Thursday, 3 November 2011

Bat Shortbread Biccies



Today, I made some bat shortbread biscuits. Needed a recipe with no eggs as I didn't have any, and wanted to use our awesome new halloween cookie cutters.

They looked good before...however I left them in a couple of mine too long and they started to go a bit burn-y :( They taste fine, but they just don't look pretty!

Sausage pie, revisited





A few changed made. I figured out a way to cover the whole top too with 1 sheet of pastry. I cooked the base for 10 mins before adding the filling. I brushed the top with egg white to make it shiney. Also, added loads of Lea+Perrins to the beans. Yum :D
This has fast become a favourite in this house! Very easy to make, and awesome on chilly nights.

Birthday cupcakes!




These were a bit special. The cupcakes, I was incredibly proud of. They're dark chocolate, JD, and coffee cupcakes. They just worked. Icing I winged, and added cocoa and red food colouring for that awesome colour. Topped with a dark chocolate covered coffee bean. They went so fast!
The rainbow jelly was just for fun really. I made 6 pints of jelly in total. I hate jelly.

Veggie Sausage pie-take 1!



This is the first time I'd tried veggie sausage pie. Lincolnshire sausage mix from Asda, and a sheet of jus roll puff pastry.
Mistakes in this- Wasn't happy with the top. Pretty, but not happy with it.
Should have cooked the base pasrty before putting in filling and lid.

Stir Fry Veggie Wraps


Pretty easy but nommy. Courgette, spinach, onions, baby sweetcorn, asparagus. Stir fried, then into wraps with ricotta chucked on top and sprinkled with paprika.

Hello Cupcake!

This is my third blog! I have my ranty rant blog, my craft blog (soon to be ressurected!) and now, my food blog!

I debated about making this blog for a while. Mostly, because I can't cook. But s I've looked bck through my craft blog, I've seen definite progress so figured this might be a cool one to have too.

I moved out of home a little over 4 years ago. I'd never really tried cooking before. My diet was ok, but it's changed a lot since then.

I've always been very wary of meat. Ever since I can remember. I think I may have tried bacon when I was little, but not since. I've never had lamb. When I was a toddler, I would eat smoked salmon and cockels, but I now can't even walk past the fish section in Tesco's without throwing up. Heavily processed meat (ie sausages, chicken nuggets, burgers) were about the only meat I could eat. I just hate the texture, always have. Nothing moral. Ok it's not a nice thought thinking about what you're eating, but most meat eaters don't think about that anyway. I just think the stringy texture is weird and nasty.

I moved out of home anyway, and started cooking for myself. Within 2 years I'd gone up 2 dress sizes, to a large 14, and 12st8. And felt pretty damn awful about it. Since then, food and my relationship to it had played a big part in my life.

When I moved up, I was doing it all wrong. Pizzas after clubbing, lots and lots of drink, just generally, I didn't even think about what I was eating until I suddenly couldn't fit into anything I owned anymore. So I joined a gym. And I dieted. I went a little extreme with it all actually, and nothing happened. 6 months of this, and no weight loss.

I split up with my ex. I had been eating some meat for those couple of years, because when working till 8pm, it was simply easier than cooking 2 meals. But I must say, it was all pretty much out of the packet, into the oven. No satisfaction from cooking it .Neither was there however from eating bowls of vegetables, and failing to lose weight.

I started going out with Peter, who is vegetarian. A bit of a relief at first because I didn't have to worry about that side of it any more. I could do everything with vegetables.
Not quite. Again, faced with an incredibly limited diet due to him not eating vegetables, and not having the energy to cook twice. I did lose about a stone very quickly, partly due to the split, change in routine, change in diet, everything changed. Some of it is back on now mind you, but it helped.

For quite a while, our diet has been very much 'pick from list A and pick from list B'. List A being a quorn product. List B being potatoes. I got very very bored, and about 6 months ago decided to start being a bit more creative. Trying to get a balance between eating well and badly, and trying to take some pride in in my cooking, and making it a bit more interesting.

So that's the purpose of this all really. I'm going to put up pictures of what I've done. See where I'm improving. See what didn't work all that well. And aim to one day be good in the kitchen!