Specials Board: Apple Turnovers

Apple Turnover and Vegan Mofo Day 23

Today, is an easy recipe after yesterday's fiddly one! A while back, if you remember I managed to pick some apples form the community orchard where my parents live. I had two varieties; Ribston Pippin and Lord Derby. The Ribston Pippin I ate as they were or in my Creamy Apple Smoothie or Apple and Ginger Revitiliser, but I was left with 5 Lord Derby's, which are a cooking apple.

I needed to do something with them fast as they had just been sitting in my fruit bowl for a couple of weeks (or longer) and I had not got round to cooking with them. As I was short on time I thought I'd make up a recipe as I went along. Nothing new there then!

Before I knew it I had peeled all 5 apples and I was mixing them with sugar, flour and cinnamon, in the hope that an apple pie filing would be made if I cooked it! I didn't yet know how, as I really couldn't be bothered to make pastry. Then I remembered I already had some puff pastry in my fridge that was fast approaching its use by date, so Apple Turnovers it was. One problem, I had far too much apple mixture left over. Watch this space to see what I did with it!

Ingredients (makes 6 Turnovers)

300g Apple, peeled & cored weight
(about 5 apples), chopped
75g  and 1 Tsp Sugar
15g Plain flour
½ Tsp Cinnamon
1 Ready rolled puff pastry sheet
(Jus Roll is vegan)
A little soy milk

Method

Mix the peeled, cored and chopped apple with the 75g of sugar, flour and cinnamon, so that all the apple is coated with the mixture.

Cut the puff pastry sheet into 6 squares and brush a little soy milk round the edges of each square.

Place a teaspoon of the apple mixture into the middle of each square and fold one corner over to the diagonally opposite corner to encase the filling.

Seal the edges by using a fork along the two edges that meet. Pierce the top of the triangle with the fork to make steam holes.

Brush soy milk over the top of each triangle and sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of sugar.

Bake in in a moderate oven for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Place the remaining mixture in a saucepan with 100ml cold water and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes or until the apples are cooked. You should have a syrupy mixture that the apples are sitting in. If this gets too thick add a little more water. Leave to cool and transfer to a container and put in the fridge. I'll post my leftover apple recipe soon, or alternatively bag and pop in the freezer ready to make more turnovers.

Specials Board: Apple and Ginger Revitiliser

Apple & Ginger Revitiliser & Vegan Mofo Day 10

I was still feeling rather sluggish this morning when I woke and I needed a pick me up, a tonic to help me feel more myself. I was feeling nauseous and I couldn't face my normal breakfast of homemade muesli or toast. 

I was craving something fruity and zingy, obscure I know but I'm a great believer in your body will tell you what it is missing. As long as you don't confuse this with comfort eating or sugar craving, your body will thank you for listening.

I knew ginger would help with the nausea, but I couldn't face its overpowering taste, not this morning, a little goes a long way. Then I remembered I still had two Ribston Pippin Apples from the Millennium Garden where my parents live. What if I combined the two, surely that would help? An intake of Vitamin C first thing in the morning and help reducing my nausea. 

There's a lot in the news about coconut water at the moment too, even the supermarkets are getting in on it and you can find it in most places. If your Supermarket doesn't sell it try Holland and Barrett. It is said to be the ultimate hangover remedy, if only I had remembered that on Sunday morning! It quenches your thirst and boosts hydration, facilitates digestion and is full of nutrients. So with that knowledge I set to and made what I thought was the perfect solution; a smoothie.

Ingredients
2 Ribston Pippin apples, peeled and cored
3g Ginger, peeled
200ml Coconut water

Method
Add all three ingredients to a blender and whiz up into a smoothie. If you haven't got a powerful blender you may want to sieve the smoothie a couple of times to remove the apple bits that haven't blended fully.

I must admit it was the perfect pick me up and I actually felt a lot better after drinking it.

Specials Board: Creamy Apple & Coconut Water Smoothie

Creamy Apple & Coconut Water Smoothie and Vegan Mofo Day6

I've had so much to do today and done none of it! I was planning a mammoth cooking session today but that has gone out of the window! So tomorrow will have to be a gigantic mammoth cooking session. I have so much veg from my garden that needs whipping up into something tasty and now I have my freezer I am hoping to fill it up with work day meals. Well, that's the plan anyway!

When I say I've done nothing I don't mean that I've sat on my back side all day, Marco and I have been out exploring and found a secret place full of sloes! I think they need a couple more weeks so I just hope someone else doesn't find them first.

I'm lucky enough to have parents who live in a village which features a Millennium Green, which has a lovely wild flowers meadow, an extensive community orchard, a nuttery, a herb garden and a small willow maize. A few years ago volunteers worked tirelessly to raise sufficient funds to buy the land from a local farmer and transformed the land into a peaceful community area, which also includes a Millennium Wood. It offers an amazing range of habitats, from woodland to meadow, from pond to hedgerow and is a haven for wildlife as well as people. I love spending time there, its so tranquil and you will always spot some form of wildlife. Marco loves it there to, racing around the Millennium Wood, chasing sticks and balls we throw for him.

One special part of the Millennium Green is the community orchard, containing many different varieties of apples, pears, cherries, damsons, plums and nuts. All of the trees are individually sponsored and are mainly old species that are the origin of many modern varieties. The orchard has become a hotspot for biodiversity, supporting a wide range of wildlife. The fruit and nuts are enjoyed by many and contributes to a healthy diet without the food miles which accompany a lot of fruit these days. On visiting the orchard you are allowed to pick the fruits with respect for the sponsor and other visitors. Unfortunately we live in such times where there are people out there who think its a free for all and go in (sometimes in the dead of night) and strip the trees bare, breaking off branches just so they can get to some of the fruits. It makes me so mad!

The trustees have had to resort to putting signs up around the orchard asking people to behave respectfully and to just pick a handful of fruits at a time. However, I fear these will not deter them and its such a shame that the orchard can't be loved by all. 

I was lucky enough to be able to pick a handful of apples, pears and damsons on my visit last week, so watch out for some recipes featuring them throughout September. Today, when I visited I was so sad to see the broken branches and the trees stripped of their fruit, it actually made me cry. I almost felt like the trees were weeping too, it was a very sad day.

I reminded myself though that I was lucky enough to have enjoyed some of the fruits I picked last week for my breakfast, creamy apple & coconut water smoothie and I cheered up. 

The apples I used in this smoothie were the variety Ribston Pippin.

Ingredients
100g Apple
100ml Coconut water
2 Tbsp Soy Yoghurt

Method
Put all the ingredients into a blender, I used my beloved Vitamix and blend, easy! If you haven't got a high speed blender the apple might not blend totally, but if you pass the smoothie through a sieve that should help.

Green Fruit Smoothie

I'm hooked on Green Smoothies and my favourite green ingredient to use is either kale or spinach. But what happens when you have neither, or put it another way it is absolutely chucking it down and the last thing you want to do is go into the garden and fetch some!

Today I fancied a pure fruit smoothie, so I added apple, grape and banana to my blender and gave it a whizz up. I'm not a massive fan of banana but I can cope with banana in smoothies, it gives the smoothie a creamy texture and taste. My favourite banana smoothie is with strawberries or pineapple, but this one surprised me. Even though it was very "banana-ey" I liked it, perhaps it was due to the green grape sweetness?

Ingredients

1 Apple, cored & chopped

20 Green grapes

1 Banana

150ml Water

Method
Whizz all ingredients in a blender, simples!

Morning Fruit Salad

Guess what? I went shopping on the way home from work, last night! What a massive chore that was. But on the plus side I picked up lots of fresh fruit and vegetables to cook some amazing dinners with. I'm quite excited to see what I come up with. To start things off though I want to showcase some of the fresh fruit I bought, it almost feels like summer is here. What better way to start the morning with a fresh fruit salad with some soy yoghurt drizzled over the top. I was getting fed up with smoothies for breakfast, well more fed up with washing out the blender if I'm honest! Today I preferred the fruit in its most natural form, and not blended up with vegetables. I chose a salad of apple, cherry, grape and strawberry and it was delicious.

Cold sores; the good, the bad and the ugly!

Yep cold sores are all those things bar 'the good'! 

It seems my run of bad luck in the health department is ongoing, I now have a bottom lip full of cold sores! Yep it hurts to talk, eat and drink and I'm really starting to feel very sorry for myself now!

I've been googling what foods I should be eating to combat cold sores and it appears that foods high in arginine should be a no no and foods high in lysine are recommended. So what foods contain these two amino acids:

Arginine

• Chocolate
• Nuts including peanut butter
• Oats including porridge
• Seeds
• Grains

Lysine

• Milk
• Yoghurt
• Cheese
• Eggs
• Brewers yeast
• Sardines
• Cod
• Chicken
• Beef lamb

As you can see from the two lists above, my first research into what foods to eat wasn't looking too promising as none of them were vegan! Even worse the foods I should be avoiding were regulars in my diet. But I carried on with my research and I did find that most vegetables are also high in Lysine, especially:

Vegan Lysine

• Apple
• Apricot
• Avocado
• Beetroot
• Fig
• Mango
• Papaya
• Pear
• Tomato

My research also informed me that I should also be nourishing my skin with essential nutrients to help ward off the cold sores. It is recommended that you ensure you are getting plenty of zinc, vitamin C and bioflavonoids. These will help you protect, nourish and strengthen your skin. 

Apparently zinc is not found in large amounts in plant foods, but the best, common plant sources of zinc are legumes, nuts, seeds, and oatmeal. Which if I believe the research I've undertaken so far are mainly foods to avoid because they also contain arginine. However, legumes aren't listed as an arginine food so I figured they need to make a larger appearance in my diet. 

Bioflavonoids, are also sometimes referred to as “Vitamin P,” and they are super-antioxidants found in many natural foods. Apparently bioflavonoids are found in many of the same foods that contain vitamin C, which is good news for me.

Zinc foods not containing arginine

• Tofu
• Chick peas
• Pinto & kidney beans
• Lentils
• Corn, peas and broccoli

Vitamin C

• Fresh fruit, especially, oranges, kiwis, papaya, strawberries
• Leafy vegetables; kale, spinach, mustard greens, garden cress, lettuce, bok choy
• Bell peppers and red & green chilli peppers
• Thyme and Parsely
• Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts

Bioflavonoids

• Bell peppers
• Citrus fruits, oranges, lemon and lime
• Tropical Fruits or Exotic fruits, like mangoes and papayas
• Strawberries, peaches and nectarines
• Broccoli, spinach and brussel sprouts
• Garlic
• Black and Green Tea

So I now knew what foods I should be eating and what I should be avoiding, the dilemma was to cook something up with food I had at home as the last thing I felt like doing was going shopping! To top things off, hubby is in bed with a chest infection and cold, so he didn't feel like shopping either. Because its easy to drink through a straw at the moment I decided the first thing I would do is whip up a cold sore beating smoothie.

Ingredients

100ml Beetroot juice, I used 'beet it'

Handfull of Spinach

85g Tofu (drained weight)

1 Apple, peeled

5 Strawberries, hulled

100ml Cold water

Method

Add all ingredients to the blender in the order above and blend until smooth. Easy!