5 of my favourite cookbooks

Cookbooks are my jam. I don't even want to count how many I have. I absolutely love buying them, settling down in bed flicking through the pages and rustling something up that looks vaguely like the picture. I am addicted. But these five are my current favourites.

1. Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Cookbook
Caribbean food is up there with one of my favourite cuisines and this cookbook is perfect for beginners. The recipes are so simple to make, ingredients aren't too tricky and everything tastes utterly delicious. I love the fact the book tells you all about Levi Roots and the journey he's made to get to where he is today. The Jamaican Ginger Cake recipe is perfection. Next on my list is the coconut cake and sweet potato pudding. Best start baking!

2. Lola's Forever
Every single recipe in this book looks mouth-watering. I've had a Lola's cupcake before in London so was over the moon when I was kindly treated to this book from the mother. It has every different type of cupcake, tray bake and loaf you can imagine. And then some more. Some recipes are quite time-consuming so it's best to set aside a lot of time for the kitchen. But they always come out perfectly and taste great. The rocky road cupcakes are bookmarked for my next baking session.

3. Mary Berry's Baking Bible
How could I not include the Queen of baking eh? The recipes always use simple, wholesome ingredients - nothing worse then wondering where the hell to get certain bits and pieces - and Mary always break down exactly what you need to do perfectly so there's not room for error on your part. She has everything covered. The cakes aren't anything too fancy but they're old favourites and always hit the spot. The Frosted Walnut Layer Cake has been calling my name for a while!

4. Jamie's Ministry of Food
I have a soft spot for Jamie Oliver but sometimes he gets a bit too fussy and includes recipes that take forever. That's ok on a lazy Sunday but who has time for that midweek when you feel like your stomach is about it eat itself? This is an oldie but a goodie. It's got some great British classics and lots of hints and tips to help you get to know your way around a kitchen. It's a fantastic option for those who are just starting to experiment. I still can't believe I haven't made the Baked Camembert Pasta. I'm slacking.

5. The Hairy Bikers' family Cookbook Mums Know Best
I wish I could employ the Hairy Bikers to be my full time cooks. These men are my heroes! They always create such hearty dishes with a slight twist to help keep them feeling fresh. After all, how many times can you have Shepherd's Pie eh? This one features all different types of cuisines but they all have a slight British twist to them which means they'll suit even the fussiest of eaters. Nothing to too intense. The cheesy cottage pie is such a crowd pleaser and always gets a nod of approval from guests. I think the curried salmon will be my next dish I tackle!

What are your favourite cookbooks? I'm always after suggestions! 

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Recipe: Fruity breakfast bars

Breakfast is the most important meal of a day but so easily missed. A quick slice of buttery toast, a flaky croissant from the coffee shop or a plastic bowl of cereal hurriedly eaten on the train are often the choice for busy commuters. But you can be healthy and still eat something substantial on the go. Flahavan's challenged me to #betteryourbreakfast and put together something a little different for the morning. Make these simple fruity breakfast bars on a Sunday night and you'll have something tasty and filling for the rest of the week.

Ingredients:
50g desiccated coconut
250g Flahavan's Irish Porridge Oats Multi Seed*
100g chopped dates
1 can of condensed milk
125g mixed nuts
75g apricots

Method:
1. Warm the condensed milk in a large pan. Pre-heat the oven at 130 degree - adjust if you're using a fan oven.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl before pouring in the milk. Give a good sure to ensure everything is coated.

3. Line a 9x13 inch pan with greased parchment paper before pouring on the mixture. Make sure it's all evenly spread and pat it down with a spatula.

4. Pop in the oven for around 30 minutes or so. Keeping checking them as some ovens cook quicker or slower.

5. Leave in the dish for around 15 minutes.

6. Cut into 16 chunky slices and let them cool down completely. Store them in a cake tin to help keep them fresh.

As always please do send me a tweet if you make them, I'd love to know!

Inspiration for the recipe taken from Queen Nigella!

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Recipe: leftover turkey Vietnamese-style broth with Brita

Brita got in touch and asked me to put together a soup recipe using their snazzy Russell Hobbs Purity Glass Kettle. During the winter months soup is my go-to. It's healthy, filling and really doesn't take too long to rustle in the kitchen. I love a spicy Vietnamese inspired broth. This won't win any awards for authenticity but it's great way to use up the leftover turkey hogging your fridge.

Feeds 2

Ingredients:
1 litre of vegetable stock
2 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 bag of beansprouts
1 chilli, deseeded
1 tbsp Fish sauce
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp of Chinese 5 spice
Leftover cooked turkey
150g dried wholewheat noodles
A handful of fresh coriander
1/2 pack of baby sweetcorn
1 lime, cut into wedges for decoration
4 spring onions and one chopped chilli for decoration

Method:

1. Pour the stock into a large saucepan, stir in the fish sauce, soy sauce and garlic before popping in the finely chopped chilli. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes.

2. Pop the baby sweetcorn, Chinese five spice and pepper in the stock. Leave to cook for around 15 minutes - keep stirring. I prefer the vegetables to still have a crunch to them.

3. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions.

4. Pop the turkey into the broth to warm through. Add the beansprouts too.

5. Divide the noodles equally and poor over the ready made broth.

6. Garnish with the chopped spring onions, a sprinkling of coriander, chopped chilli and a wedge of lime.

As with all my recipes, I'd love to know if you attempt them so please drop me a tweet!

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An Italian feast with Napolina

Napolina got in touch to see if I wanted a break from all the festive food and have a little Italian feast before Christmas. How could I say no to an offer like that?

The kind folks sent me over an extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, passata, pesto and pasta to rustle up a Sunday night dinner. I've been a fan of Napolina for a while so was looking forward to cooking up a storm.

I opted for some trusty homemade pizzas with a cheeky stuffed crustready made base. Go big or go home I say. It was Sunday ok? And I was nursing an hangover. Pesto makes the world go round so I opted for sweet peppers, mushrooms and onions with a drizzle of the good stuff. Perfection! For the meat eater, chorizo, mozzarella pearls and peppers always go down well.

What are your favourite pizza toppings? Always after some inspiration!

Paired with some crusty bread with balsamic vinegar and oil alongside a basic dish of pesto pasta and sundried tomatoes, it was a feast set for a King. Thanks for such a cosy night in Napolina!

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3 simple ways to eat your morning porridge

Now that the days are cold and dark, a bowl of cereal in the morning just isn't going to cut it. I personally need something a bit more substantial and warm to heat up my chilly bones. Enter the humble porridge. Alpro got in touch and sent me over a little care package* including their oat original drink. Rich in fibre and low in fat, the milk substitute has no added sugar and is naturally lactose free. With this healthy alternative, here are three simple toppings that help to jazz up my porridge in the morning.

1. Blackcurrant jam and juicy blackberries

Nothing quite like a big dollop of jam in the middle of your porridge to sweeten it up. That sweet tooth still needs to be fed at breakfast! I'm loving blackcurrant jam for a change. It doesn't taste as sugary as strawberry or raspberry. Pop in some fresh fruit help you get one of your five a day.

2. Apple and cinnamon

This combination just screams the festive season to me. I'm a cinnamon monster this year and put it on everything. Apples and cinnamon are one pairing that just get each other. They go fantastic together.

3. Chopped nuts and bananas

This may be my favourite one of the bunch. The chopped nuts add great texture with the stodgy oats. Bananas? Maybe the best breakfast fruit out there right. I could eat a good couple of bowls of this before work if I had time. And a big enough stomach.

What is your favourite porridge topping?

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Recipe: Roasted Vegetable Chicken Tikka Masala

I'm trying very hard to get my eating habits back into a good place recently. I'm following a simple, healthy eating plan during the week which helps me to indulge over the weekend. I find 80:20 is the key  - I've lost 6lbs in just under a month. As a result I'm cooking Slimming World dinners during the week. A little while ago I was invited along to see the new launches of Slimming World products in Iceland. I'm already a huge fan of the range so was pretty excited to see they've introduced two new sauces to help make things a little easier in the evening. A chunky tomato and tikka masala - both which can be adapted to make so many different dishes. This recipe taken from a booklet available in the Iceland stores was a surefire hit and one I'm going to make time and time again. I've slightly adapted it to pop in my favourite veggies.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 pots of Slimming World Spicy Tikka Masala Sauce, cooked according to packet instructions*
1 courgette, cut into chunks
1 onion, sliced thinly*
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and cut into strips*
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into strips*
1 bag of ready cut butternut squash and sweet potato
1 can of butter beans
1 pack of cherry tomatoes*
200g of baby spinach*
Frylight
Brown rice to serve

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees/ Fan 200 degrees/Gas mark 7.

2. Start cooking the brown rice.

3. Spray a large roasting tin with frylight and scatter the prepared vegetables. Season to taste, toss well and pop in the oven. Roast for about 20 minutes, remembering to turn halfway through.

4. Meanwhile, tip the cook tikka masala sauce into a large saucepan, add the butter beans and heat through over a medium heat.

5. Add the cooked roasted vegetables and spinach to the mixture in the pan, simmer until the spinach is wilted. Add some water if you want a thinner sauce.

6. Serve with brown rice and tuck in!

As always I would love to know if you decide to rustle it up. Drop me a tweet to let me know!

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Recipe: Chorizo, Black Pudding and Fried Egg Salad

I was contacted by Florette Salad to see if I wanted to put together recipe. There's lots of salad recipes on their website! I said yes and racked my brains to come up with a hearty dish that wouldn't leave me feeling peckish an hour later. I got the inspiration for this recipe from a delicious salad I had while I was in Scotland. I tweaked it a little and came up with this tasty recipe.

Ingredients:
Handful of Florette crispy leaves*
Some chunky chorizo
1 fried egg
4 slices of black pudding
Frylight

1. Pop the black pudding and chrozio in a frying pan laced with frylight oil. Fry for a couple of minutes until the fried egg is ready.

2. Lace another frying pan with frylight and crack an egg. Once it's suitably cooked, start arranging an handful of salad leaves on a place.

3. Scatter the chorizo and black pudding over the leaves before popping the fried egg on top. Season with salt and pepper if you wish.

Let me know if you make it! It's something nice and quick to make for lunch when you have lots of things to do. Like watching Netflix...

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Introducing the new ASDA Italian ready meal range

Ready meals have such a bad reputation. They're billed as tasteless, unhealthy and quite frankly, a little bit rubbish. However, ASDA were having none of this and took themselves to explore the many regions of Italy to ensure an authentic taste. Pretty cool eh? Each one features truly local ingredients and they've really work hard to ensure they're packed full of intense and gorgeous flavour.

I luckily got to try four different dishes - it's a hard job but someone had to do it. I was very impressed with the quality and the rich flavour of each meal.They didn't have any of the blandness you come to expect from a ready meal. I'm usually a bit of a snob but I had to eat my words - and pasta! - when it came to these dishes. My personal favourite were the chunky succulent pork meatballs in a fresh tomato sauce served with thick bucatini pasta. ASDA have tried really hard to use a variety of pastas to help their customers experiment. Non-pasta dishes have also been introduced such as gnocchi and potatoes. 

Not content with bringing 18 brand new ready meals to the shelves, they've introduced a new chilled fresh-baked breads to the equation. Keep an eye out for the incredible sweet caramelised onion bread topped with gooey cheese. Perfection!

The ready meal range starts at just £2.18 making them great if you're on a tight budget one week yet don't want to compromise on taste. They're three for £6 at the minute too - catch them while you can!

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Recipe: Roast Chicken Wraps with Harissa Roasted Veg, Feta and A Mint and Yogurt Dip

I'm always after quick, filling and healthy lunches - especially now I'm at home a lot. It's all so tempting to pick at rubbish food throughout the day. Luckily Alex Hollywood has put together a delicious lunch time recipe with Mission Deli Wraps. I made a slight few tweaks as it's what I already had in the house.

Serves: 2-3 - depending how hungry you are!

Ingredients:
Leftover roasted chicken
Selection of roughly 200g of roasted vegetables. I used a leek, mushrooms, an onion and a courgette.
1/2 pack of feta cheese
1 tsp of Harissa paste
I tbsp of olive oil
Some rocket leaves
Half a lemon
Salt/pepper
175ml of plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp of mint sauce
2-4 Mission Deli Mediterranean Herb Wraps*

Method:
1. Whisk the Harissa paste, olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl before coating the vegetables in the sauce. Make sure you season well.

2. Once the vegetables are roasted, spoon a small mixture into the middle of the wrap.

3. Next pop the roast chicken on top and a small handful of rocket leaves. Then crumble the feta before wrapping.

4. Mix the yogurt and mint sauce together, season to taste and use as a dip on the side.

I'd love to know if you decide to make this - make sure you drop me a tweet!

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Introducing the new Bol Flavours

We all know my life revolves around food on this blog. I love eating and even more than that, I love finding healthy options so I don't feel guilty about what I'm putting in my body. I especially love find healthy dishes for when I'm in a rush. Putting good food in your body doesn't need to take hours to prepare. This is where Bol is a lifesaver.

Inspired by local chefs and market stall traders, the brand has created three new recipes. Jamaican Jerk Chicken - pictured above - , Keralan Chicken Curry and Kansas BBQ chicken - the first ones in the range to contain meat. They make the perfect lunch. Nothing too heavy to make you feel groggy but packed with enough protein to keep you full throughout the afternoon.

The Jamaican Jerk Chicken - my personal favourite - is a mouth-watering combination of spiced, marinated pulled chicken in a habanero chilli and coconut milk sauce. It's served with generous helpings of sweet potato, mixed peppers, sweetcorn and pineapple on top of black barley, pinto beans and peas. Delicious!

The Keralan Chicken Curry was designed by chef Meera Sodha who specialises in Indian dishes. The tasty meal is cooked in a black pepper and coconut sauce. The chicken is layered with lemon-spiked cauliflower and rice before being topped with a beetroot thoran. I would never in a million years have paired earthy beetroot with curry but it goes together perfectly. It's the star of this dish.

Finally the Kansas BBQ Chicken is inspired by the Deep South. The pulled chicken is paired with a lightly pickled cabbage slaw, sweetcorn and a yummy blend of quinoa and black rice.

The meals will be available in supermarkets from mid-October nationwide at £3.79 each. Keep your eyes peeled!

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Recipe - Caribbean Inspired Shepherd's Pie

I have a soft spot for Caribbean food, add some jerk paste into anything and it becomes 100 times better in my opinion. I had the idea of making a Caribbean inspired Shepherd's Pie after having a few sweet potatoes and some jerk paste hanging around. This recipe is a mixture from The Telegraph and Levi Roots. I really just made it up as I went along but it came out amazingly well. It's definitely something i'd make again as it's perfect for a cold winters night. It's really good for you too as it uses lean turkey mince and sweat potato - who says healthy has to be boring?

Serves 4 - 6 depending on how many vegetable sides and how hungry you are! 

Ingredients:

500g of lean turkey breast mince
2 large sweet potatoes
1 chopped red pepper
1 finely diced onion
1 can of chopped tomatoes
Up to 4 teaspoons of jerk paste depending on how you like your spice
Vegetables of your choice to serve - I had spinach and green beans

001. Peel the potatoes and chop into small pieces and boil for around 25-30 minutes until they're soft.

002. Pop the mince, onion and pepper into a large wok and cook for around 20 minutes until the mince is cooked throughout. Add the jerk paste and stir thoroughly.

003. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes.

004. Once the potatoes are cooked, drain the water and mash them until they're nice and smooth. Pop the mince mixture in the bottom of a rectangular deep dish and layer with the mash on top. Fluff up the top of the mash with a fork.

005. Pop into the oven for about 10-15 until you're happy with the crispy top. It won't go too crispy, just a word of warning! 

006. Cut into equal slices and serve with the veg! 

Please do let me know if you try it out as i'd love to see some pictures! 

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Recipe - Healthy Spanish style chicken with rice

Serves four
If you're following Weightwatchers this will be 13 propoints. If you get rid of the rice it will take it down to 9 propoints.

Ingredients:
3 peppers in whatever colours you prefer, sliced
1 onion, diced
1 bag of green beans, trimmed
6 large tomatoes, halved
75ml of red wine
125ml of chicken stock
4 cloves of garlic (I use easy garlic so 4 tsps for this!)
1-2 tsps of Paprika or however much you prefer!
Fry Lite oil
1 pack of chicken chunks
160g of brown rice

001: Pop the peppers, onions, garlic, and green beans in a roasting tray. Sprinkle with the paprika and spray with 3-4 squirts of fry lite evenly. Pop in the oven for 20 minutes at gas mark 6/200 degrees/ 180 degrees at a fan oven.

002: Pop the brown rice in a saucepan filled with boiling water and leave to cook for around 30 minutes. Keep stirring it to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom!

003. Spray a frying pan with fry lite and brown the chicken for around 5-6 minutes.

004. Take the roasting dish out of the oven and pop the chicken in along with the red wine and hot chicken stock. Give it a good swoosh around and pop back in the oven for around 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it as you don't want the chicken to go dry.

005. Once cooked divide evenly between 4 bowls and tuck in!

I'm back on the Weightwatchers/healthy eating wagon now as I've been indugling far too much for about the last 4 months. Enough is enough! If you have any healthy recipes you could share i'd be very appreciative!

I'd love to know if you try this!

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