With a glut of pumpkins and squashes at our allotment, I thought it was about time that I came up with a recipe to cook them. Here’s my latest attempt at making a creamy pumpkin soup and, thankfully, it turned out absolutely delicious! Here’s how I made it…
I always feel more excited about baking at this time of year and I love to incorporate delicious festive spice flavours like cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Here are some delicious recipes to add a little spice to your seasonal bakes and makes…
After a wet and warm summer, the allotment plot was ridiculously overgrown with weeds. Here’s a rather satisfying before and after of the work we’ve done to get it back to being a usable plot, plus some updates on our current produce…
If the autumn season and changing weather has seen you struggling with your mental wellbeing, here are some ideas to help you feel a little better during the SAD months…
I finally feel like things are happening in our garden now. Looking back over the month of April, I’m actually surprised by how much we’ve got done, even though there’s not much in the way of veggies yet! Here’s the veg we planted & projects we built…
Late summer/early autumn is a lovely time of year – the weather is still warm (but not too hot) and there’s plenty of plants still blooming in the garden. This combination makes it an ideal time for outdoor entertaining so here are some tips to make sure your gathering is
If, like me, you’re renovating your kitchen, my recent research might help you to decide which window treatments to choose and how to save money by going for the DIY option of wooden shutters…
What are your ‘lockdown lessons’? Do you have some fab food hacks or top kitchen tips? I was so chuffed when my own grow-your-own veggie patch project was highlighted by FoodSavvy earlier this week so here’s my lockdown allotment story…
This time last year, we built our first veggie patch in the garden with the intention of growing our own fruit and veg. Now, in the frosty mornings of January I’m outside digging & indoors sowing. Here’s how we got on last year & our 2021 progress so far:
You have more food in the house than you think. You just have to plan ahead, & the most important step is doing a cupboard inventory. Here’s how to turn those store-cupboard items in your pantry into healthy meals for your family…
With the clocks going back at the weekend we’ve now got to deal with darker days and the impending winter. And when there’s not as much daylight it’s not particularly good for our mental and physical health. Here are some easy ways to take care of yourself…
There are certain tools no kitchen should be without, especially when cooking hearty meals during the colder months – do you have them in your cupboards?? Read on to find out which kitchen essentials you’ll need to create healthy dinners this autumn…
Winter may be winding down, but that doesn’t mean you’re ready to fling open all the windows yet! There may still be a few more weeks of cold days (and even colder nights) to come. But heating your home during the bitter chilly winter months shouldn’t cost your entire monthly
Can you guess what I did at the weekend? Yes, I hired a beach hut! But this wasn’t my first time – oh no, we’ve been hiring beach huts as a family for years. Since my childhood, in fact. But why should you hire one if you’re heading to the
Pressure cookers and slow cookers are two of the most popular small appliances to have in the kitchen for even cooking and simple preparation. But, what one is the better option for you? Let’s look at some of the common uses and pros and cons of each appliance.
I learned how to cook pretty early on in my life and I think that all children should learn how to prepare frugal recipes. After all, being able to make a meal is a life skill that they’ll always need in the future and, if you’re going to be cooking
Unexpected expenses can appear from anywhere — and most of the time, we aren’t financially prepared to deal with the issue. Whether it’s a broken-down car or a faulty boiler to repair, it all adds up. For that reason, I’ve made some suggestions on how to make extra savings that’ll
I have to admit – this week’s Pieday Friday recipe isn’t my own. My friend Sophie, who has her own blog La Vie Sophie, shared this recipe back in 2015. It seemed almost too simple, but when I tried making it for myself I was amazed at just how easy it was
Is there anything more magical than a winter wedding? Especially if it happens to snow on the big day too – ahh, so dreamy! Even though I got married in the summer, I ‘d probably go for a winter wedding if I were to do it all over again now.
Do you know someone who always seems to be chilly? The spouse who turns up the thermostat in the middle of summer. The family member who wears three pairs of socks, and the friend who’s never without a mug of tea. Now that the seasons are changing, you’re likely to
I thought I’d share round-up of my favourite festive recipes this Pieday Friday. The idea was to get you in the mood for all the Christmas baking to come but, in fact, I’ve actually started craving most of these recipes now, so I’m sure I’ll be whipping up some tasty
It’s all about the juicing this year. Or at least it is in my household because we’ve got a new juicer! As someone who has never tried combinations of juice before (seriously, orange juice is as adventurous as it got!) I’ve been really intrigued to start reading up on juicing and
If you are living on a tight budget, each season brings its own challenges and I think that winter might be one of the most difficult. During this season one of the biggest issues homeowners face is finding the money to pay for higher-than-usual power bills. We all know that
Two very similar, yet very different cookbooks. One eager food blogger. A whole weekend of reading, Post-Iting and note-taking. Equals today’s Pieday Friday blog post. Yes, I’m reviewing a couple of freshly published cookbooks, both focusing on the wetter side of cooking – Broth and Simply Ramen.
It’s that time of year again. The clocks have gone back an hour to remind us that winter is almost here and Christmas is very much around the corner. For many people, this means rushing around the shops trying to find the perfect Christmas gifts, but for others it means
This week the weather started to feel decidedly autumnal. We’ve had a couple of very cold mornings – I can’t quite say frosty… yet! – and the leaves have been dropping in the garden. I’ve been craving more hot meals and, in particular, soups at lunchtime. We cooked up a tasty chicken
I’m always on the look out for ways to save money and cut day-to-day living costs. Until now, the only thrifty cooking advice I’ve been able to give you is to make your own meals from scratch (rather than buying pricey takeaways or ready-meals) and to buy food when it’s in
As you may have already spotted from my photos on Instagram, I grew a few squashes in my new veggie patch this year and that meant that I had plenty to play around with for Halloween. Now that the spooky season is over, I want to put my squashes to
Remember, remember the 5th of November… Tonight is bonfire night and it’s as the celebration is occurring mid-week this year, it seems like the fireworks have been going off all week long! There were displays last weekend and there are definitely more happening this weekend too, with the occasional home
Over the past week I’ve been sharing photos of the fabulous places that we visited during our ‘West to East’ tour of the north. After a waltz round The Blackpool Tower Ballroom and spending a day exploring historic Harrogate, we headed east for the last stop on our trip, where
I would invite all the deceased greats to my spooky Halloween dinner party; Elvis, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and Frank Sinatra, along with some of my favourite fictional folk; Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Genie from Aladdin and Plop, from The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark book. My
This week, when hubby had a half-day off work, I cooked us both a yummy soup for lunch. It’s definitely the time of year that I want to have something warm to eat at lunchtime (there was actually frost on the ground here this week!) so I looked up recipes for
I’ve listed a few of my favourite pie recipes so perhaps you’ll try out one of these tasty dishes below and treat the family to a hearty and sometimes surprisingly healthy meal.
Today is the Chinese new year and 2014 is the Year of the Horse – one of my favourite animals, so I am especially excited about this year and wanted to share some of the traditions and recipes for Chinese New Year.
Now that we’re heading towards the end of October, I think it’s okay for me to start talking about making cakes for your Halloween party! Even if you’re not having a Halloween party for the little ‘uns, maybe you can make these little cakes for the trick-or-treaters, or just make
I’ve created a few potato-based recipes on previous Pieday Friday’s so here are some of my favourites:
I know were hovering at the start of Autumn but I wanted to share this unseasonably summery recipe for a peach cooler drink. The weather reports are promising that it’ll be warmer over this coming weekend and I’m planning a couple of days away so I’m in the holiday mood!
A couple of Fridays ago I shared my first attempt at making cake-pops with you and I hope you’ve since had a go at making them for yourselves. I did the stick-two-halves-together method of cake-pop making, using a silicone cake-pop tray from Dunelm Mill. If you remember, I had to
This week I wanted to share with you the photos of our fantastic anniversary party cakes so that you can get inspiration for your own celebration cakes in the future. I am very lucky to have a fantastic sister-in-law who is an amazing baker and can make any cake you can
I tend to do less baking in the summer. I can’t think of any particular reason why – maybe it’s having a hot oven on in an already hot kitchen that puts me off. But I thought I’d have a go at making some lovely tasty muffins with a refreshing
Over the weekend I managed to get a big bag of tomatoes that had been reduced at the supermarket so I made a lovely roast tomato soup that couldn’t be easier! Ingredients: 1kg halved tomatoes, one chopped white onion, 4 garlic cloves, 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 3 tablespoons of olive oil or Fry
I recently bought masses of parsnips that were reduced in my local shop with the intention of turning them into ready-roasted parsnips for the freezer and a batch of soup for cold winter evenings. I followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Spicy Parsnip Soup and it turned out really thick and
After my trip to the Maple Farm produce shop last weekend saw me bringing home a locally-grown butternut squash, I decided that the best way for me to cook the squash was to roast it and turn it into a tasty smooth soup. So I followed the farmer’s instructions to scrub
I look forward to every autumn when I begin to have a lovely warming soup for lunch each day and this is one of my favourite. It’s great to make whenever I spot a bunch of leeks reduced in the supermarket and its so simple to make. Plus I use
Just a quick recipe today – and when I say quick, I mean 60 seconds! When you really fancy a cake in a rush, this is the easiest recipe to satisfy your craving within minutes. Just grab a cup, mix together the following ingredients and zap for 60 seconds in
This is a lovely simple soup recipe that I made earlier this week. I’d bought 3 big bags of carrots that were reduced to a bargain price at the supermarket with the idea that I could make a massive batch of this soup and jar it up for the coming
You may remember me mentioning that I’ve been baking bread for the past few weeks after watching Paul Hollywood’s tv show, and I’ve carried on experimenting with different types of bread (with varying degrees of success!). For this pizza bread loaf, I’ve used a basic dough recipe – like the
Tasty and sticky – I love BBQ ribs. Even though it’s not the weather for actually barbecuing the ribs, I still like to enjoy a sticky rib roasted in the oven until the meat falls off the bone… mmm! I looked at a lot of BBQ sauce recipes to see what ingredients
Since I got my blender in August, its been non-stop soups for lunch and I thought I should share some of the recipes with you now that autumn is on its way. De-seed 4 sweet red peppers, quarter 1 red onion and add to a roasting dish along with a punnet
This week is National Pie Week – what more of an excuse do you need to try out one of my Pieday Friday recipes and treat the family to a hearty and sometimes surprisingly healthy meal? So I’ve pulled together my favourite recipes and here’s a summary of the best
Now that the sun has finally come out, it’s time to do away with hot puddings and start making yummy chilled desserts instead, so this week I have made a tasty chocolate cheesecake that I think you’ll adore. It’s great to be able to make this cheesecake ahead of time
Have you ever thought that you might pop from excitement. Well that’s how I felt when I opened the parcel containing my book. “Eeeeeeeeeeee” is not enough..! I made this recipe book to house all my favourite Pieday Friday recipes and I made an e-book version so that all of my
There’s nothing better than a great big Sunday roast, in my opinion. And Easter weekend is one of the times during the year that I can pretty much guarantee that we’ll be rustling up a roast dinner. We’ll probably have a lovely roast chicken (or even a small Turkey –
I think that pasta is one of the cheapest and most filling meals you can eat – especially spaghetti and penne, which are usually priced around 40p in the ‘basics’ supermarket range. You can funk up these carbs with a yummy tomato sauce – again you can normally get a basic
Recently I had a pal coming round for dinner and realised that I didn’t have anything sorted for pudding – there was no ice cream in the fridge, no custard in the cupboard and I’d definitely not baked a cake. So I rummaged around in the kitchen and basically threw
I don’t know about you,everything time Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway is on the telly, I really fancy some naughty takeaway food for my dinner. I’ve had hotdogs and curry for the past couple of Saturdays so this week I’m making something different – homemade pizza. This is one
Although I love a good ol’ traditional pie, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with customising it a little! Really, the exciting part of the pie is the filling, so why not give the crust a chance to shine with a little pastry decoration makeover? It can be on a savoury or
Another takeaway recipe special today and this time it’s Sweet n Sour chicken. This is one of my favourite dishes because you can cram it full of healthy veg and help yourself to a massive portion! This is adapted from a Slimming World recipe so you can be sure that it
There’s nothing better than the week between Christmas and New Year. You’ve got nowhere to go, time off work and lots of food in the house. The perfect time to kick-back and relax with a hot spiced drink and a festive film. Mulled wine, spiced apple juice, mulled cider or
I love Shrove Tuesday and every year I say to myself, “why don’t I eat more pancakes all year round?” I love them and can easily eat a dozen on pancake day – I’ve already had a couple for lunch today! But pancakes can get a bit boring with just lemon
As we all know it’s National Pie Week in the UK this week (I hope you saw my blog post on my favourite pie recipes on Monday?) and I have some more good news to share with you… I’ve been working on a free recipe book to share all my Pieday
For this week’s Pieday Friday, I thought I’d share a simple, traditional shepherds pie recipe with you – perfect for a Friday evening meal or a Sunday lunch. This quantity serves 4, so me & hubby enjoyed it one night this week and froze the second half to pop in the
In our family we like to alternate between different cuisines when we get together each Friday night for dinner. The most recent choice was curry night, so we purchased a few different dishes from the supermarket, cooked up some rice and whipped up a couple of curries – including butter
This curry dish is one of my favourite for a cheeky weekend treat and can be made at home for a fraction of the cost of ordering a takeaway! I know it’s probably not the most authentic curry, but I love it (it’s not too spicy!) and can’t get enough of it!
This tuna napolitana pasta recipe is tasty, filling and quick to make. And it comes with the added bonus that it includes healthy tuna fish and a nice helping of veg (that the kids won’t notice!) so it’s an ideal weeknight pasta bake that can be pre-prepared, and then popped
Such a simple recipe but a cheap yet filling meal for all the family. All you need is a pack of sausages, any root veg you like and an hour or so to cook it! I began by browning the sausages under the grill and in the meantime I chopped
Of course, I couldn’t allow myself to get much closer to Christmas without posting a mince pie recipe for Pieday Friday and I’ve been baking a selection of mince pies this week, trying out different recipes and pastry effects. There’s no rules for mince pies and the prettier you can make them, the
It was National Pie Day on Wednesday this week! Unfortunately, it was the American National Pie Day, but I didn’t let that stop me making this yummy meaty pie for our dinner to celebrate (do I ever really need an excuse to bake a pie?!) The meat in this pie
I’m off to a fireworks display tonight and I always like to take something warming with me for dinner, whether it’s soup (try my carrot & coriander or red pepper & tomato soup recipes) or my favourite bonfire night dish; chilli con carne. So I’ve rustled up a lovely chilli
If you’re having a new years party and want to bake some treats yourself but don’t want to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen, check out this tutorial for creating impressive star-shaped tarts in super-fast time. Grab yourself a pack of ready-made puff pastry. Use the ready-rolled kind, or
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