Quick Vegetable Risotto

We love a delicious rissotto and this quick vegetable rissotto is not just filled with a range of delicious vegetables but it's healthy and filling too.

As there is only 2 of us we us we used half of  the ingredients and we did find that we couldn't finish, so ended up using the leftovers to be

warmed in microwave the next day for lunch. 

The Great thing about tgis recipe is that you can swap what veg you use to whatever you fancy, what's in season or in your fridge. 

This is the recipe for 4 : 

Ingredients

Low calorie cooking spray (we use frylight) 

8 spring onions, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

100g cherry tomatoes

1 carrot, peeled and finely diced

2 celery sticks, finely diced

100g green beans, trimmed and cut into 2cm lengths

350g dried risotto rice/ organic arborio rice. 

1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves

1.5 litres boiling hot vegetable stock

2 courgettes, finely diced

200g fresh or frozen peas

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

A small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

1.Spray a large saucepan with low calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat.

2.Cook the spring onions and garlic for 1-2 minutes and then add the tomatoes, carrots, celery and green beans and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes.

3.Stir in the rice and rosemary leaves and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

4.Pour in half of the stock and leave to cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the rest of the stock and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Stir in the courgettes and peas and cook for another 5-6 minutes, stirring until the rice is just tender, but the mixture is still a bit saucy.

7. Season well, stir in the parsley and serve immediately.

Slow Cooked Beef Casserole

I love this time of year when it comes to food.
There is nothing better than a warm and filling meal and casserole's and 

stews are my favorite. 

Over the weekend Stuart and I made up this lovely warm and filling casserole using our slow cooker. 

It was yummy, Blake loved it as well and ended up having to have some off our plates. 

I was sent a recipe and some Knorr Beef liquid stock but I chose to adapt this Beef Casserole recipe, by replacing the mushrooms with carrots, withdrew the wine and added it all into a slow cooker to bring the flavours out even more 

Here is the original recipe: 

iNGREDIENTS

• 1tbsp sunflower oil,
• 600g stewing beef,
• 1 onion, chopped,
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped,
• 100g smoked back bacon, chopped,
• 20g flour,
• 150ml red wine ,
• 400ml water,
• Knorr Rich Beef Stock Pot,
• 1 sprig of rosemary,
• Black pepper,
• 1tbsp tomato puree,
• 100g closed cup mushrooms sliced,
• 1tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 160°C, 140°C fan, Gas Mark 3.
• Heat the oil in an ovenproof casserole or metal pot. Fry the beef so that all the sides turn brown.
• Remove from the pan and set to one side. Add the onion, garlic and bacon to the pan and cook for 1 minute., Stir in the flour and mix. Add the wine, water, Knorr Stock Pot, and tomato puree.
• Mix and bring to the boil. Return the beef to the mix and throw in the mushrooms, rosemary and Worcestershire Sauce.
• Transfer the cooking pot with the lid on to the oven for 2 hours or until the beef is tender.
• Slow Cooker Note: If you want to use a slow cooker then just do all the steps in a large pan and transfer to the slow cooker when the casserole is ready to go into the oven. Cook in the slow cooker on high for 1 hour, then 5–6 hours on low (or just 6–7 hours on auto).

We were very impressed with Knorr Beef liquid stock it gave our casserole plenty of flavor and was an enjoyable meal. 

Chocolate Marshmallow Creme Cake

When I got my October Degustabox I was thrilled to see some yummy items that I could have fun baking withso today we finally got around to making a Chocolate Marshmallow Creme Cake. 

With the help from my lovely assistant (my hubby) we made a tasty cake using two of the ingredients from this months Degustabox the Toasted Marshmallow creme and the Dr Oetker coco powder.

Ingredients:

-          225g of butter

-          225g casting sugar

-          X4 medium eggs

-          175g of self-raising flour

-          - 50g of coco powder

- Half a pot of toasted marshmallow creme

 - 10 squares of baking chocolate 

1.

 Pre-heat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line two 20cm (8 inch) sandwich tins.

2.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and if the mixture starts to curdle, add a little flour.

3.

Fold in the remaining flour and the cocoa powder with a metal spoon.

4.

Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for approx. 25 minutes until golden brown and firm to the  touch. Remove from oven and leave to cool before turning out onto a cooling rack.

5. 

Spread half a pot of the Marshmallow Creme over one of the layers of cake 

and then place the other layer carefully on top. 

6. 

Melt the cooking chocolate in the microwave for 3 minutes stirring every 30 seconds. 

7

Spread the melted chocolate all over the top of the cake

and pop in the fridge to cool.

Guestpost: Ginger Buns Recipe

Today I have a guest post from my blogging friend, Michaela who blogs at Adventures of a Yorkshire Mum. Michaela is a mum to 2 young boys that love helping her bake and is also pregnant with her third little boy.  

Morning sickness in pregnancy can be horrendous but one of the foods that is supposed to help it subside is ginger. So that got me thinking, maybe I can make a yummy ginger buns recipe that would be tasty but also help when the pangs of morning sickness come in to play.

For my recipe, you will need:

200g self-raising flour

200g butter

200g brown sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

pinch ground cinnamon

15ml water

1. Pre-heat oven to 180c

2. Cream together both the sugar and the butter until it is light and fluffy

3. Adding a bit at a time, mix the rest of the ingredients together into the sugar and butter mix until smooth

4. Put 12 bun cases into a muffin tin and then add the mixture evenly between

5. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and then take out to cool

And that's it, a basic recipe for ginger buns. I then like to add a little extra flavour with a chocolate sauce for the top. For this you need:

50g good-quality dark chocolate

125ml double cream

25g butter

1 tbsp caster sugar

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water until smooth

2. Heat the rest of the ingredients separately until combined together

3. Take both off the heat and mix together

4. Leave to cool a little before topping over the buns

I love this recipe as not only does it have different flavours, but it's simple to make. And the chocolate sauce can be added to the topping of any cakes, buns or even over ice cream for extra flavour. 

For more recipes, pregnancy updates and fun frolics with the boys, visit my blog www.adventuresofayorkshiremum.co.uk

Gnocchi with Spinach and Tomato and Basil Sauce

The next recipe I have up for you is the delicious Gnocchi with Spinach and Tomato and Basil Sauce. 

This was a recipe I was unsure about as I have only tried Gnocchi once before and I wasn't too keen on it.

However it was plain so I think that explains why I wasn't keen before as i loved this recipe. 

Serves 4 (371 kcals each) 

You will need: 

-500g ready made potato gnocchi 

-235g baby spinach leaves 

-200g Lake District Dairy Co Tomato and Basil cooking sauce

- 75g mature cheddar cheese (grated) 

- 2 tsp ground cumin

- 2 tbsp pine nuts

Method: 

1. preheat the grill. cooking the gnocchi in a large pan of boiling salted water for 3 mins or according to 

pack instructions

2. Empty the spinach into a colander and stand it in the sink, when the gnocchi is cooked, drain it into the colander and leave to drain for 2 mins (this wilts the spinach leaves.

3. meanwhile empty the cooking sauce into the pan and heat gently til piping hot.

4. tip the gnocchi and spinach into the pan and mix well 

5. Transfer to a heatproof dish and add the ground cumin. pine nuts and cheese over the top

pop under the grill until the surface is golden and bubbling. 

All of the cooking sauces are delicious and make such lovely low calorie meals 

that both me and Stuart have enjoyed. 

The sauces retail at £1.75 for a 200g pot and are/will be sold in most supermarkets.

Chicken Tikka and Quark Rice

The second recipe we tried out this week using the Lake District Co cooking sauces is a wonderful 

Chicken Tikka and Quark Rice using the Tikka cooking sauce which will be available in supermarkets sometime this autumn. 

Serves 4 (382 Kcals each) 

You will need: 

- 1 tsbp vegetable oil 

- 400g of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cubed) 

- 1 red onion

- 1 red pepper

- 200g of basmati rice 

- 250ml chicken stock

- 50g raisons 

- 200g of Lake District Tikka cooking sauce

- 2 tbsp fresh coriander

- 2 tbsp toasted almonds (flaked) 

Method: 

1. In a large frying pan or wok, heat the oil, then add the chicken and stirfry over a high heat until it starts to brown. 

2. Add the onion and pepper and stirfry over a high heat for 4 mins or until soft

3. stir in the rice and stock, then bring to boil, cover and simmer for 10 mins

4. remove the lid and stir in the Tikka cooking sauce, add the raisins and recover. 

5. Simmer for a further 5 mins stirring occasionally until the rice grains are plump and tender

6. scatter over coriander and almonds to serve.

We really enjoyed how this one turned out we chose not to use the raisins on ours

though as I'm not keen on raisins on this type of meal. 

We also left off the almonds due to hubby having a nut allergy. 

Spaghetti Quarkonara

Last week I received a rather exciting parcel, a hamper filled with ingredients to make

three yummy meals for me and Stuart using The Lake District Dairy Co quark based cooking sauces. 

The Lake District Dairy Co have released a new Garlic and Herb cooking sauce which came out back in August.

Two more flavors (Tikka and Tomato and Basil) will be  available in UK supermarkets from Autumn. 

The new sauces have already impressed food experts having won the World Dairy Innovation Awards. 

Simply swap your usual cooking sauces for the Lake District Dairy Co cooking sauces to create healthy and flavorsome day to day dishes. 

The health credentials are so impressive that when making a indulgent tasting spaghetti carbonara using the 

cooking sauces instead of cream cheese the fat content is reduced by 28g (a staggering 88%) and the calorie

content is dropped by 227kcal per portion too. 

So to make the yummy Spaghetti Quarkonara (serves 4) you will need: 

- 300g of quick cook spaghetti 

- 250g Lake District Dairy Co Garlic and Herb cooking sauce

- 150g flaked ham hock 

-4 tbsp parsley (chopped) 

- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg.

Method: 

1. Bring a large pan of water to boil add the spaghetti and stir well, simmer for 7 mins or according to pack instructions. 

2. Drain the spaghetti in a colander reserving 100ml of the cooking water, empty the lake district garlic and herb sauce into the pan and gently heat until piping hot. 

3. Add the spaghetti, ham, parsley, nutmeg and 60ml of cooking water and toss until the spaghetti is nicely coated in the sauce, add a little more cooking water if required. 

4. Divide between warmed plates and serve garnished with more parsley. 

I can honestly tell you that it tastes just as good as it looks. 

Recipe idea: Add extra color with some frozen peas. Adding them to the pan for the final 2 mins

of cooking time. 

The next two yummy recipes using The Lake District Co cooking sauces will be

a fab Chicken Tikka and Quark Rice and delicious Gnocchi with Spinach and Tomato and Basil Quark Sauce.

Guestpost; Salmon, Dill and Cress Quiche

While I am away today Melanie at Melanie's Fab Finds has 

let me share with you one of her recent recipe posts. 

Her Salmon and Dill Quiche looks fab and something that 

I would love to have a go at making once I am back from my holiday. 

I love quiche, it is so simple and versatile to make and it can also be quite healthy depending on what ingredients you choose to use.  Salmon and Dill Quiche is great especially now that I am pregnant as it is full of omega 3 oils that are much needed for baby’s brain development, iron which is required for mummy and baby’s blood cell formation and calcium which is good for strong, healthy bone formation in baby and to prevent reduction in bone mass in mummy .  To add to the ease of making this you can also use readymade pastry, great if you’re already feeling hungry before you start.

Ingredients

1 Pack of Jus Roll short crust Pastry

250g Smoked Salmon

60g Pecorino Romano

50g Watercress Roughly chopped

1.5 tbsp of Chopped Dill

5 Eggs, beaten

100ml of Milk

250ml of Double Cream

Freshly ground Black Pepper

Method

Roll out your pastry and line a dish that is approximately 26cm in diameter. Prick the pastry and then cover with baking paper and cover this with baking beans.

Blind bake at 200 degrees in a normal oven or 180 degrees for a fan oven for about 15 minutes.  Then remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5 minutes by which time it should be golden.  Trim the edges so it looks nice.  Reduce the oven to 160 degrees / 140 degrees.

Whilst the pastry is cooking combine the eggs, milk, cream and dill and mix well.  Once the pastry comes out of the oven add in the watercress and smoked salmon and pour the egg mixture over the top taking care to make sure it has even amounts of dill all around.  Place in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes, keep an eye on the quiche to make sure you don’t burn it.

You know it is ready when it wobbles a little in the middle only.

You can serve the quiche warm or set aside and serve later (that’s if you can wait that long!).  This goes well with salad so is a great healthy dish and don’t forget to use a nice big dollop of horseradish sauce, yum!

Pizza Toast with Warburtons Deli Thins

I received my first Bzz campaign in what feels like ages last week.

Which gave me the chance to try out some of  the new Warburtons Deli Thins.

I decided to share with you on how I make pizza toasts but with the Deli Thins. 

It's very simple to do.

Of course you can make this slimming world friendly by swapping the Deli Thins

for wholemeal bread for your healthy extra B and using the cheese as your healthy extra A.

Ingredients

Warburtons Deli Thins

Ham

Mushroom

Tomato puree 

Cheese

Method

Grill or use your toaster to toast the Warburtons Deli Thins

Spread the tomato puree over the Deli Thins and top with ham, mushrooms and cheese

Pop in microwave for a minute or so til the cheese has melted.

This is a fab lunch idea and you can use whatever toppings takes your fancy

Slimming World Speedy Quiche

Over the weekend we made the speedy quiche that I found on the Slimming World website.

It is really simple to make and tastes lovely too. 

I even have some in my lunch box to have at work today. 

So here is the recipe .

Ingredients: 

-Peppers

-Diced Onions

-chopped Courgettes,

-sliced Asparagus, 

-sliced lengthways Mushrooms,

- chopped Tomatoes,

- sliced 3 eggs 

-150g fat free natural cottage cheese

Method:

1.Prepare your  super speed veggies you can use any vegetables really but we used peppers, onions, courgettes, asparagus, mushrooms and tomatoes. 

You can dry-fry them until soft or leave them raw for extra crunch. 

2. Mix together the 3 eggs, 150g fat-free natural cottage cheese and some chopped parsley.

3. Lay the chopped vegetables out in an oven-proof flan dish then pour the cottage cheese mix over. 

4.Pop in the oven at 190ºC/170ºC Fan/Gas 5 for around 30 minutes, or until the quiche is set and golden brown. 

So as you can see it's pretty simple to do

Review: Discovery Foods Cajun Chicken Pasta

Here's the second recipe that we tried out with some of the bits

that Discovery Food sent us! 

We were given the Cajun Chicken sauce and some Garlic and Herb Sour Cream 

to use for this recipe but we also chose to use some of the yellow jalapeños that 

we still have plenty left of. 

The recipe is very simple and its quick to do too. 

Ingredients: 

- Discovery Foods Cajun Chicken Season and  Sauce

- Thinly sliced Chicken Breast

- Pasta

- Discovery Garlic and Herb Sour Cream 

- Coriander

Method: 

- Sprinkle the seasoning over 350g thinly sliced chicken breast 

- Heat a heavy based frying pan until VERY hot 

-  Add the chicken and stir fry until well browned and fully cooked.

- Mean while cook the pasta and then pour over the sauce and heat up

- Serve with the sour cream and a sprinkle of coriander. 

Pros: 

- £1.99 each for the Sauce and Sour Cream so fab prices

- A quick and simple meal

- Not too spicy

- Can serve with rice instead of pasta 

Cons: 

 none I really do love Discovery Food and there recipes. 

Have you tried this recipe before? 

Review and Discovery Food Enchiladas Recipe

 To start off my winter inspired posts I wanted to share with you a lovely

recipe my husband had a go at making last night. 

Thanks to Discovery Food's sending us a few of there tasty 

products so we could make some yummy meals we decided

that we would give making enchiladas a go. 

I am a huge fan of Mexican food especially fajitas but we

have never done enchiladas at home before. 

This is a classic recipe from Discovery Foods. 

But we changed it a little due to my diet and 

also this recipe for 4 and we halved it.

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp oil ( we used fry light) 

 500g lean minced beef 

 1 jar Discovery Chilli Season & Sauce

 8 Discovery Flour Tortillas 

1 jar Discovery Enchilada Season & Sauce 

50g Cheddar cheese, grated 

Method:

-Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.

- Heat oil and fry mince with Seasoning from both caps until browned.

 Add Chilli Sauce and 200ml water,

 bring to the boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes until mince is tender and thick.

 Fill Tortillas with chilli, roll up pancake-style and arrange in a large ovenproof dish.

Pour Enchilada sauce over Tortillas, sprinkle with cheese and cook in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes 

or until browned and bubbling. 

Serve immediately. 

This is how it turned out after we popped it out of the oven.

We were only sent the sauce and some yellow Jalapeños

which we added to it to give it a bit of a kick. 

Pros: 

- The Jalapeños were very sweet and not too hot

- The sauce and seasoning wasn't too spicy 

- The price is great for each of the products we have been sent at £1.99 each. 

Cons: 

I really can't think of any 

Overall we both loved the taste of the two products we were given to make this yummy recipe 

and I can't wait to try out the next two products for a recipe that I will share with you next week. 

Have you use Discovery Food products? which from there range of sauces have you used? 

British Food Fortnight with OXO Good Grips

From 21st September- 6th October is British Food Fortnight. 

The people at OXO have given me the chance to be involved by

reviewing two items from there Good Grips range, to use to prepare 

a meal during British Food Fortnight. 

I have chosen to make a Cottage pie using the two items that 

 I chose which were: 

-The Y peeler 

- The 3 in 1 potato ricer. 

The OXO Good Grips Y peeler features a sharp stainless steel blade

 that glides through even the toughest fruit and vegetable skins with ease. 

The soft, comfortable handle cushions your hand as you peel and is non slip. 

£6

The OXO Good Grips 3 in 1 Potato Ricer has 3 settings for many cooking task 

with a twist of the dial you can make fluffy mash on the first setting. 

The second setting can be used for pressing water out of items such as green beans

and the last setting is perfect for chunky apple sauce. 

£30

I found the Y Peeler very easy to use and it does what it says on the

packaging. The Y Peeler is easy to grip and I was able to peel 

my potato's speedy fast. 

Then we have the 3 in 1 potato ricer which was easy to use, simple to grip

and quite fun to use. 

As you can see in the above photo you just pop your cooked potato's in

and then press down. 

Now your left with fluffy mash. 

The Recipe: 

You will need: 

- Lean Mince Beef 

- a range of vegetables of your choice fresh or frozen 

- Potato's 

- Bisto Stock melts to give flavour

- Cheese to go on top. 

How to cook: 

1. Boil the potato's in hot water until soft

2. meanwhile add the vegetables to a pan cook over a medium heat for five minutes until soft.

3. Add the mince beef and cook until browned

4. Add the stock and mix in 

5. Once potato's are cooked drain and then mash using the potato ricer with a splash of milk 

and some butter. 

6. Spoon the meat into and oven proof dish and then top with the mashed potato

7. Sprinkle the cheese over the cottage pie and then cooking in the oven 

for 30 mins or until golden brown. 

Now you can enjoy a very yummy and very British cottage pie.