OCTOBER 2020

Pumpkin and coconut soup

SocialJoy

Hello everyone and welcome to my October blog and I am glad to of completed my quarantine period after my trip to Spain. With the ever changing rules on gatherings, it seems sensible to have some social in the garden around a fire pit! So far have made lamb burgers with all the trimmings and a delicious Bakewell tart to follow. The other night served proper camp fire food with ribs slow cooked in cola and smothered in a sticky sauce, and to finish, lemon posset, a refreshing dessert to cleanse your palate. I think the marshmallows for toasting will be out next!

My most exciting news this month is we picked up our new puppy. We travelled to Scotland and drove the pooch all the way home to London. She is called Rhubarb and is a standard labradoodle, so will grow quite big I think! She is caramel colour and looks like a teddy bear, just adorable! This will be keeping me busy in semi lockdown times! There is a gorgeous photo of her on my newsletter.

WorkJoy

I have been engaging in some different networking groups, such as a “health & wellbeing group”, “law group”, “finance & banking sector” and “HR”. This has materialised in some interesting and hopefully new contacts where I can collaborate with other professionals and corporates booking up team building online classes for their staff.

I attended an online course on Alkaline foods this month. It was very interesting as we need to try and eat a diet high in alkaline foods (high pH) and limit acidic foods, therefore reducing the risk of some cancers. Ideally taking 80% alkaline foods and only 20% acidic foods to maintain a healthy ph balance. I learnt some important new facts from this course, such as do not drink water during eating a meal, only before or afterwards, otherwise the water will dilute the enzymes during digestion. When you wake up, your body is at its highest acidic level, so it is good to drink a glass of water with a tsp of sea salt (preferably celtic sea salt) as this will alkalise the body immediately. Or lemon and water in the morning, 3 times a week. Always try and take “live” water or spring water for the electrodes and full of minerals. Some deep breathing to start your day will also be very beneficial too.

KitchenJoy

I am continuing the cookery classes at KitchenJoy now but with smaller groups. This month’s sessions have been Gut Health and vegan. Making the seitan (meat substitute) for the vegan class is very popular and easy to make and tastes so much better than a shop bought product with all the preservatives. If you want to eat more plant-based foods, but still love the taste of meat, this is a great substitute and has the same texture as meat but higher in protein and less calories than meat. It also absorbs flavours, especially Asian style such as soy, ginger and garlic.

On the gut health we make kefir, a fermented cow’s or goat milk drink (I use goat’s milk as easier to digest) to support the digestive system, while boosting your immune system and helping support bone health.

I did a couple of online immune courses this month which only last one hour via zoom, and Q&A at the end, but managed to deliver 3 courses of delicious nutritious food. This month’s menu was brain power plant-based milk smoothie, Japanese miso glazed salmon with tahini greens, followed by avocado brownies.

Please contact me for more details if you are interested in any other types of medicinal cookery classes or 121 tuition. This also applies to online private cookery classes and work team building sessions too!

PUMPKIN and coconut SOUP

Serves 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1kg pumpkin, cut into 1-2 inch cubes (or butternut squash)

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 inch piece ginger (30g), finely chopped

2 tsp ground turmeric

750ml vegetable stock (or chicken stock)

250ml coconut milk

Salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

In a large pan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until tender.

Add the pumpkin, ginger and turmeric and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the stock and coconut milk and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for 30 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.

Allow to cool slightly, then use a blender or stick blender to puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer back to a pan to heat through. Serve with a swirl of coconut milk and/or pumpkin seeds

. 🙂

Enjoy ……..
  

SEPTEMBER 2020

Green pea puree with za’atar and veggies

SocialJoy

Hello everyone and welcome to my September blog. We seem to have new coronavirus rules at least weekly now, but we need to adhere to the system to keep the virus under control and prevent a total UK lockdown again so children can continue their schooling and to help shape economic recovery and protect the elderly and vulnerable.

I travelled to San Sebastian in Spain this month. It really was a food lovers paradise. From eating octopus, paella and many other delicious dishes. Travelled over the border into Biarritz, and with temperatures soaring to 38C, it was only bearable to be by the sea. Throughout our Spanish trip, face masks were mandatory apart from sitting down to eat in restaurants or on the beach or by the pool.

Roaming around the old town of San Sebastian with the quaint narrow streets, full of pintxo bars, sampling these various tapas of squid, sea urchin, anchovy and many more.

We probably ate the best steak ever in our lives at Casa Julien, just outside San Sebastian in Tolosa. The meat comes from young cows and the steak only comes one way - rare - cooked on an open grill. There is no menu and only a few dishes on offer. They offered us wild mushrooms to start, where you mix your own egg in, very novel but delicious. Along with some local jamon. Truly one of the best eating experiences of my life! https://casajulianmg.com/

I am now quarantining, which gives me lots of opportunity to experiment with new dishes.

I made a new vegan dish with aubergines filled with a tofu & basil filling roasted in the oven with stewed tomatoes.

WorkJoy

I have been busy talking to other health therapists in the industry on collaborating some online courses together and gathering up information. Watch this space!

I am growing some micro greens, as they are so nutritious and tend to be rich in potassium, iron, zinc, magnesium and copper and full of antioxidants. Along with growing some edible flowers which are nutrient rich and powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Also they give colour and texture and look nice !

I have been approached to join a couple of new platforms to sell my classes as experiences which is really good news! The first one is buy a gift and red letter day, which has huge exposure so very exciting https://www.buyagift.co.uk/ and also luxury gift experience (LGE), plus a new start up platform specifically targeting menopausal women at The Menopausal Company.

KitchenJoy

I am continuing the cookery classes at KitchenJoy now but with smaller groups. This month’s sessions have been anti-inflammatory, foods for sleeping and gluten free classes. These were mainly vegetarian dishes, such as the vibrant peas, tahini and za’atar as per the photo and recipe below. (from Ottolenghi ) I made some roasted cauliflower steaks with with saffron and finally a yellow split pea puree with onions and caper salsa.

Please contact me for more details if you are interested in any other types of medicinal cookery classes or 121 and you can bring your own private party to the classes as well.

Peas, tahini and za’atar

Ingredients Serves 4-6 as a meze

500g frozen peas, defrosted

65g tahini

40g picked flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

20g mint leaves

3 tbsp za’atar

2 lemons, zest finely grated and juice

105 ml olive oil

salt n pepper

40 g radishes, sliced thinly

2 spring onions

 Method

Put 50g of the peas in a medium bowl and set aside. Put the rest of the peas in a food processor with the tahini, herbs, 2 tbsp of za’atar, lemon zest and juice, 3 tbsp of oil, a tsp of salt and big pinch of ground pepper, and blitz to a smooth paste. Spread out on a large plate and use the back of a spoon to make a shallow well in the centre.

Put the radishes and spring onions in a bowl of reserved peas, add a tbsp of oil, pinch of salt and pepper and toss to coat and combine.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining tbsp of za-atar and the last 3 tbsp of oil. Drizzle this over the pea dip, top with the pea and radish mixture and serve.

. 🙂

Enjoy ……..
  

JULY 2020

Cherry ripple ice cream

SocialJoy

Hello everyone and welcome to my July blog. Many of the lockdown restrictions have eased but as we know the rules are changing all the time and especially if we are thinking of going abroad on holidays. But at least bars and most restaurants have opened and it seems a delight to be able to go out and actually be served a meal and then the plate whisked away when finished rather than a schlep from one’s own dining room table to dishwasher! I am sure we have all now managed to get our hair done, a bit of grooming and we all feel wonderful again. I am still continuing on gardening as I am sure people with gardens are doing the same, and purchased a few very tall bamboo trees as a kind of shielding at the back of my garden, along with green solar spotlights creating a mini jungle theme!

I took a trip to Whitstable for the weekend which was such fun to be on a little adventure out of London and actually stay in a hotel! Indulging in oysters and other seafood was an absolute delight and also a week later a day trip to the Witterings for a picnic with delicious english treats such as coronation chicken and quails eggs….and beach day. Book club continues and hosted in my garden with a halloumi salad and chocolate and guinness cake.

I also experimented with a new cake with courgette, lemon & thyme, which was very moist. And a basil pavlova, with berries, which looked impressive being green and tasted wonderful!

WorkJoy

I am still experimenting with the CBD oil, making dressings, brownies and overnight oats to check taste and measurements. A new shop on Chiswick High road has just opened called Beleaf specialising in CBD oil which shows how the market is exploding. I have approached them to see if we can collaborate by offering food demonstrations in their store incorporating the oil to show versatility of the product, and where we can both benefit. www.hideandseek.com.

The sleeping has improved taking the CBD oil and continuing the meditation at bed times, but I still think it is a long term project.

As there is an abundance of cherries this season, I made cherry ice cream which was so easy and did not need an ice cream maker and quite healthy made with greek yoghurt, honey and mascarpone, as per photo above and recipe below.

I have also received a delivery of some micro greens from a friend who has launched a company growing these. They really are nutrient dense, tender and delicious. I will be using these on some new recipes and will be sharing the photos in the next blog. Please follow on @roadgreens on Instagram.

KitchenJoy

The online courses have started gradually that I launched last month, and I am very keen to promote these classes after very early positive feedback. Adapting to our new way of life is the current way forward for KitchenJoy classes. I have also contacted all my clients who were on hold with classes pre lockdown and conducted my first physical course last Monday on Chocolate with fewer people so we have the social distancing in place. We made short beef rib with raw cacao, chocolate beetroot brownies, and a raw vegan chocolate mousse.

A new course with WeWork online last week was fantastic on a picnic theme lasting one hour with x30 signed up. The menu was smoky harissa dip (with flatbreads) which consisted of roasted red peppers out of a jar, tahini, harissa paste, smoked paprika and garlic, so very easy to whizz up in a blender. Topped with cumin seeds and crumbled feta. This was followed by cauliflower tabbouleh and finally tahini chocolate chip cookies. Simple to prep and simply delicious, followed by q&a at the end of the course. The feedback I received from this Corporate online course was tremendous and hope to continue these courses on a similar theme with other clients.

Please contact me for more details if you are interested in any other types of medicinal cookery classes or 121 and you can bring your own private party to the classes as well.

CHERRY RIPPLE ICE CREAM

Ingredients

180 g cherries, pitted and halved

50 g castor sugar

250g greek yoghurt

250 g mascarpone

100g condensed milk

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp lemon juice

Method

Prepare the cherry ripple by putting the cherries, caster sugar and 2.5 tbsp water in a small saucepan over a low heat. Heat until the sugar has dissolved, then increase the heat and bubble for 5-6 minutes until syrupy. Set aside to cool completely. In a mixing bowl, using a balloon whisk, beat together the yogurt, mascarpone condensed milk, honey, lemon juice and a pinch of salt.

Ripple through the cherry sauce, then transfer to a 1 litre freezer proof container. Cover and freeze for at least 5 hours or until frozen. Sit a room temperature for 5 minutes before scooping to serve..

Enjoy ……..
  

JUNE 2020

CBD chocolate chip cookies

SocialJoy

Hello everyone and welcome to my June blog. We can see the Government is trying to set out its plan to return life to as near normal as we can expect and continue to stay safe and alert. It will be exciting that the bars and restaurants will be open from 4th July, but let’s hope people use their common sense and adhere to the new rules and restrictions so we can prevent a second peak.

We have been so lucky with the glorious weather and of course more people are outside walking, cycling and enjoying the sunshine in these summer months.

I am still continuing to cycle around London, but I can see there is more traffic in central London now. It is great we can have a picnic with our loved ones and get back to some kind of normality. Joining friends in their garden for socially distancing drinks is wonderful and to actually see people face to face after a few months in lockdown.

I hosted my book club in my garden last week with a delicious fresh tuna nicoise salad and a peach and dulce de leche cake originating from Uruguay. And lucky me that I am also in another book club where my girlfriend hosted in her garden, entering via her garage! We all took our own food, which was bbq based, so very easy and delicious to throw a ribeye steak on the hot coals. I took some avocado brownies that I had made previously for an online cookery class. They are light, yet moist and yummy!

Am still being proactive by doing lots of outstanding jobs in the house and garden, which gave me the opportunity to refurb my garden table and benches. The table is so old, it is falling apart and needed large quantities of wood filler to remake the top. After repainting it all, it always feels like a worthy job when its all done!

WorkJoy

I have been thinking about launching a CBD cookery course, which would involve infusing CBD oil in various recipes. The idea came to me, when I was on holiday in The Hamptons (distant memory…) last year with my daughter. We recognised there were numerous products containing CBD in the coffee shops and deli’s, ranging from energy bars, smoothies, chocolate bars and so forth. I believe what happens in USA, comes across the pond and its good to get ahead of the curve.

As we know CBD oil is fairly expensive and I had to do some research on a good quality oil which is verified by GMP (good manufacturing practices). I sourced the product from Windfall https://www.windfallnatural.co.uk/ which is my local natural health food store as they stock high quality goods. I chose the CBD oil from The London Botanists as it has 100% natural ingredients and was highly recommended. https://thelondonbotanists.com/
CBD oil has many benefits, from relieving pain, insomnia, anxiety, potentially reducing epilepsy and many more health advantages.

I made a batch of CBD cookies with other natural ingredients including coconut oil as it turns out CBD absorption rates are significantly more effective when consumed with fats.

As per the photo and recipe on this blog. which are very simple for anyone to make at home! The amount of CBD oil is fairly minimal which also masks the taste as its quite bitter and earthy and not to everyone’s taste.

I shall be making some savoury dishes and think its disguised well in salad dressings and smoothies, amongst many other creative ingredients.

I am also experimenting by taking the maximum does of x15 drops under my tongue for 2 minutes at night time, one hour before bedtime, to improve my sleep. Although I do not like the taste, you can take a soft drink after, and I would say it can take up to 30 days to see results. I will keep you posted!

KitchenJoy

I have launched some general online classes on my website now, from lunchtime Immune, to Brain Health courses, and a Chocolate course in the evening. The brain health at lunchtime seems very popular, and people have signed up from afar! The advantage of these online courses is, you can cook as little or much of the dishes as you wish for your household and even just prepare them and eat them later and without leaving your home to attend a cookery class. I will still be explaining the key nutritional facts of foods used in the course with the specific theme running through the class. The last online brain health course was a brain fog smoothie, followed by avocado brownies. This was from food.social platform, where they advertise my classes and organise for the clients to be online via zoom. https://food.social/

Please contact me for more details if you are interested in any other types of medicinal cookery classes or 121 and you can bring your own private party to the classes as well.

CBD CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla essence

20 mg CBD oil

1/3 cup of brown spelt flour

1/8th tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp raw cacao nibs

3 tbsp brazil nuts or walnuts (finely chopped)

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp flax seeds

Method

Preheat oven to 165 c . Mix butter with sugar in a medium bowl until creamy. Stir in egg yolk, vanilla and CBD oil. Stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts, pumpkin seeds and flaxseeds.. Divide batter into 4 equal portions. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (Cookies will spread as they bake.)

Bake until cookies are golden around edges, 15 to 18 min. Let cookies stand on sheet for 2 min, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy ……..
  

MAY 2020

Grilled peach crumble

SocialJoy

Hello everyone and welcome to my May blog. We can see some hope with the lockdown relaxing a little going into June. It is good to see lots of people out and about in this glorious weather and using their common sense to social distance.

There does appear to be more people out and about as the weather is glorious , but I think as long as we are all sensible and social distance, we can enjoy some outdoor space for exercise and meeting up with friends and family within the Government guidelines.

I cycled to Borough Market last weekend which was a great bike ride across Westminster Bridge and then along the river by Southbank. Hot food takeaways are not permitted as yet, but I could buy some lovely produce such as aged emmental cheese, gorgeous Italian olive oils and the famous Breadahead bakery for sourdough loaf and their salted caramel dougnuts! https://www.breadahead.com/

I also needed a particular spice chaat masala which I tried at various local asian stores to no avail, but there is a fabulous spice stall at Borough market called Spice Mountain which had an extraordinary variety of world spices. https://www.spicemountain.co.uk/

We can see a few more restaurants opening their doors for takeaways. In Chiswick, a new texmex restaurant has opened selling the most delicious s taco’s and takeaway frozen margaritas! What’s not to like ! https://dgrandetexmex.com/

I also participated in a zoom virtual diner party which was great fun. This involved each household making a dish, and the theme was Indian. I opted for gunpowder potatoes and raita from my lovely Dishoom cookery book. And then we ate the 3 course dinner via zoom with friends, this is what socialising has come to!

I hope everyone has been able to do those tedious jobs at home by decluttering and reorganising our lives with extra time on our hands. I did clean out the shed and lots of gardening which included replanting summer annuals in the window boxes at the expense of a 2.5 hour wait at the local tip, but we are all in the same boat! But the nicest job is replenishing my live herb wall. With garden centres now open, I bought some pineapple mint, a chilli plant and chamomile to add to my already vibrant wild wall!

WorkJoy

I think the baking has increased, which I am sure is the same for many households. Starting with some healthy oat blueberry muffins which were very light and ideal for breakfast, snacking or you can freeze them.

With this lovely weather, it was ideal to make a seafood paella to enjoy in the garden with a fresh green salad and a glass of rose dreaming of being in the Med.

Have signed up for Oddbox fruit and veg box which arrives every week. I feel this makes you use and be creative on the seasonal produce they send you. With the peaches, I made a healthy grilled peach crumble as per the recipe below. And Japanese roasted glazed aubergines for dinner, along with asparagus they supplied with roasted cod on another evening.

I shall be posting some scrumptious ideas for everyone, with nutritional dishes to keep our bodies balanced and healthy. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for more ideas!

https://www.instagram.com/kitchenjoycookery/

https://www.facebook.com/nutritionalcookeryclasses/

KitchenJoy

I am now offering online cookery classes, which have gone very well to date. It is easy for my clients, as they sign up via zoom and I forward the ingredient list of the dishes we are going to make together before hand. The clients then just mirror me as I prep the dishes and so do you in your own kitchen! I will be talking through all the key nutritional ingredients of the dishes as I would do normally on a face to face KitchenJoy class. and step by step instructions on the cooking method. The advantage of these virtual classes, is we can have unlimited people online and can be very flexible on what we prepare in our own fully equipped kitchens and you can make a family meal or whatever quantity you like. Brain health seems a popular theme so far and the last class was a “brain fog smoothie” with coconut milk, walnuts, avocado, berries, maca powder, flax seeds and grated ginger. This was followed by an Asian mixed grain bowl of red quinoa & red rice, with chicken and a tahini dressing and pak choi. And finally my signature dish of chocolate beetroot brownies.

Please contact me for more details if you are interested. I am still offering different medicinal themes, from immune boosting meals to brain power.

GRILLED PEACH CRUMBLE

3 ripe fresh peaches

60g coconut sugar

25g coarse jumbo oats

30g almond flour

30g buckwheat flour

60g butter (or coconut oil)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp sea salt

Combine the butter, flours, coconut sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Blend the ingredients with a fork to create small crumbles.

Cut the peaches in half vertically. Twist the halves and remove the pits. Cut approximately 1/8-inch off of the rounded side of each peach half so that the peaches can sit flat, pit side up, on the grill.

Place the halved peaches, pit side down, on the hot side of the grill. Grill the peaches until lightly charred, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the peaches from the grill. Spread on the crumble. Top the pit side of the peaches generously with the crumble mixture, spreading the crumble all the way to the edges. Set the peaches, topping side up, on the cooler side of the grill as far from the heat source as possible. Cover the grill and allow the peaches to cook until the crumble mixture is golden brown, approximately 15 minutes. Plate the peaches and top with greek yoghurt.

Ideal for dessert or breakfast!
  

APRIL 2020

New year 2020 !

SocialJoy

I hope everyone is coping well and keeping safe. This blog is a bit thin this month, as we are not doing so many activities! I am doing my daily exercise with cycles to many London Parks and keeping fit with online yoga. I am sure we are all trying to cook delicious meals and be a little creative with something different and I even bought some oysters from our local fishmonger for a treat!

I can only reiterate my beliefs and concerns as per my previous blog in March on trying to socially distance and mentally keeping ourselves busy with some online exercise, gardening (if you have an open space) board games, keeping connected to family and friends and trying to enjoy the space that we have for the time being.

WorkJoy

I am trying to be creative with new dishes and eat a lot of fish and seafood in the lockdown. I have made baked Spanish cod with butter beans & chorizo, portobello mushrooms stuffed with spinach, gorgonzola and roasted pine nuts, squid in a light tempera batter, baked sea bream stuffed with ginger, garlic, soy and spring onions, plus scallops with cauliflower puree and black pudding, moules, tom yum soup, miso soup made with bone broth. A lovely sag aloo as per the photo above and recipe below, which accompanied a black lentil dahl dish I made too from the Dishoom recipe book.

I was lucky enough to be given some rhubarb from a friends allotment and made a healthy rhubarb crumble made with almond flour, oats, cinnamon and coconut sugar. Also great brunches such as fluffy pancakes made with buckwheat flour, banana, oat milk. Shakshuka with sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms and baked eggs. And finally had a stab at making Portuguese egg tarts, just delicious ! If anyone would like any of these recipes, please contact me!

I shall be posting some scrumptious ideas for everyone, with a slant on keeping our immune system healthy and happy. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for more ideas!

https://www.instagram.com/kitchenjoycookery/

https://www.facebook.com/nutritionalcookeryclasses/

KitchenJoy

I am now offering online cookery classes, which have gone very well in April. It is easy for my clients, as they sign up via zoom and I forward the ingredient list of the dishes we are going to make together before hand. The clients then just mirror me as I prep the dishes and so do you in your own kitchen! I will be talking through all the key nutritional ingredients of the dishes as I would do normally on a face to face KitchenJoy class. and step by step instructions on the cooking method. The advantage of these virtual classes, is we can have unlimited people online and can be very flexible on what we prepare in our own fully equipped kitchens and you can make a family meal or whatever quantity you like. I did a brain health online class this week, which a super lime healthy brain smoothie with coconut water, mint, parsley, avocado, moringa powder, cucumber and banana. This was followed by baked salmon with an oat, dill and lemon topping with greens in a tahini dressing. And finally a chocolate and orange mousse made with tofu.

Please contact me for more details if you are interested. I am still offering different medicinal themes, from immune boosting meals to brain power.

Sag Aloo

vegetable oil

250 g new potatoes

500 g spinach leaves

1 tbsp mustard seeds

1/2 tbsp cumin

1/2 tbsp tumeric

1 red onion

4 garlic cloves

1 large chilli

salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until soft. Heat the oil in a wok and add the spices. & cook for one minute. Add the onions and sauté for several minutes and add the garlic and chilli. Drain the pots and add to the pan to brown off. Add spinach and cook for few minutes. If its a bit dry add a little water. Season to taste.
  

MARCH 2020

New year 2020 !

SocialJoy

I guess this will be a different post to what I normally write as we see our daily lives change as we had never imagined before. Therefore I am going to write about how we can keep ourselves healthy from eating yummy home made foods to how it can effect our mental health. The Covid-19 virus has forced us to slow down and change our daily lives for the foreseeable future. This equates to activities within our home, be it reading more material, meditation, some form of exercise, downtime on watching box sets, gardening, DIY, decluttering our homes or spending more time with family members you are locking down with together. We need to alleviate our anxious, spiralling thoughts with more positive, proactive ones and possibly think differently now we live in a changing world. We have to think we are lucky we live in an age where technology enables us to still connect with with other family members and friends, especially those isolating by themselves. Rather than obsessing about hoarding toilet rolls, it is a time of reflection to consider others who are more vulnerable, health & care workers who are supporting us and of community cohesion where we will eventually emerge out of this challenging crisis with more compassion and connection. If we all adhere to the government rules to minimise the spread of the virus and also In time, with extensive clinical trials, hopefully there will be a successful vaccine developed. Our world will turn back to uniformity one day, but for now we need to ride it out until our planet resumes to normality.

WorkJoy

Due to the Covid-19 virus, it was essential to cancel all cookery classes at KitchenJoy, along with my corporate events until further notice. Currently I have pushed back my classes until May, as per my website status and will keep you all updated. This now gives me plenty of time to create and experiment with new dishes and I shall be posting some videos on immune boosting recipes to help everyone out. I will also be starting some classes online and will keep everyone informed.

As we see most of the supermarkets seem to be fairly stocked up again, for buying ingredients. With regard to online classes, I will send out ingredient lists and we can have interactive classes together and at the same time have some fun cooking and creating yummy dishes!

Some people are not used to cooking so much at home now we are in lock down, but meals can be easy and delicious with simple ingredients. I shall be posting some scrumptious ideas for everyone, with a slant on keeping our immune system healthy and happy. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook for more ideas!

https://www.instagram.com/kitchenjoycookery/

https://www.facebook.com/nutritionalcookeryclasses/

KitchenJoy

It is essential that we keep ourselves healthy throughout this challenging time. Simple changes or small steps is all that is needed. For example I am making an immune boosting shot for when I wake up, this is simply a squeeze of a fresh orange, lemon juice, fresh turmeric & ginger. All these ingredients are easy to purchase (you can use ground turmeric if you wish) and will strengthen your immune system. I suggest you do this twice a week. I do not necessarily advocate drinking lots of fruit juices, as we know this is a form of sugar being a combination of fructose, glucose and sucrose, however it has other highly beneficial components such as Vitamin C. But as you will see from the ingredient list, we are only taking small shots. Lemon juice has an acidic pH before it is digested. However, once metabolised by the body, it turns alkaline, which is incredible! By sustaining an alkaline system, we can reduce inflammation in our bodies to reduce our risk of illness. (this is the case for all citrus fruits in our system). As for turmeric, this powerful spice with the main compound being curcumin which gives it a deep colouring, has been proven to have the most scientifically high antioxidant and anti-bacterial properties for your body to help keep away flu symptoms and other ailments. Ginger is the king of the spices and adding this to your shot will help kill cold viruses and fever by stimulating the immune system. I tend not to measure out the quantities of the turmeric and ginger, just add to your taste.

Immune Boosting Shot

Serves one

40g freshly squeezed orange juice

½ lemon juiced

Grated fresh turmeric

Grated fresh ginger 

 Place all ingredients in a blender, pour and enjoy!

  

FEBRUARY 2020

New year 2020 !

SocialJoy

Welcome to the land of smiles!!. I am in Thailand, on a fitness and nutritional retreat which started mid Feb. Lovely to get away from all the storms and bad weather in England and feel some sun on my skin. There are x3 of us girlies who began the programme at Phuketfit, which is my 3rd visit where you have numerous classes such as Hiit, yoga on the beach, kettle bells, Trx strengthening and many more with healthy balanced foods on offer. We stayed about 6 days for an initial kick start to our fitness and eating regime and then moved to a new luxurious hotel called Stay Wellbeing Lifetime Resort in a gorgeous villa with its own pool & jacuzzi https://www.stayphuketresort.com/room/3-bedroom-villa/ They have Hiit, body strengthening & yoga classes every day, apart from the variety of endless pools to swim in, and lots of reading to catch up on. We are very lucky to be away a whole month and reset our bodies before we return to blighty! Lucky us 😎

WorkJoy

As I was travelling for the last half of February, I was really busy running as many classes as possible before my departure, mainly on vegan (as always!) and Gluten-free, along with booking up Corporate and cookery classes at my school, for my return in March and for the rest of the Spring. We-Work vegan demo’s are booked up in different London locations plus some other private firms as well. I shall also be working with Chiswick Park Estate Management Enjoy-Work. On 26th March it is World Recycling Day & I shall be running an interactive live cookery demo on sustainability and recycling foods including such recipes as cheesy left-over mashed potato veggie pancakes and carrot cake bites. A further course with Enjoy-Work on 1st April to give you ideas for an alternative plant-based Easter there will be a Chocolate course demonstrating vegan chilli and vegan chocolate & orange mousse.

KitchenJoy

I shall be experimenting with lots of exciting new recipes which I discovered here in Phuket, mainly delicious thai dressings for salads which makes all the difference to a plant-based raw dish. For Valentine’s Day, my friend invited a few of us over for a dinner party and we had to bring a dish that was red or pink! I made salmon mousse with pink peppercorns + sourdough toast as a starter and we all drank pink champagne. There was a beetroot, clementine & goats cheese starter as well, followed by main courses and finally a red velvet cake to top it off!

Below is a recipe we made in February on the gluten-free course for dessert.

Buckwheat pancakes with dairy free coconut yoghurt & berries

Serves 6

75g buckwheat flour

1 tsp gluten free baking powder  

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1 egg

75ml plant-based milk

1 tbsp coconut sugar

75g blueberries

oil

maple syrup

Put the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl or jug and stir to combine. Beat in the egg and milk to make a smooth batter. Stir in the blueberries. Put a little oil into a frying pan, roll it around to cover the surface and heat until the pan is nice and hot. Pour the batter into the pan to make three circles and cook on medium heat. When bubbles appear on the surface and the base is golden turn the pancakes over and cook the other side. Repeat until all the batter is used.  Serve warm with syrup of your choice.