Christmas Tree Rice Krispie Treats

These little treats are easy and fun to make and are great for a children’s Christmas party or to make at home with your kids. They don’t involve any baking, and just one pan which children can do under supervision. The idea came from FoodFanatic.com but I adapted it a little.

Melt 100g butter in a large pan over a low heat along with 200g marshmallows, stirring until smooth.

Add a few drops of green food colouring and stir. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Mix in a large bowlful of Rice Krispies and stir gently until all the cereal is coated. 

Line a large flat baking tray with greaseproof paper and spoon on the Rice Krispie mixture. Press down and spread so you have a thin layer about 2cm thick.

Sprinkle over some Christmas sprinkles then place in the fridge to set for an hour.

When set using a knife carefully divide into triangles to make Christmas tree shapes.

I found that while the top of the Rice Krispie treats had set, the bottom was still very sticky once I had peeled them off the greaseproof paper, so I sprinkled that side with icing sugar which made them much easier to handle.

The original recipe suggested inserting a pretzel as the tree trunk but I found the treats were still too soft and started to break up as I did so, so I decided to just leave them as they were. 

My daughter was a little dubious at first as they were green but soon decided they tasted good!

Strawberry and white chocolate crispy cakes with pink Coco Pops

Kellogg’s new strawberry and white chocolate flavour coco pops are pink and a fun option for breakfast - but there is a lot more you can do with them than just add a splash of milk!

So what can you make with pink coco pops?

Since I got them a couple of days before my daughter’s third birthday I had the perfect idea - unicorn poo! Or rather, the equivalent of chocolate Rice Krispie cakes, but using the pink coco pops and white chocolate (and a little golden syrup). They are so easy to make and something that children can make with you or even by themselves.

Melt 100g white chocolate and mix with 200g strawberry and white chocolate coco pops - you can always add a little more cereal if the mixture looks too ‘wet’. I added two tablespoons of golden syrup as well.

Spoon into paper cupcake cases and then decorate however you like - I used mini white chocolate stars as I figure unicorns must poop stars, right? Or maybe edible glitter would have been good!

Leave in the fridge to set for a couple of hours then enjoy!

Have a look at my other blog Mini Moo Life for more ideas of things to do with children!

5 Sugar-Free Breakfast Recipes - Sugar Free September

People have differing views on breakfast: some say it is the most important meal of the day, others say 'breakfast like a king, dine like a pauper', others say if you skip breakfast entirely your body burns more of its fat reserves, and others still say you need something small (protein according to some, lemon juice and hot water according to others) to kick-start your metabolism.

It's really confusing and I've tried several approaches over the years, all with very little difference to my weight. What I am sure about though is that the 'traditional' breakfast foods in the UK of cereals and toast are the least good things to be eating. Sugar and simple carbs are not what you need first thing in the morning.

I've previously reviewed a breakfast cereal that I think has good health benefits but since I've started #SugarFreeSeptember I thought I'd give five breakfast ideas that are healthy and largely sugar-free. Some people say you can still eat fruit on a sugar-free diet but others disagree, since fruit is high in natural sugars. So none of my suggestions below include fruit, but you can add it if you like eg to the yogurt, or have some grapes with the cheese.

#1 Eggs - a great way to start the day and also sugar-free (just don't dip any soldiers in your boiled egg!). My favourite is poached egg with smoked salmon for an indulgent way to start the day. Omlettes are also a good idea, and if you have a bit more time to cook, try poached eggs on wilted spinach sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

 

#2 Greek yogurt (unflavoured) sprinkled with chia seeds. Chia seeds are a good source of vitamins and minerals. They are not that cheap but I bought a big tub from the supermarket for only about £4 and it goes a long way.

 

#3 Cheese: good if you want to eat protein in the mornings and not as strange as it sounds- think continental breakfasts where you have ham and cheese on bread. The ham and cheese together make a good healthy and very quick breakfast if you are on the go - without the bread.

#4 Buckwheat pancakes: these are just like regular pancakes in method; the taste is a little different but I barely noticed, though of course my fussy husband did - but he still liked them! Using buckwheat flour instead of plain flour makes these gluten-free, so as well as not including any refined or natural sugar, these pancakes won't raise your blood sugar like gluten will.

I used 150g buckwheat flour to 250ml milk and one egg to make four pancakes; whisk the egg and milk together and make a well in the flour, and pour in, whisking well. Heat a little oil or butter or coconut oil in a frying pan, pour in enough mixture to just cover the base of the pan and cook until browned on both sides. My husband had his filled with grated cheese, while I spread mine with goat's cheese (I had a bit left over in the fridge from another recipe) and smoked salmon. Delicious!

 

 

#5 Homemade granola - I used this recipe from 'I quit sugar' by Sarah Wilson. I have to be honest and say it really wasn't my favourite thing to eat, but it wasn't that bad and I felt very virtuous eating it. You can make up a big tub at the beginning of the week and take it into work or portion it out as you need. I had a lot of the ingredients already, including the chia seeds which I bought on a whim and hadn't used yet; the coconut flakes came from Ocado, the mixed nuts from Lidl and the coconut oil from Amazon.

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (along with some cinnamon and I used a tiny bit of agave nectar which is a natural sugar but very high in sugar - the recipe advises rice malt syrup as being optional and I wasn't sure where to buy that (health food shops perhaps?) but as I had agave nectar decided to use a little of that - I don't think it would have been very palatable without.

Baking in the oven:

And then a little tub to take to work with some Greek yogurt.

 

 

Review: Keep Me Strong Cereal

Last year I reviewed a new cereal called Keep Me Going; the makers, Freedom Cereals, have now sent me their second product, Keep Me Strong.

This is a far cry from the sugary cereals I used to like as a child and I think is more likely to be eaten by a health-conscious adult. This product is a high-protein, low fat multi-grain cereal which is also low in salt and has 'reduced' sugar (overall it's 10% sugar - many cereals contain three times that, they say).

The cereal uses whole grain brown rice rather than wheat gluten which is commonly used in other cereals, but which Freedom Cereals say is one of the hardest types of protein to absorb, with a low digestibility. Whole grain brown rice is much better absorbed by the body as a protein source though it is more expensive. Freedom is quite upfront about this and say they have experimented with a dozen protein sources and found this one was much better and tasted good. It does mean the Keep Me Strong cereal is £2.65 a box (at Ocado); they say a box contains 11 servings so that is only 24p a serving.

I found this cereal tasted quite nice and I thought it was better than the Keep Me Going product that I previously tried. I also liked the bright colours of the packaging while not resorting to cartoon characters to tempt kids. Most of all though I like the health benefits, as my personal trainer has been drumming into me for years that the most important thing to eat at breakfast is protein!

Thanks to Freedom Cereals for the product to review. All opinions are my own.

Keep Me Going: Cereal Review

I’m more of an occasional cereal eater and for breakfast usually have a yogurt or occasionally eggs, with cereal reserved for the times when I want something more substantial than a yogurt but don’t have time for a cooked breakfast. I have to admit a weakness for sugary cereals which probably stems back to my childhood when Frosties were the only ones I would eat! Now, I alternate between something healthy like Special K, a nutty muesli from Jordan’s or Dorset Cereals, and the occasional treat of something like Krave!

 

I was recently sent some cereal called Keep Me Going. Richard Paterson from Freedom Cereals, the independent company behind the product, said it was developed "after noticing just how much sugar and salt were in the cereals my 3 children, in particular, were eating. The idea was to develop healthy nutritional products with functional benefits too (like low Gi) but which could be as competitively priced as the brands from Kelloggs and Nestle (Cereal Partners). This turned out to be quite challenging and it took over 2 years to get right!" 

 

So far they only have one product but are planning to expand the range soon.

 

The cereal consists of whole grain barley and oat pillows and I have to admit looks a bit like the kibbles I give my cat! It’s very healthy as it’s low in sugar, salt and fat and is high fibre and low GI. The GI testing was conducted by Hammersmith Hospital and involved around a dozen volunteers having their blood-sugar levels checked at regular intervals after eating the cereal over a two week period.
 

It took a little getting used to at first as I am used to much sweeter cereals, and I would prefer a little more flavour such as a sprinkling of cinnamon. But a healthy start is so important and it’s easy to find a way to tailor this cereal to suit you, whether that’s adding fruit or honey or a thicker soya milk – I really enjoyed it topped with low fat lemon yogurt.

 

The packaging of the cereal box tends to be quite important for children and the vibrant green colour, the image on the box and the red logo – in a writing that reminds me a little of Kellogg’s but clearly is different – would appeal. Most importantly you get a free pack of geographical trading cards in the box – so this isn’t some po-faced healthy brand that doesn’t want to have fun. You can print a world map from their website to go with the trading cards as well.

There's also a hidden code on the top flap which, if cracked, takes you to an off-menu page on their website with lots more information on codes and ciphers and another code to crack which leads to a further page; also, if you take the pack to pieces, you'll find a couple of words of 'Pig Latin' on one of the flaps. I completely missed all of that as my breakfast tends to be very much grab and go but I think it would be a lot of fun (and quite educational) for children!

I started off with the code thinking it was pretty easy but the last part is different and it took me a few minutes to figure out - but I got there in the end!

Keep Me Going is only available at Ocado at the moment; if you haven't shopped there before you can get a money off code here (or if this has expired, keep an eye out as they come up quite often). The company's second product, Keep Me Strong, which is high in protein and low in salt and sugar, will be on its way soon. It would be good to see more independent companies represented in the cereal aisle of the supermarket so I hope this brand does well.

Thanks to Freedom Foods for sending the cereal. All opinions are my own and I was not asked to write a positive review. Etc etc.                     

Chocolate Birds' Nests with Mini Eggs

These 'bird's nests' are really easy to make - something you can throw together in a few minutes or have fun making with children - and taste delicious! I don't think I've made cornflake cakes since I was a child and now I'm wondering why not! The addition of Cadbury's mini eggs make these great for an Easter treat.

I made about 12-15 of these (I can't remember exactly, as we may have eaten a few already!) by using the smaller cupcake cases rather than muffin cases. I used about one and a half of the 90g packets of mini eggs. You can use milk or plain chocolate but I prefer milk.

You need:
225g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp. golden syrup
50g butter
75g cornflakes
about 150g mini chocolate eggs

Place cupcake cases into a muffin tray. Melt the chocolate with the golden syrup and butter either in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave.

 

Stir until smooth and then carefully fold in the cornflakes.

 

 

 

Spoon straight away into the paper cases and decorate each nest with mini chocolate eggs, and place in the fridge for about an hour or until set. These keep fine in an airtight container for a few days.

 

 

 

 I’m sharing these with We Should Cocoa, hosted by Choclette at Tin and Thyme, as the theme this month is no-bake chocolate treats.

 

 

I am also sending this to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and on alternate months Janie at The Hedgecombers, as their theme is chocolate.

 

 

Masterchef Chocolate Crunch Dessert

A little while ago I won a cookery book in a Rafflecopter competition - the Masterchef Kitchen Bible. This is the first recipe I've made from it - it's actually called Rice Krispie Cake with Chocolate Mousse, Cherry Sorbet and Cherries in Kirsch - but I left out the cherries because I don't like them and didn't make the sorbet either as I wanted this to be a fairly quick and easy dessert. So I'm calling it Chocolate Crunch Dessert!

Serves 2
You need:
For the base:
50g dark chocolate
30g Rice Krispies
1 tbsp golden syrup
100g condensed milk
For the mousse:
75g dark chocolate
2 eggs
100ml double cream

Melt the chocolate and stir in the Rice Krispies. This takes me back a bit!

Stir in the syrup and condensed milk.

Spoon into the base of individual serving dishes and leave aside to set - but don't put in the fridge or they will set too hard.

So far it's just like a Rice Krispie cake...

Separate the eggs. Melt the chocolate for the mousse, and stir in the egg yolks.

Whip the cream - doesn't this look tempting?

Then beat the egg whites until stiff (in a separate bowl with a clean beater)

Gently fold the cream then the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to make a lovely mousse

Spoon the mousse into the serving glasses on top of the Rice Krispie mixture.

This was a lovely dessert; you could jazz it up with the cherry sorbet and kirsch or even add a shot of liqueur (I would recommend Chambord Black Raspberry liqueur) to the mousse for a more 'adult' dessert. But my boyfriend and I enjoyed this just as it is!

I'm sending this to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Karen of Lavender and Lovage and Kate of What Kate Baked, as the challenge this month is to make a chilled dessert.

Caramel Rice Krispie Cakes

I made these when I wanted a quick dessert and also realised I had some "rice snaps" cereal I'd bought a while back for another recipe and wanted to use up. It was thrown together entirely from store-cupboard ingredients and while it took a little time to set, it was very quick to make.

I was inspired by this recipe for caramel stuffed krispie treats on Cookies and Cups but I changed the recipe as I went along (though mine definitely didn't turn out as well!).

Here are my main ingredients - ignore the Splenda which was just on my kitchen counter, I didn't realise it was in the photo!

I began by mixing some rice snaps with a few spoonfuls of Carnation caramel - it's quite thick so enabled the cereal to stick together nicely.

I then added some mini marshmallows - the end of a bag in the cupboard that also needed using up - and pressed the mixture down flat in a lined baking tin.

I then added some more marshmallows on top

And a layer of the caramel on top. In retrospect this was probably sugar overload - but kids (and boyfriends!) would love it!

Finally I put another layer of the cereal, caramel and marshmallow mixture on top and pressed it down firmly.

I left it to set in the fridge for a couple of hours and cut into squares

One of these is enough! They were nice but very sugary and I think in future I would stick to making more traditional chocolate rice krispie cakes.

I am sending this to Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All as this recipe used up lots of ingredients I had hanging around in the back of the cupboard.