Time to move on from peanut butter

I hadn’t heard of Carley’s  before, but the way some people talk about them makes me wish I had.

You know when something is quality because it comes recommended by the people you talk to.

Carley’s – a well earned reputation

In this case Carley’s have a reputation for producing the highest quality organic nut and seed spreads.

If you’ve been stuck on peanut butter most of your life, now it’s time to expand your taste buds because an increasing range of nut butters are coming onto the market and they are quite delicious. Try, for example:

• Organic Almond Butter
• Organic Pumpkinseed Butter
• Organic Raw Almond Butter
• Organic Raw Mixed Seed Butter (Sunflower, Pumpkin, Sesame, Linseed & Hemp)
• Organic Raw Rainforest Butter (Brazil Nut & Macadamia)
• Organic Raw White Almond Butter 
• Organic Sunflower Seed Butter

You’ll notice that of Carley’s products are also “Raw” which means they can be enjoyed by people who want to eat the most nutrient rich foods possible.

Carley’s make many other nut and seeds butters, as well as a super range of pestos, vegetable spreads, creamy organic hummuses and nutty chocolate spreads. Let’s hope their success spreads from their home in Cornwall to the rest of the UK.

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Fun times with easy vegetarian cooking

It’s National Vegetarian Week this week! (Monday 21 May – Sunday 27 May 2012)

It’s intended to be a fun celebration of meat-free food and everyone is welcome to join in. One of the official partners of the week is Amy’s Kitchen – the brilliant innovators of convenient and tasty natural vegetarian meals, designed for busy people who appreciated good food.

Their Rice Mac & Cheese is especially popular but, this week you may want to sample some of their new recipes, such as Country Vegetables and Pasta in a Cheddar Cheese Sauce.

Amy’s Kitchen – tasty, convenient and just like home made

Also there’s a Mexican Tortilla Bake, Black Bean Enchilada and Vegetable Pot Pie. And, with a nod to India, as the home of vegetarian cooking, a Vegetable Korma and Indian Mattar Paneer.

Food like this makes being a vegetarian easy…

Amy’s Kitchen foods taste good because they’re made as you would make in your kitchen if you had the time, with real ingredients and no additives. Fruits, vegetables and grains are grown naturally without the use of harmful chemicals and no meat, fish, poultry or eggs are ever used in any product.

In addition to the frozen foods Amy’s Kitchen offer tinned goods too with soups like Cream of Mushroom or Split Pea and chilli meals with a medium or spicy option.

Celebrate the Jubilee with a Great British Chocolate Pudding

You must be feeling that rising sense of pride…

This year Great Britain hosts the 30th modern Olympic Games and rejoices in Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee following 60 years on the throne of the United Kingdom (and as Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Mann,  Paramount Chief of Fiji and sovereign of many other realms and territories).

So, it’s a great opportunity for a party! (That’s the long weekend which starts 1st – 5th June – put it in your diaries now.)

If you weren’t aware many streets will be taking part in The Big Lunch as part of the Jubilee celebrations, with neighbours everywhere getting together for a grand knees up.

Pride, chocolate and pudding!

There will be bunting everywhere you look… And, not surprisingly, Britain’s leading and most innovative chocolate makers, Montezumas, are joining in with the celebration (that’s very important because the British love chocolate like no other nation on earth).

They’ve designed special chocolate bars based on one of Great Britain’s other great exports: the pudding!

It’s pretty crazy but Montezuma’s chocolate is especially good: they’ve designed the new chocolates based on our most noble pudding flavours. For example, there’s the Apple Crumble Bar, the Treacle Tart Bar or the Eton Mess Bar, or you could enjoy even more flavours in their Great British Pudding Truffle Collection.

Pride, chocolate and pudding – at last we’re realising what it means to be British.

Love food, love olives, love Olives Et Al

Have you ever gone exploring on market day and come across a stall which sells lots and lots of olives?

Did you ever want to sample all of them? Well now, you have the chance to purchase all those olives online…

Love food, love olives

Olives Et Al have made olives their passion. Using the finest ingredients and original recipes they have created a gorgeous range of olives you can store in your kitchen all for yourself. All the olives are sold marinating in jars of oil infused with herbs and spices, to achieve inspiring flavours that bring to mind cultures from around the world. There’s no need to refrigerate them as the oil preserves the olive. In fact, within reason, the longer you keep them, the better they taste.

And no artificial colours, flavourings or preservatives either, as you find with so many olives nowadays.

How about gathering a collection of the following…

• Aussie Olives – Kalamata Olives cured in a sweet but tangy mix of Vinegar, Oil and Brine with a nudge of chilli.
• Classic Olives – Sicilian olives with chilli, garlic bay & pepper.
• Moorish Olives – Fully ripenend olives with cumin, coriander & cardamom in extra virgin olive oil.
• Pistou Olives –  A French recipe of green olives with basil & garlic in extra virgin olive oil.
• Pitted Green Olives – Fully matured olives in extra virgin oil, perfect for salads, breads or pizzas.
• Pitted Kalamata Olives – Naturally ripened Greek olives in an extra virgin oil infused with Herbes de Provence.
• Oak Smoked Kalamata – Kalamata olives gently smoked over oak chippings then steeped in extra virgin olive oil.
• Sunshine Olives – A Greek recipe of mixed olives marinated with rosemary, garlic & sun-dried tomatoes.
• Verde Olives – Greek olives with lemon, coriander and garlic for a fresh, zesty taste.

You can use the oil for your cooking too, so it’s a real investment in culinary wonders, ready to transform simple into scrumptious.

I’ll leave the last words to Olives Et Al:

“We love food as much as we love life itself. We don’t believe in doing things by halves. If something doesn’t look, taste and smell divine, and feel great in your mouth, then we just won’t make it. It’s as simple as that. But don’t take our word for it, put us to the test. You will not be disappointed but be warned, there’s no going back.”

Introducing Lucy’s Oatmeal Cookies

Every so often you hear stories of mums who have set up businesses inspired by their love for their children.

Lucy’s Cookies are the latest star in this field. Dr. Lucy Gibney discovered her child had severe food allergies and began creating recipes they would enjoy. With the benefit of her medical knowledge she developed a delicious alternative cookie that can be enjoyed by almost anyone, with or without intolerances or allergies.

The cookies taste so good you wouldn’t believe they were made for a special diet. They are free from a number of allergens, including nuts, dairy, eggs, wheat, and gluten – that makes them perfect for vegans and kosher diets too.

Lucy’s Gluten Free Cookies taste really good

Available in a range of flavours the cookies are just what you’d expect from an American biscuit: crunchy, sweet, full of flavour and, thankfully, fairly light in the calorie department too.

You can choose from chocolate, chocolate chip, oatmeal, gingersnap, maple bliss, cinnamon and sugar cookies.

So what are they made of? The ingredients are a blend of gluten-free oats, garbanzo, potato starch, tapioca, sorghum and fava flours; plus other allergy friendly ingredients like soya milk.

It’s such a relief to find biscuits which not only taste as good as mainstream treats, but better.

You can find lots more gluten free foods at GoodnessDirect – just click on the link.

You’ll never believe what you can do with watercress

Who knew that you could buy watercress burgers?

Watercress is the kind of food you grow on your window sill as a child. But apparently it’s also versatile and tasty enough to make into paté, sausages, savoury mousse, or soup.

Cresson Creative's Watercress Sausages

Well, we knew about the soup already but watercress burgers? Cresson Creative have brought together an award winning range, bursting with flavour and texture.

All handmade in the heart of Hampshire using quality ingredients, all preservative free and (with the exception of their watercress and smoked trout mousse) fully endorsed by the Vegetarian Society.

Still got any doubts? Their watercress sausages are mouthwatering and meat free made with watercress, breadcrumbs, mature cheddar cheese, onion, garlic and seasoning. Sounds good to me.

And, just to tease your imagination a little more… How about trying some watercress and walnut paté or Moroccan style vegan watercress burgers?

Ready for an organic night in?

Simple question: how many organic vegetarian ready meal brands can you think of?

Any at all?

It you’re going to eat a ready meal it helps to know that it’s good quality food and not processed rubbish.

Organic fast food. Why not?

Natural Cool have been providing organic fruit and veg like fruit berries and peas for a while now. However, recently they moved into creating quick ready meal dishes like their vegan chilli non carne and vegetarian lasagne bolognese, both without meat and both organic.

Natural Cool also offer a variety of potato options and they’ve begun making pizzas too! All organic, so you know they’re good.

Perfect for an easy, quality Saturday night in.