Vita Coco #SwearbyIt Red Snapper

When Vita Coco set a challenge to create a recipe using their fantastic coconut oil, I knew that I would accept. I love coconut oil and how versatile it is. Some may think that coconut oil is just for sweet treats. Let me tell you that it is so much more than that. Coconut oil is delicious in sweet treats but it is also an amazing addition to savoury dishes. With a pot of Vita Coco coconut oil you have a multi tasker in a pot. How many other ingredients can you use as a beauty product too? Vita Coco coconut oil is a fantastic lip balm and can be used as a face cleanser, oil pulling toothpaste and even as a deep conditioning treatment for your hair!

Today I am sharing with you my recipe that combines coconut oil with Asian inspired flavours of lemongrass, ginger, chilli and garlic. Mixed together they have created a delicious meal that shows you how you can easily incorporate this healthy ingredient.

This is what I did...

#CookBlogShare Week 13 Round Up

Thank you to everyone that linked up to CookBlogShare last week. It was good to be back and I have enjoyed making the difficult decision of what recipes to feature in this week round up.

This week I really could not select a theme for the round up. I loved the wide variety of recipes shared and it was great to be back doing what I love! This weeks round up is a mixture of baked goodies and deliciously healthy meals. The perfect balance!

Here are my favourite four recipes...

Weekly Meal Plan - Week Commencing 4th April 2016

After having a couple of weeks being really quite unorganised, this week I am looking forward to having a firm meal plan in place.

After a few bad weeks I am back on with my Slimming World plan again. After the lazy weeks of chocolate, eating what I want and drinking I did put on 6lbs but after having a good week last week I am delighted that I have lost 4lbs so I am nearly where I was before. As you have probably noticed we are eating meat again. We do tend to have our fads where we eat vegetarian but at the end of the day we all enjoy meat and I am a believer in everything in moderation.

The kids are still off school so this weeks meal plan is going to be another easier week.

This is what we will be enjoying this week...

Week Commencing 4th April 2016

Monday - Root Veg Hash

This meal has been inspired by Slimming World Free Food Feasts book. I will be using a variety of root veg with some bacon and topped with an egg.

Tuesday - Fish Pie

This is a favourite and one that I am looking forward to!

Wednesday - Ostrich Steak

I was recently challenged by Iceland to create a recipe using one of the exotic meats. So this week we are trying ostrich meat. This is a new meat to us so I am curious to see what it tastes of but it is very low in fat which is a good start.

Thursday - One Pot Lamb Stew

This is going to be a one pot dish that I can prepare and leave to cook.

Friday - Krabby Patties

The twins recently watched the SpongeBob Movie and since then they have asked daily for Krabby Patties. So on Friday I will be making Krabby (beef) Patties (burgers).

As always I am sharing with Meal Planning Monday.

26th March - 1st April 2016 - One Picture Everyday For One Year

This week I am a little later with my Project366 post, last week was manic. The children are on their Easter holidays from school so getting time to sit and write is proving a little difficult! But on we plod! Last week we finally saw some lovely days and the children have enjoyed being able to go out in the garden to play. Fingers crossed we have more days like that next week!

Here is my week in pictures...

Saturday 26th March 2016

On Saturday we spent the day at my mother in laws and enjoyed a delicious Easter lamb dinner. While we were there I discovered that I have been nominated for The MADS best food blog! To say I was gob smacked is an understatement. I haven't written a post about the awards so this was a real surprise!

Food Unwrapped with a2 Milk

You may remember that in the past I have worked with a2 milk. I have previously written a review on their cows milk with a difference. The difference with a2 milk is that it is real, natural cows milk, without the a1 protein. The a1 protein is what makes milk intolerable for so many people. But now, thanks to a2 they can now enjoy pure cows milk without the discomfort.

I am excited to tell you that tonight on Channel 4's Food Uncovered they will be talking about a2 milk. So tune in tonight at 8pm to learn more about a2 milk. I will be watching and tweeting all about it and will be writing a blog post next week about the research. I will even feature a recipe using a2 milk instead of cow milk!

You can follow me on Twitter at @k_phillipson and a2 milk at @a2MilkUK or follow the hashtags #a2milk and #foodunwrapped.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post

New Panasonic L500 Slow Juicer Plus Recipes

When Panasonic contacted me about their new L500 Slow Juicer I was curious to see how it could be different to regular, high speed juicers. We already have a high speed juicer but due to the sheer size and bulkiness of the machine it has been tucked away in a cupboard! When I read that this was a more compact machine I knew that our kitchen really would put it to the test. We have a good sized kitchen, but lack on storage and worktops due to the shape of the room. So finding kitchen equipment that we will be able to have out, to hand, all of the time is a must and can be difficult.

When the parcel arrived the first thing that I noticed was that it was not a large box, this immediately pleased me. If the box is not large, the contents cannot be large!

Before I tell you how I got on using the Panasonic Slow Juicer, let me give you some technical information as well as what the benefits are of slow juicing as opposed to high speed juicing and why it is better for you. I will also be sharing with you an iced dessert, iced cocktail and a juice recipe!