Vegan Butternut Squash and Quinoa Chili

Okay so I would have put up a finished article photo, except that I forgot and ate it all!

I've been dipping my toes in the vegan/gluten-free side of life and quite frankly I am loving it! I love trying out the vegan version of things where at the end of the meal, you don't feel like you need some Oompa Loompas to roll you out the room!

This was my most recent experiment and it turned out delicious! Really tasty and left us feeling full but not bloated or in need of a nap.

It was really simple to make and doesn't take forever, like most chilis I've made in the past!

Basic ingredients are; (you can add or take away - much like standard chili)

Half butternut squash - peeled and cubed
Half cup Quinoa
1 onion - diced
1 tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves garlic - finely diced or minced
2 cups of veg stock/broth
1 tablespoon of chilli powder (mild or hot - or mixed!)
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Add the oil to the pan and wait until it's hot. Add the garlic and onion and cook 'til soft and slightly brown.

Add in the spices, butternut squash, kidney beans, tomato puree, quinoa and stock.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes until thick and the squash is soft but still has a bit of crunch to it. You don't want it to melt into the sauce!

Serve with some salsa or some greek yoghurt.

DONE!

Simple Fish Pie Goujons

Healthy food seems to have taken over my life in the past two months. Not only does it taste good, it makes me feel good too! Some stuff can be a bit manky tasting, so I've been trying out a few recipes to see whats the yummiest way to get good stuff in me without feeling like i'm eating cardboard constantly.

These beauts are hands down the easiest and quickest dish I've ever made that's tastes DIVINE!

For two people, what you need to make them are;

1 Sweet Potato (or normal potato if you don't like them - however sweet potatoes are healthier!)
Cream Cheese
2 fillets of haddock, cod or any meaty white fish - cut in half vertically then halved horizontally (so they're like goujons! You should have eight pieces)
prawns (I've literally no idea how many i just fire them in - but maybe half a pack?)
Tsp of Paprika (mild or hot)
Salt and Pepper

Start by peeling and slicing the sweet potato into cubes. Boil for about 15/20 minutes until soft and crush-able.

Heat your oven to 220oC/fan 200oC/gas 7

While these are boiling, get a baking tray and line with grease proof paper. Sprinkle over salt and pepper.

Mix the prawns with some of the cream cheese and paprika until it's covered. I normally put a tablespoon in first and give it a good mix so as not to overwhelm the prawns with all this cheese going on!

Place the fillets onto the tray, top with the prawns (allowing maybe 3-4 per fish goujon - depending on the size of prawns!)

Next, drain and mash the sweet potato with some of the cream cheese. Spoon over the fish pies.

Now you can add Parmesan over the top to give it some crispiness, however we used these tremendous pitta bread crisps we found in Markies to ass extra flavour and crunch. it was amazing! I imagine you can add anything on top. You know, to some degree!

Put in the oven for 10 minutes, until piping hot.

ENJOY!

John Freida Frizz Ease Loot

So about a year ago I joined this review website called BzzAgent. What you do is fill in some surveys about household habits, beauty habits and eating/dietary requirements and they send you stuff out according to what you tick and all you have to do is review it. FREE. OF. CHARGE! What's not to love? All you have to do is make sure you review it and fill in surveys to keep your score up; the higher the score, the more stuff you'll get *smiley face*

So I always seemed to have got household stuff like whitener and I have got a few chocolate bars which were yummy! However last week I was totally overjoyed when I was invited to join the John Freida Frizz Ease campaign. I got to choose whether I wanted the straight or curly products, and seeing as I mostly wear my hair curly or wavy I chose the latter.

I received a box of full sized products which included the shampoo, conditioner, calming creme and calming serum. I was absolutely giddy to try it!

My hair is somewhat of a complete nightmare to keep right. It takes me an hour to dry and style as it's so thick, frizzy and wavy.

This is the hair we're dealing with ladies and gents!

When using the shampoo and conditioner, I instantly felt my hair was smoother. I am very guilty of piling my hair on top of my head and it all gets very tangled which probably doesn't help! With this shampoo, it didn't feel as matted or tuggy. Same with the conditioner, with this stuff I couldnt comb my fingers through my hair without having a "Miss Congeniality makeover" moment. The stuff itself smells really nice, not too chemically or fruity at all, more like a salon smell, which I LOVE!

With the Calming Creme and the serum you have the option to use one or the other on damp and dry hair, so I opted for the serum on my hair pre-drying.

Now, I don't blow dry my hair otherwise i'd be there for ages! I normally just point the hairdryer at my hair and brush it at the same time, which is probably why my hair is so bloody big! However this time it was a lot less big and frizzy. Plus it disguised split ends and I noticed a lot less strands of hair on my floor! I decided to go for a straighter look with this however, the time before, i managed to get waves by just leaving it to air dry and oooooh my what a difference! I could possibly just go out like this without having to use straighteners or curling tongs!

After I dried it, I smoothed some Calming Creme through my hair just to get it less frizzy. Again, this stuff smells good and left my hair feeling smooth and manageable. I literally can't see any split ends in my hair and i feel it LOOKS healthy!

What a difference eh? God knows what my hair would look like if I styled it with a heated appliance or blow dried it!

The Frizz Ease products cost about £5/6 from most supermarkets or chemist. Boots normally have a 3 for 2 on so three products for about £11/12 is quite decent, especially as the bottles are huge and the amount you need to use each time is very little.

Banana and Sultana Muffins with a Chocolate Centre *Drools*

So I found some lovely brown squishy bananas in my kitchen the other day, and hating waste, I sat and had a good think about what I could do with these manky looking things.

My conclusion - banana muffins! I jazzed it up a bit by putting some sultanas in and adding a piece of dark chocolate to the centre to make a melty middle bit. They're soooo yummy and good for you too (..well it does have bananas and sultanas in them...)

This recipe makes 12 muffins.

What you'll need to gather:

85g (3oz) butter or margarine (I used olive spread)
85g (3oz) light brown caster sugar (however normal caster sugar is grand!)
170g (6oz) self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
2-3 VERY ripe bananas, mashed into a puree (yuck!)
about 115g sultanas or any other type of dried fruit
small bar of dark chocolate broken into pieces
muffin tray
muffin cases
mixing bowl

Okay, so first of all heat your oven to about 180oC/Gas Mark4.

Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy looking. In another bowl mix together the flour and baking powder.

To the butter and sugar, add the egg and a spoonful of the flour. Mix until well combined. Add in the bananas and the sultanas. Then add the rest of the flour mixture until it's all mixed up well.

Divide evenly among the 12 cases then take a piece of chocolate and press it down into the batter so it's sitting in the middle. Do this for all the cakes.

Sprinkle a little bit of sugar over the top and bake for about 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

If you have some left (which won't happen) you can always freeze them and defrost for a few hours as and when needed.

Just try not to eat them all!!

I'm Late! I'm Late! I'm Really Really Late!

Oh good God! I just realised I haven't posted on this is AGES! Apologies my dears!

I realise I haven't posted in near enough a year which is MENTAL! I've been super busy moving 140 miles from my hometown to the lovely city of Inverness. It's cold but its awesome!

While i've been unpacking and making the house all nice and homely and cosy, I've been cooking and baking up a storm!

The first lovely recipe I have for you is YORKIES! Or Yorkshire puddings....not the chocolate bar! I always loved having these for Sunday dinner and it was always Aunt Bessie's as my Mum was the cook. However seeing as I have upped my culinary skills I decided to take on the dreaded task of making them myself one Sunday while making dinner.

And the result? OH MY LAWDDDDD AMAZING! I couldn't believe how good they were compared to the frozen ones I had been living with for 26 years! They're actually not difficult to make either, providing you have the time (you need to let the batter sit for half an hour) it's a straight forward operation.

So let's do this shall we??

Nom, right??

Ok so the stuff you'll need (note: these will all probably be in your cupboards! See- they cost nothing to make!)

to make around 12:

3 eggs115 g plain flour1 pinch sea salt285 ml milk12 tablespoons vegetable oil

muffin tray
whisk/fork
measuring jug
mixing bowl

I don't actually use measurements (sometimes I'll use less eggs to make less batter) so what I do is crack the eggs into a measuring jug and take a note of where the eggs measure to (the wee markings on the jug), empty the eggs into a bowl. Pour the flour into the same measuring jug to the SAME level as the eggs came to. Again, empty this into the same bowl with the eggs. Then, add the milk, again to the same level (nothing more or less) and add to the rest of the stuff in the bowl. 

Give it a good whisk and season to taste (nb: it WILL need seasoned) then pour all the batter back into the jug so it's easier to pour into the muffin holes. Set aside for about half an hour.

Heat your oven to the highest setting and pour the oil into the muffin holes and place in oven until oven has heated up or for about 5/10 mins. By this point the oil should be ROASTING, so pour the batter into the muffin holes and place back in the oven for 15 minutes.

DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME. REPEAT. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THIS TIME.

Otherwise the puds will sink and it'll all be a travesty! It's rather fun sitting and watching through the oven door at them rising. I cannot even explain how happy I was when I first made these and seen them rising, there may have been a squeal involved!

They'll look all lumpy and weird at first!

Serve straight away or you can always eat one while serving them. Noone will know ;)

Jammy Heart Biscuits

I made these little beauties for my birthday last week and I absolutely ADORED them (along with everyone else! - They were gone by the end of the day!)

I had been deciding what type of cake I should make for my birthday, when I thought that a) not a lot of folk in my family/extended family are huge fans of cake and b) there is an endless amount of genres of cakes I could make. One word: decisions!

So, after a few minutes of pondering (and a lovely cup of peppermint tea), I decided to make these beasts! Everyone loves jammy dodgers and what could be better than making a tastier, less heavy alternative?!

The recipe below makes about 20 (depending on the size of the biscuits you want to make!) and they're suitable for vegetarians :)

What you'll need:

250g Butter

150g Icing sugar

1 large egg (separated)

375g plain flour

seedless rasberry jam (about 100g or so)

for the buttercream:

You can either use this recipe:

140g butter (softened)

280g icing sugar

1-2 tbsp milk

to make: beat the butter in a large bowl until soft, add half the icing sugar and mix until smooth. Add remaining icing sugar and 1 tbsp milk and beat until lovely and creamy. Add in the extra milk if the mixture needs loosened up. 

OR

buy buttercream frosting :)

Okay doke!

So first of all we're going to beat together the butter and the icing sugar until it's a light and fluffy consistency. Then add in the egg yolk and add half the flour. 

Add the remaining flour and mix with your hands to ensure you get all the mixture and start to knead with your hands in the bowl until it's smooth (this shouldn't take long). Then wrap in cling film and either put in a cool place (NOT THE FRIDGE) for about 30 minutes to rest.

Heat the oven to 190oC/170oC Fan/Gas 5. Roll out half the dough until it about 3mm thick (on a floured surface - believe me, it'll make your life so much easier!). I used a 5.8 cm fluted cutter to cut out 20 rounds. Place on a greased baking tray and bake for about 8-10 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Next, roll out the remaining dough and cut out 20 more rounds (again on a floured surface). Now, we have the difficult part - cutting out the hearts. If you're lucky enough to have a tiny heart cutter, use that. Otherwise, the best way to do it is to place the rounds onto the baking tray first, then cut out the hearts using a small veg knife. It does get a bit tedious once you get to the 15th round but remember - ONLY 5 MORE TO GO!!

Beat the egg white until it's a wee bit frothy and brush over the biscuit just to give it that extra crispiness. Bake and cool as before.

Then what to do is make the - or use the bought - buttercream and spread over each biscuit (make sure not to get the ones with the hearts on it! Place some jam in the centre (about a teaspoon) and cover with a biscuit with the heart cut out. Push down gently so the jam fills the heart shape.

Sprinkle with icing suga.

So there you go. Yummy and fabulous looking biscuits that are suitable for a kids party and also for a grown up party. 

Now the only problem will be is not to eat them all!!

Trio of desserts... (Don't worry it's simple to make!)

Apologies for lack of action on here! Time does not seem to be my pal at the moment however I've kicked my ass into gear to get this blog back up and running. Recently I've been doing A LOT of cooking and baking.
Most recently, I've done these cute wee desserts which include Rhubarb panna cotta, meringue (with leftover roast rhubarb) and vienesse biscuits (dipped in leftover dark Easter egg chocolate!). These were for a dinner which I was making for my family and they only took me a few hours to do all three (this includes chilling time!) Plus i even had enough time to make Hollandaise sauce with the leftover egg yolks from the meringue for an asparagus and Jersey Royal potato bake thing (recipe to follow!)

Right so let's get our apron on and get started!! :)

Rhubarb Panna Cotta

serves 4

You'll need for the roasted rhubarb:

500g/1lb 2oz rhubarb
2tbsp caster sugar
4tsp apple juice

and for the panna cotta:

75g/2oz caster sugar
150ml/5fl oz double cream
2 leaves of gelatin (soaked in cold water til soft)
300ml/11 fl oz buttermilk (the buttermilk they sell here is around 284ml so i topped up the rest with normal milk)

Preheat oven to 200oC/180oC Fan/400F/Gas 6. Cut up rhubarb into 1" pieces and place in a roasting tin along with the sugar and the apple juice. Roast for around 8-10 minutes or until all soggy and yummy looking. Using about 125g of this, blend to a puree and place the rest aside for later.

Mix the sugar and the double cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer (at about a medium heat so they don't burn - YUCK!) just til all the sugar has dissolved. Squeeze out all the water from the gelatin leaves and throw in the pan and stir about until they've completely dissolved. Add the puree then remove from the heat and leave to cool for about 5/10 minutes or until you get impatient! Stir in the buttermilk then it's ready to pour into dishes!

I used these little plastic dishes you get with these meals for a tenner from markie parkies! However you can use little ramekin dishes or whatever else you can find that resembles a little dish :)
Place some of the roasted rhubarb you done earlier into the bottom of the dishes then pour over the mixture (I used a measuring jug for this to save mess!). Pop in the fridge for about 1-2 hours (or longer if you're making them the day before). If you want to be fancy (and have time) and want to turn them out onto a plate, dip the dishes (alliteration!) into some boiled water to loosen the sides and run a knife round the edges. Spoon some of the rhubarb over the panna cotta for some uber awesome taste!
I just served the panna cotta in the dish as it was and spooned some of the rhubarb over it.
So there you go! Something super fancy and super tasty and it literally takes you less than half an hour to make the mixture. I think the only difficult part is the waiting coz it's SO GODDAMN DELICIOUS!

So while we're waiting for the panna cotta to set we're going to do some...

Vienesse Biscuits

Makes LOADS!

These are always easy to do and the ingredients are always stuff that I have in the cupboards. What you'll need is:

100g/30z softened butter

25g/1oz icing sugar

100g/3oz plain flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

50g/2oz dark chocolate

Heat oven to 190oC/170oC Fan/Gas 5. Grease baking trays or cover in grease-proof paper.

Beat the sugar and butter together until it looks pale and it's quite a fluffy texture. Using a sieve, add flour and baking powder to the mixture and mix until well blended.

Fill a piping bag with the dough (as it's quite gooey!) and pipe about 2" lines on the baking tray. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown around the edges.

Leave the biscuits to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes. If you try to lift them off while they're still hot then they'll just fall apart and you'll be left with broken biscuits! Yummy none-the-less but still broken! Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Then, carefully, dip half of each biscuit it so half of it is coated in chocolate. Place back on the wire rack and leave to set (this normally takes about an hour or so).

We made these while we were waiting on the panna cotta setting and we still had time to make...

Meringues

PHEW! *mops brow* We're nearly there! By now you'll be feeling like Delia Smith/Gordon Ramsay/Michel Roux Jnr (or possible senior) depending on your kitchen temperament!

Meringues have always been something I have wanted to try but have just been that little it too impatient to make them ever since i lost my electric whisk (seriously I have no idea where it went and I could have done with one for this!).

I was looking through loads of recipes to try and find one that sounded easy and yet had a photo to prove that it looked impressive, and came across the easiest theory for a meringue: For every egg yolk used, use 50g caster sugar. Tada! That's the trick so they're not too chewy and have just the perfect amount of crispiness!

I had used 2 egg yolks so used 100g sugar for this. This made about 9 decent sized meringues.

Heat your oven to 150oC/130oC Fan/Gas 2

Now remember I've lost my electric whisk - so I used sheer strength and determination to whisk the egg whites into lovely white fluffy stiff peaks. I must admit I did use the "hold the bowl over the head" theory and, luckily for me, it worked! If you're lucky enough to not have lost your electric whisk, use a medium speed to do this.

 Next, slowly add the sugar. Again, if you're using an electric whisk turn the speed down low as you don't want to over mix this! I added the sugar about a tablespoon at a time until the mixture was this lovely shiny mixture and gave stiff peaks when i lifted the whisk up.

Then I plonked a tablespoons of the mixture onto a greased baking tray (again you can use grease-proof paper but be careful incase it sticks!)

Place the meringues into the oven, then as soon as they're in, turn the oven down to 140oC/120oC/Gas 1 and cook for about 30 minutes until they're a lovely pale coffee colour and sound hollow when lightly tapped. Turn off the oven completely and leave the meringues in the oven to dry out (otherwise they go a bit overly-chewy!) I left them in for about an hour and a half and then removed them and they turned out ace!

To serve them all as trio, simply place on a plate and spoon some of the leftover roasted rhubarb over the meringue as a tasty extra!

So I hope these recipes have came in useful and that you enjoy them as much as I have! I also hope to find that you found them just as simple an stress free as I have!

ENJOY!