I wanted to tell you about these lovely herbal tea wands that I received from Bistro Tea.



An attractive alternative to a messy tea bag, these are designed to give you a delicious cup of tea with no fuss, no mess, no waste, no teaspoon and no burnt fingers!

These drinks from Coco Cafe recently arrived in my post.   I could actually taste them myself because I follow the Word of Wisdom, which means I don't drink tea or coffee, and these both have coffee in them.   Coconut Water is supposed to be really good for you.  Packed with a variety of nutrients it is the purest form of hydration next to water itself.



Created with nothing more than natural coconut water, espresso and reduced fat milk, these drinks are designed to give you a taste of natural hydration and energy  a sustainable buzz using natural ingredients only.  If you are a coffee drinker, I would imagine you would find these drinks refreshing and delicious.

What I can tell you about them is the packaging is bright and attractive and the containers a great size for carrying with you and easy to hold.  Gluten free and suitable for Vegetarians.

330ml and available at Ocado, Waitrose, Amazon.uk for approximately £1.50 to £1.99.

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I sure am enjoying the The Froothie Optimum 9400 Blender  which I was sent a few weeks back. It has really been making short work of all of the blending and blitzing in my kitchen, and it especially shines when it comes to make something as delicious as these milkshakes which I am showing you today.  





















Strawberry season is almost upon us now and I wanted to use up some of the frozen berries that I had in the freezer from last year before I start picking the new crop!  I decided to make us some delicious milkshakes for breakfast.     


  





























 

















Milkshakes are not something which I have very often.   They are usually really high in fat and calories, and to be honest you can pay a lot for one in a restaurant . . .  I wasn't ever sure either about making them at home.  Would my old blender be up to the job?   Would I end up with anything even remotely resembling a milkshake?  I had my serious doubts.   

  

I am trying to eat healthier lately and so I decided that I would just throw some frozen berries into the Optimum 9400 along with some milk and a bit of honey, plus some vanilla.  A milk shake has to have vanilla!   I also added a bit of lemon juice to keep the colour nice and pink.  

  

In less than two minutes I had the most delicious, creamiest milkshake I have ever eaten.  No kidding!  It had a beautiful thick texture.  

  

Just look at that . . . and the taste.  It was seriously delicious!  I haven't enjoyed my breakfast so much in a long time and I absolutely loved the fact that I was drinking/eating something which was quite healthy and yet seemed totally luxurious!  

  

You can be sure that now that I know it's so easy to have something this delicious in my hands at almost the blink of an eye . . . okay flick of a switch . . . I will be enjoying these tasty milkshakes a lot more in the future.  I can't wait to try out some other flavours.   Peach.   Nectarine.  Blueberry.  SUMMER BERRY!  OH my . . . cherry!  *Slurp!*  There is no end to the possibilities!

  

*Low Fat Strawberry Milkshakes*

We eat a lot of chicken in this house.   No surprise there.  It's usually one of the cheapest meats to buy and it's pretty adaptable to all sorts of flavours and cooking styles.  I used to only buy free range organic, but these days with a much tighter budget, I can no longer afford to be so fussy, and so I buy higher welfare chicken, which isn't the cheapest, but isn't the most expensive . . .  and hopefully it is what it says on the label . . . and is actually higher welfare.



I cook a lot of breasts, but I do love thigh meat more. It is more succulent and has more flavour than the breast meat.   It's lovely, skin on and bone in . . . roasted with nothing more than garlic, salt and pepper on it. , until the skin is crisp and crackling and the meat is juicy good.  Finger licking good.  You can't beat it in my opinion.



Today I opted for boneless skinless thighs.   When you take the skin of a lean meat like chicken you have to protect it's juiciness somehow, and so I dredged them in a highly seasoned flour and lightly browned them in a skillet, until they were golden brown on both sides.



I popped them into a shallow casserole dish.   I whisked together a jar of salsa (medium) with a heaped teaspoon of Chipotle Chili Paste, which gave the salsa a nice bit of heat and some smokiness.  I divided that equally amongst the thighs, dolloping it on top.   Then I got really naughty . . .  I sprinkled the whole thing with cheese.   Once baked the thighs were succulently tender (I love that in a thigh), nicely flavoured and spiced . . . and oozingly delicious with all of that melted gooey cheese on top.  In short . . . it was a winner.  I love it when that happens.  Good food doesn't need to be complicated.  It only has to taste good.  Simples . . .



*Chipotle Baked Chicken Thighs*

I have never made any secret of my love affair with blueberries.   If you have been reading my blog for any length of time at all, it should be really obvious to you that I adore them.



It's kind of odd really . . . because when I was a child I wasn't overly fond of them.  Or maybe it was the picking of them that I wasn't fond of.   Every summer we would be taken out into the bush and forced to pick gallon sized ice cream buckets of the berries.  As wild blueberries grow close to the ground, that was really hard work, to say the least.



And . . . it was always really, really hot . . . the black flies and mosquitoes would be pestering us to no end . . . and I was terrified of bears, because . . . truth be told.  They probably love blueberries even more than humans do and in August, at the end of the summer, when the blueberries are ready to be picked, they are storing up their fat for winter.

 

So really I guess . . . it was the picking I deplored, not the berries, coz I certainly do love them now, and I don't have to fight mosquitoes, or blackflies or bears to enjoy them . . .  nor do I have to crouch down for hours on end to pick them.  We have our very own high bush cultivated berries right here in our back garden!



They do lack the intense flavours of the wild ones from back home, but . . . beggars can't be choosers and so we enjoy them regardless of their size.  They really shine in muffins, like these  Blueberry, Maple and Corn Muffins  that I am showing you today.



These are pretty darned good muffins if I don't say so myself.  (And I know I just did.)  With a great cornbread flavour, lightly sweetened with maple syrup and then stogged full of lovely blueberries, they are real family pleasers.  A bit more rustic than most muffins and hearty with crisp cornmeal edges.   They are a real favourite around here.  Because of the fresh berries, they do need to be eaten on the day.  I have never frozen them so I don't know if they will freeze well or not.




*Blueberry & Maple Corn Muffins*

With Father's Day just around the corner, Dr Oetker has come up with some really lovely chocolate bakes to please Dad on his special day!



   




























Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160° Fan, Gas Mark 4. Line a 1kg loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Put the butter and Guinness in a saucepan over a low heat until the butter has melted.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and Bicarbonate of Soda together in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, milk, egg, Vanilla Extract, Chocolate pieces and melted butter mixture and mix together well.