Merry Christmas

We wanted to share with you a few of the things we discovered this year and really enjoyed.

We hope you like them. If you try any of them out please let us know!

Tasty grub

Cherimoya

Cherimoya

A deliciously sweet soft fruit

Also known as "custard apple", Cherimoya is a delicious fruit. It's like eating a dessert. The flesh is sweet and soft, the name "custard apple" is an apt description

We found these at our local grocers, so you might have luck in your area. Or they're available online, such as Exotic Fruits.
Also keep a look out at your local supermarket, we found some at Sainsbury's!

Mind you don't eat the seeds as they are poisonous!
They are also very big and hard to miss, so no chance of accidental swallowing.

Cauliflower fudge smoothie

Yes you read that right

Don't be put off by the name. Despite the ingredients this smoothie is absolutely one of the best tasting things on the planet. It tastes like fudge, not cauliflower, and the cacao nibs add a delightful crunch.

(Serves 2)
  • Half an avocado
  • 90g Boiled and frozen cauliflower
  • 1 tsp Sweetener, or 2 dates, adjust for taste
  • 200ml Coconut water
  • 200ml Coconut milk (we recommend Koko)
  • Or 400ml of coconut water/coconut milk/your preferred milk
  • 8g Cocoa powder
  • A sprinkling of cacao nibs (optional)

Day before

Chop up the cauliflower and boil for 10 minutes, then put it in a bag in the freezer overnight.

Method

Put everything but the cacao nibs in a blender and blend until completely mixed and smooth.

Serve into glasses and sprinkle cacao nibs on top.

Cookies

Cookie recipe

Since wanting to reduce added sugar, Chris has been searching for an alternative to cookies from the shops.
Here is the recipe for very quick, easy, and delicious (sugar-free) cookies.

(Makes about 18 cookies)
  • 100g Unsalted butter
  • 240g Plain flour, we use spelt flour instead of wheat flour
  • 1 tsp Baking soda
  • A dash of salt
  • 100g Greek yoghurt, can be fat-free (at room temperature)
  • 120 Brown suger, or for sugar-free use erythritol gold
  • 100g White sugar, or for sugar-free use 10g hermesetas, or the equivalent of your preferred sweetener
  • 1 Large egg (at room temperature)
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 55g Chocolate chips (To keep it sugar-free, I use Free'ist chocolate bars cut into pieces)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C
  2. Melt the butter and leave to cool for 5 minutes
  3. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl
  4. In a smaller bowl mix the butter, yoghurt, sweeteners together with a whisk
  5. Once combined, mix the egg into the batter
  6. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and fold in, it will form a thick dough
  7. Once all the flour is combined, mix in the chocolate chips
  8. Scoop out the dough into little balls and place them on the baking tray, lightly pressing them down
  9. Bake in the oven for about 7-10 minutes (they will be done when they start browning on the edges)
  10. Take out and leave to cool
  11. Enjoy!

Health it up

Yoga

Workouts

Protein powder

A few things to watch...

Arcane

Lower decks

Tennis highlights from The Australian Open final

Listen to this

Podcasts

We both really enjoy listening to podcasts. Here are is an episode that really impacted us this year.

Peter Attia: #226 The science of happiness

There's so much we liked in this episode, from advice in forming adult male friendships, to very interesting thought experiments that help to identify what is important to you to have a happy life.

Music

We both love music and we've discovered a few new bands and songs that we fell in love with this year. Here is a small selection, though it was very difficult to narrow it down.

Maria

Chris

Things to do

Sculpture park

Botanical gardens

Live comedy