I’ve got just the recipe to get you all through the cold weather we’ve got at the moment… The Ultimate Healthy Hot Chocolate! Whilst I’ve love to take the credit for coming up with this delicious hot chocolate recipe, sadly I can’t. It’s a guest recipe from Amy at Amy Savage Nutrition.
It’s one of those recipes that proves that you can make something that’s chocolatey and indulgent yet still full of nutritional benefits too…
A couple of weeks ago I popped into my local Costa and I saw them advertising a coffee, oat & banana smoothie and I thought it sounded yummy, something I know I would enjoy. The sensible food blogger in me, always curious about how new things look and taste, should have bought one to try. However, it was quite early in the morning and freezing cold so I bought a coffee instead…
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One of the things I love about Christmas is the build-up, all the little things you do to get yourself into the festive spirit. For us Christmas actually starts in October (a bit too early I know!) when we help the boys write their lists for Father Christmas. We used to do it a lot nearer to Christmas, but we quickly realised that if you don’t pin little ones down to a finalised list, it’ll keep changing right up until the last minute. Using October half-term to browse round the toy shops and write our lists ensures that Father Christmas has plenty of time to organise and wrap the presents.
When the time comes to wrap up our presents, we try to make it as festive as possible (because it’s not the most exciting job otherwise!). We watch one of our favourite Christmas films (Love Actually or The Holiday), or something equally as seasonal like SPOTY or the X-Factor final, with some Christmassy popcorn and a little festive tipple. I’ve usually opted for a warm glass of mulled wine or cider, but this year my festive drink of choice is something a little different…the Snowball…
Last Friday I discovered that I’m a finalist in the 2016 MAD Blog Awards for best food blog. My first thought was shock, I mean seriously shocked. I’ll admit I’d gently nudged a few friends and family to nominate me, but I’d never in a million years expected to be shortlisted. That was replaced by excitement – the awards do last year looked amazing. Then I hit panic…
The awards do looks amazing because it’s all fancy, there’s a red carpet and all the girls are dressed up in stunning dresses. I DON’T DO DRESSES! The last time I attempted to wear one (when I headed down to London to watch Strictly last autumn), I realised I really didn’t look my best and quickly changed into my standard black trousers and pretty top.
I could probably cope with the idea of squeezing myself into a dress if I wasn’t going to be in a room of such Instagram-happy people. I quickly learnt on my visit to the River Cottage that bloggers actually have cameras surgically attached to them and not only that, they love sharing their pictures with as many people as possible. This all means that I’m on a mission…
Introducing my new favourite breakfast… and it’s a green smoothie! I’m never too sure whether smoothies really count as recipes, you simply chuck everything in and blitz it up – not too complicated. However, I love reading smoothie recipes and discovering different flavour combinations to try so I like to share them when I find a good combination too.
I never thought I’d jump onto the green smoothie bandwagon but here I am (although about 2 years later than everyone else admittedly). I’ve tried them in the past and simply couldn’t fathom all of these claims from other bloggers and recipe sites that “you can’t taste the green bits”. In my version they were sitting at the bottom of the glass, very reminiscent of freshly cut grass – I could taste it and I really didn’t want it to be there.
This coconut, banana & chocolate breakfast smoothie is a delicious and healthy way to start the day and the addition of oats will keep you filled up until lunchtime. Vegan, Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free.
We had a new addition to my family just before Christmas when I bought myself an early Christmas present of a Vitamix blender. I know some people get excited about new cars or the return of their favourite TV series but I’m a different and I get most excited by new bits of kitchen (or photography) equipment to play with.
Chocolate, Banana & Almond Breakfast Cheesecake Smoothie – A quick, easy and ever so slightly indulgent breakfast smoothie that will keep you filled up until lunchtime.
A couple of months ago I shared my recipe for chocolate, banana and almond breakfast cheesecake and in the comments Angela from Patisserie Makes Perfect (if you like cakes and everything sweet then I’d definitely recommend you take a look… once you’ve finished reading this of course!) suggested that it would also make a great smoothie. She was right!
Did you know that tomorrow (13th June 2015) is World Gin Day? So to celebrate I’ve been sampling plenty of gin and tonics and I’ve also collated a list of 18 amazing foods to cook with gin for anyone feeling a bit more adventurous.
Since sharing the recipe for my Banana and Almond Breakfast Smoothie in January I’ve been enjoying having more smoothies for breakfast. They’re quick, nutritious and most importantly, they taste good.
A lot of the smoothies I’ve been having have been a very close variation of the original, with bananas and oats. So recently I’ve been trying to find something a little different.
I admitted in my recent recipe for american pancakes that I’m pretty lazy when it comes to breakfast and usually settle for a nice bowl of Cheerios. However, a few weeks ago I decided that this had to stop and I had to become more adventurous with my breakfast efforts. There was three main reasons for this…
I have a tendency to get bored eating the same things day in day out. I need variety in my food and I wasn’t getting it.
I write recipes. Eating the same thing every day for breakfast was simply a wasted opportunity to play with food and come up with new ideas.
Hi, I'm Charlotte Oates. Welcome to my lively kitchen where I love experimenting with food, creating new recipes and cooking delicious and (mostly) healthy food for my family.
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