HONEY GOAT'S MILK YOGURT POTS

29 JUNE 2015

This little recipe is perfect for a day like today when it's hot hot hot! It's especially great if you're also trying not to ruin that summer bod, or if you're just trying to be a bit healthier in general!

For those of you who have never tried goat's milk or goat's milk yogurt before, do give it a try. It has a unique flavour that might take some people a bit of getting used to, but now that I've had it I would never go back. The health benefits of goat's milk over cow's milk are also surprising. It's more similar to human milk that cow's milk is and it's chemical structure makes it easier to digest - perfect for people with food intolerances or digestive disorders like me!*

METHOD:

Top some Delamere honey goat's yogurt with fresh blueberries, drizzle with runny honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Yum!

*Please carefully research the use of goat's milk as an alternative to cow's milk for treating intolerances and digestive disorders like Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis. If you're unsure about what you read, it might be helpful to speak to your doctor or a dietician about the relevant health benefits specific to you.

MEXICAN INSPIRED CHICKEN, LENTIL AND BEAN SALAD

24 JUNE 2015

Ok, so I'm going through a salad phase. I can't get enough of them. This latest addition is inspired by the fabulous Madeleine Shaw and her famous 'Get the Glow' recipes. I've combined a few elements of her different recipes and thrown in a few little changes of my own as well. Here's how...

INGREDIENTS: (serves 2-4)
for the salad...
100g Runner beans
100g Sugar snap peas
1/2 a pomegranate
Fresh coriander
1 tin green lentils
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp smoked paprika
4 chicken thighs
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp runny honey
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp of coconut oil

for the dressing...
1/2 small tin of sweetcorn
150g cashews
1 clove of garlic
2 limes
1 tbsp tahini

METHOD:
for the salad...
In a bowl, combine the honey, soy sauce, 1 crushed garlic clove and cumin, and add the chicken coating evenly.

Cut the beans into 1cm pieces and the sugar snaps in half. Steam for approximately 5 minutes and set to one side. In a pan heat the coconut oil and fry the other clove of garlic with the chilli flakes for  2 minutes. Drain and wash the lentils and add to the pan with the paprika. Cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes.

Whilst the lentils are cooking, grill the marinated chicken until golden brown and sticky and the juices are running clear. When cooked, slice into thin strips. 

for the dressing...
Combine all the ingredients with a few tablespoons of water and blitz in a blender until smooth. If you want you can soak the cashews over night, which will make for a smoother consistency, but if you don't have time it still tastes beautiful without soaking them.

Plate up in layers in whatever order you want. I did lentils first, then beans, then chicken, topped with the dressing, pomegranate seeds, chopped coriander and a crack of black pepper.

Enjoy, and let me know how you get on! x  

THE LITTLE THINGS...

22 JUNE 2015

When I scroll through my Bloglovin feed, it's always full of positivity. That's what I love about blogging - it showcases the good in life and makes me focus on what's really important to me. It's so easy to get wrapped up in drama and negativity, the grind of everyday life, that we often forget to look at the little things - the things that when you really take time to appreciate them, often turn out to be the big things...

So, in the spirit of embracing life, I'm starting a new series that looks at the little things that have impacted me and my life in a positive way each week. 

Here's the little things that have made me smile this week...

1. NEW PURCHASES...
We bought ourselves one of these badboys on Saturday:

It might seem menial to most, but this little table has been a lifesaver already. Not only does it look the shiz, but it's going to afford me hours of enhanced-comfort technology usage, and who wouldn't want that?? (Oh yeah, and it has a tiny draw for keeping chocolate in - just saying) Find this at Futon Company - £24.95

2. DINNER WITH FRIENDS...

Now, I don't have a picture for this one, but on Saturday night we spent the evening with a gorgeous group of friends to celebrate the lovely Laura's birthday. We laughed so hard my sides hurt, and we left feeling blessed to have had such a fab night with such a bunch of beauties. #LSHALBOWCO 

3. DIY TRIUMPH...

Even though the monsoon-like rains foiled my plans to do some spray painting on Saturday, I managed to get outside on Sunday morning instead. Up at the crack of dawn, we set about painting the DIY ladder shelf Tom had built a few weeks ago. Spraying first with primer and then 3 coats of grey, we ended up with this:

Neither of us can now move our wrists from the repetitive strain injuries acquired from all the spray painting, but it's totally worth it.

4. FATHER'S DAY...

I spent Sunday afternoon with my family celebrating Father's Day. We had a roast, like we normally do on a Sunday, but it was just super-chilled, quality family time and it was beautiful. Here's a little shot I put together on my Instagram from looking through all my Grandma's old photos:

EVERYTHING SALAD

20 JUNE 2015

I'm not really sure why, but at the end of the week we always seem to have so many left overs, and nothing really substantial that you could look at and say 'that'll make a good meal'. Maybe it's because there's only two of us, or maybe we're just terrible at planning our meals, but it's so uninspiring looking in the fridge and seeing a single carrot, 3 cherry tomatoes and a half-finished tub of hummus...

Anyway, just because there's lots of bits left over doesn't mean that anything has to be wasted. At this time of year, let's face it, we're trying to be good, so it tends to be vegetables that we've got left - perfect for an everything salad.

It's quite simple, we just throw everything we've got left (within reason obviously) into a big salad. Here's how it went this week...

things we had left...
1 courgette
1 head of chicory
Corriander
1/2 a pomegranate
Feta cheese
5 slices of prosciutto
1/2 a tin of sweetcorn
Radishes
1/2 a tub of hummus
Cashews
4 spring onions

I cut the courgette into thin strips and steamed it first, everything else I just piled on top with a crack of black pepper. Tom also made a honey and mustard dressing by combining English mustard, runny honey, olive oil and white wine vinegar - ingredients we already had in our store cupboard.

I love an everything salad, they're so satisfying in more ways than one. They're delicious, filling, and they use up all of the leftovers that might otherwise be wasted! Yum yum. X

WATERCRESS, PEAR AND AVOCADO SALAD WITH WATERCRESS CREAM

15 JUNE 2015

I love a good salad, and this little number did just the job for a post-weekend binge, Monday night detox dinner. It's a recipe by Angela Mason which I found in the You magazine - click here for the full recipe.

If you think, like my partner, that a meal without meat, well, just ins't a real meal, you can do what we did and add some prosciutto or serrano ham. We also doubled-up on the protein by adding a few cashews, but walnuts would go just as well with this gorgeous salad. Bon appetit! X

Sweet Cherry Pie

7 JUNE 2015

I'm not really sure why, but I've had a massive craving for cherry pie over the last week. Cherry is my favourite of the sweet pies, but I've always cheated a little bought pre-made filling if I'm making cherry pie at home. 

As cherries are in season at the moment, I thought I'd give myself a challenge and make the whole thing from scratch. It's actually a lot easier than I thought it would be! Here's how if you fancy having a go yourself...

INGREDIENTS:

for the pastry...

165g plain flour

25g ground almonds

125g unsalted butter

50g golden caster sugar

1 egg

for the filling...

500g fresh cherries (pitted weight)

4 tbsp water

2 tbsp corn flour

150g sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

METHOD:

for the pastry...

Combine the flour and almonds in a mixing bowl and cut the butter into cubes. Rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

Make a well in the centre and add the egg. Bring the mixture together with your fingers until it forms a dough. Knead lightly against the sides of the mixing bowl to make sure you get all the little bits. Wrap in cling film and store in the fridge for at least half an hour before rolling out.

for the filling...

Place the pitted cherries in a medium saucepan with the water and lemon juice. Heat for 5-10 minutes until the cherries are starting to soften. They should become really juicy.

Add the sugar and cornflour and stir in thoroughly. Heat for a few minutes until the mixture thickens. Let the mixture cool.

making the pies...

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degree celsius.

Remove your pastry from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Using one large and one medium sized cutter, cut 24 circles - 12 of each. 

Line a 12 bun cake tray with the large pastry circles. Fill each with your cooled filling and top with the smaller pastry circles. Use a beaten egg to seal each pie and wash over the top for a glaze. Sprinkle each pie with caster sugar and using a sharp knife make a small hole in the top of each.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

If you would rather make one pie rather than 12 mini pies, cut the pastry into 2 pieces, one half the size of the other. Roll out the large piece and line a pie dish. Trim the edges with a knife and fill with your yummy cherry filling. 

Roll out the smaller piece of pastry and place this on top of your cherry filling. Press the edges of the pastry together with your fingers or the back of a fork. Egg wash and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for 20 minutes as above.

Enjoy hot or cold, with tea as always!

X

How to: French Braid

6 JUNE 2015

I have spent hours teaching myself how to do French braids. They're great for creating loose wave hairstyles, and are a nice alternative to the standard ponytail for keeping your hair out of the way. It always amazed me how my mum could do them so neatly on me for my gym competitions when I was little! 

Over the years I've spoken to lots of people who can't French plait their own hair. So, I thought I would try and impart a little of my braiding wisdom so that those of you who want to can start creating waves for yourselves!

1. Starting off...

Start by combing your hair straight backwards over the top of your head. Take the centre front section of you hair in both hands and divide into 3 equal-sized sections. Make sure to keep each section separate at all times. 

Pass the right-most section of hair over the centre section so that it sits between the centre and left sections. The right section becomes the centre. Now do the same with the left section, passing it over the centre section so it becomes the centre itself. This is one turn of a standard plait.

2. The difficult bit...

Now you've done one turn it should look like the picture below:

Now is the hard bit. Drop the right-hand section and then gather it back up with a small section of the loose hair. Repeat for the left side. Keep doing this right then left, trying to keep the additional gathered sections of loose hair as even as possible, until all of the loose hair has been gathered. At this point you should have reached the nape of your neck. 


3. Finishing up...

With no more loose hair to gather, continue a standard plait to the end of your hair and secure with a hair elastic.

Once you've mastered the standard single French braid, why not try doing two by starting with a centre parting and completing one either side - great for creating realistic beachy waves!

There are so many more ways to create amazing hairstyles with braids. Next time I'll be helping you tackle a milkmaid braid - super cute but notoriously tricky to master! 

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed. Please leave your comments below! X