Friday 27 June 2008
Today in the office
Well, no sun tea today due to rain and grey skies. So still using behemoth of a kettle to make the many cups of tea we drink. I spent some time today making strawberry ice cream for the kids because we went to a fruit farm earlier in the week and had about five punnets of strawberries and raspberries that needed action. I am trying to avoid sugar in our diet at the moment, as I feel it is an empty food stuff so I made ice cream using agave syrup. Its v simple and tastes pretty sublime (if I say so myself). 1 punnet strawberries, 90g cashews or macadamias, 40g agave syrup (the quantities are fairly approximate and you might want to mess around with them until you find what suits you in terms of sweetness and creaminess). Whizz in a food processor until smooth and then put it in the freezer. Take it out every two hours or so and give it a stir, otherwise it goes rock solid and is difficult to eat. I also stir some raspberry syrup through it (made with pureed raspberries and agave syrup) to make a homemade raspberry ripple type effect. As I said it's really yummy and fairly nutritious too. Picked some mammoth courgettes and salad leaves from the garden and made courgette bread for the kids. Got recipe from this magic new book How it all Vegan, which popped through our letterbox last week. Have already sampled quite a few of the recipes and they are really innovative and exciting. Has made me come over all bake-a-lot mum, which has to be a good thing! Jez and I had to finish off the proofing of the magazine today - it looks very fine indeed and am very pleased with the final look of it. Just three weeks to go now and it'll be dropping onto doormats around the world, hopefully bringing a little cheer and green inspiration to all our subscribers. Customers who get it from their local shop will have to wait a little longer - it's out on 24th July but we just heard that ALL WH Smith stores will be stocking The Green Parent from next issue so that's very exciting and means it will be easier to find. Hurrah!
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3 comments:
that's wonderful - thank you so much for the strawberry ice cream recipe! I've been given two bottles of agave syrup and I haven't known what to do with them until now.
I'd love to do some baking with it too; so if you or any of your readers have recipes for cakes or biscuits using agave syrup instead of sugar, I'd love to see them.
Rae x
Hi Rae,
I use agave or dried fruit all the time now in place of sugar when baking and making sweet treats - it seems to keep the family mood more stable! If I am adapting a recipe that calls for sugar I tend to use less agave than the recipe suggests for sweetener as it is very sweet. I'm going to write an article in the near future about sugar and how it affects our wellbeing.
In the meantime here are a few of my favourite agave syrup recipes
Traditional Lemonade
juice of 2 large lemons
2 tbsp agave syrup or to taste
2 pints of water
Stir all ingredients together in a large jug, garnish with mint and flowers for a special touch, like rose and calendula petals
Chocolate Pudding
This is a delicious moussy type dessert that we sometimes eat for breakfast with goji berries and maca added for a little superfood buzz.
Avocado
Banana
60g cocoa powder
2 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp cold pressed oil
Whizz all ingredients in a food processor, until it forms a creamy pudding. You might need to add a tablespoon or two of water to help the processor along.
Choc Brownies
I get a full-on chocolate craving once a month. This is an adapted recipe from Kate Wood’s Raw Living, which I make to satiate my desire. The kids love them too. Thank you Kate!
300g rolled oats
60g cocoa powder
4 tbsp agave syrup
125ml olive oil
115ml water
1 tbsp maca powder (optional)
Process all ingredients in the food processor until broken down and coming together as a dough. Press into a tin, level out and then cut into small squares. Lift out carefully and serve.
Oatmeal Bread
I just discovered this recipe last week and am already hooked – it is so easy and tastes really fabulous (plus loads better than processed plastic bag bread) It is adapted from How it all Vegan by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer, which is stacked with great ideas
350g plain flour
150g oats, ground
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda
2 tbsp agave
egg replacer (I use 1 tbsp psyllium husks with 2 tbsp water, but you could use ½ a banana, though it would taste different)
450ml soya or nut milk
1 tsp vinegar
Preheat oven to GM5, 190ºC. In a large bowl, sift flours, baking powder, bicarb and agave. In another bowl whisk egg replacer with milk and vinegar and then add to the flour. Mix carefully with a wooden spoon until just combined. Place in a lightly oiled loaf tin or on a tin and shape into an oval. Bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
Coconut cookies
These are really yummy and tend to get devoured as soon as they come out of the oven.
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
90g agave
125ml olive or coconut oil
3 tsp coconut milk
115g wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
90g rolled oats
75g desiccated coconut
Preheat oven to GM4, 180ºC. Process bananas, vanilla, agave, oil and milk together in a food processor. In a large bowl, sift flour, bicarb, cinnamon. Stir in the oats and then fold in banana mixture. Mix in the desiccated coconut and stir well. Place tbsp sized heaps on a lightly oiled baking tray and bake for 15 – 20 mins.
Hope you enjoy some of these.
Love and light, Melissa
Melissa, thank you SO much for these recipes. They sound gorgeous. Dd will just love the brownies and the coconut cookies; I'm sure of it. We always have 'something chocolatey' on a Sunday, so I'll try them out then :D
Wonderful - thank you again for taking the time to post these up!
Rae x
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