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As you can tell by now, we are terrible at getting ‘Foodie Friday’ blog posts out on time – hey ho better late than never! Luckily being in Uganda means we are 2 hours ahead; whatever time I get this in, it’s 2 hours earlier than what it would have been if we were in the UK. We try to encourage seasonal and local products, so being on the equator with super rich soils, the fruit you get from Uganda is next level. It seemed only rude to not use these to our advantage! Don’t let the frog’s-spawn look discourage you – this pudding is AMAZING. Not only that, it’s cheap to make (with local fruits), easy to make with minimal effort involved, and can easily look impressive.  Out of curiosity, we decided to cost out how much our ingredients were: 2 small sweet bananas (the same size as 2/3 ‘normal’ banana) = 100 shillings (~2p) 5 passionfruit = 1000 shillings (~21p) Mango = free (from our garden!) 2 cans of Coconut milk ~10000 shillings (~£2.04) Chia = 6000 shillings (~£1.28) For 10 puddings, we spent in total ~£3.55, making each dessert cost a huge ~36p! (Obviously for the UK prices will change due to ingredients) Just a little about these ingredients…. The mango I found on the floor, underneath the mango tree in the garden! Normally monkeys or insects get them before we do so I was lucky to grab one in this case. The passionfruit and bananas are sourced from the local market, 5 minutes away, and all grown locally. We do sometimes get bananas in our garden, but not at the moment. Chia seeds are readily available in Uganda – and YES that does make them pretty cheap! (for once). For all you chia lovers, you’d hate to know that you can buy them a kilo at a time in the supermarkets if you want AND they’re organic. The final ingredient is coconut milk - one of my all-time favourite cupboard staples. Being so versatile, you can use it in both savoury and sweet dishes; I use it all the time in curries, sauces, soups, desserts, vegan ice cream etc. This pudding is Gluten Free, Vegan, No Added Sugar and Paleo I did not need to add in any sugar in this case as the fruit seems to be ‘sweet on steroids’ in Uganda. If you fancy it sweeter, you can add in date syrup, maple syrup, agave nectar, honey derivatives, honey (non-vegans), etc to your taste. Prep time: 5-10 minutes Chill time: 4 hours/overnight Serves: 10 Ingredients 2 cans coconut milk 125g chia seeds (for a more solid mixture add more) 1/2 mango 2 sweet small bananas (3/4 ‘normal’ banana) 5 passionfruit Method 1. Combine the coconut milk and chia seeds in a bowl and mix well. 2. I added in 3 passionfruit and a small amount of chopped mango, mix well to combine with the coconut-chia mix. (Give the mixture a taste, and if you want to add in some sweetness, now is the time to do it!) 3. Pour into small glasses / ramekins / jars 4. Put into the fridge and leave for a minimum of 4 hours 5. Chop up the remaining fruit and arrange on top as to your liking Other tasty combinations - Toasted coconut flakes, cacao nibs and date syrup - Cinnamon, apple (or apple coated with cinnamon and brown sugar), raisin - Passionfruit, fresh orange juice and zest - Summer fruits - Fruit and nut mix Enjoy! Love, Lemon & Jinja X

For many of you who know me, there are two things that must be surprising you right about now: 1. The fact I have decided on a 'plan' 2. The fact I have decided to stick around in England! A quick introduction but we will delve deeper another time... For those of you who do not know me - my name is Jess Dugdale and I am 24 years old. Grace is my older sister and is 26 years old. Our family has been based in Romsey and Braishfield since my parents got married and we've been coming and going ever since! In 2009 our family moved to Uganda as our parents set up the charity ServeDirect (definitely check it out!) with another couple. My sister and I went to international school in Kampala, Uganda and had a great time growing up there. Jinja is a town in Uganda, well-known for its white water rafting and for being the source of the Nile. When creating the name, it seemed suitable to create a link between Uganda and England, hence 'Lemon and Jinja'! I first moved back to England for university, which was a big shock, and continued to visit Uganda. I studied Management with Marketing and then completed a Masters in International Management straight after (both at Exeter). A week after handing in my dissertation I had booked a flight to Uganda and headed back again! I went to intern with Rhino Fund Uganda, mainly to help them with their marketing. It was honestly one of the best experiences I had (I will post about it another time) and I am always recommending it to anyone and everyone! After that I was a manager of a safari lodge in a Ugandan game park for five months, before heading back to the UK. So when I say people are surprised I am settling in the UK, and WITH a plan, you can now understand why! I am so excited for this adventure and will update you on Lemon & Jinja as much as I can. I cannot thank you enough for your support so far and look forward to working with you all.   X