Hey there blogger loggers! i hope everyone had a fantastic wknd! ours has be sooo productive, we managed 2 great hikes, the kitchen floor is now laid and finished, the door in the bedroom is now hung the other way round, the bedroom is completely changed round and some painting in there is finished, the hall cupboard is reorganised, the freezer is defrosted, and i’ve baked, muffins (they weren’t that great so i wont share the recipe), 2 loaves of tear and share bread, cauliflower cheese soup, apple pie and obviously all our meals, its been go go go, i’ll share my recipes from the wknd over the course of the week, tonight its apple pie.
First up the lovely peeps over at Rude Health sent me some products to try out and review on the blog, they sent me Granola, Fruity Date Porridge and Puffed Oats to try out and luckily for you they sent me a bunch of mini packets of the Fruity Date Porridge for giveaways.
I’ve been munching on these for the past few weeks, and here’s what i think.
The Granola is Deeeeelish! i think this might my my favourite Granola that i’ve tried to date, its got a sweet More-ish taste to it, just the right amount of crunch and the flavour is pretty awesome, there’s no nasties in it, the ingredient list is really great, the packaging is fun and green friendly, its obvious why it won “Great Taste Gold award 2010” my only criticism of this is the price tag, at £5.99 per box its a bit on the pricey side for me to buy it as my regular breakfast, but as i eat porridge most days for breakfast and only have things like this about once a week, i guess i could stretch to the cost, if i wanted to eat it most days though i couldn’t afford it right now, i would like to see the cost brought down a little so i could buy it a little more regularly.
Next up is the Fruity Date Porridge, I thoroughly enjoyed this porridge, the flavours were wonderful, you could taste the hint of apple and date and cinnamon through it, and because of these these there was no need to add anything to sweeten it, i took to eating it with fresh apple and sultanas, again the ingredients list is good, no nasties and the packaging again is fun and friendly, another great product from Rude Health, the price tag on this product isn’t bad either, at £3.89 a box, i think thats reasonable for a porridge with added extras through it, its definitely something that i’ll be buying to switch up with my regular budget porridge.
The last product they sent me was Puffed Oats, I’m not a huge fan of puffed oats it’s not something i would eat as a breakfast cereal, BUT i enjoyed these as a small handful mixed in with the granola, the flavour is good and there’s the right amount of crunch v. chew. the packaging and ingredient list is in keeping with their other products, fun and friendly all round, and the price tag for this is just £1.96 for the box. If you like puffed wheat i’d recommend buying this as a great alternative to the kids cereal sugar puffs.
All in all i enjoyed Rude Health’s products, i like what the company stand for and i like their actual products. If they dropped the price of their granola slightly i’d be 100% sold on them, either way both their porridge and granola will be making regular appearances in my cupboards. Tune in later this week for a giveaway of mini boxes of porridge for you to try out for yourselves.
So today i took Buddy on the Hike me and my dad did last wknd, and i got some awesome pics, and some even better pics of the castle than last weeks, this used to be the home of a large wealthy family that made cotton thread, but was eventually sold and is now a hotel, its a beautiful big building, with amazing grounds, its a hot spot for weddings round here, the hike is through their grounds and gardens.
I dont even think the next two look real, they look like a painting!
Rumour has it that theres a tunnel in there that leads up into underground passages and into the castle!
Yesterday, at Buddy’s request i made home made apple pie, its the first time i’ve made a pie! it felt like a very grown up thing to make and felt like quite an achievement!! i warn you now this is not a healthy recipe, but like i said it was buddy’s request, i had a very small slice to sample it and gave half to my parents, the rest buddy has eaten last night and tonight.
Home Made Apple and Rhubarb Pie (Jamie Oliver style)
For the Pastry
500g plain flour
100g icing sugar
250g unsalted cold butter
zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
a splash of milk
For the filling
3 Bramley Cooking Apples
5 small eating apples, of any kind
50g butter
100g golden sugar
about 3 stems of rhubarb (i froze this earlier in the season, you can skip it entirely or switch it up for blackberries etc
1 egg
cinnamon
First heat up the butter and sugar in a large pot on the hob, peel and core and roughly dice all of the cooking apples and 4 of the regular apples, once the butter is melted add the apple pieces into the pot, simmer for approx 15 minutes stirring regularly. Now add the rhubarb (or other fruit) and simmer for approx 10 more minutes, again stirring regularly, add in cinnamon, approx 0.5t and stir in.
Set the mixture aside in a new bowl to cool (the new bowl is because it will take longer to cool in the hot pan, and the mixture should be added to the pastry cold, if you add hot filling to raw pastry it will start to melt the butter in the pastry and result in a harder not so light pastry.)
Now while the mixture is cooling make the pastry, rub the butter and the flour and icing sugar together to make breadcrumbs but dont over mix, stir in the lemon zest, now add the eggs and a splash of milk and mix it till you get a dough, again dont over mix, turn it out the bowl and make into a flattened ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Once your mixture is cooled and the pastry has had 30 minutes in the fridge, take it out and roll it thin on a floured surface, then place half into the bottom of a pie dish, and fill with the filling, top with the remaining regular apple, cored and peeled and sliced.
Brush the exposed edges of pastry with beaten egg, and then put the top on the pie, pierce the pastry in several places with a knife to release the steam when its baking, fork the edges, to ensure they are stuck down to the pastry underneath and then brush the whole thing with the beaten egg, sprinkle with some brown sugar and cinnamon.
And when your ready to eat it bake at 180degrees for approx 50 minutes.
Et Voila! perfect home made apple pie.
Like i said not healthy but certainly good for treating yourself if your so inclined or your other half or friends and family if your having them over for dinner!
Right then i’m off for my usual Sunday night clean up an pampering, my Sunday night routine every week involves, changing the bed, face mask, shower, tan, exfoliate, shave, dry and straighten hair, clean Jammies, manicure and polish hands and feet, and then a fresh clean Neen hops into a fresh clean bed with my book for an early night! hmmmm i do love Sunday nights!
Do you have a Sunday night routine, or an any other night routine? mine has been in place since i was at school, my mum always made me stay in on a Sunday night, when i was a teenager and wanted to be out with my friends every waking moment, i had to stay in every Sunday night to “recharge my batteries” for the week ahead, i had to shower and change my bed every Sunday night, its stuck hard as a routine and i love it, very relaxing and cleansing!
Stay tuned because…………………………….
Coming next: my brand new Bento Box….eeeeeeeee and Home Made Bread.
Coming soon: Rude Health Giveaway.
