Vege Stuffed Peppers

Vege stuffed peppers using @thebodycoach recipe for inspiration. We loved these! 😍

Serves 2 plus enough for lunch the next day 🤣🙌

INGREDIENTS

3 peppers cut in half and deseeded

Olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

3 spring onions, chopped (save some for serving)

1/2 aubergine, cubed

1/2 courgette, cubed

Seasoning

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp smoked paprika

8 button mushrooms, quartered

1/2 220g bag Uncle Ben’s Quinoa Tomato and Basil rice

185g tin mixed beans, drained and rinsed

Half a 400g can chopped tomatoes

60g spinach

Grated cheddar cheese

1 avocado sliced

Chopped fresh coriander

METHOD

1) Put the pepper halves in an ovenproof dish, drizzle lightly with olive oil and cook at 200oC for 10 minutes.

2) In a frying pan, heat 2tbsp olive oil and gently fry all the vegetables except the spinach and mushrooms.

3) Season with salt, pepper and both spices.

4) Add the button mushrooms and rice and continue to fry.

5) Pour in the beans and tomatoes and heat through.

6) Add the spinach and stir through the rice until wilted.

7) Fill the peppers with the rice mixture, top with grated cheese and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.

8) Serve sprinkled with coriander and spring onions, sliced avocados and any left over rice mixture.

Slow Cooker Tomato Pasta Sauce

A simple pasta dinner with my homegrown tomato slow cooker sauce.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

1 clove of crushed garlic

Around 20 cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered depending on size)

Seasoning

METHOD

1, Fry the onion in the oil and add the crushed garlic.

2, Stir in the tomatoes.

3, Season well then tip into the slow cooker.

4, Cook on a low heat for around 8 hours.

5, Blitz them using a blender.

6, Serve the sauce simply as it is with pasta, Parmesan and fresh basil.

Chicken Cacciatore

I saw a photo of this dish on an instagrammers page last week and I’ve fancied making it ever since. I’ve found numerous recipes and combined lots of ideas to create this dish. It was really delicious- crispy chicken and a lovely rich red wine sauce. I’ll definitely make it again- a hit with the whole family.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

8 chicken thighs (skin on)

Plain flour

Seasoning

3 tbsp olive oil

2 red onions chopped

1 red pepper chopped

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 glass red wine

200ml chicken stock

3 sprigs fresh thyme

10 black olives

400g chopped tomatoes

METHOD

1) Preheat oven to 180oC (fan)

2) Put the salt and pepper on a plate with the plain flour. Toss the chicken thighs in this mix to coat them.

3) Fry the chicken thighs in the olive oil until golden (a few minutes each side).

4) Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

5) Fry the onion and peppers until soft. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute. Season.

6) Keep the heat high and add the red wine. Boil for 2 minutes. Then add the stock. Boil for a further minute.

7) Add the tomatoes, olives and thyme.

8) Place the chicken on top and move to the oven. Do not cover and cook for 30 minutes.

9) Serve with spaghetti tossed in olive oil and black pepper.

Aubergine with Yoghurt, Chilli and Honey

Aubergine with Yoghurt, Chilli and Honey from @sainsburysmagazine August issue by @genevieveeats

I always love to try new recipes and this was a little different. It is griddled aubergine topped with Greek yoghurt mixed with fresh garlic, sprinkled with chopped mint, walnuts and chillis, drizzled with sherry vinegar and honey. On my first attempt, whilst it tasted amazing, I was a little flustered by trying to get all the components ready. However, the second time I made it, I prepared everything in advance and it was a breeze to make 🙌 We ate it like canapés by picking up a piece of aubergine covered with all the amazing toppings and devouring it. Like I said, it is a little different and whilst our 10 year old tried it but wasn’t sure, our 13 year old wolfed down slice after slice! 🤣

Courgette Cake

My sister-in-law made this @nigellalawson courgette cake a few years ago and I fell in love with it. It has a similar texture to a carrot cake and it’s really easy to make. I use a food processor to grate the courgettes to save time. The filling is supposed to be lime curd but I used a @cottagedelight lemon and lime curd which was equally delicious. The cream cheese icing is very runny so I refrigerated it before pouring over the cake. Pistachios finish it off beautifully.

Weekly Meal Plan

Weekly Meal Plan

I’m really looking forward to trying @thetinyfairyblog Any Day Pasta recipe. After seeing @theagadiaries gorgeous courgette cake this week, it reminded me of an old favourite recipe that I haven’t done in years so I’ll be baking @nigellalawson Courgette Cake too.

Stir-Fried Pork with Honey and Ginger

BBC Food Stir-fried Pork with Ginger and Honey is a recipe we come back to again and again. It’s quick and easy to make and the sauce is so flavoursome. Tip: I keep all the ingredients the same but double the sauce ingredients. It’s quite a thick sauce so I thin it out with a little hot water. Recipe link here.

Banana Butterscotch Pudding

This banana butterscotch pudding is a family favourite that we‘ve been baking for years. It’s a curious recipe because it’s a self-saucing pudding. Once the batter is made a sugar/syrup water is poured into the batter and it goes into the oven looking a mess. However, miraculously during baking the syrup becomes a delicious, thick butterscotch sauce underneath a soft, scrumptious banana cake with a crisp top. What better way to use up a blackened ripe unwanted banana?

Google ‘Bill Granger’s Banana Butterscotch Pudding’ for the recipe.

Homemade Pizza

Homemade pizza using Lorraine Pascale’s pizza dough recipe. It’s so quick and easy to make using fast action yeast, click here to find the recipe. I did one and a half times the recipe which made four pizzas which we then put our own toppings on. I didn’t have any passata in the cupboard so I blended some tinned tomatoes with seasoning and dried oregano. For our choice of toppings, we had salami, mozzarella, red onion, pepper, pesto and rocket.

Weekly Meal Plan