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No bake breakfast bars

I got an apology today. From a German Doctor. Mays birth was wrapped with so many emotions. Joy, relief, love but unfortunately there was also fear, abandonment, hurt and worry. The short version is that we were let down by a host of medical staff, from the doctor that admitted me, to the nurses on duty that day. The thing is that everyone is human, we all have bad days, we all have days when we are rushed and tired and stressed, and I can only imagine that in the medical profession all of those things are a million times harder and more serious. But two things happened last week. Firstly I was reading about birth and the author wrote that in birth, despite what traumas may happen, most of us think ‘at least I have a healthy baby’ but, she wrote, you matter too. Secondly I realised that I wasn’t ok with it. This seems so obvious to say but often we are not ok with something and yet we settle for it, or we quash it beneath a flurry of other feelings. Last week I realised that I wasn’t ok with what happened and that I wanted my chance to talk about it and my chance to get an apology that I feel I deserve. That day was supposed to be a magical one. I had no expectations going into it, I was willing and ready to listen and learn from the experienced medical team. I deserved to enjoy it, to feel cared for and accepted, loved and respected. I deserved to feel special because I had just given birth to an amazing baby girl. I had become a mum and I needed a little love for it.

So today, I got on the bike and cycled through the snow. I had a range of tests and then I sat opposite the Dr that delivered May and told her exactly how those 48hrs were for me. She sat, she listened and then she held my arm and apologised. She offered me support, she wrote complaints but most of all she validated that what happened wasn’t ok. And now of course it all feels a lot better.

So I am sitting here, writing this and drinking coffee. The baby is sleeping after a morning at nursery, the husband is running errands. There is an apple cake baking in the oven and a cauldron of ratatouille on the stove to drop round at a friends house. My eyes are burning with tiredness, emotional rather than physical, and i am eating the last of these breakfast bars. These bars have lasted 2 weeks in the freezer and they are amazing. They are the best grab and go bar I have ever made and I love that you keep them frozen but that they are ready to eat within 5 minutes. You dont need to add any chocolate to them but you can if you like – just melt a few pieces of 80% and then spread in a paper thin layer over the finished bars before chilling. These bars are ideal with a coffee in the morning, you can eat them with one hand as you nurse/type/push the pram and i promise they dont lead to any sugar spikes…Im off to lie down for 10minutes and to pat myself on the back briefly.

ps – i took some beautiful photos of these bars but nothing with upload properly so bare with me and I promise more shots will appear soon x

Ingredients
200g dates destoned
60g almond (or peanut or sunflower) butter
80g honey (or maple syrup)
110g chopped nuts and/or dried fruit
140g oats

Method
Line an 8x8inch baking dish or tray
Place the almond butter and the honey into a pan
Place the dates into a food processor with a splash of warm water and process for 5-7 minutes until they broken down and dough like
Place the dates and oats and chopped nuts/fruit into a large bowl and stir well to combine
Warm the honey and nut butter till they are a smooth sauce
Pour over the oat mixture and stir well
Press into the baking dish and then place into the freezer to set
These will keep sealed in the freezer for at least three months
Remove 5-10 mins before you want to enjoy

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Yogi Pie

I has been a funny old week and to be honest I am glad that its Friday. The last two and a half years have been full of upheaval for us as a couple. We finished a project in Germany and were set to move back to London when we were informed that Alex would need to spend at least 7 months of the year in Germany. I moved to London and Alex visited. A few months in and I was in Germany for the weekend when we found out I was pregnant after years of trying. We went to bed overwhelmed with joy but the next morning I had to be at the airport. A week after announcing that I was pregnant we realized that we couldn’t spend 7 months apart each year with a new born and that would mean giving up my beloved London and us all moving together to a new city in Germany. We planned all this whilst on holiday in LA. We also got married whilst we were there. We flew back together and then alex flew back to Germany the next day. Those weeks in LA was the longest period that we had together whilst I was pregnant. We picked a flat in a city we didn’t know from separate countries. We met in Munich for one weekend in order to find a doctor willing to deliver the baby (you have to book early in Germany) and to secure a hospital place. I got here 6 weeks before the baby arrived (2 weeks late) and we have been a family here ever since.

The thing is though, we miss London and yet we daren’t say it. To the outside world we have all that we could ever hope for. We have the most amazing daughter, we are healthy and we are financially stable. But life is about connections. Its walking down streets that make you look up from your phone and smile. Its customs and traditions that you understand, that you recognize. It is a way of life.It is the white van driver that waves you across the road and the corner shop that lets you pay tomorrow. Life is fuller with your tribe and your community. I miss my city. I miss the city that made me who I am. I miss my family and my friends and most of all I miss that they don’t see the baby every week. But most of all I miss my husband. He isn’t the same here. Not as happy, not as inspired, not as relaxed. I miss his jokes and his cheekiness, I miss his drive and his selflessness. We never thought it possible but he misses London more than I do.

This week was a week when he felt it and there was nothing much I could do except hug him and watch from the sidelines. I think its time to book a little trip, to have a day or too eating sushi, walking the streets of soho and showing the baby our favorite haunts. But for today I will make this yogi pie, because nothing seems more British than a pie. This yogi pie follows the same base as a cottage or shepherds pie but replaces meat for lentils. I used cooked red lentils but you could use any colour or a mix of all. If your little one is just starting out on food, then simply puree the veggies and lentils and then serve with a little spoon of mashed potato. This is warm, autumn food. Serve with a green salad tossed with vinaigrette and a side of love. Happy weekend x

Ingredients (serves 4)
4 large mashing potatoes
1 tbsp milk
1 large tin red lentils drained (400g)
1 onion finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
1 courgette
1/2 yellow pepper finely chopped
1/2 red pepper finely chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tomatoes
1 tsp tumeric

Method
Peel the potatoes, cut into chunks and boil until soft
Preheat the oven to 180C
Whilst the potatoes are boiling, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add in the onion, carrots and courgette
Allow the vegetables to soften and then add in the ginger, peppers and tumeric
Cook for a few minutes and then add in the chopped tomatoes and the lentils
Cook for another few minutes and then transfer to a baking safe dish
Take the cooked potatoes, add in some milk and mash till smooth
Top the lentil mix with the potatoes leaving peaks
Sprinkle on some cheese if you fancy and then bake for 25mins

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Family friendly ratatouille

Ratatouille makes me think of my mum, and to be honest I’m not even sure why. I don’t think she made it much, as she isn’t a fan of tomatoes, but somehow thoughts of her are wrapped up in this dish.

It’s strange how evocative food can be, how a taste can transport you. Pistachio icecream takes me to France. To waiting in the supermarket laundrette for another load to be done. The laundrettes were always glass boxes, heated by the summer sun & the driers on full pelt. Pre smart phone days, there were few entertainment options whilst you waited for the weekly wash other than a game of uno & a tub of icecream.

Cinnamon and cardamom will always take me straight to Oslo. To bakeries & snowy days. To Sunday afternoons when we would “go for a run out” in the car, a flask of coffee and some buns packed to keep us going (probably alongside the snow shovel & the thermal blankets…just in case).

To be honest I’m not sure where ratatouille fits in. Maybe it makes me think of France, maybe it’s because the smell of freshly picked tomatoes is one of my absolute favourite smells. Maybe we did eat it a lot growing up but I have forgotten. Either way, this was the perfect meal to share with the baby today as we woke up to the arrival of autumn here in Munich. It is seriously chilly. Nippy hands, rosy cheeks, thick jumper chilly. Ratatouille is warming, comfort food. Perfect as the evenings get longer, and perfect for the end of season tomatoes.

This recipe is a simple one. The best usually are. Serve with doorsteps of crusty bread or another grain. Puree or mash if needed for the little ones. Dish up, snuggle up and enjoy.

Ingredients (serves 4)
6 large ripe tomatoes chopped

1 large courgette cubed

1 aubergine cubed

1 red pepper cubed

2 tsp herbs de Provence

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 shallot

Method
Finely chop the shallot and add to a large pan with the oil and herbs

Gently soften and then add in the aubergine

Cook the aubergine for 4 mins and then add in all the other vegetables

Stir well and cook on a medium heat until the tomatoes begin to break down

Turn down the heat, cover and allow to cook on a low heat for 25-35 minutes until all the vegetables are soft and well cooked

Serve and enjoy

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Three ingredient chocolate truffles

Sometimes the sweetest things are the simplest things. These chocolate date truffles only need three ingredients. I make these all the time. I think most of my friends have tried them, my clients all make them now with ease and there is always a stash of them in our fridge. They taste amazing, they are ready in 5 minutes and you can customize them in so many ways. The basic recipe needs only dates, raw cocoa and walnuts. By grinding down the walnuts and cocoa into a powder you can use the dates to bind them together. You are making the easiest energy ball in the world. It is packed with iron and healthy Omegas. Dates give you long lasting energy rather than a sugar spike making these a perfect pre training snack.

I like to add in fresh ginger to the walnuts and cocoa and simply blend it down with them. You could add in supplements that work for you such as spirulina, maca or lucuma. A tiny splash of espresso, orange zest or a pinch of cinnamon taste great too.

Day to day we eat them like this. Just the simple combination of three ingredients, but if I am making them as a gift or as a after dinner treat I dip them in melted raw chocolate and then roll them in flaked almonds, cocoa or cocoa nibs. They make a really lovely gift, piled into a jar and sealed with a ribbon.

Ingredients
12 walnut halves
4 medjool dates
2 tsp raw cocoa

Method
Pulse the walnuts & the cocoa in a food processor until you have a fine crumb
Add in the dates & pulse until a sticky dough forms
Roll the dough into balls & either place in the fridge or dip in melted raw chocolate first and roll in toppings of your choice

To make the raw chocolate all you need to do is melt 50g cocoa butter with 3tbsp raw cocoa

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Matcha marzipan chocolate cups

It is my 32nd birthday today and I hate to quote my parents, but seriously where have the years gone? What’s funny is that I can’t remember all my birthdays, can you? I remember turning 6 as it was our first year in Norway, I got a kidney infection the day before and I also got a Polly Pocket, which was top of the secret wish list. I also remember 17 as it was the first time we were allowed to have a house party at a friends. I got so ‘merry’ that I was home and in bed by 9pm. 21 was fun and my first grown up birthday, spent in Troy bar in Shoreditch. 30 we spent paddle boarding in LA. 31 was the last one just the two (plus nanuk) of us, we were impatiently waiting the arrival of the little one, and I ordered very spicy thai green curry for lunch in a bid to try and get her to hurry up.

This year is my first birthday as a mama. There were no lie ins or long runs. There was a 5am start and a lot of snuggles. Somehow today doesn’t feel as important, it has somewhat paled, especially as all I can think about it the upcoming first birthday of the kid. Still, its nice to have a few treats. I have been showered in gifts, had beautiful walks in the sun, have a bottle of something bubbly in the fridge for later and I made these little chocolate cups. Alex loves marzipan and I love making it. It is so easy, just ground almonds, a splash of rose water and a drizzle of maple syrup.

I use maple syrup as it has the lightest taste and allows the almonds to shine. This time I added in matcha, for its colour, for its caffeine and for its beautiful earthy flavor. You could mix these up and make some filled with almond butter, sunflower butter, chia jam or anything else that takes your fancy. Mini muffin tins (the silicon ones) make a perfect ‘two bite size’ for a sweet moment on a sweet day.

Ingredients (makes 12 mini cups)
130g 90% chocolate

0.5 tsp matcha powder

1 tbsp maple syrup

6 tbsp ground almonds

0.5tsp rose water

Method
Place half the chocolate into a bowl over a bain marie and melt

Pour into mini muffin molds up to 1/3 of the way up

Place into the fridge until set

Whilst the chocolate hardens, mix the almonds, syrup, rose water and matcha together

Place small spoonfuls of the marzipan into the centre of the chocolate bases and then flatten to almost the edge

Melt the remaining chocolate and pour over the marzipan

Place back into the fridge and allow to harden

Enjoy

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