#FashionableFruitFriday - Natural DIY Lip Sugar Scrubs Recipes

Photo Credit: .craig via Compfight cc

Cold weather can be a real pain in the peaches. Winter is a beauty battlefield and dry hair, dry skin and, of course, dry lips are the casualties. It can be hard traversing the makeup counters and pharmacies in the rainy, bitter months for a lip product that ticks all your boxes: moisturising, hydrating, cheap, long-lasting, exfoliating, natural - to name a few.

However, if you can see your office fruit box from across the room; it's sweet, delicious, natural treats just crying out to be eaten then you may be in luck - and be saving yourself from an expensive trek to the lip care aisle.

The restorative, beauty-enhancing effects of fruit have long been embraced - especially by us here at Fruit For The Office HQ! - so why shouldn't you be using them to keep dry, chapped lips at bay?


Edible Lip Sugar Scrub Recipe

• brown or white sugar
• extra virgin coconut oil
• fruit, essential oils or natural flavourings of your choice
• small airtight container to store it in

- Take whatever size container you want to store your lip scrub in and fill it halfway up with your sugar to measure.

- Remove the sugar then transfer to a mixing bowl

- Measure the coconut oil in the container as well, ensuring it also fills up to halway to get a 1:1 ratio of sugar to oil

- Transfer the measured oil to the mixing bowl then add your selected fruit, essential oils or natural flavourings at this point 

- Gently combine the sugar, oil and added ingredients together, making sure not to let the sugar granules dissolves by mixing for too long

- Spoon the scrub into your chosen container and refrigerate to keep it fresh for around 2-3 weeks, remove  from fridge five minutes before use to let soften

Flavour Ideas:

• Freshly squeezed Orange or Lemon juice and Honey 

The sweet combination of vitamin-packed citrus and soothing honey will have your lips kiss ready in no time

• Pumpkin puree and Cinnamon

Not only will your lip scrub taste like a winter dessert, pumpkin is full of skin saving Vitamin E! However, if using pumpkin puree, use it instead of the coconut oil in the recipe.

• Cranberry and Vanilla

Finely chopped dried cranberries are easy to order from your office fruit supplier and taste amazing combined with natural vanilla flavouring - just be sure not to eat the entire batch before your lips have had a pampering!



Tweet us @office_fruit and let us know your favourite winter dry skin remedies or leave them in the comments below!

As always, be sure to do a 48-hour patch test for all of these ingredients and recipes because although it's all natural, it doesn't mean it will have the same effect on everyone's skin!

#FitFruitFriday - Healthy Paleo Protein Pancakes Recipes

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At Fruit for the Office HQ, it's unanimous that pancakes are the best of the best when it comes to breakfast food.

And we're not talking about those thin, flimsy crepe pancakes - oh no - we're dreaming of their big, chunky, fluffy, melt-in-the-mouth American counterparts. 

Of course, these babies have had to sit tight in our subconscious as our new years resolutions put such delicacies on an indefinite hiatus.

But this was until we discovered the wonderful world of paleo pancakes: pancakes which are good for you and packed full of our favourite fruits. Control yourself, people, because we're about to share the secret to the world's best breakfast (Don't say we aren't good to you)

Lemon, Raspberry and Strawberry Pancakes

Photo Credit: avlxyz via Compfight cc

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups very fine ground blanched almond flour 
• 1/2 tsp baking soda 
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 large eggs 
• 5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup raspberries
• 1/4 cup strawberries
• Butter or oil for frying

Method:

End of Three Fitness - Paleo Lemon Berry Pancakes Recipe

Banana Oat Pancakes

Photo Credit: Chanock Sanchez via Compfight cc

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/4 cups milk (nut or dairy)
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• butter or oil for frying

Method:

Beauty That Moves - Banana Oat Pancake Recipe

Apple, Banana and Cinnamon Pancakes

Photo Credit: *tamara* via Compfight cc

Ingredients: 

• 2 eggs, whisked
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1 peeled apple, diced small
• 2 tbs almond butter
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Butter or oil for frying

Method:

Paleo Newbie - Apple Cinnamon Banana Pancake Recipe

Paleo is essentially a low/no carbohydrate diet - also referred to as the caveman diet due to it's emphasis on cutting out processed food and grains.

It's really easy to stick to and has a huge focus on 5-a-day, so start hoarding the spoils from your office fruit box before the other fitness warriors in your office catch wind of your pancake plans...

Tweet us @office_fruit with your favourite fruit pancake toppings and we'll get searching for the perfect recipe for you! Also, let us know in the comments if you want some more fruity paleo recipes for other meals - we'd be happy to oblige once we've finished our third stack of pancakes.

#FitFruitFriday - Healthy Fruit Breakfasts

Be it a chocolate-filled croissant with a large Frappuccino or the greasy temptation of a McMuffin, the commute to work can be a healthy eater's worst nightmare. Blame it on boredom or hormones for causing the cravings but the main culprit is always skipping a balanced breakfast. You may think skipping out on the most important meal of the day will help you onto the path of losing weight or that your cereal bar packed full of sugar will be enough to last you till noon but you couldn't be more wrong. Eating a great, fruit-filled breakfast keeps you fuller for longer and helps you on the path to looking and feeling your best. So, save yourself the money and the empty calories by giving to-go breakfasts the shove and start picking out the perfect porridge topping from your office fruit supplier.

• Porridge with fruit

Any type of fruit tends to go great with porridge, from blueberries and strawberries to bananas and raisins. If you're missing sprinkling sugar over your bowl of deliciousness then add a teaspoon of honey or add some cinnamon to perk you up.

• Fruit Salad

Needs no explanation - chop up whatever fruit you fancy from your office fruit box and scoff it down with whichever toppings you like. Easy peasy!

• Yoghurt with granola and fruit

Easy to whip up in a hurry and can even be enjoyed in a tupperware during the dreaded commute! Flavoured strained yoghurt or plain greek yoghurt always tastes the best with some sweet oaty granola. Here's our simple granola recipe that'll keep for a whole month:

1. Preheat oven to 150c/130c fan/gas mark 2
2. Mix 300g rolled oats, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 125ml maple syrup, 2 tbsp honey and 1 tsp of vanilla extract in a large bowl
3. Add any seeds or nuts you wish at this point e.g. sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds
4. Tip onto two baking sheets ensuring it is spread evenly
5. Bake for 15 mins then add any dried fruits or unsweetened coconut you wish.
6. Bake for a further 10-15 mins before removing and leaving to cool
7. Once cool, store in an airtight container, ready to be enjoyed!

• Cottage cheese topped with fruit

Whether it be flavoured, plain, low-fat or full-fat, just top it with any assortment of fruit you like, along with some nuts or seeds too - for a protein & fibre-filled crunch!

• Banana Cocoa Pancakes

The Healthy Foodie has graced our tastebuds with this these angelic but sinfully delicious chocolate pancakes. We've omitted the recipe for the sauce so you'll have to go to her for that but we assure you it's just as delicious as you're imagining.

• ½ banana
• ½ cup coconut water
• ½ cup egg whites
• ½ cup spelt flour
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee granules
• A pinch of salt

1. Mix all ingredients together using a food processor
2. Coat a frying pan with cooking spray on a high heat
3. Pour a dollop onto the pan and once little bubbles form on the top, then flip.
4. Cook other side for approx 30 seconds then transfer to warm oven whilst you cook the rest
5. Stack them up and garnish with the low-fat chocolate sauce and raspberries/strawberries/bananas

What's your favourite healthy breakfast this new year? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @office_fruit with your most Instagram-worthy photos of your morning meal!

Photo Credit: | 1 |

Five Favourite Fruit Posts Of The Month

As summer comes to a close we thought we’d turn our attention to some sunshine recipes. We’re talking about those food and drink items that you only really crave and cook in the sunny months. Throughout August, the blogosphere was ripe with summery fruity recipes perfect for devouring in the blazing sun.

As we're hit with what looks like the final heat wave of the year, cook up some of these dishes and soak up the last few days of sunshine. Pretty soon it will cold and damp and all you’ll want is an apple crumble!

Daily Dish Recipes

Firstly let’s cleanse the pallet with a cool refreshing drink. On National Lemon Day, Nicole over at the Daily Dish treated us to this delicious Lemon and Lavender Drink.

Soni's Food For Thought

The trick with a summer desert is to create something quick, fresh and indulgent. You’ll find all three in Soni's Mango and Strawberry Cream recipe

That Skinny Chick Can Bake

You may not automatically thing of pastry when planning a summer desert, but this light flaky Berry Galette is topped with summer berries making it perfect for a summer evening. 

Cafe Terra Blog

Banana Ice-cream With Only One Ingredient? Where do we sign up! This recipe definitely ticks the quick and easy box and it looks pretty delicious too. The final brown colour may have been a slight error, but we like it as it makes the dish look really sweet and nutty. YUM!

Happy Food Healthy Life

And to round off our five faves of the the month we have this impressive Blueberry and Peach Salsa. It's great on it's own with some flat bread or on the side of a meal - the sweetness adds a nice element to a salty dish.

If you try any of these treats out this week, make sure you send us your pics!

Five Favourite Fruit Posts of The Month

We love fruit. We like eating it as it comes, mixing into salads and we can’t get enough of having it cooked into desserts. For the past month, we've been keeping our eyes peeled across the web on the look out for incredible recipes using our favourite ingredients. There have been loads of excellent recipes from bbqd stone fruits to fruit filled tarts. But there have been some that we have dreamt about, salivated over and even tested out over here in Fruit HQ

Here are our five faves from July

The Food Yenta 

With the British strawberry harvest doing us proud this year in spite of the torrential rain we though we’d kick of with this twist on a classic. Early on this month The Food Yenta treated us to this delicious Strawberry Shortcake Trifle recipe

Baker Street

Then on to another classic British ingredient – cherries. Baker Street whipped up these utterly sophisticated Cherry and White Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Muffins. With her fab photography to boot we were drooling over these in Fruit HQ.

Cafe Terra Blog 

Things were starting to heat up when we found this delicious recipe for Refreshing Watermelon Lime Sorbet over on the Café Terra Blog. Two fresh fruits, one light scrummy desert – we were in heaven!  

 

Tinned Tomatoes

A recent tasty treat from Tinned Tomatoes is this Raspberry and White Chocolate Ripple Ice Cream. This super fast recipe takes just 25 minutes to prepare then you just stick it in the freezer and ignore it till you’re ready to serve. Couldn’t be easier.

 

You Made That

Last but not least, if you’re a fan of the Brit fave apple turnovers then this is a desert for you. You Made That gave us this great recipe for Blueberry Hand Pies. This simple desert comprises of hot fruit and flaky pastry – what more could you ask for.

Any of these got you itching to get in the kitchen?

Enjoy the British Summer with Naughty Fruit Desserts

With all the cold, wind and potential flood warnings, it's easy to forget it's July. All those promises you made to diet on sweet, chilled fruit and jog in the warm summer air have been demolished by the need for comfort food and raincoats. So, with bikini season slowly drifting away in a wash of rain, it may be time to get back on the desserts... Not that us here at Fruit For the Office are bad influences or anything but, really, with all the horrible weather downing your mood, it might just be time to treat yourself - and all these desserts can be made with our office fruit, so they can't be that bad, right?

Fruit Salad

Starting with the most basic of all fruit desserts, and the healthiest too, fruit salad is so easy to make and you can use any fruit you fancy from your London office fruit supplier. Here's a simple recipe for you that has a little naughtiness with the optional addition of syrup:

Take any fruit you fancy - most commonly used are melon, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, orange, apple but use your imagination - and peel and cut larger fruit into small, edible chunks.
If you want to add some syrup then take 8 tablespoons of water and mix in a saucepan with 200g of caster sugar. Heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool then pour into bowls, mix the chopped fruit in and serve.

Apple Pie or Crumble

The ultimate comfort dessert, this is also one of the most welcome accompaniments to Sunday lunch.

Easily made with pastry and crumble from scratch or pre-made packets from the supermarket, it can be modified in a variety of delicious ways, with plenty of cinnamon or ginger or with another variety of fruit such as blackberries, rhubarb or pear.

Eton Mess

Another British institution, Eton Mess is an easy, fuss-free and delicious dessert that suits the warmer months (despite how little it currently resembles summer!)

This sweet treat is easy to make by whipping 250ml of double cream until it has soft peaks. Then break 4 meringue nests into pieces and add to the cream. Once you've folded the meringue in, take either 350g of de-stalked and cut up strawberries or 200g of strawberries and 150g of raspberries and fold into the mixture. Divide the mixture into bowls or glasses and serve.



What's your favourite fruit dessert? Let us know in the comments below!

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Passion Fruit Pimms Recipe

Summer is back (for now) and we better make the most of it. We thought we’d share with you our delicious twist on the classic summer drink – Pimms. This passion fruit infused cocktail brings a tropical twist to the traditional tipple that will leave you feeling like you’re in Hawaii rather than Hackney. We like to call it, Passionate Pimms.

Ingredients

200 ml Pimms

300 ml Lemonade

2 Passion Fruits

A Few Slices of Orange

Chopped Cucumber

Strawberries - Quartered

Any other fruit left over from your office fruit delivery

Handful of Mint

Serves 4

Directions

Take a large jug and fill it up with ice

Scoop out the flesh of the passion fruits and add to the jug

Place in the mint, and chopped fruit and cucumber

Pour the Pimms on top, followed by the lemonade

Give the whole jug a good stir using the handle of a wooden spoon – any other utensil you have lying around

Just add a few passion fruits to your Pimms O’ Clock Basket and hey presto, you’ve got a quick tropical tipple for a midweek office treat. 

Olympic Fruits – What To Eat Before and After Exercise

The Olympics. They’re on their way and we, as a nation, are officially excited. Fact. So excited, in fact that many parts of the country have noted an increase in gym membership sign ups over the past few months. It seems that the nation has taken the pledge to support Team GB by indulging in a little heart rate rising activity of their own.

All over the capital, office workers will be fitting in a trip to the gym, a run or bike ride before or after their stint in the office. So here are some top tips on the perfect office snacks to prepare and revitalise your body after feeling the burn.

Before Exercise

In order to get the most out of your workout, you’re going to need a little extra energy to get you going - especially if you’re going to exercise in the morning. Pick a 100 – 200 calorie high glycemic snack to get you going. Raid the office fruit bowl for these fast burning energy foods that will give you the boost you need to get the most out of your work out.

• 1 Large Banana
• 300g Mango
• 400g Pineapple
• 400g Watermelon

After Exercise

Once you’re all puffed out, you need to snack on something that will restore your energy. However rather reaching for something that will give you a quick boost, it’s best to go for a slow releasing carb, protein or non-saturated fat. This will hopefully keep you going until your next meal.

• Handful of cashew nuts
• Half an avocado
• Peanut butter on a rice cake

Indulging in these snacks before and after your exercise routine should keep you full till lunch/dinner. You don’t want to ruin your efforts by reaching for the office biscuit tin!

Fruit and veg may help you kick the smoking habit

A study was published by the University of Buffalo in Science Daily yesterday that showed correlation between the cosumption of fruit and veg and the amount of cigarettes a person smokes.

The study found that smokers who ate more fruit and veg were three times more likely to not touch a cigeratte for at least 30 days than people who consumed less fruit and veg.

It also suggested that smokers who consumed more fruit and veg smoked less cigarettes a day. They also smoked their first cigarette later in the day and had a lower score on nicotine dependence.

So, if you're a smoker trying to quit the habit, what tastier, easier and healthier way is there to do it than eating fruit?

Try these options to help you kick the butt:

Carrot Batons

Studies have shown that when quitting smoking, it's sometimes the craving of having something between your fingers that hits the hardest. So the carrot stick is not only a tasty, crunchy snack, it's also a cigarette shaped subsitute to twiddle with - who said playing with your food wasn't good for you?!

Steve Hopson, www.stevehopson.com

Bananas

A huge reason people rely on smoking, especially during office hours, is to combat stress. Well, bananas - as well as berries, mangos, cherries and kiwi - are rich in vitamin C that produces serotonin that helps relax you like nothing else can. So next time you try to use a smoky cigaratte as a relaxtion tool, think about how much more relaxing, satisfying and delicious fruit would be instead.


So when you next think of stopping smoking, try Fruit for The Office for fruit and veg that will not only help you in your quest but is also delivered directly to your office.

Top 5 Unhealthy Food Crutches

We all have our food crutches. Those snacks and tipples that we feel we can not get through the day without. More time than not, these crutches are not exactly the healthiest option for us. Here is a list of popular unhealthy food and drink crutches and the alternatives that will help to satisfy the craving.

CRUTCH: Energy Drinks REPLACEMENT: Cup Of Coffee and a Banana

More and more office workers are relying on energy drinks to get them through the day. As well as the handy energy boosting caffeine they also contain a high amount of sugar. Swap your energy drink for a cup of coffee – where you will get your caffeine fix – and a banana. The fruit sugars in a banana are much better for you than those in energy drinks but will still give you the boost you need to get you through the afternoon.

CRUTCH: Chocolate Bar REPLACEMENT: Pineapple

For many, a chocolate bar is the standard way to round off your lunch at work every day. For most people, it is the craving for something sweet that sees them regularly falling back on this familiar crutch. Replace your chocolate bar for some super sweet chopped pineapple to get your sugar fix.

CRUTCH: Ice-cream REPLACEMENT: Frozen Fruit

As the weather gets warmer it becomes almost natural to reach for a lunchtime ice-cream or ice-lolly to cool down. The abundance of cream, fat and sugar in these products mean they should be reserved for extra special treats. Instead try placing some fruit in the freezer to create a much healthier ice cold treat. Grapes, berries and bananas all work well.

CRUTCH: Biscuits REPLACEMENT: Dried Fruit

In offices and homes across the country the general consensus is that a biscuit or two is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea. Dried fruit, can provide you with a quick sweet treat to go with your hot beverage. As the fruit has been dehydrated the flavours are more concentrated. Whilst they may be contain more sugars than fresh fruit, the intense flavour will probably mean you eat less.

CRUTCH: Crisps REPLACEMENT: Japanese Rice Crackers

As a nation, Brits eat more crisps than the rest of Europe put together. They’ve become the go-to product for a quick, crunchy afternoon snack. However with each packet containing around 2 and half teaspoons of oil, crisps are certainly not a healthy eating option. Japanese rice crackers on the other hand are a much healthier, low fat option that will fulfil your craving for a crunchy savoury snack.