Weekly Roundup...

Hey lovely people,

So tomorrow is my weigh in day and I am feeling optimistic. I have seriously tried sooooo hard this week and I  have thought about and planned everything I've eaten. As well as this I have made a real effort to go out a walk every day... Something that I must admit I'm guilty of doing far too little of. My job as a photographer is 30% standing and moving and 70% sitting and editing so I find that most of my day is spent in front of the computer. But I have pushed myself to move around a lot more on an hourly basis as well as having my little evening walks.

So let me just share with you some of the meals I have eaten this week:

Don't they look delish... Here are their pro-points values (remember my points allowance may be bigger than yours so you can have more or less dependent on your allowance):

Porridge (45g) with semi-skimmed milk (213ml) & raspberries (handful) = 8 Pro Points

Spicy Vegetable Cous Cous (150g) with spinach & sliced cucumber = 5 Pro Points

Spinach (plateful - I really love spinach... lol) with salt & pepper = 0 Pro Points

Fresh Tortiglioni (250g) with a spicy tomato sauce (75g) with spinach = 14 Pro Points

Banana (1 med) & Raspberry (handful) Smoothie (Juice 150ml) & ice = 3 Pro Points (330ml glass)

Chicken (165g) & rice noodle (200g) & sweetcorn (100g) stir-fry (soy sauce added) = 14 Pro Points

These are just some of the meals I ate this week and they were all super filling and tasty, which just proves you don't have to eat food that tastes like cardboard when you're on a diet.

I hope that any of you who are on this same journey have had a really good week and you are feeling positive and healthy and I will report back with the outcome of my weigh in tomorrow morning,

Wish me luck...

Take care lovelies. 

xxx

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

Happy Hump Day!

Hey there lovely people!

How are you all doing on this fine day???

So after having read this months Vogue cover to cover, I thought I would share a bit more about my love and fascination with the amazing Nigella Lawson, who was this months cover feature.

My love affair with cooking started when I first moved out of my family home and into a flat with my other half when we were 18. It was an exciting and nerve-wracking time for me as I really hadn't had much experience in the kitchen up until that point. I had however, always loved watching cooking programmes on TV and in those early days this is where my inspiration in cooking came from.

I quickly became a fan of amazing chefs like Jamie Oliver, James Martin, and Rachel Allen to name but a few. But the best of them all... or certainly the most voluptuously sexy, charismatic and eloquent of them all. :D

How seriously beautiful is she??? I'm not quite sure if its her cooking skills that I am so bowed over by or just how much she oozes utter perfection when she cooks.

Either way, I thought I would share my favourite dessert recipe that I have tried and tested over the years... just to help you get through hump day!

Now this first one is by no means healthy or low in calories in any way... but it is my absolute favourite dessert and is super easy to make and anyway let's be honest, a healthy dessert is over-rated!

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Ingredients

for the base

·         200 grams digestive biscuits

·         50 grams salted peanuts

·         100 grams dark chocolate chips

·         50 grams soft unsalted butter

for the filling

·         500 grams cream cheese

·         3 large eggs

·         3 large egg yolks

·         200 grams caster sugar

·         125 ml sour cream

·         250 grams smooth peanut butter

for the topping

·         250 ml sour cream

·         100 grams milk chocolate chips

·         30 grams soft light brown sugar

Method

• Preheat the oven to 170°C/gas mark 3/325°F.
• Then process the biscuits, peanuts, dark chocolate chips and butter for the base in a food processor.
• Once it comes together in a clump, turn it out into a 23cm / 9inch springform tin and press into the bottom and up the sides to make the crunchy crust.
• Put in the fridge while you make the filling.
• Process the filling in the cleaned or wiped-out processor bowl, putting in the cream cheese, eggs and egg yolks, sugar, sour cream and peanut butter and whizzing to a smooth mixture.
• Pour and scrape the filling into the base in the chilled springform tin and cook for 1 hour, though check after 50 minutes. The top – only – should feel set and dry.
• Take the cheesecake out of the oven while you make the topping.
• Warm the sour cream and chocolate with the brown sugar gently in a small saucepan over a low heat, whisking to blend in the chocolate as it melts, and then take off the heat.
• Spoon and spread the topping very gently over the top of the cheesecake, being as careful as you can in case you break the surface of the cheesecake. (not that anything bad will happen; you’ll just have chocolate marbling the cake a bit.
• Put it back in the oven for a final 10 minutes.
• Once out of the oven, let the cheesecake cool in its tin and then cover and put into the fridge overnight.
• When you are ready to eat the cheesecake, take it out of the fridge, just to take the chill off: this will make it easier to spring from the tin. don’t let it get too warm, though, as it will become a bit gooey and be hard to slice.

 So there you go... hope you enjoy.

      Take care lovelies. x

  Check out Nigella.Com for loads more fab recipes!!!