• Recipes

    Mexican Chilli Bean Soup

    I’ve recently tried a supermarket’s own tinned Mexican Chilli Bean Soup and my first thought was “I can make this better”. Actually, I’ve tried a couple from different supermarkets. Some containing chicken too. They were OK but I was more shocked when I read the ingredients on the tins. The amount of salt is shocking and one even contained hydrogenated fats….. Why?! Why does soup contain man made fat! There’s just no need for it. And a good soup shouldn’t need ridiculous amounts of salt either. I prefer a thicker soup to a watery, stock based one so my recipe for Mexican Bean Soup is done in two parts. The…

  • Recipes

    Minced Beef Hotpot & Samuel Groves Cookware Review

    There’s something really comforting about an easy one-pot dinner. This Minced Beef Hotpot recipe is just that! When Samuel Groves kindly asked me to review one of their pans I had to choose their casserole pan! The best things about Samuel Groves pans is the fact you can go from hob to oven without having to switch cookware. I was sent the 20cm Stainless Steel Casserole Pan & Lid from their Classic Range. I decided this Minced Beef Hotpot would be the perfect recipe to try the pan out and I wasn’t wrong! It comes packaged in a Samuel Groves named box and inside that was a natural hessian bag.…

  • Recipes

    Healthier Lemon and Coriander Hummus

    It’s probably the wrong time of the year to be making a new hummus recipe but I had some while I was away at the weekend and got a real taste for it again. I was on holiday though so keeping an eye on the calories I was consuming had gone out the window. This meant, I needed to make a lower calorie, low fat version of course! I can guarantee I will keep tweaking this recipe as I always do. I thought I’d share it though as this makes such a tasty lunch or snack! You will need a blender of some description to make this. Ingredients 1 Tin…

  • Recipes

    Campfire Pasta

    This is one of those recipes that I threw together with the scrapings in the fridge on the off chance it might work. It turned out to be one of the best pasta dishes I’ve made in ages so I’m REALLY glad I wrote it all down as I went along! Campfire Pasta is based on an old slimming classic called Campfire Stew which I have made a lot in the past. Both dishes are simple but pack in loads of flavour! I made mine gluten free but you can of course change it and use the normal ingredients. Ingredients (Serves 4) 1 Onion 1 Pepper 4 slices of smoked…

  • Recipes

    Healthy Sloppy Joes

    Sloppy Joes are a classic American dish. I will probably have American’s say that I’ve ruined it here but I like this healthy Sloppy Joes version. Plus, I’ve never actually tried the real thing. It was actually Mr’s fault I made this recipe, I had some 5% fat mince that I didn’t really know what to do with and we didn’t fancy Bolognese or Chilli again. He googled “recipes using mince” and one of the things that came up was Sloppy Joes. I checked the recipe and realised I could make that to suit my diet! Healthy Sloppy Joes were easy! I have used gluten free worcestershire sauce and a gluten free roll…

  • Recipes

    Tomato and Chorizo Pasta

    Tomato and chorizo pasta is such a tasty dinner! Even the toddler demolished a bowl full and he’s in that horrible picky stage where he will only eat breaded chicken and pasta and screams if there’s any vegetable lumps. He won’t even eat chips! So this has the toddler stamp of approval so it must be pretty good. This was made as I had some chorizo left over from making my paella. I of course use Gluten Free pasta for mine but I make the rest of the family’s with normal pasta. It’s a great “accidental” recipe make and it’s full of healthy veggies too.

  • Recipes

    Mexican Rice

    This is something I used to cook way before I started “dieting” and now it seems every time I have it on the menu we end up with a takeaway! Tonight, I finally managed to cook it again and I forgot how good it is for a simple, 1 pan dish. It’s a great way of using up wrinkly veg too as you can chuck whatever you fancy in it. You can also make it vegetarian, which I have done many times before, by simply removing the chicken. Also, you can make it as spicy or mild as you like, as with pretty much all my recipes, this is child…

  • Recipes

    Carrot & Sweet Potato Cakes

    I’ve decided this month I’m going to go as gluten free as I can to see if it helps my stomach at all. My niece has Coeliac disease and it’s supposed to run in the family, I’ve had stomach upsets for years but I always put it down to a bad diet, it’s been a lot better since I changed my diet 2 years ago but I still get the odd flare up and it’s usually when I’ve had pizza or pasta. I do get bloated quite a lot too so even though I know I’m not coeliac, I think I’m definitely sensitive to gluten. I made these potato cakes…

  • Recipes

    Easy Chilli Sauce

    I use this sauce for a few different dishes but it also makes a great dipping sauce. It’s hard to find good, healthy sauces so why not make one?! It only takes a couple of minutes to throw together too. You can change the quantities of the ingredients to make more and of course to suit your taste! This should make about 2 portions.

  • Recipes

    Jar Noodles

    This was a slightly experimental lunch but it turned out to be a success! Which is always a bonus. I love a Pot Noodle style thing but this is a great way of getting more vegetables in your system. Also, it’s more filling than a shop bought one as it contains actual protein! I have recently adapted this recipe as I wrote it pre-gluten free. I use dried Rice Noodles instead of egg ones and a gluten free alternative to soy sauce.

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