Category Archives: organic

Easy Organic Chocolate Muffins

If you find something that makes you happy then stick with it. A simple statement I heard somewhere in the past. While looking back on the the good times as of late and the contentment found within I am finding things that make me happy. Going places, be it a country walk in the countryside or traveling places further off, experiencing new cultures, and being in good company are instant pleasers. The bottom line I have found is if I am doing something with my family, good times are bound to follow. 

I was recently asked to try out a recipe for organic chocolate muffins. They were described as being so easy to make that they were perfect for cooking with your children. Since everyone in my household loves to cook and bake I was eager to round up the ingredients for a special after school treat. The only amendments I made to the recipe was instead of smashed up chocolate, I used an organic cacao powder and I sprinkled some porridge oats before putting it into the oven to bake. My sons had so much fun making them and the whole family had fun eating them. The muffins were so delicious that they were all gone before dinner time the next day.

This recipe is for delicious organic chocolate muffins that kids will love to cook as much as they love to eat them. They are super simple, full of organic ingredients and taste extra delicious. Plus you only need one bowl and one spoon to make them. Perfect for both the kids and the parents who will be cleaning up afterwards.

Ingredients:



1/4 tsp natural salt
1 large organic egg
125ml (4fl oz) organic milk
50g (2oz) unsalted organic butter, melted
100g organic chocolate (white, milk or dark – whichever is your little ones favourite) bashed and smashed up in a sandwich bag (i.e. The Fun Bit). Green and Blacks have a range of cooking chocolate that we’re addicted to.
Making the muffins:
Preheat your oven to 200C / 400F / Gas Mark 6
Take a big bowl and using a whisk or the classic wooden spoon, mix together the egg, sugar, milk and melted butter.
Then sift the flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl and mix it all together.
Add the small pieces of broken up chocolate and give it a good stir. It’s probably best to give the spoon a little lick at this point and make sure it tastes yummy.
Spoon the mixture into muffin cases so that they are 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes. They should be springy to the touch. 
Leave them in the muffin tray for 10 minutes to cool. Then gobble them all up with a glass of milk.

Q: Since my husband does the majority of the cooking, I like to do baking. My kids like to help us both out in the kitchen.  But what about you?  Do you cook or bake at home?  Have a favourite recipe you make the most?

Food Shopping in the UK made Simple

I would like to take you back a few years to when I was living in Hawaii, USA courtesy of the United States Air Force.  When it came to eating and food Ryan and I found ourselves in the melting pot of asian cruisine from the Phillipines, Vietnam, Thailand, and China (to name a few). Our eldest was 2 and our youngest was born in Hawaii and they grew up there asking to eat sushi, pho, fish, and shrimp for meals.  It was not the typical food from mainland USA but it became the norm for my family.  If we were not eating out we were buying our groceries from the commissary on base.  Usually twice a month we would go and fill up our shopping cart till it could hold no more just like the other military families.   If you were not careful shopping at the commissary could be like a mother on her own shopping at Target.  You leave with a cart full of items and many of which were not on your original shopping list.

Let us fast forward to my husband and I moving to England.

After we had graduated from living in a hostel and eating homemade sandwiches, we found a room to rent and could start buying groceries to cook real meals.  However we walk or take public transport everywhere. The ‘american style’  of shopping is not going to work here. The nearest grocery store was far off and we would have to be smart about which items we chose because they would have to be carried all the way back home.

When we moved out of Brighton to the town of Haywards Heath we were now a short five minute walk from our town’s grocery store.  It now became normal to go to the store every day or every other day for one or two items.  It was on the way home from work and accessible.  We do not have a car to take home bags and bags of groceries.  We get what we really need and we carry it home.

I look back on shopping in the USA now and I cannot imagine doing that here in England.  Our fridge contains what we need for the week and we possibly fill up one small cabinet space with items such as teas, oils, spices, baking items, rice and porridge oats. The pantry we have has items like sweet potatoes and onions, extra toilet paper roll and unused kitchen appliances like a microwave we now never use.  Its about simplicity. There must be a need and an immediate use.

 So we do not have a pantry full of unused boxed and canned items full of sugar, salt, and preservatives   We may have to get creative if a zombie apocalypse happens. 😉

Luckily for us there are no zombies. However we did get creative and resourceful.  This week was our second time of having groceries delivered to the door.  Ryan spends a few minutes on his phone ticking off items we need while seeing what specials are on offer.  Then the items come at a scheduled time in colour coordinated bags to tell me where they need to be put away.

I feel spoiled.

To think of walking with the kids to the bus station, to wait for a bus, to get to the store where I have to find what I need while being swarmed by many other shoppers, only to have to wait in line and then carry everything home is just exhausting having to type in this blog. Plus have I mentioned we got our organic veg box?  I am in heaven.

* Photographs belong to Bonnie Rose and cannot be used without written consent.