You will need, to serve one:

• Beef meatballs (or Quorn meatballs) if you wish
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 pepper
• A few pieces of cauliflower
• Mushrooms (but I didn't have any at the time lol)
• Half an onion
• 1 bay leaf
• A suitable glug of red wine
• Olives (I really like them so probably used way too much)
• Paprika
• Cayenne Pepper
• Italian herbs
• Garlic Salt
• Tomato Puree

1. Chop the olives, onion, pepper, cauliflower and mushrooms
2. Soften the onions, and then add the other sauce ingredients
3. Cook at a medium heat for around 20 minutes, or until the red wine has reduced a lot
4. Season the meatballs and start cooking them, until they're cooked to your liking, depending on size
5. Add pasta - spaghetti is recommended, and cook until al dente
6. Serve with some fresh basil, with garlic bread or Ana's veggie salad

Today I will be sharing my own recipe for sweet and sour chicken which I make from time to time.

Ingredients:
- Chicken breast ( I used 3 fillets but feel free to use more if you are making a lot)
- Sharwood's Sweet & Sour cooking sauce ( I pick it up from Tesco but I am sure other supermarkets offer it too)
- 1 Aubergine
- 2 courgettes
- Salt and pepper ( and spices of choice)

Recipe:

1. Firstly, cut the chicken breast fillets into small, square chunks. This way the pieces will be able to cook quicker and will absorb more sauce. Place the chicken into a frying pan which should have some oil on it and add half a cup of water. The water will make the chicken softer and the dish will taste nicer ( don't worry, nothing is going to happen to the sauce).
 
2. Immediately after you deal with the chicken, add either a single jar of the sweet and sour sauce or two jars. I usually use two because that way there is more sauce to then go on the rice and I generally prefer it that way but if you are not a fan of an abundance of the sauce, feel free to play around with this step. Mix everything together and let it cook in the pan.



3. Whilst your chicken is cooking with the sauce, it is the time to chop up the aubergine and courgettes. Chop up the courgettes into thin circular pieces and the aubergine into half circular shapes ( it is best if both are thin). Add everything to the frying pan and leave to cook.




4. After 20-25 minutes the dish should be ready. Note: it is okay, and in fact better to add water along the way to make it more of a steamed dish than a fried one. Feel free to add more spices of your choice ( paprika works particularly well as well as some pepper) to add extra flavour.

Enjoy!

This morning I decided to make a filling, savoury breakfast which turned out really well ( it was tasty, nutritious and lasted a very long time, so it was an all win situation) and I would like to share it.

What will you need?
- Kale
- One tomato
- 2 boiled eggs
- One avocado
- Half a lemon
- Pepper ( and salt, if you would like)

How to make the salad?
- Firstly, place two handfuls of kale into a frying pan, add water to it ( do not add any oil) and steam it on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Alternatively, you can use a steamer if you have access to it and the time to operate it.


- Whilst the kale is preparing and shrinking in size cut up the tomato into small square chunks and place them into your breakfast bowl. I recommend using a bowl instead of a regular plate as at the end everything will be far easier to mix together and will therefore prevent the salad from being layered.



- Now the tomato has been chopped up, it is time for the avocado. Either peel the skin of the avocado or cut it in half and take it out using a fork or a spoon. It is much easier to deal with it if you cut it up in its skin after it has been split into two ( make sure you take out the stone in the middle). Add the pieces of avocado to the bowl with the tomato chunks in it.


- Remove the eggshells off your boiled eggs and cut them into circular pieces. Add them to the mixture in the bowl.


- Take half the lemon and squeeze the juice on top of the ingredients in the bowl. Thoroughly mix everything together.


- Check if the kale is feeling much softer than before and whether the levels of water in the frying pan have reduced. If it's softer and there is less water take the kale out and place it into the bowl. Add some pepper ( and salt if you would like), and mix everything together.



Voila, now your breakfast is ready - enjoy!

Today my boyfriend and I decided to make some homemade food for dinner. He googled a recipe and we compiled the list of ingredients we needed to make the dish. Having gone to Sainsbury's to collect all of our shopping we started making the dish.
Chicken Escalope:

In order to make the escalope you will need - chicken breast, 3 eggs, flour and bread crumbs. 

1. Put the 3 eggs in a bowl and whisk them.
2. Take a piece of chicken breast ( we used large pieces) and cover it in regular white flour as fully as possible.
3. Dip the flour-covered fillet of chicken breast into the egg mixture.
4. Now place the same chicken fillet into the bowl with bread crumbs and make sure every little bit of the fillet is covered up ( this will give it a very nice and crispy taste).

Now repeat the same procedure for as many fillets as you would like to make and then proceed onto the other steps.

5. Now that everything is ready, it is time to cook the chicken. Pour some oil onto the frying pan, heat it up and place the fillets onto the frying pan. Fry each of the two sides for 3-4 minutes and then turn over.
6. In order to ensure that the escalope is soft and juicy ( and not overly dry) you need to grill the escalope for 15-20 minutes. Fry it on one side for 10 minutes and then turn and keep it on the grill for another 10 minutes.

Voila, your chicken escalope is now ready to eat!

It is now time to move onto the salad.
For this part of the recipe you will need rocket, spinach, peppers, cucumber, olives, avocados, onions, baby plum tomatoes, marinaded chillies and salad dressing.

1. Wash all of the vegetables.
2. Chop up the tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and onions. Place the chopped vegetables in a bowl with the rocket and spinach.
3. Clean the avocado, chop it up into small cubes and add it to the rest of the vegetables.
3. Now add the olives to the mix.
4. Use the chillies to add a little bit of spice to the salad - chop them up into tiny pieces and add them to the salad.
5. Now you can use the marinade from the chillies to make a salad dressing. Add some balsamic vinegar to the marinade, alongside olive oil and a tiny bit of flour ( in order to ensure that there is a slightly thicker texture to it).
6. Also add the salad dressing to the mix in order to maximise the flavour.

Now that everything is ready, chop up some bread and serve. We also decided to boil some eggs throughout the process and have one each, but you can skip this step if you wish. Enjoy!

My recipe blog posts always seem to go down a treat (if you'll pardon the pun) and since my boyfriend and I are currently making cookies I thought I'd share my favourite recipe with you. Please note that  unlike my other recipes this is not a family one, so I do not take credit for it! I am only spreading the deliciousness :)

Ingredients:

• 100g butter, softened
• 75g caster sugar
• 50g muscovado sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 150g self-raising flower
• 100g plain chocolate chips

I am a massive fan of milkshakes, particularly on hot days, so I have collected several recipes over the years and thought I would share my favourites with the blog.

• 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream
• 2 handfuls of cherries (preferably frozen)
• A splash of milk

A couple of months ago I did a post with a recipe for my mother's American Pancakes, and it proved extremely popular so I decided to do another. This time I thought I'd do one of her classics, pizza.

To make this recipe, you will need:

• 400g spelt flour
• 100g semolina
• 2tsp salt
• 1.5tsp dry yeast
• 275ml water
• 50ml olive oil
• Toppings to your taste (I recommend mozzarella)

With Christmas almost upon us, there is no shortage of festive treats and drinks around, and I absolutely adore them. So I rounded up a few of my recommendations :)

1. Amaretti latte from Costa

I've been super sick recently, and that has been made worse by how cold it is outside. When I'm sick, I always crave hot and comforting foods, so tonight my mum made me her famous cheese and potato pie. Here's the recipe:

You will need:

• 750 g potatoes, pre-mashed
• 1 onion, or for a more delicate taste, use red onion
• 1 block mature cheddar cheese
• Chilli flakes or chilli powder (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. Chop the onion and grate the block of cheese. If you want it a bit more cheesy, you might want to add a bit more
3. Mix together the mashed potato, two thirds of the cheese, the onion and the chilli if you're using it. If you're using a dish that is shallower but wider, use less of the cheese so you have more for the top.
4. Put the contents of your bowl into a dish. We usually use a glass Pyrex casserole dish.
5. Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese onto the top of the dish
6. Cook for 40 mins

You will need:

• Blender
• Kettle or coffee machine/percolator
• Fridge/Freezer
• Milk Frother (optional and sometimes unnecessary)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coffee - I like to use Tesco Finest Java Sumatra
• 3 medium scoops vanilla ice cream
• 3/4 cup ice
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup, or more to taste, as you won't need to add sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• Whipped/ squirty cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Brew your coffee. If you want to be fancy, you can cold press it, but I usually use the coffee machine, wait for it to cool a bit, and then chill in the fridge. I've heard things about how putting hot things in your fridge messes with the thermostat and can breed bacteria, which is why I let it cool a while first.
2. Add all of the ingredients into your blender. I like to use ice that has already been crushed a bit first, but regular will work just as well, it'll just take a bit longer.
3. Pulse the blender until you can no longer see or hear any ice clinking around. There should also be a nice frothy top, and if there isn't, keep going for a while more.

 Variations:

Whenever I have friends stay over I like to make pancakes for their breakfast and they always seem to be pretty popular so I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

Ingredients:

• 300g flour
• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt
• 3 eggs separated
• 300ml milk