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Showing posts from December, 2013

Blue Cheese, Parmesan and Green Olive Bread Sticks

My mum asked me to make a starter for Christmas dinner and I was faced with a problem. Between the six people who would be there, dislikes included: salmon, prawns, pate, salad.... I decided I would be safe with cheese. I also knew it had to be something I could prepare the day before and transport down to my parents, and that my mum wouldn't have a lot of space in her kitchen for preparation or oven for cooking. So the easiest thing, and something I thought we would all enjoy, was baked camembert. You simply buy a whole round camembert (or two, in this case), and put them in the oven for about ten minutes for them to melt. Then you dip bread or veggies into the cheese and enjoy. You could do these if you are having people over on new year's eve, though they are good at any time! I did want to make something though so I decided to do homemade bread sticks. I'd never made them before, and hardly ever make bread, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how easy these were,

Meal Planning 2013 - Week 50

Monday Breakfast yogurt or cereal Lunch I was meant to be doing a cookery class for lunch today but it got cancelled at the last minute so instead I will probably make a sandwich Dinner I'm going to see Rick Stein Live at the Palladium with a foodie friend and we are going to an Italian restaurant for a quick dinner beforehand. Tuesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich or cous cous Dinner Chicken kiev and chips for the Other Half, salmon for me - though I think I might take Tuesday off work as I have a lot to do at home in which case I will make something else that I can spend a little longer over. Wednesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch I've got my work Christmas lunch today, we are going to Brasserie Blanc Dinner spaghetti and cheese-stuffed meatballs Thursday Breakfast yogurt Lunch sandwich Dinner It's the work Christmas party tonight so I will be eating (and drinking) there. We're having a movies theme this year and I'm going as Cruella deVil, ma

"X- Rated" Cookies (Bonking Biscuits!)

If you are easily offended then look away now... these are a little bit naughty! And I don't mean in terms of calories.... I have done my best to make the photographs 'artistic' and indeed not too revealing. I was given these cookie cutters last year by a friend and wanted to hang on to them until Alphabakes came up with the letter X - there are not many things I can bake beginning with X so I think these X-rated cookies are just the thing! Here you can see the top of the box from the cookie cutters I used a straightforward biscuit recipe and added some allspice as I thought it was quite appropriate that I made these biscuits spicy! Allspice apparently combines the flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. You need: 100g butter, softened 100g caster sugar 200g plain flour 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla flavouring 2 tsp ground allspice Cream the butter and sugar and mix in the flour I used this Madagascan vanilla from Dr. Oetker, which had a really good flavour. Add

Best Blog Award- Capricorn Challenge

I was thrilled to be chosen as "best food blog" for the month of October by Capricorn Goat's Cheese . I had a lovely email from Ethel the Goat telling me they had picked me and that my prize was a year's supply of goat's cheese! The reason that I am only mentioning this now is because I was waiting until my prize arrived to discover how much they reckon a year's supply is! Rather than fill my fridge with a ton of cheese at once, they very kindly sent me 24 vouchers for a 100g packet of Capricorn goat's cheese. So that's 2.4kg of cheese altogether - a decent amount for a year, I think! Having said that, I doubt I will keep the vouchers all to myself. You will undoubtedly see some recipes using goat's cheese on my blog over the coming year however! I'd be interested to know if anyone has any suggestions or a favourite recipe using goat's cheese; if so please let me know in the comment box below!

Meal Planning 2013 - week 51

I put on a little weight last week which really doesn't surprise me. Since my last weigh in I had: lunch and drinks with friends on Sunday; dinner and drinks with a friend on Monday; lunch and drinks with work colleagues on Wednesday; the work Christmas party (with a free bar) on Thursday, and a takeaway with my boyfriend on Friday! Though the way it has turned out means I have no social events or plans at all this week, so I am going to try hard to shift the weight I just put on. Monday Breakfast skipped breakfast as I left early and had a Slimming World hi-fi bar later Lunch leftover pasta from Sunday Dinner My other half is out this evening so I can cook something he won't like; I'm thinking salmon with lemon rice. Tuesday Breakfast yogurt Lunch burrito with leftover gammon and rice Dinner spaghetti bolognese Wednesday Breakfast yogurt or toast Lunch leftover spaghetti bolognese Dinner Slimming World stuffed lemon chicken - All in One book p30 Thursday

Meal Planning 2013 - Week 52

I'm really pleased that I lost 2.5 pounds last week given it is so close to Christmas! I am going to make more of an effort with Slimming World next year but this week I will be staying with family and friends so won't have as much control over meals. Monday I've got the day off today though my boyfriend is at work. Today I'm going to make the dessert that I'm taking to my parents on Christmas day (assuming I can fit everything in my boyfriend's car, which has a tiny boot and no back seats!) Breakfast cereal Lunch broccoli and stilton soup Dinner seeing my boyfriend's parents - I think we are having takeaway at his mum's house Tuesday -Christmas Eve Breakfast cereal or yogurt Lunch either leftover soup from yesterday or a baked potato Dinner We are going to see my boyfriend's family this afternoon, I don't know if we will still be there for dinner or not. If we are back home I will cook fishfingers and chips as it's quick and e

Fish Menudo, Tuna Menudo

Fish Menudo, Tuna Menudo is our next 2014 Celebration’s Recipe that I would like to share. This dish is a non-meat alternative for your Christmas celebrations which most likely is a feast of meat dishes. For my Fish Menudo I used tuna for the reason that the meat of these types of fish is firm. The basic ingredients are similar to the regular Menudo except of course that we are using fish instead of meat. Cooking method is adjusted since fish cook faster compared to meat. Fish Menudo, Tuna Menudo is another addition to our innovative menudo dish, click the links below to see the other versions of menudo on the archives. Menudo with Baked Beans Beef Menudo Chicken Menudo Menudo Pork Menudo Here is the recipe of my Fish Menudo, Tuna Menudo Ingredients: I kilo large tuna steak, cut into cubes 1 small block hard tofu, cut in to rectangles, fried and cut into cubes 2 small size potato, skinned, cut into cubes 1 medium size carrot, skinned, cut into cubes 2 small size green and r