Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding

The New Year is here and many of us are hitting the gym and pounding the streets with new trainers and sports gear….

…meanwhile I’m in the kitchen creating delicious full fat hearty puddings for the family drizzled in toffee sauce and lashings of thick fresh cream! Oops!

I do promise some healthier winter recipes are on their way but in the meantime please enjoy a slice of this divine Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding with some thick cream.

This pudding is certainly a well deserved treat in the cold winter months. We were out in the garden planning and plotting our growing adventures for this year and it was super cold.

I left the family defrosting by the fire and rustled up a delicious lunch of pan fried duck breast with a side of seasonal slaw and for a treat we had this delicious sticky toffee apple cake drizzled in toffee sauce and cream to warm everyone up. It’s fair to say it went down well with the kids!

I have used organic ingredients in this recipe but you can use non organic if you desire. Its important to use the golden caster sugar if you can source it as I think the flavour is better for the purpose of this recipe.

Ingredients

Toffee Sauce

125g of unsalted butter

60g of golden caster sugar

60g of muscovado sugar

200ml of thick double cream

Pudding Batter

60g of unsalted butter

80g of golden caster sugar

70g of muscavado

2 medium eggs

180g of plain flour

1tsp of baking powder

1tsp of bicarbonate of soda

1tsp of cinnamon

1tsp of ground cloves

1/2tsp of salt

200g of grated apple (2 med apples)

90g of chopped walnuts

Heat the oven to 180 and butter a suitable baking dish.

Add all the sauce ingredients into a small saucepan and gently heat through until the butter has melted.

Bring to a bubbling boil and stir for around five minutes or until the sauce has thickened enough to stick to the spoon or whisk.

Pour half of the sauce into your buttered baking dish and leave to cool while you make the cake.

Beat together the butter and the sugars, then add the eggs to the mixture and continue to beat together until it is all well combined.

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt into the mixture and mix again to blend together. Add in the grated apple and the chopped walnuts and mix together gently.

Spoon all of the mixture into the baking dish on top of the sauce and bake in the oven for around 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the hot cake comes out clean.

Make many holes in the top of the pudding with a fork and pour the remaining sauce over the top of the pudding. Leave to soak into the cake for a few minutes and then serve in squares with extra cream on the top.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Kale & Walnut Pasta

We love pasta in this house and this comforting cheesy dish is a favourite family meal in the colder months. I have used delicious garden fresh kale, runner beans and spelt spinach pasta. Its a comforting but healthy dish!

The recipe can also be made dairy free by using olive oil and dairy free cheese.

You could also use spinach instead of kale and mix up the green vegetables a bit to create a variety of different meals. The walnuts add additional healthy fats and crunch but pine nuts would work well too.

I have used oat cream for the sauce because it is my fave cream but you can also use plain single cream for this recipe too.

I hope you enjoy experimenting with this dish!

Ingredients

2 tbsp of butter or olive oil

2 handfuls of chopped fresh kale

2 cloves of chopped garlic

2 small cartons of Oatly oat cream (about 2 cups) or single dairy cream

Grated cheddar cheese (about 2 handfuls)

Nutmeg (about 1tsp)

S & P

Pasta

Green beans or other green vegetables

Gently heat the butter or oil in a large pan and add the chopped garlic. Stir in the chopped kale and cook lightly for around 5-10 minutes.

Add the pasta to boiling water with the chopped green vegetables, I used runner beans because that’s what was in season at the time but use whatever you fancy here, green beans or broccoli also work well.

Add the oat cream to the sauce and heat gently. Add in the grated cheddar, around two handfuls, but please use more or less if you prefer. It really does depend how cheesy you like it. My kids like a cheesy pasta and if it means they will eat more green vegetables then I am happy with that.

Heat the cheesy creamy sauce until all the cheese has melted. Add the walnuts and season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.

Drain the pasta and vegetables and add to the cheesy sauce, mix through and serve.

My kids like to add extra Parmesan to the top but I prefer it without. A green salad on the side goes really well too with some cucumber, tomatoes and other salad items.

Enjoy! x

Apricot Chicken & Spinach Pilaf

This delicious one pot slow cooker wonder is so easy and quick to throw together. The chicken and rice go really well with the fragrant spices, sweet apricots and velvety super green spinach. I dolloped a tablespoon of fresh live yoghurt on the top and it worked really well. Plates were empty so I’m guessing it was a hit with the kids!

I like to use chicken thigh meat because I think it has better flavour, especially from an organic chicken. You could also use chicken breast if you prefer but the breast does create a slightly drier texture. I also like to use the unsulphured dried apricots which are darker in colour and sometimes brown rice for this recipe.

You will need the following ingredients:

    Ingredients

    1 tbsp of coconut oil or ghee

    1 finely chopped onion

    4 chopped garlic cloves

    2tsp of cumin seeds

    2 tsp of ground coriander

    2 tsp of tumeric

    1 cinnamon stick

    A small handful of chopped dried apricots

    1 1/4 cups of basmati

    3 chopped up chicken breasts or 6 chopped up thighs

    700ml of vegetable stock

    3 cubes of frozen spinach

    Live yoghurt to serve

    Set the slow cooker to high (2 -3hrs cooking time) or low (4-5 hrs cooking time) depending on the length of time you have to cook the meal. I like to prep my meals late morning or around lunchtime so that everything is ready for dinner around 5pm.

    Add the coconut oil or ghee to the slow cooker and let it melt. Add in the onion, garlic, spices and chopped apricots and give it a stir around to coat everything evenly.

    Add the chopped up chicken meat into the rice mixture and stir evenly to coat in the spices, apricots and rice. Add in the hot stock, frozen spinach cubes and stir once more.

    Pop the lid on and leave to cook for the required time as above – high setting (2 -3hrs) or low setting (4-5hrs).

    Serve with fresh greens or other seasonal vegetables and add a dollop of live yoghurt on top to serve.

    Autumn Fall Cookbooks My Faves!

    I love cook books! I love the photographs, the graphics and even the smell of a good book, lol! I thought I would share my fave family cook books that I bring out in the Autumn Fall season to stay warm and to keep the family nourished! I hope you find some inspiration here in this video for your own family.

    There are links at the bottom of the page where you can buy the books from Amazon, (they are affiliated links and I should probably notify you that I might earn 10p or so if you click it lol!!!!) If you have an independent book shop, order them in there and support small local business instead!

    With love x


    Granny’s Gingerbread

    2 Comments

    I love a hot latte style drink and a thick slice (emphasis on the thick!) of this delicious sticky gingerbread. I use this to create a hearty and warm filling breakfast with some stewed slices of apple on the top and a sprinkle of additional walnuts. It also makes a great after school snack or wrapped in a little beeswax a school break time piece.

    Follow the recipe below for a delicious addition to your Autumn faves!

    Ingredients

    125g of butter

    50g golden syrup

    175g molasses

    225g spelt wholemeal flour

    2tsp of baking powder

    1 tsp of ground ginger

    75g of soft brown sugar

    2 eggs

    50g chopped walnuts

    150ml almond milk

    1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda

    Turn on the food mixer or processor and cream the butter, golden syrup and molasses. Add in the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, brown sugar and mix further. Whisk the eggs with a fork in a cup and add to the mixture, mix further on a medium setting. Add in the chopped walnuts and milk and bicarb, mix further and pour ino a lined or buttered loaf tin. Bake at 160oc for 1hr and 30 mins. Remove, cool and serve.

    Autumn Monthly Meal Plan

    The cold is setting in quickly into this part of the world and I don’t know about you but I’m all about comforting warming dishes this time of year! I love a good slow cooker recipe or pressure cooked stew.

    Check out the video below for a look at our September monthly haul and the cosy four week meal plan is at the end of the video. It is also written at the bottom of this page for you.

    I hope you find some inspiration for your own family meals, love Angie x

    Autumn Fall Home Decor & Haul

    I love Autumn it is my absolute favourite season, I love the cooler weather and the beautiful colours that fall brings. I really enjoy spending time with the family at this time of year and there are always so many memorable things to do around the home and outdoors. It is such a special time.

    I created this video below to show you how we are enjoying the season at home with decorations and foodie treats (of course!).

    Love Angie x

    Broad Bean Soup

    Just what I needed today after a cold walk with the dogs and collecting leaves with my son for some leaf identification work we were doing.  Such a warming recipe, I served it up with a little drizzle of hemp oil but you could also use olive oil and perhaps some croutons.    mmmm!

    Ingredients

    3-4 cups of broad beans (frozen or fresh)

    1 leek (chopped)

    1 onion (chopped)

    3 cloves of garlic (chopped)

    1-2 red chillies (chopped)

    2 tsp of cumin

    1 tsp of tumeric

    1 tsp of paprika

    oat cream, or other dairy free cream ( a dash during blending, optional)

    Green Smoothie Bowl

    Add all the ingredients apart from the optional cream to the soup pot along with the stock cube and water to just over the vegetables.  Cook for 40-50 mins or until vegetables are tender and blend in the blender (be very careful when blending hot liquids, make sure the blender has the lid on securely) add in the cream of choice if you like to your desired consistency.  Serve with warm wholemeal bread or perhaps a toasted sandwich.

    Any questions pop them in the comments below.

    Love Angie

    If you enjoyed this recipe pop over to my youtube channel for more recipes, holistic health tips, my family life, and my weight loss vlogging!  Thank you! Angie x

    Natural Living You Tube Channel