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15+ Free eBooks For Your New Years Foodie Goals

Christmas is over and January is looming and with it all the new year’s resolutions. The times for making plans and promises, and for hoping for change in the new year. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course – a wise man once said “The measure of success isn’t in how many times you fall, but in how many times you get up again”.

If one of your goals for the year ahead are eating healthier, more cooking from scratch or simply just adjusting your food habits, then here are 17 free Kindle eBooks *  (free at the time of publishing. please confirm before downloading)

Don’t have a Kindle eReader? Never mind – you can download one of the multitude of free Kindle readers onto your phone, laptop or other device.

Free eBooks for Slowcooker Meals

Free Kindle BookSlowcookers really come into their own at this time of year, whether because you want a warm and hearty meal ready when you step through the door, or whether because it’s too hot to turn the oven no and stand cooking in the kitchen, the slow cooker is perfect. The Slender Slowcooker Cookbook (UK link) (US link) contains low calorie recipes for slow cooking under 200, 300 and 400 calories. Amazon says this book is for you if – you’re looking for easy low calorie slow cooker recipes, which keep an eye on your calorie intake, a slow cooker cookbook that’s full of flavour, and you don’t want to spend all your time in the kitchen. ” The slow cooker recipes are easy to put together in the morning, leaving you free to come home to a delicious meal in the evening”.

Free Kindle BookThere’s also Low Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (UK) (US link) a book full of meaty recipes. There are over 100 low carb recipes here, and while it’s very Americanised, there should be some recipes for every slowcooker user.

Paleo Gluten Free Slow Cooker Recipes (UK) (US link) offers precisely what it says on the cover – paleo and gluten free recipes for the slow cooker.  Loads of four and five-star reviews too!

Stirring Slowly (UK link) (US link) is a beautiful “short” with wholesome, gorgeous recipes. There are only a few recipes, meant to entice you into buying the book, but you can enjoy the freebie for a start.

I’ve always heard of the health benefits of bone broth, but have found it quite daunting getting started. This guide A Simple Bone Broth Recipe to Heal Leaky Gut Syndrome (UK link) (US link)

Plant based and Clean Eating Free eBooks

Free Kindle BookWant to try something new and different this year? Start with this free Plant Based Eating (UK link) (US link) – it doesn’t seem to be the book for those who already follow a plant based diet, with some reviewers calling it a ‘sampler’ of other books. It seems like a good place to start though – choose the recipes you like, and find out where to find more from those authors.  For more on the subject, Plant Based Cookbook (UK link) (US link) offers 3 books in 1: Alkaline Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Recipes for Weight Loss & Health – loads of info for those interested in Plant Based diets. 

Clean Eating Alice’s Spring Clean (UK link) (US link) is another sampler book – there are 8 recipes introducing clean eating, so if you like them, and get on with the author and the style you can invest further. 

Free Kindle BookFor a little more on the Clean Eating diet, Clean Eating by Dale Roberts  (UK link) (US link) offers 30 recipes and an introduction to the diet.

If you’re thinking Ketogenic, there’s Ketogenic Vegetarian (UK link) (US link) – even if you’re not keen on the full Ketogenic diet, there are some really good looking spiralizer recipes here.

Meat Free or Vegan Free eBook Recipes

Free Kindle BookI find the idea of Veganism quite intimidating, especially when you look at egg or dairy free living, so a book on baking Vegan foods – in this case Vegan Baking(UK link) (US link) – that still look and hopefully taste good is positive.

If Vegan Baking seems like a lofty starting point, you could try the Vegan Cookbook for Beginners (UK link) (US link). This eBook contains everything from breakfasts to dinner party treats, so it seems a good starting point, even if you’re just catering for a Vegan friend.

Juices and Smoothies Free eBooks

Free Kindle BookI don’t juice because I can’t be doing with the cleaning, but the recipes in 40 Juicing Recipes For Weight Loss and Healthy Living (UK link) (US link) give some lovely new flavour combinations that work well for smoothies, and also tell you why each recipe aids in health and weight loss.  The first recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of sugar, which seems to have made reviewers heads explode, but there aren’t any in the rest of the book, but some good new recipes and ways of combining fruit and veg.

If you’d rather try a smoothie book for smoothies, Smoothie Recipes For Weight Loss (UK link) (US link) is a good one, by the looks of things. Some reviews are fairly negative about the amount of juice or fruit in the recipes, so use your own discretion.

Time for a little something?

Yeah, we should all be healthy, but there’s always time for cake, right? And one of those resolutions for the new year may be to make more friends? Well, if so – look into the Clandestine Cake Club, and their Clandestine Cake Club Sampler B0ok.

Mrs. Claus’ Christmas Cookies (UK link) (US link) is filled to the brim with Impressive Holiday Treats. This book is great for learning the science and techniques of cookies, which can be a fantastic transferable skill to the rest of your baking.

Spices make a lovely gift for any time of the year, and Seasonings (UK link) (US Link) contains 31 recipes that will help you improve your cooking repertoire.

Please note that these are FREE books at the time of publishing. As such, while they are affiliate links, they won’t currently cost you anything. Please check before you ‘buy’ though to make sure the price hasn’t changed.

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Dandelion Pops

We love dandelions, and this time of year, they are plentiful. We pick them to make Dandelion Pesto and Dandelion Fritters, and I’m currently brewing my first batch of dandelion wine too. But our favourite thing to do with dandelions is to tempura them, or as my children call it ‘Dandelion Popcorn’ – little balls of fried dandelions.

dandelion popsA few things to note about about picking dandelions:

  1. Pick dandelions in full sun, so that they are wide open. In the morning and evening they will be closed.
  2. Cook them as soon as you can. They begin closing up as soon as they are picked, so getting them in batter quickly is preferred.
  3. There are little black bugs that live in dandelions, so make sure you rinse them and leave them a little while to give the bugs chance to escape.Sweet dandelion pops

Some tips on tempura batter:

  1. Different recipes call for different ingredients, obviously, but the important thing is making sure your water is as cold as possible.
  2. I think it works best with sparkling water, but normal water works well too – so long as it’s cold.
  3. Once you start dipping the dandelion heads work quickly. It’s worth having the batter in two bowls so that you can dip a batch, and have the other bowl in the freezer, then swap the bowls over before you start dipping again. The colder the batter, the less oil the dandelion takes on.  washed dandelions

You will need:

  • 85g of plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 200ml icy cold sparkling water

Wash the dandelions and leave set aside to drive so as to keep the fried batter crispy.

Add the flour, salt and sugar to a bowl.

Pour in the sparkling water and mix till just combined. If you over mix you push out all the air bubbles, but you also increase the gluten content, so don’t over mix.

(In the Thermomix®, add all the ingredients and mix 20 seconds speed 4).

Split the batter between two bowls, and leave them in the freezer or fridge.

Heat the oil. Take a bowl from the freezer. Hold the dandelion by the green part, and dip it lightly in the batter, making sure to cover everything. Drop the dandelion into the hot oil and fry for 1 – 2 minutes, till a golden brown.

Remove to a bowl with absorbent towel or draining board and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Alternatively with icing sugar and lemon juice.

Enjoy while still warm and fresh.

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Vegan Chocolate Cake, Not Vegan Buttercream And Vegan Chocolate Glaze

We aren’t vegan as you can tell by the creamy and beautiful buttercream or chocolate that decorate this cake, but the cake itself is vegan, and beyond being a really tasty treat, it’s also a useful recipe to have to hand when you don’t have eggs, which often happens in my life.

So, this cake is vegan, the chocolates aren’t and the buttercream isn’t. But there’s a lovely topping that you can use if you’re particularly after a vegan cake too – I’ll include that in the recipe.

As for the Bambi shapes, they are moulds from the Disney Cakes and Sweets range from Eaglemoss. We subscribed to this a couple of years back and now have 79 issues filling up my shelves, and a ton of baking goodies too. Ameli’s birthday party last year was a Princess Party, where we used some of the supplies from the Disney Cakes & Sweets magazines, and obviously this Bambi, owl, rabbit and little birds are from that too. It’s a really fantastic magazine to subscribe to, and along with fantastic quality bakeware and silicone moulds there are step by step instructions and recipes for every Disney character you could imagine. It’s something else. You can find out more about what’s available in the Disney Cakes & Sweets Magazine subscription by clicking here.

Did you know? 

You could also pick up this Special Edition Bambi & Friends issue for £9.99 by clicking here.

 

Vegan Chocolate CakeNow, on to the cake. These characters use 3 standard slabs of chocolate. You could get away with two and just make them a bit thinner. I used two dark and one milk, melted together (I use a Thermomix®, 90C, 3 mins, speed 2, but you can use a double boiler).

For this particular cake I also bought the flowers, and my 3 year old called it a ‘forest cake’. When a grown-up friend at our party said ‘Oh, they’re even resting on the grass’ I was very pleased that my marbled green fondant icing, with the bits of ‘soil’ towards the bottom actually translated as such!

Last year I made a similar cake for a spring party, and I added toadstools, flowers and other Disney Cakes & Sweets foresty themed buttons and it looked really pretty. (If you ignore the actual cake baking skills!)

Easy Vegan Chocolate Cake
 
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The vinegar and baking powder cause a reaction so you need get the cake into the hot oven as soon as these two ingredients are mixed, so start with the dry ingredients. In the images above, I have made three batches of the recipe below.
Author:
Recipe type: Cakes,
Cuisine: Dessert, Cakes, Vegan
Serves: 1 cake
Ingredients
  • 160g (1¼ cups) self raising flour
  • 160g (1 cup) sugar
  • 40g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder (I recommend this one)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 190g (1 cup) warm water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (I recommend this one)
  • 60g (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Oil or prepare your baking tin.
  3. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients, adding the baking powder and vinegar last.
  4. Pour into an ovenproof dish, and put in the centre of a hot oven.
  5. Bake at 180C for about 30 mins.
  6. Cool completely before icing.
Thermomix® Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Oil or prepare your baking tin.
  3. Add all but the last two ingredients listed to the bowl, and mix speed 4, 5 seconds.
  4. Add the vinegar and baking powder and mix speed 1, 5 seconds.
  5. Pour into an ovenproof dish, and put in the centre of a hot oven.
  6. Bake at 180C for about 30 mins.
  7. Cool completely before icing.

For my cake I made a buttercream icing, and topped with fondant. My mother used to make the best buttercream in the world. Here’s her recipe, adapted to the Thermomix®, but you can use any electric beater for the job – just focus more on the appearance than the timing.

I like to use a beautiful rich yellow salted butter for this, as it cuts the sweetness a little.

Buttercream Icing/Chocolate Buttercream Icing
 
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Author:
Serves: 400g
Ingredients
  • 200g salted butter
  • 200g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 30g cocoa powder (I recommend this one) (optional)
  • Optional extra: milk
Instructions
  1. Add the butterfly to the Thermomix®
  2. Add the butter to the bowl and whisk speed 3, 2 minutes till the butter is white and fluffy looking. Remove the butterfly.
  3. Add the icing sugar and vanilla essence and whisk speed 3, 1 minute.
  4. For a chocolate buttercream, add the cocoa powder and whisk again for 20 seconds, speed 5 or whenever it's all mixed through.
  5. If the mixture is too dry add a TEASPOON of milk at a time till you get it to the consistency you require.

To stick to the vegan roots of this vegan chocolate cake you can make a delicious chocolate glaze instead.
Bambi Summer Cake - Vegan Chocolate Cake
 
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Author:
Ingredients
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. On the stove top, place all the ingredients in a pot on a low heat and stir all the while till it melts.
  2. Pour over cake and leave to cool.
Thermomix® Instructions
  1. Place all the ingredients except the vanilla in the Thermomix® bowl.
  2. Cook at 90C for 2-3 minutes checking that the sugar has all melted.
  3. Add the vanilla and whizz for 2 seconds on speed 4, then pour over cake.
  4. Leave to cool.

I hope you enjoy this delicious cake and it’s multiple variations on decorations. And remember to have a look at Disney Cakes & Sweets magazine too!

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Raw Ferrero Bliss Balls Recipe

Ferrero Bliss Balls

I discovered these hazelnut and chocolate beauties quite by accident. I was trying to make hazelnut flour but left the nuts going in the food processor for too long and ended up with hazelnut butter. I added cocoa powder and coconut oil and came up with a beautiful chocolate spread alternative, which has lasted for over a month in the fridge without going off.

Ferrero Bliss BallsThese are so delicious, popped in a jar with a ribbon on, they’re easily made into gifts too.

You can find this and 20 more recipes in Bliss Balls For Beginners, available here for $3.50/£2.99.

5.0 from 1 reviews
Raw “Ferrero” Bliss Balls Recipe
 
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Our version of Ferrero Rocher, but raw and healthy. These keep well in cool weather for up to a month, so make perfect special occasion gifts.
Author:
Recipe type: Raw, Sweets
Serves: 20 bliss balls
Ingredients
Ingredients
For the hazelnut chocolate "sauce":
  • 75g hazelnuts
  • 5g cocoa(feel free to adjust this for a more or less chocolatey result)
  • 20g coconut oil
For the Bliss Balls:
  • 100g hazelnuts
  • 150g dates
  • 45g oats
Instructions
Thermomix® Instructions
  1. Blend the first set of hazelnuts to a fine crumb speed 4, 5 seconds
  2. Add the cocoa and coconut oil and mix on speed 9, 90 seconds
  3. Add the remaining hazelnuts, dates, and oats.
  4. Mix well about speed 4/ 20 seconds.
  5. The mixture looks like loose crumbs when you're done. Take a small handful, and press it together, then roll into a ball.
  6. You can eat it right away, but put it aside to allow the coconut oil to hold it all together, and it'll be nicer cold too.

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Apple Strudel Smoothie with Maca Powder

Apple Strudel Maca SmoothieFor ages I kept hearing about the benefits of Maca powder and its superfood powers. I finally got around to getting some and was full of excitement and dumped a good heaped tablespoon of it into my smoothie…YUK! Lets just say Maca has a strong flavour. So when first starting out with it, less is more! I then cut down the amount I used and it still seemed to overpower most things. It does have a slight caramel taste to it so I paired it up with these ingredients and it makes for a really yummy, comforting, but super healthy smoothie. Enjoy!

Apple Strudel Smoothie with Maca Powder
 
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For ages I kept hearing about the benefits of Maca powder and its superfood powers. I finally got around to getting some and was full of excitement and dumped a good heaped tablespoon of it into my smoothie...YUK! Lets just say Maca has a strong flavour. So when first starting out with it, less is more! I then cut down the amount I used and it still seemed to overpower most things. It does have a slight caramel taste to it so paired it up with these ingredients and it makes for a really yummy, comforting, but super healthy smoothie. Enjoy!
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 1 Granny smith apple, cored and quartered
  • 3 Dates
  • ¼ Cup Walnuts
  • ½ tsp -1tsp Raw, Organic Maca powder
  • ½ tsp Organic Mesquite powder
  • ¼ tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 Small banana
  • 1-2 Cups of Milk, I usually use almond milk.
Instructions
  1. Put everything into the Thermomix® or blender and blend until smooth.
  2. I start with one cup of milk and add more if it's too thick for my liking.
  3. Or add 2 cups and share.

 

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Vegan Chocolate Cake

The best ever chocolate cake, that happens to be Vegan too. Remember if you’re making this for Vegans, most regular sprinkles aren’t actually Vegan due to the food colouring used in them. You can also make it without the glaze and decorate with a regular butter cream icing. Made with coconut oil, however, the glaze is so tasty, we have trouble stopping at one slice!
Vegan Chocolate Cake
 
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The best ever chocolate cake, that happens to be Vegan too. Remember if you’re making this for Vegans, most regular sprinkles aren’t actually Vegan due to the food colouring used in them. You can also make it without the glaze and decorate with a regular butter cream icing. Made with coconut oil, however, the glaze is so tasty, we have trouble stopping at one slice!
Author:
Recipe type: Cake, Sweet, Vegan
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cups plain flour (170g)
  • 1 cup sugar (200g)
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (50g)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup warm water (250g)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil (70g)
  • 1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar
Chocolate Glaze
  • ½ cup sugar (101g)
  • 4 tbsp coconut oil (or margarine)
  • 2 tbsp soy milk/almond milk/rice milk
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180C)
  2. Mix together the ingredients for the cake and blend well.
  3. Pour it into your baking dish or shaped silicone mould.
  4. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick popped in the middle comes out clean.
  5. Take out and allow to cool totally.
  6. For the glaze, in a small saucepan, bring sugar, coconut oil (or margarine), milk, and cocoa to a boil. Stir frequently; then reduce heat to a simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. It’ll look gloppy, but it’s just the bubbles!
  7. Remove from heat and stir vigorously.
  8. Add vanilla, stir, and immediately pour onto cake.
  9. The glaze dries really quickly, so spread it immediately and add any sprinkles now.
  10. Leave aside to cool thoroughly, about an hour.
  11. Enjoy!
Thermomix® Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180C)
  2. Add all the ingredients for the cake to the Thermomix® bowl (NOT the glaze)
  3. Mix speed 5/ 30 seconds
  4. Pour into an oven proof dish.
  5. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick popped in the middle comes out clean.
  6. Take out and allow to cool totally.
  7. When the cake is cooled, bring sugar, coconut oil (or margarine), milk, and cocoa to a boil, Speed 4/ 3 mins/100C
  8. Reduce the heat speed 4/ 2 mins/ 80C
  9. Remove from heat quickly - if you take too long it'll crystalise.
  10. Add vanilla, stir, and immediately pour onto cake.
  11. The glaze dries really quickly, so spread it immediately and add any sprinkles now.
  12. Leave aside to cool thoroughly, about an hour.
  13. Enjoy!