I’m going to be a little controversial here and talk about my favourite salt brand on Low Salt Day (question: who else has a favourite salt brand?)

So our favourite salt brand is Cornish Sea Salt. A couple of months back we bought a packet of their seaweed and salt mix to try out. Partly to get more seaweed in our diet, partly to ease off a little salt. Kate’s a little worried about blood pressure. We’ve used the seaweed and salt mix in sauces and stuff where the extra umami was welcome. The plain seaweed flakes are amazing in stirfries. A little sprinkle for the extra flavour, especially with dishes that would traditionally have things like oyster or fish sauce. I love it.

Sorry but I seriously need a break. At least for an hour or two. I need something savoury. There has been too much sweet in my life recently. So this is a savoury snack post. And when it comes to savoury snacks I’m obsessed with Jerky.

I can never resist a primal strip but today it’s all about going packaging free so I thought I’d make my own. I cooked up a batch of Tofu Jerky from Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites (title checks out); it’s delicious and saucy right now but after being left to cool it gets chewy and almost impossibly meaty.

I’ll be snacking on this until I can face cake again.

So this is less ‘spicy without chillies’ and more ‘food without any hint of heat’ Kate can eat capsicums but she’ll complain a lot. When I’m cooking I have to adjust for her likes and dislikes. It’s not hard. Here’s what I do when I’m cooking one of our regular meals: Channa Massala.

Take this recipe by Vegan Richa. Obviously I’d take out the chilli flakes and chillies but I also make a lot of my spice mixes. In this recipe it’s a channa massala mix but I also do my own garam massala. Just so Kate never has to go near a chilli.

I know sugar free means different things to different people. In my life (in the coffee shop) when people ask me if something is sugar free what they usually mean is something refined sugar free.

So once again I welcome you into my home kitchen to see a treat that’s still in the test stages. Here I’m not just going for refined sugar free. We want something that’s raw. It also has to be stable at room temperature. I’ve been playing around with cookies, taking cues from those raw brownies I made last week I’m now making raw chocolate and coconut cookies, sweetened with agave nectar and dehydrated for stability. Once I have a working recipe, you’ll be the first to know but for now I’m having fun experimenting.