Homemade Easter eggs

Draw an egg shape ( better than mine!!) on a sheet on non stick greaseproof paper. 

SLJ Easter Eggs

Using melted chocolate draw an outline of the egg shape using one variety of chocolate, I used plain. Put in the fridge to set hard - about 4 minutes.

Using the same or another variety of chocolate, fill in the centre and after about 60 seconds or so, decorate with buttons, marshmallows, berries, nuts, whatever takes your fancy! Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before you carefully remove from the paper.

Sams Pecan and Chocolate tartlets  

BASE                                                         FILLING

150g Ground Pecans                                60g 85% chocolate or above 

100g dried dates                                     ¼ cup Coconut Oil

½ tbsp Coconut Oil, melted                 100g Almond Butter

1 pinch Sea Salt                                       TOPPING  130g Dark Chocolate, 20g Goji Berries                                                        

Instructions

  1. To make the base lightly grease small tartlet tin - mine is tiny but I also have one that is more mince pie size. 
  2.  Place the pecans and dates into a food processor and blend on a high speed until you have a flour like consistency, then add the melted coconut oil and a pinch of salt. If you like it really fine then blend for a further 2-3 minutes, it should be sticky enough to stay together (add a little more coconut oil if needed)
  3. Spoon into each mould and press firmly. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to set
  4. Whilst the base mixture is in the freezer, start to prepare the chocolate cream filling. Into a pan over high heat, place an inch of water and bring to boil. Once boiling, place a glass bowl (not touching water) and add the 60g of Dark chocolate and ¼ cup of coconut oil. Allow to melt together.
  5. Add 100g almond butter  and mix until fully combined
  6. Remove the pecan base from the freezer and pour equal amounts of chocolate cream filling onto the base (approx. 2cm thickness). Place immediately back into the freezer for a further 20 minutes to set
  7. Finally in another glass bowl and melt the remaining remaining dark chocolate
  8. Pour a thin layer directly on top of the chocolate cream filling and scatter with remaining gojis. Place into freezer to set for a further 20 minutes until solid

Roasted red pepper bites

They look a bit dodgy but were nice and prevent you from diving into a bowl of crisp! 

Slice a cucumber into large chunks. 

Add roasted red peppers which have been pureed or chopped very small, to your homemade hummous ( or bought if you have to!) and place small dollops on top of the cucumber, top with a sprinkling of cayenne pepper. 

Stir fried miso beef

This is a really quick easy dish to prepare and makes a small amount of really good beef go a long way. 

Ingredients for 2 people 

Coconut or olive oil, for stir-frying

3 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal into 1cm pieces

2 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 medium rump or fillet steak, cut into thin strips

                                                                                                     1 handful curly kale and 1 handful baby spinach

   1 tsp runny honey  2 tsp soy sauce  2 tsp toasted sesame oil

   2 tsp chilli sauce Sea salt

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the spring onions and garlic with a pinch of salt, and sauté until the spring onions begin to soften. Add the beef strips and stir-fry for 6 minutes. Finally add the kale and spinach and stir-fry for 3 minutes.Add the honey, soy sauce, sesame oil and chilli bean sauce, mix well, and cook for another minute before serving.