London Farmer's Markets - Friday Favourites

This weekend we can think of nothing better to do than hit a Farmer’s Market and peruse locally sourced products, taste some delicious foods and hopefully enjoy a little bit of sunshine. As such, everyone at The Amazing Blog has pooled their collective knowledge and selected a few of our favourite Farmer’s Markets in London.

First on our list is the Farmer's Market in South Kensington. Nestled between three fabulous museums (the V&A, Natural History Museum and Science Museum) this is a fantastic way to enjoy a Saturday. Located 5 minutes away from South Ken tube station, on a little street, this market is bursting with delicious local produce. Pick up some vegetables from Ted's Veg, organic eggs from Rookery Farm, free range meat from Beatbush Farm and purchase some utterly delicious bread, cakes and pastries from Oliver’s Bakery. You can easily buy your week’s grocery shop from here. However, if you don’t fancy that, then why not spend a few hours soaking up some culture or history in one of the fine museums before heading to the farmer’s market for a delicious lunch. We highly recommend The Parson's Nose and their sausage sandwiches.

Open every Saturday from 9.00-14.00; you can see more information about what to expect and how to find this gem of a place here.

If you want to combine your Farmer’s Market experience with a bit of shopping, then head to Pimlico Road near Sloane Square, which sits in leafy Orange Square under the watchful eye of Mozart’s statue. It is asparagus and strawberry season at the moment, and this is definitely the place to pick some up while they’re at their freshest and sweetest. We love this market and think it’s the perfect place to stroll around after a long shopping session; it can be hard work finding that perfect summer dress. With plenty of room to sit and soak up the atmosphere, you’ll be hard done by not to find something delicious to take home with you. We highly recommend this market if you’re looking for some fabulous and fancy artisanal bread and cheeses or seasonal fruits and vegetables. While you are there, you simply must stop by Favourite Stall winner of 2017, Moreton Mushrooms. Their selection is to die for, and they will greet you like old friends. 

Open every Saturday from 9.00-13.00; this market holds a special place in our hearts. For more information have a read here and thank us later.

If what you look for in a Farmer’s Market is diversity and a vast array of options, then look no further than the weekly market held at Alexandra Palace. Large enough to serve the 3000 people who visit every Sunday, this market has anything and everything you could dream of. From Smoked meats and fishes to jams and relishes to handmade pies, this market is an amazing way to spend a happy Sunday sipping freshly pressed juices while tasting homemade cakes, Mediterranean dishes and smelling exotic spices. What’s more is that, alongside the delicious food stalls, the market hosts an array of artists and craftsmen selling ceramics, books, prints and jewellery.   

This is the perfect example of what makes London such a magnificent city. After all, there aren’t many places that showcase such diversity, beauty and community.  So take the kids or head over with a group of friends, soak up the sun and enjoy the best of what London has to offer. If you get bored, which seems impossible, you can also soak up the beauty of Alexandra Palace and the surrounding grounds. For further details, such as the best entrances and particular stalls click here. 

So what are you waiting for? Text your favourite person and spend a day enjoying one of these great market’s and discover or remember the amazing things London has to offer – we hope to see you there.
 

Friday Favourites - Latest Cookbooks

We love nothing more than making a home cooked meal at The Amazing Blog. We find the process of cooking to be an incredibly therapeutic one, as well as being one of the best ways to make small and easy changes in your life. We’ve always thought that mixing things up in the kitchen is an excellent, if not the best, way to lift yourself from a slump. In fact, many of the best evenings we’ve had, have been sitting around a table with friends sharing a bottle of wine and a delicious and carefully prepared home cooked meal. As such, we are always looking for new cookbooks with exciting, delicious and new recipes for us to try! So here is a review of five of our favourites to help you add a bit of extra spice to the kitchen; from five-star restaurant cuisine to Jewish home cooking,  game day favourites and kitchen hacks! We've even included a special book for all you chocoholics out there!

First on our list is The Mountain Café Cookbook: A Kiwi in the Cairngorms, which was written by the brilliant chef at the Mountain Café in Scotland, Kirsten Gilmour. One of the main reasons we love this book is its inclusivity! In the introduction, Gilmour talks about taking a trip with a coeliac friend and realising how hard it was for her friend to eat food and stay healthy. Despite being told food was safe for her it often wasn’t, and she would suffer the horrible effects later. As such, Gilmore vowed to make food that was reliable for everyone. Her book is filled with mouth-wateringly good recipes and using a key, she takes the care and time to let you know which recipes are gluten-free, vegan, egg free, wheat free and dairy free! It can be a daunting task finding a recipe that is safe or reliable when cooking for a friend with dietary restrictions,  and in our experience has led to less than desirable meals, but with this book in your kitchen those days will be a thing of the past. Having this key takes the pressure off, and you know that everyone will be happy and leave the table feeling safe and looked after.

The book is full of exciting flavours including your favourite classic dishes with restaurant quality twists; such as beef, chorizo and mushroom stew, lamb kofta kebabs and sweet potato, spinach and caramelised onion quiche. The salads in the book were definitely among our favourite recipes, and were so much more than your everyday garden variety salad; our two favourites were the seared lamb, halloumi, orange, roasted carrot and almond salad and the sweet potato, red pepper, pine nut and feta salad. These are delicious as light summer dinners as well as healthy lunches to take with you to work.

You can purchase these wonderful recipes and much more here from £20.00

Diana Falk’s cookbook, The Hungry Fan's Game Day Cookbook: 103 Recipes for Fangating, Eating, Drinking & Watching Sports, is the perfect book for those days when everyone comes over to watch a big game or race. The food is not only fun but delicious, and each recipe is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser!

The book is a mixture of healthy and decadent ideas, that will all help with the festivity and excitement of your next sports event. From Bacon, Cheddar Spud Nachos to panko and coconut crusted prawns to lentil salad – there is a delicious recipe in here for every sports lover you know. What we think is fabulous about these recipes is that, whether your guests know everything there is to know about sports, or are completely uninterested, both will have a fun time – even if your team loses!

You can purchase this cookbook here for £18.22 and be the MVP of the day!

We cannot think of a more appropriate title for a cookbook, as in Yiddish the word Fress means “to eat copiously and without restraint.” This is exactly what you’ll want to do as you peruse the recipes in this book. Emma Spritz was a finalist on BBC1 Masterchef, and her cookbook brings together a melting pot of Middle-Eastern and Eastern European tastes to create big flavours that are happy and sociable dishes to feed to friends and family. 

We love how unfussy Emma’s style is, her food is all about extracting maximum flavour from the simplest ingredients in the easiest way.  Embracing recipes from Poland, Russia, Israel, North Africa and Algeria, there is bound to be a delicious recipe for you in here. Whether the recipe brings back a homely familiarity or an exotic new flavour you cannot go wrong with these meals and are sure to wow your friends. 

you can purchase Fress: Bold, Fresh Flavours from a Jewish Kitchen here for £17.00 to start cooking these delicious Jewish flavours at home

Next, on our list is Mastering Chocolate: Recipes, Tips and Techniques from a Master Chocolatier - we would be monsters if we didn’t give you at least one indulgent dessert-centric cookbook! If you want to wow your chocoholic friends and be revered as the master of all chocolate, then this book is for you. With twenty recipes from simple truffles to awe-inspiring tiered cakes, this book explains the essential equipment and provides complete step-by-step photos of each stage of every recipe to help you make the most perfect desserts possible.

The book was written by award-winning pastry chef and chocolatier Mark Tilling.  In case you don’t know who he is, he is the twice UK chocolate master and winner of the first series of BBC2’s Bake-off: Crème de la Crème. These recipes have been tried, and tested and are easy enough to tempt beginners while having the perfect range and creativity for professional chefs! We are still on the lookout for another excuse to make the utterly divine chocolate berry tart!

If you fancy becoming a master chocolatier, then you can purchase Tilling’s cookbook here for £20.00.

Now, while this final book is not technically a cookbook, we simply had to share it with you as Kitchen Hacks: Uncommon Solution to Common Problems is a definite must have! The book teaches you brilliant and easy ‘kitchen hacks’ such as how to professionally hull of a strawberry using only a straw, how to easily peel a hard boiled egg, and how to preserve herbs by freezing them in oil for easy and quick use the next time you need them. What we loved about this book is how it has completely revolutionised the way we move around in our kitchen and how we prepare the food we make. It’s taught us new, better and more time efficient techniques. So now when we have a dinner party, it’s an effortless occasion, and we get to spend time with our guests! We cannot imagine our lives without this handy book being within reach.

You can purchase your very own kitchen helper here for £7.99

So what are you waiting for? Anyone of these books will spice up your everyday cooking or impress at your next dinner party or family lunch. So whether you are trying to get out of a slump or looking to dazzle someone, you'll be able to do it with these in your kitchen. 

Coco Hydro Sport - Coco Hydro

At The Amazing Blog, we believe it is important to live a healthy and well-balanced life. You can have and do anything you want as long as it is in moderation. So it can be a real disappointment after a long and arduous gym session to glance at the back of your sports drink and realise that what you’re putting into your body to help you, has just nullified most of what you’ve done! Luckily for us though one of our favourite brands Coco Hydro has released a new Sports version of their popular powders.

Available in three flavours, Original, Pineapple and Lemon and Lime, Coco Hydro Sport offers a fantastic alternative to other sports drinks currently available. Acting as a high-performance coconut water-based hydrator this superb product has a higher electrolyte content than regular Coco Hydro, as well as added mineralized sea salts to help support extreme workouts and sports. Equally, the natural chelated organic ionic trace minerals have a 98% faster absorption rate.

Containing only seven ingredients there is nothing to worry about when drinking this product. You no longer have to settle for  over-dyed, sugar filled and over packaged sports drinks. As Coco Hydro point out, by replacing just two bottled drinks with this, you will save on average 104 plastic bottles a year! So if you’re concerned with the waste that other sports drinks cause then, you can sleep a little easier knowing the Coco Hydro Sport helps you help the world. It couldn’t be simpler to use Coco Hydro Sport, simply blend in water to taste or mix it in with a recovery drink or smoothie for increased efficiency in helping to heal those hard working muscles.

You can purchase Coco Hydro Sport here from £18.30, or you can purchase the Original Coco Hydro Sachet's on Planet Organic's website, buy one get one free, for £1.59.

Health Supplements - Friday Favourites

At The Amazing Blog we know that beauty is not actually skin-deep and also comes from deep within. So it is important to look after your whole body in order to feel healthier, happier and more beautiful. With this in mind we have compiled a few of our favourite health supplements that will have you feeling, looking and being the best that you can be in no time.What is more, all of these products are so easy to add to your everyday routine that soon you won’t be able to live without them.

First on our list is the ever brilliant Kiki Health. We love this brand and actually featured them a few months ago in a blog post about healthy snacks. Today, however, we will be telling you about their superb supplement, called Natures Living Superfood. This product is so easy to incorporate into your daily routine and once you read more about it, we’re sure you will be as obsessed with it as we are!

Designed to support your daily nutritional needs, Nature’s Living Superfood is made from 34 carefully selected ingredients, consisting of plant juices, algaes, enzymes, sea vegetables and bacterial cultures. Not only is this made of entirely natural whole food ingredients but it is absolutely full of probiotics, all of which help aid the body in absorbing the nutrients it needs for digestive support.

You simply need to take ½ a teaspoon a day, which can increase to 1 teaspoon over time, and that’s it. The supplement can be added to a smoothie for an extra boost, or added to a glass of water and enjoyed by itself. We think it's a delicious addition on top of a salad. Suitable for vegans and wholly organic there is nothing we don’t love about this product.

You can buy Kiki Health's Nature's Living Superfood supplement here from only £7.00.

The next product to get you feeling beautiful on the inside and out comes from Terranova. Terranova has designed a wonderful Living Multinutrient Complex capsule. These capsules are a holistic innovation as the product uses whole, unadulterated, phytonutrient-rich foods and botanicals. With each ingredient having been carefully selected for its potential to fulfil particular functions the product has been designed to give you the best multipurpose protection.

Terranova have come up with the idea of synergistic nutrition which, simply put, means that each supplement and blend is holistically and synergistically designed for maximum absorption capacity in the body – so you will be able to absorb more of the important nutrients your body needs to be healthy.

These little capsules are perfect for those who feel tired in the day time or for those who have a tendency to catch colds. The ingredients help boost your immune system and are packed with antioxidants. All you have to do is take three a day, one with each meal, and you should begin to feel incredible effects within a few weeks. For more information, have a look at Living Nutrition's blog entry on the product - It's amazing what feremented turmeric can achieve!

You can purchase Living Multinutrient Complex capsules here for £27.25

Lastly, but by absolutely no means least, Living Nutrition’s Turmeric capsules. Turmeric Alive is known as ‘the king of herbs’ because of its powerful medicinal properties. The main component of the herb is curcumin, and it’s this that causes the wonderful health effects that taking turmeric daily will give you.

Turmeric Alive is an excellent supplement for many reasons, but particularly if you suffer from arthritis or joint problems as it acts as a powerful anti-inflammatory. It has also been shown to reduce your risk of heart and brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s. If these aren’t reasons enough to encourage you to begin taking turmeric, then you should also know that it has been shown to help the body in preventing cancer.

This particular brand of supplement is truly remarkable because Living Nutrition uses fermentation to help activate the properties in their herbs. The process of fermentation helps the body absorb and digest more of the beneficial nutrients in the food. By fermenting their turmeric Living Nutrition have produced a product that not only helps the body absorb more of the turmeric, but also lets this happen in a natural way. The problem with most other turmeric supplements is that they try to unnaturally increase its effect and the digestive system and body is unable to handle this. Living Nutrition’s product on the other hand is completely safe but still has enhanced effects. If you are interested in the product and want more information, have a look at Living Nutrition's blog entry on the product - It's amazing what feremented turmeric can achieve!

You can purchase Living Nutrition’s Turmeric capsules here for £24.99

Chocolate Milk and Banana Milk - BAM

At The Amazing Blog, we are always on the lookout for delicious food and drinks that are made with natural and simple ingredients. So it was an easy decision for us to feature and tell you all about BAM after we discovered the delicious, simply sourced and healthy chocolate and banana milk drinks they are making.

BAM make their delicious milk drinks with real milk and with 11g of protein, these drinks are free from preservatives, refined sugars added colours and artificial flavours. They only contain three ingredients: milk, honey and chocolate or banana; this way you know exactly what you’re drinking.

Who doesn’t want a milkshake every now and then, they are delicious and refreshing, but they also tend to be painfully unhealthy and full of added extras you don’t want; not to mention the calories. BAM, however, is guilt free as each drink comes in at under 100 calories.

You can purchase your BAM milkshakes here for £1.25