Author Archives: Jo's food bites

Eggs – quick and hassle free dishes

Posted in Aga cooking, beating cancer, eggs, food, food is medicine, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, home cooking, mains, recipe, superfood, Uncategorized by

People who know me know that my cooking style is minimum effort but hopefully maximum taste. I am lucky enough to have a small group of my own ladies pecking about in my garden. From them I get a plentiful and daily supply of wonderful power houses of goodness. I adore eggs – scrambled, poached, fried, omelettes, frittatas, Benedict, souffles, Huevos Rancheros, in cakes etc. but I do enjoy trying them in different ways.

Recently I have served all in one breakfast  / dinner dishes – the one pot cooking and washing up dream 🙂  I heartily recommend this approach.

  1. Sausages and fried onion – gf sausages cooked in the tin, add the chopped onion and when all cooked add the egg mixture.
  2. Sausages,Stornaway black pudding, asparagus and tomatoes  – gf sausages and black pudding cooked in the tin. Egg mixture added and then when nearly cooked tomatoes and coconut fried asparagus placed on the top and returned to the oven
  3. Sausage, mushroom and tomato – gf sausages cooked in the tin and mushrooms and tomatoes added. When all cooked add egg mixture.

I have also served up my eggy combinations as breakfast muffins – all ingredients mixed together and baked in muffin tins – bacon rashers cooked first and chopped in to pieces and added to egg mixture, spinach and black pepper.

Serving suggestion – grilled plum tomatoes, avocado and hot buttered toast.

All a bit bonkers…

Posted in beating cancer, breast cancer, cancer, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, food, food is medicine, fructose free, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, positive mind, Uncategorized by

This is going to seem to be a bit bonkers…

I have only just realised; I have had cancer.

People who know me will probably think that I have finally lost the plot. They know I was diagnosed last July. Since then I have existed within a whirlwind of tests, operation, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, weekly and sometimes daily visits to the cancer hospital, visits to my own doctor, visits to district nurses, etc.

Throughout all of this I haven’t really had time to think…or been able to think. It was during my penultimate visit for radiotherapy treatment (18/19 treatments on 9th February) that the reality hit me – like a sledgehammer. I then did what I had vowed I would never do – spent a week wallowing in self pity and ‘woe is me’ mode.

Now it is all about moving forward. Yes, I still have reminders of the treatment – operation scars, nails falling off, aching bones and joints, burned skin – but… my body is recovering and the signs are clear. I have a covering of hair on my head, eyelashes and eyebrows are returning and my energy levels are increasing.

During treatment my diet changed. Partly due to taste buds; partly due to the fact that many of my staple foods were banned (sprouted legumes, kefir, salads) and partly because somedays eating anything was better than eating nothing.

It is time to recalibrate.

Here is to the healthy me 🙂

Rocky road

Posted in Aga cooking, biscuits, food, fruit, home baking, recipe, Uncategorized by

Decadent treat to have with a cup of coffee or tea. Really quick and easy to make. I love a recipe that doesn’t need scales. I always use the same basic ingredients – plain and milk chocolate,  marshmallows  and digestive biscuits ( gluten-free or wheat). To these I vary what I add. For this post I used dried apricots and cranberries. Sometimes I use pistachios and other dried fruits.

Ingredients:

100 g plain chocolate 80+%          10-12 biscuits roughly broken

100 g milk chocolate                Packet of Marshmallows roughly chopped

Cup full of cranberries             Cup full of chopped apricots

Method:

Melt the chocolate and add the dry ingredients  and mix up till all coated with chocolate. If excess chocolate, add more biscuits.  Lightly press in to a tin lined with cling film and put into the fridge. Once chilled, cut in to pieces.

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Venison Casserole

Posted in Aga cooking, casserole, food, food is medicine, gluten free, healthy eating, home cooking, mains, meat, Uncategorized, vegetables by

A rich casserole – further enhanced by the addition of dumplings. Perfect for a slow cooker / Aga.

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Ingredients:

500 g venison – diced into bite sized chunks                           Olive oil for frying

1 large onion – coarsely chopped

2 carrots peeled and chopped

2/3 tbsp plain flour (I use gluten-free)

2/3 tbsp redcurrant sauce / jelly (cranberry tastes equally as good)

Red wine – 1 cup full

Water

Method:

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Fry the onions and venison for a couple of minutes to soften the onions and seal the meat

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Add chopped carrots

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Add flour and stir thoroughly

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Add wine, redcurrant jelly / sauce and sufficient water to cover the ingredients

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once all ingredients are in the pan pop the lid on and put in the oven and cook on a low heat for a couple of hours  – the longer the better (I leave it in the bottom oven of the Aga all day). One hour before serving increase the temperature of the oven to Gas Mark 5 / 180 C and then after half an hour remove the lid (and add the dumplings) to allow the gravy to thicken.

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Apricot, mixed seed and oat bars (gf) 

Posted in Aga cooking, cake, dairy free, food, food is medicine, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, home baking, home cooking, recipe, specialised diet, Uncategorized by

Quick and easy to make and perfect as an energy bar or snack .

Preheat oven to 160c /gas mark 3  Lightly  grease a 20cm square tin.

Ingredients:

125 g butter                          100 g dried apricots – chopped

100 g muscovado sugar    50 g linseed

125 g peanut butter           50 g pumpkin seeds

200 g porridge oats           50 g sesame seeds

25 g honey                            lemon / orange rind

Method:

Put butter, sugar and honey in a large pan and onto  a low heat. Stir until melted.  Remove from the heat and add all the other ingredients. Mix well. Put in to the tin and press down. Cook for about 30 mins. Leave to cool in the tin – when warm to touch cut in to slices in the tin.  Leave until cold before lifting the pieces  out.

Recovery

Posted in beating cancer, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, Uncategorized by

Yesterday (Tuesday 27th December 2016) was a significant day for me. I had the last of my chemotherapy related drugs. So today is an even more auspicious day … the start of regaining my strength and my health. I know that my approach to food and health gave me a very strong foundation going in to treatment but I am now completely running on empty  – at least this means the chemo has performed its sledgehammer role.

5 1/2 months ago I was in blissful ignorance. I decided it was time to have a career change and turn my passion for healthy living in to my new career. So I made the leap and handed my notice in at my place of work for the last 15 years.

Then…

June 17th – routine mammogram

July 6th – recall letter, ‘nothing to be concerned about…but bring a friend for support.’  I saw my unwelcome visitor clearly on the screen. Another mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy and a very frank radiologist made it clear that it was 95% likely to be malignant.

July 11th – results confirmed Grade 3 invasive malignant tumour.

July 13th – met my consultant and fully accepted that now was the time for me to put my trust in the wonderful team of medical professionals taking over my care.

July 29th – tumour removed and lymph biopsy

August 17th – only 2 months after the initial mammogram – met with my consultant to be told that the removal of all the tumour was successful but that cancer cells were found in my lymph nodes. Met with my oncologist to discuss my next treatment: chemotherapy; radiotherapy and drug therapy. Also to arrange a barrage of tests to check my body was strong enough for the onslaught of the poisons.

September 5th – picc line inserted and first chemo treatment. I must admit as I watched the red poison moving along the tube to my arm I did wobble.

Ahead of my treatment I thought chemotherapy meant hair loss and feeling a bit rough…I was so wrong – not about the hair loss which I actually have found quite liberating and of course have saved a fortune in hair products and time wasted washing drying and generally faffing. It has been grim – most of the time I have managed to remain upbeat but there have been times when I have felt so sorry for myself and wondered, ‘Why me?’ But of course the words of Paul Kalanithi (When Breath becomes Air), ‘Why not me?’have pulled me up sharp…I am still alive after all.

December 19th  – last chemo session – I made it without any sessions being delayed (a target I set my neutrophils 🙂  I got to ring the bell at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. A place filled with laughter, positivity and hope and staff who are truly wonderful.

December 27th last injection and chemo related drug.

So here I am…

Whilst undergoing chemo I have not been able to eat many of the foods that I would choose – some would make my body fight back against the poison; some because of the risk of bacterial infection.

I am now looking forward to feeding my body the foods it is used to and the foods that I know will get me back to full strength rapidly. Afterall…as Hippocrates said, ‘Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can heal the patient with food,’ and, ‘Let medicine be thy food and food be thy medicine.’

 

Thank you to all my fabulous friends and family, without whom, the last few months would have been both unbearable and unmanageable. x

Raw cranberry sauce

Posted in food is medicine, fruit, functional food, gluten free, healthy eating, magimix, meat free, recipe, side dish, Uncategorized, vegetarian by

No cooking involved.

Ingredients:

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300 g fresh cranberries    1 large orange        grated nutmeg

80 g muscovado sugar     1 tsp mixed spice

Method:

Peel and coarsely  chop the orange. Put the orange pieces and cranberries in to a food processor and blitz.  Add all the remaining ingredients  and mix thoroughly .

This freezes well. Delicious with hot turkey, pork and also with cheeses.

Orange, cranberry and nutmeg gf bundt cake topped with an orange drizzle 

Am a little bit in love with my bundt tin…transforms any cake in to a pretty cake needing very little extra adding in the way of icing.

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 5 / 180 C    Prepare a Bundt tin (no need if you use a Prestige tin) or 18cm round cake tin,

Ingredients:

170 g gluten-free self-raising flour        1/2 cup dried cranberries

115 g muscovado sugar                              rind and juice of one orange

140 g butter – softened                             heaped tsp of nutmeg

4 eggs (3 if using non gf flour)

3 tbsp granulated sugar (combine with the orange juice to make the drizzle)

Method:

Put the flour, muscovado sugar, butter and eggs in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the nutmeg, cranberries and orange rind and stir until combined.

Put in to the bundt tin ( or cake tin) and bake for 20 – 25 mins.

If you have used a cake tin then spoon the drizzle over the top whilst the cake is in the tin. If you have used a bundt tin then tip the cake out on to a cooling rack and spoon the drizzle over the fluted top.

Chilli roasted vegetables 

We eat roasted vegetables at least once a week. It is such a versatile dish and one that involves minimum effort – perfect 🙂

Invariably we have it as a supporting dish but it is worthy of being a main dish.

This dish posted is simply an assortment of vegetables – carrots, parsnips, peppers and sprouts – roasted in a drizzle of coconut oil for about 40 minutes with the occasionally gentle turning.Then I mixed in a tin of chopped tomatoes and a generous tsp of chilli powder and  topped with grated cheese. Back in to the oven to heat through. Serve with crusty bread.

Stem ginger gluten free sponge pudding – microwaved

I don’t use my microwave very much – heating up milk for my coffee, defrosting some things. However, when a speedy pudding is needed then it comes in to its own. From getting the ingredients out of the cupboard to eating the pudding takes about 12 minutes!!

Ingredients:

170 g self-raising flour – gluten-free      4 eggs (3 if not using gluten free flour)

140 g butter – softened

100 g muscovado sugar

4 pieces of stem ginger – chopped in to small pieces

2 tsp ginger powder

1 tbsp syrup from the stem ginger jar

Method:

Put all the ingredients (except stem ginger and syrup) in to a bowl and mix well.  Add the stem ginger pieces and syrup and mix until combined. Put in to a microwave proof dish / bowl – I line a 2 lb pudding bowl with cling film so the pudding turns out easily.

Cook on a high setting for 5 – 6 mins and check whether the sponge is cooked – skewer test. It should not take any more than 7 minutes to cook.

Delicious with custard 🙂