Welcome to the #FoodSavvy challenge!!

So as we embark on a new month, I have taken on a brand new challenge! Along side the support of Hubbub and Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils I have been given the opportunity to share with you my experience and journey in becoming more #FoodSavvy!

In Norfolk and Suffolk alone we waste 113,000 tonnes of food waste which costs the average household an extra £810 per year and the tax payer just in these 2 counties an extra £12.6m per year!!! That’s hugely alarming right?? I’m really excited to be given the opportunity to get involved in hopefully learning new ways to reduce this personally in my household and also raise awareness to my surrounding counties and further afield!

So, if you’ve been following me a while, I like to think; and I hope you’ll agree, I’m pretty savvy anyway and from my personal financial situation over the last few years, I’ve taught myself to become more #FoodSavvy and am really excited to see what new ideas I can take on board to drive this even further in my life! I’m a genuine lover of food and it sickens me to see food go to waste, so I always try to keep it creative in the kitchen and let nothing avoidable go in the bin but I know there’s still more to do!

This week, from tomorrow, Monday, I’ll be carrying on as normal and at the end of the week I’ll be doing my baseline measurement to see what waste I’m producing in my household on a normal week, before we put in to place some of the useful provided tools to aid in this months challenge!! I’m actually off for a few days from Monday morning on my holidays to France, so I’ll be getting my folks back at my home to save their avoidable food waste along with logging roughly any food that I waste abroad Monday to Thursday, all of this you can keep track of on my instagram stories! I’ve always been a lunch prepper, I’ve been using food recycling at home for some time and i consciously make the efforts to minimize a single use plastics in my life but even as a conscious person I know the results will alarm me when so many things on offer to us have not undergone the same thoughtful and sustainable journey we would want in an ideal world. After this week is done and we measure what’s ‘normal’ for me and my household, then we’ll start the reduction measurements from week 2! Food waste and the volume of single use plastics used world wide is a huge issue and I invite you this month to join the challenge and become more #FoodSavvy with me, from Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond!

The Bay at Jarrold

It’s been a while since my last post but I’m extremely excited to share with you the newest and most fabulous eatery in Jarrolds called The Bay, a gorgeous open plan wine bar and seafood restaurant!

I have visited 3 times already, once for the launch night too where I got to sample many canapés which gave me a taste of the shape of things to come and a couple of times to have a nibble and a drink!

The decor in itself is so beautiful, its situated on the second floor and has launched along with the new look homewares department and The Bay gets its name because of the stunning bay window that the restaurant wraps itself around and the design is that of hanging industrial lighting, exposed brickwork, cool toned neutrals and grained wood with lots of foliage scattered around, its modern, classy, airy and just gorgeous. It’s a great addition to not just Jarrold but Norwich and has really filled a gap for me especially.

Food wise the menu is heavily focused around salmon and has sharing platters, a caviar menu and other hot dishes and brunch style dishes too. I tried the gorgeous salmon sharing platter which for £10.50 per head is an absolute bargain in my opinion for the quality, selection and quantity you get.

They are planning on doing various seasonal specials and have an oyster bar as a special too! In addition to all of this there is the most lovely and carefully curated wine list too with champagne by the glass and one of the loveliest house reds (a pinot noir) which would not feel wrongly paired with fish for the red lovers out there.

I hope I have tempted you in for a visit! Currently The Bay is only opening for lunch but I think it’s a bit of a case of wait and see how it takes off to determine the finalized open times but please if you are a seafood fan put it top of your list to visit!

 

Thanks for reading, H x

Chickpea and White Bean Curry

I love a good curry and exploring different flavours and styles dependent of origin is great fun in the kitchen! This sweet, spiced, North African inspired curry is cheap, quick, easy and healthy and with the great flavours from my Buy Wholefoods Online turmeric powder and cinnamon powder it will having you transported away to a Moroccan rooftop by flavour in under half an hour.

Prep time- 5 minutes 

Cook time- 25 minutes

Serves 2-3 

Ingredients

-An onion

-A tin of chickpeas

-A tin of white beans

-1 tablespoon of Medium curry powder

-1/4 teaspoon of Buy Wholefoods Online Ceylon Cinnamon Powder (pure)

-1 teaspoon of Buy Wholefoods Online Organic Tumeric Powder 

-A tin of chopped tomatoes

-Cumin

-Chilli flakes

-Passata

-100g of sweetcorn

-A handful of baby spinach

To serve-

-Microwave wholegrain rice or pitta

-Fresh coriander

-Mango Chutney

Start with a spritz of spray oil over a medium heat and add your onions, white beans and chickpeas, stir fry for a couple of minutes to soften and then add a tablespoon of curry powder fry for a further 2 minutes until the legumes are coated and the flavour is absorbed.

Then gradually add your in tin of chopped tomatoes and passata followed by the turmeric and cinnamon stirring as you go. Add the 100g of sweetcorn and stir in and the wilt in all of the baby spinach, simmer for 20 minutes on a low heat and you will be ready to serve, this gives time for everything to soften down.

Then serve with your chosen accompaniment and enjoy! I have gone for a pitta, mango chutney and fresh coriander today but rice and yoghurt works great too!

I’ve linked Buy Wholefoods Online so you can grab some ingredients too and recreate at home!

 

Tag me in your dishes on insta! I can’t wait to see how you serve yours!

 

Thanks for reading, H x

Top Tips for Travelling from Gatwick Airport- South Terminal

Going to the airport can feel like a real chore sometimes, get up at an ungodly hour, sit in the car for ages and then spend a few hours in a crowded airport feeling restless to reach your destination! I hear you! That’s how I usually feel too but this time round I made sure that was not the case and my unwinding and relaxing started the second we arrived on the airport tarmac and I want to share my top tips with you guys too!

Before your trip download yourself the Gatwick airport app, it’s free to download and has so many handy features from where to eat and shop, live flight updates and reminders like on the day when its time to head to the gate so you don’t have to keep checking the boards, it has exclusive offers to take advantage of in and before the airport and links to book other airport services too!

I’m a bit of an obsessive planner as I hate stress and things not going right so I’m always one for being super organized when going away. I booked my parking way in advance and even got a discount code too. There’s often codes in the Gatwick app for parking discounts, allowing you to get the best parking for the best price! Of course we went for valet parking so all you have to do is drive in, drop off your car and jobs a good ‘un! It literally could not have been any more simple! Leaving the car for valet parking for 8 days and an add on of premium security only cost £62 with our discount code which I think was amazing value, so, top tip one- book in advance and look for discounts before booking anything- do your research! Ease and luxury does not need to break the bank when you’ve already shelled out for a holiday and if you are like me will be watching the pennies!

As I previously mentioned we added premium security as an add on in advance, for £5 per person we do this every time we travel anywhere, you can book this beforehand or do it on the day at the airport though if you just are not sure, you get more private and separate fast track lanes with little to no queue, it is much more swift and slick than normal security! An absolute must for the impatient and easily restless! There is also the option to do this for fast track passport control on the way home too so you can make an efficient airport experience go full circle. This too can be booked on the app and often has an offer active!

So once you’re through security what’s next? For some people its grabbing those Duty Free bargains, this airport has some lovely shops and shopping options with all the usual airport classics, Boots, Dune, Superdry and even a mini Harrods, but more me it’s getting a bite to eat and something to drink! There’s some kind of time/space continuum in the airport when you feel like you have no boundaries and anything goes regardless of time, all those travelers from over the world, it’s deffo 5 o’clock on someones watch! 6am, glass of wine? Totally acceptable.

You have your choice of eateries and watering holes here in the South Terminal, I had to narrow it down to a top 3 out of Nandos (they do a brekkie in the Airport alternate universe and it sounds awesome), Caviar House and Prunier (oysters and champagne are always a good idea) but I opted for pic number 1 – Grain Store. They have a really big and varied breakfast menu with so many options which spoke to my nutritionally conscious, gym bunny soul that I’m leaving on British soil so we decided to give it a go! NB- For all those ‘Spoons fans, the Wetherspoons app for table service works in the airport too so no queuing!

The service was amazing and the decor is lovely! It doesn’t feel like you’re in an airport with the rustic decor and low lighting! Add 2 Bloody Mary’s to the mix and we were feeling positively relaxed! (Just to add this was 44 minutes after pulling in to the car park! That’s how speedy a morning it was)

To eat I went for mushrooms on toast with poached eggs and J had the full english with added chorizo, the food came out really, really fast and was nicely presented and very tasty! I would recommend for a great spot to eat!

With all of our express services in tow and a 3 hour check in requirement we had quite a lot of time to kill so it was my good girlfriend to find my travel buddy and trusty chauffeur a good spot to rest his eyes so I went a did a little exploring or the airport lounges. I’d not used them before as I’m not usually traveling long haul but there are several different lounge options available for a charge and they a like a little piece of cosmopolitan luxury behind the scenes of the airport hustle and bustle. We looked at the No1 lounge and Clubrooms which has a couple of different options of £40 and £50 (less in advance online) and you get drinks, a beautiful setting, food and more, as we had already eaten this seemed like a waste on this occasion but the decor was extremely tasteful like boutique hotel bar and the Clubrooms brunch sounded lovely so this will be on our to do list for next time. Check out more info here

Instead we went to the My Lounge which was in a different area and had a little of a more relaxed vibe, with its scans-hygge style, it was cheaper which mades sense as we were using mainly for relaxing as we had full tummies and had a big empty squishy sofa with Jamie’s name on it. This one was £30 and you get to help yourself to a lovely breakfast buffet and bar, full equipped with the necessaries for Bloody Marys and Aperol Spritz’ in addition to all the classics from wine by the glass, draught beer and premium spirits to serve yourself with. I settled in with a cocktail and browsed the complimentary copy of Grazia and waited for my Gatwick app to tell me when it’s time to head to the gate!

Overall this was the most stress free airport experience I have ever had, easy parking, amazingly efficient service from the baggage check in with BA, speedy and security with a smile, a delicious meal, a morning washed in vodka and finished in the luxury of a premium lounge. If you have a holiday booked and you are traveling from Gatwick I hope some of these top tips help make you special experience start earlier and even more memorable.

Thanks for reading, safe travels and happy holidays, H x

Oat Flour Pancakes Recipe

Since this years Shrove Tuesday I am a complete pancake convert so I have teamed up with Buy Whole Foods Online  and am going to make some delicious pancakes using Organic Wholegrain Oat Flour! 

For this recipe you will need….

  1. 3/4 of a cup of Organic Wholegrain Oat Flour
  2. 2 table spoons of sugar 
  3. A dash of salt 
  4. 2 Teaspoons of baking powder (as oat flower does not contain gluten this helps them rise)
  5. 1 Cup of oat milk (any milk of choice will work)
  6. 2 Teaspoons of ACV or white vinegar (apparently activates the baking powder), I prefer white, tried both.
  7. 2 eggs 
  8. A dash of olive oil
  9. Any flavorings you want to add to the mix… vanilla extract, cinnamon etc etc, I did mine plain

When I say a cup, I literally mean a bog standard mug! I’ve always thought how ambiguous ‘cup’ sounds in recipes! 

Directions for the mix 

Add ingredients 1 – 4 to a mixing bowl, that’s the Buy Whole Foods Online organic oat flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, mix together.

Add ingredients 5-8 to a mixing jug, whisk up until smooth and then gradually add the wet mix into the dry mix in the bowl, mixing as you go.

If you are flavouring stir in number 9 once your mix is made.

Let your mix rest for around 10 minutes, this helps the ingredients activate and thicken

Ladle onto a hot non stick griddle or pan, if using a pan spritz with fry light. You do not need much.

TIPS

  • I found this batter still quite runny compared to traditional pancake mix and kept over pouring, you only need a tiny little bit of batter as it spreads and then the baking powder works it’s magic and they puff up, so if you want them round, less is more.
  • Wait until the top starts to bubble before you attempt to flip

Flip them onto a plate, stack ‘em high, top with some extravagant toppings, DEVOUR. 

For mine I went for greek yoghurt, berries, lemon curd and Buy Whole Foods Online edible dried red rose petals! For Jamie’s obviously all the sugar, syrup, lemon, berries and marshmallows! 

Another of my favourites is banana, peanut butter, syrup and dark chocolate!

I did some research online as I’ve never used oat flour before and never made pancakes in general and took some top tips from other great bakers online (who I will credit in links at the end) to make the recipe and took some of my own shortcuts too!

Pancake options are so endless, once you have your fluffy little cakes what you top them with is totally open to experiment!

What other recipes do you guys love to make with oat flour? What’s your favourite topping?

 

Thanks for reading! Tag me on instagram in your creations @misshollyp

H x

 

For my research and inspiration a huge thanks to https://julieharringtonrd.com/oat-flour-pancakes/

https://www.thedishonhealthy.com/2018/02/07/oat-flour-chocolate-chip-pancakes/