Cinnamon Candied Nuts (Vegan & Processed Sugar Free) - Bakemas Day 21

I made candied nuts without refined sugar, excuse me while I do a quick happy dance!

Mango, Chilli & Lime Vegan Quinoa Salad

I spend entirely too much time thinking up ideas for sweet recipes so in a bid to force myself to come up with savoury recipes I’m embarking on a great adventure...if you call eating salads a great adventure.

Gingerbread Man Granola - Bakemas Day 19

Okay I changed my mind THIS is what I want for breakfast on Christmas day! Actually I’d be perfectly happy eating this for breakfast every day. Mini gingerbread men in your granola? Possibly the best thing ever!

Ginger & Orange Candied Nuts - Bakemas Day 16

Candied nuts were kind of a personal tradition for me around Christmas (yeah, I was the only one); I’d always go to London at the end of November and get nuts from a random man off the streets....that doesn’t sound fishy at all! For the past few years I haven’t been to London around Christmas, actually I’ve not been to London period and as much as love nuts off the streets (still sounds weird) street vendors...that sounds a little better, last year I finally decided to try and make my own. I was obsessed with these, now here’s the part where I start to add all the flavours into my candied nuts, seriously, it’s already begun!

Cinnamon Candied Nuts - Bakemas Day 14

One of my favourite things about this time of the year is candied nuts, okay, one of my favourite things about food markets is candied nuts, my favourite thing about this time of year is roasted nut street vendors. The smell, the taste, every time I go to London around this time I will go out of my way specifically to buy a cup of these nuts and although I don’t think I’ll ever be able to replicate that because it's probably more about the feeling these taste bloomin’ amazing and are so quick and simple.
Most of the recipes I’ve seen online for candied nuts involve roasting them for about an hour on a low heat in the oven the words “ain’t nobody got time for that” are ringing in my head! So ever the impatient one when it comes to stuff like this I thought cooking them in a frying pan was a way better idea, I was right, these take about 10 minutes? to cook and then they’re there staring you in the face, daring you to try one when they’re piping hot, not a good idea!

You can use any nuts you like, you might be an only almond fan, or you might like an exotic mix, this recipe suits any and all nuts, I pretty much threw in every type of nut we had when I was testing this out. I’ve actually never found candied pistachios anywhere but going through the nut cupboard while making these I found some and figured I’d throw them in, they’re not quite beating my ultimate favourite pecans but I’d say they’re in a solid second place, if you have some knocking about you should definitely add them in.
There is now a jar of sugary cinnamony nuts sitting in the kitchen ready to be nibbled on every time I walk in there, maybe slightly dangerous but exactly what the season calls for!

Sweet Potato & Brussel Sprout Salad with Bacon, Blue Cheese & Pecans - Bakemas Day 5

It’s 11:17pm and I just sat down to write this post. It’s awfully convenient that the day I have little to no time to write is the day I have not a lot to say, if you can’t feel the sarcasm dripping from the sentence I’ll just subtly point it out. So I have good reasons for not getting round to it until now and no I wasn’t procrastinating, although that does sound like something I would do. I spent the day sewing then at a family gathering and I just assumed I’d be back about 8-9ish but here we are 11:30, I would much rather be curled up with a hot chocolate watching a film or even in bed but the show must go on, I’m on a bakemas mission. So brussel sprouts, are we yay or nay? Are they like marmite you either love them or you hate them? I remember not liking them as a child, however I’m not sure if that’s because they have the whole stigma surrounding them so I never really gave them a chance or if my baby taste buds couldn’t handle them. I think brussel sprouts are a little like coffee, the majority of people could like it if they work out how they like it, that’s code for embellish and it’ll probably taste good and you’ll eventually learn to like it on its own. My mum makes a brussel sprout and bacon salad for Christmas, which seems to be quite a popular Christmas day side dish, but I decided it just needed more. This could easily be used as a side or a main but I’ll warn you now picking at this salad is a problem. I ended up picking at it so much that by the time I sat down to eat dinner I wasn’t even hungry.

Spiced Pumpkin Seed & Pecan Muesli with Blackberries

I have this very idealistic view of breakfast, early mornings, frost covered grass, sipping coffee, reading a book with a bowl of cereal. I think I just always like the idea of being a morning person and I honestly am, I love getting up early and pottering about, having time to relax and drink coffee before I do anything, although if I’m in a good mood I usually start what I’m supposed to be doing before I’ve even finished breakfast but having the option is nice. Problem is I’m only a morning person when I can actually get up...does that mean I’m not a morning person? Because I like getting up early and getting stuff done and I’m usually sleepier if I get up late, I just don’t like the getting up part. I also like to go to bed at 3 in the morning and unfortunately I can’t really have it both ways. One of the best things about muesli is that its healthy and really quick to make, okay, so it’s not quite as quick as pouring a bowl of cereal but I mean its close. Muesli used to be my favourite thing to have for breakfast specifically this version, but I've been making that for years so I figured it was time to spice things up a little...literally, because who doesn't love seasonal breakfast.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Bacon, Pecans & Butterscotch Sauce

I just got my head screwed on straight and realised it's November in two days TWO DAYS! It’s like I blinked and October is over and now I'm having a mini meltdown because there are so many things to do and such little time to just enjoy the excitement of Christmas coming. Its school photography season so I’ve been what feels like ridiculously busy the past couple of weeks. It might be a little manic this year but I actually really enjoy school photography season although maybe that’s because I only have to deal with all the spreadsheets, order forms and photo packing for a couple weeks out of the year. Having to deal with all that on a daily basis sounds horrendous. I spent the beginning of my week editing and re-sizing hundreds of photos, is it inappropriate to mention I had to edit bogies that were dripping out of someone’s nose. So it might be Friday but better late than never right? Because this idea has been running round my head for over a month and only now have I got around to making it. This is pretty much the perfect autumn breakfast, although I will say I'm usually entirely too sleepy to make pancakes in the morning but at least I can fantasise about it.

Frozen Greek Yogurt Cheesecakes 5 Ingredients (processed sugar free)

The most frustrating thing about these is waiting for them to thaw before you can eat them, impatient souls, especially on a hot summers day! They're so worth it though, really refreshing and all natural ingredients.

The idea kind of originated from vegan cheesecakes although obviously these are not vegan. If you are vegan you can switch out the honey for agave and the yogurt for a dairy free option. I just wanted something easy that you could throw together quickly with few ingredients, so simple, so fast, SO TASTY! I think my favourite one is the chocolate so if in doubt, chocolate! That's quite a good motto for life in general though.

Carrot cake (healthy & sugar free)

Summer is coming, the sun is out, or at least it's trying, which means it's leisure cycling season in my house hold. Most weekends we go for a ride, and usually that ride involves; country roads, fields, country houses/farms, sun and sometimes cake in a tea room. As much as I enjoy cycling pretty much 75% of the reason I go is to see the houses along these random country roads. There's something about cycling in the sun that instantly brings on cravings for carrot cake, or is it just me? Maybe it's the many times we stopped at the church around Mildenhall every year and got carrot cake. I've only been on one bike ride this year (it was pretty horrific) but it instantly made me want carrot cake, and flapjacks, but that's completely besides the point.

I found this recipe on green kitchen stories after getting back from a ride, hat's off to them their blog is amazing, I made a few modifications because we can't easily get fresh dates here and I wanted it a little more carroty. I was a little apprehensive making this not really sure if it would be to stodgy or if it would turn out too bananary but I was rather impressed. Also I must mention, coming from someone who doesn't like cream cheese, this icing almost tasted like unset cheesecake mixture, I would have eaten it by the spoonful while I was whipping it up if it didn't have to go on the cake.