Healthy Breakfast Treat!

"A couple of years ago, I became fascinated by my own liver." No, this is not the start of some bizarre, French novel. Let me explain...

A couple of years ago I got glandular fever (that's 'mono' to our American friends and Epstein Barr for the pedants and medics). It's a common virus and the vast majority of people who get it shrug it off after a few weeks.

Unfortunately I wasn't one of them. I was one of the unlucky souls who found their liver under severe attack from the nasty virus particles. It left me with really odd post-viral symptoms which took several months to clear. Thankfully it went away but it was very unpleasant at the time.

I'd never really thought about my liver before. It's the unsung hero of the body - not as sexy as lungs or hearts or brains but just as vital. Think of it as a kind of battery and filter combined. When your liver gets clogged you can start to feel pretty tired and rotten.

So, when I saw this book on Amazon recently I got curious. I bought a second hand copy and found it full of cool recipes, mostly very low in saturated fat and high in fruit, veg, nuts etc. It's that time of the year in work where everyone is shattered. I'm finding myself eating whatever rubbish is to hand because I'm too tired to cook. This isn't good so tonight I decided to make one of the recipes for breakfast muffins - and they are surprisingly tasty. I say surprisingly because they are amazingly low in fat and sugar but don't taste like they are.

Anyway, if you feel adventurous here's the recipe. There are lots more in the book. Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS (For metric - check conversion websites)

1.5 cups wholemeal self-raising flour (or plain plus 2 level tsp baking powder)

0.5 tsp mixed spice

0.5 tsp cinnamon

0.5 cup sultanas

2 egg whites, beaten

2 tblsp plus 2 tsp cold pressed almond oil (I used walnut oil and it was fine)

1 cup cooked, chopped apple (roughly 2 Pink Lady apples - all I had!)

1 tblsp plus 1 tsp honey or concentrated apple juice.

0.5 cup soy milk - I used ordinary milk.

Heat oven to 176deg C (350 Fah)

Mix the wholemeal self-raising flour, cinnamon, mixed spice and sultanas. Keep separate.

Peel and finely slice 2 apples and cook in a little water until soft. Mix the apple with the beaten egg whites, oil, honey and (soy) milk.

Blend wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Cook in an oiled muffin tin (I used paper cases instead) for roughly 17 mins.

The joy of juicing!

Well, you'll be pleased to hear there was some writing done today. But... as well as writing... there was JUICING!!!

I'm something of a late convert to the whole juicing thing. It's fair to say that here in Ireland we're not exactly famous for healthy living... Think Father Jack in Father Ted or Dylan Moran in Black Books... But recently I read an interesting book about keeping the liver healthy and how important this is for good health. The author raved about fresh juice so I used the last wedding gift voucher to get a super-duper juicer which devours whole apples in seconds.

And really... wow. Just wow! I've bought 'freshly squeezed' juice before in a carton in the supermarket but juicing things at home is an actual revelation. When I juiced my first apple and took a hesitant sip of the (slightly murky) pink liquid - it was a mouthful of the essence of appley-ness. I moved on to red grapes. Unbelievable. Liquid grapeness. Fabuloso!

Anyway the juicer came with a free recipe book (Juice Master one) and I decided to branch out. So tonight I made something called Popeye Juice - 1 apple, 1 handful of spinach leaves, a quarter of a pineapple and an inch slice of lemon. It was so nice I made another glass for the Murph. He was recording an interview at the time so no doubt tomorrow radio listeners all over Ireland will pause and frown, wondering what the terrible snarling whine in the background is. But it was worth it! It was green juice! Try it and love it!

By the way, I'm not too proud to beg for recipes from experienced juicers...

Cooking vs. Writing

Tonight I was supposed to be writing - or at least that was the plan. Small child part of me wanted to sit down and tell a story. Grown up sensible me went food shopping and decided we needed a nutritious dinner for when we stagger in the door tomorrow evening.

And so... no story. Instead I am exhausted from chopping and frying and seasoning things but can now smell this wonderful beef and vegetable casserole simmering away in the kitchen. Going to have it tomorrow with mash, broccoli and baby spinach. Yum Yum!

There's still a bit of me wishes I had done some storytelling... but as we all know to our cost there are only so many hours in the day. Maybe tomorrow, once I've polished off the stew, I can start happy-tapping on the keyboard...

Viva Espana!

Well, as part of my 'virus recovery plan' I am in Spain, soaking up the sun and reading lots of books! We've had one day of rain but since then lots of glorious sunshine - getting a bit of a tan.

I haven't sampled any sangria so far but if you're feeling in the mood the picture came from here - a recipe page. Haven't tested it myself so if you give it a go let me know how it is - or if you have an amazing recipe yourself would love to see it!