Guest Blog - The Savvy Shopper

With the school holiday’s creeping ever closer, I've started to turn my mind – and my recipes! – towards Summer.

Being healthy can be hard when you’re out and about. Even if you pack a lunch, the cost of drinks and snacks (as well as the sugar content!) can really ramp up the price of your day out.

So, I’ve come up with a super – healthy Infruition recipe that you can enjoy on the go. The addition of sparkling water makes it so refreshing. Ever the savvy cook I used Lemon balm that is growing in my garden in abundance! If you don’t have any Lemon Balm growing, they sell plants at most garden centres. It’s so easy to grow and adds a subtle hint of lemon to drinks and meals, without overpowering it.

I have teamed this up with a recipe from my book , The Savvy Shopper’s Cookbook. I used to make these every week for my children after swimming. They are packed with fruit and have no added sugar – they get all of their sweetness from the honey and fruit, so it’s perfect for a healthy snack on the go!

Lemon Balm & Strawberry Fizz Infruition

Makes enough for an Infruition Sport bottle

Ingredients: 6 strawberries, 5 lemon balm leaves, sparkling water

Method: Remove the stalks from the strawberries and cut them in half. Cut the lemon balm leaves in half, lengthways and use the end of a rolling pin to bruise them a little. Load the strawberries and lemon balm alternately through the Infruition chamber and fill the bottle (roughly three quarters of the way so that it doesn’t overflow when you put the lid on!) with sparkling water (you can use still if you prefer) Pop it in the fridge to cool and infuse!

Flapjack Cakes

Makes 12 Flapjacks

Ingredients

100g/4oz butter, plus extra for greasing

4 tbsp honey

1 tsp ground cinnamon

200g/7oz porridge oats

100g/4oz self raising flour

150g/5oz dried fruit (I use a combination of raisins and chopped prunes)

3 apples peeled and grated

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6. Grease a 30 x 20cm/12 x 8 inch baking tin with butter.
2. Put the butter and honey into a saucepan and melt on a low heat. Put all of the remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl and pour the melted butter and honey over the top. Mix thoroughly.
3. Pour the mixture into the baking tin, pressing it down gently. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until it is starting to turn golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin.
4. Once cool, cut into slices or squares and serve.

Flapjack Cake recipe is extracted from The Savvy Shopper’s Cookbook by Amy Sheppard (Ebury Press £14.99) Photography by Howard Shooter