Autumn is my favourite season of the year. Aren't the colours spectacular! It sounds a little bit crazy but I find myself longing for root vegetables, freshly picked apples and blackberries as well as the dark nights ahead long before Autumn is even approaching. So when Emily of Recipes to Nourish contacted me to see if I would like to contribute a guest post for her Seasonal Real Food Blog Series, I was excited and delighted to participate and I also felt very honoured since I've admired her blog and what it represents for some time now.
Growing up we had two kinds of soup, tomato and mushroom and both from a can! I loved the tomato soup but I haven't had it for years since following a healthier real food diet. So when Sainsbury's sent me a can of chopped tomatoes as part of their support for Organic September, I thought I'd try to create a healthier version of my childhood favourite and I'm so happy with the result!
I strongly believe that the variety of fruits and vegetables growing on this planet were put here to help cure and prevent major disease. Now blackberries, for example, are little nutritional powerhouses and wild blackberries are high in Vitamin B17 which many believe can help in the fight against cancer. Most of the fruits and berries containing B17 are the sour ones - those that your grandparents used to eat when in season. They are the fruits least likely to be available easily, fruits such as quinces, wild crabapples, gooseberries and elderberries and if you're interested in finding out the other foods containing B17, check out the list here.
Cashew Cream is a wonderful dairy free alternative to cream. On hot puddings it is amazingly delicious and reminds me of custard and it can be used quite successfully in place of dairy cream in many recipes.
When Sainsbury's sent me an organic hamper this month in support of Organic September, I was so pleased to find a pack of organic almonds in the box. A fantastic source of Vitamin E, almonds are also rich in essential minerals including phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron. I eat almonds virtually every day. I adore almond milk and love roasting almonds with salt and as you know, I use them to bake cookies and cakes. AND have you tried almond butter? If you haven't then you're definitely missing out!
I didn't give into temptation and eat the beautiful bar of Santo Domingo organic fairtrade dark chocolate which I received to use in a blog post this month in support of Organic September. Instead I decided to use it in a raspberry ripple, chocolate chip cake. However, I left out one important ingredient and these cake bars are the result of that mistake!
These scones are made with sparkling mineral water instead of milk. Although they don't look quite as perfect as scones made with milk and eggs, they taste just as nice.
Do you like rice pudding? For me, it brings back cosy, wonderful memories of childhood and dark Winter's nights which are definitely on the horizon now. Rice pudding has always been a great favourite of mine so I decided to make a dairy free version using almond milk. This is much healthier than the one my grandma used to make. Her recipe included dotting huge dollops of butter all over the top before it went into the oven - not that it wasn't amazingly delicious at the time.
Working on the theory that it sometimes takes only just one ingredient to inspire us to get cooking, Sainsbury's are setting a challenge each month for members of its Blogger Community. This month the ingredient is a jar of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Strawberry Conserve.
Sainsbury's are supporting National Organic Month, or Organic September which is all about encouraging people to think organic and buy organic, even if it's just one item in the shopping basket, so collectively we can start to make the planet a greener place for both people and wildlife to enjoy.
