Heart in the Middle :)

Hello:)

Hello, and welcome to our blog "Heart in the Middle":)                     

My name is Shona and I live in Devon, UK with my soon-to-be 8 year old daughter Jana (pronounced Yana). We are both adventurers who share a passion for life, food, children, fun and nature. We both love desserts:)

The name 'Heart in the middle' comes from a saying I have that I always make my food with a heart in the middle - meaning with passion, creativity and enthusiasm; and a desire to share and nourish others.

As a mother I have felt a wish to create healthy wholesome foods for Jana that are full of nourishment. They also need to be fun and delicious:) To maximise nutrition and the ability to share our creations with as many people as possible all our recipes have come to be wheat, sugar and dairy free. We do use some nuts but these can often be substituted if necessary. Most of our recipies require no cooking which is great for Jana to join in with, and fun to eat as we go along!

Most of the time our desserts are simply made with fresh fruits, as part of our 5+a-day. One night a week we love to make a more elaborate dessert for our DVD night which we make in a big dish and share with 2 spoons:)

Jana's love of anything frozen has led me to experiment with various forms of frozen desserts, including gelato, sorbets, and pies. I also love smoothies, and creating no-cook cakes and sweets.

During my experimentation I have created as many, if not more, disasters than successes! But, this is all part of the fun and adventure! Bless her, Jana is always a willing taster, and very honest with her comments! Jana comes up with some fantastic recipes herself and she is always inspiring me.

I believe sweetness is important in our lives - it is a very nourishing flavour in many different ways. Foodwise I feel the most nourishing sweetness comes from whole fresh fruits and vegetables. There are also many low GI and low GL natural sweetners available now, such as raw honey, agave nectar (from the same cactus plant that tequila is made from) and yacon syrup (from the yacon fruit). These sweetners are most tasty and nutritious when used in as unheat-treated and minimally processed a form possible.

I also believe another fantastic source of sweetness in our lives is kindness - to ourselves, each other and our world. It costs nothing, is fun to practice and has benefits for both giver and receiver:)

Whatever we share we make bigger in the world. We will love to use this space to share the sweetness in our lives, through sharing recipes, ideas and happenings:)

Please feel welcome to join us - we'll love to hear from you too!

DVD Friday:)

Hello:)

This Friday Jana and I watched 'A Series of Unfortunate Events', borrowed from my sister. Jana had seen it before and wanted to share it with me - which I love. Jana is really into films, stage shows and performing. She always notices lots of detail, inlcuding costumes, how scenes are put together etc and I love sharing her interests. We don't have a TV so it is a weekly treat to choose something we really want to watch and settle down together to watch it on the laptop.

I had made 4 new gelato recipes this week so we got all of them out of the freezer and spread them out on the carpet to share. They were all delicious and very much enjoyed. Our joint favourite was banana and mint, and here is the recipe:

Beautiful banana and mint gelato:)

Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas

5-10 mint leaves - depending on taste and strength of the mint (we have a yummy apple mint plant but any mint will be fine)

Method:

Blend the bananas until liquid.

Add the mint leaves and blend again.

Transfer to a gelato/ice cream maker and blend in there for 20 minutes or until of the desired consistency.

NB. This didn't work first time in the gelato maker we have. I think this was because the bowl was not cold enough (we have a maker that requires the bowl to be frozen for 12-24 hours before making gelato).

What I did in this instance was to transfer the mixture to a plastic tub and put it in the freezer. I then stirred it vigorously every 20 minutes or so during the next 90 minutes. This resulted in a slightly 'rougher' gelato but still delicious all the same, and proves that a gelato maker is not essential to enjoy creating gelato:)

This can be stored in the freezer. To serve simply remove from the freezer to thaw slightly for approximately 20 minutes and then scoop into a favourite dish, or wine glasses etc and ENJOY:0)

Hope you had a great week, and that you feel inspired to give the gelato a go. Let us know how you get on.

What a week!:)

Hello:)

I don't know where the time has gone this week! Last Sunday a friend and I took a load of chocolate, cakes and sweets we had made to a local food festival in Bristol :- the Lovefood Festival. All our wares were sugar, dairy and wheat free; uncooked and positively health giving. We had a really positive time with great feedback on our produce and lots of interest in how it was made etc. Here are some pictures from our stall:                                                                                                                                    From left to right are crispy chocolate cakes and bars, carrot cake, and chocolate bars and halva:)                                                                                                                  

The next Lovefood festival is on 20th July and we're planning to be there again with smoothies and dairy-free, soya-free and sugar-free gelato (similar to ice cream) on offer too!  Unfortunately Jana couldn't come with me last Sunday as she was feeling a little under the weather. But, she is keen to come to the next one:)

Since Sunday I have been knuckling down to write the webpages for a home-run web-based business I am setting up, to share recipes, tips, kindness and encouragement for creating healthy fun treats to nourish children of all ages:) This is a big step for me emotionally and I have had a stiff shoulder for most of the week which usually indicates that I have been storing up emotion that is needing to shift. The process of writing, along with some acupuncture, has released a lot of the stiffness, so things are shifting!

As a qualified veterinary surgeon (with great interests in acupuncture, natural nutrition and conservation medicine),the health and wellbeing of humans and animals is a great passion of mine. Us humans can impact so positively on the world, especially when we learn to care for ourselves and have real fun:)  I feel priviledged to be in a position to share my knowledge, passions and experiences in a positive way.

I truly believe that with the right tools and support we can take charge of our own, our family's and our animal's health and wellbeing. Cultivating a commitment to natural nutrition and a positive, compassionate attitude of mind (including lots of fun and laughter) are fundamental aspects of this for me. It is especially important to cultivate this commitment in respect to ourselves, no matter how difficult this may seem:)

I will sign off just now. Hope this finds you well and I'll be back soon with a recipe or two to share.

Take care and be well,

Shona :)