Say Cheese!

I celebrated my birthday back last week and got a fantastic surprise from my best friend who sent me a box of the most fabulous cheese and pickle from Pong.  

I got 4 fantastic soft cheeses and a jar of pickle and G and I spent the evening gorging ourselves once we had put the boy to bed. A lovely glass of red and some gorgeous soft cheese and crackers and we were set!

Healthy Start

My post pregnancy bod is starting to get me down so I am making a conscious effort to try and eat healthier and do more.

I was so scared when I fell pregnant that I would put on all the weight that I tried so hard to lose back in 2012-2013.  I had just go to the weight I wanted and was fitting into Zara clothes and top shop clothes for the first time ever which has really boosted my confidence.  At the end of the pregnancy my fears were realised as I weighed in at the biggest I have ever been.

It was hard work before and I was training for the marathon so that helped with the motivation, but this time around I know I can do it, and I know how the end goal feels!

I have signed up to some new mum baby classes up at the children's centre which started this week and have tried some new healthier food combinations.

Today I tried bagel with hummus, avacado and black pepper! Soooo tasty :!

Boho Breakfast

This past weekend for Easter I headed back to my parents house in Canterbury.  On Saturday my sister and her boyfriend took Noah and me for Breakfast to Cafe Boho on Canterbury High Street.

We headed there for late breakfast so by that point I was pretty peckish.  I knew I fancied scrambled egg and smoked salmon, but wanted a bit more! I added black pudding and hash brown...why not!

The food was ace and I love the funky mix of crockery and the bright, jazzy interior.

Thanks Kristian, the owner, for the entertaining chats!

Perfect Brunch

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love Marmalade!

Everything about Marmalade makes me feel happy.

I had my first GTT test a few weeks back to check for gestational diabetes and so had to fast for 12 hours.

This normally wouldn't be a problem, but not eating breakfast super sets off my morning sickness, so not eating breakfast until after the test at 10.30, was not so jolly!

What I love about hospital apointments is that it means a trip to Marmelade on the way home.

A ham and egg sandwich with a latte was just what I fancied...thanks Marmalade.

Meringue Girls

I got this fantastic cook book, Meringue Girls Cookbook - Incredible Meringues everybody can make, from my sister's boyfriend for my birthday.  I had never heard of the Meringue Girls, but now I'm pretty much obsessed!

I love the fact that the book is dedicated to 'everyone who dreams of leaving their 9 to 5', and not only are the recipes super tasty looking, the girls are pretty cool themselves!

Over the last few months my aim has been to get back to the roots of cooking and find some classic recipes that I can master and this book has given me the nudge to try my hand at a mastering a good meringue.

I tried this weekend to master the simple chocolate meringue kiss, and was definitely pleased with the result.

I was so pleased that I made another batch on Sunday to take to the bake sale at work on Monday.

Burger Brothers, Whitstable

Last weekend was the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, but it was also my birthday.  We headed back to my parents house in Canterbury and spent the whole weekend with friends and family.

On Easter Sunday we headed down to Whitstable for a fantastic meal at Burger Brothers, located at the Coach and Horses, for their Sunday special BBQ and Jazz.

Um, Wow!!! It was like an amazing meat feast, just like you would get in America, but full of flavours and just down the road from home!

Admittedly it is just an ordinary, bog standard pub setting, but actually who doesn't love just chilling in the pub!  It was quite expensive for what it was and you do have to pay for the extra like chips, corn on the cob and beans, but actually you get a pretty big portion of extras, plenty to share between 2.

We ordered nachos and onion rings to start with and OMG, the onion rings were like the size of your face!!

I chose to do the make your own platter for main, so I chose 1/4 ribs, pulled pork and a slice of brisket.  All the meat was so full of flavour and it came with chips and a pot of coleslaw.  I ordered a side of tasty BBQ pit beans with chunks of meat which were very tasty, but I really didn't need that much extra food!

The crazy flavoured milk shakes for pudding were served in fab blue jam jars with hundreds and thousands around the top and tons of whipped cream

I was soooooo uncomfortable when I left after stuffing myself completely, but it was all so tasty I couldn't stop!!!

Fresh Produce

I am so super excited that the Garden Centre up the road from us has just opened a fantastic new farm shop.  There is a huge section of fresh fruit and veg, a deli counter, and a gorgeous array of freshly baked bread.

On Saturday G and I popped up there to pick up some lunch.  We picked yummy flat field mushrooms, a tasty multi grain loaf and a goose egg each!  It was such a yummy lunch.  Goose eggs equal about 3 hens eggs so it was very filling but they were so yellow and rich!

I think this will definitely be a weekly weekend visit place to nab some tasty fresh produce.

Elegant Sausage, Mash and Homemade Beans

I love having enough time to spend making bits of the dinner that are homemade.  On Friday night I got home from work in plenty of time so decided to make the beans from scratch.  I have made homemade beans before but couldn't remember which recipe I used, so on Friday I started again with my search and found a brill recipe on Great British Chefs.  I found this recipe which was fantastic to accompany the sausages and mash.

The beans do take a while as you have to boil down the liquid so that they are all thick, rather than being runny, but it was certainly worth it.

Having started watching the new series of Masterchef last week I though that it might be nice to try a new way of presenting every day dishes, so tarted up my mash with some greenery and popped the beans in a ramekin....et voila!  Elegant Sausage, Mash and Beans.

The recipe made enough for 4 so I popped them in the fridge and had them the next night with some pie.

Have you ever tried to make homemade beans?  What recipe did you use?  Did they work out ok?

Healthy Breakfast

After Bean and I came back from our wonderful weekend at Ragdale Hall Spa I decided that my breakfast choices are always a bit boring.  I either have instant porridge or toast and homemade jam.

I don't really have time for making a cooked breakfast or faffing around with anything that needs cooking from scratch but I do like to try different things.

I found that preparing a tasty summer yoghurt porridge is a really tasty alternative to normal porridge and goes really well with all kinds of fruit and nuts.

In the evening I mix up rolled porridge oats with some natural yogurt, milk and maple syrup/honey.  I pop this in the fridge over night and the oats soak up all the milk and yoghurt and go all soft.

Add seeds, nuts, fresh fruit or dried fruit, or try fruit yoghurt or smoothie - or really anything that takes your fancy really! It's fun to try different things.

Tortilla Chips...literally

Super quick post today as I was super excited by these wikid tortilla chips! They were so super simple.

I had a packet of slightly stale tortilla wraps in the fridge and was about to throw them away when I came across a sweet version on Rachel Schultz blog.  

Slice up the wraps, rub a tiny bit of oil in and sprinkle with salt, place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 mins until crispy...et voila!

Tuna Lunch Wrap

Sometimes I find myself making really random lunches that actually work really well.  I couldn't decide what to have the other day and I only had bits and bobs and lots of left overs in the house.  I hadn't done a shop for a week so I was very limited, no bread, no milk, no eggs.

I did however have some tortilla wraps left over and tins of tuna.  I made some some tuna mayo and spread this in the tortilla, added sweet chilli sauce, grated cheese, baby spinach leaves and some big black olives.  I added in a couple of croutons and I love the crunch that these add to a wrap.

A very tasty lunch and it reminded me not to be afraid to mix up flavours that perhaps wouldn't normally go together.

#100happydays

Winning a bottle of Moet for my first placements in my new job

Can you be happy for 100 days in a row? I quite often find myself being stressed and miserable.  My worrying mind takes over and then I think that I'm not happy.

I think it's so important to have happy moments every day, but it's often that I forget these when the worry takes over.

#100happydays is the new thing that me and my sister have been doing for the last couple of weeks. http://100happydays.com

We haven't registered for this, it is just something we are doing on Facebook/Instagram.  I'm excited about looking back in 100 days and remembering that (even though I might not have been happy all day long) each and every day I had a happy moment.

Amazing Thai take away from Kemp Thai

Homemade Marmalade on tasty bagels

Tasty Treats of 2013 - No Oven Necessary

I'm so pleased to have an oven again, having not had one the majority of last year - but I am pleased that some of my really tasty treats last year didn't even need an oven!

1. Hairy Bikers Sausage and Bean Casserole

2. Butternut Squash and Procuittio Rigatoni

3. Tasty Breakfast- Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon and Mushrooms

4. Chicken Curry, Rice and Homemade Naan

5. Rice Krispie Treats - Peanut Butter and Pretzel

Giggling Squid

After so much food over the last couple of weeks the only option is really to eat a bit more! We spent the last 2 days of 2013 with G's parents and on Monday night (30th) they took us to Reigate for a gorgeous Thai meal.

We went to the Giggling Squid and had a lovely time.  I am so enjoying Thai food and would definitely go back to a Giggling Squid (they are dotted all over Kent, Sussex and Surrey).

We would recommend:

Finger Food Platter A lovely set of spring rolls, prawns on toast, golden parcels and pork dumpling.

Chicken Satay Succulent marinated chicken grilled on skewers. Served with peanut sauce, a cucumber and shallot relish.

Paneang Chicken Curry

Pa-neang is another form of red curry. Thicker with coconut milk and grounded peanut. Also Pa-naeng has stronger fragrance from finely sliced lime leaves.

Chicken Pad Prik (chilli paste, bean and Kaffir lime leaf)

Stir-fry red curry paste, Thai long bean and lime leaf NUT

Impromptu Weekend

What a fantastic and social weekend we had.  Friday night we popped over to friends for pizza and Children in Need, on Saturday we headed over to lovely Lewes for a coffee, and on Sunday we drove to Chichester for a Thai Dinner for our friends 30th Birthday.

That was the plan anyway...but Saturday ended up turning from a lunch time coffee into a whole 12 hours of lovely conversations, copious amounts of red wine, a walk around Lewes castle and several pubs.

It is so nice when days like Saturday happen and that you end up having such a lovely time that you just end up spending the whole day together.  My friend Harriet and I had decided to have a coffee and then, realising our other halves had never met, we invited them along.

We headed to the Pelham Arms for lunch where I indulged in a very tasty burger and some wine.  After lunch I made the executive decision that not drinking wasn't fun at all and that leaving the car in Lewes for the night was the best idea!  It certainly was!

After lunch we wandered to Lewes Arms, a gorgeous little pub hidden behind the castle for some wine and to meet friends, after which we headed to the lovely Kings Head for more Merlot.

As if we hadn't eaten and drunk enough we shared a lovely Dinner with Harriet and Ellis at Pailin Thai Restaurant, Station Street, and then headed back to theirs for some late night board games and popcorn!

What a wonderful weekend, and I'm very much a believer that the unplanned, impromptu weekends are often the best.

Merlot at the Pelham Arms

Harriet and Me at the Lewes Castle Gates

So many lovely hidden gems to discover in Lewes 

What Made Me Smile This Week...

Last weekend we went back to Canterbury to my parents and really saw nature at it's best.  We went on 2 gorgeous walks through the woods.  We foraged chestnuts, saw some beautiful fungi, found loads of ant hills, woodpecker holes and ate the the last of the seasons blackberries along the way.

This tasty apple dessert is on the list for dinner on Saturday night.  Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere really does find some gooooood recipes!

I really love all of the meals that Rachel Shultz put together this week.  They all look so scrummy and I am a massive believer of meal planning.  The Asian Noodle Soup With Prawns was on our meal plan for Monday this week.

I got offered a new job which is fantastic but realised that I would need an updated wardrobe.  I popped to Next and was really pleased with the black knit skirt (only £18!) and gorgeous silky black vest. I could resist these skinny jeans (only £26) either (not for work) and I think maybe the fit even better than Dorothy Perkins jeans (my go to jean for years!)

Asian Noodle Soup with Prawns - 'Home at 7, Dinner by 8' by Sarah Wright

Next - Knit Pencil Skirt

Next - Skinny Jeans

A Day out to Borough Market

Day out at Borough Market....

Ooooh I love Borough Market; the smells, the different flavours, the experience of something a bit different.  I'm not gona lie...I love food.  I think I would say that my world pretty much revolves around food and eating! (probably why I'm a size 16!)

Borough Market encompasses everything that is good about food in this country - independent sellers, local and fresh produce, experimental flavour combination.  Just a hop, skip and a jump from London Bridge station the market has so much to see and offer.  I headed up to Borough Market at the beginning of September with Bean and we had such a fantastic morning.  We started off with with these tasty prosecco drinks, sampled lots of cheese and sausages and finished off with a fantastic pie in a box from Pieminster for lunch! Yummy!

We popped in to Neal's Yard Dairy before we left and and were very impressed with all the cheeses on offer!  We were almost sucked in by the job vacancy advertised for a cheese person! How cool would that be?

Anyways, Borough Market is most definitely a brilliant morning out and I just wish I lived in London so I could have a wander every Saturday morning to pick up the fresh goods for the week ahead.