So, not only has there been a slight lack of posts on here recently (well by my standards anyway), but I’m finally writing my post about a fantastic experience that I recently had cooking with lots of other lovely bloggers and the amazing nutritional health coach, Madeline Shaw. I’m sure if you follow my blog, then you’re probably interested in health and healthy eating and so, there’s a good chance that you’re already familiar with Madeline and of course, her delicious recipes! It was an absolute pleasure to be able to meet such a lovely person and cook lots of wonderful food, that I wanted to share some of the highlights of the morning with you.
The event was hosted by a company called Seasonal Berries, who share lots of fascinating information and recipes to encourage people to eat more of these mini nutrient powerhouses and show us different ways to incorporate them into our diet. Their website is home to an abundance of information on these remarkable fruits, so you can head over there and see just why you should be eating more berries!
Berries are an absolute staple in my diet and I always have at least one box of them in my fridge for snacking, porridge toppings or desserts. Their colours are gloriously vibrant and they’re absolutely bursting with antioxidants and lots of other wonderful nutrients. What’s more, they’re a really easy thing to incorporate into your diet and as we discovered on the morning, actually work really well in savoury dishes too, like the beautiful quinoa one that we created. So, not only do they taste delicious, are packed with nutrients and are easy to use.. but berries are also pretty low in sugar in comparison to most fruits, so if you’re monitoring your sugar intake, then these would be my go-to for fruits to include. They make a great low calorie snack and are easy to munch on when out and about on the go.
I know that this can sometimes be hard, but buying locally grown and seasonal fruits and vegetables is thought to be very beneficial and luckily for us here in the UK, berries are something that we are able to grow here during the warmer months. I know it still feels pretty chilly at the moment, but berry season will soon be approaching, which means berries will be a lot more readily available in supermarkets and usually more affordable too! There are also lots of places where you are able to go an pick your own berries; there’s something incredibly satisfying about picking your own produce!
We made two delicious dishes on the morning; a raspberry and celeriac plate with quinoa and the most scrumptious coconut yoghurt covered strawberries. I have previously shared the quinoa recipe on the blog, so you can have a look at that here .. but I would highly recommend that you give these frozen berry bites a go too! They really couldn’t be much simpler; combine a little honey and coconut yogurt, dip the strawberries in the coconut mix and place in the freezer for about an hour and tuck in! These would make the perfect after dinner snack and I imagine would be amazing on a summer picnic spread!
I had such a wonderful morning at the Seasonal Berries event and was able to meet lots of other wonderful people with similar passions and interests to mine. As always when I go to events like these, I learnt so many new things, especially about the nutritional benefits of berries! If you want to find out more about how you can include more berries into your life, there’s loads of information on the Seasonal Berries websites and an abundance of delicious looking recipe ideas from Madeline Shaw too!
