Total DeliciousNess

Well hello there! I realise it has been a very very long time since we last spoke. I thought I would return with something rather yummy and very simple to create on these freezing cold winter nights.

This is a bit of a made up recipe I’ve created after seeing a few different recipes and none of them being quite right, but a mix of them is perfect!

Ingredients:

• 2 leeks. topped & tailed and sliced
• 6 slices smoked streaky bacon. Diced
• 400-500g chicken breast. Diced
• 2 cloves garlic or teaspoon lazy garlic
• generous pinch of dried tarragon
• 200ml chicken stock
• 2 heaped tablespoons half fat creme fraiche
• 7-8 large potatoes. Mashed
• Grated cheese for the top. (Optional)

The Chicken Mixture Cooking

Method:

1. Put the potatoes into boiling water and boil until soft enough to mash
2. Fry the bacon in olive oil over a medium heat for 4-5 mins
3. Add the sliced leeks to the bacon and fry for a further 3 mins stirring occasionally
4. Add the diced chicken and garlic and cook for a further 5 mins
5. Pour in the chicken stock and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
6. While the chicken mixture is simmering your potatoes should be ready. Drain them and put back into the pot with milk and plenty of butter and mash well.  Season with salt and pepper.

1. Take the chicken mixture off the heat and add the creme fraiche and salt and pepper to taste
2. Pour this mixture into an ovenproof dish and spoon the mash on top and spread evenly before forking the top
3. If you want to add grated cheese, now is the time to sprinkle on top.
4. Put the dish into the oven for 30 minutes
5. Serve with vegetables, we had brocolli and baby corn

The Aftermath

I must apologise, I forgot to take a photo of the finished pie until Jamie, Sam and I had all tucked into it…quite a lot! It really is very yummy. We demolished the lot and it should feed 4 people!

Ness x

Today was such a horrible day, weather wise anyway. Really dreich, as they would say back home.  The only thing for it was to make a stew or soup. As I hadn’t taken the beef out of the freezer to defrost, soup it was.

I tend to make soups out of whatever I have in the fridge or cupboards. Today, I had some chorizo and sweet potato and here is the recipe I came up with.

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
• 1 ring of chorizo, sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled & sliced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, grated or crushed
• 1 parsnip,peeled & sliced (not essential, I just had one that needed used)
• 2 handfuls red lentils
• 2 litres (or thereabouts) or chicken/vegetable stock

Method:

1. Put your chopped onion, garlic, carrots, parsnips & sweet potatoes into a large pot with some olive oil over a medium heat
2. Cook for around 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft
3. Add the chorizo and cook for a further 5 minutes
4. Add the lentils and the stock and give a good stir. Season with salt and pepper
5. Simmer over a low heat for 20-25 minutes
6. Take off the heat and blend with a hand blender in the pot. If you don’t have a hand blender then let the mixture cool a bit and blend in a food processor
7. You have your soup!

I think that this would taste nice with some finely chopped chilli ir chilli flakes in it and a dollop of creme fraiche. I may try this tomorrow but was making it child friendly to start. Serve with crusty bread & butter. Yummers

Enjoy!

On Thursday, my little boy will be one and his mummy is STILL carrying around far too much of the weight that she gained whilst carrying him.

I looked at myself in the mirror today and was really quite unhappy with the sight I saw. The belly is big and it has to go.

Pre final dress fitting for my wedding I had started using a rather fabulous Slim Pod and had lost 7lb in 2 weeks. I then stopped as I didn’t want to lose any weight between my dress fitting and the wedding. To explain, a Slim Pod is a rather fabulous MP3 download from Thinking Slimmer. In short, you listen to a 10 min voice recording every night for a minimum of 21 days and without willpower, dieting, calorie counting, you will gradually lose weight through small changes to your lifestlye.

I realise that you’re probably all laughing me right now. I suggest you read some of the success stories from fellow bloggers, truly astounding. I’ve met some of these ladies and the weight loss they have experienced is unbelievable.

Today, I changed my Drop 2 Dress Sizes slimpod to a Drop 2 Jeans Sizes slimpod. I am more a jeans girl than a dress girl and the slimpod is more likely to work for me as it’s more in tune with me. There are many to choose from though, just pick the one best for you.

I have set my goals, will write in my diary this evening and then listen to Trevor’s dulcit tones. Each week I will aim to update on my progress. I have also taken a picture of my current body (will not be grossing you out today) and if I get to my 10st 7lb target, I will share my before and after shots with you.

Wish me luck!

Ness x

I have a little tabby cat called Sadie. She is very very loving. In fact, she is the most needy, touchy feely, affectionate cat you could hope to meet.

These traits meant that she will happily go into other people’s houses, accept food, cuddles and bed for the day, before trotting home later on.

I have recently come to the realisation that this is not ideal as she has taken to visiting the “odd couple” downstairs and I find myself out calling for her at 11pm in pjs like a crazy person. She has also recently developed a very stinky trump habit and I think that maybe she’s being fed things she shouldn’t be. It’s horrendous.

If it weren’t for the fact that we are moving in a few weeks I’d have to go and ask them not to let her in and to definitely stop feeding her as it’s clearly not agreeing with her!

My point to this little tale, is that although it may seem like you’re being kind. Don’t take other cats into your home and feed them. It can cause a bit of a problem for their actual family. We’re almost wearing clothes pegs on our noses!!

Ness x

This week I have been making a few new things from the wonderful Annabel Karmel’s New Complete Baby & Toddler Meal Planner

The first that we are Taste Testing is a pasta sauce – Courgette and Tomato. I thought it tasted yummy, but it’s not technically for me (although I would happily make a grown up version in the future!)

Sam has been a little off colour with conjunctivitis and is also teething with not 1, not 2, but 3 top teeth currently coming through, so he has been a little off his food (although doesn’t turn his nose up at anything sweet, so rice pudding has been nommed a lot) Let’s see if he likes the taste of this…

Following a brief pause to let him settle down and then we carried on. This time a little more successfully!

We have a few more recipes to bring you soon and the lovely people at Ella’s Kitchen have sent us some pouches to try as well. We look forward to it!

Ness & Sam x