Here are a selection of recipes I am or have recently enjoyed from the sublimely healthy to the dangerously decadent! I’ve probably been loving the smoothies so much just to overcome the birthday cake I had two weeks ago. Whatever the reason, they’re my favourite of the three and seem to be giving me loads of energy these days.

Delicious Organix pumpkin muffins recipe

Rustle up some of these yummy muffins to keep your little monster’s tummies full ready for trick or treating!

Makes approx 12 muffins

Ingredients:

300g cooked, pureed and cooled organic pumpkin flesh

2 tbsp organic sunflower oil

3 tbsp organic maple syrup

2large organic eggs

175g organic plain flour

50g organic wholemeal flour

1 1/2 tsp organic baking powder

1 tsp ground organic cinnamon

1 tsp organic vanilla extract (optional)

Small handful of organic raisins or organic sultanas

Small handful of organic pumpkin seeds (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C

1. Sift the flour (add the wholemeal pieces to the bowl after sifting), baking powder and cinnamon into a small bowl

2. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, sunflower oil, maple syrup and vanilla and beat with a whisk until combined

3. Add the pumpkin to the large bowl with the eggs and sunflower oil and beat until combined

4. Add the flour mixture, the raisins or sultanas (and pumpkin seeds) slowly to the large bowl, stirring gently to combine.

5. Spoon into the muffin cases and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden on the top.

Supercharged Breakfast Smoothie

Serves: 2 adults and 2 children

1 cup of raw cashews
750ml of your favourite cold water

Blend in a blender until smooth to make cashew milk

Add around 9 stoned dates and blend until smooth (add more if you need it sweeter, or add agave syrup to taste)

Add vanilla powder or good quality extract (I use around 1tsp of extract), 3 ripe bananas, 1Tbsp raw chocolate powder and 1tsp spirulina powder

Blend until smooth and serve

Ultra Decadent Devil’s Food Cake
with Dark Chocolate Ganache

This is the cake my husband made me for my birthday. He left out the baking soda by accident but whipped the mixture very well so that the air and the eggs made it a deep rich and surprisingly not very heavy cake. In any case it couldn’t have been more fudgy and exactly as I wanted it if he’d tried! He also put cherries in the ganache sandwiched between the two layers. The ganache didn’t whip very light and fluffy for the filling layer like in the video on Martha Stewart’s website, but he added icing sugar and made it a bit more like icing and it was delicious.
Ingredients

Makes one 9-inch layer cake

* 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
* 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted, plus more for pans
* 3/4 cup hot water
* 3/4 cup sour cream
* 3 cups cake flour (not self-raising), sifted
* 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 1/4 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
* Chocolate Ganache

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-by-2-inch round cake pans; line bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment; dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, whisk cocoa with hot water until smooth. Whisk in sour cream; let cool. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine after each; scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in two parts, alternating with cocoa mixture and beginning and ending with flour; beat until combined.
3. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack; peel off parchment. Turn cakes over; let cool completely, topside up. Transfer half of Chocolate Ganache (3 1/2 cups) to clean bowl of an electric mixer; set aside remaining. Let cool completely, stirring frequently, about 40 minutes. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until ganache holds soft peaks, 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cake layers to make level. Transfer one of the layers to a cake turntable or platter, and spread top with 1 1/2 cups whipped ganache. Top with remaining layer, cut side down, and spread remaining whipped ganache in a thin layer over entire cake, covering completely. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
5. Transfer cake to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour reserved ganache over top, letting it run down the sides. If necessary, use a large offset spatula to spread from the center toward the edges, so that the cake is evenly and completely covered. Refrigerate until ganache has just begun to set, about 30 minutes. Transfer cake to a serving plate. Serve immediately, or refrigerate, covered with a cake dome, for up to 2 days.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

Makes about 7 cups

* 4 cups heavy cream
* 2 pounds best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 1/4 cup light corn syrup (we used golden syrup)
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring cream to a full boil; turn off heat. Add chocolate, and swirl pan to completely cover with cream. Slowly whisk mixture until smooth. Add corn syrup and salt; stir until combined. Transfer to a clean bowl.

photo by Wilder

Sharing your child’s passions

We began taking my daughter to Forest School a couple of years. I am by nature, not a Nature Girl, but I believe children are and that as an unschooling mom, I am there to facilitate my children’s passions as much as I am able to … and maybe even find a new passion for me in the process. I find it much easier to bake with them or create with home-made aromatherapy play doh or do a range of other indoor crafts. I even love cuddling up with them and watching Nina and the Neurons on TV, but the idea of getting out into the Outdoors, in all weathers, and finding it fun needs a bit more encouragement for me. Hence Forest School.

Fireside Connections

Besides the fact that there seems to be a weather fairy linked to their woodland that ensures that almost every session is dry and most often sunny throughout the seasons (a miracle in our wet climate), there is always a kettle bubbling away on the fire making hot drinks and a good chat a part of every session for the moms and dads that go.

My two love it there as the woodland is gorgeous with walks, wooden dens of various descriptions to play in and a tree swing all year round and now a floor full of leaves to dig in and gather and dance about with alongside a group of equally enthusiastic under 8s. It’s a fantastic blend of free play and child led activities facilitated by Debs.

The Birth of Forest School Soup

Last winter, when the session ran earlier in the day, Debs began a pot luck soup which followed a simple but delicious formula: she offered the stock, red lentils, water, pot and the fire and we brought whatever vegetables or herbs we had handy. I’m not sure if my kids love it so much because it’s so delicious, or because they forever associate it with Forest School – one of their favourite places on earth. Whatever the reason. I’m delighted. It must be the quickest, easiest, cheapest soup I’ve made that never has any leftovers as my family easily have seconds and thirds if they can.

Vegan / Dairy-Free Soda Bread

I particularly like to team it up with a vegan/dairy-free soda bread recipe I found a long time ago which is just as quick and easy to make. I no longer remember where the recipe came from, so if anyone recognizes it, please let me know so that I can give credit where it’s due. With the cool crisp weather creeping in, we’ve just had our first taste of Forest School soup and Soda Bread. I hope you’ll be enjoying yours soon:

Forest School Soup – serves 4

1 Onion chopped

2 Carrots diced/chopped

2 Leeks washed and chopped

2 – 3 medium potatoes halved lengthwise and sliced into 5mm slices

approx 180ml of red lentils (I usually add about 3 handfuls)

2x stock cubes (vegetable or chicken)

1.5l of water

a few glugs of olive oil

woody herbs – a sprig of rosemary or a few of thyme, amybe some bay leaves if you have them – experiment!

I warm the olive oil in the pan on a medium heat and add the vegetables in the order listed as they’re chopped. This is a rustic and quick dish, so no peeling or faffing unless you really want to. Fry for a few minutes to soften and sweeten, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add the lentils, crumbled stock cubes, water and herbs. Now leave it bubbling away …

Individual Soda Breads (Vegan / Dairy-Free)

350ml plain white flour

180ml wholemeal flour

2tsp baking powder

1/4tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1 tbsp sugar

1/2tsp sea salt (I use Maldon flakes)

120ml goji berries (though I’ve used raisins too for a sweeter finish, and even substituted flaked almonds or sunflower seeds for more crunch)

237ml plain unsweetened soy milk

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

seeds such as caraway, cumin or fennel (I like fennel with the goji berries)

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Lightly oil the 4 – 6 compartments of a muffin pan (you can also use a 9” bread pan, but it takes longer to cook and I’m all for the quick route).

In a small bowl or jug, mix the soy milk and the vinegar so that it curdles and set aside.

In a large bowl stir together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, salt, spice seeds and berries (or substitute) until well mixed.

Add in the milk and vinegar mix and stir briefly until just barely mixed together. Don’t overmix. Spoon into 4 – 6 of the muffin pans depending on how big you’d like each individual soda bread.

Bake for between 25 and 45 minutes (depending on your hurry) or until a toothpick comes out clean. They will be cooked after 25 minutes, but the longer cooking gives a crunchier golden top. Take out of the pans immediately and cool on a rack for 5 minutes.

The soup is ready when the bread is cooled. Stir it to break down the vegetables slightly. It should be yellow and the red lentils should be mostly broken down/dissolved in the liquid.

ENJOY!

Oh, the challenges of new technology.  I had spent a good long while writing my beautiful post about our Forest School experiences and added some recipes and gathered some beautiful photos to accompany it.  I guess I’m so used to Word saving my drafts as I go I didn’t even see the Save Draft button, let alone think to click on it.  When I had to close my computer because another programme I was multi-tasking on was having hiccups, I did my usual Save and Quit in Firefox, but not in WordPress.

photo by truthwenttrendy

You know what comes next …

Yes, all my writing gone.

So, I’ll take a deep breath, go get a cup of tea and know that a much better version of what I wanted to share is awaiting these nimble fingers on my keyboard when I return!