Healthy Recipes

Hey lovely people, 

So in keeping with my new healthy approach to eating... and well... life... I have decided to share a couple of my favourite healthy recipes along with the cost of the ingredients. I feel that we are all encouraged to live healthier lives and eat more fruit and vegetables. However, I find that it is often overlooked that eating better often costs us double the price of a standard weekly shop, so sometimes it's not that people don't want to, it's just that they can't afford to eat better.

On that note, these recipes will not only be healthy, but cost effective. 

Warm Quinoa Salad with Grilled Halloumi

(serves 3)

Ingredients

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 small red onion, sliced

1 large roasted pepper from a jar, thickly sliced, or a handful of ready-roasted sliced peppers

200g quinoa

500ml vegetable stock

small bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

zest and juice 1 lemon

large pinch sugar

250g pack halloumi cheese, cut into 6 sliced

1. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a medium saucepan. Cook the onion and pepper for a few mins, then add the quinoa and cook for a further 3 mins. Add the stock, cover and turn the heat down to a simmer. Cook for 15 mins or until soft, then stir through half the parsley. Heat the grill.

2. Meanwhile, mix the lemon zest and juice with the remaining parsley and oil, and a large pinch of sugar and salt. Grill the halloumi until both sides are golden and crisp. Serve the salad with the grilled halloumi and the dressing poured over everything.

Asda

Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil - £1.50 (250ml)

Sliced Red Onions - £0.50 - 225g

Roasted Red Peppers - £1.40 - 480g

Great Scot Scot Quinoa - £2.18 - 300g

Vegetable Stock Cubes - £0.40 - 120g

Parsley - £0.70 - 31g

Lemons - £0.30 - each

La Doria Fine Sea Salt - £0.50 - 500g

Halloumi - £2.00 - 250g

Total Cost - £9.48

Cost per person - £3.16

I think you'll agree that £3.16 for a delicious, healthy meal isn't asking too much. I've used Asda for purchasing the ingredients, but by all means check your own local supermarket. 

So you've wolfed down that delicious meal, now you want to wash it down with a delicious and super healthy smoothie.

Mango & Banana Smoothie

(makes 1 litre)

Ingredients

1 medium mango

1 banana

500ml orange juice

4 ice cubes

1. Cut the mango down either side of the flat stone, then peel and cut the flesh into chunks.

2. Peel and chop the banana.

3. Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender, then process until smooth and thick. Keep in the fridge and use the day you make it.

Asda

Large Mango - £0.75

Banana - £0.68

Orange Juice Smooth - £1.00

The Ice Co Ice Crush - £1.00

Total Cost - £3.43

Cost Per 250ml serving - £0.85

So there you are my lovely readers. Two delicious and cost effective recipes to help you become a healthier and happier person. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have!

Take care lovelies. x

Hump Day Goodness!!!

Hey lovely people!

It's that time of the week again and this weeks recipes have been carefully selected from the deliciously, amazing "queen of baking" Lorraine Pascale... and boy do I need some good desserts in my life this week. 

Do you ever have weeks where no matter what you do, who you see, whatever makeup you buy yourself, just none of it makes you feel any better??? I don't know if it's just a female thing, or if the males in our lives go through it too... but this week has been exactly like that for me. Therefore I felt it was only right to share some of these incredibly sugary (and exceptionally bad for you) recipes for you all lovely people, who might feel the same way I do this week.

Chocolate mousse with raspberries

Ingredients

200ml double cream
150g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
50g milk chocolate
3 very fresh medium eggs
3 tbsp caster sugar
50g fresh raspberries
2 tsp icing sugar, to decorate

1. Put the double cream in a small pan on a medium heat and leave to warm up.

2. Meanwhile, snap the chocolate up into small pieces. Once the cream is just starting to steam, remove it from the heat and add the chocolate. Don’t stir it (tempting though it is!), but just leave it to sit and melt for about 5 minutes or so.

3. In the meantime, separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a mug or small bowl and the whites in a large spotlessly clean bowl (or the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer, if using).

4. Whisk the whites, preferably using a hand-held electric whisk (or the electric mixer), until they reach a medium peak. To test, stick the whisk into the egg white and then flip it handle side down. The peak should look like a floppy Noddy’s hat, not standing up straight to attention. If so,

then add 1 tablespoon of the sugar and whisk it up again until the whites begin to become shiny. Then while continuing to whisk, add another tablespoon of the sugar. Make sure that the whites are whisked up well and all of the sugar is dissolved before whisking in the final tablespoon

of sugar.

5. Meanwhile, have a look at the chocolate. It may not look like it, but the chocolate will most likely be melted by now, so stir everything together. Then add the egg yolks and stir to combine.

6. Once the whites are lovely and thick and glossy, stir in a spoonful of the chocolate mixture. This will loosen the whites up a bit and make it easier to manage the next step. Gradually pour all of the chocolate into the egg whites and then gently fold them together. Try not to be too heavy-handed

or over mix this, as it is good to keep as much air as possible in it.

7. Divide between the four 150ml glasses or ramekins and lightly press the raspberries into the tops. Cover each one loosely with cling film and then pop in the fridge for 30 minutes or so to firm up (or if you want to eat them ASAP, put them in the freezer for 15 minutes). These can be made in

the morning for a dinner party in the evening. If in the fridge for that long, I like to take them out 15 minutes or so before I need them so that they are not too cold for the guests.

8. Just before serving, decorate the top of the mousse with icing sugar. I hold a piece of paper with a straight edge quite closely over the part I don’t want the icing sugar to be on and then dust away (through a fine sieve).

Cookies and cream fudge brownies

Ingredients

165g/5½oz butter, plus extra for greasing

200g/7oz dark chocolate, grated 

3 free-range eggs

2 free-range egg yolks

1 vanilla pod, seeds only

165g/5½ oz soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

pinch salt

154g/5½oz pack chocolate biscuits

2g icing sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.

2. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the grated (or chopped) chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together. Alternatively, you can put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 25-second blasts, stirring well each time.

3. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.

4. Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little.

5. Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar.

As if those recipes didn't contain enough chocolatey goodness, but I have also included a delicious Easter inspired, chocolate cocktail! What can I say guys... I like my chocolate!!! :D 

Easter Flip Cocktail

Ingredients

25ml. Vodka

35ml. White Crème De Cacao

1 Egg

35ml. Vanilla Cream

5ml. Sugar Syrup

1 sprinkle Nutmeg

1 sprinkle(s) Chocolate Shavings

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.

2. Add Smirnoff No. 21 Vodka, white crème de cacao, egg, vanilla cream and sugar syrup to the shaker.

3. Using a jigger, measure 25ml Vodka, 35ml white crème de cacao, 35ml vanilla cream and 5ml sugar syrup into the shaker.

4. Shake the mixture vigorously until the surface of the shaker feels chilled.

5. Using a cocktail strainer, strain the mixture into a Martini glass.

6. Using the fine side of a grater, grate the side of a whole nutmeg onto the drink to garnish. Sprinkle chocolate shavings to complete.

So there you go my lovely little chickens! Get yourself into the kitchen, dust off your aprons and bake these delicious chocolatey desserts! They will make any dull day seem that little bit brighter... and even if it's just for the 5 minutes while you eat it... it will be the most delightful 5 minutes you can imagine!!!

Take care lovelies. x

Hump Day Deliciousness... And getting older!

Hey lovely people!

So it's Wednesday again, and the 2nd of April, can you believe it??? This has quite literally been the quickest start to the year ever! My mum always used to say to me that when I got older, the time would start to fly by quicker than I could imagine, and I always thought she was talking nonsense... but it really does feel that way. I'm 29 in June and 30 next year... I still feel 18!!!

Anyway, less of the nostalgia. Today's choice of recipes include some of Martha Stewart's greatest dessert creations... all in the honour of feeling young... and I'll perhaps throw in another little cocktail at the end, just to make the "getting older" part feel a bit better.

Martha Stewart's Coconut Balls

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup icing sugar & extra for dusting
2 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups dessicated coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Cream the butter with icing sugar until fluffy
3. Mix in flour & salt until combined
4. Stir in coconut
5. Roll dough into 1 inch balls
6. Place balls 2 inches apart on tray
7. Bake until just starting to brown (15-20 mins)
8. Roll warm cookies onto icing sugar until coated
9. Leave to cool completely

Martha Stewart's Moist Devil's Food Cake

Ingredients
Cake

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

Mrs. Milman's Chocolate Frosting

24 oz semi-sweet chocolate
4 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup

Directions

Cake - 1st process

Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
Butter 3x 8"x2" cake pans
Sift cocoa into a bowl, add boiling water and whisk
Leave until cool
Cream butter until fluffy
Beat in the vanilla
Drizzle in eggs a little at a time and beat between each additional egg
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
Whisk milk into the cocoa mixture
Alternatively add dry & wet ingredients (start & end with dry)
Divide batter evenly between the 3 cake pans

Mrs. Milman's Chocolate Frosting
Place chocolate & cream into a heavy pan
Cook over low heat stirring constantly until combined & thick
Remove pan from heat
Stir in the corn syrup
Transfer to a large metal bowl
Leave until cool enough to spread

Cake 2nd Process

Bake cakes until tester comes out clear (35-45 mins)
Transfer layers to cooling rack
Reserve the prettiest layer for the top
Place one cake layer on serving platter
Spread 1 1/2 cups of chocolate frosting on top of this layer
Add the 2nd cake layer
Spread another 1 1/2 cups of chocolate frosting on top of this layer
Top with the 3rd & final cake layer
Cover outside of the cake with the remaining chocolate frosting
Serve

Kinky Pink Cocktail

Ingredients

1/4 Raspberry vodka
1/3 Cranberry Juice
2 measurements of Peach Schnapps
Raspberry infused sugar to rim glass

Directions
Add cranberry juice & peach schnapps to cocktail shaker with ice
Shake vigorously and drain into sugar rimmed glass
Add vodka

ENJOY!!!

So there you go lovely people. Give those desserts a try and top them off with a few glasses of a Kinky Pink. Don't even think about the calories in these treats, as they are off the scale. They are intended to be enjoyed as a rare treat every now and again... so go on... treat yourself!

Take care lovelies. x

It's that time of the week again!

Hey lovely people!

I just loved this when I saw it... and on that note I'd like to say HAPPY HUMP DAY lovelies! Lol

With today being the half-way point of the week for most of us, it's only right that instead of posting another of my favourite recipes, I thought I would post a couple of my favourite COCKTAIL recipes instead. If, like me, you're having one of those weeks where nothing is going right and you're stressed to the hilt, then a little cocktail is a welcomed idea. 

Cranberry Ginger Fizz Cocktail

Ingredients

1 cup of fresh cranberries

1 lemon - cut into wedges

4 sprigs of mint

1/2 an orange - cut into wedges

1 cup ginger ale

1 1/2 cups of gin

3/4 cup of sparkling water

3/4 cup of sugar

Preparation

1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan, stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; pour off all but one cup of syrup, reserving any extra for another use.
2. Heat the syrup to a boil and then reduce heat to a medium. Add the cranberries and simmer for 2-3 minutes until they just begin to burst. Remove from heat and let cool in syrup.
3. Place 2 tablespoons of drained cranberries and 6 tablespoons of cranberry syrup in a large pitcher; add the lemon and orange wedges.
4. Using a wooden spoon, vigorously mash the fruit.
5. Stir in gin and let steep for at least 5 minutes.
6. Strain into a medium pitcher.
7. Fill 4 glasses with crushed ice and 1/4 ginger ale.
8. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and then pour half of the cranberry mixture into the shaker and shake vigorously for 10 seconds, strain liquid into two glasses. Repeat.
9. Mound additional ice on top of each glass and garnish with 3 candied cranberries and a mint sprig.

Strawberry Vodka Lemon Sparklers

Ingredients

4oz strawberry infused vodka

4oz sugar syrup

4oz pink lemonade

4oz sparkling wine

Cubed ice

Fresh strawberries

Fresh mint

Preparation

1. Pour syrup and strawberry vodka into shaker with ice and shake vigorously.
2. Strain and pour into 2 cocktail glasses.
3. Add pink lemonade to the glasses 3/4 full.
4. Top off with sparkling wine.
5. Garnish with strawberries and mint.

Now repeat after me...

IT'S 5 O'CLOCK SOMEWHERE!!!

So there you go lovely people, 2 fantastic cocktail recipes that once you've tasted, you will instantly fall in love with and I predict you will continue to make for years to come! 

If you would like to find more fantastic cocktail recipes like this then look no further than Pinterest! There are literally thousands upon thousands of fantastically delicious recipes there for you to try. 

Take care lovelies. x

Hump Day Recipes

Hey Lovely people!

After my last Wednesday, I decided that I would continue on with the theme of sharing some of my favourite chefs and recipes with you... I mean what is better than some good old grub to get you through Hump Day???

So this weeks chef of choice is the wonderful and charismatic Jamie Oliver!!!

I love him... not only because his recipes are just fab... but because he makes it all look so effortless! Now I know that it's absolutely not effortless in the slightest, but the style and flare he shows in the kitchen, and the way he just throws the ingredients together without care or hesitation, gives me hope that I can produce meals with the same punch and pizzazz!

Anyway Danielle stop rambling and get on with it! Lol

This weeks choice of recipe is the fabulous Perfect Roast Chicken. Now I know that a lot of you will be like "What? That's soooo boring"... but let me tell you, there is no better dinner (in my opinion) than a good Roast... and Chicken is always top of the charts for me!

Perfect Roast Chicken
with lemon, fresh herbs & veg

Ingredients

1.6 kg higher-welfare chicken

2 medium onions

2 carrots

2 sticks celery

1 bulb garlic

olive oil

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon

1 small bunch fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture

Method

To prepare your chicken

Take your chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9. There's no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled. 

Pile all the veg and garlic into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the bird. Carefully prick the lemon all over, using the tip of a sharp knife (if you have a microwave, you could pop the lemon in these for 40 seconds at this point as this will really bring out the flavour). Put the lemon inside the chicken's cavity, with the bunch of herbs.

To cook your chicken

Place the chicken on top of the vegetables in the roasting tray and put it into the preheated oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook the chicken for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If you're doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking. 

Baste the chicken halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning. When cooked, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the chicken to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so. Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside. Now is the time to make your gravy. 

To carve your chicken

Remove any string from the chicken and take off the wings (break them up and add to your gravy for mega flavour). Carefully cut down between the leg and the breast. Cut through the joint and pull the leg off.

Repeat on the other side, then cut each leg between the thigh and the drumstick so you end up with four portions of dark meat. Place these on a serving platter. You should now have a clear space to carve the rest of your chicken. Angle the knife along the breastbone and carve one side off, then the other. 

When you get down to the fussy bits, just use your fingers to pull all the meat off, and turn the chicken over to get all the tasty, juicy bits from underneath. You should be left with a stripped carcass, and a platter full of lovely meat that you can serve with your piping hot gravy and gorgeous roast veg.

There you have it - the most delicious Roast Chicken dinner you can imagine - I should know, I've tried it 100 times.

To find more delicious recipes like this just visit JamieOliver.Com... I guarantee you will find so many amazing and easy recipes there that you'll be dying to try!

Take care lovelies. x

Happy Shrove Tuesday!!!

Hey my lovelies!

It's Pancake day... and I am soooooo excited to make pancakes today. The one is just your basic, everyday, easy peasy recipe:

Ingredients
100g plain flour
2 large eggs (free range if possible)
250ml whole milk
1 tbsp butter
Small pinch of salt

Instructions
1. Mix all of the ingredients together until mixture is combined and there are no lumps (feel free to add a little extra milk to the mix if it is too dry).
2. Add 1 tsp of oil & 1 tsp of butter to a frying pan on medium heat.
3. Spoon the mixture onto the frying pan and wait for little air pockets to appear on the surface of the pancake before flipping.
4. Stack & serve with Maple Syrup.

They are delightful little bite-size pancakes that can be made from start to finish in 10 minutes!!! What isn't there to love???

Take care my lovelies. x

Mondays Dinner Plans

Hey my lovelies!

I know that I have already posted today, but I thought I would try and get into the habit of sharing my cooking with you. This is intended to be more of a "lifestyle" type blog, showcasing my life through photographs as opposed to a more specific field of interest.

So on that note, I thought it would be a fun addition to include a few of my recipes over the week, starting with tonight's dinner choice:

Beef Stir Fry

Ingredients:

Lean Diced Beef Steak

1x Red Bell Pepper

1x Yellow Bell Pepper

1x Large Onion

2x Spring Onions

1x tsp Sea Salt

1x tsp Pepper

2x tsp Paprika

2x tbsp Soy Sauce

Instructions:

1. Marinade your meat with Sea Salt, Pepper, Paprika & Soy Sauce. Add chopped spring onions.

2. Leave the marinade for 2 hours (longer if possible).

3. Fry chopped onion in a tsp of oil, until onions are translucent and beginning to caramelise slightly.

4. Add the marinaded meat to the frying pan and fry for 10 minutes on a medium heat.

5. Add chopped bell peppers to the frying pan and leave to fry for a further 5 minutes. 

6. Serve with a baked potato and green salad.

I may be bias my lovelies... but this is a truly delicious little dinner, as well as being a fairly healthy meal option for those of us who could really do with losing some lbs!!! 

Take care my lovelies. x