Spiced Pumpkin Seeds!

I know Halloween was quite a while ago now, but I have only just got around to making this post! I love Halloween, its always good fun and one of the best bits (other than the copious amounts of chocolate) is carving a pumpkin! 

You can't eat much of a carved pumpkin, but the seeds, they are fantastic roasted! They are really simple to do and they only need a few seasonings to taste delicious. You can use any spices you like depending on your taste!

Give them a go! (you can also roast other squash seeds, I roasted spaghetti squash seeds the other day and they were just as good!)

Recipe: (makes enough for a bowl full)

- One large Pumpkin

- Good glug of Olive Oil (can use melted coconut oil too)

- Salt

- Pepper

- Garlic Granules (dried garlic)

- Cayenne Pepper

To make:

- Preheat the oven to 200c. Make sure the pumpkin seeds are dry, tip them on to the baking tray and add the oil and spices and then mix.

- Spread the seeds out so they cover the tray evenly. Then roast them for about 15-20mins, but keep an eye on them as the ones around the edge will brown more quickly.

- Roast until light golden brown, try one to see that they are slightly crisp. Then allow them to cool and tip them in to a pretty bowl and enjoy!

Photo how to:

Mix the seeds with the oil and spices

Spread the seeds evenly on the baking tray and then roast

The spices I used and my pumpkin hiding behind!

The finished seeds should look a bit like this

Then serve them in a little bowl with some drinks!

My pumpkin this year! Happy (belated) Halloween! 

xXx

Healthy Banana, Oat and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am currently living down in the south of France as I am doing a French and Wine course! Our cooking facilities are not terribly fantastic so I haven't been able to do much baking, but I eventually got around to making some 'cookies' this afternoon. They are not your typical cookie, as they are healthy! I originally saw the recipe on Blogilates website but I wanted to make my own version using some chocolate chips. 

They are ridiculously easy to make and only have around 50 calories per cookie (depending on what size you make them!). The other upside to these cookies are that there are only 3 ingredients needed- and they're the kind of ingredients that one always has lurking in the cupboard. They have a soft texture with a slightly crisp outside, and the chocolate chips are perfect with the banana flavour - give them a go! 

Recipe: (makes 16)

- 1 cup of Oats

- 2 very ripe Bananas

- Good handful of Chocolate chips ( I used dark)

- Handful of Raisins (optional)

How to make:

- Preheat the oven to 200c and line and grease a baking tray.

- Firstly mash the bananas until they are almost a liquid consistency. Then add the Oats, Chocolate chips and raisins if using. 

-  Mix throughly until combined and then using a spoon, dollop the mixture on to the making tray. Then bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them to check they dont burn around the edges. When ready they should have a golden top.

- Leave to cook and then enjoy with some tea for a healthy treat! 

Cookies ready to go in the oven!

Close up!

xXx

Sweet and Savoury Puff Pastry Bites

Puff pastry is always a great thing to use if you want to whip up a really tasty, quick and easy bite to eat. Its a good idea to have a roll of ready made puff pastry in the freezer so you can make something last minute.

My friend Rosie had some puff pastry that she needed using up, so we made these little puff pastry bites. We made both sweet and savoury ones, and they're good as you can put pretty much whatever takes your fancy inside!

We made a selection of, Banana with chocolate chunks/ peanut butter, raspberry with chocolate chunks, and Gouda cheese with spiced chutney.

Recipe: (makes 14)

- 1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry

- Little bit of milk for glazing

Fillings:

(You can choose any combinations you like, or whatever you have in the cupboard/fridge!)

- 1/2 Banana

- Chocolate chunks

- Nutella/ Peanut Butter

- A few Raspberries

- Chocolate chunks

- Gouda cheese, cut in to little cubes

- A few tsp of Chutney/ Pickle

To make:

- Lay out the puff pastry and cut the pastry in half and then in to strips. You should have 14 rectangular shapes. Lightly score a mark to half the rectangles so you can see where to fold them in half. 

- Put your chosen fillings on to one side of the pastry and then fold over the pastry to make a little parcel. With the back of a fork press down along the edges to seal the parcel. Brush with some milk.

- Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 200c, until they are golden brown on the top and bottom. Allow them to cool a little before serving as the filling will be very hot!

- Enjoy the sweet parcels with ice cream or custard as a pudding. And the cheesy parcels work well with a little salad as a starter or light main course.

- Enjoy!

The puff pastry cut in to 14 rectangles

Two of the fillings

The finished golden brown parcels

xXx

Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

I hadn't really appreciated how easy it was to make soup until yesterday! I was with my beautiful friend Rosie and she suggested that we made soup for lunch as she had lots of ripe Tomatoes and Peppers to use up.

I didn't realise how simple it was to do - just roast a load of vegetables (any selection would taste delicious I'm sure) with some garlic and spices, add some stock and then blend in a food processor and re-heat before serving with some fresh crusty bread!

So all credit goes to Rosie for this wonderful recipe! 

Recipe: (serves 2, but can be easily doubled or tripled)

- 8 medium vine Tomatoes

- 2 large red Peppers

- 1 red onion or 2 shallots

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 1 fresh Chili or a sprinkle of Chili Flakes

- Few sprigs of fresh Thyme

- Splash of Olive oil

- Salt and pepper for seasoning

- 1 Stock cube (Vegetable or Chicken)

- 200ml of boiling water

How to make:

- Chop all your veggies up in to large chunks, pop in to a large baking tray and scatter the garlic cloves, olive oil, spices and seasoning over the vegetables and give it a good mix.

- Roast in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, until all the vegetables are looking cooked and slightly charred in places (this gives it a slight smokey flavour).

- Put the roasted vegetables in to the food processor and blend until it looks like a thick and chunky tomato sauce. Make the stock and then pour in to the vegetable mixture and then whizz again until fully mixed in, but be careful not to whizz too much as you still want to have a thick texture.

- Pour the soup in to a saucepan and re-heat until steamy, then serve with some crusty bread and cheese!

- Enjoy!

The veggies ready for roasting

The roasted vegetables ready for the food processor

Before blending

Soup is ready, along with crusty fresh white bread and cheese!

xXx

Chocolate covered Honeycomb

I absolutely adore Crunchie chocolate bars, they are one of my all time favourites - so I thought it was time I created my own. Luckily, it couldn't have been easier to make and there is something really nice about making your own sweets rather than buying one for 79p! 

I can tell you now that this Chocolate covered honeycomb was out of this world delicious! I had to stop myself (and my family) from devouring it all at once! It is definitely something to share with your friends - if you can actually manage to get it out the door without eating it all first (this was my intention, but somehow I don't think its going to happen!)

Give the recipe a go, its really easy and makes you feel a little bit like a scientist when you add the bicarb and it bubbles up! Oh, and did I forget to mention that it tastes like heaven?

Recipe: (makes about 40 pieces, depending on size)

- 200g Caster Sugar

- 4 tbsp Golden Syrup

- 3 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

- 200g Chocolate bar of your choice (I used Belgian milk)

To make:

- Firstly, fully grease some baking parchment and lay it over a small but deep baking tray.

- In a medium sized, non-stick saucepan add the sugar and golden syrup. On a medium-high heat, bring the mixture up to boiling, occasionally stiring and then turn it right down and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes. 

- After the 5 minutes, drop a tiny bit of the mixture from a teaspoon in to a glass of cold water- it should turn hard instantly. If it does then the mixture is ready for the bicarb.

- Take the pan off the heat and then add the bicarbonate of soda, quickly mixing to incorporate it. The mixture will bubble up straight away, and then pour the mixture in to the greased and lined baking tray. Do not touch it once in the tray and leave to cool for about an hour.

- Take the cooled honeycomb out of the tray and peel off the baking parchment. Get a rolling pin and hit the honeycomb gently to break off smaller pieces. 

- Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or over boiling water and then cover the honeycomb pieces with it. Pop the chocolate covered honeycomb on to a tray lined with baking paper and allow to cool in the fridge before devouring them!

Photo how to:

The sugar and golden syrup in the pan

Mixing the sugar and syrup to bring up to boiling

Simmering for 5 minutes 

Once simmered and ready for the bicarbonate of soda

Cooling in the pan before breaking in to pieces

Close up!

Broken honeycomb pieces 

Chocolate covered pieces cooling down

Close ups of the finished homemade 'Crunchie!'

xXx

My little French BBQ and Quibelle

I am about to head off to the south of France for 3 months to learn about Wine and the French language- very exciting! So I had a little leaving BBQ at my house- French themed of course. 

Sarah, one of my most favourite people in the world was there and she is responsible for the following photos of the lunch I prepared for my lovely friends. She is also responsible for the delicious biscotti and the recipe of the peach quinoa! You can find these recipes on her fabulous blog, Quibelle: http://quibelleslk.blogspot.co.uk/ and the links to the recipes are below. I highly recommend you check out her blog, she has put together a lovely collection of fashion, food, interior design and many other things to keep you scrolling until you reach the end! 

For my French themed BBQ, I made Turkey and courgette burgers, Halloumi and Mediterranean vegetable skewers, a Peach Quinoa salad, Greek Tzatziki and a healthy Potato salad (recipe below). 

For a treat afterwards I made some chocolate and pistachio biscuits (recipe in a previous blog post of mine) and a fruit salad, and my friend Fee bought a fabulous Tarte au Citron that she had made and then the biscotti from Sarah!

Halloumi and Mediterranean Vegetable skewer Recipe:

(makes about 25 skewers)

- 2 Courgettes

- 1 Large Aubergine

- 3 Peppers, yellow or red

- 2 Red onions

- 3 very large Mushrooms

- 2 Packets of Halloumi

To make:

- Simply chop all of the ingredients in to similar sized chunks and thread on to some bamboo skewers

- Then either BBQ them or grill them for about 10/15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and the Halloumi is nice and crispy around the edges!

Peach Quinoa recipe from Quibelle:

 http://quibelleslk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/nectarine-cucumber-and-basil-quinoa.html

Biscotti recipe from Quibelle: http://quibelleslk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/cranberry-and-almond-biscotti.html

A selection of delicious treats! And a salad of strawberries, nectarines and blueberries

My French themed patio with red, white and blue bunting!

The lovely Flo and I dressed up in obligatory French stripes! 

xXx

Chocolate and Pistachio Biscuits

I absolutely love biscuits and these are particularly moreish and buttery! The pistachios add a fantastic crunch in such a crumbly, short biscuit. These are very easy to make, you can also freeze some of the dough and just cut rounds off when you have someone coming over! The chocolate and pistachio works really well together- you must give them a go!

Recipe: (makes about 35-40)

- 220g unsalted butter (very soft)

- 80g Icing sugar

- 280g Plain flour

- 30g Cocoa powder (I use Green & Blacks)

- Pinch of Salt

- 70g chopped blanched pistachios 

How to make:

- Cream the butter, salt and icing sugar together in a large bowl until creamy and combined. Then add the flour, cocoa powder and pistachios and mix until fully combined. 

- Try and mould the dough in to the shape of a long roll and wrap in cling film. Pop it in to the fridge or freezer for an hour (I put it in the freezer as it goes harder and is easier to cut).

- Heat the oven to 190c and grease 2 baking sheets. Take the dough out of the freezer and unwrap. Then cut the dough in to rounds of about 5mm and put on to the baking sheets.

- Bake for about 12 minutes, but keep an eye on them so the edges don't burn. Allow to cool a little on the baking sheets first before moving to a cooling wire. 

- Enjoy with coffee! 

Photo how to:

The dough

The biscuits ready to go in to the oven

Fresh out of the oven, cooling on the wire rack

xXx