Healthy Brownies recipe (flour and yeast free)

In a recent post I showed some “alternative” brownies I made as a slightly healthier variant to enjoy in these stay-indoor, low-exercise days.

Here’s the recipe, in case you might want to try.

These are not as sweet as the store-bought ones, so you might want to adjust sweetness to suit your taste. Keep sugar quantity to a minimum for a healthier version.

It could be adapted for vegans by replacing eggs and chocolate with vegan alternatives 🙂

Makes 4 small browny loaves (like the ones in the picture)

INGREDIENTS:

> Quantities are slightly approximate as I improvised <

250g Aduki beans (Japanese red beans*)
3 eggs
50g coconut butter
100g cocoa powder
50g dark chocolate
50g sugar
1 pinch of sea salt (enhances the sweetness)

STEPS:

Prepare 4 small baking trays (each about 12 by 22 cm, 4.5 by 8.5 inches, or so) – they don’t need to be very deep, but at least 5 cm, 2 inches.

Line them with baking paper to prevent sticking. 

Cook the aduki beans in water for a long time (approximately 2 hours) until they’re well cooked and soft.

Drain them of water and let them cool down.

Preheat your oven at about 180 degree Celsius, with top and bottom heating. 

Mash them with the blender until they have a soft paste consistency and the skins are no more detectable.

The consistency should be soft but not too watery (slightly runny but not much).

Add the coconut butter and whisk, then the cocoa powder, sugar and salt, while continuing to whisk. Finally add the eggs.

When done, mix in small chunks of the dark chocolate (about half of the choc bar).

The mix is now ready to go in the lined baking trays. Distribute evenly across the trays.

Shake gently to allow the mix to settle. Spread some choc chips on top. The mix should be about 1/2 inch (1 to 1 1/2 cm) deep.

Bake in the oven until the mix is dry but not very dry (it shouldn’t be as dry as biscuits or cake, but rather still retain a somewhat spongey texture).

The baking time might vary slightly from oven to oven, for me it took approximately one hour. I checked them from time to time to assess the cooking stage. 

When cooked, let them slowly cool down.

Then cut into slices or tiles and serve. 

~ ~ ~

These can keep for some days – I stored them in the fridge, but a cool and dry area might work as well. 

If you make them, let me know how this worked for you.. hope you enjoy them!

* Aduki beans (aka as adzuki or azuki) are Japanese red beans, see https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/aduki-bean. I got these ones through Amazon (no paid link)

 

 

Brownies!

Working remotely has the great advantage of not having to spend time for the daily commute – which in large cities like London significantly eats in one’s day.

With a bit extra time in the evening, I gave a go at cooking aduki beans (aka adzuki or azuki) as a dessert (these are small red beans, traditional in Japanese cuisine) – apparently they’re rather healthy.

As usual, I like to improvise or interpret recipes with a freestyle approach.. I tweaked a vague recipe for red beans brownies to use ingredients I had at hand. I used read beans (cooked and finely mashed), cocoa powder, eggs, a few spoons of coconut butter, a few spoons of sugar and icing sugar and choc chunks

The result is rather nice and I couldn’t tell that beans are the base ingredient!

Vintage sock… gorgeous yarn and much more (a long update)

Fear not, it’s not an old sock!

This is going to be a lengthy update, since I haven’t been around in a while. Grab a tea or coffee and read on..

SOCKS

In one of my usual charity shop stops I found some lovely vintage wool yarn, just a tiny quantity. The colours were lovely – you know, the kind of 50/60s shades – so I got it anyway.

Now, I’ve been wanting to make socks for a long while, but actually never gave it a go. Until, while reading my usual blog posts, a fabulous tutorial on sock making came up – just what I needed to motivate me to attempt the task!

Winwick Mum’s Sockalong is truly well done, illustrative and clear, with step-by-step instructions and tons of pictures. Just what a new maker needs! She has done a great job with this tutorial – if you plan to try sock knitting out, that’s an outstanding resource and I can warmly recommend it. Did I mention it’s free (including the pattern)?

After long – my spare moments are pretty limited – last night (wee hours) the first sock was ready… and fitted perfectly! I’m so happy with the results (thanks to WM’s tutorial). They’re not perfect but I think they’re pretty good – anyway, judge for yourself!

A finished vintage sock! (Ok, it’s not fully finished here… I forgot to take a pic after grafting the toe and the rib)

Sock-in-progress.. just the toe left. See the pretty vintage yarn?

Sock-in-progress, the heel is turned

Sock-in-progress, the heel

Sock-in-progress, with notions and notes!

Sock-in-progress, the heel flap

My first sock, the beginnings

YARN PORN

After the recent fire, I allowed myself to do some yarn shopping.. naughty of me, as I have neither space to store it nor budget, but sometimes, you know, one just needs to treats oneself to lift spirits… I think I deserved it.

So let me show you some gorgeous yarn…

Wensleydale and Shetland 4 ply by The Knitting Goddess, one skein each of Slate and Green (picture from TKG’s shop as I still haven’t the wool with me):

Wensleydale & Shetland 4 ply yarn by the Knitting Goddess in Slate

Wensleydale & Shetland 4 ply yarn by the Knitting Goddess in Green

The yarn, a blend of 85% Wensleydale and 15% Shetland, is grown, processed, spun and dyed in the UK, and has a high twist for extra strength. If I could, I would buy all of it (ok, maybe not literally ALL – there’s not enough room in the flat). Here you can see all of the available colourways.

One Farm Yarn, also by The Knitting Goddess, in Flower Power (of course, with such a name I couldn’t pass it):

One Farm Yarn 4 ply by The Knitting Goddess in Flower Power

One Farm is a genuinely Yorkshire yarn!

Here you can see the many pretty shades (variegated, solid or semi-solid) and the interesting story of the yarn and its (local) production: a journey of 72 miles in Yorkshire from sheep to dye pot. What’s not to love?

As you can see, I’m a sucker for blues and greens, although lately I’ve been lovingly looking at natural shades and tones of browns too. But budget is limited, so that was it for now.

NEW FIREPLACE

In other news, this week a new fireplace was delivered and now we need to get workers to remove the old and put the new one in. It’s limestone in Deco style. It was quite a (costly) adventure to get it from the curb side into the flat: we had to get helpers to lift and carry the dead heavy but very fragile limestone pieces. They were amazing, but it came to over £100 for less than half an hour work. There was no way we could do it ourselves, at about 100 kilos each side piece… at least, we got it cheaper because it was ex-showroom. Here you can see a showroom image of The Faulkner fireplace.

The Faulkner fireplace by Chesney’s

LAMP SHADE

Another charity shop find was a Laura Ashley lamp shade at a steal price tag, in just the perfect shade to match the curtains in the living room. The colour is actually more green than it appears in the photos.. it’s a sort of grey/dusty silver green (faded teal? a pale Jade? Persian Green? I’m sure there’s a more accurate name). Such a stroke of luck… What do you think of it?

Laura Ashley lampshade

Laura Ashley lampshade in the sofa corner

Laura Ashley lampshade by night

BAKING

While ago there were over-ripe bananas laying around. Normally, I would eat them as my other half doesn’t like them ripe, but I’m on a low-sugar, GF diet. In order not to waste them, I thought to make some gluten-free loaves replacing sugar with some ripe fruit (there were bananas, self-picked blackberries, ginger and pears involved). The texture was not too bad for GF, but a hint more sugar would have been in order 😉 Hence the spoon of jam.

Enjoying a slice of GF, low-sugar loaf

Gluten-free, low-sugar loaves

Well, that was it. Well done if you reached the end of this post! Thanks for joining.

How was your weekend?

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Camping weekend in Guildford, UK

I haven’t posted in ages.. life has got in the way (insert boring details)

This weekend I have been camping… yes! I hadn’t done in ages and really loved it. It certainly helped that the weather was graciously good and they offered very decent facilities!

It was for the EMF Camp that takes place every two years – a large gathering of investigative minds and non-grown-up folks. In the words of the organisers:

Electromagnetic Field is a non-profit UK camping festival for those with an inquisitive mind or an interest in making things: hackers, artists, geeks, crafters, scientists, and engineers.

There were various activities – from talks to workshops, soldering sessions, blacksmithing, make-you-very-own-ring, villages (people with a shared interest of any legit sort), retro arcade…. (incomplete list by any means). An amazing varied crowd attended – families, geeks, alternative people, all genders/ages/tastes, from as far as Germany and Netherlands, Ireland (as well as from Scotland, Wales and England).

I tried out soldering, put up/down my very own tent with no hiccups (first-timer), played retro video-games. Generally had a fab time and felt very much in sync with the spirit and the landscape (amazing location, did I mention already?).

My very own happy tent

My newbie soldering (left, and left)

The Retro Arcade – play anything vintage, for free

The creator of the smallest sat (which orbited for 22 months, but found no cosmic rays – hope I got this right). http://www.50dollarsat.info and amsat.org

I also tasted freshly made Dutch Stroopwafel (a heavenly delicious recipe involving loads of butter, I understand). Sadly the blacksmithing was booked out, doh.

Stroopwafel, freshly made on the spot (note my reusable light-weight container!)

…And got to wear flip-flops, walked bare-footed, sat on hay bales and got closer to Mother Nature. Big win.

The organisers made an excellent job and all ran smoothly. A big thank you!

Jam making VS food waste

Long time no post… There is a lot to catch up with!

I’m now working so I try to keep the spare time during the weekend for offline activities.

I have been reading with interest about people trying to live in a more sustainable way and I try to contribute myself – through small steps and actions – to a better future for the planet.

Apart from buying less of unnecessary things, I buy more local or sustainable (although it’s hard to know/find the truth about origin, process of making etc. in these times of hype marketing and displaced purchasing).

Anyway, let me cut this story a bit shorter.

This summer and autumn I have been making jam from gathered berries and the odd fruits bought in season and even from salvaged fruits!

I made elderberry jam (sorry no pictures) from berries I salvaged when some elder plants had to be cut to refurbish my balcony in Austria.

you can still see some elder plants remaining at the back on the left

the balcony just refurbished from a local company

Back in London, I was gathering blackberries at the local natural park. I also bought some in-season English raspberries, which, because they were a few days old stock, had been strongly reduced – so I saved money and avoided it going to waste; but next time I’ll try to find some local produce, instead of buying from a supermarket.

Finally, one day on my way back home, a local seller was disposing of some damaged fruit (that is, he left the baskets by the road-side for waste collection).. I felt a bit bad to take it, so I didn’t stop. After thinking a bit about it, the idea of the fruit going to waste was making me feel really bad!

Once a friend told me that I’m a “war child”, which luckily I’m not. Though I do listen with interest to stories from people who have gone through hardship. My late mum told me of when she was a child and their family was poor and while the adults were out working in the fields, the kids were at home and there wasn’t much food, so sometimes they went searching for bird eggs or wild salad… I don’t think such stories only belongs to the past or third-world countries: there are many children and families living below the poverty line even here in the UK (3.7 million children were living in poverty in the UK in 2013-14, that’s 28% of children).

Anyway, the bottom line is that I did go back and took some of the little that, by then, was left  on the street – a few small baskets of figs and some strawberries; they were a bit damaged but a good part could be salvaged for jam making after removing the wasted parts. I also added some more berries I harvested during another walk. So that became “figs & berries” jam.

I really enjoyed harvesting the fruit, making my own jam – which I’m now using instead of the store-purchased one – and knowing exactly what ingredients went in the product!

PS some links…

• Ideas & recipes for using food and avoid food waste
• Produced but never eaten – a visual guide to food waste (The Guardian)
• Documentary on waste in supermarkets (“Hugh’s War on Waste”, BBC iPlayer, UK-only)

and some “easy” wisdom:

• use less
• buy local
• also buy the product that is less pretty – taste is not less
• serve just enough
• use what is left
• don’t throw away, just don’t