Top Ways That Food Impacts Your Health
Everything that you consume, or put into your body will have some form of a consequence attached to it, especially when it comes to your health. There are many different types of food and drink available to experiment with, to either add or remove from your diet, all of which will have a different effect on your body and health. However, you should always be careful about what you include or add to your diet, as a lot of food recommendations and guidelines are majoritively generalised.
Everything that you consume, or put into your body will have some form of a consequence attached to it, especially when it comes to your health. There are many different types of food and drink available to experiment with, to either add or remove from your diet, all of which will have a different effect on your body and health. However, you should always be careful about what you include or add to your diet, as a lot of food recommendations and guidelines are majoritively generalised. For example, if you have allergies or special dietary requirements then not everything will apply to you, and sometimes could prove to be dangerous. So, if you are unsure whether or not you have allergies or specific dietary requirements, then an option for you would be to visit an allergy clinic, or dietary specialist to receive further information or a diagnosis before you alter your diet too drastically. To help you on your journey, here are some examples of how food impacts your health.
Energy levels
One of the main reasons that all animals (including humans) eat, is to help fuel their bodies with energy. There are different forms of energy produced in food, two of which are slow or fast-releasing foods. An example of slow energy-releasing food would be things such as wholemeal bread, oats, and brown rice. These items will generally help keep you feeling fuller for longer but lack the initial boost of energy that is sometimes required especially if you are about to go on a walk or a run. If you need this boost you will find it in fast energy-releasing foods such as bananas, chocolate bars, apples, and other such high sugar foods.
Muscle growth
The food we eat heavily impacts our ability to grow and maintain muscle mass. Of course, exercise and lifestyle play a role in this too, but what you eat is a very important part of this puzzle too. Foods such as chicken, broccoli, and eggs are some of the most frequently turned to foods by those who visit the gym and are looking to gain exponential growth in their muscles. This is because these particular foods are packed full of protein.
Skin condition
The food and drink you consume will affect every part of your body, including your organs, and whether you know it or not, your skin is actually the largest organ of the human body and therefore is also greatly affected by what you eat. Have you ever noticed after eating a takeaway or a greasy meal that the next day your skin has got worse? This is because your body is trying to balance out all the excess oils, fats, and sugars you ingest. Foods you can consume that promote healthy skin are things like fish, nuts, bell peppers, and oranges.
Your diet and what you eat can not only taste really good but also help to keep you happy and healthy. So, pay attention to what you are eating and the benefits that it can bring you.
Halloween Cupcakes and Broomsticks
With just under a week to Halloween, it is getting pretty excited in this household. We love celebrating Halloween. This year we are not going all out like previous years, but still, we will decorate a little, and take the kids Trick or Treating.
Halloween's not on the weekend or even during half-term like normally, which means no late night party for us, but that doesn't mean we're not going to make the most of Halloween. So with the kid's outfits pretty much sorted, decorations out ready to put up, I just need to sort the food. I'll put on hot food: chilli, jacket potatoes and hot dogs, but it's Halloween, it's for the kids, kids love cake and so in prep for next week we popped to our local Tesco's and bought all the ingredients we needed for our fun afternoon of decorating cupcakes:
his shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CampaignHashtag #CollectiveBias
With just under a week to Halloween, it is getting pretty excited in this household. We love celebrating Halloween. This year we are not going all out like previous years, but still, we will decorate a little, and take the kids Trick or Treating.
Halloween's not on the weekend or even during half-term like normally, which means no late night party for us, but that doesn't mean we're not going to make the most of Halloween. So with the kid's outfits pretty much sorted, decorations out ready to put up, I just need to sort the food. I'll put on hot food: chilli, jacket potatoes and hot dogs, but it's Halloween, it's for the kids, kids love cake and so in prep for next week we popped to our local Tesco's and bought all the ingredients we needed for our fun afternoon of decorating cupcakes:
For the witch hats.
Ingredients
- 6 cupcakes (we pre-bought to save on time)
- 6 Oreo icecreams (I used Oreo for the colour of the cone)
- Oreo biscuits
- Coloured frosting (orange)
- Coloured icing (green and yellow)
- Strawberry strings
Method
- Pipe the orange frosting onto the cupcakes and then set aside.
- Separate the Oreo biscuit
- Pipe the green icing around the bottom of the cone like a ribbon. Use yellow icing to draw buckle on in the centre of the 'ribbon'.
- Set the cone on top of the separated Orea biscuit, using the biscuit base cream to set together - creating the witch hat.
- Place witch hat on top of the orange frosted cupcake
For the 2nd witches hat, we stuck frosting stars around the cone and used strawberry string for the ribbon.
Our Cupcakes
We used the different colouring icings - Orange and black. White frostings, edible eyes and mini marshmallows.
We piped either Orange or black frosting on top and designed different tops. For our spider cupcake, we used strawberry string for the legs, black icing and added edible eyes. For our bat cupcake, we used black icing, edible eyes and for the teeth, we cut a mini marshmallow into two small triangles.
Broomsticks
These were super easy.
Ingredients:
- a box of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures
- Matchsticks (I bought the mint flavour ones - yum).
You will need one peanut butter cup and half a matchstick for each broomstick.
Remove wrappers from peanut butter cups, snap the matchsticks in half, and dip a matchstick end into top of peanut butter cup.
How to make Barbecue Ribs cooked in the oven
We don't cook ribs very often, normally only when we have a BBQ, and that is a shame really, because the boys love ribs - they often order ribs when we eat out, and ribs are always on the list when we order takeaway. thus, when I was sent a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey Barbecue glaze sauce, the first thing I thought was 'I am going to make my boys some ribs'.
We don't cook ribs very often, normally only when we have a BBQ, and that is a shame really, because the boys love ribs - they often order ribs when we eat out, and ribs are always on the list when we order takeaway. thus, when I was sent a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey Barbecue glaze sauce, the first thing I thought was 'I am going to make my boys some ribs'.
The ribs are delicious. Sweet, full of flavour and a nice treat. I served them with sweet potato chips, sweetcorn, celery and cucumber. I made (my new favourite dip) chive dip, which is very refreshing and tasty and compliments the ribs perfectly.
It is safe to say the boys appreciated my cooking that evening.
First, you need to place the ribs in a large pot with enough water to cover. Season with 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, 2 tablespoons of black pepper and 2 tablespoons of salt. Bring water to a boil, and turn down to med heat to simmer until the ribs are tender for approximately 45 minutes.
Lay the ribs on a baking tray and cover both sides of each rib with honey barbecue glaze. Cover the ribs in tin foil. Place in a preheated (160c) for 1.5 hours.
After 1 hour in the oven, I pulled the ribs out sprinkled them with sesame seeds for added texture, and placed them back in the oven for the final half an hour to cook.
After 1.5 hours I removed the ribs from the oven, unwrapped the foil and spooned the barbecue sauce that had leaked onto the tin foil and drizzled it over the ribs (although I kept my three ribs dry, as I love dry ribs- they were still full of flavour and super yummy). Then I plated the ribs up.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours 15 minutes.
Ingredients
12 large ribs (or how many you need)
1 Tablespoon Garlic powder
2 Tablespoon Pepper
2 Tablespoon Salt
Honey Barbecue Glaze (I used 2 bottles of Jack Daniels Honey Barbecue glaze sauce)
Sesame seeds
Method
Place all your ribs into a large pan, and fill the pan with water, enough to cover the ribs. Add the garlic powder, salt and pepper and on high heat bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to a medium and leave to simmer for 45 minutes (until tender).
Remove the ribs and place them onto a baking tray covered with tin foil and pour the honey barbecue sauce on both sides of each rib. Cover with tin foil and place into a hot oven (160c) for 1 hour. Remove the ribs and sprinkle sesame seeds over the ribs, re-cover with the foil and place back into the oven for 20 - 30 minutes.
Remove the ribs from the oven, scoop up the barbecue sauce that has leaked onto the foil and spread onto the ribs. Serve and enjoy.
I made my own Chive Dip which was freakin awesome - perfect to dip - watch out for the very easy recipe soon.
Apple Strudel and Vanilla Custard
Sunrise Senior Living have recently launched their annual Taste of Sunrise recipe book to showcase the delicious and nutritious meals homemade in their care homes every single day.
They’ve launched a new recipe book with signature dishes designed by Michelin-star chefs and today I've cooked one, the Apple Strudel and Vanilla Custard. It's the first time I've ever made custard and it went down well, my son announced I now have to make bowl full of vanilla custard for him. It's always a good sign and encouraging to receive positive feedback from your kids.
I am finding I love cooking with Puff Pastry - it's so versatile, easy and you can make many great recipes with it. The Apple Strudel was fun to make, a simple recipe to put together and the final result - Yummy.
A fast pudding to put together that gives you a nutty, spiced dessert during this cold weather. The perfect treat for after dinner, here is what you need:
Vanilla Custard Ingredients:
110ml Skimmed Milk
6g Custard Powder
5g Granulated White Sugar
Drop of Vanilla Essence
Apple Strudel Ingredients:
350g Apples
40g Caster Sugar
20g Sultanas
1/2tbsp Ground Nutmeg
400g Ready-made Puff Pastry
1 Egg White, Beaten
Zest and juice from half an orange
First I sliced up the apples to then combine with the sugar, sultanas, orange juice, zest and nutmeg.
Place the pastry across a lined baking tray and lightly score the pastry lengthwise into 3 sections.
Brush the pastry with the beaten egg white.
Lay half of the fruit mixture in the centre third of the pastry. Fold one side of the pastry over the fruit mixture and gently press to seal.
Then top with the remaining fruit mixture and fold the remaining side of the pastry to cover and press to seal together.
Brush the top of the pastry with the rest of the egg white and score the top with a knife.
Bake at 175c for 45 minutes until golden brown and the bottom is firm. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Yum Yum Yum.
For the custard:
Mix the custard powder with the sugar with a little milk to form a smooth paste. Then heat the remaining milk to nearly boiling and add to the custard mix, stirring well. Whisk in the Vanilla essence and return the Custard mix to the saucepan and stir until the mix is brought to the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 1 minute.
Cut the Pastry into slices, pour over the Vanilla Custard and enjoy! A hearty warm dessert that tastes amazing.
Drink more Water with Robinsons Real Fruit
No matter how much I try to drink water I am simply not good at it! It is the taste, it is boring, thus adding a bit of squash solves the problem for non-water drinkers like me, adding squash allows you to drink more water. And, Robinsons is the perfect staple drink for refreshment, a way to make water a bit more interesting.
Robinsons, the iconic makers of fruit squash has been a family favourite for me; a brand I grew up with and now a brand I buy for my children. We always drink it in the traditional way, pour a little squash, add cold water and drink. But, never had I considered adding a twist to making a squash, not until I was sent a pack of Robinsons Real Fruit juices, along with a recipe book.
With the idea to encourage us to all drink more water this winter Robinsons have created a selection of seasonal recipes using their Real Fruit squashes, and I picked two of my favorite recipes to try out - and they did not disappoint.
Mulled Apple and Blackcurrant
Ingredients:
200ml Robinsons Apple and Blackcurrant squash
800ml water
4 cloves
4 black peppercorns 2 star anise
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 cinnamon stick used for stirring.
Method:
In a hot pan mix the squash with the water. Then add all the spices, and allow to simmer. Pour into a glass, add the cinnamon stick to stir in the glass - enjoy.
The taste and the aroma are very warming, festive, and relaxing. The drink is bursting full or flavour and character.
Warming Lemon and Ginger
Ingredients:
200ml Robinsons Lemon
800ml water
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoons of finely grated ginger
Lemon slices
Method:
First heat the water in a kettle then mix it with the juice in a glass, adding the fresh lemon juice, along with the grated ginger. Serve with extra lemon slices.
I chose this recipe, Warming Lemon and Ginger because Robinsons Lemon is my staple drink (for as long as I remember), it is my favorite, and I was excited to give it a twist- it was surprisingly nice. Warm, zingy, spicy - to me this Lemon squash with a spicy twist is the perfect comforting, evening drink.
*This is a collaborative post
Proper Pickle Sandwich
Tuna, Egg, Mayo and Pickle - a yummy combination that if you haven't already tried, you simply must.
Tuna, Egg, Mayo and Pickle - a yummy combination that if you haven't already tried, you simply must.
Quite possibly my favorite mix of ingredients for a sandwich. Tuna has always been a favorite of mine, and my boys love a good ole tuna sandwich as well. An egg sandwich is another popular choice in this house. But I rarely put these together to make a sandwich, and adding the pickle not only adds a bit of crunch, but makes it extra sweet and yummy.
Great for lefts overs, it's great on crackers, toast and sandwiches.
Ingredients:
English Provender Proper Pickle, Chunky - 3 tablespoons
A small tin of tuna.
Mayonnaise - 2 tablespoons
1 boiled egg.
Pinch of salt & pepper.
2 slices of bread.
Method:
In a bowl, combine the tuna with the egg, pickle, mayo, salt and pepper. Mix well. Spread onto a sandwich and enjoy.
This post is an entry into the #ProperPickle Challenge with The English Provender Co and Foodies100
Hubby's Beef Stew
For the past 18 years my hubby throughout the colder month's cooks us a cosy, warming, tasty beef stew.
For the past 18 years my hubby throughout the colder month's cooks us a cosy, warming, tasty beef stew.
There is nothing more wintery than tucking into a stew on a cold day as you are sure to be warmed all the way down to your bones, and it will keep you nourished and full. it’s easy to make, and this traditional recipe is packed full of yummy seasonal vegetables.
It's a dish that will serve you well through long winters and making a stew isn't hard:
For your cooking equipment all you need a large pot with a lid. The Prestige casserole dish is perfect.
Ingredients:
Beef stock 1ltr
2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
Thyme sprig
3 garlic cloves
Dumplings (ready made ones)
Stewing beef 500g
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
2 large leeks
Swede
Carrots
Method:
First get yourself prepared - chop up all the vegetables in to large chunks.
Then in a large pot heat some oil up and add the beef - add the crushed garlic and thyme and cook until the beef is browned. Add all the vegetables and pour in the stock along with the worcestershire sauce. Place in a pre-heated oven (140c) cook for approx. 3 hours. 2 hours in, add the dumplings.
Scope into a bowl, and enjoy with some crusty bread.
Such an easy dish, one that the whole family loves.
Chicken and Chorizo Paella
I associate Paella with my dad. My Mum grew up in Spain and my Dad lived there, they met, fell in love, had me and moved back to the UK. Growing up, my Dad would cook his big 'famous' Paella dish and he cooked it on the biggest pan I've ever seen.
I associate Paella with my dad. My Mum grew up in Spain and my Dad lived there, they met, fell in love, had me and moved back to the UK. Growing up, my Dad would cook his big 'famous' Paella dish and he cooked it on the biggest pan I've ever seen.
I've never before attempted to cook a Paella dish, so was excited to give this a try.
I got a paella pan that was a lot smaller than expected for example my dad’s paella pan was massive, but then I have only ever seen my Dad's massive Paella pan.
Super excited to be making my own Paella I bought the ingredients and made my very first Paella - and it tasted lovely. Maybe not as good as my Dad's but hubby loved it, thus, I will be doing the dish again, but next time maybe I will add fish in.
Ingredients
Paella rice - 100g per serving
1 lt. of hot chicken stock
400g Chicken pieces
100g Chorizo sausage
2 Tomatoes
200g green beans
180g haricot beans
1 pepper
1 garlic clove
25ml olive oil
1 sachet of Paella seasoning
Salt and pepper to season the meat
Method
First I prepared all the ingredients. I diced the chicken, sliced the chorizo, diced the tomatoes, prepared the green beans, and haricot beans and sliced the pepper. Once everything was ready, I then heated the oil in the pan and browned the chicken and chorizo. Next, add the vegetables and stir-fried them for a few minutes.
I then poured in the chicken stock and let it simmer for 15 minutes on medium heat, making sure the chicken was done. At this point, I add the rice and seasoning and stir to mix everything.
Cooking on low-medium heat for a further 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
Once ready, serve to eat.
Strawberry Muffins with Jubilee Strawberries
Did you know there are 30 home-grown varieties of strawberries?
Driscoll Jubilee strawberries are one of the best strawberries I have ever tried. They are so much sweeter and much more flavoursome than your average supermarket strawberry. Juicy, fresh and full of flavour, they have a succulent rich flesh, mouth-watering taste and distinctive fresh aroma of this perfect ruby-coloured, heart-shaped strawberry.
We love strawberries in this house and have a punnet available in the fridge at all times - they are perfect for snacking on and great for baking - or sprucing up a salad.
This is the first time we have made muffins, and what better fruit to use than Jubilee strawberries?
Ingredients
2 cups diced fresh jubilee strawberries
375g flour
1 of tablespoon baking powder
1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
10oz caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon
310ml of milk
3 eggs
250ml unsalted butter
Method
Preheat the oven to 220 C
Melt the butter.
Sift the flour, then mix with the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir until all the ingredients are combined.
Make a well in the middle of the mix and add the milk, eggs, and melted butter. Stir well until fully combined. Make sure not to over mix as it is fine for the batter to be slightly lumpy.
Add the diced strawberries and caster sugar into the batter and stir gently - be kind to the mix.
I then scooped the mix into the muffin cups, about halfway full and baked in the oven for 25 minutes.
They were delicious.
Chocolate Buttercream Cupcakes
We've been making chocolate buttercream cupcakes.
The kids wanted to cook chocolate cupcakes with buttercream fillings. We've never cooked cupcakes before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was. The kids loved them and we will definitely be making some more. It was fun and we made a mess in the kitchen.
Ingredients
Cupcakes:
375g of plain flour
400g of caster sugar
30g dark cocoa powder
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon of salt
2 free-range eggs
250ml of milk
250ml of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Buttercream:
250ml of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
50g of unsalted butter
50g of margarine
250g of icing sugar
1 pinch of salt
3 tablespoons of milk
Method
First, we preheated the oven to 190c, then we realised we didn't have any cupcakes over trays, oops! So a quick dart down the supermarket Hubby came home with a couple.
In a large bowl, we mixed together the plain flour, caster sugar, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Once this was mixed I made a hole in the middle of the mix and cracked and poured in the eggs, along with the oil, milk, water and vanilla extract, mixing it all and thoroughly.
Once I had a smooth consistency we poured the mix into the cupcake oven tray holes - half full, to allow for the rise.
You then bake them for 20 minutes.
Whilst they were baking we started on making the buttercream. You have to beat the butter and margarine until smooth and then blend in the icing sugar and salt. Slowly beat in the milk and vanilla extract until it is light and fluffy. You are then meant to pipe the buttercream through the bottom of the cupcakes, but we didn't have any piping bags so we improvised and used the Calpol syringes instead - which worked perfectly.
Allow them to cool.
We were super pleased with how well they came out!
We popped them into our cupcake cases.
We syringed some of the vanilla cream into the to the middle of the cakes -syringing underneath. We don't have a piping bag, so I used the Calpol syringe instead, it worked perfectly.
Jacob wanted some sprinkles on his, so he spread some chocolate icing on the top first, and then tapped some sprinkles on top.
Peanut Hottie Milkshake Recipe
Peanut Hottie is an amazingly delicious and moreish peanut butter flavour instant hot beverage. But, the best thing is, you can make a nice cool deliciously fun milkshake out of the Peanut Hottie mix.
Ingredients:
- 3 teaspoons of original Peanut Hottie
- 200ml milk of your choice
- sprinkle of mini marshmallows
Method:
This milkshake is quick and easy to make, simply mix your Peanut Hottie with the milk in the blender (I used my Nutri bullet) and add your toppings of choice.
Peanut Hottie is made with real peanuts, Caffeine free, No artificial additives or colours. Available in two flavours Original & Chocolate
Green Giant Minions Challenge #greengiantminions
Ingredients:
2 Jacket potato's
1 tin of Green Giant Sweetcorn
Pot of Cottage cheese
Olive olive
Method:
First coat the jacket potato's in oil, before placing them in a hot oven to bake for one hour.(200C). Take them out of the oven and cut them in half length ways, scooping out the flesh of the potato and placing it into a bowl.
I then mixed the flesh with the cottage cheese add a bit of seasoning and mash together. Spoon the mixture back into the potato skin. Finally, I placed the Green Giant Sweetcorn on the potato skin and put back into the oven for 20 minutes.
How to Make Herb and Garlic Butter
Recently I wrote about the #GoGreen challenge where I grew my own indoor herbs.
Since growing my herbs, I've been looking forward to using them, I wanted to make something simple, but also something I will use and enjoy, thus I made some super easy-to-make herb and garlic butter.
Herb and garlic butter is a great condiment to have in the freezer as you can use it to add taste and flavour to many different dishes: garlic bread, or stuff it under chicken skin, or spread it on a steak - you can even mix it in with mashed potato - Yummy.
It is easy to make, and you can create different flavours, by using different herbs.
Ingredients
Herb and Garlic Butter:
3 cloves garlic, you can use more, depends on your taste.
250g of butter.
A hand full of herbs - I used my fresh basil and I also added parsley.
1 teaspoon of olive oil.
Pinch of salt and pepper.
Method
First I beat the butter with my mixer, until it was fluffy.
I then crushed the garlic and added some salt and pepper.
Using my mortar and pestle, I mashed up my herbs, I poured in a little olive oil, mixed together and added the garlic. Finally, I added the herb mix to the fluffed up butter, and mixed.
I wrapped it in cling film, and popped straight into the freezer, so it is now ready and available for when I need it.
How to Make Honeycomb
I love honeycomb, and one of my favourite chocolate bars is the Crunchie my hubby loves honeycomb, thus I wanted to find out how to make it, and to my surprise, it is simple and easy - although, it did take me a couple of tries before I cracked it, now I am whipping up honeycomb for the kids (and myself) with minimal effort.
I like to crumble it over vanilla ice cream, which is delicious and making it with the kids is fun, especially when you add in the bicarbonate soda, the confectionery instantly fizzes and froths up.
Ingredients
Honeycomb
160g caster sugar
2 tablespoons of golden syrup
2 teaspoons of
bicarbonate soda
Sheet of baking parchment
Method
The process of making a honeycomb happens rather quickly, so you must have all your tools and ingredients ready.
First I mix the caster sugar and the golden syrup in a saucepan until it clumps together, then I turn a low to medium heat on and let it dissolve - it's impo’t mix the caster sugar and golden syrup whilst it is on the heat, you can give the saucepan a swirl if needed.
Once melted I whack up the heat to high until it boils, then I remove the saucepan from the heat and add the bicarbonate soda. Whisk until mixed (don't mix it too much, as you will take the air out) then pour the mixture onto the
baking parchment - leave for approx. 30 minutes or until it is set, and then smash it up and eat.
How to Make Vanilla Pannacotta and Shortbread
Vanilla Pannacotta and Shortbread with Fresh Strawberries.
This is my first time making both shortbread and pannacotta - both desserts quick and simple to make. I was pleased with my shortbread, even hubby commented "I don't normally like shortbread, but these are lovely" and my boys enjoyed them too. I will be making shortbread again shortly, but maybe next time I will add a hint of vanilla. The pannacotta was not bad for my first attempt, it tasted nice and creamy, I maybe put a bit too much vanilla in, but I do plan to make it again, but with less vanilla - I might even try a different flavour next time, maybe chocolate.
For these two lovely desserts instead of using sugar, I used Canderel granules as you get the same sweetness that sugar gives, but with fewer calories.
Ingredients
Shortbread:
100g Canderel, plus extra for sprinkling.
300g plain flour, sifted.
200g unsalted butter, at room temperature.
Pinch of salt.
Pannacotta:
600ml double cream
150ml milk
3 vanilla pods.
2 gelatin sheets.
60 Grams Canderel
3 strawberries
Method
Shortbread
Preheat the oven to 160C.
First I mix the butter and Canderel until pale and smooth. I then added the flour and pinch of salt and gently mixed, pushing the mixture together into a ball of dough.
I placed the dough onto baking parchment and gently rolled it out to about 2cm or use your preferred thickness, and I then scored the dough into squares using a knife. With the baking parchment, place onto a baking tray and leave to chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Before placing in the preheated oven, sprinkle with a pinch of Canderel and then bake for 15-20 minutes, until pale golden-brown.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Once cooled, gently snap your slab of shortbread along the lines you scored.
Pannacotta
Add the milk and cream into a saucepan, and using Dr. Oetker's vanilla grinder, I added the vanilla bits in and then brought it to a boil.
Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until the mixture thickens which takes approximately 20 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Add the gelatine and the Canderel and whisk until it is dissolved.
Leave until chilled, before it almost starts to set, then pour your mixture into ramekins. Transfer to the refrigerator and leave until fully set.
To get the pannacotta out of the glass ramekin, I popped it into hot water to loosen it and then turned it onto the plate. (I left mine slightly too long in the hot water, and it started to melt - so be careful, as it doesn't need very long before it loosens, enabling the mold to come out). I then added to the plate the strawberries, and shortbread, and I poured some strawberry coulis.
Fillet Steak with Red Wine Sauce, Parsnip Mustard Mash and Asparagus
Fillet Steak with Red Wine Sauce, Parsnip Mustard Mash and Asparagus
We celebrated our 18th Valentine's Day together this year and it was the first time I've cooked for hubby on Valentine's, normally hubby cooks, but not this year.
If we don't go out for a meal, hubby will cook us a nice sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce, but this year I wanted to do something different, but something simple as I am still learning how to cook. So I decided to stick to steak, but fillet as we've never had that at home before, along with parsnip and mustard mash (I've done this once before which tastes amazing), and Asparagus fried with sesame seeds. I cheated with the stuffed mushroom, as that was Tesco brought, but the rest, I made from scratch.
Ingredients
Fillet Steak:
2 fillet steaks.
Vegetable:
Bunch of Asparagus
2 teaspoons
Sesame seeds
1 teaspoon
sesame oil
1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
Mash:
750g of Parsnips.
1 tablespoon of honey mustard
2 tablespoons of
Wholegrain mustard
85g butter
Red Wine Sauce:
Half a cup of Merlot red wine
A quarter cup of balsamic
Method
Should take approx. 20 minutes.
First, get the parsnips chopped in half and sliced. Boil the kettle and pour into the saucepan, add some salt and bring to a boil. Add the sliced parsnips, and leave to boil for 10-15 minutes, until tender.
In the meantime, spread olive oil, salt and pepper over both sides of the steaks. Heat your frying pan on a medium-high heat, and place the steaks into the hot frying pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until preferred choice.
Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes; transfer to a dish and set aside to cool.
Remove the steaks from the frying pan and place them onto a warm plate. Then using the same frying pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and then add the red wine and balsamic and cook until the sauce is reduced down.
Whilst the red wine sauce is reducing, heat the sesame oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the asparagus to the skillet, season with salt and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; toss with the dark soy sauce and sesame seeds to serve.
Drain your parsnip, transfer into a bowl, along with the Dijon mustard, honey mustard, butter and a bit of seasoning, then mix and mash.
Plate the fillet steak, the parsnip mash and the asparagus and pour over the red wine sauce over your steak. Enjoy.
Smoked Chicken & Orange Salad
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| My dish - It tastes as good as it looks. |
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| Mixing the salad |
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| Whisking the dressing up. |
Turkey Mince Meatball Wrap with Mint Yogurt Sauce
For the Mission Deli Recipe Challenge I made turkey mince meatball wraps.
Mint yogurt sauce is my favourite at the moment, it is so easy to make and tastes light and refreshing. For this dish it tasted great as a base sauce within the wrap, and I had a bit on the side to dip my salad it, it really brought the dish together.
This is the first time I've made meatballs, and hubby and my boys loved it. It was so easy to do and I enjoyed making them.
For the meatballs:
4 x tablespoons of olive oil or sunflower oil
14 x Jacob crackers
1 x egg
400g Turkey mince
2 teaspoon dollops of Dijon mustard
Rosemary
Dried oregano
For the sauce:
Yogurt
Cucumber
Mint
Lemon
Method:
- For the sauce, I poured the Greek yogurt into a bowl, chopped up the mint leaves, sliced up the cucumber very thinly, and mixed altogether - finishing off with a squeeze of lemon and seasoning.
- For the meatballs, first I put the crackers into a freezer bag, and smashed them with a rolling pin. Jacob done this with me and had loads of fun.
- We added the mince in to a mixing bowl with the cracker-crumbs, the Dijon mustard and the egg. I added the finely chopped rosemary, and the dried oregano. I seasoned the mix and then with my hands, mixed it thoroughly together. Once I was happy with the mix, I shaped lots of little balls (I want them slightly smaller as they will be going into a wrap), and then I allowed them to rest for 10 minutes.
- I heated the oil in my frying pan over a medium heat and turned the oven on to preheat at 200C. I browned the meatballs in my frying pan and then transferred them to a baking trap and cooked in the oven for 12 minutes.
- I got my wraps out, and built our wraps. First I smothered my mint yogurt sauce over the wrap, then I laid some lettuce, cucumber, red onions, and tomatoes. And finally, I added my meatballs and rolled it up.
Angel Delight
was my favourite dessert when growing up, I loved it, and I am really not sure how or why it got lost in my life, but I haven't brought it since leaving home,
thanks to the Angel Delights moments challenge,
that has changed now. I got to re-discover it and introduce it to my children for the first time, which went down very well.
An iconic British brand and dessert I grew up with, as I am sure many of my readers grew up loving as much as I did? What was your favourite flavour? mine was butterscotch. It was the treat, the one dessert I wanted and loved - Instant, simple but yummy.
The new Bubblegum flavour Angel Delight, which launched in Tesco last September can be used to make either a traditional instant dessert or a milkshake, with instructions for both on the back of the packets! We got to try out this new flavour, and it tastes as sweet as bubblegum, just like it.
The Bubblegum flavour is made only using natural colourings and is suitable for vegetarians.
Other flavours available:
Banana, Butterscotch, Chocolate, Raspberry and Strawberry. There is a no added sugar range as well.
We were sent the new flavour, Bubblegum and we got to be a little creative with it:
All you need is milk, a whisk and a bowl - easy peasy, even I can make Angel Delight.
I added a treat in the bottom - Lewis loves meringue
Yum yum yum - a mouth watering bubbly delight
Lewis LOVES meringue, and he loves desserts, so I made his very own meringue coated in Angel Delight with a sprinkle
Violet Crystals
A dish of goodies.
Bubblegum Angel Delight went down a treat with the boys and Summer, they enjoyed the fun and unique taste - I can't wait to buy the other flavours and try these out on the kids.
BBQ Weekend
Over the Bank holiday weekend we decided to have a family BBQ - well it was meant to be nice weather, so we thought 'why not' - perfect excuse for the first BBQ of the year. We pulled the BBQ out, cleaned it, and popped off to Morrisons for our shop. Throughout the supermarket they had lots of POS and labels highlighting all the new cheaper prices, it made our shopping experience must more positive. Once we had everything we headed home and I started on the dishes:
Mediterranean vegetables -
I love this dish, not only great for BBQs but also goes well with most meals.
Courgette 55p
Yellow courgette - never added one of these before, but I spotted it in Morrisons and couldn't resist. £1.06
Peppers £1.59
Red Onion 49p
Mushrooms 89p
Baby Potatoes 76p
Slice all the vegetables up and place in a dish, pour some olive oil over and add a little seasoning/mixed herbs, then stick into the oven for about an hour.
Cost £5.34 - for 7 adults costing 76p each.
Potato Salad
I love making my potato salad, this dish is so simple and tastes much better than shop-bought.
1 pack of baby potatoes 76p
Half a bunch of spring onions - but I use the green part only 24.5p
Salt & Pepper
Half a jar of Morrisions Light mayonnaise - 45p
First, you steam the potatoes, then once soft drain them and chop them in half. Trim the green part of the spring onions and mix in with the potatoes, season with salt and pepper - then mix it all with some Light Mayonnaise.
Cost £1.46 - for 7 adults costing 21p each.
Red Coleslaw
This dish is my favourite (a few of my friends and family members love it when I make this), it is so simple to make and tastes yummy.
1 Red onion - Morrisons 49p
1 Red cabbage - they didn't have any in my Morrisons unfortunately, but I had some in the fridge already (from another supermarket). 49p
Pine nuts (half a pack) - £1.35
Salt & Pepper
Half a jar of Morrisions Light mayonnaise - 45p
Chop the Cabbage, chop the onion, mix, chuck in the pine nuts, season with salt and pepper - and then mix it all together with some Light Mayonnaise
Cost £2.78 - for 7 adults costing 40p each - howeve,r there was 1/3 leftover, which I enjoyed for a few lunches throughout the following week - Yummy.
From BBQ to the table:
Then the meat - my husband was really pleased with the quality of the meat (so was I) he mentioned how the burgers didn't shrink, and the sausages didn't split - the quality and taste was great.
For 7 adults, and 4 children:
Minty lamb ribs £2.01
Chinese steaks £2.99
3x Burgers £12
2xSausage £6.38
Beef shish kebabs £4
Total meat - £27.38
- for 7 adults + 4 children costing £2.49 each - there was plenty of meat for all of us, in fact we had some left over and Paul's mum took home a doggy bag.