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The Great British Baking Show Happy Days

The Great British Baking Show season means baking time, so that’s what this light-hearted foodie is sharing about today to lean into the happy! 😋

…And as a show fan, I get giddy like a school girl. I’ve even got my hair put up in a high up side ponytail like a teen to match my feelings. 🤸🏻

Oh, but don’t worry… this will probably be my only giddy post on the show if you’re not a fan (yet). I’ll be back on the healthy earth channel 🌱 next week… so stay tuned. 📺

…And tuning this week into The GBBS also known as the Great British Bake Off show 🇬🇧 is the alarm for me (and us home bakers) that it’s time to fall B-E-ake!

But before we bake, can you guess what this is?

It’s NOT butter. And it’s not fondant even though it makes a good food illusion 💭… but neither are good to eat on its own so that rules those out.

…Well, hang on to your hat (for that finished thought), and keep reading as it will make more sense when I spill the butt-ah…

Btw… in the States, we like our good sense, scents, and cents, as we’re multi-faceted and have many preferences to show.

We’re similar to our neighbors across the pond where we have adopted some nifty baking ways. Isn’t that right, Rahul? 😊… and we love that! 🇺🇸

I also love that we get to idea mingle with our UK friends that unite the kingdoms through our grams (Instagram and convertable baking gram measurements). 🇬🇧

…and isn’t it about worldly T-I-M-E!?

Cheers! 🎉 (as in thank you in Brit-English and cheers 🥂).

Oh, and did I mention we’re getting mini-Brit speaking lessons from the show’s entertainment side? 🐿️

One lesson note-to-self: I’ll now know to bring more pants than trousers and trackies to the U.K. next time. 😉

But all-in-all, we have a lot and even more in common… both countries speaking some English-variety. We’re also closest in time zones when you consider the other Old World countries.

…And GBBO o‘clock 🕰️ helps us bridge the ocean divide. 🥧

But I will add… it’s a little weird seeing the show baked creations before the episode airs on Netflix.

…Ah, but a few seasons in… like most watchers from the States, I’ve gotten used to the spilled (butt-ah 🧈) beans. 🫘

Plus I grew up in the simpler dialup era so no complaints (not my style).

Which btw, I think I saw one of those ☎️ this week and a green sewing machine that brought me back to my youth where we had one of those in the house.

…Plus I learned a new mini checkerboard technique a.k.a Battenbergs that I heard about from the show. 🏁

And that’s what I was baking up this week in my no-pressure tent? 🎪 Well.. sorta, but not exactly!

…I get excited about sugar talk that goes straight to my head 💭… I forget for a brief moment that I’m a low-sugar baker in the comforts of my kitchen.

So swept back to reality, a MINI Battenberg marzipan dessert is fitting. Because a mini one has very little sugar.

…And this one is reaallly small! …Good for maybe a big Barbie food table.

But too small to bake a cake in unless you’re Barbie baking for Ken and then it’s never too small. 💖

But for the rest o us, an all easy marzipan sweet bite can be made in minutes. It’s like playing with Play-dough.

…So that’s what I turned my butter illusion into. And making a fancy pattern marzipan is still less time than baking.

But I couldn’t leave my oven cold.

Because butter talk inspires baking.

…So I made a healthy delicious bake, but instead of butter (or butt-ah) I used an ingredient you may or may not have heard of… MCT oil.

It sounds like a pharmacy prescribed oil, but it’s OTC… and healthy! Now we’re back on track. 🌱

The healthy fat food supports weight loss, helping the body make ketones for energy that then gives us more energy.

It’s a form of coconut oil that most or all of us know. 🥥

And so I thought only fitting to make a healthy chocolate donut.🍩

That was made coconut tasty with organic unsweetened coconut chips that also make delicious snacks on their own!

Healthy coconut flour was used to lean into the tastes of chococonut (say that 10 times). The gluten-free flour makes a denser no-rise bake that’s great for pancakes or ONE donut here…

…that’s btw how us baking peeps fit into our fave jeans so we can better thrive in our mind-bodies 😊 where we’re all slightly different tuned that’s good to celebrate in our turning world.

Speaking of jeans👖…my baking genes wouldn’t fit in The Great British Baking Show fiery baking tent. 🎪

The show competitors got that competitive gene.🙌👏🏽

…And it looks like all of them this season were very blessed.

For the rest of us, we’re watching The Great British Baking Show and doing our stress-free baking. And on that note, you can enjoy with a best melted chocolate dessert.

Healthy Chocolate Coconut Donut (Gluten-Free)

This recipe uses chocolate and coconut chips as the sweet, and healthy coconut oil fat that used in moderation is a good sub for a delicious, weight-conscious donut.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup coconut flour
2 tsp coconut oil for donut
1 tsp coffee (optional)
1 egg
milk (start with 1 tbsp)
unsweetened coconut chips (enough to cover top)
baking chocolate chip
coconut oil, a few drops for melting chocolate

Instructions

Gently mix the 4 donut cake ingredients by hand. Use enough milk to get the consistency closest to a cake batter (not too liquid and not too dense). Grease your pan with coconut oil and pour batter into the pan. Bake until top looks baked and a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the chocolate glaze: melt chocolate chips in a few drops of coconut oil using a bain marie (double boiler) setup. You don't need steaming hot water for melting chocolate. I used an inexpensive self-heating water kettle. I added a small ceramic cup and put inside a ceramic bowl. I poured the hot-warm water into the bowl about half way and the chocolate melts in a minute or two.
Zhugh with organic coconut chips that is recommended for a more pure coconut taste plus a crunch with kernel intact (compared to shredded coconut).
With coconut oil, this dessert will stay good at room temperature for 2 days (the day it's baked and the day after). For longer lasting, keep completely covered in the refrigerator so it doesn't dry out.

This site is all about happy and healthy living and eating ways and inspiration. If this is your first time here, I encourage you to find out more about me and this healthy lifestyle blog.

Grapefruit vs Orange Juice

Grapefruit vs orange juice is a GREAT juice. Grapefruit is a great immunity booster and has more Vitamin C than even orange juice that gets the better known rap. Neither have their own emoji so they’re on fair playing ground as far as I’m concerned 😊 🍇🟠

Like grapes that grow in bunches, that’s where grapefruits got their name originally. 🍇 I’m thinking… mocktail wine idea. 💡

Grapefruit juice is punchy and sweet bitter compared to acidic OJ. The note endings are tart compared to bitter.

These climate changing days, you can find citrus before their winter citrus season and sometimes year-round.

Growing up, I drank grapefruit juice A BUNCH in the winter. So for me, it’s the preferred juice punch… and maybe for YOU TOO! 🤔

You can make your own homemade fresh juices today. They are pure and not concentrated. And the best part is when you make your own, artificial sugar isn’t added back in.

Fresh Grapefruit vs Orange Juice

And with fresh squeezed juices you don’t need that as the fruits themselves are sweet enough.

…I can say that being a hardcore sweet tooth (Vata 🙋🏻‍♀️) who has adapted to better tasting ways that are also more healthy (less sugar adds)! How is that possible?? Gratefully, it is.

And in grapefruit vs orange juice talk, if you choose the sweeter fruits like Cara Cara or navel oranges you will have a calming fresh orange juice that moves through your parasympathetic nerves.

There are over 400 orange types and over 20 grapefruit types.

With grapefruits, the more vibrant and gem color interiors are usually sweeter, where a pink grapefruit is a probably on the medium end.

Grapefruit juice is a perfect example. It has the tangy quality with some ending sweet notes.

For a kid, that’s a lot like pink lemonade that wins points. 💕

Plus, grapefruits are giant-size GREAT big fruits so you’re bound to quench your thirst that helps weight loss.

Anti-Inflammatory Grapefruits

Grapefruits are healthy illusions. Don’t let the translucent light pink to bursting pink colors fool you into thinking they’re light in vitamins.

Because actually grapefruits carry a few rainbow qualities… 🌈

They have beta-carotene polyphenols like carrots and sweet potatoes, and also lycopene like tomatoes.

…Grapefruits are also good for the skin and counteracting skin inflammations that we all give a thumbs up to. 👍

So that makes a well-rounded grapefruit, anti-inflammatory drink experience all around.

AND Grapefruits are loaded with fiber, so they make for a great breakfast accompaniment.

And that reminds me… 💭

I remember the fancy modern buffets I went to on some brunch weekends with my DC metro gang that included a lightly caramelized half grapefruit where you could spoon out each individual juicy wedge.

Special food occasions like that call for special spoons with jagged edges that kinda look like shovels to do the heavy lifting. No juice was lost and no conversation was missed..

In brunch food talk, that was as juicy as a cherry-on-top that always gets noticed like a Ruby Red grapefruit color. 🍒

Grapefruit Juice Mocktail

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Ingredients

1-2 grapefruit with pulp
1 oz pineapple juice
mint leaf or ginger

Instructions

Squeeze juices leaving in pulp and stir. Garnish with a mint leaf or crystallized ginger.

White Fish Broth Soup In 15 Minutes

White fish broth is a tasty, light, and healthy meal in itself. You can make this delicious bowl of healthy white fish soup in minutes from frozen fish and spices that can please your taste buds.

White fish filet is one of the easiest fish to source all around the world, and you can find priced and stocked reasonably in grocery stores.

Cod, haddock, flounder, and tilapia are a few of these common white fish choices available around the world. Even though wild fishes like salmon are healthiest (touted for Omega-3), it’s often more pricey and sometimes hard to find.

You can almost always catch a white fish healthy deal and meal to feed a table tonight that’s loaded with protein, vitamins, and minerals even if you don’t live by the coast.

Considering other dinner and meal alternatives, it’s good healthy value.

In choosing white fish, you may not notice fish taste differences in fish coming from packaged frozen fish sections that are usually mild tasting, compared to the fresh seafood counters that have a fresh and more distinct-to-type fishy taste.

Wherever you go, the most important healthy choice is choosing the “wild” factor.

Wild fish is the healthy choice over farm-raised fish.

Emphasizing wild fish, then you can use the organic skin for flavorful fish broth.

Fish broth has type 1 collagen, that’s especially good for skin and hair. And, who doesn’t want that?

When I was younger, I was told to avoid the fish skin, but that’s because we ate wild card fish sources that weren’t wild fish. 🎣

But like most white fishes, the white flesh is still a good source of protein, Vitamin D, and Omega-3 healthy fats.

White fish is also a good lighter choice if you’re trying to lose weight.

And if you’re looking to make quick, easy meals… you can pull frozen fish out from the freezer and have a meal like white fish broth soup in minutes.

A zestful soup with so much flavor with tastefully paired spices and spice blends like tarragon, coriander, and my seafood favorite…

I grew up with memories driving to the Maryland beaches, where Old Bay spice is a nostalgic and distinct taste favorite… and for many others who experienced the layer of strong Old Bay celery salt, paprika, and cloves scent in the already salty ocean air. 🌊

A whiff of the spice reminds me of the middle and end of August before Labor Day when the season changes. That’s also back-to-school time. And it was for me too as an 80s teen growing up in the more simple, and happy-go-lucky years.

Carrying the carefree spirit into back-to-school college years, I returned for summers and even worked at Phillip’s Seafood in Ocean City, MD one summer.

Those were the innocent (as in I didn’t know what I didn’t know) days with an unexpected whole new world ahead. We didn’t spend time on smart phones or the internet that didn’t exist.

…We focused on the physical 3-D life in front and around us and played physical arcade games and enjoying all-you-can-eat crabs as entertainment. 😊

And this 3-D person came home from work smelling like a seafood boil festival.

On the shore, they douse Old Bay on everything… and all seafood. 🍤 Like shrimp, scallops and corn…

Old Bay is also great in fishy broths like the white fish broth (recipe below).

Just adding the seafood magical blend, you’d think you were having a soup from a Maryland seafood restaurant.

And because I planned DC parties in Mediterranean and Spanish cuisine restaurants, I especially like the fishy spice combination with the Spanish spice saffron.

It’s often found in a Paella dish that is not a quick meal, but you can make a saffron white omelet in minutes.

As another idea, you can serve that up with your white fish broth soup.

White Fish Soup in 15 Minutes From Frozen Fish

This is a delicious restaurant-quality fish soup that's flavorful, light, and healthy. And for wild fish broth, you can get collagen good for aging.

Course dinner, lunch

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

wild white fish, frozen
Old Bay
saffron threads
salt and pepper to taste
tarragon
shrimp, cooked and frozen (optional)
extra virgin olive oil
oyster crackers and lemon wedge (garnish)
coriander (optional)

Instructions

Add a drizzle of oil to a pan and add frozen fish.
Cook fish using frozen package instructions.
Pour fish juice into bowl. Add fish and spices.
Add cooked shrimp and any other seafood desired.
Serve with oyster crackers.

Coffee Milkshake with Cold Brew (3-Ingredients)

Coffee milkshake is a nice option along with many coffee drinks out there… coffee lattes, macchiatos, cappuccinos… and the list keeps growing as coffee interest grows. ☕️

I was a late coffee bloomer if there’s such a thing… starting a morning routine decades into life.

It was a bitter acquired taste to my younger self.

But I realized after some years into the happy habit, around the 7-year switch (like allergy changes), that my gut couldn’t keep up with my cup o’ java demand… so I switched to homemade cold brew coffee.

Because I didn’t wanna give up my new healthy routine.

Afterall, black coffee is a healthy plant-based antioxidant beverage choice. Tea has its own special place in my drink world, but after noon. 🕛

…And with a cold brew coffee milkshake, you don’t have to choose, you can enjoy anytime of day!

It’s a great treat option (…yes/maybe?) especially when it’s still warm temperatures outside. And that can be closer to year round in these climate change days.

…So why not?

A coffee milkshake like this one is different because it has soft serve-style ice cream, and cold brew coffee.

Cold brew takes minutes to make or “brew.”

And just seconds if you’ve been on the cold brew coffee bandwagon for a while, and have your setup and coffee grounds available.

…I could make you a nice cup in a minute and it’d be ready to drink in that same minute. 😊

I started making cold brew daily in 2019.

That’s when I discovered that I could not have a regular morning coffee routine because of the acidity. Whether it was the fasting day next morning or it was breakfast time, my stomach needs water and food first!

…Maybe yours is like that too.

But I can enjoy cold brew coffee at ease with some small food (like a banana, yogurt, or some fiber) in the gut.

So if you have a sensitive gut or lining, that’s something to consider… and maybe you don’t have to give up a coffee habit or coffee morning routine if you don’t wanna.

…And this light creamy coffee milkshake is a nice complement.

You can keep adding cold brew to your milkshake that can be a breakfast shake (or more like a light cappuccino). 🧋

And it’s a healthy breakfast dessert drink because it’s light but also has egg protein. 🥚

With a plant-based milk like almond milk added, this does your body good. 🌱

Since cold brew coffee is less acidic in the process, you can start your morning with any ground coffee that you can sift through the coffee filter, that is “the brew” process in cold brew.

You can use light, medium, or dark black coffee grounds. Whatever suits your fancies.

And to top it all off, the optional sweet zhugh is chocolate shavings. If you use dark chocolate then you gain some additional healthy polyphenol anti-inflammatory points. 🎉

That’s all the sugar needed in this coffee milkshake drink, if any.

It’s not loaded with sugar like so many cool coffee beverages you buy that give even my inner child a sugar skin crawl attack just looking at how many grams of sugar. 😮

This milkshake can have no added sugar and be wickedly good!

…And not only is this a low-sugar beverage, you gotta love that this is 3-ingredient easy shake steps… where you focus mostly on the drinking enjoyment!

Coffee Milkshake with Cold Brew

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

⅓ cold brew coffee
⅓ milk (unsweetened almond milk recommended)
⅓ cup scoop of ice cream

Instructions

Hand mix ingredients. Enjoy!

Italian Bean Salad with Gorgonzola Cheese

Italian bean salad is inspiraton from one salad dish I used to make every day. 🥗

That was in my teen years when I worked in the pantry of an italian restaurant with marble floors where you could hear silverware drop like a drum band.

…Those young years, I was responsible for lunch salads and desserts served at the tables that I could see from the open-style kitchen.

While the job was a summer one, the salad is one that stuck with me for many decades later when I became a food service professional… and can be one that you make.

It’s loaded with Italian ingredient greats… like gorgonzola, radicchio, and arugula that have distinct flavors.

Those are common in big American grocery stores where you can play a version of Guy’s Grocery Games 😊 as they’re usually hiding among the salads, produce, and cheeses.

Maybe see how long it takes you to find them camouflaged amongst the greens… and cheeses. 🧀

No green cheese, but blue healthy moldy cheese. Penicillium Roqueforti is mold that gives the blue veining easy to point out.

That makes it easier to find the cheese in the grocery store.

…And as for time, shopping will take the longest from sourcing (or farm) to table as salad prep can be quick and I think is relaxing, even though this Italian bean salad has 11 ingredient types to add.

If you can’t find radicchio, you can also substitute for Belgian endive, and blue cheese or a French cheese for gorgonzola.

Then you’d have an Italian-French salad.

They are worth the hunt as their flavors add interesting variety.

And eating variety is healthy for our microbiome guts. As you peruse, you’ll probably explore different sections of your grocery store than just around the perimeter for the staples.

And some may be right under your nose (like it was for me in my shopping adventure)…

I got lucky as there was a big gorgonzola cheese wheel that looks like a cake.

…So it wasn’t likely to be a miss. 🎂

Packaged up, you can’t smell the cheese… but imagine if it were open 🤔, that would have also attracted attention.

This good moldy cow’s milk cheese is a milder blue cheese. It doesn’t have such a funky aroma like a strong smelling blue cheese that purposefully smells rotten (but is healthy).

The cheese is named after the Gorgonzola northern Italian town it came from that’s famous for the blue veined cheese.

As a creamy cheese (almost like a cream cheese texture but not quite as creamy), it blends in with all the flavorful ingredients of this bean Italian Salad.

The beans are what make this Italian bean salad pennies per bite.

Added cannellini beans are the white beans…

And like most beans, they are high in protein and fiber good for losing weight and a healthy diet.

Beans are almost always great adds for soups and salads.

These cannellini ones are used in main Italian soups like Tuscan Ribollita and is one you can substitute in an everyday minestrone.

Beans can sometimes be boring, but you won’t be missing any bites in this salad as each one is flavorfully loaded.

It’s great for intuitive or mindful eating to slow down and lavish the flavors.

You’ll also get more flavors from the walnuts and apples (or pears). This is a fully nutritious bowl that’s a mouthfully fun experience to chew on…

You get bitter (arugula, radicchio), slightly sweet (onions), citrusy, herby (pesto), acidic (balsamic) and balanced (spices).

You get soft (beans), creamy (gorgonzola), salty (capers), and crunchy (apple, walnuts) textures.

Ready to make this flavorful Italian bean salad? 🥗

Italian Bean Salad

In an Italian restaurant I worked in as a teen pantry helper, my job was to prepare salads and desserts! This one is inspired by that restaurant with great Italian ingredients you can find in most big grocery stores.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

arugula salad
radicchio
cannellini beans (white beans)
gorgonzola cheese (milder blue cheese) crumbles
pesto sauce (basil, pine nuts)
balsalmic vineger
oregano, lemon pepper, coriander, parsley
white onions (Vidalia or cipollino onion)
apple or pear (diced or sliced)
walnuts (optonal)
capers

Instructions

Add a bed of arugula.
Fill a radicchio leaf with a mixture of beans, cheese, capers, and onion.
Add fruit and walnut on the salad. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (or light vinegar of choice as an alternative) and pesto. Flavor with spices.