Category: Treats

Snacks, Treats

Summer dreaming …

by Anna

I find that people often fit into one of two categories – lovers of ice-cream, or not so much. I’m in the first category and am a huge fan. My fabulous flatmates are also on this wave length which makes it a danger zone but delightful at the same time, and we often have flat dates perched on the floor (why don’t we sit on the couches??) having natter sessions over ice cream. It is good. So good. Our other mutual flat love is of tea … and the heat pump … but I’ll save those stories for another day.

Recently Leonie (flatmate/flatwife/epic friend) and I have discovered the delights of the Wooden Spoon Boutique Freezery – oooh yes, craft ice cream, say whaaaaaaat?! Move over craft beer (jokes … sort of). Amazing. The Wooden Spoon gang are based in Wellington and their ice creams are like the homemade kind. The ice creams aren’t clean eating as such but they don’t use pre-made mixes, stabilisers or preservatives so that’s something and is ok for a wee treat. And oh, SO yum. Check them out here: http://www.woodenspoonfreezery.com/ Continue reading “Summer dreaming …” →

Anna
Baking, Snacks, Treats

Bliss Balls

by Anna

I’m a snacker. It is fun and yum and also when I’m bored it seems like a good idea (probably isn’t). I wouldn’t go as far to say that I am a ‘grazer’, but professional snacker – count me in. There is however a good way forward in the snacking department – which I have not always utilised. A few years ago my snacks would be any of the following: packaged museli bars, crackers, sugar-free this and that, low fat this and that, fruit flavoured yoghurts, cheese (mmm cheeeeese. I haven’t given this up!), fruit and carrots (still regulars), scroggin, chips, the occasional biscuit, although thankfully these are not my fav etc … you get the general picture, and it has only been through the process of research, education, listening to my body, trying new things and understanding what all the crap is in the food I was eating, that I have in more recent years distanced myself from these things and have embraced the ‘real’ food option. Now I’m not saying you need to go all ninja-like and cull the above (and others) but if you want to eat less processed food then starting with almost anything packaged and giving it the flick is a good way to roll. Now there are some exceptions for example, raw nuts that come in a packet, full fat plain yoghurt, cheeses etc. Just check out the label and if there is a whole lot of stuff listed in the ingredients list that you can’t pronounce, then it probably isn’t a bad idea to steer clear of it. Or at least have a go anyway, slow and steady.

Anywho, this post is actually about Bliss Balls, which you have probably heard of and are an easy clean eating snack that I like to make and are deliiiish.  Continue reading “Bliss Balls” →

Anna
Baking, Chocolate, Treats

J’aime le chocolat

by Anna

I like love chocolate. It is one of the world’s greatest pleasures. A few years ago I lived in Paris and I distinctly remember eating some of the most incredible chocolate from chocolatiers and deciding that I would never again eat processed, commercial chocolate, I would only treat myself to the ‘real’ stuff, that love and time had gone into. Well that resolution lasted all of a few months I think but over the past year I have made a conscious effort to buy less highly processed chocolate, and make more of my own. I know, make your own!! That’s what I thought, and no it’s not by melting chocolate buttons and remoulding them. I’m no saint, every now and then I fall into a packet of m&ms or a bar of Whittakers (yum) – who doesn’t?!– but on the whole, I try to make my own raw chocolate. It’s delicious, ‘real’ and lacks the processed, sugarfied nature of a lot of store bought stuff.

The recipe below is an adaptation from one off the Whole Pantry app – which actually no longer exists. You can make raw chocolate out of cacao butter as well, but I use coconut oil as I think it’s just as good and is a wee bit cheaper.

Continue reading “J’aime le chocolat” →

Anna