A great summer cocktail, perfect for enjoying with friends in the garden when the sun comes out.
Long Island Iced Coffee
This delicious boozy cocktail is every coffee lovers dream and the perfect after dinner drink.
Tom Parker Creamery Free-Range Milk – a delicious post rugby match recovery aid!
by Dr James Morehen, Performance Nutritionist
As a rugby player (or other professional athlete) think about how much milk you consume over the course of the day and subsequently over the week. Do you increase or decrease this in line with your training week and or when you are playing games?
According to rugby performance nutritionist James Morehen, from Bristol Bears Rugby, milk is a brilliant drink to be consuming daily to help with individual player goals and is one of the most nutritionally complete foods on the market today!
“Milk has many benefits for us as rugby players. It is full of vitamins and minerals that the body needs to not only be healthy but to support our body during heavy training blocks or games”. All the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) are found in milk in addition to the B complex vitamins and Vitamin C. Key minerals included are Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc among others which are fundamental for healthy bone growth especially considering our sport is a high impact collision sport we want to look after our bones!
Milk is also full of protein and carbohydrates, and this can be great if you are looking for some extra protein to help increase your total amount over the course of the day and carbohydrates to replenish your energy following a training session”
Last season, Tom Parker Creamery was instrumental in supporting my post-match nutrition strategy for the players. Rob and Niki supplied Tom Parker Creamery flavoured milks each week and we would take these all over the UK with us. Following a match, the players would drink one of the milks and this would really kick start the recovery from the match. Due to the nature of the sport, rugby players experience both exercise induced and impact induced muscle damage from the running distances and physical collisions respectively. I studied this during my PhD and recovery from match play is a key area which rugby players have to get right to ensure they present back into training on Monday. The milks are so handy, travel well and taste amazing, the boys loved them!
Morehen strongly advocates having a glass of milk pre-bed due to the composite profile of milk being 80% Casein and 20% whey protein meaning that it will help support, recover and grown our lean tissue mass whilst we sleep.
To add even more protein pre-bed, why not try Morehen’s late night smoothie recipe to give yourself a boost of muscle building macro- and micro-nutrients before you shut the eye lids off:
Recipe:
200ml milk
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp flaxseeds
1 serving of protein powder
2 tbsp of 0% Greek Yoghurt
1/3 avocado
Do:
Always consume protein pre-bed on heavy training days and after playing a game to help the body recovery.
Banana Fudge Pancakes
These Banana Fudge Pancakes are great for a weekend family breakfast. Top with plenty of whipped Double Cream, fudge sauce and sliced banana and you’re sure to be set up for the day.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
120g plain flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
240ml banana fudge flavoured milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 large egg
Vegetable oil for cooking
To serve
Double Cream, whipped
Fudge sauce
Sliced banana
Method:
• Preheat the oven to 200°F (90°C), with a heatproof plate ready to keep the cooked pancakes warm in the oven.
• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, butter and egg. Pour the dry ingredients into the milk mixture, and stir until combined (do not over mix).
• Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat, and coat generously with vegetable oil.
• For each pancake, spoon 2 or 3 tablespoons of batter into the pan. Cook until the surface of pancakes have some bubbles, usually about 1 minute. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until brown on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more.
Transfer to the heatproof plate, cover with foil and keep warm in the oven until serving.
Serve with whipped double cream, lashings of fudge sauce and sliced banana.
Chocolate Martini
This one’s for adults only and takes our chocolate milk to a whole new level! Just what you need on a Saturday night.
Banana Fudge Rice Pudding
A family favourite with a bit of a twist using our Banana Fudge milk. It would work just as well with Chocolate Milk and we’d recommend giving it a whirl.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
700ml whole milk
500ml banana fudge flavoured milk
140g pudding rice
80g caster sugar
Knob butter
Method:
• Preheat the oven to 140 C / Gas 2. Butter a large ovenproof dish.
• Pour the milk and banana fudge milk into a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
• Stir in rice and sugar.
• Pour the milk and rice mixture into the ovenproof dish. Top with the knob of butter and bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Stir the pudding halfway through baking.
Serve with a huge dollop of your favourite jam.
Strawberry & White Chocolate Hot Chocolate
Warming our Strawberries & Cream flavoured milk with some white chocolate chips makes a great alternative to the usual hot chocolate – the whole family will love it!
Ingredients:
500ml Strawberries & Cream flavoured milk
100ml double cream
1 tsp sugar
100g white chocolate chips
100g strawberries
Toppings of your choice we love marshmallows, more white chocolate chips and strawberries.
Method:
• In a medium sizes saucepan mix the Strawberries & Cream flavoured milk, cream and sugar. Slowly warm.
• Once the liquid is starting to warm up, stir in the white chocolate chips.
• While it continue to warm, put the strawberries and one cup of the warm mixture into a blend. Blend until smooth and then pour back into the saucepan.
• Warn the liquid through to just before boiling.
• Pour into mugs and top with all your favourite toppings.
Enjoy!