Cheddar Apple Walnut Salad
Creamy cheese, crisp and sweet apples, toasty walnuts and a tangy dressing. This Cheddar Apple Walnut Salad is a simple and tasty crowd-pleaser!
Tag: walnuts
Fruit & Nut Breakfast Cookies
These fruit & nut breakfast cookies are healthy, tasty, and easy to make for a convenient breakfast or snack! You know when your little, and you don’t understand why adults, who can do ANYTHING THEY WANT, opt for sensible high fibre breakfasts instead of, say, …
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Cranberry Walnut Energy Bites
Fudgy cranberry walnut energy bites, perfect for a quick boost!
Oh, hi there friends!! I know, things have been a little quiet around here lately, but I have prepared a few excuses so you will let me off the hook… For one, my sweet babe is on the move! Like, really on the move. I mean, this child can crawl faster than I can walk, and is so very curious too (pots! pans! cupboards! toilet brush…!). So it goes without saying that my kitchen activities have been compromised as I chase around after this pint sized whirlwind. Secondly, I have been spending a little time on some behind the scenes blog stuff. Have you clocked the changes?!
Some are a little subtle, but theres a couple of updates that may interest you.
“The Kitchen” is where you will find a full picture index of all the recipes on ELK. I just thought this was more aesthetically pleasing than a boring list of recipes, I hope you like it!
“The Pantry“, this was actually a request from several readers, including my Mum (!). As you asked so nicely, I have put list of pantry items that I use most often. If I have a recipe that includes the pantry item, you can click on the ingredient, and voila! You will see a list of recipes 🙂
Now onto todays recipe! Just a quicky for you- lovely cranberry walnut energy bites! They can be thrown together in mere minutes, and provide a great boost of energy through the day. They have been super helpful as my marathon training ramps up. One word of caution- making “bitesized” snacks can cause me to mindlessly over eat… In fact, I think I have popped about 6 of these little babies just writing this post…! So sweet, fudge and satisfying.
Enjoy!
Cranberry Walnut Energy Bites
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Fudgy cranberry walnut energy bites, perfect for a quick boost!
Author: Emma
Serves: 24
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted dates (16-18 dates)
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- ¾ cup oats
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of sea salt
Method
- Put all of the ingredients into a food processor, and blend until the mixture forms a stick dough-like ball. It make look dry and crumb-like at first, but keep going!
- Remove the "dough" and roll into small bite-sized balls, I usually get about 24-26 balls but it obviously depends on how big or small your roll them.
- Alternatively- press the dough into a cling-film lined 9x9 baking tray, and cut into bars.
- For best results, store in the fridge
Adapted from my own recipe- Cherry Almond Energy Bites.
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Berry Baked Oatmeal
This berry baked oatmeal is the perfect way to jazz up breakfast with its gorgeously sweet-tart combination of blueberries, raspberries, cinnamon, vanilla and walnuts. Where I come from, we don’t really have oatmeal. We have no-nonsense PORRIDGE. It’s the same, but I can’t bring myself …
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Gingerbread Granola Bars
These gingerbread granola bars combine all of the warm spices of gingerbread with the chewy, nutty texture of a classic granola bar. Before we get stuck into today’s recipe, I wanted to update you all on a little personal news. Next month our little family …
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Butternut Squash Goat Cheese Lasagne
This vegetarian butternut squash goat cheese lasagne makes for perfect winter comfort food.
Well its been a week of ups and downs returning to work. On the one hand I love being back at the office, on the other I miss James terribly. Fortunately I have had our upcoming trip to England to look forward to, so the short stint back has seemed manageable.
I have been cooking in big batches to save time (and my sanity…!) through the week. This butternut goat cheese lasagne made an appearance in last weeks line up, and Kirk and I were feasting on the leftovers for DAYS. Is it me or is leftover lasagne The. Best.? I can (and did…) eat this stuff cold and directly from the pan…
I love this vegetable heavy version with its alternating sweet and tangy layers. A sprinkling of sage and walnuts add to its all round cosiness and suitability for these last weeks of winter. Creamy, cheesy, rich and super satisfying, just the way a lasagne should be!
Enjoy!
Butternut Squash & Goat Cheese Lasagne
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This vegetarian butternut squash goat cheese lasagne makes for perfect winter comfort food.
Author: Emma
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- Squash Filling
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 10 sage leaves
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into small bite sized chunks
- ¼ cup of white wine
- ¼ cup of water or vegetable stock
- 14.5oz (400g) tin of tomatoes
- salt & pepper to taste
- Tomato Sauce
- 2½ cups (750ml) of passata or tomato sauce
- 2 cups of water
- Cheese Sauce
- 1½ cups of goat cheese
- 2 cups of whole milk ricotta
- 3 eggs
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- For Assembly/ To Garnish
- 1 package of fresh lasagne or oven ready (see notes)
- 1 ball of fresh mozzarella
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 12 sage leaves
Method
- Melt butter and oil in a large lidded skillet
- Add sage leaves and fry for about 2 minutes until the oil is infused with delicious sage flavor.
- Add onions and fry for for about 5 minutes until softened
- Add garlic and fry for a minute more
- Add cubed butternut squash, and give everything a good stir, add wine, tomatoes and stock or water to the pan, season everything generously with salt and pepper
- Cover and simmer for about 20-25 minutes until the squash is meltingly soft but still retaining its shape
- While this is happening, prepare the tomato and cheese sauces.
- For the tomato sauce, simply combine the passata and water in a large jug, set aside
- For the cheese sauce, begin by lightly whisking the eggs in a large bowl
- Add the ricotta and combine thoroughly
- Next, add the goat cheese and stir until combined (note: this will be easier if you have cut your cheese up into small chunks first!) season with nutmeg and a generous grind of black pepper, set aside
- When the squash is cooked, we are ready for assembly! At this point, preheat your oven to 400F/200C
- Begin by tipping about half of the tomato sauce into the bottom of a 10x14 lasagne pan
- Next, line the pan with a layer of lasagne sheets
- Add about half of the squash mixture in an even layer
- Top this with half of the cheese mixture
- Then add a second layer of lasagne sheets
- The remainder of the squash mixture
- Followed by the remaining half of the cheese mixture
- Pour the remaining tomato sauce evenly over the whole dish
- Finally top everything with the sliced mozzarella and remaining sage
- Scatter the walnuts evenly over the top
- Bake for about an hour and allow to rest for about 10 minutes before you serve
Notes
Adapted from Nigella Lawsons ‘Christmas’
I have made this with both whole grain and regular lasagne sheets.
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Apple Cinnamon Crunch Bars
I don’t know if it is the abrupt change in temperature, a symptom of the third trimester, or my obsession with the Great British Bake Off, but I am on such a baking kick at the moment! These Apple Cinnamon Crunch Bars are my latest …
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Dark Chocolate, Cherry & Walnut Breakfast Bars
Last month I decided to commit to a vegan diet for six weeks. Fun, right?! From time to time I like to conduct mini-experiments on myself like this. Two years ago I gave up caffeine, that wasn’t too bad after I had got over the …
