Matcha & Ginger Baked Oats

Matcha tea is something that I simply can't get enough of. I tried my first matcha latte about three years ago & I've been hooked ever since. Matcha is basically a powdered version of green tea leaves. It has 137 times the antioxidants of regular green tea & a much smoother flavour. It can also be used in food, not just drinks. So far I've tried matcha oreos, pocky, ice cream, kit kats & swiss roll. The oreos were my favourite, I just picked them up from my local Chinese supermarket. Anyway I've been keen to try out some more baking recipes using matcha instead of just drinking it every morning. EatCleanTea are currently running a #SummerOfMatcha competition & asked me to come up with a recipe using one of their matcha powders. I'm still following the Slimming World diet so I decided to make something SW-friendly in the form of these delicious matcha & ginger baked oats.




EatCleanTea use the highest quality green tea leaves from Japan to make their matcha powders. Something I've never come across before is flavoured matcha so I was eager to try one of theirs out. I chose the Matcha & Ginger tea. They also do plain & mint matcha. The ginger variety tastes incredible & features many health benefits. The matcha increases your energy levels, boosts your metabolism & detoxifies your body. The ginger boosts your immune system, lowers your blood sugar & helps to relieve muscle soreness. It's also great if you suffer from frequent indigestion or nausea. This tea has the same mellow flavour of plain matcha but with a sweet & spicy kick from the ginger. It smells really strong & tastes a bit like fresh gingerbread.





I normally eat a bowl of porridge every day for breakfast as it's the only thing that actually fills me up & it fits into the Slimming World plan. 35g of oats counts as one healthy extra B. My consultant recently posted a recipe for baked oats on our Facebook group & it tasted just like cake! Everyone in my group is totally addicted to eating them. They make a nice change to having porridge every morning but are just as filling & even more scrumptious. As I have already tried mixing matcha into my porridge, I knew that the flavours would go well together. I figured that I could put my own spin on the recipe by using the tea to create matcha & ginger baked oats.

Here is the recipe that I used for my baked oats:
You will need
2 eggs
35g porridge oats (1 hexB or 6 syns)
2 tbsp sweetener
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla Muller Light yoghurt
1 tsp EatCleanTea Matcha & Ginger powder
2 tsp ginger preserve (1 syn)

Method
Put all the ingredients except the ginger preserve in a bowl & whisk together.
Pour the mixture into a small oven-proof dish.
Drizzle the ginger preserve down the middle of the mixture in the dish.
Bake at 180°C/350°F for 25-30 minutes.
Enjoy!




I'm really pleased with how the baked oats came out. They don't taste oaty or like a flapjack at all. The texture is like a very dense cake which is always fun to eat at breakfast time. It feels very indulgent yet is still completely on plan. The ginger matcha & ginger perserve both add a really fiery kick to the dish. This amount of matcha powder is sure to get you buzzing all day long. Let me know if you try it out!

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Zing Anything Vodka Zinger Alcohol Infusing Bottle + Giveaway!

Zing Anything Vodka Zinger* - £24.99

Just incase my blog name didn't give it away, I am partial to the odd shot of vodka now & then! I really enjoy mixology & inventing my own cocktails. If you've ever looked through a cocktail recipe book then you'd know that there's so many drinks that require flavoured alcohol. I'd love to buy every flavour of Smirnoff or Absolut available but that would get pretty expensive! That's where Zing Anything's amazing Vodka Zinger comes in. This is an alcohol infusing bottle which allows you to easily create almost any flavoured alcohol that you can imagine. I've always loved the flavoured vodka shots from Revolution so I was really excited to get the chance to try making my own.




The bottle is basically a stainless steel tube with a lid and a bottom-mounted grinder. This cup at the bottom holds the ingredients allowing the pure extracted flavours to travel through a fine-combed mesh screen and infuse the alcohol. Infusing vodka is a great way to enjoy a drink without the excess sugars, artificial sweeteners or mixers that lead to hangovers. You can use the bottle to infuse various spirits but vodka has such a clean taste that it really takes on the flavours of your ingredients. If you're on a health kick you don't need to completely cut out booze, just go for healthier options like this instead. When I worked in Spain we were obsessed with this orange flavoured brandy called Ponche Caballero so I definitely want to try making my own version of that. You can even use carbonated beverages in the infuser bottle such as beer or cider. I love the innovative flavours that Kopparberg use in their ciders so I'd love to invent some of my own. First of all though I wanted to try making my own flavoured vodka as that is the main intended use of this bottle.





Zing Anything give you some great examples of recipes in the instruction leaflet. You can use things like lemons, peaches, cherries, watermelon, cucumber, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, honey & mint. The possibilities are endless! I love sweet tasting cocktails so I decided to make some strawberry & pineapple infused vodka. I just chopped up a few pieces of fresh fruit, placed them into the cup at the bottom and then pushed on the lid with the grinder blades. This squashes the fruit down so that the juices can be released into your beverage. The juicier the fruit, the tastier your drink will be. Then you simply screw the cup back onto the bottom of the Vodka Zinger bottle.





The final step is to pour in your alcohol. I was feeling a bit fancy so I went for Grey Goose vodka. You can fill it with any volume of liquid as long as you stop just shy of the top. I filled it about halfway as I wasn't planning on drinking a ton of vodka. As we're using fresh fruit rather than artificial flavours you have to use up your beverage within a week so I'd suggest only making as much as you need. This made about ten single shots. You need to leave some room at the top to help with shaking. To start off the infusion process you need to reseal the cap and vigorously shake your Vodka Zinger bottle. Then you just allow it to steep. The longer the beverage steeps, the stronger the flavour. You could do it for just 20 minutes if you like but I wanted my vodka to be really flavourful so I popped the bottle in the fridge for a whole day. Give it another shake before serving to further improve the taste. When you infuse a clear liquid like vodka it takes on some of the colouring of your fruit so my drink has a pretty pink tone to it. The pineapple added a hint of sweetness but the strawberry flavour dominated. It was really delicious & would go well with just some tonic water or lemonade. I was surprised by how well it works & how incredibly easy it is to use. I can't wait to get making some more yummy concoctions!

Fancy making your very own flavoured alcohol? I've teamed up with the guys over at Zing Anything UK to offer my blog readers the chance to win a Vodka Zinger bottle. This giveaway is open to UK residents only. The prize is being provided by Zing Anything UK & will be sent to the winner by them. The winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter. Entrants under 18 must ask parental permission before entering. Please drink alcohol responsibly! To enter just use the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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nu³ - The Nutrition Experts

Although my Instagram feed tends to be full of junk, I'm actually really into health food. I've often mentioned my expensive trips to Holland & Barrett to stock up on chia seeds, supplements & natural beauty products. As much as I love that store their stock is often quite limited. Like almost every other shop on the UK high street, if you're looking for something specific you're probably better off looking online. For example protein powders are something I always buy online because they're much cheaper and there's loads more types & flavours available. I buy from quite a few different health & nutrition websites. I was recently introduced to nu³. They're a German based company who specialise in organic/natural beauty, food & fitness products. As well as having a huge range of products, they also have a live chat feature so you can get free advice from industry experts. nu³ are currently a leading supplier of supplements throughout Europe. To celebrate the recent launch of their UK e-store, they sent me a few different products to try out.

Coconut water is one of my very favourite drinks. It's incredibly refreshing & is the perfect thing to rehydrate you after a workout. I'd never tried Kulau Pure Coconut Water* before but it tastes really great. I often take a carton with me to the gym but if I'm at home I love using coconut water as a smoothie base. For a really quick & nutritious but also delicious smoothie I blend together a carton of coconut water, one banana & a cup of frozen blueberries. It's super easy and really good for you.

I drink Yogi Tea nearly every night. Their Cinnamon & Chocolate teas are firm favourites of mine. They're really good at curbing sugar cravings after dinner & are very calming before bed. Bright Mood* is a new flavour to me but I liked the sound of it's mood enhancing properties. It's flavoured with cinnamon, hops, orange peel, cardamom, fennel, licorice, basil & lavender. The tea bags smell pretty horrid but the taste is a lot more palatable.

I'm a big fan of Burt's Bees so I was excited to try their Hand Salve*. I love Burt's Bees hand products especially their Beeswax & Banana Hand Creme and Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme. This product is a rich balm that would be perfect for anyone with really dry hands & it's extremely effective on cuticles too. It has a gorgeous lavender & rosemary scent to keep your hands smelling lovely all day long.

Weleda are a natural & organic skincare brand. They also create holistic remedies & homeopathic medicine which I think is really cool. I've tried a couple of their products before & really rate their baby range. Weleda Skin Food* is an incredibly thick face & body cream. This is one of Weleda’s oldest products & was originally formulated in 1926. It often pops up backstage at London Fashion Week. It's quite hard to spread so it's best used on really dry patches such as elbows, knees & feet. It's very moisturising & calms any irritation. It features plant extracts of viola, chamomile & calendula to soothe the skin & restore smoothness. It also contains pansy extract which is well known for it's antiseptic properties. I really like this product & apparently Adele loves it too!

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Snickerdoodle Cookies

I have a bit of a cinnamon addiction - I would quite happily devour cinnamon buns, cinnamon pretzels and cinnamon porridge until I explode. One of my favourite things to do is search Pinterest for interesting new recipes. So I decided to look for anything with cinnamon as the main ingredient. Something that kept popping up were Snickerdoodle cookies. I think it must be an American thing because I've never really heard of them before. The name is quite misleading, they've not got a Snickers bar inside or anything, they're just soft cinnamon sugar cookies. I love the contrast of their squidgy interior with the crispy topping and they definitely satisfy my cinnamon cravings. I finally got round to making some today and they were so good that I just had to share the recipe.

Original recipe found here.

Ingredients

3/4 cup Caster sugar
1/2 cup Butter
1 1/4 cup Plain flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 Egg
A pinch of salt

Topping

1 tbsp Caster sugar
1 tsp Ground cinnamon

Method

1) Preheat your oven to 200°C.

2) Cream the butter and sugar together.

3) Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture then add the salt. Make a well in the centre of the bowl and crack your egg into it. Mix everything together.

4) In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together for the topping.

5) Shape the dough into small balls (I use an ice cream scoop to make them even) and roll them in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

6) Place the balls about 2 inches apart on a lined baking tray. Sprinkle any excess cinnamon sugar on top of the cookies.

7) Put the tray in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes.

And that's it! They were so easy to make and tasted really delicious. These are amazing as a quick snack or serve them warm with vanilla ice cream for a decadent dessert. Let me know if you make some!

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Clear Skin From Within With Viridian

The Clear Skin Cookbook* / Clear Skin Complex* / 100% Organic Clear Skin Omega Oil*

Since making my clear skin smoothie shots I've become more and more interested in feeding my skin properly. I'm the first to admit I still indulge myself a lot with burgers, brownies, ice cream & everything else that's bad for you but if you manage to eat well most of the time it will show through your skin. Recently I've been trying out Viridian Nutrition’s Clear Skin Collection. As a bit of a supplement junkie I know that Viridian's products are really high quality and are made from the purest ingredients so they're a great brand to opt for. I was sent three products to try out - Clear Skin Complex, 100% Organic Clear Skin Omega Oil and Dale Pinnock's Clear Skin Cookbook. The cookbook was the inspiration behind the two supplements as a way of supporting the underlying health of blemish-free skin.



Clear Skin Complex is a supplement which combines probiotics, botanicals, minerals and antioxidants to help clear the skin. If you struggle to eat properly I whole heartedly recommend supplementing your diet. I take a ton of pills every day, its surprising I don't rattle when I walk! I've had to limit myself in recent years because otherwise I would spend a fortune on them every month. One supplement my skin has missed is Burdock Root so I was pleased to see the inclusion of this in Viridian's Clear Skin Complex. It also contains Zinc which is something Dale Pinnock highlights as an acne fighting mineral. This bottle contains 60 capsules which is enough for one month. I've finished taking the whole bottle and I'm definitely going to repurchase this. Rather than the huge crop of new spots I get on my chin every month, I've only had two. Two! It's normally that area that is affected by hormones and eating better is also known to help balance hormones so I'm gonna put it down to taking these pills and the omega oil.



I absolutely love the 100% Organic Clear Skin Omega Oil. This is a bright yellow and highly nutritious oil that you can either take directly from a spoon or mix into food. It doesn't taste great on it's own as you are literally eating a spoonful of oil which isn't the most pleasant sensation. But combined with other food it becomes a brilliant supplement. It works really well when used as a salad dressing and you can add a couple of spoonfuls to things like smoothies and soups. My favourite way to take it is mixed into a tub of hummous. It doesn't change the flavour or texture at all, it just adds extra goodness to an already healthy snack. The oil provides you with Omega 3, 6, 7 & 9. Those fatty acids are great for eczema. I already take Omega 3 and flaxseed oil supplements to help with my eczema so I know first hand they work really well for that. The main ingredient in this is flaxseed oil but there's loads of other lovely stuff in it such as rosehip oil, avocado oil, pumpkin seed oil and argan oil. Together with the Clear Skin Complex pills, this has really helped my skin - both my blemishes and eczema have lessened since I started taking them and they're not the only things to benefit from these new additions to my diet. My nails have grown so much and they're strong for once! Mine normally break & peel all the time but now they're strong & long.




Dale Pinnock is the UK's first medicinal chef. He wrote The Clear Skin Cookbook to share his knowledge about how different food can affect the skin and to provide healthy recipes to boost your skin. The first section deals with different ailments such as acne and eczema and what kind of things you should be including in your diet to help combat them. The next few chapters discuss vitamins, minerals, fats and antioxidants. I found it really interesting to learn more about what each vitamin & mineral can do for your skin. The science behind it all is explained in a really enjoyable way. Then the second half features some recipes for every meal as well as snacks and drinks. Each recipe is followed by a page explaining exactly how the ingredients will help your skin. While there is some good meal inspiration in here I think the book suffers due to a lack of recipes. But after reading through the rest of it you gain knowledge about ingredients so you can make informed, healthier choices and then google recipes featuring those ingredients. The internet is always going to be a better resource of recipes than any cookbook so it's the rest of the information in here that's really valuable. I've been using it more like a shopping list so I know exactly what things to get when I'm doing the weekly shop.








Here are some of the recipes I tried to recreate. The first thing I made was the Mean Green Mineralizing Machine. This is a green raw vegan soup and it's probably one of the worst things I've ever eaten. I'm sorry, I just couldn't stomach this. I love eating vegetables but this just wasn't for me. There is a crazy amount of extra virgin olive oil in this and I couldn't enjoy eating cold soup even on one of the hottest days of the year. Next I tried making Spinach Pate. This is basically chopped spinach mixed with light cream cheese and nutmeg. I topped some Ryvita with this as a healthy snack and this tasted a lot nicer than the soup. The nutmeg went surprisingly well with the savoury flavours and it was really filling. I also made the Blueberry & Yoghurt Layer Crunch for breakfast one day. This was nice & filling too and a great way to start the day. It's so quick & easy to make. I did have to cheat a tiny bit and drizzle it with some agave syrup to sweeten it up though. I'd used ground flaxseed instead of golden flaxseed which made it a bit dry so the syrup made it easier to eat.

Overall I'd say the book is a great reference point as to what kind of things you should be eating to help alleviate various skin problems. Viridian's Clear Skin products are the real stars here though. If like me you often don't eat enough healthy food then supplements can really help your diet. These products take note of the vitamins, minerals, fats and antioxidants that Dale Pinnock champions in his cookbook and delivers them in an easy to stomach and convenient manner. They're definitely worth a try if you suffer from any skin ailment that is treatable through your diet - especially acne!

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Clear Skin Smoothie Shots

When it comes to your skin the phrase 'you are what you eat' couldn't be truer. Sometimes no matter how many amazing skincare products you use or how diligently you adhere to a skincare routine your skin can still look a mess. The main causes for spots other than poor skincare are hormones, stress and diet. There's not much you can do about hormones or stress as they're just things that everyone has to deal with but you can improve the things you eat. I eat a buttload of sugar which I would say is one of the major contributing factors to my breakouts (and flab!). My diet really affects my eczema too. So I've been trying to eat slightly better by adding more green vegetables and fresh fruits to my daily food intake.



Mini Milk Bottles*
It doesn't help that I'm super lazy and if I make a green smoothie one day I'll probably end up leaving my blender in the sink for the rest of the week. So a way of making sure I get some green goodness every day is to divide the smoothie mixture into smaller portions and down one each morning. I was sent these adorable milk bottles from Dotcomgiftshop and I think they make the perfect shot glasses.

There's tons of green smoothie recipes out there but I like this one because there's enough natural sweetness in the fruit to negate the taste of the kale and every ingredient is brilliant for your skin. Most people choose spinach for their smoothies but kale is even better for you and contains more vitamins than any other green vegetable so I'd recommend using it instead.






Ingredients
1 cup kale
2 cups pineapple
2 sliced bananas
2 tbsp desiccated coconut
1 cup coconut milk
1 scoop protein powder (optional)

Method
Layer all solid ingredients in the blender.
Pour in the coconut milk.
Blend on high until smooth.
Pour into milk bottles.
Enjoy!

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Spiked Peach & Lemon Iced Tea

On a hot sunny day like today there's nothing better than sitting outside with a cold refreshing cup of iced tea. How can you improve on regular iced tea? Add in some alcohol of course! This spiked peach & lemon iced tea will help keep you cool & relaxed all day long. And the best part? It's incredibly easy to make & if you're a fan of iced tea you'll wonder why you never tried to make your own sooner.





I was sent a selection of tea temples from teapigs so I could try out some new flavours of iced tea. teapigs are a great brand to use for iced tea because they make such a vast range of flavours. They also sent me a recipe card with some ideas of how to mix the teas with other ingredients. I'm obsessed with the Lipton peach and lemon flavoured iced teas so I decided to combine the two flavours using the Lemon & Ginger tea temples as a base. These taste amazing on their own but they work really well in iced tea too. This might sound weird but I find the teapigs tea temples really interesting to look at because they contain proper ingredients rather than just dried tea leaves. The lemon & ginger ones contain pieces of ginger, lemongrass, lemon peel and liquorice root. It's actually quite difficult to find peach drinks in the UK so I settled for Welch's white grape & peach juice and of course I had to use some peach schnapps! Anyway here's how I made this delicious iced tea cocktail:





Ingredients

3 teapigs Lemon & Ginger tea temples
500ml boiling water
250ml cold water
250ml White Grape & Peach Juice
150ml Peach Schnapps
2 fresh lemons
Lots of ice

Method

1) Boil 500ml of water and pour into a large jug. Add the 3 tea temples and allow to steep for 5 minutes.

2) Top up with the cold water and white grape & peach juice. Then add in the peach schnapps. Feel free to use more or less according to taste but schnapps is pretty tame so you can afford to be generous ;)

3) Leave to cool before putting the jug in the fridge. Otherwise the drink will go cloudy. Once fully chilled remove from fridge and add slices of lemons and ice to the jug.

4) Garnish each glass with a slice of lemon and pour out the drink. Enjoy!

If you want to make your own version of this cocktail you can pick up some tea temples from www.teapigs.co.uk and you can still get 15% off using the code BLOGGERS12 (discount does not apply to gifts and cheeky deals as these are already discounted)! To receive teapigs news and the latest discounts don't forget to sign up for their newsletter on the homepage. You can also like them on Facebook & follow them on Twitter.

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