Introducing 'The Real Food Source'

For those of you who've been following me for a while now, you will have heard me talk about this company before.

My involvement has been growing over the past few months and so today I wanted to bring you up to speed and formally introduce you...feel free to pop over and say 'Hi' to the guys to show a little bit of love!

The 'Real Food Source' is a company I am pretty passionate about. REAL. FOOD. SOURCE. Speaks for itself really!

I first came cross them back in late 2010 before this blog had even been conceived, back at a time when the plant based wholefoods lifestyle had only just begun to intrigue me. They were a small company who had started out selling chia seeds at the very best prices I had come across anywhere in the UK (and believe me when I say I had done a lot of reseach!), so from that first moment my custom was on board. As the months passed and their stock list of allergy friendly, gluten free ingredients grew along with my interest in wholefoods and the advent of my blog, we began to correspond a relationship developed.

I began writing recipe blog posts for them to demonstrate the ways in which their ingredients could be used. Now in more recent months things have kicked off on a whole new level, a newly redeveloped and re-branded website, complete with photography of all the ingredients (courtesy of moi!), more and more product lines added to an ever growing list based on our own discoveries and customer feedback.  Plus now....the for the even more exciting part, they have launched their very first product... a 'Free From' coconut sugar chocolate!

Check out this link for more information about the product but below I extracted some key info from their website:

"Our very own organic coconut sugar chocolate! Wonderful 72% cocoa solids certified chocolate couverture bars made with the very same ingredients we sell online here at the RealFoodSource.  It’s wonderful chocolate taste comes from the single origin cocoa liquor and butter made produced from Dominican Republic cocoa beans.
We have this chocolate produced with our organic coconut sugar, organic cocoa liquor, organic cocoa butter, and absolutely nothing else. Not even a trace of lecithin! Produced in a free from facility, there is no egg, no gluten, no nuts, no dairy, no soya or any other vegetable oils. While many leading brands of chocolate state they may contain traces of one or more of the above allergens our chocolate does not. Also suitable for vegans!" 

I also have pleasure in being able to offer my readers a 15% discount on their first order of this chocolate all you need to do is type 'INCCAKECHOCS' for the discount code When you add the chocolate to your shopping basket. Unfortunately this offer is only available for UK residents.  I genuinely believe in this company, and can honestly say that their prices are some of the best (if not the best) you will find in the UK and their ethos on wholefoods is also very similar to my own which is so important.

Please note, this is not a sponsored post in any way... this is simply and honestly a company I have developed a close working relationship with and I wanted to take this opportunity to reveal all to my readers and give you the opprotunity to get involved too! You will hear their name pop up from time to time and, if you are anything like me, it's nice to get a feel for who 'these people are'. Or maybe you are not like me and couldn't care either way...! :-)

Have a little browse around and whilst your are there fee free to check out the recipe tab with the back catalogue to see all the recipes I have compiled for them over the last year or so! (you'll probably notice that there are quite a few spin offs from this blog!)  Here's a little photomontage below to get you going.... plus the most recent Easter themed recipe i've posted there today. Chocolate coconut nests, with date and coconut vanilla eggs!

I will be sure to keep you posted on any more exciting up coming developments. It's an exciting time for me and building links with other companies to spread the world of whole food goodness can never be a bad thing, right?

Classic Easter biscuits

Raisins, currants, sultanas… I never used to like these dried fruits until a year or so ago. Another one of the ways in which my tastes and appreciation for food has changed along with my diet.

Other food loves (from previous food hates) are… herbal teas, peanut butter and dark chocolate.  There is one thing that I still just can’t get my head around, and that’s mushrooms. It’s a shame as I have seen so many amazing and versatile recipes that use mushrooms, often as a meat substitute. I have come far though since I now enjoy mushrooms raw with a dip, but just not cooked (yeah, it’s ok I think I am odd too!)

Anyway, back to dried fruit. Namely currants. Classic Easter biscuits are reminiscent of garibaldi biscuits with a delicate crumb and the sweetness of the currants coming through. The tops are often glazed and sprinkled with a little extra sugar and the biscuits have a subtle warming spice.

These classic biscuits are also classically filled with refined sugars, flours, butter and egg.

Not here! 

I wanted to play around with achieving a moist delicate and slightly chewy biscuit using unrefined sugars, whole grain GF flours and coconut oil. I made a couple of different batches and each work really well, so it would seem this is a pretty versatile recipe.

The first batch I made used my classic mix of GF flours (buckwheat, ground almonds and tapioca flour) plus polenta to give a slight crunch to the texture. The second batch used predominantly blanched almond flour that I have had some fun playing with recently. The almond flour, along with various other flours and GF ingredients came from The Real Food Source, and now I have the pleasure of my almond flour variation being featured on their blog in the run up to Easter…..please check it out here.

Recipe: Classic Easter biscuits

Makes approx. 12 biscuits (depending on size and shape of cutter)

Ingredients

½ cup coconut butter- melted (if using coconut oil reduce to slightly over ¼ cup)

¼ cup agave plus a pinch of stevia if necessary

2 tsp vanilla extract (or make your own)

2 tbs ground flax or chia plus 3 tbs hot water (mix and allow to sit for 1 min)

3 tbs polenta

1 ½ cup GF flour mix (see above or use you own)

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ cup currants

1 tsp cinnamon and mixed spice mixed

Pinch salt

Method

Mix dry ingredients (except currants) together in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients together in a small bowl and then add to the dry. Add the currants last (my currants were partially blended into smaller pieces but you can keep them whole if you prefer). Bring the dough into a ball with your hands. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a little under 1cm thick. Cut into shapes and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Lightly brush the tops with soy milk and sprinkle with a little coconut sugar or rapadura if desired.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for approx. 10mins until slightly golden.

These biscuits will store in an airtight container for up to a week, there will also freeze. The biscuits are dense and chewy by nature and so do not need to retain their crisp 'freshly baked' feel.

For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.

My first guest post!

When I do things I like to do them properly.  It’s part of my competitive nature I guess. I like a challenge and I like to prove that something can be done when others would have assumed otherwise. Take the concept of a healthy dessert…..to most people that would sound like a contradiction!

So it follows that I also like to do my research. Whether it be finding new recipe concepts, analysing ingredients and how things can go together, getting the best prices for my baking supplies or finding good companies who share some of the same principles as me.

A few months ago I came across a new company that did just that.  I was doing a lot of investigation in to Chia seeds at the time and The Real Food Source offered the best price I had come across anywhere in the UK. Shortly after they expanded their product range further to include many other ingredients I already used on a daily basis- coconut oil, ground almonds and agave syrup to name a few.

A new relationship was born!

Today I am very excited to announce my first guest post over at The Real Food Source. My original speedy seedy crackers were a winner with my family and friends and have been made on numerous occasions, but here I have tweaked the original recipe again to experiment a little further using these new seeds and grains and including a generous serving of chia seeds!

I’d love for you to take a look, and if you feel inclined leave a little comment.  My first guest post is an exciting time for me.   Here’s a little teaser to get you going….!

Note: I have also updated my ‘baking tips’ tab.