Month: June 2023

Extra Breakfasty Muffins

As a child, I often wondered why mum never joined us for breakfast. Now I know. The hectic struggle every morning to get to work or school on time, when sleep is precious and time short. So much easier to skip breakfast or opt for a dose of caffeine and a bowl of processed cereal. After all, what difference does it make? Quite a lot, or not at all, depending on which research you read https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181126-is-breakfast-good-for-your-health

I’m sure we can all agree that if you are going to eat breakfast, it shouldn’t be a bowl of Sugar Puffs, though I confess that as something of an insomniac all I usually feel up to is something sweet and sugary, a quick fix with as little effort as possible; however, I am interested in the benefits of constructive comfort eating. Muffins are a great choice because you can make them whenever, and have them in a tin ready for bleary eyed people to grab in the morning…or early afternoon if you have teenagers. They also make a quick lunch, partnered with a chunk of cheese and a piece of fruit.

The first recipe I ever posted on the earlier incarnation of this blog was during a, now largely defunct, campaign encouraging people to be more inventive at breakfast time. I am a big fan of Susan Reimer’s muffin recipes. Here I have souped up the oatmeal yogurt muffins, a family favourite.

Breakfast Muffins

Makes 8 large or 12 small muffins

  • 6oz (170g) plain flour
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 3oz (85g) rolled oats
  • 8oz (240g) natural yogurt
  • 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 egg
  • 4oz (120g) of soft, light brown sugar
  • 3fl oz (90ml) vegetable oil or melted butter
  • 2fl oz milk (60ml)
  • Marmalade 8-12 tsp
  • Granola or muesli for sprinkling

Line a muffin tin with paper cases and pre heat the oven to 180°c/160 fan/gas mark 4. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, breaking up any lumps. Set aside.

In another bowl stir together the oats, yogurt and bicarbonate of soda. Beat in the egg, oil and milk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones. Stir with a fork until just combined. NEVER OVERWORK A MUFFIN BATTER! Resist the urge to beat it, it’s not a sponge cake!

Put a spoonful of mixture into the bottom of each muffin case, put a teaspoon of marmalade on top. Divide the rest of the mix between the cases, covering the marmalade. Sprinkle with granola, muesli or seeds and pop in the oven for around 20 mins, though it’s best to check after 15 mins if you are making small ones.

Cool on a wire rack. Best eaten fresh, but will keep just fine in an airtight container for three days.

These are, of course, American muffins. English muffins are a yeasted bread, something like a flattened bread roll. They are split, toasted on the cut side, and buttered. Yummy!

Sources of Tea

The sources list is compiled from a combination of personal experience and online catalogues of vendors. It’s never going to be comprehensive – there are way too many distributors – so the object is to limit the list to a selection of what are hopefully the best.

Probably the best online catalogue is on Reddit. This has many more vendors on it, but Reddit is going through some upheavals at the moment.

This is a list of suppliers of tea, by country. These are specialists, concerned with teas produced in the same country. In principle, they should be cheaper than those who curate teas internationally, although you obviously have a much greater time overhead when selling overseas. They should also be able to work directly with a wider range of individual tea gardens than is practical for vendors collecting their teas across the globe.

Chinese Teas

Indian Teas

Taiwanese Teas

Vietnamese Teas

Japanese Teas

For broader access to tea, it’s usually better to work with local tea importers/traders that stock teas from around the world. Of course, they don’t always have the sheer range of some of the specialists. Long international shipping times and international bureaucracy mean the teas would need to be stored locally – just-in-time reselling would be almost impossible – and that means they’re either stuck with a smaller range of teas that sell very well or with higher costs to cover the overheads.

American Tea Vendors

British Tea Vendors

French Tea Vendors

Indian Tea Vendors

Norwegian Tea Vendors

This list is maintained by J.

Edit: J really likes his tea…

Apple and Walnut Bircher Style Muesli

Occasionally, I attempt to rein in my waistline, which after three children and a dodgy thyroid is perhaps larger than it should be. Unfortunately, going on a trendy diet or indeed any diet, is virtually impossible to maintain.

The 5:2 diet is appealing because you only have to suffer for two days a week and the rest of the time you eat normally (or hopefully slightly more sensibly than normal). It’s tough sticking to 600 calories for a day, but you do get that first-day-of-a-diet-aren’t-I-doing-well feeling twice a week, without having to keep it up forever and ever amen.

I think the principle involved is tricking your metabolism into thinking you need to burn MORE calories to search for food rather than trying to shut down and conserve calories which is what happens in a normal diet. I tried it, but it wasn’t for me. One of the key issues of ADHD is a general inability to keep up any routine, especially one you’re not enjoying.

Anyway, you can try this Bircher style muesli, if you like, and see how you get on, while I will most likely be heading for the box of Weetos as per usual.

Apple and walnut Bircher muesli

  • 30g rolled oats
  • 80ml apple juice
  • natural yoghurt
  • 1 apple, grated
  • 5 walnut halves, chopped and toasted
  • honey or maple syrup for drizzling

Soak 30g the rolled oats overnight in the apple juice. Top with a dollop of natural yogurt, the grated apple and toasted walnuts. Drizzle with honey or maple syrup. Healthy and filling (if you can get it together to put the oats in to soak).

Invented by physician Maximillian Bircher-Benner circa 1900, for treatment of his patients; the word muesli comes from the root “Mues”, to puree or mash up.

Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?

Well, yes. This is not a new blog as such, but the original died due to not being updated (posts can still be viewed on internet archives). The choice was backing up the new hosting site with the old content, or starting again…

A lot has changed in my life since beginning the blog in 2015. I went back to school and got a degree, I came to the realisation that I was autistic and ADHD, my health went down the pan, I got a divorce, and – inexplicably – found love again in my mid-forties. It’s been quite a journey!

So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that who I was then and who I am now, are completely different people; with different hopes, dreams, and a better grasp of the English language (my degree was English and TEFL). Some of the old posts simply do not reflect my current system of values, so I am taking this opportunity to weed out the sick and the lame, upload new pictures, and to do some Ministry of Truth* style editing.

Enjoy!

*The Ministry of Truth, featured in George Orwell’s 1984, was responsible for updating records, to show a Government approved version of historical events.