Broadly Speaking

I needed a substantial breakfast as I was playing tennis at 10am and I fancied porridge. We were out of bananas so I rummaged in the cupboard for something to sweeten the porridge with and found a recently purchased jar of Organic Raw Chocolate & Hempseed Spread. Eureka! Chocolate and strawberry porridge it was. Harvey could not believe his luck and was convinced he had eaten a pudding for breakfast.

I made the porridge as usual with soya milk and water and then stirred in 2 heaped tsps of the spread. It contains hemp seeds, brazil nuts, agave syrup and cacao powder. When it was ready I added strawberries to our bowls and I had mine with a cup of green Rooibos tea. What a great start to the day.

In the veggie patch the broad beans needed picking.

Once picked, they were eased out of their velvety sleeping bags.

They can taste bitter so I boil them for about 4 minutes and then squeeze the green bean out of the grey outer covering. I had cooked some rice. Just plain boiled although it would have been a more flavoursome dish if I had fried the rice first with some onions and garlic or even made a risotto. I mixed the broad beans in with the rice and added red pepper, tomatoes and red olives. It was a bit dry and would have been better with some tzatziki or similar on the side.

I was looking forward to having 2 friends over for supper. They were both trying to lose a bit of weight gained during recent holidays so I had assured them supper would be very diet friendly. I decided to keep it simple as I wasn’t sure what kind of diet they were on. There was some broad bean and rice salad left over so we had that with a fresh picked salad of beetroot leaves, 3 types of lettuce and rocket from the garden, with tomatoes and grated carrot.

Cold meats and olives.

Followed by a fresh fruit platter for dessert: strawberries, cherries and local plums.

Served with mango and coconut balls. These should come with a health warning; DO NOT MAKE THESE UNLESS YOU HAVE ULTRA STRONG WILLPOWER OR DO NOT NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT. They are very moreish.

They were delicious but you need to eat them sparingly as they have a very high fat and sugar content. They are very easy to make (as long as you have a blender), children love them and they are a much healthier snack than sugary alternatives.

I got the recipe from a site called healthyblenderrecipes.com which has a lot of interesting raw vegan recipes.

http://healthyblenderrecipes.com/recipes/raw_vegan_mango_coconut_balls/

Raw Vegan Mango Coconut Balls

3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup extra unsweetened shredded coconut for rolling.
2 cups dried unsweetened unsulphured mango (soaked in some filtered water for about 1/2 an hour)
1/2 cup agave nectar
8 Tbsp cold pressed coconut oil.
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Place all the ingredients in your food processor (except the extra 1/3 cup of coconut) and pulse into well combined.
You will know the mixture is ready when it congeals together and almost forms a ball.
Roll the mixture into small balls and roll in shredded coconut.
Freeze on a baking tray lined with parchment paper for about 20 minutes.
Store in a container in the fridge.
Makes about 30 depending on how large you like your balls!

I bought some fresh coconut from Waitrose. They sell it chopped up in little pots in their ‘Good To Go’ range. I grated the fresh coconut and then made up the quantity with desiccated coconut. When I blended the ingredients together, the mix was a bit too sloppy to form a decent ball shape so I put the mixture in the fridge to firm up a bit. When it was firmer, I used an ice-cream scoop to form the balls.

I had a lovely evening with dear friends. No idea how many points are in a mango ball but then it is irrelevant as I have lost track of how many I have eaten! Good night.

About Lose Weight and Gain Health

Hi! My name is Zoe and I live in Hastings, East Sussex, with my son Harvey and dog, Milton. I have been fighting the fat for years but this time I am serious. I want to lose weight and gain health. This blog is about how I am changing my lifestyle so I can lose weight but not by just "being on a diet" but by making small changes to our lives so that as I lose weight, I gain health. I want my family to be healthy too and never have to struggle with their weight like I have. In common with many large people, I have gained and lost weight many times over the years. This time, I want to lose it and maintain a healthy low weight. I am interested in eating food that is nutrient dense and delicious and that appeals to children and adults. I do not eat animal products so follow a vegan diet. I try to use locally produced food supplemented with what I can grow myself. I support and try to use local farmers markets and farm shops. Another objective is to add more exercise to our days. It sounds so simple when I write it down :-)

View all posts by Lose Weight and Gain Health →

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.