The Sweet Life

This delicious brownie recipe is extra gooey and soft when served heated. I always serve it with vanilla ice cream and wait until it melts over the top of the brownie before eating, yum! The dates give it a yummy chewy texture and a slight caramel taste. Once you have cooled and cut the brownie, store it in a sealed container and it will keep for a couple of weeks. Ingredients 2 cups chopped dates 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 cup boiling water 200g finely diced butter (at room temperature) 4 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups caster sugar 1 cup dark cocoa (sifted) 1 cup flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 250g of Whittakers dark chocolate (cut into small chunks) Method 1. Preheat oven to 160 ℃  and line a slice tin (30cm x 24cm) with baking paper. 2. Put the dates into a large bowl, add baking soda and boiling water and stir to combine. Add the finely diced butter and stir until melted. Leave for 20 minutes. 3. Mash the softened dates with a fork or a potato

This is a delicious granola recipe from Sarah Wilson's IQS book. I love breakfast but i have never been a big cereal eater as i've always known that cereal is loaded with sugar, so I would often opt for a 'healthier' muesli options, but a lot of muesli's are also loaded with sugar (especially fructose - honey, dried fruits etc). After reading IQS i soon realised that fructose is the enemy! Fructose makes us eat more as its a molecule that doesn't allow hormones to tell our brains when we are full and to stop eating. Fructose also converts directly to fat - it's not used straight away as energy but converted directly to fat - see Sarah Wilson's "I Quit Sugar" book for more information about fructose and its effect on your body. You will notice that instead of sugar/honey i am using rice malt syrup. Rice malt syrup (can also be called rice syrup or brown rice syrup) is made from fermented cooked rice. It is only made from rice and water an

This soup is incredibly simple to make, taking only about 15 minutes from start to finish! Be careful if you are adding the soups straight into the pot, not to overdo the noodles as they soak up the liquid and you'll loose the soupiness of this dish. Ingredients 2 tablespoons oil 3 garlic cloves (chopped) 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (grated or crushed ginger in a jar) 3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste 2 boneless chicken breast or thighs (sliced) 4 cups chicken stock 1 cup water 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2/3 cup coconut milk 6 oz. dried rice vermicelli noodles 1 lime (juiced) Sliced red onion, red chilis, coriander, spring onions, mung beans (optional - to garnish) Method 1. In a large pot over medium heat, add the oil, garlic, ginger, and Thai red curry paste. Fry for 5 minutes, until fragrant. 2. Add the chicken and cook for a couple minutes, just until the chicken turns opaque. 3. Add the chicken stock, water, fish sauce, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil. At this point,

Its been a long time coming BUT I finally have time to add a new recipe to The Sweet Life! Yay! Since moving back to NZ from the UK and getting back into teaching again I have been so busy... it has been a huge shock to the system. But now that i've got through to the end of the year and have a bit of down time I can focus again on what makes me happy... food :). So after the festive season i've been slowly getting back on track with my eating. This week i bought fresh blue cod fillets and experimented with some toppings tonight...which turned out to be delicious. This recipe is super quick and easy. It could work with any firm white fish or salmon. The salad is easy to chuck together and you can add anything to it BUT the toasted seed topping is a must as it adds a bit of crunch and sweetness to the dish! This recipe serves 2.  Ingredients Fish Parcels  2  fish fillets (I used blue cod) 2 teaspoons crushed garlic (you can use fresh garlic) 2 teas