I have an incredible sweet tooth. Puddings, cakes, sweet and buttery enriched breads are my weakness. I'd much rather eat anything like this than a normal meal if I'm perfectly honest. When out for dinner I eye up the dessert menu to make sure there's something excellent to look forward to. I completely understand when children say they are full but their pudding tummy isn't! But I am completely aware this isn't a sustainable or adult way to function. So I treat myself

What would a freezing cold January day, (6 hours outside…) working with a group of young people who aren’t in education, employment or training look like? This was Friday. I regularly work with groups of young people in North Solihull on community gardening projects, teaching basic gardening and growing skills, but most importantly, getting everyone involved and doing it for themselves. It can be a little frustrating, the thought of dirt in their acrylic nails and that it’s

It’s cold, rainy and just fairly grim in Birmingham this week. Yesterday was the so called Blue Monday, where it seemed socially acceptable to be depressed and notice the lesser points of life. This so called day only first appeared in our lives in 2005, brought around by a holiday company – yes the weather is always bad, generally we all have a bit less money after Christmas and all the hype to keep up with New Year’s Resolutins and ‘be a new you’ is a bit suffocating, but

Ingredients - 225g dates (without stones) 150ml water 175g plain wholewheat flour 175g porridge oats 175g butter or dairy free alternative 75g demerara sugar 2 tbsp cold water Method - 1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan and grease a square tin (20x20cm) well with butter. You can line the tin with baking paper if you'd rather, it can be a bit tricky to spread the oat mixture on top. 2. Place the dates in a saucepan with the 150ml of water and place over a medium heat, cooking ge

A quick and simple recipe for delicious banana muffins. We like to have these in the week as a go to snack or if there isn't time, for breakfast. Ingredients 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 90ml milk 1 tsp baking powder heaped 1/2 tsp cinnamon 2tbsp molasses 25g unsalted butter 55g porridge oats, with some spare for sprinkling on top before baking 100g plain flour 2 large ripe bananas 75g raisins Optional - 75g dried cranberries (instead of raisins) Can be made dairy free by usin