Eat in the heat #9 Two kinds of flapjack: child friendly/ hippie healthy
I've been experimenting with flapjacks (or museli bars?) in the kitchen for some time now. I'm always trying out a new healthy recipe that I've found on pinterest or online. I love them every time. But the children? They're a much fussier bunch... For them, a flapjack should contain no nuts (school policy) no dried fruit (at all) or crunchy things (seeds, cacao nibs) and they shouldn't taste of coconut (yes, they can detect coconut oil). So, yesterday before school I concocte
Eat in the heat #8 Wholewheat chocolate chip pancakes
Even when you're living in the Caribbean, even when' it's hot and humid and you feel like you should be eating plates of fresh fruit, sometimes all you really want for breakfast is a stack of fluffy pancakes. And these wholewheat chocolate chip ones went down a treat. Healthier than they look, these pancakes are packed with nutritious ingredients like coconut oil, plain bio yoghurt, eggs and maple syrup, plus wholewheat flour. My children regularly reject my attempts at healt
Eat in the heat #7 The best mango milkshake. Ever.
Mango milkshake mania has hit our house. Yes, it seems that the blender is always on whizzing up this ever popular drink. Ice cold, creamy, thick and delicious, it's no wonder that my son asks for it the minute he gets in from school. He doesn't realise that it's super healthy unlike the syrupy fruit concotions he loves to drink when we're out and about. And when it's so, so hot and there are mangoes on the trees in our garden, on the trees in our friend's gardens, being sold
Eat in the heat #6 Saturday morning bread
The perfect, lazy bread recipe. Seriously. So delicious. No kneading or working involved. Crusty on the outside, chewy in the middle. I've been playing around with flours and trying different combinations. The recipe below makes the perfect loaf - looks and tastes like a granary sourdough. And is an updated version of this bread blog post. As mentioned in my earlier post, I love bread and have been experimenting out here in Barbados (apart from one French guy at the farmers m
Eat in the heat #5 Summer minestrone with kale pesto
Summer has arrived in Barbados and it's gone from being hot with a breeze to hot and humid. It's the kind of weather that reminds me of balmy summer holidays on the Adriatic coast of Italy where we'd sit at the local Trattoria drinking red wine and eating delicious bowls of minestrone with crusty bread. This was a summer soup, fresh with slithers of courgette and carrot, flavoured with rich stock, morsels of bacon and peppery olive oil. If it wasn't for the fact that my child
Eat in the heat: #4 Only goodness banana choc chip cookies
These are a staple snack in our house where it seems that everyone is always hungry. They tick all the boxes for me. They're ridiculously quick and easy to make, contain only a few very healthy (and local) ingredients and are nut free - which makes them school lunch-box friendly. Simple. Ingredients 2 and 2/3 cups oats (finely milled) Small pinch of sea salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut 2/3 cup full fat coconut milk 2 very ripe bananas, mashed 1/
Eat in the heat: #3 Fish tacos with homemade tortillas, pickled cabbage and salsa
One of my favourite family style meals, these fish tacos are incredibly tasty, easy to make and fun for the children to put together at the table. They also make the best of local ingredients that are tasty, fresh, easy to get hold of and very affordable. The fish that I use here, which is my favourite Barbadian fish, is mahi mahi, locally known (rather confusingly) as dolphin (no relation - mahi mahi often swim alongside dolphin pods and use similar migration paths). A firm
Eat in the heat: #2 Cinnamon doughnuts
Oscar turned six today. And this is what I made him for breakfast. Moist in the middle and a whole lot healthier than shop bought, deep fried doughnuts, these were a real hit with the kids (and adults). All you need is a doughnut pan (and the ingredients listed below). Makes 12 doughnuts 3/4 cup organic plain white flour 1/4 cup spelt flour 1 tsp baking powder 1/3 cup brown granulated sugar (plus extra for dusting) 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp sea salt 2 tbs olive oil or melted but
Eat in the heat: #1 Fresh lemonade and pan toasted nuts
This is the start of a new series about the food that I cook and eat in the Caribbean. Because food is different here. Not hugely different, but different enough. Firstly, there is no online food ordering, no home delivery, no click and collect. For an Ocado.com addict with three young children that's been hard to accept. There are no short cuts. I had to forget about dashing out to Marks and Spenser to pick up a meal that can simply be popped in the oven. It took me months t
