Saturday bake day

Happy Saturday strawberry bon bons! Hope you are all well and happy : ) I am uber happy, even more so than usual, as it is half term! I have made some great plans for next week, all will be revealed soon!

Today has been more laid back than usual for me as hubby is ill with flu so I have been in full on wife mode! I stopped off at Waitrose for some get well soon bits for hubby and then spent the afternoon making home made vegetable soup and chocolate brownies! Today's post shows the delicious results! ; )

My favourite cook books! Today I used the book second from the left with the flowery spine, a  birthday gift from hubby's Grandma.

1) Break 225g of good quality plain chocolate (at least 60% cocoa solids) into pieces and place in a heat proof bowl. Add 175g of butter to the chocolate. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering hot water but make sure they do not come into contact at all. Set the timer for 10 minutes and allow the chocolate and butter to melt slowly.

2) In the meantime, whisk together 100g caster sugar with 3 large eggs.

3) In a large bowl, add all the ingredients together; the melted butter and chocolate, the sugar and eggs, and 175g of self raising flour. Mix together until all the ingredients are combined.

4) Add 100g white chocolate chips and 50g of milk chocolate chips to the mixture and stir in fully.

5) Pour the brownie mixture in a 25cm non-stick baking tin and smooth over.

6) Ta-da! 30 minutes at 180 degrees and the brownie should be cooked. Leave to cool before removing from the tin and cutting into squares.

7) The brownies cut into squares and stacked onto a cake stand.

I served the brownie with Haagen-Daz's chocolate, praline and caramel ice cream for hubby, perfect get well soon dessert! : )

More soon dear readers, enjoy the rest of the weekend : ) XOXO

Something Different

Hello  gorgeous followers, hope everyone is well and happy! I hope everyone has had a lovely weekend too : ) Mine was great, I ran revision on Saturday again (my last Saturday revision and stupidly early start until exam season in June!) then went for my monthly wander around Rochester with co-pilot Clare. We love to take in the quaint little antique and home shops before stopping for a gorgeous lunch in our favourite shop/restaurant! I stayed round Clare's Saturday night and then returned home this morning. Waiting for me were some beautiful Christmas presents from hubby's grandma which I loved and put a huge smile on my face : )

 Later today hubby and I decided to lunch out at Chiquito's which has just opened near our house, there will also be a Nando's soon right next door, by the looks of things today it is very nearly finished, woohoo! We devoured three courses which left us stuffed, so much so that I didn't even want any popcorn when we went to the cinema afterwards! We saw Warhorse which was amazing, I shed a fair few tears as did hubby! ; )

As I like to mix it up from time to time, today's post is a foodie one, a dish that I made recently and enjoyed immensely. Hubby and I both love an Indian takeaway, and I also love making healthy curries in the week too. My recipe for healthy chicken korma comes from my favourite Sally Bee cookbook and is a winner in terms of health and taste.

1) Chop up a range of veg, whatever you fancy and enjoy. I chose green beans, courgette and red pepper.

2) Over a medium heat, heat some olive oil and saute the two onions, a couple of chopped chicken breasts, two crushed cloves of garlic and a peeled and chopped medium apple. Allow to cook for 3-4 minutes and then stir in 4 teaspoons of mild curry powder.

3) Add the chopped vegetables to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until the veg start to soften and the chicken has sealed in the spice.

4) Add 300ml of chicken stock to the pan, sultanas (if enjoyed, I left them out because I do not like them), and 2 tablespoons of tomato puree. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes.

5) Just before serving, add some chopped coriander and 4 tablespoons of low-fat creme fraiche or fromage frais to the curry and stir in well. Season with freshly ground black pepper and cook for a further 2 minutes but do not allow to boil.

6) Serve with hot cooked basmati rice, adding one spoon of creme fraiche to each portion as you serve.

Very yummy and healthy too! Well that's about all from me today, I am looking forward to a slightly more laid back week, final GCSE until June is tomorrow morning so things will calm down a tad (for a while anyway!) XOXO

Peach Crumble

Hello strawberry shortcakes, how are you all today? I am just lovely, had a busy but fun day at work and have just eaten a delicious spaghetti bolognese cooked by my own fair hands! Today's post is another foodie one; after making my Christmas cookies in half term last week, I was inspired to try another new recipe, peach crumble, and I want to share it with you all today : )

1) Get your ingredients ready, you will need: 6 peaches/nectarines, 1 lemon, cooking butter, salt, caster sugar, cinnamon, light brown sugar, plain flour, baking powder and one egg. Pre- heat the oven to 200 degrees.

2) Peel the nectarines/peaches (I used my vegetable peeler as I find this easier!), and then cut into similar sized slices. Lay across the bottom of the foil tray. Squeeze the juice of one lemon over the peaches and a sprinkling of the lemon zest. Mix one quarter of a cup of brown sugar with 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of cinammon and sprinkle over the peaches.

3) Mix one cup of flour with one cup of caster sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, a pinch of salt and one teaspoon of cinnamon. Add the beaten egg to the mix and stir until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. It may be necessary to get your hands into the mix (remember, remove wedding rings first!) as it is really important to make sure the mixture does resemble crumble, without any obvious lumps.

4) Sprinkle the crumble mix evenly over the peaches. Melt half a cup of butter in a pan and drizzle over the top and then cook in the oven for around 30 minutes.

5) Ta-da! The finished product should look lightly browned on top. Serve with custard or ice cream and enjoy!

 A really tasty and comforting dessert in 5 easy steps! I have to confess I had never made a crumble before and was very impressed with the end result. The crumble was delicious and the peaches were soft and tasty. In future, I am going to try apple or pear crumble as hubby prefers those fruits, and perhaps even blackberry and raspberry!

Hope you are all well, more soon XOXO

Christmas Cookies : )

Hello lemon bon bons how are you all today? I have had the most ridiculously lazy day ever. I didn't wake up until 11 (no alarm clock in half term!) and then allowed myself to stay in bed til half 12. It was so nice not having to rush around for anything, I am going to enjoy it while it lasts! I decided to have a practice run making some Christmas biscuits today so set off later in the afternoon for a couple of ingredients from Tesco. Here's how I got on...

1) Get all of your ingredients ready, you will need 2 tsp of vanilla extract, 250g butter, 140g caster sugar, 1 yolk of  an egg and 300g plain flour. The cookie cutters to the right were a Christmas present from my mother in law and were perfect for creating festive shapes.

2) After weighing out the ingredients, mix the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until light and creamy.

3) Stir in the egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat in quickly. Then sift the flour and continue to stir in. Towards the end, you will have to get your hands in in order to turn the mixture into a firm dough.

4) Flour the kitchen surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin. Use the cookie cutters to cut out shapes., and evenly space them out on a greased non-stick baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 12 minutes at 180 degrees, and then place them on a wire rack to cool.

5) Decorate! I used an icing sugar mix to create the white icing, and a sprinkling of icing sugar on a few as hubby is not such a big fan of icing as I am! You could experiment with different colours and toppings too as I intended to (but ran out of time!) Still, I like the white, I think it looks like snow, simple and effective : )

So there you have it, I think they turned out quite well for my first attempt, however, I have learnt some lessons for next time:

1) The icing sugar mix was quite messy and tricky to apply so next time I may try some ready to roll icing stuck down on top of the biscuit with apricot jam.
2) I am going to buy some tubes of different coloured writing icing as it will be quick and easy to create designs then without having to use my piping bag.
3) Make sure I only using my baking sheets (I used a regular cooking tray with one load of biscuits, and despite being greased it was not non-stick at all, so all the biscuits on that tray broke up).
4) Remove my wedding rings beforehand - when kneading the dough, it all got stuck between my diamonds, meaning I had to use an old toothbrush and washing up liquid to scrub it all out afterwards!)

Love to you all, more soon xoxo

Chilli con healthy

Hi dolls, hope you are all well! I have been super busy this past couple of days as school has returned and I am following my full timetable now. The classes I have had so far have been really good and fun, although I am pretty tired by the time I get home in the evening! Today's post is a non - fashion one, instead a recipe that I wanted to share from our dinner yesterday. The weather in the UK has been pretty chilly and rainy so I have started to crave comforting old favourites for dinner. I decided to make Sally Bee's version of chilli con carne, a recipe she has dubbed 'chilli con healthy' and it was delicious!

Step 1) Chop up an onion, half a courgette and a green pepper. Peel two cloves of garlic. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and then brown the mince for around 5 minutes. Add the vegetables and continue to cook for another 5 or so minutes.

Step 2) Add one teaspoon of paprika, two teaspoons of cumin and two of chilli (more if you like things spicy) and  stir in. Continue to cook for 3 minutes.

Step 3) Add one can on chopped tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of tomato puree and 600ml of beef stock to the pan. Stir well and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently.

Step 4) Add one tin of mixed beans to the chilli, and one tin of green lentils. Season with black pepper and  heat through gently for another 30 minutes. Towards the end of the cooking time, heat your rice and also some extra green vegetables for the side.

Step 5) Serve with rice and veg, I used brown rice, broccoli and spinach.

My new garlic pot! So cute!

 xoxo

Lasagne on a Monday

Hello Dolls, hope the start of the week got off to a good start for you all : ) I had a lazy morning followed by a leisurely afternoon of shopping with my sister, niece and nephew. This afternoon, as I flicked through my recipe books, looking for some inspiration for dinner, I landed upon Sally Bee's recipe for lasagne which I have never tried before. I have made lasagne of course, but was keen to try Sally's 'healthiest ever' lasagne. I have to say, the lasagne turned out completely delicious, which was pleasing after all my hard work preparing : )

Step 1) Chop up an array of vegetables into very small pieces. You can use any veg you fancy, I used 3 carrots, 2 celery sticks and 1 courgette. Cut up an onion and peel 2 cloves of garlic.

Step 2) Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion to the pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the rest of your veg to the pan including the crushed garlic, and cook for another 5 minutes.

Step 3) Turn the heat up slightly and add your mince to the pan, stirring until browned and crumbly (this will take about 5 minutes).

Step 4) Stir in a can of chopped tomatoes, 450ml of beef stock, 4 tablespoons of tomato puree, 1 teaspoon of oregano and 1 teaspoon of parsley. Season with a good shake of black pepper and allow to simmer for 20 minutes until cooked through.

Step 5) Towards the end of the cooking time of the meat mixture, you need to preheat the oven to 200 degrees or gas mark 6, and then make your white sauce. For the white sauce, add 3 tablespoons of corn flour (corn starch) to a small bowl. Measure out 600ml (1 pint) of semi-skimmed milk in a measuring jug and add a little to the cornflour. Stir until the corn flour has dissolved, and then pour into a saucepan. Add the rest of the milk to this and stir continuously over a low heat until thickened to the texture of custard. Add a good pinch of nutmeg to the white sauce and stir.

Step 6) Pour half of the meat mixture into your dish, then layer several pasta sheets over the top. Continue with another layer of meat and another layer of pasta.

Step 7) Pour over your white sauce, and lastly 40g of grated low fat cheese. Put your lasagne in the oven for 4o minutes until the top of the lasagne is nicely golden.

Step 8) Remove from the oven, your lasagne should look something like this!

Step 9) Serve with a nice green salad or extra vegetables (I decided on tenderstem brocolli, sweetcorn and home-grown white cabbage).

Really yum, and super healthy. A good choice for anyone who wants to try a healthy take on an old favourite : )

100 followers! : )

Hello lovely ladies and first off a MASSIVE THANK YOU to all my amazing followers - I have now reached over 100 followers and I am so pleased! It makes me so unbelievably happy to think that there are so many lovely people out there who want to read my daily ramblings! I really enjoy reading all of your lovely comments, makes my day : ) xoxo

Well today was a nice lazy day for me, I felt a bit out of sorts so I just took it easy, did a bit of school work and a little food shopping. I still managed to try some new recipes though (I am thinking of re-naming my blog 'chef in style' hahaha) and I want to share my lunch time recipe with you because it was delish and super healthy! I made Sally Bee's roasted tomato soup recipe.

Step 1 - Wash a 1kg bag of tomatoes, cut them in half and arrange them on a roasting tray.

Step 2 - Sprinkle over 3 crushed garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons of dried mixed herbs, ground black pepper and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Step 3- Roast the tomatoes for about 1 hour until they are started to brown at the edges.

Step 4 - Remove the tomatoes from the oven and wait about 10 minutes for them to cool a little. Put them straight into a blender, removing the skins as you go (This should be very easy at this stage although it is not necessary so leave them on if you prefer).

Step 5 - Add 600ml of hot vegetable stock and 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar to the tomatoes and blend.

Step 6- Serve the soup in a bowl, adding a good shake of dried basil and mixing through, and then arranging some fresh basil on top. Delish.

* I sieve the mixture before I serve it to remove the seeds as hubby does not like them (and he says I'm a fussy eater!) but again, this is not necessary and they can be left in.

Hope you are all having a lovely week, until next time xoxo

Sunday Inspirations

Hello lovely followers, hope you are all good and have had fabulous weekends! I have had a lovely weekend, yesterday was a very productive and rewarding day (see what I got up to here) and today was a lot slower paced. Hubby and I went into town as he was itching to spend his HMV voucher he received for his birthday, and I couldn't say no to a bit more shopping! Later, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law visited with their son which was really nice. Late afternoon I went for a run which felt great, although the heat made it harder than usual. Still, I do love to run, so I didn't mind too much : ) When I returned, I set about making dinner, trying a new recipe from my Sally Bee recipe book (which I blogged about here)

This experimentation was more than just a bit of fun: I am becoming acutely aware that the summer holidays are drawing to a close, and with this in mind, I am starting to think about our new routine. Being a housewife this summer has been brilliant, and I have truly enjoyed experimenting with different healthy dishes. I am all too aware though that upon return to work, I will no longer have the time or energy to devote to time consuming meals of an evening. I will probably arrive home around 6 0' clock and will need to plan my evenings to fit in cooking, exercise, TV, reading and marking. I am too health conscious to just accept my fate of quick, less than healthy dishes, and believe that it will simply require a little strategic planning to stay on the straight and narrow! With this in mind, I tried out todays dinner, and am pleased to say it ticked all the boxes: healthy, quick to prepare and filling.

Step 1 - Chop up your vegetables (pretty much anything goes, I used grated carrot, courgette and cherry tomatoes) and an onion. Put all the veg in a big bowl and add to this 1 cup of rice (I used wild rice), 400ml chicken stock, 2 tablespoons of tomato puree, a splash of worcestershire sauce and olive oil and lastly a good shake of oregano, thyme, garlic powder and black pepper. Mix this together with a spoon.

Step 2 - Make your 'parcel' by folding a large piece of foil in half. Add your mixture to the middle of the foil and then fold the sides up to resemble a bowl. Add one chicken breast to the top of the mixture and use a spoon to cover the chicken with some of the mixture. Step 3 - Fold the foil so that the parcel is fully covered and put in the oven for 45 minutes.

Step 3 - Fold the foil so that the parcel is fully covered and put in the oven for 45 minutes.

Step 4- Remove from the oven and eat! This recipe worked really well for me and the end result was delicious. It was quick and easy to make, but still very healthy (which is my main priority) and I think it will be a great recipe that can easily be chucked together in the morning before work ready for the oven on arrival home!

As well as cooking, I have also been trying new nail designs today and I love the result! I recently bought the beige NYC shade in Oh SoHo sweet and today I spotted the blue glitter NYC shade in Lights-Camera-Glitter. I painted the beige shade as a base coat and then applied 2 coats of the blue glitter over the top. I have to say, I was a little wary of the glitter as I have not worn glitter nail polish since I was about 13, but with the explosion of nail art recently, (and with my nail lady still away on holiday!) I have been more willing to experiment. I really like the larger blue glitter pieces and the subtle silver sparkle all over (which is not that visible in the picture).

Lastly: lipglosses! I tend to buy a lot of lip products and have many favoutites including Lancome juicy tubes, MAC lipglass and Bobbi Brown lip gloss. I also like cheaper brands as, lets face it, lipgloss is lipgloss and is never going to be that long lasting, so why pay more than necessary??! Today I tried 2 new 'matt' lip gloss type products. The Maybelline color sensational lip stain smells gorgeous and leaves a lovely pink tint behind that is long lasting and natural looking. The Collection 2000 Cream Puff is another 'matt' product and again leaves behind a nice tint that is not too strong, and lasts a fair while. I really like both of the products and they make a nice change from the usual lipgloss look I favour.

Well thats it for today, until next time dolls xoxo

Something a little different : )

Today has been a lovely day of time spent with my sister, niece and nephew, shopping and domesticity! Shopping today centred around the home, I purchased some 'needed' items (muffin baking trays x2, new dishcloths and a micro-fibre cleaning mitt!) and some 'wanted' items (a little 'home' sign to hang in my hallway and a little votive for my bookshelf). I love being on school holiday because I have so much more time to browse, completely at ease, no rushing around and dashing from one place to the next! Even food shopping becomes more of a pleasure! On our way home, my sister and I stopped off at a lovely local farm shop called Perry Court Farm where I finished my shopping by buying over a weeks worth of fruit and veg (and all under £9!)

Back at home, I decided to try my hand at a couple of new recipes from one of my favourite cook books: Sally Bee: The Recipe for Life. I also have Sally's previous book The Secret Ingredient, and I love them both in equal measure. If you have not heard of Sally Bee, in a nutshell, she is a survivor of an almost fatal heart attack which she suffered in her 3os - with the help of a nutritionist, she has gone on to devise heart healthy recipes for all the family, and she shares these recipes in her books. I love to make these recipes and have adapted many of my old favourites to the 'Sally' way, with extra healthy ingredients added in. Nutrition and exercise are extremely important to me, and I get a huge sense of achievement out of feeding myself and hubby such healthy, home-cooked food. My latest fad is for home-grown veg, which I am receiving a steady flow of, courtesy of my sister's neighbour and his allotment - this organic produce makes me feel even healthier and quite saintly! I really hope to pass this healthy attitude towards food on to my children one day. I always loved vegetables and still do: I really hope I don't end up with children who turn their nose up at broccoli and refuse to eat it!

Anyway, back to dinner! I decided to make a tomato and red lentil soup as a starter, with enough left over for both our lunches tomorrow. The soup was pretty simple and had a nice kick thanks to the addition of a couple of teaspoons of curry powder. For our main meal, I made Sally's chicken korma with rice.

1) Finely chop a red pepper, courgette and a good handful of green beans. Put these to one side for now.

2) Chop up 2 medium sized onions and set to one side. Peel and dice a medium sized apple (any type will do, I used a golden delicious). On the stove, add a splash of olive oil to a large heavy based pan, and saute the onion and apple for 3 minutes, until the onion starts to soften. Add 2 crushed cloves of garlic and let cook for another minute or so.

3) Add the vegetables from earlier to the pan, and cook over a medium heat for another 5 minutes.

4) Add 2 teaspoons of medium curry powder to the pan and stir in. (If you like things spicy, add another teaspoon). Stir in 2 diced chicken breasts, and stir quickly, allowing the chicken to pick up and seal in the curry powder. Let the chicken cook thoroughly ensuring there is no pink left (about 5 minutes)

5) Make up a chicken stock with 3 chicken stock cubes and 350ml of boiling water. Pour this into the pan and add 2 tablespoons of tomato puree and one teaspoon of garam masala. Bring to the boil and then turn back down to a low heat, allowing to simmer for 25-30 minutes.

6) Stir in 4 tablespoons of low-fat creme fraiche. This will make the sauce creamy but will not add too many calories or fat. Cook for another 2 minutes but do not allow to boil. Lastly, add a good shake of black pepper and stir.

7) Serve with basmati rice, and add another tablespoon on creme fraiche on top of the curry if desired.

Just thought I would share as this turned out very yummy indeed, and hubby loved it! The apple keeps everything nice and sweet and you can rest assured knowing that this is a wonderfully healthy recipe too : ) Hope you are all having fun weeks xoxo