Healthy Eating with Koko dairy free yogurts and DRINKmaple Water

Koko Dairy Free Yogurts

My whole family are dedicated vegetarians, but my eldest daughter also follows a strict dairy free diet for health reasons. Over the years, I have developed a big interest in finding all the latest vegan products to hit the supermarket shelves and we enjoy lots of alternatives to dairy products, such as nut milks, soya cream and coconut spreads.

Koko Dairy Free has launched a brand new range of dairy, soya, gluten and nut free yogurts made with coconut milk and yogurt cultures in Strawberry, Peach & Passionfruit, Raspberry, Coconut & Lemon and Original Plain flavours. 

The fruity varieties are so creamy and delicious with real fruit pieces. They come in handy 125g twin packs that are perfect for lunchboxes. They are ideal for kids who are lactose intolerant and for vegans. RRP is £1.25 with stockists including Morison's and Ocado. Koko products are stocked in supermarkets and health food stores nationwide. See the range at www.kokodairyfree.com.

DRINKmaple Water

Staying hydrated is an important part of a healthy lifestyle with water being the best, simplest and easiest way of keeping our bodies naturally hydrated. I was very interested to learn of an exciting product on the market DRINKmaple, which is pure water taken straight from Vermont Maple trees. Nothing is added, it is just naturally fortified by Mother Nature inside the tree. I was given some to try out.

The Maple Water is naturally sweet and refreshing with a hint of maple. It contains 50% less natural sugar than coconut water, has natural electrolytes, antioxidants, prebiotics and minerals. It contains more manganese than a cup of  kale, is a good source of calcium and is naturally vegan and gluten free. The water is clear and refreshing, with the benefit of 46 naturally occurring nutrients. So it's like water - but naturally better!

Every morning I have a smoothie for breakfast with berries, spinach, banana and apple. I usually add water as a liquid, but I've switched to DRINKmaple Water. It adds a subtle hint of maple sweetness, and lots of replenishing nutrients, which is another great bonus.

Drinking it on its own, you can really taste the maple flavour. It is earthy and sweet, with just 8 calories per 100ml. Everytime you buy DRINKmaple, they will supply 200 gallons of clean water to countries in developing nations that have suffered drought or disaster, which is a lovely way of giving back.

Find out more at www.drinkmaple.eu and find DRINKmaple at Ocado, Wholefoods, Planet Organic and over 200 other stores, including Selfridges, Revital and Harvey Nichols. Three sizes are available: 250ml Tetra £1.99 / 355ml BPA free bottle £2.59 / 946ml Tetra £3.99.

Inspiring summer salad recipes

Sainsbury's are wanting to inspire the nation to be more creative with their vegetables after seeing a massive upturn in the sales of vegetables. Leading the way are avocado with sales up 147%, asparagus spears up 118%, broccoli up 40%, courgettes up 30% and bunched beetroot up 25%.

Sainsbury's has teamed up with raw vegan food artist and Instagrammer Amber Locke to create some gorgeous summer salads using seasonal vegetables and we were challenged to have a go at creating our own.

My daughter Megan has a plant based diet and is very creative when it comes to making delicious raw salads and vegan meals. So I enlisted her help to make a delicious salad using an array of seasonal salad vegetables, combining some wonderful flavours, colours and textures.

Megan's salad plate featured sundried tomato falafel; raw lemon, chilli, courgette & almond salad; lime, carrot, coriander & toasted cashew salad; tomato, avocado, spring onion & cucumber salsa with walnuts and home made houmous with smoky paprika. Everything is made from scratch and tastes delicious, making the most of the fresh salad vegetables available. The recipes are simple, but the combinations are full of flavour with zingy citrus or the heat of chilli to bring out the taste.

Carrot, Coriander and Toasted Cashew Salad

3 medium grated carrots
grated juice and zest of a lime
chopped fresh coriander
sprinkle of chilli flakes
small handful of toasted cashew nuts
salt and pepper

Pop the grated carrot, zest, juice, coriander and chilli flakes into a bowl and mix together. Season with s & p and sprinkle over the toasted cashews.

Lemon, Courgette, Chilli and Almond Salad

1 large courgette
juice  and zest of one lemon
half a red, deseeded, chopped chilli
small handful of flaked almonds
salt and pepper

Use a vegetable peeler to make ribbons of courgette. Mix with the juice, zest and the chilli. Season with s & p and sprinkle over the nuts.

Tomato, Avocado, Spring Onion & Cucumber Salsa

4 tomatoes - various colours
1 ripe avocodo
half a cucumber
4 spring onions
chopped fresh coriander
chopped walnuts
one teaspoon each of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar and olive oil
salt and pepper

Chop the tomato, avocado and cucumber into small cubes. Slice the spring onions thinly. Combine together with the coriander, the dressing ingredients, salt and pepper. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over the salsa.

Serving these salads with some home made falafel, houmous and some Romaine lettuce leaves makes a lovely, summer meal for four, packed with health giving vitamins and minerals.