Things I've been creating and munching:

This was an unusual breakfast for me one morning. Black coffee, like always, but with raw smoked salmon on little delicious cocktail blinis.  

This was lunch out with one of my best friends. We went to a French restaurant and I had a fantastic fish soup whilst she had a savory buckwheat crepe.

This came with my soup, it was really tasty.

This was the best bit of the meal. I had orange zest on my crepe, it was SO GOOD, I almost wept.

Roast chicken with peppers, a cherry tomato and spinach salad, peppered green beans and red onion and mustard potatoes.

Nachos - chicken, mixed peppers and sweetcorn, two kinds of cheese, cool and chilli Doritos, salsa and sour cream. 

Vegetable soup!

Chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip and fudge muffins and white chocolate and raspberry muffins. 

Prep for a pork stew!

This is an unclear photo, but I made a roast dinner with chicken, stuffing, mash, peas and corn on the cob.

Cous cous with roast chicken, cherry tomatoes and peas.

Pork stew with a potato topping - before it went in the oven!

Pork stew with a potato topping - after it came out the oven!

More nachos! This time with mushrooms.

And homemade chips. :)

A brief break, and a quick update.

I haven't posted on here in a couple months, but I feel I should probably start again. I have terrible focus and I get so keen on an idea (like my food blog) and then quickly forget and move on to the next idea. This is partly down to the fact that it's quite difficult to get followers on here and I'm too impatient. I really feel like I have the busy brain of a bumble bee sometimes!
I think I'll make an effort to update it at least once a week with what I've been making or eating during the past 7 days and then if I remember/feel the desire to post more often, I will do that too.

I am living in Glasgow now and studying Professional Cookery at college, which is smashing. I cook all day in class and then come home full of ideas and spend most evenings cooking up treats for the boys. I've started making soup whenever there's enough veg left over, and I've also started making things like homemade chips, fruit crumbles and now I've learnt how to make pasta, I'm going to start getting creative with that! 

I have a lot of pictures and things to upload now, so please enjoy, comment and give me your ideas and thoughts. 

Peace and love. 

Easy-peasy Lamb stew!

This was quite a success. I shared some with my friend Connor and then kept the rest to have again with Kieran at the weekend.
I was cooking at my cousins as I was house sitting for her that week, and to my despair I realised she had no salt, pepper or seasonings. So I made it as simply as I could, which means this is a handy recipe for anyone who isn't that skilled in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
- diced leg of lamb (enough for about 3-4 people)
- one onion
- several cloves of garlic
- two sachets of mint lamb gravy
- roughly chopped carrots (say one per person)
- dwarf beans
- whole mushrooms
- potatoes for mash

I lightly fried the lamb, garlic, onions and mushrooms to soften them up and then made up the gravy to pour on top. I then prepared the veg, threw it in the pot with the lamb and left it to simmer away for an hour. It was delicious served with a big pile of mashed tatties! :)

To store, wait until its cooled down and then put it in a sealed box in the fridge and eat within a couple days. Only reheat once.

Stewing ideas.

I forget to blog here a lot not because I don't often cook but rather because I cook so often, I don't have the patience or the energy sometimes (after working or travelling to see people) to write up all the things on here. This is something I do really, really want to get better at though.

For tonight's dinner, I'm going to be making a "wild lamb stew". The idea for a lamb stew was already... stewing away (oh ho ho) in my brain when I picked up a pack of beautiful looking mushrooms in Morrison's and decided that it was going to have to be a go-ahead for this week. I've invited a couple pals round for it and naturally, I'm going to make extra to give Kieran when he comes to visit at the weekend!

I have a confession to make.

I am beginning to realize that I cannot stick to plans, especially ones involving being strict with food. By nature I'm too impulsive and I tend to make decisions based on how I'm feeling at the time or what kind of mood I'm in rather than what I may have set out for myself. For example, if I'm having a good day, I would be completely on board with it but if I was having a bad day or feeling particularly demotivated, I just didn't care. I also lose interest in things quickly and change my mind a lot, which doesn't help. So, my diet lasted technically about five days but officially two weeks.

However, I have still learnt things from it. It has changed my mindset a little bit which is positive. When planning out meals, I am better at choosing things that are lighter, healthier and more natural and I've stopped eating as much bread. I've been feeling a bit better than I was before too.

Detox Diet Day Five. (Okay!)

Breakfast: One slice of toast, a banana and coffee.
Lunch: Egg mayo sandwich with lettuce and a glass of apple and raspberry juice.
Snack: A cup of carrot and ginger homemade soup and 3 gluten free oatcakes.
Dinner: Beans on toast with BBQ sauce.

I haven't done excellently today. The beans on toast wasn't very good but I didn't have any other food in and seeing as I haven't eaten a lot over all, I guess it's not too bad. I also had a couple meatballs and a taste of a chocolate truffle tart the Head Chef made. Amazing. But I'm not counting them as they were only a couple bites each!