always liked a little something at eleven o’clock in the morning, and he was very glad to see Rabbit getting out the plates and mugs; and when Rabbit said, ‘Honey or condensed milk with your bread?’ he was so excited that he said, ‘Both,’ and then, so as not to seem greedy, he added, ‘But don’t bother about the bread, please.”

Honey Dough Balls

These little blissful bites are sticky and crunchy and chewy at the same time.  As soon as the honey is poured they’ll still be warm but very sticky. If you leave them to cool the honey will harden a little, making them less messy to eat. Skewer the honey dough balls with fondue sticks, and tuck in. (I think these would be awesome with vanilla ice cream too, but it’s a bit cold to test that right now!) Honey Dough Balls

Isn’t it funny that the bear likes honey.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz.
I wonder why he does.

~ Winnie the Pooh

Find more recipes for Winnie the Pooh here, and activities to do with the kids for Winnie the Pooh day here

Honey Dough Balls Recipe
Recipe Type: T5 recipe
Cuisine: Italian, Winnie the Pooh
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 60
Ingredients
  • 200g water (50g more if you’re using organic flour)
  • 70g vegetable oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 340g all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 170g honey
  • 85g sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 400F/200C
  2. In the Thermomix, add the water, oil and salt.
  3. Bring to boil 4mins/Varoma/Speed 2/No MC
  4. Open the lid and add the flour to the side (so it doesn’t get stuck on the blades)
  5. Mix for 1mins/Speed 1
  6. Add two eggs through the lid
  7. Mix for 2mins/speed 2
  8. Scoop out the dough about 1/2 a teaspoon at a time, making balls in the palm of your hands.
  9. Lay them out on a tray. They don’t rise, so you don’t have to worry too much about extra space.
  10. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, depending on your oven. (My oven burns really hot at the top, and much cooler at the bottom, so after 10 minutes I turned it all out into a glass dish and baked the other side)
  11. Set aside to cool in a heat proof dish
  12. In a clean Thermomix bowl, add the honey, sugar and cinnamon
  13. Boil 5 minutes/Varoma/Speed2
  14. Pour the hot sugar syrup over the dough balls, using a spoon to make sure it’s all coated.
  15. They are very sticky, but if you leave them to cool the honey mixture will harden. It’s still sticky, but easier to eat.
Serving size: 4 Calories: 2011cal Fat: 71 Saturated fat: 5g Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 337 Sugar: 240g Sodium: 119mg Fiber: 4g Protein: 21g Cholesterol: 0

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Hard Boiled Honey Sweets, AKA Honey Balls – Outlander #BookFood

honey balls

There’s a passage in Dragonfly in Amber that always catches my attention when I read it:

“We stayed locked together, not speaking, until my eye suddenly fell on the other small, yellowish lumps that Jamie had removed from his sporran.

‘What on earth are those things, Jamie?’ I asked, letting go of him long enough to point. 
‘Och, those? They’re honey balls, Sassenach.’ He picked up one of the objects dusting at it with his fingers. ‘Mrs.Gibson in the village gave them to me. Verra good, though they got a bit dusty in my sporran, I’m afraid.’ He held out his open hand to me, smiling. ‘Want one?'”

honey balls

I love the sound of these ‘honey balls’, and remember making a hard boiled sweet using sugar, butter and syrup as a child. I wondered whether I would be able to do the same, but using honey, so gave it a shot and what came out were gorgeous sweet, hard, honey balls. They are so tasty and very sweet! honey balls

Once poured out you need to give these a few minutes to cool so that you don’t scald the flesh right off your bones, but not so long that they harden – you need to be able to quickly roll them into balls before they do.

I wait till the mixture stops bubbling on the stove, then pour it into a tray or dish. Leave it to cool enough to touch – use a melon baller or apple corer, or just a teaspoon and start on the sides as that’s where it will cool first. Gather from the outsides and work your way inwards, making balls as you go along.

Initially these will be soft, but they will harden. Either way, don’t chew! You’ll lose fillings or teeth if you do!

And while we’re talking about honey… I’m pretty sure Winnie the Pooh would quite like these too!

There’s another way to make these, which is a lot faster: rather than rolling the balls individually, you can wait for sugar mix to stop bubbling (about 20 seconds) and then pour the hot mixture into a silicone mould. If you use essential oils*, you can also add a few drops of Young Living Lemon oil to the mix.  I use this emoticon tray as the sweets are a good size for individual lozenges. Honey Lozenges

Honey Balls
Recipe Type: Stove Top
Cuisine: Outlander, BookFood, Historical Food
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 50
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
Instructions
  1. Pour cold water into a glass. Set next to the oven.
  2. Prepare a dish for the sugar honey mixture
  3. Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and turn the heat up
  4. Bring to the boil and keep stirring. It will bubble and froth. Keep it doing so for about 2 – 3 minutes.
  5. KEEP STIRRING it will burn really easily. After 2 minutes dip a spoon in and drip a drop of the mixture into the glass. This is how you test for a soft ball or hard ball stage. If it dissolves, it is too soft. If it forms a soft ball that’s easily squashed, it’s called soft ball stage. If it forms a hard ball, it’s called <g class=”gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_spell gr_run_anim ContextualSpelling ins-del” id=”59″ data-gr-id=”59″>hard ball</g> stage.
  6. For this particular recipe, you want to catch it between the hard and soft ball stages, turn the heat off, and pour into a prepared pan or dish. IT WILL BE HOT NOW
  7. As it begins to cool, use a teaspoon to scoop out the mixture and shape into balls in the palm of your hand.
  8. Put on a plate and repeat.

 

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15+ Free eBooks For Your New Years Foodie Goals

Christmas is over and January is looming and with it all the new year’s resolutions. The times for making plans and promises, and for hoping for change in the new year. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course – a wise man once said “The measure of success isn’t in how many times you fall, but in how many times you get up again”.

If one of your goals for the year ahead are eating healthier, more cooking from scratch or simply just adjusting your food habits, then here are 17 free Kindle eBooks *  (free at the time of publishing. please confirm before downloading)

Don’t have a Kindle eReader? Never mind – you can download one of the multitude of free Kindle readers onto your phone, laptop or other device.

Free eBooks for Slowcooker Meals

Free Kindle BookSlowcookers really come into their own at this time of year, whether because you want a warm and hearty meal ready when you step through the door, or whether because it’s too hot to turn the oven no and stand cooking in the kitchen, the slow cooker is perfect. The Slender Slowcooker Cookbook (UK link) (US link) contains low calorie recipes for slow cooking under 200, 300 and 400 calories. Amazon says this book is for you if – you’re looking for easy low calorie slow cooker recipes, which keep an eye on your calorie intake, a slow cooker cookbook that’s full of flavour, and you don’t want to spend all your time in the kitchen. ” The slow cooker recipes are easy to put together in the morning, leaving you free to come home to a delicious meal in the evening”.

Free Kindle BookThere’s also Low Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (UK) (US link) a book full of meaty recipes. There are over 100 low carb recipes here, and while it’s very Americanised, there should be some recipes for every slowcooker user.

Paleo Gluten Free Slow Cooker Recipes (UK) (US link) offers precisely what it says on the cover – paleo and gluten free recipes for the slow cooker.  Loads of four and five-star reviews too!

Stirring Slowly (UK link) (US link) is a beautiful “short” with wholesome, gorgeous recipes. There are only a few recipes, meant to entice you into buying the book, but you can enjoy the freebie for a start.

I’ve always heard of the health benefits of bone broth, but have found it quite daunting getting started. This guide A Simple Bone Broth Recipe to Heal Leaky Gut Syndrome (UK link) (US link)

Plant based and Clean Eating Free eBooks

Free Kindle BookWant to try something new and different this year? Start with this free Plant Based Eating (UK link) (US link) – it doesn’t seem to be the book for those who already follow a plant based diet, with some reviewers calling it a ‘sampler’ of other books. It seems like a good place to start though – choose the recipes you like, and find out where to find more from those authors.  For more on the subject, Plant Based Cookbook (UK link) (US link) offers 3 books in 1: Alkaline Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Recipes for Weight Loss & Health – loads of info for those interested in Plant Based diets. 

Clean Eating Alice’s Spring Clean (UK link) (US link) is another sampler book – there are 8 recipes introducing clean eating, so if you like them, and get on with the author and the style you can invest further. 

Free Kindle BookFor a little more on the Clean Eating diet, Clean Eating by Dale Roberts  (UK link) (US link) offers 30 recipes and an introduction to the diet.

If you’re thinking Ketogenic, there’s Ketogenic Vegetarian (UK link) (US link) – even if you’re not keen on the full Ketogenic diet, there are some really good looking spiralizer recipes here.

Meat Free or Vegan Free eBook Recipes

Free Kindle BookI find the idea of Veganism quite intimidating, especially when you look at egg or dairy free living, so a book on baking Vegan foods – in this case Vegan Baking(UK link) (US link) – that still look and hopefully taste good is positive.

If Vegan Baking seems like a lofty starting point, you could try the Vegan Cookbook for Beginners (UK link) (US link). This eBook contains everything from breakfasts to dinner party treats, so it seems a good starting point, even if you’re just catering for a Vegan friend.

Juices and Smoothies Free eBooks

Free Kindle BookI don’t juice because I can’t be doing with the cleaning, but the recipes in 40 Juicing Recipes For Weight Loss and Healthy Living (UK link) (US link) give some lovely new flavour combinations that work well for smoothies, and also tell you why each recipe aids in health and weight loss.  The first recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of sugar, which seems to have made reviewers heads explode, but there aren’t any in the rest of the book, but some good new recipes and ways of combining fruit and veg.

If you’d rather try a smoothie book for smoothies, Smoothie Recipes For Weight Loss (UK link) (US link) is a good one, by the looks of things. Some reviews are fairly negative about the amount of juice or fruit in the recipes, so use your own discretion.

Time for a little something?

Yeah, we should all be healthy, but there’s always time for cake, right? And one of those resolutions for the new year may be to make more friends? Well, if so – look into the Clandestine Cake Club, and their Clandestine Cake Club Sampler B0ok.

Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cookies (UK link) (US link) is filled to the brim with Impressive Holiday Treats. This book is great for learning the science and techniques of cookies, which can be a fantastic transferable skill to the rest of your baking.

Spices make a lovely gift for any time of the year, and Seasonings (UK link) (US Link) contains 31 recipes that will help you improve your cooking repertoire.

Please note that these are FREE books at the time of publishing. As such, while they are affiliate links, they won’t currently cost you anything. Please check before you ‘buy’ though to make sure the price hasn’t changed.

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White Chocolate & Rosemary Biscotti

Rosemary and White Chocolate Biscotti

I love the unusual white chocolate and rosemary flavour combination. I actually don’t like white chocolate at all, so recommending this is high praise.Rosemary and White Chocolate Biscotti I have loads of rosemary from my summer on the allotment, so I’m glad for something extra to use it on too.

The sugar in this recipe is flexible. I normally make it with 45g brown sugar, but you can make it super sweet with as much as 90g. If you don’t want to use icing sugar for sprinkling on the tray, you can get away with using more cornmeal, but I prefer the end result with icing sugar.Rosemary and White Chocolate Biscotti

Keep an eye on the biscotti in the oven as different ovens run differently, but if you want the biscotti really crispy, return it to the oven for the second time. If you want it more chewy, don’t return it to the oven the second time.

White Chocolate & Rosemary Biscotti
Author: Keeper of the Kitchen
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 150g plain flour
  • 45g brown sugar
  • 65g yellow cornmeal
  • 2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt (I use Himalayan pink)
  • 40g coconut oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g white chocolate
  • Extra: 2 tablespoons icing sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 150C
  2. Add everything (except the icing sugar) to the Thermomix bowl and mix speed 4/30-45 seconds. The mixture should be firm and pliable.
  3. Sprinkle the icing sugar on a baking tray, then add the dough and roll out to about 1cm thick
  4. Place in the oven and bake for 25 – 30 minutes until golden and firm.
  5. Set aside until cool enough to handle, cut lengthwise and then crosswise to make individual cookies. Return to the oven at 100C for 30 minutes.
  6. Allow to cool before serving

 

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