A great way to include essential vitamins and minerals into one’s diet is through juicing fruit and vegetables. Juicers can be bought at a reasonable price these days and it will last you years. However, recently I was introduced to the ‘Nutri Ninja’ {variant of the Nutri Bullet} and I must say, in the matter of a few weeks, it has steadily become the most used utensil in my kitchen. As opposed to a juicer the Ninja blitzes every bit of the fruit and vegetable, allowing you to obtain their optimal nutritional benefit. There are so many great combinations to make, but the one I’m sharing with you today is our current favourite. I try to include lots of kale in our diets as it is filled with powerful antioxidants, it is especially rich in iron and vitamin K as well as being a great source of calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C. It can be a little bitter when juiced/blitzed so paring it with some sweet bananas and pineapple will certainly counteract this. I'm a huge fan of avocados and the creamy texture of one which is perfectly ripe adds a certain smoothness to this finished drink. As the children prefer their juices as lump-free as possible I've added milled chia seeds, but ordinary seeds also work perfectly in their place. If you don’t have a Nutri Ninja, a blender can be used, and if you would prefer it without any bits then strain the contents through a sieve. 

Immune-Boosting Nutri Juice

Ingredients - Serves 2

2 large leaves of Kale, washed and leaves roughly chopped

1 small orange, peeled and cut into segments

1 red eating apple, cored and chopped into chunks

2 rings of pineapple

½ ripe banana, roughly chopped

½ ripe avocado

1 tsp milled chia seeds

handful of ice

water

Method

1. Make sure to wash the vegetables and fruit before blitzing. Fill the large Nutri-Ninja container with all of the ingredients, making sure to finish with the ice. Top up with cold, filtered water and do not pass the ‘max fill’ mark.
2. Blitz for one minute. Pour into two glasses and enjoy straight away.  

As per the rules of the giveaway, I had to pick another winner for the hand blender, as I had no contact details for the original winner and they never contacted me within the fortnight of them being announced. So, the new winner of the Breville Cordless Hand Blender is MKConlon. Thank you so much to everyone who entered the give-away.

With four children, of a school-going age, our weekday breakfast is rushed, to say the least. However, the only advantage to this is the learned appreciated that I now have for the weekend breakfast. Without the threat of the imminent school bell, our weekend breakfast is a whole lot more relaxed. Valentine's day falls on a Saturday this year, so if you're planning on starting the day off well, and earning a few brownie point, treat your loved one to an extra special breakfast, or brunch. This bap can be assembled in minutes, and the combination of flavours are simply scrumptious.

We’re very fortunate to have eggs straight from our garden from our lovely hens, but if you’ve to buy eggs seek out some true free-range, organic eggs. How delicious this bap really is, completely depends on the quality of the eggs. Brioche buns are for sale in M&S and Aldi, but if you can’t get your hands on them, any bread buns will work in their place. Enjoy!

Chorizo, Avocado & Poached Egg Brunch Bap

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 free range eggs

½ tsp white wine vinegar

2 ripe avocados, thinly sliced

1 tsp olive oil

100g chorizo, thinly sliced

4 brioche buns

Tomato relish of your choice

Smoked paprika, optional

Method

1. To poach the eggs, bring a saucepan of water to a bubbling boil, add the white wine vinegar. Using a spoon quickly stir the water to make like a whirlwind in the saucepan. Crack the egg into a cup, and with the water still swirling gently add the egg into the centre of the saucepan. Depending on the size of the egg it will take between 2 and 4 minutes to poach. Once cooked, remove to a plate lined with kitchen paper and cover with additional kitchen paper to keep warm while the rest of the eggs are cooking. You can cook two eggs together, but repeat this process for the rest of the eggs.
2. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the chorizo slices and fry for about 1 minute on each side. Remove to a plate.
3. To assemble the bap, cut the bun in half and over the bottom half spread a thin layer of relish, top with the slices of avocado, an even layer of fried chorizo and top with the poached egg. Season with a few grinds of black pepper and a sprinkling of smoked paprika, if you have it to hand. Add the top of the brioche bun and sandwich together. Enjoy straight away.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Nessa x

As spring is approaching I'm eagerly awaiting what it has in store for me. I'm starting to get truly excited about my book, Apron Strings. It is now at the design stage and is being carefully handled by a very lovely designer. For me to even think that somebody is working on my writing and my photography, to bring it together as a book, is a wonderful feeling. I have had no column deadlines for the  past week so I've been, yet again, reading through the recipes and text. I'm pretty happy with it and am very much looking forward to my loyal readers, my family and friends reading it and giving me their feedback. I have one final photograph to take for the book, which may turn out to be my front cover. I had many different photographs which I thought would work well as a cover pic, but the designer asked for one more option. So tomorrow morning I'm going to get my hair done, slap on plenty of rouge and hopefully get the perfect photo. My hubbie will be the resident photographer for the day and I'm also hoping to have the children involved in some way. With any bit of luck there will be some sunshine peeping through the kitchen window, which always helps to make any photo look better.

I love sharing some pictures on Instagram so if any of you are over that way do let me know. 

On another note, and rather surprising to myself, I am actually sticking to my new year's healthy eating plan. Apart from loosing a much needed 7lbs, I'm feeling so much better in myself. I have more energy and my dreaded headaches, of which I get every other day, have certainly been decreased. I'm simply cutting out junk and eating lots of fruit and vegetables, as well as juicing each day. My free-range, organic eggs are also, as ever, a staple part of my diet. The time of day where I still find myself in need of some treats is when the kids have settled for the night. I would love to hear any tips or recipes you may have for me that work well for the munchies.