Banana - Strawberry Frozen Yoghurt

Who doesn't love frozen treats and with lots of fruit and low sugar/ fat this is a definite win. 



Banana - strawberry frozen yoghurt

Ingredients:
1 banana
5 strawberries
150gm plain low fat yoghurt
2 tsp half spoon or agave syrup or honey to sweeten

Method:
Whiz ingredients together in blender, freeze until semi frozen (about an hour) and whip up up again using a fork. Repeat until completely frozen.

Makes two serves.
Weight watchers points - 4 points total, 2 points per serve.

Beef stuffed capsicums

Veggies stuffed with deliciousness. What's not to love? And bonus, leftovers are delicious chopped up and served with spinach as a lunch time salad.

Beef stuffed capsicums

Ingredients 1 carrot
1 onion
1 zucchini
8 mushrooms
200gm lean beef mince
100gm bulgar wheat
4x capsicums
Paprika
1 Tbsp marmite
Sea salt


Method

1. Grate zucchini and carrot. Finely chip onion and mushroom. Mix veggies, mince, bulgar wheat, marmite and seasonings together.
2. Chop tops off capsicums and remove seeds. Place capsicums upright in a casserole dish.
3. Using a teaspoon pack filling firmly into capsicum cases.
4. Cover and bake for approx. an hour or until capsicums and bulgar wheat is cooked.

Weight watchers points - 4.5 per capsicum

I think next time I might add some harissa paste or olives to give it more of a kick as it was a little bland. First time making capsicums stuffed with mince though, as normally I do a veggie mix with feta.

Spicy roasted cauliflower and butternut squash

My original plan for dinner tonight was to have a side salad to accompany my leftover mini lasagne. However, I used all the spinach making my lunch this morning and had to come up with another side dish idea using what was in the fridge.  Hence, a spicy butternut squash and cauliflower combo with capers. The saltiness of the capers and sweetness of the butternut squash add a nice balancing taste to the spice of the chilli oil.

Spicy roasted cauliflower and butternut squash

Ingredients
2 tsp chilli oil
Half head cauliflower
1/3 butternut squash
1 tbsp capers
Sea salt
Cajun seasoning

Method
Chop up cauliflower and butternut squash. Toss in oil, capers, salt and seasoning. Roast on oven tray for about 30 minutes until soft and cooked.

Weight watchers points - 1 (from the oil)

Sandwich sundays

After I discovered the amazing blog over at 300 sandwiches, we started making weekly sandwiches on a sunday. It started with me following a 300 sandwiches recipe each week and has progressed to me attempting to make my own random and exciting combinations. Often with caramelised onions!

Caramelised onions are a great sandwich addition turning simple combinations into something delicious. Plus super easy to make if you've got the time to stir them every ten minutes or so-  Which makes them the perfect thing to make on a Sunday afternoon. 

Caramelised onions

Ingredients

1. 1tsp butter
2. 4x onions sliced
3. Water
4. Sea salt

Method
Melt butter in fry pan over low heat, add onions and a sprinkle of sea salt. Cook slowly over low heat stirring every ten minutes or so and adding a splash of water when cooking dry. Will take about an hour. 

Today's sandwich is inspired by a sandwich from Mr Wolfe (my favourite coffee shop in Brighton) which is emmental cheese, butternut squash, olive mayo on sourdough. But I decided to mix it up using the same roasted butternut squash and olive base but with some additions, substitutions and of course caramelised onions.

Butternut squash, caramelised onion, Turkey and olive sandwich
(Makes two)

Ingredients

1. 2x foccacia bread rolls
2. Plum chutney
3. 1/2 avocado
4. Sea salt
5. Lemon
6. 1/3 Butternut squash
7. Spinach
8. Black sliced olives
9. Sliced turkey
10. Caramelised onions

Method

1. Peel avocado and mash flesh with salt and lemon to taste for a quick guacamole.
2. Thinly slice butternut squash, place in a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave for five minutes
3. Slice bread rolls, cover base with chutney, layer on cooked butternut squash, olives, sliced turkey, caramelised onions and spinach.
4. Spread guacamole on top.
5. Finish construction and heat in microwave for thirty seconds until just heated.

Weight watchers points -10 per serve

Maple cinnamon popcorn

One of my recent discoveries was that you can pop popcorn at home in the microwave without a bought popcorn bag. You can use a microwave safe bowl and lid with air vents but I've found a roasting bag with a few air holes works a treat. You can do this without any oil but the coconut oil gives a nice additional flavour to the popcorn. 

Homemade microwave method
(makes about three cups of popcorn)

1. If using coconut oil, place about a tsp in a roasting bag, add 1/4 cup popcorn. 
2. Seal bag and cut a few small holes. 
3. Microwave on high for about 4 mins. As per usual with microwave popcorn listen carefully to when the popping slows down and stop the microwave. 

For watching a movie on a rainy sunday, I opted for sweet popcorn and covered mine with a sprinkle of salt, a dash of cinnamon and approx 1tbsp maple syrup. Toss to mix topping through and eat before it gets cold!   Warning slightly sticky but very addictive.
Total weight watchers points - 6 if you eat the whole bowl.

Veggie Mince Lasagne

For Christmas, I was given cute little mini casserole dishes which are perfect for single dish portions of pasta bakes, casseroles and lasagne.

Tonight, I had a craving for veggie lasagne, but didn't want anything too heavy so a little single dish veggie lasagne with cottage cheese was perfect and left me with another for lunch tomorrow. I find soya mince is a fantastic ingredient for things like this as it absorbs any extra liquid that may have come out of the veggies.

Double mix for a full casserole dish sized lasagne.

Veggie mince lasagne

Ingredients

1. 1 clove garlic
2. 1 carrot
3. ½ zucchini
4. ½ tin chopped tomatoes
5. 20gms (1/4 cup) soya mince
6. Basil and salt
7. 100 gms (½ cup) low fat cottage cheese
8. 20gm feta
9. 2 sheets whole wheat pasta

Method:

1. Finely chop garlic, grate carrot and zucchini. In small bowl mix veggies, tomatoes and soya mince together. Add a sprinkle of basil and salt.
2. Mix finely chopped spinach, cottage cheese and crumbled feta with a little salt to taste.
3. Layer veggie mince mix, single layer of whole wheat lasagne pasta sheets and cottage cheese mix. Repeat.
4. Bake at 200C until the pasta is cooked.

Makes two small single ramekins.  You can also bulk up the veggie mince mix with additional veggies such as mushroom, peppers or finely chopped broccoli.

Weight watchers points – 7 points total, 3.5 pts per ramekin

Iron Man cake

Significant others birthday's are always hard. Guys have a tendency to buy  whatever they want and not even think about waiting til after their birthday. In this particular instance, I did have to steer him away from shops and make broad hints that buying something just in advance of his birthday wasn't the best idea. Add to that pressure from previous awesome presents and it requires months of planning.

Even if choosing a present was hard, selecting the cake to make was easy. My bf is a big fan of iron man and after I saw a super cute picture of a wedding cake with a little spider man poking out I knew exactly what I was going to do.

The cake itself was a four layered chocolate caramel ombre cake (recipe here) The mix itself is absolutely delicious and my friend (acting as my baking assistant and much appreciated company) and I had to stop ourselves eating it uncooked. Thankfully the cake itself was just as delicious when cooked and constructed. Though I may have made a salted caramel sauce or chocolate ganache for layering rather than just the plain caramel which was a little intense.

Iron man was constructed of yellow and red sugar paste with  a little blue and white for features and built directly onto the cake plate (there would have been no moving him!). We found the image of a plastic figurine on google and used that as a template. Thankfully, only head, shoulders and arms required which was about the extent of my artistic talent but I was very happy with how he turned out.

Very scary lifting the four layered cake onto the top of the little Iron Man but finally it rested on top and it was time for icing. 

For the chocolate icing, I initially made a home made marshmallow chocolate fondant (recipe here) However, when it came to rolling this out to put over the top of the cake, it kept cracking very badly. Thankfully,  kneading some ready made white fondant into the mix gave it enough elasticity that we could roll it out and over the cake. Handy tip - when using chocolate icing, use cocoa instead of icing sugar to avoid streaks.

Two people were definitely required for the icing. One person to protect the little figure and the second to actually place and shape the icing. I did make one crucial mistake, namely not covering the cake in the glaze or caramel sauce to give the fondant something to stick to so it did slip a little.

Final touches of using icing pens to write the birthday message and it was done!

Green breakfast smoothie

People say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I definitely agree with them. However, I can't stomach the thought of having something heavy when I first wake up so I like to have something when I get to work that is filling and yet nice and light.

I find a smoothie fits the bill perfectly and this is my favourite breakfast smoothie. I have been informed that the look of it is frightening and even had one friend refuse to try it. However, if you can get past the fact that it looks like green sludge the taste is light and refreshing.

Green breakfast smoothie (makes enough for two mornings)

Ingredients: 

1. 1 banana
2. 1/2 zucchini 
3. 1/2 carrot
4. 1 cup spinach (or kale/ lettuce/ other greens) 
5. 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
6. 1 tsp coconut oil 
7. 1 tsp wheat grass
8. 1/4 cup rolled oats
9. 1 cup soy or almond milk

Method: Slice carrot, banana and zucchini, add all ingredients and Blend until smooth.

Additional ingredients: 
 Depending on what vegies and fruit we have I add different ingredients or spices. And I find it a great way to use up vegie/ fruit odds and ends

1. Apple to replace the carrot with some cinnamon for spice
2. Cucumber to replace the zucchini with some mint for a refreshing start to the day 
3. Add nectarine, peach or a little honey to make things a little sweeter

An introduction seems the proper place to start.

Firstly, I am not at all a 1950's housewife. I have a full time career and don't like the concept of anyone supporting me. I dislike cleaning (but love it when my flat is magically tidy!) loathe ironing (my shirts are often left unironed for months and I go out of my way to buy things that don't require ironing) and seem to be unable to use bleach without staining whatever clothes I'm wearing.

But I find incredibly domestic and traditional activities relaxing and fascinating. I enjoy playing with my food and coming up with totally random low fat, healthy and delicious combinations (zucchini, carrot, banana and flaxseed smoothie anyone?)  I like baking delicious cakes (although I try to avoid that one because I also enjoy eating the cake...) And I'm in the process of mastering knitting (and already have a ridiculous stash of wool!)  Plus get way too excited about any space saving (we live in a tiny apartment in Brighton) or funky homewares (<3 cushions currently...)

So I decided to start this blog to capture my various domestic adventures, from recipes, to knitting, to whatever else strikes my fancy.