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You are here: Home / Archives for spinach

With my compost..arium there is no place I’d rather be

April 29, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 1 Comment

I don’t know about you but I can’t think of the word compost without singing the theme tune to Mr Blooms nursery. I guess if you don’t have a child of Cbeebies age you may not have a clue what I’m talking about. Mr Bloom is a character from a Cbeebies TV show who has as many mum fans as toddler fans…I don’t really know why…ahem.

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Anyway this post is not about Mr Bloom. Every year I think ah I want to get my garden in order but this year I actually am planning to. I love the idea of being able to get all my salad and herbs from my own vegetable patch. I already grow a lot of herbs.. Mint, oregano, parsley, lavender, tarragon, rosemary, thyme and sage to name a few and we have just planted rocket and basil and starting to think of what else we can have – any suggestions? I am not even remotely green fingered so I need a lot of tips. Next job is to make a compost heap or compost bin. I’ve scoured the web for some tips and here are the more useful ones I’ve found:

What can you compost:

grass cuttings
soft prunings
annual plant and weed remains before they have set seed
fruit and vegetable scraps
old cut flowers
tea bags and coffee grounds
Cardboard
Newspaper
Scrunched up paper
Straw

Do not compost:

diseased plants
meat and fish
dairy
cooked food
coal ash
cat and dog waste
disposable nappies
perennial weeds eg bindweed

Plenty more useful tips here

Apparently the best time to start your compost heap is Spring but I think I’ll be starting mine sometime one the next month.

If having a compost heap encourages my daughter to recycle and helps to stop our family adding more than is needed to landfill it can only be a bonus 😉

Any tips for me with regards to composting or what to plant at this time of year would be greatly appreciated!

*this post contains paid content

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Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: Basil, courgettes, Gardening, herbs, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes

Superfood Smoothie

February 25, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 2 Comments

Did I tell you that I am a member of Foodies100? It’s a bloggers community or a directory I guess of British food and drink bloggers. One of the best part about being a member is that you can get involved in various competitions and challenges. A few weeks ago I saw an interesting competition in connection with Almond Breeze milk. All you had to was register for some free samples of Almond Milk ( woohoo freebie ) and make up your own breakfast smoothie. Easy right? No. Not actually. My disaster zone of a kitchen will tell you that trying to invent your own exciting (but heathy – it’s for breakfast) smoothie is quite hard. Everyone knows how to make a banana smoothie or a strawberry one and I didn’t want to go too off the wall or indulgent either. Hmmm. Luckily they sent me two 1litre cartons so I had a good play around in the kitchen.. Lots of mess and tasters later I think I’ve made up my mind.

Drum roll for the ….Superfood Smoothie!

So it still contains banana.. As do the majority of smoothies and obviously almond milk but what else? Well Spinach for a start, Oats, Pineapple and Goji Berries.. Maybe it doesn’t sound that inviting but it’s pretty damn tasty.

To make your very own superfood smoothie you will need:

1 large banana ( ripe if possible ..mine was greenish but I prefer them a bit yellow/brown)
2 tbsp of chopped pineapple ( I used fresh but tinned would be fine)
Approx 200ml of Almond breeze Milk
5 or 6 Almond milk ice cubes ( these take around an hour in the freezer)
1 tbsp Goji berries
1 large handful of baby leaf spinach ( stems removed on larger leaves)
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1 tbsp of oats

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If you have a smoothie maker this is easy work, otherwise a normal blender would do the job.

Add all of your ingredients and blend until smooth, add more milk if you prefer a thinner finish.

This makes two good sized glassfuls.

I don’t know the calorie content of this but it can’t be too bad. It’s so packed full of healthy things you will feel good about it all day long and maybe feel ok about eating that slice of chocolate cake in the afternoon.

I’d never tried Almond milk before but I’d definitely have it again. My OH loves it on its own and I’ve enjoyed it a Nutella hot choc with it too.

Some facts for you:

The unsweetened variant of almond milk boasts 60 per cent fewer calories than even skimmed milk, as well being low in saturated fat and a good source of calcium!

Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants

Goji berries have all 18 amino acids as well as mega doses of vitamin A (beta carotene), B1, B2, B6 and vitamin E.

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Filed Under: random, Recipes · Tagged: almond milk, blue diamond, goji berries, spinach, superfood

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

August 29, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

Just a very quick recipe for you as I made these last night and they were so easy but soooo good.

We are currently having a meat free fortnight,not for any ethical reason really but I like to try out new veggie recipes occasionally and of course it makes the weekly shop a lot cheaper!

Stuffed portobello mushrooms

2 mushroom halves
100g cream cheese ( I used light cream cheese)
2 cubes of frozen spinach defrosted and drained of excess water
Teaspoon of garlic puree or 2 crushed cloves
Chilli flakes ( depends on how hot you want it,I added a 1/4 teaspoon)
Freshly ground pepper
50g of parmesan grated

Mix cream cheese with spinach,garlic, chilli and 1/2 the parmesan and fill your mushroom halves. Sprinkle over remaining Parmesan and season with black pepper. Place in a preheated oven at gas mark 4 (180) for 20 mins until golden in colour.

I served mine with veggies and cauliflower cheese but it would be equally nice with a simple salad.

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Filed Under: Recipes · Tagged: chilli, cream cheese, garlic, parmesan, portobello, spinach, stuffed mushrooms, vegetarian, Veggie

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