Tea Bread Recipe

By popular demand (one person made a request) here is my recipe for my tea bread.


1cup all bran (or equivalent)
1cup SR flour
1cup fruit/nuts 
1/2 cup honey (or sugar)
1cup milk


Add the milk and soak the fruit and bran for at least an hour or two. Add the flour, nuts and honey and mix. Put into a greased loaf tin and bake for 1hr to 1hr 30mins on gas 3/4.
Simples.


Sometimes I use just fruit sometimes I am a bit of a devil and add chocolate drops. Tonights batch had half fruit and half pecan nuts.
Its nice on its own or with a bit of butter and a cup of tea. :)


Enjoy
Cat

Local green grocer delivers

I have been shopping for veg at Country Produce for a few years. I was dismayed when Tesco express opened on Whitecross road and effectively put them out of business. They have now opened on Milton Road and have been re building their business over the last 12 months.
They have now reached a point where they are able to make deliveries to your door. So shopping for veg can be made even easier.
Not only are their prices more than competitive with the supermarkets but the produce is fresher and tastier. Kieran Morris (owner) is more than happy to receive special requests for particular items such as herbs etc and he will do his utmost to seek them out at the markets.
All you have to do is call or email at least a day in advance of his delivery days, it couldn't be easier!

You can always go and browse in their shop at 252 Milton Road for fresh inspiration. (He also does a bit of cheese!) Service is friendly and helpful.

contact details are:
01934 643343
07974403521
countryproducewsm@btconnect.com

Delivery days are Wednesday and Fridays.

So come on shop local, eat fresh, spend savvy. Join our unsupermarket challenge!!


Cat

Unsupermarket Challenge - May update

I'm trying to remember the last time I was in a shop - I think it was last Wednesday, when we went to the butcher's at the end of Hughenden Road for some sausages, eggs and cheese. We caught him cashing up at half day closing and, thankfully, he served us. Ah, no, that's wrong because on Thursday we were on the A370 and popped into Puxton Park Farm Shop for a loaf and a lavender plant for our patio area; I've always loved the smell of lavender and I hope make a body rub by grinding it together with that coarse sea salt we collectively bought so much of.

What I mean to say is that, since joining this food buying group, ordering in bulk from Essential, having milk and yoghurt delivered directly by the milkman and sharing a fruit and vegetable box, we have had very little need to spend time and too much money in supermarkets. I might have been spotted, on occasion, grabbing a pizza from Waitrose (about four times in four months), but sometimes you just fancy a little of something different and I make no apologies for it.

We always have more than enough food in our kitchen; healthy snacks, hearty soups, jacket potatoes aplenty (why are there so many spuds in these box schemes?) We've recently started going to home-educators play-dates, where we eat communally, each bringing something tasty to the table. It's been an education in recipes and almost-forgotten food pleasures - a brand new sort of learning. What to take? I've been rustling up vegetable cous-cous and fruit flapjacks - ingredients for these are always on hand. It feels good to have taken the effort to cook something from scratch to be enjoyed by so many people.

Today, we harvested some wild garlic by a stream, somewhere near Glastonbury. The younger leaves have already been turned into pesto with olive oil and sunflower seeds, ready for a very quick and yummy meal with pasta. Any edible leaf can make a decent pesto and it keeps for ages in the fridge. The older leaves will accompany a vegetable soup tomorrow and the flowers look ace on a salad, don't they?

And you can probably smell me coming a mile off :-)

April order fast approaching

It's nearly time to place the fourth food buying group order, which is a bit exciting!

I thought I'd do a quick post to explain to anyone who is interested just how easy it is, and maybe a bit about just how positive an effect it's had on our lives.

To order, simply send an email to holly.young@hotmail.co.uk to tell me you are interested. I will reply with an order form as well as log in details to the Essential Trading web site (or get a paper catalogue to you). From here, you have a browse from the comfort of your sofa, fill in the order form - which does all the maths bits for you - and email it back to me by Monday 2nd April. We are trialling giving you the option to order via text this month too.

I will check the order then email you back to confirm prices. The food will then be delivered to our house in Weston-super-Mare on Thursday 5th April, you can pop round that evening to collect it, or you can arrange an alternative mutually convenient time. Please bring cash on collection to pay for your order.

Simple!

So, what are the benefits?

• We are definitely spending less money. In part, probably because we are not tempted by supermarket 'offers' that we only end up throwing away. Also, because we are buying in bulk.
• We are definitely using less packaging.
• We are eating better. Yes, this has meant more time cooking but if that's something you enjoy then welcome to the world of creating delicious wholesome meals!
• We haven't had to endure the supermarket. I can't begin to tell you how much more enjoyable my life is just from not entering Tesco. It may sound really silly, but I enjoy my time on this planet much more because I am spending it doing far more enjoyable things than pushing a trolley around a very large box!

Ok, preachy ranty bit over. Whatever your reasons for wanting to shop differently, welcome aboard!

Packaging

Landfill in Calgary - Courtesy of D'Arcy - Flickr Creative Commons

Yesterday was 'Rubbish & Recycling day': due to good work by the council our recyclable waste is collected weekly but the black wheelie bins containing non-recyclables is only collected fortnightly. This has improved recycling rates in the county, all good stuff.

While I lugged the boxes out to the roadside ready for collection I noticed our green recycling bin was only a quarter full and the wheelie bin was empty. We only had half a bin bag to get rid of from our kitchen bin. This is great, we haven't really put any effort into reducing waste, over and above the normal that is, with a little bit of effort I think we could probably get to effectively zero waste.

Undoubtedly the biggest factor contributing to this improvement has been the food buying group, buying in bulk has reduced all the silly little bits of packaging that small quantities inevitably lead to, and with either Fair Trade or organic the producers and vendors have usually reduced packaging to that which is necessary.

The veg box we share with Becky & TCO helps too, it is slightly surprising to find that the natural state of a cucumber is not to grow covered in shrink wrap plastic...

Beans and pulses

Ok so what else can you do with beans and pulses? Nina Thomas-Bennett inspired me last night! I am going to sprout them!! It seems this is a favourite with her little people and from the conversation between Mark and Ollie its a man favourite too :). So how do you do it? Nina did give me clear instructions last night, however, I have slept since and forgotten so had to search the good old web. I found a useful link on Youtube which shows it really is so simple I cant believe I forgot.

All you do is soak the beans or pulses in water overnight drain then rinse daily. They show a fancy sprouter but you could just use an empty jar and poke lots of holes in the lid (not so big that the pulses etc can escape) It takes around 3 -4 days or leave them till they are as big as you fancy then eat.

Here is the link, not because you will need it, because the hosts made me giggle ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-1V4vtV8Yo

Happy sprouting.

Cat and Mark

P.S. Thanks Nina :)

Recipe Blog: Oatmeal and Honey Cake

Actually Oatmeal and Honey cake is a bit of a misnomer because what I thought was oatmeal I later realised was oatbran, so my version of this recipe, which I found in the 25 Easter Bakes leaflet that came with the March edition of Cook Vegetarian, is actually Oatbran and Honey Cake.

It's very easy.

Turn the oven to 180C or Gas 4.  Grease and base line a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

Melt 100g butter with 100g honey and add 150g regular or jumbo rolled oats, put to one side.

Mix together 50g oatmeal/oatbran, 100g light brown muscovado sugar and 150g self-raising flour (second confession, I only had white bread flour so I used that plus two teaspoons of baking powder).

Melt 200g butter and stir it into the dry ingredients, together with four medium free-range eggs, beaten.

Pour into the cake tin.

At this point the recipe says to sprinkle the butter and oat mixture on top, I tried that and it kind of dolloped, so I carried on dolloping, let it sink into the cake mix and then stirred it about a bit.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into it comes out clean.

Two questions - do any of you actually beat the eggs before adding them to a cake mix?  Ever?  I tend to crack them straight into the bowl and threaten them gently with a fork.  Do any of you insert an actual skewer into cakes, or do you all just grab the nearest slim-bladed knife to hand?

Veggie burgers are go!!

This first month of my avoidance of supermarkets has left me with a store cupboard full of beans and pulses. I have to admit I don't really like whole beans or pulses :( and have mainly used them in soups which I then puree or make into hummus. I then had a brain wave why not make veggie burgers. I have paid good money in the past for dry mix variety and found that they are a bit tasteless and also that you don't really get much for your money. Feeling like I needed to use what I had rather than add to the bulging cupboard I embarked on making my own recipe!!! A scary prospect and not enthusiastically embraced by my meat eating son.

It was however a resounding success!!! So here it is! I did not measure precisely.

Veggie Burger

Equal amounts of (about 200g of each)

Adzuki beans

chick peas

Cannelloni

yellow split peas

Green split peas

Spelt grain

Smoked paprika

2 clovesGarlic

1 Onion

tsp fennel

jerk seasoning (it was there!)

4oz Gram flour (can use plain flour)

Semolina (optional)

bunch Parsley

salt and pepper to season

Method

Soak all the pulses/beans overnight.

Drain and put in a bowl

fry the onion, fennel and garlic

add to the pulses

add the seasoning and parsley and either mash or blend till fairly smooth (I like a bit of texture but no whole beans)

Add flour and mix

Make into patties and roll in the semolina (it just gives a crispy coating)

Fry in a medium pan on both sides for around 6 mins per side (depending on how thick you made the patties)

Enjoy eating with... well anything :)

We made about 13 in total and we are going to freeze the leftovers uncooked to see how they cook from frozen. I will let you know how we got on.

Cat and Mark

A bit about Essential Trading

We chose Essential Trading because they specialise in wholesale organic, fairtrade and vegan products. There are others that do the same - Suma in particular was recommended - but Essential is based in Bristol, and it just feels right to support a local organisation.

While browsing their catalogue, I came across some very interesting products indeed, most notably these (expensive, granted) products from a company called Zaytoun
.
I won't delve in to my views on the Israel/Palestine 'situation' but lets just say I felt genuinely excited to see these products. Not that I can necessarily afford them!

There are of course much more mainstream products available, but am I the only one who feels a little bit of joy at buying fairtrade and organic baked beans?! Maybe... but happy browsing all the same!

If you would like access to the Essential Catalogue and have not yet joined our growing food group, please email me holly.young@hotmail.co.uk to join us :)

New Order Form

Hello!

Well, with major thanks to Keynsham Food Co-Op for sharing their order form and process, we now have a simpler way to place our next order. And I've gone all hi-tech on you by creating a video. OooOoh!

Click here to be taken to the video showing you how to fill in the order form nice and simply!

We are always looking for new members. If you would like to access the Essential catalogue and maybe place an order with us, please email holly.young@hotmail.co.uk or leave your email address in a comment below and I will forward you the details.

It's food that's good for you, good for your wallet, good for the planet and good for your conscience as we make a docation to Weston-super-Mare Foodbank with every order too!

Approved Food

Lily the Pink put a link up on my Facebook Wall about Approved Food, who offer amazing discounts on selected products.  The website doesn't say much about them, so I tweeted, asking whether anyone knew their credentials.  Julian from Approved Food tweeted back and asked me to email him any questions.  So, I did, asking;

* Where you are based?

* Are you linked to any large supermarkets?

* Where does the clearance stuff come from?  (It's a great idea) and would all this produce go to waste if you/we didn't grab a hold of it?

This was his reply:

Hi Becky

I will give you a bit of background first (un-biassed as possible). The company was founded by Dan Cluderay in 2009, Dan worked for Sony Ericsson as a programmer until he was made redundant and with his funds set up a market stall selling out of date pop, crisps and chocolate just as his father-in-law does. Eventually he put the 2 together and came up with Approved Food. Our products are short dated, sometimes out of date but we never sell anything with a 'Use By' date only ambient produce with 'Best Before' dates which is the manufacturers estimate of when the product may lose its premium quality. As I'm sure you are aware this is not usually the case.

Our goods are mostly main brands and would probably find there way to land fill which is surprising as about 80% of it is still in date sometimes by days sometimes by months and beyond. We have a fantastic range of gourmet products as well as all our regular lines. If you see anything on the web that is 'De-Identified' it is from one of the major supermarkets and usually excellent value.

We are based in Dinnington near Sheffield but ship throughout the Uk and much of Europe and even Bristol (where I once lived for a short time). We currently have a database of customers of around 75,00 customers so you can have confidence in what we do and I can honestly say I have kitchen cupboards full of Approved Food goods.

If there is anything else you would like to know about us please don't hesitate to get in touch and if you think you may like to order let me know and I will give you a discount code for Free Delivery on your first shop. (People still don't like delivery charges even at our prices).

Kind regards

Julian Watts

Commercial Manager

So, what do you think?

Vegan Anpan!

This morning I made my very first dish all from ingredients bought from our very first WsM Food Buying Group order. It was my very first time cooking or eating aduki beans too.

I adapted this wonderful recipe from the web site The Delectable Hodgepodge which is well worth a browse for the food photography alone.

My attempt may not have been anywhere near as pretty, (and not sweet enough for the kids either) but me and Mark like them so - yay!

My ingredients were:

380g Strong White Flour

300ml water (100ml used to activate dry yeast)

2 tbsp sunflower spread

3tbsp raw cane sugar

1tsp salt

'koshian' (see below)

To make the 'koshian' I used about a mug full of aduki beans (about 200g) and about three quarters of a mug of raw cane sugar (about 80g) and followed this recipe from the same blog.

Please let me know if you try it out, and please share you aduki bean recipes too.

Unsupermarket Challenge - Week 1, Day 5

We've got a milkman!  Ah well, 2 litres of blue milk is twice the price of Asda's current offer of 4 litres for £2 but Dairy Crest's Milk and More did have a special on Country Life butter this week so I ordered half a dozen and, anyway, milk is my weakness because I had the habit of popping into Tesco Express for it and being coaxed into the ease of shopping there, buying too much on impulse.  One hiccup - our new milkman couldn't find our house but the company phoned, I directed and he got to us eventually. Oh, and the Rich n Creamy yoghurt turned into Virtually Fat Free (not my bag, Baby).

I've also gone halves on a weekly fruit and vegetable box from Cossey Produce with Holly and Mark.  I eagerly await the first delivery.  

And then, of course, there's our WsM Food Buying Group - collectively we spent over £250 and so qualify for the discount. Thanks Holly for instigating and organising this.  So exciting! I've ordered some things practically unknown to our cupboards, including quinoa, which I've never, ever used or even seen.  Recipes are welcome.

Today, I spent about an hour and a half shopping in Weston's town centre: spices, pulses and some fresh produce from Eastern Delight in Orchard Street, where I discussed lamb recipes with the woman who works there. I was appreciative when she opened the door for me and my bags, laden with cheese, eggs, ham and enough sausages to last us a month from Palmer's the Butcher, bread from Winnie's Bakery (both next to Silica) and dried fruit and seeds on special offer plus the baking powder I so needed for our next cake-baking sesh from Julian Graves in the Sovereign Centre.  I faltered at sugar buying and dipped into Marks & Spencer's, the only place that was heaving; exactly what I'm trying to keep away from - the crowds, the crowds.

What qualifies as a supermarket?  Like I said to a friend I bumped into in Palmer's, I don't want this to be an exercise of self-flagellation, do I?  Not the point at all.  So, one day I may have to contemplate browsing the flour and sugar aisle at Co-op or Waitrose.  As long as they're not busy!

The biggest plus is that we've been eating a wider range of nutritious and tasty food than we have since my now five-year old was weaning, when this brand-new, eager mother insisted that everything had to be fresh.  I was at my healthiest during pregnancy, not so much with The Glow but due to a solid, well-balanced diet, without any of my vices/addictions.  Ahem.

Meals are now better planned, waste is already less and I'm having fun in the kitchen and in the shops.  Fun, yes, fun!  I told my daughter that she could pick any fruit from Fruitline in Worle.  She chose a single orange and hugged it to her face all the way to the car, "I just can't stop smelling it!"  She made Fairies spring from it on peeling and sucked the huge thing dry.  The pineapple was also fresher, so much so that it stung her lips.  Our Somerset Brie is ultra-creamy too!

As for the economics of the whole thing, I won't know that for maybe a couple of months but it looks as though it won't be any more expensive than my manic trips to Stressco or Asda.

Happy Eating :-)

Becky x

Milk and More website 

Cossey Produce website

NEARLY enough orders - Please help!

We are getting very close and it's getting very exciting but we need orders for just a few more things to reach the bargain bulk amounts! I'm going to list below how far we are from reaching the amount we need to order along with the prices to try and tempt you! - Please share with your friends, discuss with your colleagues and join us on our journey.

You can use the individual order form (see a few posts down) or leave a comment or email me holly.young@hotmail.co.uk to place your order.

Herbs & Spices

Organic Fairtrade Basmati Rice - 1kg £2.91

Organic Coarse Sea Salt - 8kg 41p per kg

Organic Black Peppercorns - 800g 90p per 100g

Curry Powder Madras Medium - 500g 60p per 100g

Garam Masala - 800g 52p per 100g

Paprika Noble Sweet - 500g 57p per 100g

Seeds

Organic Sesame Seeds - 1kg £2.80

Organic Sunflower Seeds - 1kg 2.32

Pulses & Beans

Organic Aduki Beans - 3kg £2.10 per kg

Organic Cannellini Beans - 2kg £2.19 per kg

Organic Chick Peas - 3kg £2.65 per kg

Organic Green Lentils - 3kg £2.31 per kg

Organic Red Kidney Beans - 3kg £1.77 per kg

Organic Yellow Split Peas - 3kg £1.97 per kg

Grains

Organic Fairtrade Quinoa - 3kg £4.21 per kg

Organic Couscous - 2kg £2.38 per kg

Organic Wholewheat Couscous - 4kg £2.33 per kg

Pasta & Noodles

Organic White Lasagne - 4 x 250g £1.17 per pack

Organic wholewheat Spaghetti - 4 x 250g £1.02 per pack

Organic Wholewheat Penne - 1 x 500g £1.02 per pack

Organic Wholewheat Lasagne - 5 x 250g £1.11 per pack

Baking

Fairtrade Demerara Sugar - 8 x 500g 86p per pack

Organic Baking Powder - 1.8kg 35p per 100g

Bicarbonate of Soda - 1.8kg 21p per 100g

Drinks

Organic Fairtrade Decaffeinated Coffee Granules - 2 x 100g £3.40 per pack

Organic Fairtrade Cocoa - 3 x 250g £3.15 per pack

Organic Fairtrade Assam Tea Bags - 4 x 50 £1.60 per pack

Organic Fairtrade Green Chai Tea Bags - 4 x 20 £1.78 per pack

Organic Lemon Squash - 2 x 74cl £1.76 per 74cl

Oatly Enriched Oat Drink - 6 x 1l £1.30 per l

Condiments

Organic Fairtrade Mango Chutney - 1 x 300g £1.49

Organic Lime Pickle - 2 x 250g £2.63 per 250g

Organic Mayonnaise - 1 x 240g £1.88

Organic Peanut Butter (Crunchy) - 1 x 350g £1.85

Reduced Salt Vegetable Boullion - 2 x 150g £1.38

Organic Mixed Marinated Olives - 2 x 300g £1.88 per 300g

Organic Tomato Puree Double Concentrated - 4 x 130g 78p per 130g

Pataks Vindaloo Curry Paste V.hot - 3 x 283g £1.84 per 283g

Vinegar

Organic Cyder Vinegar - 3 x 500ml £1.88 per 500ml

Organic Red Wine Vinegar - 3 x 350ml £1.12 per 350ml

Organic White Wine Vinegar - 4 x 350ml £1.12 per 350ml

Other items

Ecover Washing Up Liquid - 1 x 1l £1.58

Totally Degradable Refuse Sacks - 8 x 10 bags 0.94 per 10

Recycled Aluminium Roll - 7 rolls £1.42 per roll

Unbleached Baking Parchment - 8 rolls £2.07 per roll

Unsupermarket Challenge - Week 1, Day 1

I buy my food in one of the main supermarkets, usually Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda or Aldi, supplemented by the odd trip to the triumvirate of butcher/greengrocer/baker by the Silica in the centre of Weston-super-Mare.  Unpractised in the art of keeping tabs on food consumption by my family of two, I would estimate that our nutrition (if that’s the right word!) costs about £50 a week, easily our largest outgoing, after rent and utilities.

I’m not keen on supermarkets. In fact, I find any large store oppressive – the music, the crowds, the lights!  If I ever feel ill, unhealthy or unattractive, a study of the other shoppers at Tesco (or Stressco, as Auntie Val calls it) in Weston will fix that immediately.  Supermarkets are a necessary evil, I tell myself.  But they might not have to be.

Inspired by the new WsM Food Buying Group that Holly has set up, some enjoyable home-baking over Christmas and lengthy conversations with friends on twitter, I have decided to take the Unsupermarket Challenge, that is to resist the supermarket catch-all pull and, instead, seek shopping alternatives.  I’m doing this in the search of a healthier lifestyle for my young daughter and me and to support smaller, local businesses. I aim to buy fewer ready-made items, while cooking more.  I’m not sure that I’m coming at it from a particularly green perspective – I drive.  A volcano erupting will cause a hell of a lot more ecological upheaval than all my ancestors, descendants and I ever could.  One transatlantic flight will use more fuel than a lifetime of driving around my neighbourhood.   And anyway, I’m a little wary of ethics, being, as it is, ultra-subjective.  Whose morality, exactly?

The Unsupermarket Challenge is quite an experiment because I pop into any one of the main stores or Tesco Express on the Boulevard at least 3 times a week.  Can’t be bothered to cook; run in for a pizza. Nearly out of bread or milk; grab a loaf or a couple of pints.

Not anymore. From now on, I will endeavour to source our food from elsewhere.   This is very easy to do right now as we are stocked up with most of what we need.  But this change of lifestyle means that a few of questions will need to be answered:

* What constitutes a supermarket – are we just talking the 4 or 5 biggest here or do we include the less successful ones?  Will I pop into M&S for their yummy biscuits once in a while?  Sometimes, probably, yes.

* What about washing products, where will I get them?  If I can find a cheaper way to do my washing and sanitising, then I will use it.

* Where to shop now?  I’m starting with independent retailers, our WSM food buying group, maybe a veg box scheme and grow some of our own on the patio, bake my own bread, biscuits and cakes, perhaps use a milkman.

* Will it be more expensive?  How much planning is involved?  I’m hoping that meals will be more nutritious, better thought out and, therefore, cheaper.   Meals from scratch.

* Will it work?  I’ll try.

* Does this include petrol?  Probably not, though I find myself using smaller stations often already, mostly because the whole experience is more pleasant.

 

Five years ago, my brother gave me his unwanted, little-used bread maker.  This afternoon, I dusted it off and rummaged around in the cupboards for some out-of-date ingredients I bought a while back and I made a loaf of bread.

On my way!


by Dr_Reba

Individual Order Form

Hello!

I have created an individual order form which you can access by clicking here

Just download a copy, edit it and email back to me at holly.young@hotmail.co.uk (if you need any help, just let me know).

If you want a particular product adding to the list, please give me the details and I'll see what I can do. We have already added some cleaning products for Janey and a few items for Cat.

After our first order, the plan is to give everyone a username and password to the Essential Trading web site so you can view and select from their entire catalogue. For the first order though, we have created a 'popular' items list in the hope we can build up enough demand to buy in bulk.

I'm hoping to place the order in the next week - so please have a look ASAP and don't miss out on this opportunity to buy good food and save money too!