Weekend Cooking: Triple Berry Jellies

You wouldn't think so if you so me chowing down on dumplings last night, but I am still trying to eat a bit healthier. That also means that I have gone back to doing the things I was doing when I lost all that weight before I stopped doing all those things and put it a lot if it back on.

So, what are the things that I was doing, stopped and now I am doing again.

On the food front, it is to watch what I eat (so make better food choices), how much (portion sizes) and, in theory, move more (exercise), although I am not doing so great on that one.  For the other aspects, I have gone back to keeping a food diary, studying (yes, studying) food magazines and diet related cookbooks. The most important aspect is planning and preparation, having some idea of what food we are going to be eating for lunches and dinners rather than having takeaway several nights a week.

Sttudying food magazines mean getting ideas for snacks and new recipes. Sometimes it is the simplest of ideas that strikes a cord. For instance, because I was a bit slack and didn't get to the shops in time, I ended up just having egg, ricotta, spinach and tomato on toast for dinner. Simple, but tasty. And something I saw in a magazine as a breakfast suggestion. Breakfast for dinner. Yes please.

This is definitely a simple idea, and one that really should have occurred to me before. I mean, when we were kids it was a treat to have canned fruit set into jelly, but because the boy doesn't really like jelly I don't make it very often. This time instead of making a giant bowl of jelly and fruit I have made the individual serves as suggested and I am hoping that will mean that,  for this week at least, if I fancy something sweet I can just grab one of these and maybe have some yoghurt with it. Or ice cream maybe.

Oh, and expect to hear more about dumplings because I had two of the best dumplings I ever ate last night and I am so going to go on a quest to eat more egg custard dumplings. You have been warned. Not part of the plan but oh, so good.

This recipe came from the January/February 2017 issue of Diabetic Living.

Triple Berry Jellies

125g punnet blueberries

125g punnet raspberries

125g punnet blackberries

4 strawberries, cut into thin wedges

9g sachet raspberry diet jelly crystals

250ml (1 cup) boiling water

250ml (1 cup) cold water

2 Tbspn strawberry liqueur (optional)

500g extra berries, to serve

Mint leaves, to serve (optional)

Divide berries evenly between 4 185ml (3/4 cup) capacity glasses.

Put jelly crystals in a heatproof jug. Pour over boiling water, stirring until jelly crystals dissolve. Stir in cold water and strawberry liqueur, if using. 

Pour jelly evenly over berries. Put glasses on a tray and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.

Serve topped with extra berries and mint leaves, if using.

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