Cheese Straws Are you young enough to have grown up with cheese straws? Or were you more of the breadstick era? My late Mum always used to make cheese straws. I recall helping her roll out the dough then cutting sticks and circles, and circles within circles to create rings. The aroma that filled the kitchen when cooking was so…
Not Chicken One of my favourite vegan ‘meat’ alternatives has to be chicken. Now, I’ve not actually eaten real chicken for over 30 years so I’m guessing I actually have no idea what it tastes like and I just like vegan chicken! I can eat it any way – sliced plain, tikka style chunks, breaded, battered, and anything inbetween. A…
Aubergines or Eggplants It always amazes me when people confuse aubergines with courgettes! So many times I have been asked at the checkout ‘these are courgettes right?’ or even asked ‘what are these?’ So, let’s get this straight. Aubergines are most often black or purple, shiny skinned and usually a bit bulbous. When buying you should look for bright and…
Parkin Parkin! My only why is because it is nearly Guy Fawkes night and I thought, for once, that I should try my hand at making some! I was trying to recall a time when I ate some. I wondered if it was something my late Mum used to make (I’m certain it is something my late Dad would have…
Pumpkin Recipe As it is pumpkin season and Halloween is this coming weekend, I thought I would make a special pumpkin recipe. When I did a quick search on my blog to see which recipes I already had, I was amazed to find there were already 8 pumpkin recipes on here! Why pumpkin recipes? Well, did you know in the…
Apple Day Today (Thursday 21 October 2021) is Apple Day in the UK! What is apple day? Founded in 1990, apple day was created to celebrate all things apples and orchards. In the UK, you will find many events celebrating this – often tied in with pumpkin activities too. Our local park has held an apple day for many years…
Pesto Pasta If there is one thing in our house made on repeat and at least once a week, it is pasta! We do make our own pasta when time permits, but having a jar of dried pasta in the pantry makes for a quick, tasty and easy meal. There are a few recipes which are used frequently, but pesto…
A new challenge this week as my friend Tina asked me to create her a new healthy recipe using fish! I wanted to make this recipe accessible to as many people as possible, so I have made it so very simple as a onepot dish! The flavours in this dish are reminiscent of a Portugeuse fish dish I had many…
Quinoa Lunch Bowl Quinoa is one of those foods which is still relatively new to the UK. If you are unfamiliar with the pronunciation it is ‘keen-wah’. Quinoa is a great nutritious food, full of protein – which is especially great on a plant based diet as it contains all 9 essential amino acids. This little wholegrain (althought technically a…
Comforting Carrot Soup This soup was created because firstly, I had spent the morning listening to soup ideas as the weather here has suddenly become very Autumnal. Secondly, I had lots of carrots that needed eating, and soup was the easy way to make them into something delicious! I was a bit surprised that my blog was missing a carrot…
Meat-Free Lasagne Lasagne is one of those dishes I grew up with. My late Mum used to make it quite often and I used to love the creamy sauce, the umami savoury layer and the crunchy edges of the pasta which had poked out the top and caught in the oven. Mum’s version was the traditional meat and cheese lasagne,…
Creme Caramel Growing up, this one one dessert my late Mum would make often. Instead of creme caramel, we used to call it Carmella – in fact, that’s what you will find me calling it at home. Whatever you call it, this is a smooth and creamy dessert which is very easy to eat! The caramel topping gives added depth…
Five different ways with tofu I used to think tofu was something I could live without! When I learnt how to prepare and cook tofu properly, I realised that tofu is tasty, versatile and definitely something I need! Here I am going to share five different ways with tofu which I hope you will love as much as I do.…
No-egg egg custard tarts These no-egg egg custard tarts came about by accident. I was looking in the fridge and I saw there was more milk than usual. Normally, I would make a cheese sauce to go with my vegetables, but as the weather has been warm, I have been eating salads. So, I decided to make custard instead –…
Enchiladas Enchiladas are something we eat a lot in our house! Apart from the fact that we love all Mexican food – especially loaded nachos and meat free chilli, enchiladas are a great food to please everyone. What are enchiladas? Traditionally, enchiladas are a Mexican food comprising of a soft corn tortilla, filled with meat, beans, potatoes and/or vegetables, covered…
Overnight Oats Quite some time ago, I started a Back to Basics section on here for foods which I am so used to making that I sometimes forget that others might not know where to start! In the winter I love my porridge, but now the weather is sunny, and although I love pancakes, sometimes you just need something quick…
I am a bread fiend! I love bread! Any type of bread! White bread, granary bread, thick bread, thin bread, toasted bread, crispy bread and naan bread. I created this recipe a while ago, and thought I would share it today – rather than not share a recipe at all! I have been busy and I almost… I said ‘almost’…
Banana Panna Cotta Bananas! I love bananas! I eat at least one every day, sometimes two, maybe even three! Bananas are a great snack food as they are ready to eat, give you a boost of energy and, contain potassium which (amongst other things) is needed for muscles (including the heart)! I’ve been playing with a different ingredient recently, and…
Two Bean Chilli This is an easily adaptable recipe which you can customise to your tastes and what you have in the fridge or pantry! I made this to go in a burger (yes, I really did)! as I wanted something different! Next time I’ll have it with a plain burger rather than a Jalapeno burger! I like spice. Just…
Cherry Blondies Cherries! I absolutely love cherries! When I lived in Budapest, I discovered their love of plump deep dark purple juicy cherries. Sold in paper bags at the side of the road, these cherries were absolutely glorious. Unfortunately, I am still to find any that even closely resemble these, but I still love cherries! Friday 16th July is National…
Chocolate & Pistachio Cookies Cookies are one of those things that I absolutely love. More than cake. If you search cookies on my blog, you will find loads of recipes for crunchy cookies, soft cookies, chocolate cookies, shortbread (does that count as a cookie?) and many more. Did you know you can use the recipe bar to see all similar…
Okra Curry Curry is one of those foods which I thought was only for buying from a take-away or restaurant. When a few of my Bengali friends explained their cooking methods to me, I decided to experiment and ever since then, I use curry as a quick and easy dish! You can use a blended spice mix for this (curry,…
Fruit Snacks Fruit is great as it is and any fruit snacks would always be my first choice, especially at this time of year when the berries are ripening in the garden right before your eyes! I have an abundance of strawberries and raspberries which even though I pick constantly seem to reappear hourly! Gooseberries, redcurrants and mulberries are on…
Tropical Vegan Cake I thought it was about time to have a new cake! There’s always a reason for cake! A birthday (yes mine)!; a thank you (yes, you!); coffee with a friend (who’s coming?); or just because you deserve it (that will be me too at the minute)! Why a tropical cake? Well, I thought I should try something…
No recipe today, just some flowers in memory of my late mother. Today (Thursday 10th June 2021) is her funeral service. Recipes will be back next week! (you can find an index of recipes here)! I love this song and Flowers were one of Mum’s favourite things. There were always flowers in the house, and in the garden. Here is…
How to make Green Vegetables everyone will love Green vegetables! We know we should eat more, but sometimes more kale is the last thing you fancy eating! Green vegetables are full of Vitamins such as A, C and K, and also contain iron, potassium, folate, calcium and a whole host of other nutrients! Green vegetables are often referred to as…
Super quick vegan Carbonara Dinnertime! How often do you say that? or hear that? Well, after a shopping trip at the weekend, where some fresh pasta was bought, that is what I heard! However, the fresh pasta of course, contained egg, so it was not for me! I needed something I could make quickly so we could eat together and…
Boost your daily energy with Chocolate Brownie Protein Cookies There are many times when people ask me where I get my protein from! Where do I start – there are so many many vegan sources of protein! You could have any nuts, seeds, pulses, grains, substitute meats, tofu and even vegetables! Did you know the garden pea has about 5g…
A very late in the day blog post! I will post a new recipe soon but I’ve been very busy! Have a look at these delicious traditional Eid Kulicha… These are all delicious pastries filled with a soft lightly spiced date paste. You can find the recipe here. Please drop me a comment below and let me know if my…
Miso Veg Sometimes, you just need to try something different to make you realise that actually you do like a certain vegetable! I have heard many people say they do not like aubergine and that astounds me! Sure, if you chop it up and boil it then I am totally in agreement with you! That is not how you cook…
Love these four fantastic ways with seasonal rhubarb Rhubarb is one of those fruits which I think is often overlooked. We have always grown rhubarb. We had it at home growing up, I have it in the garden and of course, I have a plentiful supply on the allotment! If you are looking for rhubarb recipe ideas, then keep reading!…
Happy Earth Day… What are you doing? Each year, 22nd April is classed as ‘Earth Day‘! 🌍 What? I hear you ask is Earth Day? Why do we need an Earth Day? What is it for? What can I do? Basically, Earth Day is to encourage everyone to take action on the environment and climate change. This affects everyone and…
Mouthwatering Minestrone soup you will love to make again and again This is one of those soups you will wonder why you have never made before! It does take a little bit of preparation time for chopping, but it is so worth it! This is a Mouthwatering Minestrone soup you will love to make again and again! I would suggest…
Two wafflelly good recipes for perfect waffles Waffles are one of those foods which I only ever used to have when out as I thought they were too fiddly to make! What I have learnt though, is you can make them similar to a pancake batter and bake them in a silicon mould in the oven. I do love pancakes…