Sweet potato and coconut soup

I bought myself a blender the other day so I’ve started making soup. This is my first one of many hopefully.

Ingredients
750 grams grated sweet potato
1/4 can coconut milk
2 tsp of Thai red curry paste
1 onion
750mls veg stock
Handful of chopped coriander

Directions
1. Fry the onion until soft, usually takes about 5 mins
2. Add the Thai paste and leave to cook for a further minute
3. Stir in the sweet potato and stock and cook until the potato softens
4. Take of the heat and add the milk and coriander
5. Blitz with a hand blender until it has a smooth consistency.
6. Serve and enjoy

Easy scrambled eggs

The quickest and easiest way to cook scrambled egg. Perfect for when you don’t have time to cook a massive breakfast but you wake up starving.

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp shredded cheese
Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Coat the inside of the mug with oil spray to stop it sticking
2.Crack 2 eggs into the mug and add the milk and cheese.
3. Whisk until everything is mixed in.
4. Blast in the microwave for 45 seconds and take out and stir.
5.Cook for another 30-45 seconds, make sure it’s cooked all the way through. Scrambled eggs done!

Cake in a cup

This recipe isn’t the healthiest of things but it sure is super clever and very easy to make. If you’ve got a craving for something sweet but you don’t have the time or the energy to whip up a full on cake, this is perfect.

Ingredients

4 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup Nutella
3 Tbsp milk

Directions
1.Mix all the ingredients together in a large cup until smooth.
2.Cook in the microwave for 1 minute. 3. Let it cool for as long as you can resist, then tuck in!

Mushroom stroganoff

A creamy dish served with wild rice or on top of some nice tested sour dough bread.

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp paprika
2 garlic cloves, chopped
300g chopped mushrooms (any variety)
150ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp Worcester sauce (vegetarian alternative)
3 tbsp half-fat soured cream
small bunch parsley, roughly chopped

Directions

1. Fry the onions until soft
2. Add paprika and garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes
3. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes stirring every one and again
4. Pour in the veg stock and Worcester sauce and cook until the sauce thickens
5. Take of the heat and stir in the soured cream and parsely
6. Serve

Sangira

My parents were putting on a Spanish tapas night so I thought I would make some sangria to go with it. I kind of threw things in and this actual worked and tasted like real sangria. Perfect for summer days.

Ingriedients

1 bottle of dry red wine
200ml of orange juice
200ml lemonade
3 shots of Bacardi
2 apples
1 orange
A handful of strawberries
1 lemon
1 lime
Ice

Directions

1. Pour all the liquid into a bowl and mix together
2. Cut all the fruit into bite size pieces and add to the liquid
3. Add ice
4. Serve with a ladle into wine glasses.

Simple

Energy Boost Juice

I’m starting a juice diet tomorrow so I thought I’d share some of the recipes with you. They would be nice as a healthy drink or instead of a snack to quench your hunger.

This one is supposed to boost your energy

Ingredients:
2 apples
1/4 pineapple
Handful of spinach
1/2 a lime
1 stick of celery
3 cm chunk of cucumber
1 cm chunk ginger
1/4 avocado
Handful of ice cubes

Shove everything in a blender and serve. Simple as that. If its a little bit bitter add some manuka honey.

Vegetarian Curry

Curry is my favourite type of food so I love finding different ways to cook it. This is full of flavour with lots of yummy vegetables. I sometimes add some shredded Quorn fillets to give it a bit more texture.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 medium carrots (sliced 1/4 inch thick)
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoon curry powder
1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne
1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric
1 large sweet potato
250g frozen green beans
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 large tomatoes, diced
400ml vegetable stock
60g frozen peas
Half a can of light coconut milk

Directions:
1. In a sauté pan, heat the oil until moderately hot. Add the carrots and onion and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, curry powder, cayenne, and turmeric to the pan. Continue to cook for 2 more minutes or until the spices become fragrant.
3. Remove the vegetables from the pan and transfer to a slow cooker. Add the potatoes, green beans, chickpeas, tomatoes, and vegetable stock to the slow cooker.
4. Set the slow cooker on low and cook for approximately 5 1⁄2 hours. (Longer is fine.)
5. Before eating, add the peas and coconut milk and cook for 15 more minutes.

Serves: 6

Asparagus pasta

I love finding a different way to cook pasta as it’s one of my favourite meals. I served this with some garlic bread.

Ingredients

1tsp olive oil
250g pasta(any shape works)
8 asparagus with ends cut off
1 small onion
40g grated cheese
Pinch of salt & pepper to season
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp oregano
700g passata

Directions

1.First add the past to some boiling water and leave to cook while preparing the sauce, follow the cooking instructions on the packet as cooking times vary.
2. Heat a little oil and sauté the garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, seasoning and reduce heat. Let it simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Boil salted water and add the asparagus. Simmer for 3-4 minutes or until the asparagus is tender. Drain, then cut into bite size pieces.
4. Once the pasta is done drain and toss with sauce, cheese and asparagus. You can sprinkle extra cheese on the top if required.

Serving: 4

Banana and coconut curry

I love this dish. I’ve no had it in a while so today was a real treat. It may sound odd to have banana in curry but trust me it’s beautiful. It’s got a Jamaican/Thai feel to it which I love!!

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
3 large bananas (slightly unripe)
1 tin of coconut milk
3 Quorn fillets
1 large onion
2 tsp curry paste
Sprinkle of fresh chopped coriander

Directions

1. Peel and cut the bananas into to bite size pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the bananas for 4 minutes turning halfway through. They should be slightly brown.
2. Remove the bananas and add a little more oil. Fry the onion until soft then add the Quorn fillets(torn into smaller pieces) and banana. Cook for a further 3 minutes.
3. Add half of the coconut milk and all of the curry paste and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the rest if the milk and cook until the sauce thickens.
5. Stir through the coriander and serve with boiled rice.

Serves: 4

Sorry about the quality of the photo, I’ve had to use my phone.

Lasagne sheet chips

These crisps are really useful is you’re dieting and you’re tummy is grumbling. A firm favourite for those following the slimming world diet. You can use loads of different seasonings, last time I used Nando’s chip sprinkle but I’ve used things like paprika and garlic salt before.

Ingredients

Frylite® oil spray
3 sheets dried lasagne
various seasonings

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Spray a baking tray with Frylite®.
2. Bring a pan of slightly salted water to the boil.
3. Drop the lasagne sheet into the pan and leave for 2 minutes.
4. After the 2 minutes, take the sheet out and cut into squares.
5. Lay the squares on the baking tray.
6. Once all of the squares are on the baking tray, spray the tops of them with Frylite® and sprinkle on whatever seasoning you fancy.
7. Pop the baking tray into the oven (middle shelf) for 10 minutes or until they go crispy
8. Remove the squares from the tray and allow to cool.