Family Fun Month - Fruit animals!

For the last few days of the school holidays and bank holiday weekend, we thought you might need an idea for how to keep the kids (and you!) occupied. So for our last Family Fun Month post, we've found a fun-filled creative way to encourage healthy eating!

So how you do you make fruit & vegetables more exciting? Easy - make animals and creatures with them first! From banana caterpillars, and apple turtles, there's combinations you never would've known existed.

The recipe is simple:-

- A varied selection of fruit & veg

- Imagination!

It's a fantastic way for children to stretch their imaginations, and make ears and noses out of healthy foods - you can even encourage a bit of healthy competition - who can make the scariest bear or a colourful fish? Maybe the winner gets to eat it all!

We'd love to see some of your fruit creations! 

www.ellieellie.co.uk

Healthy Lollies!

We shared our scrumptious ice lolly recipe earlier in the summer and we can't get enough of the tasty fruity treat! If you didn't see the recipe before, take a look at our strawberry and yogurt lolly recipe! They were quick and easy to make and are perfect for the kids too!

We've found some other lovely looking lolly recipes that we can't wait to try, including these frozen berry & ginger nut yogurt pops, which would be great as a dinner party desert as well as a treat to cool off! 

These tangerine and plum sorbets on a stick also look delicious and make a refreshing desert or snack (that's if the sun is shining!)

Have you made any fruity lollies this Summer?

Summer Ice Lollies!

There is nothing better on a hot summers day than digging into a scrumptious ice lolly! Although nipping down to the shops may seem easy to get your ice lolly fix, there are benefits from making your own. They will be cheaper, as it just requires fruit and a couple of other ingredients you probably have at home!

Here's a simple and easy recipe for strawberry ice lollies, they took about 15 minutes to make and then just needed to set in the freezer!

All you need is: 250g of strawberries, 100ml natural yogurt and 1 teaspoon of honey.

Simply:

1. Whizz up 250g of strawberries with a food processor, 

(i used a hand blender which worked just as well)

 2. Mix in the natural yogurt and honey

3. Divide the mixture between your lolly moulds

4. Leave to set in the freezer for at least 4 hours and enjoy with your picnic or BBQ!

National Strawberry Day!

Celebrate National Strawberry Day with a yummy Strawberry Jam Recipe! 

Ingredients:

• 2lb 3oz strawberries
• 2lb 3oz granulated sugar or caster sugar
• 1/2 lemon (juice only)
• Small knob of butter 

Recipe:

• The day before making the jam, hull and halve the strawberries and check for soft spots
• Remove any soft spots and throw away any berries that are overripe
• Put the strawberries in a bowl with 18oz of the sugar, turning carefully and mixing well - cover and place in the fridge overnight
• Place a saucer in the freezer to chill (you'll need this later)
• Sterilize the jam jars 
• Pour the strawberries, their juice and any residual sugary juices into a very large pan 
• Add the remaining 18oz of sugar and the lemon juice
• Stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved
• Bring the strawberries to the boil and boil hard until the jam reaches setting point (this may take up to half an hour) 
• To test if it has reached setting point, remove pan from heat and place a drop of the jam onto the saucer from the freezer, after a few seconds push the jam with your finger
• If the jam wrinkles it had reached setting point and is ready. If it slides about as liquid, it is not yet set.
• When setting point is reached, stir in the butter, skim off any scum on the surface of the jam 
• Let the jam cool and thicken in the pan for ten minutes
• Stir the jam and ladle it into the sterilized jars 

Enjoy!

You can find the full recipe, plus more here! 

National Banana Bread Day!!

Today marks another great day, this time dedicated to a popular fruit. It's National Banana Bread day and a Sunday evening is the perfect time to get some simple ingredients for a great cake that will last you all week for lunches and tea.

It's so easy to make, and uses simple ingredients you may have in your cupboard anyway!

1. Mix together 8 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of sugar
2. Stir into the mix 2 beaten eggs and 3 mashed bananas
3. Slowly mix in half a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda
4. Slowly mix in 1 and a quarter cups of all purpose flour
5. Fold in gently a third cup of walnuts for an extra taste
6. Pour in a greased loaf tin
7. Bake at gas mark 4 or 180 degrees C
8. Wait to cool, add dried banana or icing for that finishing touch and serve

Mulled Wine Season!

What says Christmas more than Mulled Wine in the festive season! Mulled Wine is a traditional mix of wine, fruit and spices, which gained its name from an old English word meaning muddled. It's thought that the process of mulling wine was first employed as a way to save any wine that was about to spoil, and the result was this delicious drink enjoyed at Christmas time.

Here is an easy  recipe to make your own mulled wine this Christmas! You can make it as sweet as you want by adding more sugar or stronger by adding more wine, so it is adaptable to how you like your Mulled Wine.

Ingredients:

1 litre dry red wine

2 (5cm) cinnamon sticks

1 dessertspoon whole cloves

1 dessertspoon whole allspice

1 large piece orange rind (avoid the pith)

1 large piece lemon rind (avoid the pith)

4 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

 

The method for making this tasty drink:

1. In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the red wine, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, lemon rind and orange rind. Heat gently, but don't bring to the boil. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and once dissolved, taste to see if you'd like to add more.
2. Keep hot on medium to low heat for 20 minutes to let the flavours infuse the wine. Serve your mulled wine hot in glasses or mugs.



To see the recipe and more like this see the website!

The Perfect Pimms

We all love a chilled, fruity glass of Pimms on a lovely hot day in the British summertime, so we thought a ‘Post about Pimms’ was a must at Ellie Ellie HQ, especially as we have been enjoying lovely weather recently.

This is a great guide to ‘The Perfect Pimms’ and we really love the way they guide you to cut the fruit… Pimms Perfection we say!!

Each sip of Pimms is savoured in the British summertime and it’s a lovely way to create summer memories with friends and family. The new ‘Blackberry & Elderflower’ Pimms flavour is another summer sizzler with a fresh and floral taste.

There are lots of interesting and yummy recipes around using Pimms as the main ingredient and we couldn’t be more excited at the prospect of tucking into a Pimms cupcake or sorbet. Enjoy this Pimms Sorbet with all the delicious ingredients of our beloved summertime drink… 

Take a look at a recipe for scrumptious Pimms Sorbet here... Pimms Sorbet

Pimms winter means we can now enjoy the taste of cinnamon and caramel on the cold days too, lovely!