Big Tree Farms

Kitchen Extras - Friday Favourites

While cooking can be therapeutic and fun, for a lot of us finding the time to create delicious meals can be really tough! Whether we are tired after work or are lacking inspiration, it's not always possible to create a delicious and well-balanced meal every day. However, not ones to compromise on the quality of our meals, all of us here at the Amazing Blog have rounded up our favourite cooking additions that are guaranteed to liven up any dish any day of the week!

Our first pick is Holy Lama's Spice Drops. The founders of Holy Lama wanted to create a range of products that were natural, ethical, and delicious. According to the brand, Spice Drops are the only thing you need to add spice and flavour to your cooking, and we could not agree more! These drops add a depth of flavour that would normally take hours of marinating to achieve. The wide range of drops are made from raw herbs and spices, all blended with oil to create authentic and tasty flavours.

Aside from their great taste, we really love Spice Drops because of their versatility! They are straightforward and convenient to use that they can be added to any dish at any stage of cooking. We were impressed with their broad range of flavours, from garlic and ginger to garam masala and turmeric. There are over 30 flavours. Moreover, Holy Lama has created unique Collection Boxes, meaning they make the perfect gifts for your wannabe gourmet chef friends. 

With their network of suppliers providing natural ingredients of the finest quality, we can always trust Spice Drops to add some zing to any meal. Try them yourself here from £4.00.

Moving over to the sweeter side of things, we have Big Tree Farms and their delicious and organic Coconut Nectars. If you are looking for an alternative to sweeteners, honey or syrups, you need to try this Coconut Nectar. The sweetener is a healthier alternative to many of the refined sugar versions out there and what's more the taste is unparalleled.

Coconut Nectar is formulated from pure coconut flower blossom nectar. The product is organic, certified fair trade, vegan, GMO and gluten-free, meaning everyone can enjoy this natural sweetener. The nectar is one of the lowest glycemic sweeteners out there, and it is high in nutrients and unrefined sugars, making it a delicious and healthy alternative.

The product comes in two flavours, Amber and Blonde. We were pleasantly surprised that the Amber was very close in taste to maple syrup, and the Blonde was closer to agave syrup. The product is multi-functional, and is able to dissolve in drinks, making it the perfect cure to bland breakfasts as it makes a fabulous addition to hot drinks, smoothies, porridge, pancakes and more!

Try Coconut Nectar from Big Tree Farms here for £9.12.

Cooking sauces are probably the most convenient and helpful kitchen helpers you can have when you're strapped for time! The problem, though, is that so often store-bought sauces are bland and laden with sugar and salt. This is not the case with Capsicana though, who have changed the game with their vibrant Cook Sauces inspired by Latin-American flavours.

With four fantastic flavours hailing from Mexico, Brazil, and Peru, these sauces are sure to tantalise your taste buds. We loved that the products range from mild to hot, so there is something everybody can enjoy. Our favourite flavours were Chilli and Coconut and Chilli and Honey.  From stir-fry to chicken dishes, you can be as creative as you like with these tasty packets, wowing friends and family with your cooking skills.

The packs come with suggested unique and exciting recipes and the products don't contain any artificial colourings or flavourings, making them a convenient and healthy addition to your meals. Meaning while you save on time you're not compromising on healthiness.

Try something new with Capsicana's Latin Cook Sauces, available here for £1.49.

From Latin America to Spain now with Delicioso, a passionate Spanish food company. They sell a range of food products from charcuterie to vegetables, but what really caught our eyes were their brilliant range of nut oils.

Unlike most flavoured oils on the market which are infusions, Delicioso's oils are created by cold-pressing Arbequina olives from Catalunya together with other ingredients. This produces an intense depth of flavour and additionally is more efficient in retaining its minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.

We loved this little set of 5 nut oils that Delicioso is offering, presented neatly in a box. What we love is that you can by a set of 5 smaller bottles, meaning you can try a variety of great flavours to to find your favourite one. The smart packaging makes this a great gift, and it includes Hazelnut Oil from Tarragona, Almond Oil from Mallorca, Walnut oil from Aragon, Peanut, and Pumpkin Seed Oil. It is a brilliant and useful set, and you can try it on a variety of dishes; drizzle on pizzas and pasta dishes, grilled vegetables, meats and or as a base for a  stir-fryto add an extra layer to the flavour.

Try some authentic Spanish oils with Delicioso's Set of Five Nut Oils here for £11.75.

 

Healthy Drinks - Friday Favourites

Following last Friday's Healthy Food Feature, we at The Amazing Blog thought it would be apt to continue the theme with a healthy drinks post. So we gathered together our current favourite selection of healthy drinks to keep you fighting fit this season.

Big Tree Farms' sachets of their Coco Hydro Coconut Water Infusion are the ultimate quick fix when you're on the go and hankering for some goodness. Big Tree Farms is a brand that truly upholds their ethical vaues and promote sustainable living and organic agriculture. The results are environmentally friendly and deliciously natural products.

The Coconut Water Infusion is unique as they pick Indonesian coconuts at the height of their nutritional content, evaporate the water, concentrate the nutrients and pack them in an easy to use, on-the-go solution. We loved the ease and efficiency of this product, and it tasted fresh and clean too. To pack in the nutrients and support the environment, buy Big Tree Farms' Coco Hydro Coconut Water Infusion here for £1.59.

We know this time of year a lot of us try to ditch the weight we inevitably put on over the holidays, so it's great when we can kick-start the process to get us feeling our best. We are currently loving Bio-Synergy's Skinny Waters, which are gorgeous flavoured waters designed to aid weight loss.

These drinks are sugar and calorie-free, which make them an excellent substitute for those calorie-laden fizzy drinks that can be hard to resist. They come in many different tasty flavours, including Raspberry Ketones, Pomegranite, and Orange, which will be sure to tantalise your sweet-cravings. We think these drinks fit perfectly into any diet, and help to assist in avoiding cravings and burn calories. Get these Skinny Waters at Ocado here from £1.45 and also available at Primark stores.

 

Lycolife's Lycopene drinks are an exciting find, since they are one of the very few brands that include lycopene in their products. Lycopene is extracted from tomatoes and is one of the stongest natural antioxidants obtained from plants. These drinks contain at least 30mg in each bottle and it is assimilated completely by our bodies. This neat little ingredient helps to neutralise free radicals which can harm the body.

Research indicates that Lycopene may help to lower the risk of certain diseases such as some types of cancer and cardiovascular disease. We loved the benefits of this product and it comes in a variety of delicious flavours such as Apple and Peach, and our favourite, Apple and Grape. Try Lycolife's drinks here for £1.65.

Sometimes our energies need a boost, and rather than going straight to sugary or caffeinated drinks it would be great if there was a healthy alternative to choose from. That's where Trévo comes in - Trévo has created a one-of-a-kind blend of 174 of the finest ingredients that nature has to offer and combined them into a delicious, highly bio-available liquid drink.

The drink is designed to replace minerals and vitamins that we have lost throughout the course of the day, which can result in sluggishness and tiredness. Trévo provides your body with essential vitamins and minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, powerful antioxidants, digestive enzymes and Co-Enzyme Q10. The result after drinking is feeling refreshed and energised, and after the holiday season that is exactly what we need. Find out more about Trévo here.

Finally on our list is KIKI Health's Aloe Ferox Fresh Juice. KIKI Health believes in adding only the purest of ingredients with the highest potency available to their products, leaving out nasties and fillers so that we can enjoy pure forms of ingredients and their benefits. 

We enjoyed trying their Aloe Ferox juice - Aloe Ferox is a pure and unfiltered ingredient that comes from the last wild Aloe variety that grows in the natural and wild environment of the Cape region in South Africa. The juice contains 100% natural ingredients, with no artificial colours or sweeteners. It is suitable for vegans and is naturally free from gluten and wheat, so this is the perfect healthy option for all to enjoy. Buy the Aloe Ferox Juice here for £12.95.