A Lotta Fritatta

Went to a little impromptu brunch this morning. We made feta, sweet potato and spinach fritatta, rye bread with salmon, cucumber and dill, and sliced fresh tomatoes drizzled with olive oil. All super healthy...until we ate some massive scones afterwards. That's why brunch is the best. There aren't any rules!

Miss P's Super-healthy Spinach Smoothies

Toby calls these "Mummy's Magic Smoothies" as he thinks they look like magic potion. In a way, he's right-the amount of goodness in these does make them pretty magic! Don't be put off by the colour, in fact be encouraged by it. There's a whole load of spinach inside and you can't even taste it. This counts as at least 2 of your "5 a day", so really is a rather magical start to the day...

Makes enough for 2 large smoothies

2 frozen bananas (if your bananas are going over ripe, cut into large chunks and keep in a freezer bag in portions. They're perfect for chucking into smoothies as they also act as ice cubes)
2 large handfuls fresh leaf spinach
3-4 heaped tbsp fat free vanilla yoghurt (you can use plain but vanilla adds extra sweetness)
A good squeeze of maple syrup (approx 2 tsp but you can add 1 and adjust the flavour later)
250ml orange juice

Just throw all the ingredients into your blender and whizz on a medium setting. Stir, and if necessary add a dash of water to loosen. Whizz again until the spinach leaves are very fine. Drink and feel the goodness!

Healthy Start

Healthiness. It is happening today!

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

This cake was a bit of a last minute decision, as I wanted to do some baking over Easter weekend but didn't have enough butter for my usual lemon drizzle cake (a rare occurrence in Miss P's kitchen!). So I tried out this recipe by Ina Garten that uses yoghurt and oil instead of butter, and was pleasantly surprised at how moist it turned out. Plus, if it's got yoghurt in it's kind of healthy, right? Right. Give it a go.

210g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
250g fat free yoghurt (you can use plain but I had vanilla flavour so used that)
270g caster sugar
3 eggs
The grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
8tbsp vegetable oil
The juice of 1 lemon


1. Pre-heat oven to 180C/Gas 4. Grease a loaf tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Sift together the dry ingredients into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, yoghurt, 200g of the sugar, lemon zest and vanilla.
3. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet.
4. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for approx 50 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, mix together the lemon juice and remaining sugar.
6. When the cake is cooked, leave to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove from tin and place on a wire rack over a baking tray.
7. Make small pricks with a skewer, and pour over the sugary glaze. Leave to soak in. In fact, this cake is even better the day after baking, as the lemon juice gets fully absorbed.

Butter free goodness! Now there's an Easter present for you all! x

Last day of uni today, celebrated in style with chilli chips and cider...very unlike Miss P, I know. I'll post something pretty soon I promise!

Study snacks

Hardcore study session today - fuelled by sugar, caffeine, and focusing on the distant window of light that means when it's all finished I can enjoy a (hopefully sunny) Easter holiday!
Remember when it was genuinely thrilling when a boy gave you one of these?