Kitchen Gadgets: Love and Lust

As I currently have fairly limited kitchen space, I can't just let any old gadget onto the kitchen worktop. The kitchen gadgets I love using at the moment have earned their place through their sheer versatility and functionality. What I look for in a gadget is something to save me time in the kitchen, make it a little bit easier for me to create healthy meals, and to encourage creativity and fun. In this post I've highlighted three gadgets that I currently love to use, and three gadgets that would undoubtedly feature in my dream kitchen.

Kitchen Gadgets: Love

NutriBullet

I finally got my hands on a NutriBullet last Christmas, after several months of lusting over photos of other people's colourful smoothies on instagram! The Nutribullet is essentially a high-powered blender. The best thing about this gadget is that you blend your smoothie in the cup you then drink it out of, meaning that the washing up takes literally seconds: so there's no excuse not to kick start your day with a healthy smoothie! A breakfast smoothie is a great way of making sure you've made a start on your 5 a day before you've even left the house. My NutriBlasts usually follow this recipe template: a couple of handfuls of greens (e.g. spinach), one or two pieces of fruit (one of which is usually a banana), a source of healthy fats (nut butter, avocado, milled flaxseeds) plus a superfood powder (I love Organic Burst for these).

The NutriBullet isn't just for smoothies though - I've recently made savoury recipes such as beetroot hummus and spinach pesto using it. This gadget is so versatile that I'm sure it will never be relegated to the back of the cupboard!

Spiralizer

The GEFU Spirelli Spiral Slicer

This is a really fun little gadget - it turns firm vegetables (courgettes, carrots, sweet potatoes) into noodle-like shapes! I like to spiralize courgettes to create courgetti (or zoodles as they're known in the US!) to create a lighter alternative to noodles. Spiralized carrots are a fantastic addition to salads, as they create a different texture to your standard grated carrot. You can do a similar thing with vegetables using a julienne peeler (or just a regular vegetable peeler) but a spiralizer gives a more professional finish and is easier to use. I eat a lot of vegetables, so it's nice to find a gadget that makes it so easy to get creative with vegetables and perhaps serve them in a way you've not had before.

I have a fairly basic spiralizer at the moment - the Gefu Spirelli - but would love to upgrade to an easier-to-use version at some point, as this one can be quite fiddly to use. I think the one Hemsley + Hemsley have released looks fantastic.


Slow Cooker

Tesco 3 Litre Slow Cooker

I'm a big fan of batch cooking. I love to eat good food, but I'm just too busy to cook from scratch every single day, so making a big batch of a one-pot dish on a Sunday is a great way to get me set up for the week ahead. What's so great about the slow cooker is you can throw all your ingredients in, carry on with your day, and come back 6 to 8 hours later and you have a fantastic meal ready, that anyone who didn't know better would think you'd spent hours slaving away over a hot stove to create.

Slow cookers are far more versatile than they look, and are capable of whipping up more than just casseroles. You can cook a whole chicken or joint of meat in it, use it to make stock, and even create cakes!

I have this Tesco slow cooker, which at £12 is undoubtedly the best value gadget I've ever bought. But if you want to splash some cash, you can also get fancier versions, that may have a larger capacity than 3 litres, and a timer so that you can set the slow cooker to turn itself off after a certain number of hours.

Kitchen Gadgets: Lust

Even though I already have quite a number of gadgets, I do still have a wish list for my dream kitchen. Below are some of the items I'm currently lusting after.

Le Creuset
Signature Round Casserole Dish

Le Creuset signature round casserole dish, cool mint

I know, I know, a casserole dish isn't strictly a gadget - but a Le Creuset casserole dish is an essential piece of kit for any kitchen that wants to be taken seriously. Le Creuset make beautiful, hand-crafted cast iron dishes. What I love about these is how versatile they are: you can start off the cooking of your dish on the hob, then put it in the oven to finish cooking, and then serve your dinner straight from the dish at the table. We had an orange Le Creuset dish in my kitchen when I was growing up so the brand is very nostalgic for me: which is part of the reason I'd love to get one for my kitchen now. I'm currently loving the elegance of the new Cool Mint Collection - isn't it just sublime?


Vitamix
Total Nutrition Centre

Vitamix Total Nutrition Centre

I watched a demo of the Vitamix at the BBC Good Food Eat Well Show recently, and quickly realised that these things are just amazing! The Total Nutrition Centre can make everything from frozen desserts to hot soups really quickly. It also works as your usual high-powered blender would, making it perfect for creating smoothies and dips, as well as things you may not usually consider making in a blender, such as nut butters and bread dough. Even though I already have a NutriBullet, it's the prospect of being able to come home after a day's hard graft and make a hot soup in minutes that makes the Vitamix really stand out for me.


Bialetti
Moka Express

Bialetti Moka Express (3 cup)

Bialetti make beautiful stove-top espresso makers that create fantastic coffee (provided of course, that you've put some top quality ground coffee in it!). There's something truly delightful about the way the room slowly fills with the heady aroma of coffee as it brews away. It's the old-fashioned way to brew coffee, but sometimes the tried and tested ways are the best.

Which kitchen gadgets could you not live without? And what gadget is currently topping your most wanted list?

LOMAX Chelsea // Grill Market

Living in London, it can feel like there are just too many options sometimes. No matter what you're into, there are myriad possibilities. Yet with neither time nor money being limitless for most, your list of things to do and places to visit never seems to get any shorter. During London Health Week, I was determined to cross at least a few things off my ever-expanding list!

LOMAX Chelsea is a lovely little studio on Fulham Road. I've been hearing good things about it for a while, but as the list of fitness studios I want to check out is longer than my arm, I hadn't gotten around to it yet. I saw that they were involved in London Health Week and decided to use it as an excuse to go. What really appealed to me about The Lomax Way is its holistic approach to fitness - it's a space that encompasses group fitness classes, personal training, nutritional advice, and wellbeing (sports massage and physiotherapy) and even a healthy cafe. Everything for your health and fitness needs under one roof basically.

The studio offers free trial sessions for first timers. As spin is my go-to group fitness class (I really do need to start getting more adventurous and trying something new!), I signed up for their signature class Cycle Blast.

When I arrived for the lunchtime class, I checked in at the reception desk downstairs, and then went to have a nose around the changing rooms upstairs (a great changing room is the hallmark of a good gym after all). Small but perfectly formed, they were replete with lockers, private showers and small vanity desks. Unfortunately the lockers required a padlock, so I just took my things into the studio with me. Also, I noticed that the gym charges for the use of shower towels, which I always think is a bit tight. We were given a complimentary bottle of water for the class, but frankly I would have preferred a free shower towel instead as I always take water to the gym with me anyway (who doesn't?).

Spacious, private shower rooms

Bring your own padlock!

Making full use of every bit of the studio's rather petite dimensions, the stairway leading up to the first floor is currently playing host to a pop up of Catalyst Active Wear. They're a brand I'd heard of as it's fairly local to me (based in Peckham, and they've had some events at Victor's Lab), but had never seen in the flesh, so it was nice to have a little flick through some of their lycra. The tights looked and felt like a really high quality technical fabric, and like they'd fit really well. I also loved the bold colour choices. Definitely a brand I'll be keeping my eye on and trying in the future.

Colourful tights from Catalyst Active Wear

The Grill Market, the studio's healthy eating cafe, acted as a waiting room for those waiting for the class to start, and after a few minutes we were told that the location of the class had been changed at the last minute. Cycle Blast usually takes place in the basement of the studio, in a darkened space, in what I imagine to be the club like vibes we've all grown to love and expect of spin studios in London these days. However, technicians had arrived to do some work on the room at this inopportune moment, so the spin class was moved upstairs. We ended up walking through the main gym area upstairs, which I think is used for other group classes, and also for personal training. There was some great technical equipment in there, but it's all tucked into quite a small space, so I imagine it must feel quite busy if there's more than a handful of people in there.

The spin class was in a small, bright room, separated from the rest of the studio by a curtain - and most of us agreed it was actually a nice change from the usual dimmed lights. There were only six of us in the class so it had a really nice intimate feel to it, and I ended up chatting to more people than I usually would. The ladies who own Bella Kinesis were in the class with me - it was nice to put a couple of faces to the name of a brand I knew! The girls were of course modelling their range, and looked very stylish: I really like the signature blue of the Bella Kinesis range and the designs are really flattering. I on the other hand, had once again turned up to a class wearing a free race t-shirt, which is just how I roll. But maybe I should treat myself to a lovely Bella Kinesis top and mix it up a bit?!

The work out was intense, and despite the air-con being switched on, both the small room and I got sweaty very quickly. The success of spin classes relies so much on the charisma of the instructor - and luckily our instructor Mikey had buckets of it, and also knew how to push us hard. At one point we used weight plates to do some upper body work. Using weights during spin has become quite popular recently, but I'm not sure if I like it. If I want to do an upper body work out, I don't go to a spin studio. When I come to a spin class I just wanna ride! I think it can work when the weights are integrated into the class more thoroughly, but I don't really see the point of using weights for about 5 minutes of a one hour class. The spin itself was great though: really varied and challenging.

After the last song played out and we'd done some stretches, I was more than ready to head back down to the Grill Market and have some lunch. The concept is very simple: they serve grilled meats, fish and veggie options, accompanied by salads that are dressed healthily, without using added sugars or bad fats. They also make a selection of fresh juices, smoothies and shakes and some relatively 'guilt-free' desserts. With a London Health Week wristband I knew I could get a free drink with my meal, so I opted for an apple, lime and ginger juice. It certainly packed a punch! It tasted really good, and I reckon that combination of vitamin c and ginger could knock just about any ailment you may feel approaching on the head.

Some of the lovely things you can have in your juice or smoothie

For lunch, you could choose from a range of grilled items, ranging from halloumi to salmon and pork. All the meat and fish is free range or sustainably sourced and good quality. I opted for the pomegranate glazed grilled chicken, and then chose three different scoops of salad to go with it.

The meal was a really generous portion. Sometimes places can scrimp on the salads, but this plate really was the perfect ratio of protein to veg for me! The chicken was really delicious and succulent, with the pomegranate giving it a sweet edge that complimented the grilled flavour really well. The crisp salads were the perfect accompaniment. One salad was kale, which had obviously been massaged with love as it wasn't at all tough; another salad was a bitter radicchio with tomatoes, cucumbers and dill; and the last salad was a kind of red cabbage slaw with radishes. I think if the salads on offer varied daily, I could happily eat here all the time and not get bored! It's the sort of thing I would eat at home, and exactly the sort of thing you should eat after a work out, with the protein of course helping repair your muscles and the carbs replenishing your glycogen stores. More gyms should have cafes like this.

Pomegranate glazed chicken with three salads

All in all, I had a really great experience at LOMAX Chelsea. I think that their fusion of fitness, nutrition and wellness is the angle more and more studios will take in the future, as people realise that training alone can't create a healthy, happy body. A holistic approach is needed and The Lomax Way aims to deliver this.

LOMAX Chelsea
293 Fulham Road
London
SW10 9PZ

1Rebel // Porridge Cafe

1Rebel made a pretty majestic entrance onto the London fitness scene earlier this year, with an opening party in the form of a ride at the top of the Gherkin - that must have been spectacular! Although you'll have to do without the stunning view, you can now grab yourself a complimentary spot (first class free) in one of their two signature classes (Ride and Reshape). As I'm about to start training for Ride London, it seemed like the perfect time to check out the spin class, Ride.

From the moment I walked in, I knew this was going to be a pretty special experience. Forget all the fitness studios you've been to - 1Rebel takes the boutique fitness concept to a new level. Both in terms of design and service this is as good as it gets. When checking in for your class you're given a complimentary bottle of water and shower towel. If you want a cold towel you can get one from the Smeg fridge in the changing rooms. You don't have to worry about having a pound coin or holding onto a key during your class, because the lockers work by code. You also don't need to stress about the fact that you forgot your deodorant again - because there are plenty of toiletries and cosmetics for you to use both in the showers and at the vanity desks. The showers are probably the most impressive area: they look like a part of some kind of industrial water works. And unlike many gyms, they're not strictly communal as there are panels between each to protect your modesty. Didn't bring a protein shake with you today? No problem, Roots & Bulbs have your post-workout shake covered. Lunch time classes even come with a complimentary juice or lunch box. Now, I've not even mentioned the class yet, but you already want to check this place out, don't you? I thought so!

The class itself was hard work. I could handle the spinning, but when we started using dumbbells the going got really tough! I'm not sure how heavy they were but it was a really good workout using them for a couple of intervals whilst cycling. You could feel it working your core, and also targeting your triceps and biceps. They lend you cycling shoes to use during the class (which were Specialized nonetheless - no scrimping here!) which means you can pedal more efficiently by both pushing and pulling. The soundtrack was flawless and the 45 minutes whizzed by.

Having worked up a serious appetite, I headed up the road to the Porridge Cafe, a pop up restaurant serving sweet and savoury porridge-style dishes (some of which could be called risotto, if we're being completely honest). But I love the concept, as whether it's porridge or risotto, these are all wholesome, filling and comforting foods that can play host to a range of different flavours, textures and ingredients, making for some pretty exciting results if you do it right. I'm also a big fan of breakfast in general - I think it's the most underrated of meals. I never understand how people can skip it or simply eat a couple of 'breakfast biscuits' on their walk to the bus stop. So the very name Porridge Cafe puts a smile on my face, as it pays breakfast the due respect it deserves!

Inside the Porridge Cafe. The framed prints are by East End Prints.

Every day the cafe serves three different sweet options, and two savoury: over the course of the week that's a pretty impressive selection. On the menu when I went, there were three different sweet porridges, each made with a different grain and milk:

Baked Apple, Raisin and Cinnamon (oats with semi skimmed milk)
Blueberry, Ginger and Cashew Butter (rye with almond milk)
Passionfruit, Coconut and Banana (barley flakes with coconut milk)

A selection of the grains used in their creations: oats, rye, rice, spelt, quinoa

I didn't see any savoury options on the menu, but I suppose these come out at lunchtime. I was initially planning on trying an unusual flavour option that I would probably never go to the effort to make at home... but then I was seduced by the classic apple, raisin and cinnamon option and got that to take away. The porridge pot was absolutely massive and really put those tiny porridge pots sold by other cafes/shops to shame.

Baked apples, raisins, cinnamon, and lots of porridge

The porridge looked and tasted home made. Which I mean in a good way - I felt like I'd gone around to a friend's house and been lovingly served breakfast by their grandma. The bowl had so much character and flavour that it bared no comparison to the aforementioned rather bland and gluey porridge pots. The apple and raisin topping provided just enough sweetness to run right through the porridge underneath. The only improvement I would make would be to add more cinnamon because I'm a cinnamon fiend! I ate my breakfast on the train to work, and I'm pretty sure I made my fellow commuters rather jealous with the sweet smell of cinnamon wafting through the carriage of the 8.57 to Strawberry Hill.

As well as the porridge, the customer service in the cafe was also great. I got in touch with the cafe on twitter before going, as I wanted to see if I could pick up a pot of Pip & Nut nut butter whilst I was there. Elly kindly put one aside for me and had it ready to go when I arrived. That was a nice touch that I really appreciated.

If you're as crazy about nut butter as I am, you really have to try Pip & Nut if you haven't already... they taste sensational, and are made without palm oil, added sugars or additives. I discovered the brand when Pip had a pop up shop in Boxpark Shoreditch a few years ago, and was hooked straight away (on the coconut almond butter in particular). After a successful crowdfunding campaign, the business has gone from strength to strength, and the nut butters are now available to buy in a number of places including Selfridges (swanky!) and Perfectly Paleo if you want to buy online.

Back to the Porridge Cafe: it's run by the aforementioned Elly, and Nick who together are Bow Street Kitchen.Their porridge pop-up is not only a great concept, but also executed really well: so I look forward to seeing whatever venture they have planned next. If you want to check out the Porridge Cafe, you'd better move fast, as it closes this Sunday!

Meat Free Week // Sweet Potato and Kale Curry

Tomorrow marks the beginning of Meat Free Week in the UK. This is a great initiative to encourage people to think more deeply about how much meat they eat, the welfare of the animals reared for meat production, and the impact that a large meat production industry has on the environment.

As a former vegetarian (I was veggie for 7 years as a teen and young adult) I'm probably more informed than most when it comes to the ethical issues surrounding eating meat and meat production: but it's always great to have a reminder, as it can be so easy to become complacent about this things. Some of the key facts brought to attention by the campaign are:

• the average person in Britain eats 84.2kg of meat per year
• the British don't eat enough fruit and vegetables, falling significantly short of the recommended daily consumption of 400g
• demand for cheap meat has resulted in a rise in factory farming: 80% of chickens in the UK are factory farmed
• a third of the world's cereal harvest goes to feed farm animals; if fed to people instead, this could feed three billion people and help alleviate malnutrition

Definitely plenty of food for thought there. The good news is that we can all do our bit by making a conscious effort to introduce meat free meals into our diets.

In honour of Meat Free Week, I'm posting the recipe for my incredible (if I do say so myself) Sweet Potato and Kale Curry which, when served with rice and a side of naan, will prove a hearty and satisfying meal for even the most hardened meat eater. This recipe is also vegan, dairy and gluten free.

Sweet Potato and Kale Curry

Serves 4

1 white onion
1 clove of garlic
4 medium sweet potatoes
1 small bag kale (approx 200g)
1 tsp coconut oil

2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ginger powder

1 tin chopped tomatoes
400ml hot water + half a vegetable stock cube

Start by peeling the sweet potatoes and cutting them into chunks. Add them to a pot of boiling water and simmer for about 5 mins. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Heat the coconut oil in a big pan. Add the chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes or until beginning to brown.

Add the chopped garlic, mustard and cumin seeds and cook for about 5 minutes or until the seeds are starting to pop.

Add the tumeric, chilli, ginger and garam masala and fry for 1 minute, before adding the parboiled sweet potato, tin of chopped tomatoes and 400ml stock. Bring to a simmer.

Add the kale (you may have to do this in two batches depending on the size of your pot - it will reduce in size as it cooks) and simmer until tender. Season to taste.

Serve immediately with rice.

Put any leftovers in tupperware and store in your fridge or freezer to eat another time - this tastes really good reheated!

Warning: This recipe may be a bit hot for some palates! if you prefer a milder curry, use half the measures of each of the spices listed above, and add a tin of coconut milk instead of 400ml stock. Top up with a few splashes of stock if the curry is too dry.

Want to cook some more meat free meals? Meat Free Week have a range of recipes available on their website.

What's your favourite vegetarian meal to cook or eat?

Graze: Review & Discount Code

I used to have a graze box sent to my office on a weekly basis a few years ago. They're little boxes of four different snacks delivered straight to your door. I really enjoyed receiving them, they brightened up my working day and I thought they were a great way to make sure I ate healthy (and importantly, tasty!) snacks. But eventually I felt like I'd sampled the entire menu several times over and lost interest, and so I unsubscribed.

However, I recently took a peak at their website again and they have really upped their game. They have a much wider variety of snacks available now, and are tapping into what's on trend at the moment with options including protein flapjacks, beef jerky, kale chips and gluten free brownies. They've mixed up their snack box format with some hot options (broths), microwavable popping corn bags and breakfast box varieties. It all looked much more inviting and innovative than the olives and nuts I remembered, so I was willing to give it another go.

I received a graze box last week, which contained a mixture of sweet and savoury snacks and looked like this:

Here are my thoughts after sampling the lot (which didn't take me very long!)

Cocoa and Vanilla Protein Flapjack
Upon tasting this I had to compare it to my favourite protein flapjack, the Trek Cocoa Coconut bar. This compared pretty well. It actually reminded me of Coco Pops (in a good way!). A dark chocolate glaze on the top wouldn't have gone amiss and would have given the flapjack a more luxurious feel. Seeds were a nice addition to the recipe: you couldn't taste them too much but they give a nutritional boost to the snack (omega 3 from the linseeds, vitamin E from the sunflower seeds). Looking at the ingredients, it turns out this flapjack is made with margarine - come on guys, would it have been that much more expensive to use real butter?

Hot Cross Yum
This snack contained a mixture of orange flavoured raisins, honeyed almonds, and sponge pieces. I loved the combination of these flavours, which created a pretty good approximation to your regular hot cross bun, but with a fraction of the calories (just 132). It was a touch too sweet for me however, mainly because the almonds were really sugary, which they didn't need to be as both the raisins and the sponge were sweet.

Sriracha Peas with Jumbo Corn
This was definitely my favourite snack of the bunch. I just loved the crunchy texture and the contrast between the salty corn and sweet and spicy peas. Really satisfying.

Tandoori Spiced Beef Jerky with Pomegranate Chutney
The jerky wasn't bad, but definitely didn't live up to the standards set by companies like Naked Ape (biltong rather than jerky) and Big T's. The chutney was a clever addition though, as jerky can be quite dry eaten on its own. However, because the jerky strips were so small it was actually quite hard to scoop up any chutney with them!

Graze boxes come with a little booklet that gives you the nutritional breakdown of each of your snacks. Having taken a look at it, it was quite revealing. One thing that stood out for me was that each of the snacks had added sugar, which was quite surprising given that half the pack was savoury, and that graze describe themselves as creators of 'healthy food'. I'm not sure whether it was just chance that I got a selection of snacks that all had added sugar, or if this indicative of the entire line - I'd be interesting to hear from graze on this if they're reading. As graze aims to cater for the health-conscious consumer, I think introducing a no added sugar section to the menu would be a good move, as would re-designing some of the snacks to lower the sugar levels across the range.

As I'm about to leave my office job (hurrah!) this box was sadly a one off for me. If you want to give graze a go, use my code 7DCLTPC4E and you'll get your first box free (as well as your fifth and your tenth if you stay subscribed).

Enjoy the code and let me know what you think!

BBC Good Food Eat Well Show

The concepts of health and wellness have definitely been on the up in recent years. With more and more people becoming aware of how they can foster their own well-being, the healthy lifestyle industry has boomed. According to this article in the Evening Standard, it's now officially hip to be healthy. And even though the term fitster makes me cringe, swapping your can of pop for a green juice and hitting the gym more often than the pub can only be considered a good thing. On the back of health's new status, BBC Good Food has launched the BBC Good Food Eat Well Show (a bit of a mouthful, agreed). It's the sister show to the annual BBC Good Food show, but with a focus on healthy eating.

The show ran from 27 February to 1 March at Kensington Olympia, and I visited on the Sunday. The show had lots of exhibitors selling food and kitchen gadgets, plus a number of stages where you could watch interviews and demos, learn from the best and be inspired in the kitchen. There was a really great line up of guests over the three days, including Rachel de Thample, Hemsley + Hemsley, Natasha Corrett, Gizzi Erskine and Lorraine Pascale. As well as the various stages, there was also a Dietitians Clinic, hosted by the BDA, where you could book a free 20 minute consultation with a registered Dietitian. This was a well thought-out addition to the exhibition, adding a strictly scientific element to the field of health and wellbeing, which unfortunately has a lot of unsubstantiated claims about the supposed health benefits of this or that product.

After a quick initial look at the stalls, I took a seat in the Healthy Kitchen where Lorraine Pascale did a demo. She's releasing a new book of healthier recipes, which is a bit of a departure from those incredibly decadent treats she created on Baking Made Easy. Apparently the BBC weren't interested in giving her a healthy cooking TV show (just slightly ironic given that they decided to open a show on healthy eating and book her on to it!) so she is releasing a book on its own. She prepared raw brownies which she made really easily in a food processor using ground almonds, dates (half medjool and half regular), cocoa and pecans, and then pressing the mixture into a tray and chilling it. It was so easy in fact that the demo was over in about 10 minutes and we went on to a rather random Q&A mainly about her gym exploits (which I as a gym bunny happened to find interesting, but I don't think talking about deadlifts was supposed to be the point of the session!). Given that she had about 30 mins to fill on the stage, it seemed a bit of a wasted opportunity that she didn't cook more. 

Following Lorraine onto the stage were Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, who I think we can safely say were largely responsible for popularizing a number of key food trends in 2014 (in the UK anyway), such as bone broth, spiralizing and the now ubiquitous black bean brownies. They've had a recipe blog in Vogue for a few years, and there's now a pretty impressive recipe archive available, which you should definitely check out. Their red lentil soup has now become a staple when I want something quick, cheap and satisfying, and I discovered that their strawberry chia jam is a joyful addition to breakfasts when strawberries are in season. During their demo they whipped up an impressive four dishes: ragu with courgetti, pesto with courgetti, vegetable noodle pots and black bean brownies. These recipes looked really easy to make and didn't require any hard-to-source ingredients. Whilst cooking they talked about their food philosophy, with key points including slipping as many vegetables into your dishes as possible, using high quality protein sources (making your own bone broth using bones bought from your local butcher is a way of doing this cheaply), that natural fats are not the enemy, and that cooking in big batches is a great way to eat healthily every day without having to cook daily. Afterwards they did a signing, and I got The Art of Eating Well signed by the sisters. It's a beautiful book to look at and to read and I can't wait to get in the kitchen and try some of the recipes!

The Art of Eating Well by Hemsley + Hemsley

In terms of shopping, I sampled a fair bit and bought a couple of items too. Moral Fibre's sweet and savoury snack pots are delicious: my favourites were the Choco Banananut bites and Chilli Crunch. These would make a great present for the foodie in your life, and they're also suitable for those with gluten and dairy intolerances. Seed and Bean chocolates were another highlight. These organic and fair trade chocolate bars come in some unusual but winning flavour options including Lemon and Poppy Seed, Tangerine, and Cornish Sea Salt. The Tangerine variety was amazing, much more tart and intense in flavour than your standard chocolate orange. Montezumas is usually my go-to for when I want to treat myself to a better quality chocolate bar - but after sampling Seed and Bean I'll be keeping an eye out for them from now on. I think I was fairly restrained in terms of actual purchases, buying a box of Nakd and Trek bars (the new Bakewell Tart flavour Nakd bar is AMAZING) and a couple of bottles of GOOD Hemp oil which is cold-pressed and has a delicious nutty flavour that is perfect for dressings.

Mixed box of Nakd & Trek bars

There are a couple of things I think the exhibition could have improved upon. Having a salad bar and juice bar for visitors to buy their lunches and refreshments from would have been nice. The few catering options there were weren't particularly in keeping with the healthy theme. I ended up having a halloumi wrap for lunch, which was tasty but with liberal lashings of garlic and sweet chilli sauces, it's not exactly what I would call a healthy choice! Also, a number of exhibitors had sold out or were running low on stock by lunchtime on Sunday which was a bit of a shame, but I suppose that's often the way on the last day of an exhibition, and the fault of the individual traders rather than the organisers. I guess they didn't realise quite how popular some of the products were going to be!

All in all, the BBC Good Food Eat Well show is an interesting addition to the food fair calendar, and if you enjoy healthy eating and cooking, I'd recommend adding it to your diary when it returns next year.