Festive Mince Pie

I’m not sure how to explain this, but essentially what has happened here is a masterful, creative expression of leftover goodies.

You see I made way to much mince pie pastry and so I figured I would base my cake tin with that left over, I also spooned the rest of the mine pie mixture into it (I know, I could have actually made more mine pies), but sometimes the path less trodden leads one to greatness and of course humiliation, but we shall focus on the former.

Now I open my cupboard and as if by divine intervention there was a bar of cooking chocolate just staring back at me, who am I to decline such a calling? Needless to say the flacked almonds also jumped out of the cupboard with the chocolate and hey presto the oven did the rest.

Good can always come from leftovers and Christmas has plenty of leftovers and so with it the opportunity to get creative. Enjoy.

Plant based Mince Pies

Well it is Christmas after all and a great way to spend Winter Solstice this year turned out to be time spent in the kitchen making homemade mince pies.

I grabbed a quick recipe of google, no point saying I figured it out myself, but me and my kids did make it our own, well kind off!

The mince filling was shop bought, I usually make my own and start that process in autumn, but this year we are between homes shall we say, even my scales are packed away in a box and so we had a little help from a friend, so to speak.

Now without any real kitchen equipment, play doh cutters and a rolling pin (thanx kids) we let the magic and mess unfold. Enjoy 😊

Ingredients:

– 500g of very finely chopped almonds

– 50g of hemp flour (this is a complete guess, I simply used the remainder of the packet).

– 1 tsp of sea salt

– 1 cup of cacao butter mixed with coconut oil (roughly 50/50)

– 2/3 cup of light/dark muscovado sugar (roughly 30/70)

– 1 jar of the best mince mix you can find 🙂

Method:

I am still baffled as to how this worked, but it did, me and the kids literally threw the ingredients into a mixing bowl whilst melting the fats in a pan, we greased proof the baking tray, mixed it all together, rolled it out using a kids play doh rolling pin, let the kids put it all together, then they chose the design for the lids again using play doh cutters and some how we got 12 very yummy mince pies and enough mixture left over to make a very yummy surprise tart/cake chocolate type thingy :).

Well we all had fun, the kitchen got destroyed and I learnt I could use kids toys to make mince pies, now, let it snow.

To you all in great health and have a wonderful festive season.

My Red Pill Moment

‘After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I’m offering is the truth.’ (Matrix).

My Red Pill moment was back in 2006, I was working aboard the cruise ship Carnival Triumph for the Onboard Spa as a PT, Studio Instructor and Health Coach, one of my roles was to sell the Elemis Body Enhancement Capsule range, now I honestly thought it was a joke at first, these capsules claimed to help loose weight, boost metabolism and your immune system whilst improving energy, in short they promised to turn you into a super hero or at least something close.

I would host seminars on a range of health topics and at the end of each seminar I would sell the product, simple! However, people ask questions and that meant I needed answers and so I researched from multiple resources about each key ingredient, by the time my research was complete I had convinced myself that I needed this product and so I took them and WOW.

It took three days maybe two for me to notice results, bowel movements increased, energy went to the highest level I had ever previously known and stiffness within my body started to ease. Now I said to myself as a super sceptic that if these pills worked they would work without me changing anything so I continued to eat more pizza and buffet food than is reasonable, I would have a drink most evenings (nothing excessive) and I was a big meat eater and all it took was three days to raise a simple question!

If I can achieve these results on a seafood diet then what is possible if I actually pay attention to my diet? Well in short I haven’t eaten meat for about 10 years, high plant based diet with the occasional bit of dairy (pizza is not the same without it), no alcohol except on special occasions and even then it’s one glass maybe two (although that’s more because that’s all it takes ha, ha).

Since those green capsules came into my life I have since questioned everything and what I have discovered as a result of those questions mind boggles even myself.

I have suffered with psoriasis and chronic inflammation for what feels like my whole life and now I’m finally getting a hold on it using free alternative health care, but the journey began with those capsules, which may or may not work for you, I have read many herbal medicine texts and not every herb treats every person the same way, which is why the naysayers find it so easy to refute, however I began this journey as the biggest of sceptics, but through my own experience and educating myself I know that nature has a magical way of healing all forms of ailments, the journey will be tough, frustrating and painful, but for those who persevere they will discover otherwise hidden treasures.

I would love to hear your stories of overcoming illness through alternative health care so feel free to comment below. If you have any further questions then fire away.

To you all in great health.

Matt

Wild Heart Spiced Brew

One of the joys of wild water adventures during the cold season (anytime really) is the cuppa after, nothing like a warm brew trickling down into your belly and trailblazing a release of warm energy into a cold body.

What I did not bank on though was the group of tea connoisseurs who are part of the group, they would debate over an Earl Grey and Yorkshire tea, it was more heated than the tea itself on occasion and so when one of the group who had forgotten to bring along his Earl Grey asked for a sip of my Spiced Brew I paused for a moment to consider the ramifications of this simple request.

Then as always I trusted the power of nature and before I knew it everyone was asking what’s in it? Well it’s not possible to make without my trusted loose leaf tea flask from https://www.meiliteatime.com/ the design of this flask allows the magic to happen, here’s one of my many varieties that I enjoy after a dip in the sea or a walk to the park.

Wild Heart Spiced Brew

• Cinnamon
• Liquorice Root
• Cloves
• Cardamom
• Star Anise
• Lemon Verbena
• Dandelion root
• Molasses
• Cacao
• Pau d’arco

The key to this being successful is simple, all the ingredients except the molasses and cacao go into the loose leaf compartment, the cacao powder and molasses go into the main section of the flask, boil up some water pour it in and away you go.

Each subsequent Brew tastes different, I leave the spice mix in the loose leaf compartment for a couple of days and each one brings a slightly new flavour to the table. Getting the balance of the ingredients takes a bit of practice and there’s no correct quantity, but you will know when you have got it to your liking.

I have added almond and macadamia nut milk to this recipe and oh wow 😮 that’s all I can say.

Enjoy.

Matt

Halloween 🎃 Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

This is the first year I would have grown the pumpkin, used some of the flesh in soups and roasted the seeds plus given the waste to the wormery, which means technically zero waste and maximum use of the annual pumpkin and that feels pretty good.

I have also kept some of the seeds back so I can grow my own next year and hopefully I grow enough to share even more pumpkin delights, I didn’t grow enough for pumpkin pie for example so that’s on the cards for next year. Anyway, roasted pumpkin seeds.

It doesn’t get much easier than this, you scoop them out of the pumpkin, clean them and then spread them evenly on a backing tray and your good to go, below is what I opted to add, but you can get as creative as you like.

Savoury option:

• A generous glug of oil (I mixed olive and coconut oil)

• turmeric powder
• Garlic cloves
• Black pepper
• Cumin
• Sea salt

Depending on how many seeds you have will determine how much seasoning you add.

Pop them in the oven and in no time your have yourself the easiest savoury snack of the autumn 🤗.

Happy Halloween

Love you all

Matt

Homegrown & Homemade Hummus

Yep it’s the simple things in life that bring the greatest joy, a few short months ago I made a pallet planter and planted some chickpeas, now as you can see from the picture I did not plant nearly enough, let’s call this years crop a curious experiment and needless to say I did need to top up the content of chickpeas with shop bought ones in order to make my hummus , so it’s not fully homegrown.

Hummus is easy to make and is a summer favourite in our house, this recipe is simple, but you can get as fancy as you like.

Ingredients:

• Chickpeas
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Turmeric
• Tahini

Method:

For the homegrown chick peas you can put them straight into the blender with the other ingredients, the shop bought chickpeas will need cooking first. When blending add water to reach desired consistency after that serve and enjoy, a splash of lemon goes well with hummus.

All the best

Matt

Plant medicine for gout

About once or twice a year for the last ten years I have had the pleasure of what I call ‘a bout of gout’. I have done a previous post on this, but wanted to take the time to update the ‘cures’ cabinet.

I was lying on my bed with a swollen and painful foot and I was definitely playing the ‘poor me ‘ card, not a lot wrong with that because by playing it my wife dealt her positive cards, which led to new discoveries! She asked a simple question ‘when was the last time you truly felt positive and healthy’? I answered when working at sea 10 years ago (of course I have had great times over the last 10 years, the question was more aimed at a time free from chronic illness) she then asked ‘what were you doing’? This then bought back the memory of some supplements I was taking, which consisted of algae and herbs, I mentioned I still regularly eat algae, but the only herb I remember in that product was ‘Indian Tiger Herb’. She said well let’s get you some of that 😀.

My wife then discovered that ‘Indian Tiger Herb’ is actually ‘Gotu Kola’ and is often referred to as Indian Tiger Herb due to the observation of Tigers using the Gotu Kola plant to heal wounds, after researching Gotu Kola I realised it was exactly what I was looking for, but when a bout of gout strikes one is limited on the distance they can travel, so I messaged a couple of friends who said they were happy to help (legends). They took there legendary status further by doing there own research and went and saw a herbalist who added warm lime water, sour tart cheery juice, Devils claw and celery seed to the list, they returned to me with an amazing goody bag.

My friends had armed me with herbal wisdom and magic and my wife took me from poor me to let’s look to the positive and pay attention to the narrative because illness easily strikes a negative and pessimistic narrative. With narrative checked and a brew of Gotu Kola, Devils Claw and celery seed after an entree of sour tart cherry juice I was ready to meet my old foe in the battle field (with positive narrative in play, of course).

The results are really significant and anyone suffering from rheumatoid arthritis or anything similar should in my humble opinion touch base with these remedies.

To you all in great health

Matt

Wooden Palette to Planter!

Recently of late, I have become more frugal, encouraged by both circumstances and choice. I would see all this thrown out wood in the local bins and wonder if I could do something with the discarded wood? Originally I thought I could make a compost bin, a hedgehog home, a wormery and a bug hotel, all good ideas and some we have explored, however, it was Adele who looked at the palette and declared it could be transformed into a planter!

A moment of awesome vision, we used old bed frame wood amongst other pieces to board around the palette so the soil would not fall out and then lined it with camping sheets and weed roll both bought for a pound. Our makeshift planters cost £2 and had we planned things better the soil could have been a lot cheaper, however, we didn’t and our baby lettuce plugs arrived and we needed soil so we raced off to the nearest soil vendor and purchased our soil requirements for under £10. The baby lettuce plants 75 in total also cost £10. For the combined price of £22 we did well, of course, had I planted my own seed, which I will do next year and had planned my time better for getting the soil then that price could so easily drop under the £10 budget mark, which in today’s world I think that’s pretty awesome.

As you can see the lettuce leaves are loving there planter and the new one we are building is going to house a variety of herbs.🌿😀

Homegrown and self-sustainable living, I’m learning, making mistakes and continually being surprised.

Happy growing and building to you all.

Dahl stuffed Marrow

I have shared a similar post before, however this time there are a few small and yet significant changes!

Homegrown tastes best and is simply better for you, I am yet to taste something homegrown that does not surpass the shop bought version in every way and this Dahl Stuffed Marrow is no exception.

The following were grown in either our garden or allotment:

• Marrow
• Red Hot Chilli Pepper (a small tip)
• Garlic (3 cloves)

The following are shop bought:

• Can of chopped tomatoes 
• Fresh turmeric root (1 inch)
• Fresh ginger root (1 inch)
• Dahl lentils (1 cup)
• Mushrooms (as many as you like)
• Garam Masala (1tsp)
• Sea salt (3tsp)
• Red onion (1)
• Koftas (2)
• Lemon (1/2)
• Olive oil (1/2tsp)
• Coconut oil 2-3 tsp

With dhal I always cook 1 cup lentils to 3 cups water, get that going in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer until soft. Whilst that’s happening get your blender and add the canned tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, sea salt, lemon, olive oil and chilli, whizz them up until smooth. In another pan heat up water (splash) mixed with coconut oil and cook up your garlic and onions, once they’ve started to sweat so to speak add the mushrooms and koftas (cut them up into any sized pieces). By now the Dahl should be cooked so add the other ingredients to the pot, I usually clean up the pans at this point leaving the one pot with the mix in on a low heat. Once everything is cleaned I grab my Marrow half it then quarter it, scoup out the seeds and place on a baking tray (bear in mind your mix will probably fall out over the edges). Add your mix to your marrows and pop them in the oven, crank up the heat according to how quickly or slowly you want to cook your dish and happy days, if like me you find you have extra Dahl left over then no problem eat on its own as a starter it tastes great. Enjoy.

I am growing tomatoes and onions, I also have turmeric root growing so some day soon I should be able to make this dish with even more home grown produce, which is exciting 😀.

Enjoy.

Matt

Time to say goodbye!

Funny how a pair of old boots can steal a place in your heart. I bought these boots all the way back in 2003 whilst at University, it’s strange to think they are older than my nephews who are starting senior school this year, it’s strange to think of just how many places I had never visited before I put those boots on my feet and started walking, it is also strange to think just how many pairs of boots, trainers and other types of foot ware they have out lived and yet now it is time for them to rest.

To put it into perspective these boots are 14 years old, they have almost touched soil in every continent, they have been a reliable companion on many a journey and never complained about the distance or the terrain they simply kept going. They have scaled mountains both in dry conditions and the snow, they have walked through rain forests and desserts, they have walked back and forth tirelessly almost everyday for 14 years. There’s that saying, ‘if it ain’t broke then don’t fix it’, well they’ve come to the end of their journey, the outside of the boot started to wear many years ago and yet they were fine to walk and hike in, however the inside of the boot has finally succumbed to the wearing passing of time and now the boot digs into the heel when it never use to.

Part of me thinks let’s fix them and give them more journeys to experience underfoot and the other part says ‘when your times up, your time is up’ and although I wish it not to be the latter as these old boots simply know my walk and my ways I almost feel it’s not fair to ask more of them after they have given so much.

A lyric runs through my head ‘the hardest part is letting go not taking part’, I hear it truly and of course these are not the first things in my life that I have had to part with, but they have reminded me of what happens over the course of a decade and more, of how much life changes, of how things that were have moved on and things I could not have known about are now here, for example I have two wonderful children now. 

The changing fortunes of time and a new pair of boots is on the horizon, this I guess is my way of showing gratitude to an old pair of boots, that were truly made for walking.

To the adventure.