Recipe: Holy Guacamole

I'm a big fan of fresh food! Anything raw and ready to munch is ideal for me. 

After fancying some avocado in my lunch one day, I picked up some guacamole from the supermarket. More than ready for some good food I sat down and gave the guacamole a go. Only to find it was pretty much baby food with a whole lot of garlic - not my style!

And that's what lead to my own simple and easy recipe for guacamole!

Yield: 2-3 servings

Time to Prepare: 10 minutes

Lasts: 4-5 days

Equipment: bowl, chopping board, knife, whisk, spoon

Ingredients:

1 large avocado

3 Tomkin/cherry/plum tomatoes

The juice of half a lime

Salt and pepper

1 chilli or chilli flakes (optional)

Method:

1. Pulverise the tomatoes with a knife and place in the bowl. Then, cut your avocado in half and remove the stone - don't throw this away!*

2. Scoop out the avocado and add it to the bowl. Next, squeeze the juice of half a lime into the bowl and season with salt and pepper (to taste).

3. If you prefer a cooler guacamole, skip this step.

Deseed and finely chop your chilli then add to the other ingredients - alternatively add a sprinkle of chilli flakes.

4. Using the whisk, mix up the ingredient in the bowl - remembering to release a little frustration by smashing up the avocado - the consistency of your guacamole is up to you, i prefer mine with a few chunks so mixing only took around two minutes.

*If you're not going to use the guacamole straight away placing the stone on top of the mixture will prevent it browning. After doing this, cover with cling film and place in the fridge.

There you go! A quick and healthy recipe for guacamole perfect for any time of the day.

I serve mine with a mixed salad and gluten free, organic, rice cakes.

How do you like yours? Are there any other recipes you'd like me to post?

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Monday Musings

Excited for: Lots of laughing. I'm going to see Russell Howard this Sunday and excitement is definitely taking over!

Listening to: Ben L'Oncle Soul. A soulful, French singer songwriter?! Well damn, I am sold. After being introduced to his music by my older brother around a year ago I'm still loving it. Perfect on a warm summer evening or even as a winter pick me up.

Planning: A whole heap of journeys I want to take... providing I pass my driving test. There's a lot of places I want to see, explore, wander through and passing my driving test later in the month would really help me along with this. Motivation to pass: check!

Writing: Stacks of notes/revision. I say revision but it's more doodles, musings, thoughts, brainstorms, peculiar facts I'm unlikely to ever need. 

Wishing for: Just a little more sunshine. Brighter, longer days have been very appealing lately.

Loving: The beautiful sunsets that grace the sky each evening.

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A Story And A Song

After reading Sometimes Sweet's blog post on 'Journal Days' I decided there might be a few prompts that would spark some creativity/ideas. I kept my eyes peeled and to my luck the second prompt was a winner.

Robbie Williams - Mr Bojangles.

This song was the one that lead to a change in taste of music, swing, jazz and blues soon became a firm favourite after this. It hurls me back to when I was a lot younger - mostly reminding me of mini road trips with Pap and taking every Monday morning off to go for coffee and a toasted croissant.

Things have changed a lot since then but there are times when we both still listen to this song. I think the familiar whistling entertains the feeling of nostalgia we share. He longs for a time when I was small enough to sit on his knee and I long for a time when I didn't have to be in school on a Monday .

However nostalgia isn't the only feeling that surrounds Robbie Williams' rendition of this swing classic. Happiness, serenity, ambition and desire for a further utopia all remind me of those car journeys with my best friend, even silence was a welcomed feeling.

One of the first things I think of when I hear this song is the long haul trip we take to Italy every year. It would be around 3am and I'd wake from a slumber to find the car still going at a steady pace, everyone asleep but Dad - not once did he make a fuss about being alone at 3am driving through Switzerland, I admire him for that. 

After a long discussion about the food we couldn't wait to eat and the faces we longed to see, Pap would instinctively put our song on and I'd slowly but surely drift back to sleep.

There have been times when we've sang it, whistled it, cried to it, sat in silence to it, (probably even) bickered over it but it will be a constant and vivid memory of mine. One so vivid I can almost close my eyes and be transported to the same surroundings, weather and emotions that the mellow tune so often linked to.

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