Hepkatt takes over

It's take over time - HepkattFm talks tasty tunes to get you through the day, and if you like that? Head over to hepkattfm and talk music, mental health and movies.

What’s happening you greedy so n so’s?

Hepkatt here and I’m taking over to fill you with some tasty musical morsels.

Now.

I’ll confess, I don’t know my courgette from cucumber but lucky for you, I’m not here to tell you what to make and how to make it.

No.

Instead I’m here to serve you up some gluten-free, soy-free, low carb, full taste music. And what better way to do it than by giving you your very own musical meal plan. Turn the oven to 11, let’s go.

Breakfast

You need to start the day right. So let’s start with that smoothie shake thing that looks luminous and full of goodness.

Hippy Hippy Shake – Swinging Blue Jeans

You can’t not get started in the right way listening to this song. It’s upbeat and you will always squawk along. Not only are you now fully awake, so are your neighbours.

For those of you who prefer a slower start to the day and need your fix of Philip Schofield you can try Coffee and TV – Blur.

Lunch

Let’s do a light lunch. You’re working, you’re slowing down and you need something to pick you back up and drive you to the end of the day, right? You might say you were:

Craving – James Bay

This song has a fixed beat in the background for you to nod your head to and get that focus back. At just over three and half minutes long, it really is a light lunch.

Dinner

Well done. You’ve made it to home time, said farewell to your colleagues and cursed them as you walked away. You need to relax and have a chunky meal and let’s face it, you’ve been thinking about getting home from the moment you left.

Homesick – Catfish and The Bottlemen

This is as full as it gets. A rip-roaring guitar band, with catchy hooks and lifting choruses. If you’ve got the time, have seconds and stay for the whole album. Go on. You’ve been good this week.

Dessert

I’m not one for a pudding but okay, okay. I’ll let you have one.

Sugar High – Larkin Poe

I’m always hearing them foodies talk about how things blend together beautifully and compliment each other to make the perfect dish. Dear Foodies, I present you with Larkin Poe. Perfect harmony and slide guitar mixing with folk-inspired drums to make the most satisfying third course.

For those who prefer to crown a meal with booze than sugar then I offer you Poison & Wine – The Civil Wars. I of course, don’t recommend that you mix your wine with poison but you get the idea, right?

And there you have it.

I hope you enjoy your musical menu and for the nightcap, why not head over to hepkattfm.blogspot.co.uk and join me for the after party.

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HepkattFM 

January

New Year. New me.

Well, perhaps not. But I, like many others can't resist the draw of a new years promise. I know better than to make any tightly bound resolutions. I'm far too easily distracted for a january diet, or to expect that I'll start exercising once a day.

I'm more in for the sweeping statements

Life is FAR too unpredictable for anything specific -  my plans change as much as the british weather. However the plans I made to achieve last year were roughly 80% successful - I would say that's a strong enough result to try again.



I will aim to be, in all Healthier this year
I'll do some exercise
I'll learn to drive
I will write more on my blog
I will make my own ravioli

As I sit in bed writing this - I expect I will be in a completely unpredictable situation this time next year - maybe I will be in the same spot.
Maybe i'll be in a different house,
Maybe i'll have a dog - a new job?  Maybe i'll weigh 22 stone because I finally made my own ravioli and didn't stop eating it - or the cinnabons I plan to make tomorrow took over my life.

We really can't say -  what I do know is, I will continue to love food, and hopefully, I'll share a bit of that with you.

Food Packages.

Is it just me, or is anyone else somehow addicted to receiving parcels in the mail? I swear sometimes I just order things to get that tiny glimmer of christmas morning as you scurry to open the wrapping. Sometimes, I like to order things with a ridiculous delivery time, so you almost forget what you've ordered, and then it really is like christmas. Maybe it just makes the work day pass a little quicker, waiting for a parcel from the postman to appear on your desk. Sad right?

Either way, along with clothes, shoes, kitchen utensils and any other crazy things I don't need/can't afford. One of my favourite things to get delivered is food, and I don't mean your tesco shop that you were too lazy to go and physically do. I'm talking little care packages of new food and drink to experience.

There's so many out there now, it's ridiculous, I think I'm going to have to try them all, there's meats, cheeses, snacks, full on meals with fresh ingredients and recipes, beer, wine, coffee. You name it, they'll deliver it periodically for a slightly ridiculous price that you can't quite justify, yet they keep dragging you back down....

I endeavour to find as many 'first box £1' type offers as possible, and find you which boxes are really worth it.

The first culprit for my food package addiction had to be Graze (we've all been there right?) 4 Healthy snacks, delivered every week/ 2 weeks (your choice) . Don't get me wrong, they were great, and thinking about it, nuts and dried berries are not cheap on their own, so for 4 quid a box, it's really not bad value. And they make them into really inventive little selections, mixing different flavours together to impersonate cakes and all sorts.
.... In fact looking back on their website, there's so many new things and choices; I might just have to give them another go, I do so miss their delicious flapjack.
If you haven't before.... do give them a go on the link below, great news FIRST BOX HALF PRICE. so you can definitely afford to try it! *disclaimer - I will take no responsibility for any snack box addictions, or debt claims that may be the result of multiple snack box addiction**
https://www.graze.com/uk/

The most recent culprit was PACT coffee.
I found a link for the first bag £1. And naturally I couldn't resist. The good news about all of these guys is that if they suck, they're super easy to completely cancel after your first trial (if you remember)
My first Pact coffee was beyond fabulous, and whether I somehow forgot to cancel accidentally on purpose is yet to be argued. But let's just say the second coffee was equally wonderful. My only issue was that having it delivered to work, it didn't last more than 3 days (and at £7 a pop. That's a bit too special of a treat) I have reluctantly cancelled because at the moment I am not quite the lady of luxury to be able to throw £7 a week away on coffee - was it worth it?? Yeah it kind of was. Super fresh, wonderful flavours, quirky names -  and the fresh smell of coffee being delivered to your desk!? priceless!!
Try below:> there's a current offer of your first bag half price!
http://welcome.pactcoffee.com


I'm yet to try many more! I've just signed up for a Graze- a -like called Early bird.

(first box £1...obvs)

there's somehow , food music and art involved, so I was sold. 5 snacks and a tea in each box, I must say I'm quite excited for this one : watch this space for a review, or click the link below and join me in my foodie adventure.

https://earlybird.fm/

Foodspotting

It took a trip to London, surrounded by incredible foods, independent restaurants and stalls before i discovered this app.

Think of it like the google maps of instagram. search a food you desire, or just browse the local area. If like me you're a sucker for a good photo just browsing through this app will have you drooling all over your screen.

I'm addicted to good food, so we put this app straight to the test. Fancying a tasty chewy bagel of some sort I searched in the app for one in the local area. Streams of images popped up, each showing a link to where the bagel was from and how close to your current location.

My eyes lit up at the site of a 24 hour bagel bar. Can you imagine!!

Oh yes, it was real, I had to see it to believe it but we found it! Not 10 minutes from our hotel (as promised on the app)

The Bakery was an experience itself, a gritty sweaty shop with a queue out the door (always a promising sign) the counter was packed with freshly made beigels, breads, cakes and bakes.

Look how busy this tiny place was!!
(Times like these I wish I took my camera everywhere, but there isn't always time for the perfect photo! especially when it comes to food.)

I find it amazing that we could find this place. After spotting dozens of delicious photos earlier that day, my food obsessed mind was spinning out at the idea of eating that delicious looking salt beef bagel almost immediately after realising I wanted it.

And boy did I eat it.
Not usually a fan of Pickles, I went all out and took the bagel as I was offered, hot, stuffed and smeared with spicy mustard and crammed with pickles.

DELICIOUS. chewy chewy bagel (with no giant hole for the filling to spill out) warm soft tender salt beef, tangy pickles.

Foodspotting you did me proud.  Watch this space for more exciting discoveries, I challenge you to put this app to the test and see what hidden gems you can find.

Le McMuffin!

Le Mcmuffin... well sort of, but its certainly delicious.

Sunday's off work are one of my favourites for making a delicious brunch.
Today's mimics a posh mcmuffin, Egg, bechamel, cheese, chives, everything you could want!

What do I need?

English Muffin
Egg
Dijon Mustard
flour
milk
butter
chives
gruyere
parmesan
prosciutto
tomato


Looks a little complex but if you make a couple it's super easy!

Start off by lightly toasting the muffin. Whilst toasting, melt 1 tbsp of butter in a pan, and allow to bubble and turn slightly brown then stir in enough flour to soak it all up (it should look a little like mash potato). Begin adding a little milk at a time, and stirring continuously until you've made a runny bechamel sauce. add in a handful of grated Gruyere and combine.
Once combined add a dash of salt and pepper, and decent pinch of nutmeg. (my favourite addition to a cheese sauce)

Smear a little Dijon mustard over the base of the muffin, and top with tomato and an extra slice of gruyere,
Take the top of the muffin, and spread with a decent amount of the cheesy sauce, and a sprinkling of Parmesan.
Melt these both under the grill until bubbling and a little brown.

If you like as well, I pop the prosciutto on top of the base to crisp up a little while I fry the egg to perfection!

Once everything is warmed through and bubbling, place the egg on top of the face, gently top with the cheesy top and sprinkle with chives.

How good does that look!
And really not that complicated. A little extra work at the weekend for an impressive breakfast is always worth it I reckon.

This recipe is easily adopted to make for 4 people and makes it much more worth the little extra effort. Or batch cook and wrap up in the fridge for a quickly re-heatable breakfast muffin, and brighten up your weekday mornings!

Easy Peasy Banana Bites.

Another recipe that you WON'T believe is clean. You can make these with just 2 ingredients, so they're a bargain too.

Perfect to use up those overripe bananas you forgot to eat (woops)

Take:

4 Ripe Bananas
2 Cups of oats
(optional) 1/4 cup Coconut
(optional) Chocolate chunks

Mash the super soft banana, and stir in the oats and coconut (this added an extra depth of flavour and texture, offsetting the super sweet banana)

Once combined, arrange tablespoon size blobs on a tray and bake in 160c oven for around 15 minutes until golden.

(I stuffed a couple chocolate chunks in half of them before baking for a little variety - dark chocolate to go with the sweet banana)

These are great for a light and healthy breakfast or as a sweet treat throughout the day. Maybe try baking in some raspberries too!

It's hip to be a square.

Rice crispie squares.
Staple of the childhood lunchbox am I right?
But have you tried fitting that into a clean healthy diet? trying to reduce your sugar intake and additives? traditional rice crispie squares are not for you!

Fear not, I have the clean healthy and divinely delicious solution.  You can be there AND be square with these bad boys.

Even better news, there's two versions!


No 1 Honey flavour

1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
4 Cups Rice Crispies

Melt the honey and coconut oil together in a pan, allow to reach a gentle boil and bubble for 1 minute. Stir in vanilla extract.
Turn off heat and mix in rice crispies until evenly coated. Press into a large cake tin and cool gently before slicing.

it's THAT easy.


No 2 Peanut butter flavour

1/2 cup of Honey
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups of rice crispies

Melt the honey, peanut butter and vanilla together in a pan until well combined.
Remove from heat and stir in the crispies.
Press firmly into a tin, I pressed in a layer at a time as these one's crumble a little once you cut them.
Allow to cool in the fridge before slicing up.

super easy again!!

I made two batches of these for work and they were gone within an hour. Clean really can be tasty!
Plus they only take about 5 minutes to make, meaning you can make a pretty constant supply.
Excellent news.