My new toy!

Hi all! I Wanted to show you my new toy!

So. As a very early birthday present, my lovely boyfriend bought me my CBT (compulsory basic training for motorcycles) and I passed! This means that I am now officially safe to ride a 125cc motorcycle on public highways.....God help us all!

It was a looooong day (08:30 - 5!) but after I passed, the boyfriend took me to view a bike that he'd had his eye on....I wasn't sure about it, but looking at his enthusiasm for it, I knew it was a good'un!!

So here she is:

This is my Honda NSR 125 RR (called her Nessa!) I had a ride on her Sunday afternoon, just round an empty carpark and I absolutely loved it! Had a few issues with turning left but i've just got to practise! hahah.

Satay Chicken

Saw this recipe the other week on Jamie Oliver's 30 min meals and knew i needed to try it! Unfortunately I don't yet own that book (soon.....) but i managed to find it online here!

This is seriously yummy! may make it with a bit more sauce next time though!

Serves: 4
Cook time: 30 mins

2tsp Coriander (the recipe says fresh, I used dry)
2 tsp chilli flakes (or a fresh chilli)
3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
a good glugg of soy sauce
ginger (2cm fresh or 1.5 tsp ground)
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 limes
4 chicken breasts
runny honey for drizzling (I left this out!)
Rice or noodles & stirfried veggies to serve!

1. Zest both limes, and juice one of them. Add the coriander  chilli, peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger and garlic and mix to form a paste (if using fresh coriander, you'll probably need to do it in a blender!)

2. Line the chicken breasts up on a chopping board. Gently and carefully push the skewers through the breasts. Slice between the skewers to give you 4 kebabs. Stick any odd bits on the ends of the skewers. Cover the kebabs with the satay mix, and grill for about 10 mins on each side until  cooked.

3. Serve with rice/ noodles and veggies!

Sweet and Sour Pork

I got this recipe from the slimming world website, and just tweaked it to what I had to hand! I seasoned the Pork with Jamie Oliver's 5-spice seasoning salt.

So here's how I made it!

I completely forgot to take any pictures this time! (i'll add them next time i make it!)

Serves: 4
Time: 30 mins plus 20 mins marinading

Pork fillet, cut into chunks
Generous sprinkling of 5-spice seasoning salt
1 red pepper, shopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 tsp chinese 5-spice
4 tbsp tomato puree
4 tbsp light soy sauce
150ml chicken (or beef) stock
1 can pineapple chunks
1 tbsp gravy granules (to thicken)
4 egg noodle nests


1. Rub the pork with the seasoning salt, and marinade for 20 mins.

2. Fry the pork in a pan, then add the vegetables, and cook until soft. Meanwhile make the sauce by mixing together the stock, tomato puree, soy sauce, 5-spice, gravy powder and vinegar. 

3. Cook the noodles and add to the pan with the pork and veg and mix. Add the sauce to the pan and simmer until thickened. Add the pineapple to the mixture, then serve.

I was a little worried about how this would turn out, but it went down well so that's always a good thing!!

Basic mince beef mix!

Hey all!

Thought i'd share with you my beef mince recipe. Basically this is the basic mix that goes in mosy beef-based dishes like cottage pie, chilli, bolognaise, lasagne (soon to be tested!) and then ofcourse adding whatever necessary to create the dish in step 2!

Bolognaise

Really really simple! This can be done in a slow cooker aswell, just chuck everything in the pot and switch on!

Serves: 2
Cook time: about 20 mins

200g mince beef
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
1 leek, chopped
2 tbsp bbq sauce
1 carton passata
1 beef oxo cube
2 tbsp gravy granules

1. Fry the mince and garlic in a pan for a few mins until browned. Add the onion, pepper and leek and cook for 5 mins until softened. 

2. Mix in the oxo cube, passata, gravy granules and bbq sauce and simmer for about 15 mins.

3. Serve however

My new love...

Ok, so I've fallen in love.....with a handbag!

I had an email from Mulberry introducing their new Willow range. I have to say, the totes are gorgeous! The brilliant thing about the Willow totes is the zip-off front that can be used as a clutch, so it's 2 bags in 1 (really it's a bargain!) 

I love this nude calfskin one (£1,250)

I also love this navy calfskin & ostrich one (£1,600)

Asos.com

I love the idea of the removable clutch pocket on a tote, so I've had a look around other shops to see if there are any more affordable bags, but there don't seem to be many! 

I only seem to have found this one from asos for £28. It's a clutch with a removable front pocket. I don't really see the point in it honestly, a clutch with a removable clutch?


I have found a few more now. There's this one from accessorize. It's more of a copy of the style. It doesn't have the detachable clutch like the Mulberry Willow, but i think it looks really nice!

accessorize Elinor pocket tote

I've also found this one from next. Again it looks to be just a style copy, no detachable clutch. 

Next Trapeze Tote

Honestly at £75 I wouldn't go for it. Yeah it is a LOT cheaper than the Willow, but I think if I couldn't get the Willow, I'd go for the Elinor from accessorize, it's only £42 so a lot more affordable (and a lot nicer than the next bag!!).

RAINBOW CAKE!!

So me and my friend candi-cloud had a go at making a rainbow cake!! We used a Martha Stewart recipe I found on the internet, and it actually turned out VERY successful!. We only had 2 pans the same size so we did 3 batches of 2 layers!

Rainbow Layer Cake

Makes: one big-ass 6 layer cake!
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 30 mins plus time for decorating

3 cups plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter
2 1/3 cups sugar (we used caster sugar)
5 large egg whites (we got "posh birds" eggs...they were blue...)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
gel food colouring (we got dr oetker)

1. Preheat oven to 200C. grease the cake tins with some butter. In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking powder and put to one side.

2. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Gradually add the egg whites and vanilla, then mix well. Then add the flour mix and milk to the mixture, alternating like so: flour, milk, flour, milk. Mix well.

3. Divide the batter between 6 bowls, then add the food colouring - as much as you want/need really to get the colour you desire! Then start baking! We baked 3 lots of 2 layers of cake at a time, which took 10 mins each. 

4. Once cooked, leave the layers on a wire rack to cool, then begin building and decorating! We used buttercream frosting between each layer, and got some ready-rolled white icing for the outside with silver balls and sugar polka dots!!

I have to admit I was a bit sceptical as to how it would turn out, because the pink, purple and red layers seemed to look very similar, but once constructed and sliced, it looked amazing! It tasted amazing too! The cake itself was soft and moist, I think the buttercream helped aswell!

More pictures will be up asap, and seriously you SHOULD try doing this!!