Day One

So I managed to complete my first day sugar free. Good God it was really quite tricky. I knew I had a love for the sweet stuff but it was only yesterday that I appreciated how big a love this was. As  I closed my eyes to go to sleep all I could see was a plethora of chocolate bars whilst craving the sweet taste of a date stuffed with almond butter...

I was quite moody, felt a little weak, had a headache and was hungry all day. I know I hadn't eaten enough which I think could have contributed. I'll be honest though, I don't really know what I should be eating! I'm worried about everything I put into my mouth and I'm finding the whole thing really rather all consuming at the moment. We've not got our own kitchen yet, it's my mum's birthday this weekend and we're eating out tonight. It's not the best week to start doing something like this but I don't believe that's not a reason not to do it. Sarah Wilson says to ease yourself in for the first week so I'm hoping if there is a little slip up, it won't put me on too much of a back foot.

I had always thought I had eaten very healthily; fruit, homemade granola, dates, smoothies...In essence, everything that contained rather large amounts of sugar. It was only yesterday that I really appreciated this and will admit began to doubt whether I would be able to continue this experiment (after just one day!) It's the fact that I genuinely love all of the above as well as the odd cake and biscuit treat and I do believe that life is for enjoying and these little treats along with cocktails and wine are something I thoroughly enjoy with friends and family. Do I really want to give up something I enjoy?

I've come to the conclusion today that yes, yes I do. At least for these next 8 weeks. I think I just need to get my head around it and am going to use this week particularly for doing that, trying to understand what I can and can't eat, how much of things I should be eating (I'm overloading on almonds at the moment which I know cannot be good!) and gradually settling into this new way of thinking and enjoying. If I make a mistake this week I'm not going to worry, by next week I'll have a better understanding and IQS 8 week program book only really hits the hard stuff in week 3 so I've got some time to get used to it.

If there is any advice out there on how to stave off the hunger send it my way!

Lizzie x

Jumping on a bandwagon

Since the 18th of December last year life has been somewhat of a whirlwind. It was on this day we found out the startup my husband co-founded had been accepted onto a program in China for 4 months. At the time I was working for myself (on the cookies) and so it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to jump on board and for us both to head out on a little adventure to the Far East.

Since then life hasn't slowed down and we've basically been living out of a suitcase. It's been and continues to be an amazing adventure but it is exhausting. We're renting our flat out in Cambridge and have now moved to London. However since returning in mid May we haven't had anywhere to call home. We've stayed at the in-laws, in hotels and now in house share air bnb's. Everyone has been amazing but there's nothing quite like your own space. This continued living out of a suitcase has presented me with a sense of complete and utter loss of control (and mind on more than one occasion!). We've had an offer accepted on a flat down in London now and should hopefully be moving in two weeks...

This loss of control, lack of routine, constantly eating out etc hasn't left me in the best state mentally or physically and I want to fix it. I've been dabbling with the idea of completely overhauling my diet for a while and have decided today that I'm going to jump on the old quitting sugar bandwagon. Or at least experiment with it for the next 8 weeks.

Every single tooth in my mouth is a sweet one and although I don't have a daily chocolate/cake/donut habit, I do enjoy all of the above and I absolutely adore fruit - the sweeter the better as well as dates and all of the other yummy 'healthy' foods I have discovered today contain hideous amounts of fructose which is the bad stuff. It's always been sweet over savoury. Always. Now however I'm going to try and change this.

I won't lie, I'm a little bit scared and keep thinking of reasons not to do it - we don't have a place to cook in yet, I'm meeting up with friends for dinner next week and so on. But not doing it now is only going to prolong the receiving of the hopefully beneficial effects...

I made the first step at lunch time and went out and bought the I Quit Sugar 8 week program book. I'm going to start in earnest tomorrow and see how it goes. I know I'm going to find it hard and I know I will have wobbles but I feel there could be more to gain than not.

I want to make sure I'm doing it right though so if you have any hints and tips on what not to do/eat etc please send them my way! Particularly for when eating out and when the sweet cravings hit!

Day one starts tomorrow!

Lizzie x

The return to the kitchen

So, five months ago we moved to China to work on a startup. It was great, it was intense, it was an experience. I've now entered the tech world, something I have never been a part of or in all honesty taken a particular interest in prior to this. Now however, it has become my life. Anyone who has been part of a startup of any kind will understand how much of your life and time becomes immersed in this exciting but frankly quite strange world. All of a sudden the talk of VC's, seed rounds, the valley, viral content, traction, internet of things, API, early adopters and this elusive cloud are part of everyday conversations surrounding me; a couple even managing to sneak into my own speak. This now means for the time being, the kitchen is no longer my work place so this blog has become my escape from the maddening world of open source, components, growth hacking and 'ninjas' in varying fields of engineering.

China really was a great experience, their food and eating culture is so different to what we were used to here in England which was wonderful to be able to experience. Steamed buns, kumquat lemon teas, pak choi, noodles, rice and of course the odd eye ball and chickens foot (neither of which I could bring myself to indulge in. That was more Rich's territory). A downside to our life out there though was the lack of a working kitchen. This meant four months of no cooking and no baking. This was actually one of the parts we found most difficult. So today, as it was a bank holiday and a week since arriving back on home turf I had my first bake in 5 months. It was simple but truly scrumptious.

Enjoy these with a simple breakfast tea and your favourite book :)

Raisin and oat cookies

Ingredients:

200g plain wholemeal flour
100g rolled oats
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp corn flour (starch)
170g butter
150g brown sugar
100g golden granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2sp vanilla

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C

2. Brown the butter by melting it in a pan and stirring on a medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. It will start to froth on the top and develop a caramel colour and smell, then leave it to cool. This process gives the cookies a scrummy, deep, caramel like flavour.

3. Mix all the dry ingredients together.

4. Once the butter has cooled, mix in the sugars, egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

5. .Stir in the dry ingredients and add a couple of handfuls of raisins. You could also throw in some figs, dates or prunes if you would prefer.

6. Pull all the dough together and flatten slightly into a disk. Wrap the disk in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for 2-3 hours or overnight. This helps the flavours intensify but if you're in a rush it can be skipped.

7. Once the dough is out of the fridge, leave to warm up slightly then roll into balls, flatten only very slightly with a couple of fingers and pop on your baking tray.

8. Put them in the oven and leave for 12 minutes.

What have you done with your bank holiday? Any lovely kitchen antics?

Lizzie x

Cheese, biscuits, records and a birthday. A good day.

I love birthdays and I love December so December birthdays are absolutely my most favourite (after my own of course). Both my sister and Rich are December babies so it's triple the food, fun and presents this month whoppie! Today is Rich's so he's taking a half day off work this afternoon and we're going to head down to a new vinyl and coffee shop that's opened on Mill Road. It's the first of it's kind in Cambridge, the only vinyls you can buy here (apart from in Fopp and HMV) are from the market so having a real life record shop that also sells lots of tea and cake can only be a truly wonderful thing. We're excited. We're also heading out to Midsummer House this evening for a birthday tea. It's a 5 courser set in a little house on Midsummer Common and the food is supposed to be really quite fancy. I can't wait.

Because it's only the two of us today we thought a full on cake this evening, after a 5 course meal may be a little indulgent (and also we would definitely eat it all by Friday, which is not ideal) so we're saving the Hummingbird Mississippi Mudpie cake until our party on Saturday (I think it's going to take me most of Friday to make). However, it is a birthday and what's a birthday without a cake of some description? I've opted, as a surprise to go for some blue cheese and savoury biscuits. When I started the baking thing he said he was waiting for me to get to the savoury biscuits, and he loves cheese so I thought why not create a cheese and biscuit cake of sorts. 

I couldn't find spelt flour anywhere so went with wholewheat so they don't have the same nutty taste as Spelt biscuits would but they are tasty. They have a wholesome flavour and would be smashing with some blue cheese and a dollop of chutney. (This is also counting as today's advent recipe. A bit of savoury in there can be a lovely little addition).

I followed this recipe from the Guardian making a few little changes

Oat and Seed Biscuits

250g wholewheat flour, plus a little extra for rolling

25g dark brown sugar

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp salt

125g unsalted butter, softened

75g rolled oats

50ml cold milk, plus extra to finish

2tbsp golden linseeds

2tbsp pumpkin seeds

Pop the flour, sugar, bicarb and salt in a bowl, and rub in the butter. 

Stir in the oats, then mix in the milk until you have a smooth dough. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough till about the thickness of a pound coin and cut using circular cookie cutter. Place them on a tray lined with baking paper. 

Brush with milk and bake at 170C for about 25-30 minutes, until crisp.

These are perfect for a homemade Christmas present, as an after dinner treat with friends or in front of Love Actually, wrapped up in a cosy blanket with a glass of mulled wine.

Now bring me some figgy biscuits...(please)

It's the first of December yippee! It is now officially acceptable to have on the Christmas scents and listen to carols whilst baking. I always get so excited at the beginning of December, the build up to Christmas is such a fun, magical and truly delicious time of the year.

Rich's birthday is tomorrow so we don't put up our tree or decorations until after it. We'll put them up on Friday this year, just in time for our 'Deck the Hall's' Christmas party. The advent calendar however is allowed to break these rules so I went down to the shed and fished it out today yay! Last year was our first Christmas in our very own home so we decided it would be festive and homey to make our own advent calendar. I say we, I had nothing to do with the production of it. Sewing is not my forte. Rich on the other hand is a dab hand with the old sewing machine so was able to whip up a little advent stocking calendar for us.

Last year we stuffed it with Terry's Chocolate Orange pieces. Yum. This year though, as I'm starting the old biscuit business and biscuits are a daily bake in the flat now, I've decided we'll have a little biscuit treat in there instead. So I'll share our advent biscuit recipes on here.

I mentioned in the other post I'd been trying a bit of healthier baking and baked a batch of raw cookies. They passed the taste test so now I'll share them with you. I think they're particularly festive because they contain figs, walnuts and some christmassy spices. They are gluten, refined sugar and grain free. Full only of healthy goodness, which means you can nibble away guilt free! So a super way to kick off this fabulous month.

Christmas themed Figgy Biscuit

1/2 cup almonds
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp pomegranate juice
6 dried figs
Pomegranate gems to decorate

Whack it all in the blender and blend until a sticky dough forms

Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough.

Cut into suitably festive shapes (or whatever you would prefer). You could also roll them into little balls, which are equally delightful to munch on.

Pop in the freezer for about 10 mins to firm up

Store in the fridge.

Rosemary and Walnut Figgy Delights

1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup rolled oats
6 figs
A few rosemary leaves (I used too much, you only need a subtle hint)
1 tbsp honey

Whack it all in the blender and blend until a sticky dough forms

Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough.

Cut into suitably festive shapes (or whatever you would prefer). You could also roll them into little balls, which are equally delightful to munch on.

Pop in the freezer for about 10 mins to firm up

Store in the fridge.

These are wonderful served just before bed, with a steamy cup of decaf tea and and a little listen to a traditional carol, like this one.

Have the most delicious December.

Lizzie x

Friday's 30 second dance party

So the oven is broken, which, when you are trying to set up a baking business is a slight inconvenience. It broke last Saturday so we have been 6 days without an oven. 6 days. However, today we popped to John Lewis and purchased a new one! We've gone for a Neff (Neff the Chef as the lady told us) she said it was the one they use on bake off. I was sold immediately.

The lack of oven-ness in my life has however led me to branch out to try some new, non-bake recipes which has been rather enjoyable, particularly the batch I put together this evening. I'm going to experiment with trying a more plant based diet. Low energy levels and an onset of insomnia have led me to look into changing my diet sightly. Thus the biscuits I put together this evening are raw and refined sugar free (I didn't have gluten free oats so there's still some of the old gluten in there but that can be changed easily). I'll hopefully post the recipe tomorrow when I've given them to the taste tester (Rich) and seen if there are any bits I can add to make them more spangly. One recipe contains nature's beautiful gems that are pomegranates though so I already think they're pretty spangly.

For now, I'll leave you with a nearly refined free and raw truffle (it contains 75% dark chocolate which prevents it from being so but you could eliminate this of course). A healthier take on a Terrys Chocolate orange I like to think, but equally as tasty and full of bits which have some actual benefits. Here goes.

Lizzie's Chocolate Orange Truffles (title is a work in progress)

1/2 cup cashews
1/2cup jumbo oats
2 tbsp honey
Zest of half an orange
Juice of half an orange
100g 75%/80% dark chocolate

Pop the cashews, oats, honey, zest and juice into a blender and blend until combined and a slightly sticky mixture has formed. If it's too wet or too sticky to handle, just throw in a little more oats or cashews, whichever you would prefer more of.

Roll the mixture into truffle sized balls and pop in the fridge for an hour or until firm.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof glass bowl on a hob.

Dip the truffles into the chocolate so they are completely coated then place on a plate covered in baking paper.

Pop back into the fridge for another hour or so until completely set. (Store in the fridge)

Enjoy with a cheeky glass of red wine and some R Kelly Ignition for todays Friday 30 second dance party (it is a Friday after all).

Have the most delicious Friday.

Lizzie x

Tea at Three

Winter has arrived and Christmas is most definitely around the corner. The temperature has dropped, Band Aid are playing on the radio again, choirs and brass bands are bringing Cambridge town centre to life and the shops are looking particularly spangly and sparkly at the moment.

One of my most favourite parts of this time of year is being cosy with friends and family, meeting in warm pubs, toasting by the raging fire; watching strictly and the xfactor with friends, passing comments and judgements like you would and indeed could have done it more impressively and delving into those treats which really only come about this time of year and that is why they are so much more special and delicious.

One of my most favourite tastes and smells of this side of winter is mulled wine, in any form. For me, it holds everything Christmas is and I am not ashamed to say I have already been delving into it for some of my baking - although I am yet to indulge in a glass. That is on the list of things to do this evening.

Earlier this year Rich's mum very kindly gave us a jar of her homemade plum and mulled wine and jam and whilst spreading it very generously over my toast one morning, decided it might work extremely well as a biscuit filler. It does.

One way I have incorporated it into my baking is through these rather cheeky jammie dodgers. These are rich and indulgent crumbly bites of goodness. Glorious. I'm working on how to try and get the jam a little more stretchy - like the jam in a actual jammie dodger so will let you know when that one is worked out.  Enough chat.

Mulled Wine Jammie Dodgers

I used the Martha Stewart recipe for Linzer cookies as she uses hazelnuts which really does add that extra Christmas zing to them.

• 1 cup unblanched hazelnuts
• 227g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• Icing sugar, for dusting
• 2/3 cup mulled wine jam

Pre heat the oven to 190c and pop in the hazelnuts for about 10 minutes, until toasted. Once out of the oven, allow to cool  and then rub in a towel to remove as much of the skin as you can. Throw these into the blender and blend away for a couple of minutes, until they are finely ground.

Using your electric mixer and its paddle attachement, beat sugar and butter together on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat on a low speed until all combined and smooth then beat in the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the ground hazelnuts, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and sifted flour. Add these to the wet mixture and beat on a low speed until just combined. 

Split the dough in two and flatten into discs. Wrap the discs in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for at least an hour until firm or overnight (the flavours have time to come together). 

Pre heat the oven to 180c and on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until about 1/4" thick and cut out your chosen shapes using a cookie cutter. Using a smaller cutter, cut out the middle of half of the cookies.

Bake until the edges are golden (around 12 - 16 minutes) turning half way through. Pop them onto a cooling rack until completely cooled. 

Once completely cooled, spread a teaspoon of jam on the bottom layer of the biscuit and then put the top on. Once all have been made, sift a bit of icing sugar on top to give that extra bit of something. 

Enjoy these as part of a tea at three pick me up with a cup of darjeeling tea (it's lightness is a good contrast) and a little listen to some Billie Holiday and Guilty.

Lizzie x