Recipes, Slimming World, Baking, DIY, Tutorials, Homemade

Easy Cookies

2012-02-01T10:14:00.000Z

This past weekend I was craving some cookies. I didn't want to make a full batch as there would only be Adam and I eat to them, and I couldn't be bothered weighing ingredients or making loads of mess so I experimented with a recipe and ended up making just three cookies. These were so good, they were soft and cakey and lovely!

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp self raising flour
3 tbsp oats
3 tbsp raisins
½ beaten egg

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C
Melt butter and peanut butter together (I did mine by microwaving it for 30 secs)
Add dry ingredients
Add the egg, but add it carefully as you don't want it to be too wet
Shape into balls (I got 3 out of mine) and place on non stick baking tray
Press down with a fork slightly
Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown

I'm married!

2012-01-27T10:39:00.000Z

For anyone that doesn't know, I married my partner Adam on the 27th December 2011 on our 8th anniversary (cheesy, we know!). It was absolutely perfect and I feel so lucky. I wanted to share a couple of photos that I took at the evening reception with my instant camera. They aren't fantastic quality but that's the joy of instant photos I suppose! Our proper photos taken by our wedding photographer will be featured on the Whimsical Wonderland Wedding blog, and I'll be sure to post the link once they're up!

Sorry that it's been a bit quiet on the blog this past month - things were hectic with Christmas and then the wedding! Now that I've changed my name to my married one, I've been working on a new website for my photography website too which has taken up a lot of time, as that's one of my goals for this year - to grow my photography business. Fingers crossed it all goes well! I know it's a little late, but I hope you all had a fab Christmas and New Year. I can't believe it's already been a year since my last New Years post!

Fish Curry

2012-01-04T13:56:00.004Z

I'm done with feeling sad that Christmas is over for another year, and now I'm looking forward to 2012 and all that it might bring. This knowledge was cemented for me when I was trying to decide what to have for dinner tonight, I suddenly remembered my Turkey Curry recipe. Another sign that Christmas is well and truly done for me though: not being able to face the idea of even one more mouthfull of turkey.

So I had a look in the freezer, and we had some fish that had been there a while... Hmm. One of my favourite dishes to get when we go out for a curry is a fish curry, so I decided to swap the turkey for fish, and let me tell you - it was delicious! We enjoyed this with some rice and naan bread. I made it exactly the same as the original recipe, just substituted haddock for turkey, although I suspect any white fish would be just as good.

'Joy' Christmas Gift Tags

2011-12-12T13:43:00.000Z

So as promised, here are the second lot of Christmas gift cards. You can see how to make the glitter star gift tags here.

You will need:

Card
Pencil
Scissors
PVA glue
Glitter - either to match or contrast with your card
Ruler
Hole punch
Sheet of paper

Method:

1. Divide your piece of card up into squares or rectangles. Size is up to you - the one in this picture is about 2 inches square, but I made some smaller ones too.
2. Cut out using pinking shears - this will give you a nice fancy edge but if you don't have them, don't worry, regular scissors will be fine too!
3. Using a hole punch, punch a hole in one of the corners of your shape - this is for threading the ribbon through.
4. The glue I used had a thin nozzle for the glue to come out of, otherwise using a paintbrush, write the word "joy" on your square.
5. Holding the square over the sheet of paper, tip glitter all over the glue word. Make sure that it's completely covered.
6. Leave your square on the piece of paper to dry.
7. Repeat for all remaining squares. You could try different words too, I made some which said "snow" and "noel"
8. When tags are dry (I left mine in a warm room overnight to make sure they were completely dry), tap each tag over the paper on the surface to get rid of any excess glitter. Move all tags to the side.
9. Carefully tip any glitter on the paper back into the tube or container it came from.
10. Write on the back of them, and use them to decorate your gifts!

Handmade Christmas Gift Tags

2011-12-09T12:31:00.001Z

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in our little house! The tree is up (which by the way, Izzy is obsessed with. If she's not laying in front of it, she's snuggling up under it!) and everything is officially in full swing.

For once, I actually have all Adam's presents sorted. I still have a couple of bits to get him, but I actually know what I'm getting. That in itself is a little Christmas miracle - normally I have absolutely no idea, that boy is impossible to buy for!

Shopping for Christmas presents then wrapping them up is easily one of my favourite things about Christmas. I love to give gifts, especially when you can tell the person you've got them for really loves it! And I like to try and make my gifts look nice too, especially since I have them sitting under my tree for the entire month. This month, I thought it would be really nice to make my own gift tags for the presents. It was so easy, and I enjoyed doing it so much, I thought I'd share how I did them.

You will need:

Card
Pencil
Scissors
PVA glue
Glitter to match card
Star template or stencil
Hole punch
Sheet of paper

Method:

1. I used a star shaped cookie cutter, and drew around this onto some red card.
2. Cut out the stars.
3. Using a hole punch, punch a hole in one of the corners of the star. We'll use this to thread the ribbon through later.
4. Spread glue thinly and evenly over one of your cardboard stars.
5. Holding the star over the sheet of paper, tip glitter all over the star on the side that you've just spread glue onto. Make sure that it's completely covered.
6. Leave your star on the piece of paper to dry.
7. Repeat for all remaining stars.
8. When stars are dry (I left mine in a warm room overnight to make sure they were completely dry), tap each star over the paper on the surface to get rid of any excess glitter. Move all stars to the side.
9. Carefully tip any glitter on the paper back into the tube or container it came from.
10. Write on the back of them, and use them to decorate your gifts!

Note: After drying, I noticed my stars were a little bit bent in the middle. To fix this, I just laid the stars on my desk, and put a heavy book over them. After a couple of hours, they were perfectly flat again!

Check back on Monday for the how-to for the 'Joy' Christmas tags that I made! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Pickled Onions

2011-12-08T13:38:00.001Z

Let me ask a question - does any other country eat pickled onions, or is it a British thing? I can't remember if I ever saw them when I spent some time abroad, but to be honest, although I've always liked them I've only recently become obsessed with them!

If you've never had them, or even heard of them, they're definitely something to try if you like onions. Tart, crunchy and ever so slightly sweet, they go perfectly with a salad, sandwich, cheese or just as a quick snack - popping one straight out of the jar and into your mouth ;)

Pickled Onions

Ingredients:

500ml jar
300g pickling onions (or just tiny onions - these were about 1" diameter at the most)
1 tbsp sugar
White wine vinegar

Method:

1. Sterilise your jar. I just boiled mine along with the lid for about a minute.
2. Prepare onions - cut off the bottoms, and then make a slit in the side and peel off the skin and top layer of onion.
3. Put the tbsp of sugar into your jar, and add just enough boiling water to get all the sugar to dissolve.
4. Add onions to jar.
5. Add vinegar, ensuring that all onions are covered.
6. Store in a cupboard or pantry until ready to eat, leave them for at least two weeks so they can properly pickle themselves, but they will last for ages. My Mum used to always make hers at the beginning of October to eat at Christmas, and they'd last us for months.

'Tis the Season

2011-12-05T11:14:00.002Z

During this time of year, with the holidays fast approaching it's a good idea to have some party food ideas that don't take long to put together. Friends and family tend to stop by with only a moments notice and stay for a drink or two, and I always like to have something to serve them when they do. Not only that, but it's the season of parties and whether you're hosting or attending them, it's always good to have a plate of something delicious to take with you!

During December, I'm going to be posting lots of wonderful recipes which are perfect for the holiday season.

Starting with these: Candied Nuts! They're perfect as a last minute thing to throw together while your guests are on their way over. Just four simple ingredients which you'll probably have in your cupboards anyway, and they take about 10 minutes to make!

Ingredients:

1 cup of whole nuts - any kind you like!
Knob of butter or margarine

¼ cup sugar
Splash of vanilla extract

Method:

1. Line a baking tray with greaseproof/parchment paper
2.. Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. You don't need a lot of butter, just a little and you could even omit it completely if you wanted.
3.. Add nuts and sugar.
4. Stir to coat the nuts in sugar, the sugar should start to melt and turn a light brown colour. Keep stirring to coat fairly evenly.
5. Add splash of vanilla and stir. The vanilla will cause the mixture to sizzle up but that's fine.
5. Tip out onto prepared baking tray. Try to spread them evenly so they don't stick together too much.
6. Leave to cool, then break up any that have still managed to stick together, and serve!

Note: These are especially good while they're still slightly warm, and you might want to double or even treble the recipe depending on how many guests you're having as they're so more-ish!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2011-12-03T15:32:00.000Z

I've got a naked Christmas tree in the corner of my living room, a steak and mushroom pie innards in the slow cooker, I managed to make it into town for some bits before it started pouring with rain and now I'm cuddled up on the sofa with my puppy. A perfect cozy day!

I can't wait for Adam to get home from work so we can get our tree decorated! This Christmas feels really special to me, not least because we're getting married two days after Christmas day. We're properly settled in our house - last year, we'd only moved in a month before and money was a bit tight after two years of renovations. I feel like I'm in a really happy place this year, and it really does feel wonderful.

I've got quite a few little projects and recipes (including a series of party food ideas!) to post throughout December so please check back often! Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Turkey Curry

2011-11-30T10:35:00.000Z

There hasn't been a new recipe on the blog for a little while now, due to being swamped with schoolwork last week! Poor Adam didn't get a single home cooked meal for the entire week. I tried to make it up to him yesterday, by putting this curry in the slow cooker, so it would be ready and waiting for him as soon as he got home from work!

Turns out trying to make a curry look photogenic is quite difficult - for me at least!

Turkey Curry

Based on this curry.

Ingredients:

600g turkey breast, cut into bite sized pieces (you can use an equal amount of any meat or veggies you'd like)
500ml passatta
200ml light coconut milk
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp turmeric
1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp dried coriander
1 tbsp cayenne pepper (warning: this curry is very spicy. If you don't like it as hot then take this down to ½ tbsp or 1 tsp, adjust to taste. Remember it's easier to make something more spicy than it is to make something less spicy!)
3 green cardamom pods
Black pepper

Method:

1. Finely chop onions, place in a saucepan sprayed with frylight (or other non stick spray) and cook slowly over a very low heat. Add a small splash of water if they seem like they are starting to stick, and stir often.
2. Add garlic cloves and passatta, and simmer for five minutes
3. Optional: Adam hates lumps of onion in his sauces so I always do this step, but you don't have to. I transferred the sauce into a blender, and carefully (it's hot!) blended.
4. Add turkey to slow cooker, season well with black pepper and pour sauce over.
5. Add spices and coconut milk and stir to combine
6. Leave in slow cooker for about four hours. Ensure turkey is cooked through before serving with rice.

Serves 4.
Syns: 2.5 per serving

Brocolli, Sweet Potato and Cheddar Cakes

2011-11-29T13:21:00.000Z

I made these a couple of weeks ago, based on this recipe. So good!

The finished product!

2011-11-25T14:14:00.000Z

My dried apple rings are ready!

I made these for a Christmas hamper that is to be raffled off for work, so I tried to package them up nicely! I put them in a clean, sterilised jar then tied a square of fabric around the top with wool. I hope whoever wins the hamper enjoys them (I snuck one out to try and they're lovely)!

My favourite fruit

2011-11-22T09:32:00.000Z

So happy to see these in the shops and markets, a true sign of autumn and one of my favourite fruits. Makes me so incredibly excited for Christmas!

A Bonfire Night Repeat

2011-11-18T12:33:00.000Z

It's Friday!! I'm so excited for the weekend this week, more so than normal! Adam and I have finally got a full weekend off together, which is a rarity. On Saturday we're going to go wedding ring and log fire shopping, then off to watch the new Twilight film! And on Sunday we'll have a long walk with Izzy, followed by a drink in the pub and a delicious Sunday dinner as I have a new recipe that I'm itching to try. I can't wait!

I just thought I'd take some time now to share a few photos from last weekend. The week before had been Bonfire night but Adam's nephews couldn't come to our little bonfire party as they were on their holidays, so we had a repeat last weekend too. There were less people, so I felt I was able to relax a little more and spend a bit more time taking ~~photos~~ things in!

Everything was pretty much the same, apart from I had time to make some amaretto hot chocolate, which was absolutely divine!

The photo with the half-full mug and marshmallow doesn't really do it justice, but I think I'll be making some more this weekend, so will take a nice photo and pop the recipe up next week hopefully!

I hope you enjoy your weekend too, let me know what you have planned!

Dried Apple Rings

2011-11-15T09:08:00.000Z

This time of year, apples are generally at their best. At work, we were recently given a massive bag of them. We let the kids do apple bobbing on Halloween, but as we're doing a hamper to raffle off at Christmas time, I said I would bring any apples that were left home to make something for the hamper with.

These are incredibly easy to make and require very little effort! You just have to keep a bit of an eye on them.

What you need:

4 apples
1 lemon or lime

Method:

Wash and core your apples, and remove any bruised bits.

Slice into rings about 3mm in width. They need to be fairly thin, and fairly uniform in size so they dry at an even rate. Put them in a bowl and squeeze over the juice of one lemon or lime, and toss to coat. The lemon/lime stops the apples from going really brown.

String the apple rings, and hang them up to dry. You need somewhere warm but that has a good airflow too. It's important to make sure the apple rings aren't touching.

I put my apple rings over the radiator vent in the kitchen - it's warm but a lot of air circulates as it's close to the back door. Leave them to dry for about a week or so, but remember to just keep an eye on them, make sure they don't slide together.

Remembrance Day

2011-11-11T09:41:00.000Z

Today is Remembrance Day. This year is especially poignant as someone that I used to be friends with was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday. It's upsetting enough when you hear about the boys who lose their lives fighting for their countries, but when it's someone you know it's heartbreaking. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with his family today.

Peanut Brittle

2011-11-10T02:42:00.000Z

Every Bonfire Night when I was younger, my parents would have a fireworks party, and my grandma always used to bring some peanut brittle, and it was my favourite thing about the day. This year I decided I would try to make some for my party! It wasn't quite as good as my Grandma's (is anything ever?!), but it was still good!

Ingredients:

50g soft brown sugar
400g granulated sugar
125ml water
½ teaspoon liquid gloucose
230g golden syrup
200g roasted peanuts (I bought the roasted, salted ones from the supermarket, and just rinsed the salt off and dried them. If you do this, make sure to dry them!)

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a pan.
2. Line an A4 sized baking tray with greaseproof paper.
3. Bring ingredients to a boil, and boil until the mixture reaches 150 C/300 F, aka "hard-crack" stage. I don't use a thermometer, to check if the mixture is ready I drop a small amount into a cup of cold water. Test the mixture, and if it is brittle like toffee then it's ready. You can also read this guide for a better explanation!
4. Turn off the heat, add the peanuts to the pan, and tip into your prepared baking tray.
5. Leave to cool completely - the mixture will be VERY hot and don't attempt to pick the tray up for a while either as this will become hot too.
6. Once cool, smash up with a toffee hammer or rolling pin.
7. Keep in an airtight container - it will last for a couple of weeks

Now that Christmas and the holiday season is just around the corner, this would make an ideal homemade gift! Just put it in a pretty jar, and perhaps add a bow!

Bonfire Toffee

2011-11-07T09:52:00.000Z

Hello! How was your weekend? If you're reading from the UK, did you go to any bonfires this weekend?

In England, we celebrate Bonfire Night on the 5th November each year. We do it to remember that in 1605, Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the houses of parliament but his plan was found out and stopped and so we all have bonfires and light fireworks.

Some people have firework displays at home, and others go to big organised bonfires. This year, as it was on a Saturday, Adam and I decided to have a little party ourselves. We had a bonfire because our garden is a bit of a mess at the moment, and we're having it landscaped next year, so we figured it wouldn't hurt to have a bonfire on the lawn!

We invited some family and friends over, and we lit fireworks, gathered by the bonfire:

Toasted marshmallows:

And ate. A lot. Pie and peas, parkin, and toffee!

Bonfire Toffee

Ingredients:

450g dark brown sugar
125ml water
½ teaspoon liquid gloucose
115g golden syrup
115g black treacle

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a pan.
2. Line an A4 sized baking tray with greaseproof paper.
3. Bring ingredients to a boil, and boil until the mixture reaches 150 C/300 F, aka "hard-crack" stage. I don't use a thermometer, to check if the mixture is ready I drop a small amount into a cup of cold water. Test the mixture, and if it is brittle like toffee then it's ready. You can also read this guide for a better explanation!
4. Turn off the heat, and tip into your prepared baking tray.
5. Leave to cool completely - the mixture will be VERY hot and don't attempt to pick the tray up for a while either as this will become hot too.
6. Once cool, smash up with a toffee hammer or rolling pin.
7. Keep in an airtight container - it will last for a couple of weeks (if you can keep your hand out of the jar that is! )

Later this week, I'll have another recipe for you - peanut brittle!

Macaroni Cheese with Broccolli

2011-11-04T10:47:00.000Z

I've never made macaroni cheese before. Well, actually, that's a lie. I've never made an edible macaroni cheese before! I tried to make one once but the recipe called for eggs, and then for it to be baked. Well, all the eggs curdled and it was just like eating watery pasta with scrambled eggs mixed in. Not very nice!

I've always wanted to try it though - I love pasta, and I love cheese. A match made in heaven! So earlier this week, I did in fact try it. I added lots of brocolli as well, for two reasons: I love brocolli cheese and I had a full head of brocolli that had seen better days.

Macaroni Cheese with Brocolli

Ingredients:

20g butter

20g plain flour

300ml semi skimmed milk

200g mature cheddar cheese (I used low fat but it doesn't matter)

Half teaspoon English mustard

Half teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Small head of brocolli

Pasta

Method:

1. Put pasta on to boil, grate cheese and seperate brocolli florets
2. Melt butter, then add flour to form a roux
3. Add mustard, cayenne pepper and the milk a little at a time. Keep stirring the mixture and don't add more milk until the previous amount has been absorbed
4. About halfway through the pasta cooking, add the brocolli either to a steamer set over the pan, or directly into the pan with the pasta depending on how you prefer to cook your brocolli
5. When all milk has been absorbed, add cheese and stir into sauce
6. Drain pasta and brocolli well, and then add the cheese sauce
7. Sprinkle over some extra cayenne pepper if you so desire
8. Enjoy!

I loved it every bit as much as I thought it was, and it only took about 20 minutes to make. It's not something I'll be having every day but will be delicious as an occasional comfort food - especially on these upcoming cold winter nights!

I hope you have a lovely weekend - do you have anything special planned?

Spaghetti Bolognese

2011-11-01T09:35:00.000Z

Ingredients

1 onion
3 small carrots
3 garlic cloves
500ml passata
175ml red wine
1 tsp oregano
250g beef mince
8 mushrooms
Spaghetti pasta

Method

Finely chop onion, garlic and carrots.

Lightly fry in olive oil or non stick cooking spray until onions are soft and translucent, taking care not to let the garlic burn.

Add passata and red wine, oregano, season to taste and let simmer for about ten minutes.

This next step is optional, depending on how you like your sauces. For me, Adam hates any lumps in his sauces, so this is where I add the sauce to the blender and blend for a minute or so to make it smooth. If you like lumps (like me!), then you can skip this step. If you do blend the sauce, take care as it will be hot.

In another pan, brown the mince.

Chop the mushrooms.

Add mushrooms and bolognese sauce to the mince and let simmer for about twenty minutes while you cook the spaghetti.

Serve hot and enjoy!

Serves: 4
Syns per serving: 1.5

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:00:00.000Z

Happy Halloween!

I'm working tonight but I had a little party at the garden I work at yesterday. 25 kids under the age of about 10! It was so much fun. We carved pumpkins, ate soup, turned each other into mummies and had a pinata.

Izzy looked cute in her costume too!

A cosy kind of weekend

2011-10-17T14:19:00.000+01:00

Hello! How was your weekend?

Mine was lovely – quiet and relaxing! I went to the market to do a little bit of shopping.

I’m starting a new job tonight, and the hours are 5:30-10:30pm, so I wanted to get some things in to make some meals in advance which I could freeze to make it easier for Adam and I. Adam was at work on Saturday so when I got home I spent some time with this cute little face:

I spent the rest of the day cooking up a storm (got a recipe or two to post out of it too!) and when Adam came home he surprised me with these gorgeous flowers:

We took Izzy out for a walk:

Then came home and had a delicious dinner together, ate some ice cream and then cuddled up watching a film! Sunday was spent working, then out for a curry with my parents and sisters.

Hope you had a good weekend too, let me know what you got up to! Also, do you have any tips for meals that are easily made in bulk and can be frozen? So far, my freezer is full of chilli, lasagne and soup!

Wedding Wednesday: Cakes

2011-10-05T08:02:00.000+01:00

Today is less than twelve weeks until my wedding! I'm so excited. I have a fun weekend planned full of bridesmaid dress and centrepiece shopping with my mum and bridesmaids. Today I'm going on a hunt for the perfect wedding cake. With everything else for our wedding, Adam and I have known what we want. With our cake, we're clueless! We really like lots of different cakes, but don't want to spend a lot on one. So many people I know are so good at baking, but I don't want to put the stress on anyone to make ours. I'd like to make it myself, but don't know if it would be too much - especially because I want to DIY so much anyway. This cake is my favourite one:

(Photo by Hannah Millard)

But I think this might be too summery for a winter wedding.

I love this one, and I think it would be quite simple for me to make myself. You can buy plain, ready iced tiers from Marks & Spencer, and then I could have a friend help me out with the snowflakes.

These cupcakes are absolutely beautiful, and I want to have at least some cupcakes, think I'll definitely be making these! I love them.

(Photo & Recipe by Glorious Treats)

Also, there's a local bakers to us who does absolutely GORGEOUS (looking and tasting!) cakes, but they're a little on the expensive side. I'm going to call there on my way to uni today for some prices.

What are your favourite cakes or cupcakes?

Amazing Pasta Sauce

2011-09-27T07:03:00.000+01:00

I'm a big fan of pasta. When I was younger and still lived with my parents, my sisters and I would eat it every single day. It really fills you up and I think it's quite healthy too. Unfortunately, the sauces that come in the jars or pots that we would eat it with are not. They're usually full of sugar and oil and chemicals. Over the years I've tried to make my own pasta sauce with varying degrees of success - from the edible to completely inedible. And you know what? I think I've finally got it.

Amazing Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

500ml passata
1 tsp dried oregano
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tbsp sun dried tomato (or regular tomato) puree
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of sea salt
Black pepper

Method

Add all the ingredients to a pan, stir well and simmer gently for about five minutes. That's all!

The sauce is so versatile; I originally made this as a sauce for lasagne, and it really was just delicious. I saved some leftover sauce, and reheated it the next day to stir through hot pasta. I let it simmer for longer so it would be thicker, then stirred it through hot spaghetti. So good! I could just eat another bowl full now!

Syns: Less than ½ per serving!

First ever run!

2011-09-23T14:08:00.000+01:00

I went on my first ever run today! It wasn't very long. Or very fast. But hey, it was a run nontheless! I'm not sure how long I ran for as my ipod battery (which was doubling as my pedometer) died on me. I actually really enjoyed it - I woke up this morning full of energy, which I'm contributing to the lie in I had this morning! I've been a bit up and down lately with my eats, exercise and sleep, which I know are all linked. I'm going to make more of an effort to get into a better routine, which should hopefully be easier with uni starting again next week!

When I got home, I stretched out with a little bit of yoga, then I gave Izzy a bath since I caught her rolling in something on our run.

She hates bathtime, and always goes a bit crazy afterwards. But she looks (and smells!) much better now!

A Love Story

2011-09-23T06:00:00.000+01:00

I know I've talked about my boyfriend Adam on the blog before. We've been together for over seven and a half years now! But I haven't really told you too much about him. We met when I was 17 and he was 19, one Wednesday sometime in 2003 at an alternative night at a club. I was a student at college and he was an apprentice electrician. We chatted all night, then went our seperate ways.

(Me back then at a fancy dress party!)

I met his sister at college (without even realising!), we became friends and were together at the same rock night at the same club when I saw him again. We chatted, and hit it off so well, and Adam took my number. He text me the very next day! And we went on our first date 27th December 2003 to see Brother Bear at the cinema. We went on many more dates and fell in love.

Adam had always wanted to go travelling around Europe, so we decided to save up and go together! Which we did in 2004.

(Ice sculpture cave in Switzerland)

(Rome, Italy)

We got back home, but had been bitten by the travel bug, and hard. So we saved up and went travelling again, this time spending almost two years travelling and working. We went to Singapore:

Australia:

New Zealand:

(Where I completed one of my lifes goals of driving a monster truck!)

Hong Kong and Tahiti:

We came back to England, bought our first house, and expanded our family with the addition of our gorgeous pup, Izzy, and we've now decided that the time is right for us to...

get married!

I'm absolutely over the moon, I can't wait to marry the absolute love of my life and most wonderful man ever, and the best thing is, I don't have long to wait because we're getting married on the 27th December 2011 - our 8th anniversary! I'm just so so so happy :)

I'm back!

2011-09-22T11:33:00.000+01:00

So... I'm back! I knew I wouldn't be able to stay away for long. I love blogging so much! And I love this teeny little blog. I've played around with a new look too :) Let me know what you think!

I'll be back over the next couple of days with some posts - an absolutely amazing pasta sauce recipe, and some very exciting news! ;)

Food photography fail!

2011-04-11T17:45:00.001+01:00

Sigh! Today has just been "one of those days". Oh well, at least the granola I made tasted delicious - once I managed to get the milk in the bowl that is!

I'll be posting the recipe tomorrow, but as far as today goes I've given up hope of getting anything productive done! I am instead going to go and make something incredibly easy for dinner, and then snuggle up with Izzy for the rest of the night! How has your Monday been so far?

Stuffed Red Peppers

2011-04-09T05:47:00.000+01:00

I snagged a couple of organic peppers at the supermarket a little while ago, and they needed using up quickly. I also had some leftover rice in my fridge, and so the following creation was born!

Ingredients:

Red pepper, cut in half

One cup of cooked rice per red pepper half

Tomato, diced

Half an onion, diced

Half a chilli, finely chopped

Garlic clove, grated

Mozarella ball, diced

Seasoning of choice (I used black pepper to taste, about a tsp dried coriander/cilantro, pinch of paprika and dried chilli flakes)

Mix all the ingredients together apart from the red pepper halves. Spoon into the red pepper halves, and pop into a preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes.

These were delicious, and so quick and simple to throw together! I loved the addition of mozarella but you could omit it for a vegan version.

What are you favourite quick and simple but still healthy recipes to put together when you're short of time or don't feel like spending much time cooking?

Have a good weekend!

A quick thank you

2011-04-07T19:46:00.000+01:00

So the winning bid on my Vegan Marshmallows was $40! I can't believe they sold for so much - I was worried no one would even bid on them! Can't wait to make and send them out to whoever won them! I'm also looking forward to seeing how much Katie managed to raise for charity - did you see how much her Fudge Babies sold for?! Amazing!

A lot of people have complimented me recently on my photos, and to everyone who has done I just want to say a big massive thank you! It means so much to me. Photography is a massive passion of mine, and something that I would love to turn into a career (I'm working on it!). I entered this photo of my sister into a photography competition at Uni recently. It didn't win, but I had a really fun time taking the pictures and playing around with my little sis!

Just a short and sweet post today - I'm still snowed under with school work at the minute, but I'll be back tomorrow with a tasty vegetarian recipe!

When the cat's away...

2011-04-04T18:53:00.000+01:00

Now before I say it, I just want to make one thing clear: I love my boyfriend to bits. He's lovely, and I love spending time with him, and I hate it when we're apart.

The only one thing I quite like about not having him around at dinnertime is the fact that I've only myself to please, and I can make something that he would think "weird" that I might not make myself normally, when I'd tend to make a meal that we could both enjoy.

Take today for example; I'd had a long day at Uni - the school year is coming to an end and this is my last week of classes but I have three assignments plus a presentation due by Friday! So I've been camped out at the library all day. When I came home, I wanted something quick yet nutritious, and there was a recipe I'd had my eye on for a while - Anne's black bean and spinach burgers.

I followed Anne's recipe almost to the letter but I substituted kale for spinach, oat flour for wholemeal and about half a fresh chilli in place of chilli powder.

These were so good - so good in fact that I didn't snap a photo of the finished burgers! The only thing with them was, I started by cooking them in a pan but found they were a bit wet still so I put them on a baking tray and into the oven for ten minutes and then the texture was perfect!

Another amazing recipe that I made recently but didn't manage a photo of - Oh She Glows Salt & Vinegar Chickpeas!

Oh and don't forget - Chocolate Covered Katie's Vegan Bake Sale is tomorrow!

Are you donating or bidding on anything?

Healthy crisps & tzatziki

2011-04-02T09:53:00.000+01:00

So the plan was to try and keep the vegan marshmallows for as long as possible to see how they would last and if it would be possible to ever ship them overseas, but that didn't last very long. Adam came back from work yesterday and before I even had chance to say "save one for me" they were all gone! I don't really mind though; I love to see people enjoy the food that I've made!

I got in yesterday after a particularly gruelling day; I'm swamped with Uni assignments at the minute, and was really hungry after a session at the gym! I didn't want to spoil my dinner though, and was really fancying some crisps. Instead of grabbing a packet out of the cupboard, I decided to make this healthier verison.

Healthier crisps

Preheat oven to 180C. Thinly slice one potato (you can use regular white potatoes, or sweet potatoes!). You can either slice them with a normal knife or if you want them to be really thin and crispy you can make the slices with a vegetable peeler. Season with salt, black pepper and/or dried rosemary.

Spray a baking tray with cooking spray and arrange the slices in a single layer. Put them in the oven, then keep an eye on them as they cook fairly quickly depending how thinly you sliced them. If the slices are a little on the thicker side, you might want to flip them during cooking.

Tzatziki

Half cup fat free or very low fat natural yoghurt

Half clove of garlic

One inch piece of cucumber

Black pepper to taste

Pour the half cup of yoghurt into a bowl. Grate in a small amount of garlic, I used half a clove but you don't want it to be too overpowering so maybe grate some in, stir it and taste. When you're happy with the garlic level, grate the cucumber into the yoghurt mixture and stir well to combine. Add a little ground black pepper to taste.

These were delicious, and really curbed my craving!

Do you have any healthy alternatives for your favourite junk food?

Vegan Marshmallows

2011-03-31T15:51:00.000+01:00

Today I've spent a good chunk of time in the kitchen making ~~a mess~~ some vegan marshmallows to contribute to Katie's vegan bakesale for Japan! So if you'd like the chance to taste these soft, creamy, delicious clouds of whipped sugar make sure you keep an eye on Katie's blog on Tuesday 5th April and bid on some of the vegan goodies she'll have for sale. It's all for a good cause!

Orange and blueberry smoothie

2011-03-31T07:21:00.000+01:00

I've been on a massive smoothie kick lately. They're a great way to get extra fruits and veggies into you, and they can actually be suprisingly satisfying! I've been making a big effort to eat more vegetables over this winter, and it's paid off to the extent that I've only had one cough/cold this year! Last year, I was ill pretty much all of the winter! In fact, I'm just getting over said cold right now and I think it's because the week before last I didn't get a chance to go to the market and didn't eat hardly any fresh fruit and vegetables. Coincidence? I think not! Here's what I was drinking this morning:

Orange and Blueberry Smoothie

2 medium oranges

Half punnet blueberries

Half cup apple juice

Half cup water

Throw everything into the blender, and off you go! Looks weird, but tastes delicious! The smoothie I made was based off this one by Kristen Suzanne.

What's your favourite smoothie recipe?

Something to read:

While googling what are the most nutritious greens to add to my smoothies, I found this list of the top 10 most nutritious greens, and was suprised that dandelion is the most nutritious! I have loads of this growing in my garden as a weed, but at least now I know what to do with it - rip it up and throw it into my smoothies!

Have your cake and eat it!

2011-03-29T07:58:00.000+01:00

Hello! How was your weekend?

Mine was kind of low key, but fun nontheless! Spent most of it hanging out with Adam and Izzy! It's nice to be able to get some time with Adam, he's been working crazy hours lately as has recently started a new business!

On Sunday, my parents invited us round for dinner. It was delicious! I didn't snap any photos but we started with a turnip soup my sister had made which was SO NICE! I'm going to attempt to make it at home myself sometime soon. We had a roast dinner made by my Mum (also delicious! Is it just me or does anyone else think you just can't beat your Mum's cooking?!) and then for dessert I brought these:

They were so good! I love to make desserts but myself, my parents and my sisters are all on health kicks. I was going to bake a cake at first, but I know how hard it is to control your portion size when presented with a gorgeous looking dessert. Then I remembered my Auntie had given me a square cupcake pan for Christmas, so I decided to make individual cakes. I just used a regular sponge mix, sliced them in half, added some sliced strawberries and a little whipped cream, then dusted them with icing sugar. They were really nice, and it was so easy to just have one! (Well, my Dad had two, and Adam had about four!) We all felt like we'd had a treat, without derailing our diets.

I hope you all had good weekends too - what's on your agenda for the upcoming week?

2011-03-26T12:03:00.000Z

Hi! Happy Weekend!

My weekend has been pretty good so far! Last night, Adam and I went to the supermarket to get half of our weekly shopping. We do half of our shopping on a Friday night (oh yeah, we're wild!!) at the supermarket, and the rest at the local market on a Saturday morning. I got some more amazing deals on fish from the shop yesterday, which led to me to last nights dinner:

Hot and spicy smoked mackerel with salad (I went back for another massive helping of salad!) and a few pieces of an organic baguette. We weren't sure what we wanted for dinner last night but I saw the fish and bread which were really cheap, and knew I had some salad which ideally wanted using before today. It was delicious! I enjoyed it with this:

Which was also delicious! I don't drink very much, and haven't had any wine since probably Christmas so I really enjoyed this glass last night. That's Adam's pear cider in the background, and we also munched on the grapes while we got everything ready.

This morning we were up bright and early and headed into the market, and came back overloaded with two huge bags of fresh fruit and veggies! Didn't manage to get a picture today before I started throwing things into the fridge, my mouth and the blender! I'd run out of fruit yesterday, and really missed my daily smoothie! So I whipped up this:

It had 2 kiwis, some chunks of frozen pineapple, about one cup of apple juice and a small bunch of watercress. It was gorgeous! I finished putting the shopping away while Adam headed off to work, and did a bit of tidying up. Then I had a repeat of last nights dinner for lunch! As we still had some of the mackerel left over. It was still nice the second time around but it was nicer with a glass of wine

What do you have planned for the weekend? I'm going swimming now and have Zumba and a long walk with Adam and Izzy tomorrow! Apart from that I'm taking it easy

Asian inspired pasta

2011-03-24T05:59:00.000Z

I love picking up reduced items when I go shopping! There's nothing better than feeling like you've got a bargain! When I went shopping last weekend, I picked up a piece of salmon for 60% off! I ate it in this Asian inspired pasta dish:

Asian inspired pasta for one!

Salmon

Three brocolli florets

Four mushrooms

Garlic clove

Half chopped chilli (optional)

Spaghetti

Handful of spinach

Soy sauce

Chop chilli and garlic, add to a bowl with about half a cup of soy sauce and stir to combine. Cut the salmon into bite size pieces and add to the bowl, stirring well and leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Chop the vegetables. Cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet, while they are cooking spray a pan with cooking spray, add the salmon (reserve the marinade), brocolli and mushrooms. About halfway through cooking, add the reserved marinade into the pan. Drain and rinse the spaghetti, and mix everything together. I don't cook the spinach, I just stir it into the hot pasta so it doesn't wilt too much but feel free to add it earlier if you prefer!

My first green smoothie!

2011-03-21T10:05:00.000Z

I haven't posted for a while, and I've been really missing it! Things have just been a bit hectic around here lately, but hopefully now I can get back to a semi-regular posting schedule!

This weekend I visited my local market to pick up some fruit and veggies. We used to buy them from the supermarket, but they are much better value for money from the market, not to mention tastier! They also aren't packaged as much as they are at supermarkets either so less waste! Here's what I got:

Cauliflower, carrots, broccolli, sweet potatoes, spinach, iceberg lettuce, mangoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, apples, cucumbers, pineapple, blueberries, chillis, grapes, strawberries, red pepper, limes, bananas and butternut squash. I felt a bit bad about getting the more exotic fruit as I prefer to eat at least somewhat seasonally and locally but I really feel like I needed them! I've already frozen most of the fruit to use in smoothies over the next few weeks. Smoothies a bit like this one:

This smoothie was so delicious, and it had:

One kiwi
Pineapple
Half a lime
Big handful of spinach
Apple juice
Four grapes

This was my first time trying spinach in a smoothie and to be honest I couldn't tell it was there! This was really delicious, definitely going to be making it regularly!

Tips for getting motivated to exercise!

2011-02-15T08:36:00.000Z

As you'll probably know, one of the key factors in losing weight (and maintaining a weightloss and leading a healthy life in general) is exercise. Exercise can be lots of fun (Zumba!) but it can also be difficult too, especially for those of us who are just starting to get into working out, and are trying to make exercising a part of our daily routine. For the most part, I do enjoy working out, but there are some days where it's more difficult.

I've put together a list of the things I try and do when I'm struggling to get it together to exercise! All these things might not work for you, and they don't all always work for me either. But usually, if the only excuse I have for not getting down to the gym is I'm being too lazy, at least one of these usually helps me!

Treat yourself to some luxury shampoo/shower gel
I was in the supermarket one day trying to work out which shampoo & conditioner I should get for in my gym bag. I was torn between my normal shampoo/conditioner, or a more expensive, absolutely delicious smelling one. I decided to go for the more expensive one, but to keep it in my gym bag and only use it after I'd been to the gym. Now, I really look forward to using it! It keeps me going, just a little bit. It might sound silly but if I'm at the gym or on my way there and I'm thinking "gosh, I can't be bothered!" I just say to myself "well, at least I'll get to use my gorgeous apple shampoo!" I plan on treating myself to a nice shower gel too, but at the minute I'm using all the little travel size bottles I got in gift sets for Christmas! This works even if you don't exercise at the gym, even if you just do a workout DVD at home you can still buy some and just keep it in your bedroom and away from your partner/kids/self and just take it with you after a workout.

Find an exercise you love
Whether it's swimming, running, walking with your dog, yoga, aerobics, cycling, or trampolining, find something that you enjoy doing, and that you look forward to. For me, I love Zumba, yoga, and swimming. I go swimming about five times a week, and go to a Zumba class once or twice a week, and a yoga class once a week. If I had to go to the gym and do an hour on the treadmill or bikes five times a week, I know I wouldn't do it, because I don't enjoy it. But everyone's different, and that might be what you enjoy! If you don't like what you're doing right now, find something else. Try a different machine at the gym, find a class that you think sounds fun or buy/borrow a new workout DVD.

Write down your goals, and refer to them often
I think it really helps to have some goals in mind. Write them down, so you can refer to them often and look at them. Maybe have a couple of bigger ones, and then lots of small ones too (I plan on sharing mine on the blog soon!). Give yourself positive encouragement when you achieve your goals, and acknowledge the hard work and dedication it's taken to be able to cross each goal off your list.

Track your progress
Keep a record, and again keep looking at it. Don't forget how well you've done, and how far you've already come. A couple of weekends ago, my partner and I went out for a meal with my family to an Indian restaurant. Following the plan that I'm on, I could order a curry without going over my set allowances/points, but I usually order a naan bread too, and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to resist. Before I went, I jumped on the scales to remind myself how far I've come already, and seeing those new, lower numbers made me realise that however tasty that naan might be, it wouldn't be as good as seeing another weight loss the next week!

Make lunch before you go
I don't know about you, but when I come back from the gym, I'm absolutely ravenous, and it's at times like this where I find myself caring less about what I'm eating - I just want to eat! I'll be tempted while I'm getting lunch ready to just snack on something completely unhealthy. What I try to do is decide the night before whether I'll be going to the gym or not, and if I am I'll make something for my lunch that I'll be able to eat straight away as soon as I get back. A salad, pasta or even just a healthy sandwich are all good options and I can just come in, open the fridge, and eat straight away.

Take a rest day when you need one
On Monday, I woke up and my legs were stiff and my heel kind of sore after doing a Zumba class, swimming and a long walk with my boyfriend and Izzy the day before. I decided to make Monday my 'rest' day, and give my body a break and a chance to recover! Pushing yourself to exercise too much and when you're experiencing stiffness or soreness is only going to make you hate it more, and make it that much more difficult the next time you need to go.

So there you have my tips! They might not work for you, but if they do, I'm glad! Do you have any tips for getting motivated that you want to add? If so, I'd love to hear them!

Then it hit me...

2011-02-11T09:11:00.001Z

I was filling in an application form for a job earlier on today, and I was writing a personal statement. The job was for a family activity co-ordinator at a community garden. As I was writing about the importance of growing your own fruit and vegetables and how it has the potential to make such a positive impact on our world, it suddenly hit me - I really feel this way.

I know that sounds a bit stupid; like, why would I write it if I didn't really believe it? And I'm not sure how to explain it. It was something about how passionate I was being, and how honest and truthful the application was, that made it hit home. I believe in this and I have the ability to do something about it.

I've always wanted to be a teacher, on and off. Ever since I was little. But it wasn't until last year when something really just spoke to me, and I knew, deep down with 100% conviction, that being a teacher is what I'm supposed to do. I can still remember my favourite ever teacher. I looked up to her, she was such an inspiration to me and she taught me so many things. I think most people can remember their favourite teacher. I could be someone's favourite teacher! And I could teach them the importance of being green, and of a healthy diet. All those impressionable young minds, waiting to be moulded!

I probably won't end up getting the job as in reality I'm probably under qualified for it right now, though my heart might be in the right place. But it has made me remember the passion I have for educating children and why I wanted to become a teacher to begin with! I really needed that.

Graze

2011-02-10T13:58:00.001Z

Look what was waiting for me when I got in yesterday!

I was so excited to get it! Graze is a company that I recently stumbled across thanks to a friend. They offer natural treats, sent to your home or place of work every week. I think it's a really nice idea - better to have this delivered and snack on wholesome food rather than biscuits!

When you open it up, you get four sections of individually packed treats, and what I had inside looked so nice! Here's a close up:

It included fiery cashew nuts, honeycomb flapjack, dark chocolate, rasin, cherry and almond mix and orange infused rains, hazelnut, and dark chocolate mix. When I ordered it, Adam was really sceptical and thought that if it could fit through a letterbox, it must be tiny. But it's actually a really good size!

If you'd like a free box (and your second box half price!) just sign up at graze.com and using voucher code: PGB7YW5N. The only downside is I think this would only be available to UK residents!

(Just so you know, this isn't a sponsored post - I'm buying these boxes myself! When anyone signs up using the code above, I receive £1 which I will be donating through the website to the Uganda school of farming!)

What's your favourite healthy treat?

Weigh-in's #3 & #4

2011-02-08T07:55:00.000Z

So last week was a busy week for me, and I didn't get a chance to blog at all - not even to update you on my weight loss progress! So here it is:

Weigh-in #3: I lost 2lbs!

Weigh-in #4: I lost 2.5lbs!

I'm really pleased with those two results, especially as those previous couple of weeks I didn't have as much time to exercise as I would have liked. I haven't yet made public what my current weight is, but I think I'm going to. I was too embarassed at first, but... I don't think it really makes a difference. I am what I am right now, and I have a lot of weight to lose, and I know that a lot of people that read my blog are or have been in a similar position themselves. So I think I will tell you, but I'll save it until my next weigh-in post! Give me a little more time to work up my courage ;)

If you're trying to lose weight, how have you been doing these past couple of weeks?

Introducing Izzy!

2011-01-28T20:48:00.000Z

I can't believe I've never mentioned Izzy on the blog before!

Izzy is my one year old Lhasa Apso puppy, and the love of my life! I just wanted to make a quick update today, and will be back in the next few days with my third weigh in, a recap of my week and I've got a fun and hopefully helpful post planned about how to motivate yourself to workout!

In the meantime, hope you have a lovely weekend!

Weigh in #2

2011-01-23T19:01:00.000Z

This week, I lost 4 lbs! I'm really pleased with that! I'm thinking that in the near future I'll do a post with a list of my goals, then if I'm ever feeling a little low, or discouraged, I can look back on it and remember why I'm doing this.

I think the 4lb weight loss was helped along by the fact that I returned to the gym this week, after a three month hiatus. It felt so good to be back in the pool doing lengths; swimming is my exercise of choice. I've also been to a couple of Zumba classes (which I LOVE) - one was amazing, the other wasn't as good but it wasn't the usual instructor. Zumba is so much fun! I also went to a yoga class as well. I've done a few classes at different places, but this one was the best I've been to. The instructor did different poses, and more than just basic ones too. I'm really only a beginner but can't wait to get more advanced and more flexible!

So all in all, I had a pretty good week! How was your week?

Weigh in #1

2011-01-14T10:32:00.000Z

I had my first weigh in yesterday, and I'm absolutely over the moon to tell you that I lost 6lbs!

I'm so happy, I was following the plan that I'm doing and I think you always worry that it's not going to be working! Even though you're doing everything right. I've not been hungry and I'm just so happy! I haven't had internet at home for the past while but I'm getting it today, so I think I'm going to start posting what I'm eating on a daily basis, for anyone that would be curious.

Pickled Red Cabbage

2011-01-13T20:01:00.000Z

When I was little, around September/October every year, my mum and Grandma would always make lots of different types of pickles for us to open up when Christmas came and that we would enjoy over Christmas and long into the winter. My favourite thing that they would make was always pickled red cabbage.

Tangy and sharp but delicious, it makes a great accompaniment to lots of dishes. If you've never had it before and can't imagine what it would be like, the closest thing I can think of is sauerkraut. It can be added to salad, and as a side on pretty much anything you can imagine! My favourite thing to have it with though, has to be a simple sandwich.

You need to make it in advance, and keep it in airtight jars for at least two weeks, but it will last for months afterwards. The recipe couldn't be simpler, either.

Pickled Red Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 head red cabbage
White wine or apple cider vinegar (appox 1 litre)
Salt
2x 1 litre sterilised glass jars with airtight lids
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Boiling water - just enough to dissolve sugar

Method:

Remove the outer leaves of cabbage and the stalk and finely slice - long, thin strips are best. Put in a big bowl and add the salt, mix it all together and then leave overnight. The next day, if using, add 1 tsp sugar to just enough boiling water to dissolve it - usually about 1/4 cup. Leave to cool completely. Rinse the shredded red cabbage in water to get rid of all the salt. Pack into your sterilised glass jars - you can pack it in quite tightly. Pour half of the sugar water into each jar, and then fill up with vinegar. You want the vinegar to go right to the top of the cabbage. You can use a fork and push the red cabbage just underneath the line of the vinegar. Close up the jars, and then store in a cool, dark place for at least two weeks before opening up and enjoying!

Suprise Package

2011-01-12T07:05:00.000Z

Don't you just love it when you get an unexpected suprise in the mail?? This morning, the postman brought me this unexpected little package:

I was so excited when I saw what was inside! I know you're probably thinking "excited for peanut butter chips?? I see them all the time!" but we can't actually get these in the UK, and I happen to love peanut butter! I tasted a few, but I'm going to try and save the rest until I think of the perfect baking project! ;)

It was so sweet of the girl who sent them to me, and I'm going to send her a little suprise package back too as a thank you!

What was the little last really sweet and lovely thing that someone did for you?

A change for 2011

2011-01-10T20:21:00.000Z

Happy (very belated!) New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays. I know I really enjoyed myself; all my family have time off from work and school over Christmas and New Year and I've loved spending some quality time with them all.

For me, 2011 is bringing some big changes, and I hope to share most of them on my blog! I started this blog about two years ago but have never really posted regularly, but I really want to change that. I love writing, and reading, and blogging in general, so I'm making a commitment to posting consistently, and already have some (hopefully fun!) posts planned.

Shortly before Christmas, I moved into a house that I've owned and been doing restoration work on since March 2009. I'm also back in full time education, going to University to study English Language. It's weird and challenging studying again after a six year break, but it's also really rewarding and enjoyable, and I love it!

The biggest change I'm making in 2011 is I'm making this year the year that I finally reach my goal weight. I've struggled with my weight for years, trying every diet under the sun and having my weight go up then down then up again, and am now at my highest weight ever. I'm following a weight loss plan by a company called Slimming World, which is fairly similar to Weight Watchers, but with a lot less point counting. I started it a few days ago, and will be weighing in every Thursday and I'm excited to share my progress! There are loads of recipes I've seen round the blog world that I can't wait to try, and I've even got a jar of lentils sprouting on my kitchen windowsill to make Beth's Lentil Loaf!

What are you excited for in 2011?

Strawberry Picking

2010-07-13T23:23:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday, I did something I haven't done since I was a child, but that I've been dying to do for a while - went strawberry picking! It was so much fun; the strawberries were delicious and cheap! And the smell of them... It was heavenly, and like no strawberry you can buy in the supermarket! I've grown quite a few of my own this year, but I couldn't get enough as I needed. I'll be eating strawberries for a long while now - just finished off the chocolate covered ones tonight!

Raw Cookies

2009-09-02T19:09:00.000+01:00

I really fancied something sweet to eat today, but I couldn't decide what. I'd eaten loads of fruit already, and I'm trying to eat healthily at the moment and cutting back on a lot of things like chocolate, biscuits and baked goods. I'm also trying to increase my raw intake as well. It was while I was thinking about this that inspiration hit me - Kristen's Heavenly Cookies!

I remember a while back (a year or more?), everyone was blogging about these super delicious cookies, and I remember trying them and falling in love! I hadn't made them in a while though, so I logged into an old email account, eager to find the recipe (it was originally featured on one of Kristen's Raw newsletters) and make these cookies. I was gutted to find out that for some reason, all of my old emails had disappeared! Luckily, after emailing Kristen she extremely kindly emailed me the recipe again, so I was able to make these gorgeous raw cookies.

Words fail me at describing how tasty these are! And super healthy too. I made a smaller batch, just enough for 4-5 cookies, and I made them using cashew butter. While I was making them, my eye caught sight of a bag of hazelnuts I had in the cupboard, so I decided to have a go at making my own raw treats. Mine are the coconut covered ones on the left. Both sets were extremely easy to make (and so quick too!) so dig out that newsletter and make yourself a batch of Heavenly Cookies!

Emmas Raw Hazelnut Cookies:

30g Hazelnuts
30g Sultanas
1 tsp nut butter
Drop (just a drop!) of olive oil
1 dessert spoon light agave

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until combined. You might have to keep pushing the mixture down as I did. Roll into balls, and then you could also roll in coconut but that's purely optional, I just happen to love the taste and look of coconut! I then put them on a plate and popped them in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes to firm up.

The only thing these cookies were missing were the presence of some raw chocolate - is there any better combination than hazelnut and chocolate?!

An apple a day...

2009-08-28T07:45:00.000+01:00

Do you know what the best thing to eat on a morning to wake you up is? .... Apples, apparently. According to the trivia question on my shampoo, anyways! They're supposed to be even better to wake you up than coffee! So I've decided to incorporate them into my morning breakfasts as I sometimes struggle to feel fully awake in a morning, but I've always been wary about caffeine.

So when I saw CCV's recipe for banana butter. I thought it would be the perfect thing to accompany my morning apple and I couldn't wait to try it out!

I wasn't disappointed, and I'm sure this is one recipe I'll be making often! As a further ode to the lovely CCV, I decided to eat my apple this morning...

...with chopsticks! Yum!

Make sure to stop by CCV's blog, because she's got another fantastic giveaway going on at the minute, and it's not too late to enter!

Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Blondies

2009-08-16T19:52:00.000+01:00

Today has been one of those lazy Sundays where it's been nice to just do not very much! Especially after the busy week I had. I had a drive out to an oriental supermarket, and had to make an emergency stop at a garage to have my brakes tested! When I got back home, I went onto the UKTV Food website to try and find some recipes by the lovely Ching-He Huang (whose new series I am addicted to!) and I stumbled across a series I hadn't seen before called Rachel Allen: Bake.

Of course, loving anything to do with baking, I had to have a look at the recipes! There was a recipe for a cheesecake which looked amazing, but my eye was drawn to these...

Peanut Butter & White Chocolate Blondies

I love white chocolate, and I love peanut butter so this dessert was too tempting. It was really simple and quick to make too, and I had all the ingredients already on hand which is a bonus! The photo above is when they were still warm from the oven, I topped them with a scoop of clotted cream ice cream and they were so gooey and delicious - this recipe is definitely one of my new favourites! Click here to see the original recipe, or read on below.

125g plain flour
1 tsp Baking powder
100g Butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
150g crunchy peanut butter
175g light brown sugar
1 Egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
75g white chocolate, chopped

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/gas 3. Butter the sides of a 20 x 20cm square cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a small bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter together until very soft. Add the sugar, egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Add the flour, baking powder and the chopped chocolate and mix to form a dough.

4. Place the dough into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, or until golden brown and almost firm in the centre.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin, before removing and cutting into squares.

Czechoslovakian Black Chillies

2009-08-08T13:12:00.000+01:00

After what seemed like an age, my Czechoslovakian black chilli plant is bursting with chillies, and flowers. This is my first year growing chillies, and to be honest I was a little apprehensive as to how they would turn out. I didn't know if they'd be actually black, or just very very dark green but they really are black! And the flowers a lovely purple too. Very gothic!

My garden

2009-07-31T09:20:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday, I spent the day in my garden doing some long overdue weeding. My boyfriend and I have bought a house but were not living in it while we're having work done to it. Thistles and dandelions had taken over! Seriously, the thistles had grown to about 5 foot tall, so I really had my work cut out! I started to feel bad taking them all out though; my garden was literally overrun with bees, wasps, and butterflies - all of which I love. In fact, I soon forgot all about weeding and instead focused on trying to take some photos of them!

You can see more similar photos on my flickr.

I was pleased to see that all my veggies I'm growing were still doing well, in fact I picked a lot of stuff and threw it onto the barbeque that night:

The potatoes were some that just sprang up out of nowhere; I think the man who lived in the house before us was a keen gardener, when I was digging up one of the beds I have my veggies in I found loads of potatoes, but I thought I'd got them all out. They've been springing up all over the place! I'm not complaining now though; they were absolutely delicious. The raspberries were there when I moved in too, I thought they were blackberry brambles but now I have an abundance of raspberries! Unfortunately, soon after taking this picture I accidentally dropped the bag of raspberries and delicate as they are turned into raspberry coulis instead!

I can't wait to get down there this weekend and see what else I can pick!

Onion Bhajis

2009-06-06T16:26:00.001+01:00

Adam and I bought a house a few months back, but it needs a lot of work doing to it. We've stripped it back completely to just bare bricks, and that's how it is at the moment. Adam's been down there today, as we've got a few different workmen coming down - they're making the door from the kitchen into the dining room a double door, and then we've got some people there sorting out our drains as well.

Adam works so hard, and I feel guilty for not helping out down at the house more, but at the moment there's not a lot I can do to help, being too girlie for manual labour! Went it gets to the decorating stage, it'll be over to me. So I thought tonight I'd make him a lovely romantic meal as a thank you.

One of our favourite types of food is Indian food, we love curries and anything spicy. So I'm making a curry for dinner, and for starters I'm serving these:

Onion bhajis!

They're one of our favourite starters when we go to a restaurant, and I've always wanted to try to make them at home, but struggled to find the main ingredient; gram flour. I was in the local Tesco picking up some ingredients for dinner though, when I actually found some! They're delicious, and easy to make if you can get gram flour in your local area. Here's the recipe:

Onion Bhajis

2 medium onions, finely sliced
225g/1 cup gram flour
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp chilli powder
1 green chilli
Oil for deep frying
Enough water to form a paste

Combine all the dry ingredients, and add the water a little at a time to form a paste. Stir in the green chillies and onions until thoroughly coated. Heat the oil until hot, and drop spoonfuls of the mixture into it until cooked.

A great giveaway

2009-04-08T21:09:00.000+01:00

Don't forget to stop by Chocolate Covered Katies blog to check out her amazing CCV in a box giveaway! We always knew she was absolutely lovely, but this great giveaway is too much!

Wish me luck for my entry in the competition too, all the goodies look amazing, there's some stuff I'd love to try and I've always been obsessed with food from other countries! ^_^

Easter Nests

2009-04-05T21:22:00.000+01:00

This weekend has been absolutely gorgeous in terms of weather, and I've been spending a lot of time outside in the garden, planting and tending my seedlings. I'm growing a lot of fruit and veg this year, and it will be first proper year of attempting to do so, after a bit of a non starter last year!

Picking up my secateurs, I headed out towards my nectarine tree as I wanted to take some cuttings to try and see if they would root. Imagine my suprise when I got there, to find a sweet little birds nest already there, complete with three little eggs!

'Sweet' is about right as well, as these nests are made out of chocolate, and perfect for a treat over Easter!

Chocolate Nests

Ingredients:
125g Chocolate
3 Shredded wheat

Method:
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of water (I found about 125g of chocolate did the big nest in the picture, and four little nests with just one egg). Crunch up shredded wheat and add to the chocolate, and stir. Add in dollops onto greaseproof paper, press a mini egg or some other candy egg (or you could make an egg out of fondant or such like!) and press into the chocolate slightly. Put into the fridge until set.

Just for the fun of it

2009-01-22T17:45:00.001Z

Today, I decided to make...

...cupcakes! I've never made 'cupcakes' before. I've made buns, but they're not the same, cupcakes are much cuter! And for no reason other than I just felt like it! I just made a basic vanilla sponge recipe, added some white chocolate chips and then I whipped up some cream, food colouring and icing sugar to decorate them with.

Delicious, and so adorable!

Garlic Mushroom Fried Rice

2009-01-08T22:11:00.000Z

Is it me or does there never seem to be anything in the cupboards at this time of year? It seems that after all the food of the holidays there's nothing left now, and even if there was people are so sick of eating after all the Christmas goodies that they wouldn't eat it anyway!

This was my dilemma the other day when I was trying to find something to have for dinner. My search through the pantry, fridge and freezer seemed fruitless at first, but then I noticed the almost empty, overlooked bag of rice tucked away behind another box of yet to be eaten mince pies. A second look in the fridge reminded me of a half pack of mushrooms and an idea began to form...

Garlic Mushroom Fried Rice

I cooked the rice, and then left it to cool for a while. I heated some oil in a wok, then added three cloves of garlic (crushed) and the mushrooms. I let the mushrooms soften for a couple of minutes, then added the rice and some dark Soy sauce and stir fried it all together. When it was done, I tipped it into a bowl and added some crushed chilli flakes to the top, coz I love everything I eat to be really spicy!

A really simple and quick meal (especially if you had some already cooked, leftover rice), but definitely very tasty!

2008-12-31T18:04:00.000Z

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy New Year! I hope you have a fabulous 2009.

Remember, remember...

2008-11-06T20:00:00.001Z

...the 5th November!

Or Bonfire Night, as we so lovingly refer to it in the UK! If you don't know what it is, you can read Wikipedias definition of it! And I know, I know I'm a day late but we had our celebrations today. It's not my favourite time of the year I have to admit, I'm not overly fond of watching fireworks but I had a good time eating all the traditional bonfire night foods (jacket potatoes, hot dogs with onions, toffee apples and parkin!) and I had a good time taking photos too! I even managed to capture writing my name with a sparkler, look!:

And I also enjoyed eating my home made parkin!:

Not quite as good as my Grandmas parkin, but it's getting there!

Ingredients:

8 oz S.R. flour
8 oz oatmeal
2 teaspoonsful ginger
4 oz margarine
4 tablespoonsful sugar
8 oz treacle
1/2 pint milk.

Method:

Rub margarine into flour and oatmeal.
Add sugar and ginger, mix thoroughly.
Warm treacle and mix to paste, adding milk if necessary.
Put into greased tin, it needs to be fairly deep.
Bake for one hour in an oven about 150°C

Good news!

2008-11-02T20:06:00.000Z

For those of you who live in the UK, I went to B & Q earlier on today and if you take in one regular light bulb, they'll replace it for you free of charge with two energy saving light bulbs. How good of a deal is that?!

Also, I've just recieved an email from the local council and apparently November is the month where they send out renewal forms for the allotments and there's a good chance I could move up on the waiting list, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

2008-10-31T20:41:00.000Z

Happy Halloween!

Negative Vegetarian Press

2008-09-01T19:53:00.000+01:00

... although to be honest, what other kind of press would a vegetarian diet get in the mainstream media?

I've just come across this article when I was browsing the recipes on Closer magazines website. I think the first comment underneath sums up my thought pretty much perfectly. I'm so tired of reading articles about vegetarianism which portray it as being difficult, or even unhealthy, when it's blatantly not. Why don't we ever get an article about the benefits of a vegetarian diet, when there is so much research proving just how healthy a meat-free diet is?

I didn't want to start my new blog out on a bad note, but... too late!