Pinoy Hubby

Welcome to Sugar-Free September!   It always used to be said that fat is the enemy- recent studies are suggesting that in fact it’s not fat we should be steering clear of, but sugar.   Aside from an increased risk of diabetes, a high-sugar diet has been found to increase weight gain; risk of heart disease; risk of cancer – the list goes on.   I’m no expert so rather than explain all the scientific theory behind what too much sugar does to your body, I suggest you do your own research on the intranet – here are a few articles and websites I’ve found particularly interesting.   The Guardian – the sugar conspiracy   I Quit Sugar blog (and book)   BBC Good Food – the truth about sugar   The NHS (UK National Health Service) – how to cut down sugar in your diet   I don’t believe in the demonization of food and that sugar should be Public Enemy #1 – and I’m certainly not going to completely cut it out of my diet. But I do need to lose weight and I think this might help – and we could all do

“Bring out the Branston” – the advertising slogan for  Branston Pickle  – is something I associate with cheese sandwiches, not barbecues. But the brand, which started life in 1922, is now known for more than just pickle and has a range of relishes and table sauces. By inviting a group of food and lifestyle bloggers to the  London Barbecue School,  they were able to showcase just what you can do with their products - and there wasn't a cheese and pickle sandwich in sight!   I've been to the London Barbecue School  before;  it's run by a very nice man named Alistair who is also the lead tutor at the  School of Food . They specialise in using Kamado Joe barbecues, which are ceramic egg-shaped grills that gives you the ability to grill, smoke or sear; the grill itself is in two parts so can be used at different levels to create different heat zones.   Edward from Mizkan, the company that owns Branston Pickle, introduced himself and spoke a little about the brand, and then we we

A friend of mine did something called Sugar Free September last year where she went a whole month without eating any sugar - I can't remember if she was able to stick to the plan 100% but she certainly did very well, lost weight and felt a lot better. It was on her recommendation that I bought a book called I Quit Sugar, which is full of great recipes, even if they tend to take a bit longer than just putting something from the freezer in the oven. I've set myself a weight loss target by Christmas (I'm not saying what it is, as every other diet I've tried has failed as I have zero willpower and like food too much!). So I've decided to try to do Sugar Free September as well - as much as I possibly can, which I'm targeting as at least 5 days a week, if not 6 or 7. There are things coming up where it will be near-impossible to avoid sugar - for instance this week I am going out for afternoon tea with the in-laws. But I will stick to a no-sugar diet as much as I can

  I wanted to make some bread to have alongside a barbecue at home so had a look in my Great British Bake Off Big Book of Baking. This is the book that came out to accompany the series before last that was won by Nancy. There's a whole section on bread, and I hadn't made any of the recipes from the book, so decided to have a go at the cheddar and mustard loaf. It turned out really well, even though it was left to prove for a lot longer than intended as we went round to my mother-in-law's part way through and didn't get back until late! To make one large loaf, you need: 150g mature Cheddar, grated 500g strong white bread flour 5g salt 7g fast-action dried yeast 2.5 tbsp. Dijon mustard 300ml lukewarm milk Mix the cheese with 1 tbsp. of the flour in a small bowl - this will stop the cheese sticking together in clumps. Put aside until later. Put the flower, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Add the mustard and milk and mix together, either by hand or in th

  Last year a friend gave me Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube – The BBQ recipe book, which I’ve used several times when we’ve done barbecues at the weekend. During the week, even though we have a gas barbecue so the cooking itself is quick, I don’t want to faff around in the kitchen and am more likely to do something simple like a tuna steak, sausages, or ready-made chilli beef koftas, which my husband loves and work really well on the barbecue.   This recipe though is really quick and is something that you can prepare in advance and keep in the cupboard. The full recipe actually involved brining pieces of chicken overnight and then coating them with a “mix of awesomeness”. I decided to skip the brining and use boneless chicken thighs, which are quite thin when you unwrap them so cook really fast. I prepared the mix and rubbed it onto the chicken thighs, which were simply barbecued – and tasted really good. The recipe for the brining is available online here , and the chef calls the mix by the

Part 2 of my travel review of the Galapagos islands, where we were based out of the Finch Bay Eco hotel in Santa Cruz. Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Thinking that the sightseeing might be quite tiring (it was) we had decided to leave ourselves one day free to chill out in the hotel. Unfortunately there was never much sun at the hotel (though when we walked around other islands it was blazing hot – it all depends on which island you’re on) so I didn’t go in the pool but we enjoyed ourselves reading and just lazing around. We took the water taxi into Puerto Ayora at lunchtime, thinking we would wander around the shops and find somewhere different to eat (I’m not used to eating in the same hotel all the time, and it was expensive but a lot more convenient). What I didn’t realise is that most of the shops closed between 12 and 2! We did do a little bit of souvenir shopping and had a nice lunch at a place next to the harbour called Café Hernan . There was a big menu with a lot of choice includi

I've been eating a lot of salads lately, and taking one in to work every day for my lunch. It's cheaper than going out and buying one every day and this way I can put exactly what I want into it. Sometimes I get into a bit of a rut eating the same salads every day and end up looking around the internet for inspiration so I thought I'd share my current top five. Please excuse the simple presentation - this is literally how I take the salads into work for lunch! First up is really easy - any types of lettuce that you like, topped with feta cheese and chunks of fresh watermelon. A light vinaigrette dressing goes well with this. I usually eat this salad with a packet of ready cooked chicken pieces for protein and to make it more filling. This salad is my latest addiction: pear, blue cheese and walnut. Again you can use any type of lettuce as a base, and if you like things like cucumber add it in (I don't). I used gorgonzola - I was going to use Roquefort but couldn't ge

I have a folder for greeting cards I was given once, that has a page for each month where you can write down who has a birthday or special occasion, and there's a pocket on the facing page to store the cards for each month. I use that for the cards I've made, and recently found this one among my craft stash (I have a whole cupboard full of stuff) - so I had made it ages ago (literally years) and never used it! I had some cat stickers on a little sheet that also had some flower stickers and I decided to mount them on a piece of pink card, which I put on top of a strip of pink ribbon that I stuck two thirds of the length of a tall thin card blank. I used some more of the pink ribbon along the bottom and mounted another piece of pink card on that, with a 'have a great day' sentiment sticker. Great for a cat lover like me!

  Part 1 of the Caroline Makes review of the Finch Bay Eco hotel in the Galapagos islands It was on another holiday that my husband and I chose the destination for our honeymoon. He’d proposed just before we went to America and we were in Chicago at the Fields Museum – which I highly recommend – and had bought entry tickets that allowed us to watch the 3D movie as well. It was a David Attenborough-narrated film of the Galapagos – which would be amazing in 2D but in 3D it was just breath-taking. We’d already put the Galapagos on the list of potential destinations – the other big idea was a safari in Africa – and I think we walked out of that film having made the decision.   It took a while to research and plan – I started off speaking to some luxury travel companies that would put together a bespoke itinerary, but the cost was astronomical. There are websites where you can compare cruise ships – from amenities and ratings to the islands they visit – but obviously this takes time. I norm