Rain, rain, go away.

I spoke too soon before about the sun shining - the weather has been awful here today! It's rained pretty much all day and it's been very dark and gloomy. Pffft. 

I've been thinking lately about what we eat (as always) but also how much processed food we eat. Over the coming months, I am going to try and cut down how much processed food we buy and therefore eat, and go back to more basic food stuffs. 

Another cheap-o tea here:

Spaghetti puttanesca, from the good food website but with some small changes (more capers and anchovies, no olives) and all food from the food cupboard again. It took less than 15 minutes from start to plate. 

N xxx

Simply does it.

I am loving the sunshine at the moment - finally feels a bit like summer!

I'm trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our diet, as it's healthier and also cheaper. 

This is what I made tonight:

Bean chilli with HM potato wedges. First time I've made either, and it was pretty tasty! The wedges look really pale in this picture, but they were cooked properly :) they were a nice change from rice with chilli. By using tinned harricot beans, kidney beans and chopped tomatoes, it made a pretty cheap meal for us both :) 

N x

Plain and simple.

It has turned into a lovely evening here, with the sun shining and just a couple of fluffy white clouds in the sky. 

I can't believe it's half way through June tomorrow, already! This year is going so fast - it'll soon be December by the look of things. 

Just a couple of pictures today, simple food and speedy to make - just what I like on a week night!

Yellow pepper, courgette, onion and button mushroom stir fry with sauce. 

Even easier pud - greek yogurt with honey, raspberries and strawberries.

N xxx

The 'I can't believe you made that' cake.

I love cookery programs and cookery books. When Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy was on the tv, I did watch it and found it to be very enjoyable. She made some amazing things and made it look so easy at the same time. 

So, when I was asked to make a cake for an 18th birthday party, I knew exactly what I was going to make. I was going to make her 'I can't believe you made that' cake, with a slight variations. I used strawberries instead of raspberries, and with chocolate fingers instead of chocolate cigarillos. 

I have to admit, it turned out pretty good. 

Please ignore how rubbish the picture is, I was taking it in a hurry!

Chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate fingers and strawberries - who isn't going to like that?

I must admit, making a cake for the first time for someone's 18th birthday wasn't the brightest plan in hindsight, as I was pretty stressed whilst making it, but the end result was fine. In fact, if the whispers are true, it was better than the bought birthday cake they had as well ;) I'm happy with that. 

N xxx