"As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it." - Buddy Hackett

I'm drifting in and out of consciousness in the blog world due to work, I'm not working as much as the previous week but still working. I have another holiday next week but I'm away and shall not be blogging anymore than I am at the moment. It'll be nice to get away though. I still have a lot of ideas for blog entries but by the time I get in from work I'm exhausted and during the day I'm busy. There is just no happy medium at the moment.

This evening I thought I'd bring you a recipe. Something quick and simple that I know I'll eat tons of since the boy is away all next week and the days I am in the house I'll not bother since I hate cooking for one. It's one of my favourites that started out as a Deliah's from her How to Cheat book but I've adapted it to my own liking, just as I do with all recipes from books. For anyone who has the book (and I do highly recommend getting it especially if you want to make delicious dishes on a budget) it's the Spinach Tortelloni with Leeks & Gorgonzola on page 192. Personally I'm not a huge fan of Spinach and we never have Gorgonzola so I wanted to prove that this delicious recipe can be adapted to everyones own tastes.

Presenting Mozzerella & Basil Tortelloni with Prosciutto Ham & Mushrooms


Served with stupidly cheap but actually quite tasty garlic bread. This was a quick dish I made after I finished work and didn't have time to make my own, I think it's about 50p a stick from Sainsburys. To get to the above picture, you have to begin like this.

(I am aware the packet says tomato, but I took this picture after I'd already thrown away the tortelloni packet!)

The ingredients I used, but as I said before you could use any number of ingredients, were the tortelloni, in whatever flavour you like. The boy and I usually stock up on these when they have them for a £1 in our supermarkets (which is quite often). Button mushrooms, prosciutto, parmasan and some cream. Weight watchers do a great cream that's between a double and a single, I find it perfect for bakes. I also used some breadcrumbs on the top and seasoning of course.

First put the tortelloni into a pan and cover with boiling water. Season well and leave to cook until the pasta is soft (usually takes less than 5 minutes but it depends what heat you put it on, my pasta is usually on rapid.)

Next thinly slice the mushrooms, I have slight ocd when it comes to chopping veg and my mushrooms always have to be thinly sliced so they retain their mushroom shape rather than being diced into cubes. No idea why, just thought I'd give you a fun fact. Then tear up the prosciutto so it's in thin strips. I usually find tearing much easier than trying to cut prosciutto or parma ham.

Drain the water off then pasta then pour into a baking dish.

Top with the prosciutto and mushrooms, then season with salt, pepper and garlic.

Mix in the cream and arrange so it covers the whole bottom of the oven dish. Top with bread crumbs and parmasan then put in the oven. At the same time put in the garlic bread. I usually wrap it in tin foil so it cooks at the same speed as the pasta bake. Nothing worse than burnt garlic bread. Cook in the oven until it is golden brown, then serve.

Enjoy x

"Great food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want" ~ Gael Greene

The boy is out on the town tonight with the lads, so I've stayed in and had a seriously girly night. Apart from taking a long hot bath, waxing my legs and painting my toe nails in preparation for the works night out tomorrow night, I baked a delicious treat for him to eat while I am away tomorrow. As not only am I out in the evening but I have booked myself in for some long awaited retail therapy made possible by my estranged grandfather.

Presenting to you this evening, Chocolate Peppermint Brownies.

A quick and really easy recipe to make them, and they do taste delicious. The boy particularly likes his warmed up with a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. It makes 16 squares.

- 180g Milk Chocolate (you can use dark if you wish)
- 150g Butter
- 125g Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 150g Plain Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsps Chocolate Powder
- 1 tsp Peppermint Extract
- Bag of chocolate chips (white or milk, or maybe a mixture of both if you're feeling adventurous!)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4 and line a heat proof dish or tray with grease proof paper.
2. Slowly melt the chocolate in a pan over low heat then add the butter. Stir until the butter has melted then remove from heat. Stir in sugar.
3. Beat the eggs together then mix into the chocolate mixture. Add the peppermint extract.
4. In a separate bowl sieve the flour, baking powder and chocolate powder. Add the chocolate chops then fold in chocolate mixture
5. Put the mixture into the greased dish and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top is firm to touch.
6. Remove from the over and turn out onto a cooling rack, then slice into 16 squares.
7. Enjoy warm with some ice cream as a dessert or leave to cool down and eat as a snack.

In my case, it's true what they say that the quickest way to a mans heart is through his stomach. Whip these us as a special Valentines day treat next Sunday and save yourself some pennies! However, if you're really strapped for cash or don't have any of the ingredients, I recommend Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, my sister uses it and it's delicious. Then to make them peppermint just add in the extract! Much less mess and fuss.

"Life is an onion and one cries while peeling it" ~ French Proverb

When life is getting me down, I always retreat to the kitchen and whip up something wonderful for dinner. Or I bake. Tonight I cooked.


I love a cookery book and my parents always get me a few for a birthday or for Christmas and now my inlaws have started too. They are some of my most prized possessions. I'm a big Gordon Ramsay fan and although the recipes are a little complicated I usually edit them so I can make them to my liking. All the little bits of paper are of recipes I use quite often. Being ex students, with big overdrafts the boy and I tend to live on a budget but I still manage to surprise myself with what I can make with very little.

So tonight, here is my meal on a budget. It would be perfect if you're not going out for valentines day and you want to surprise your other half with something delicious (but you don't want to be so full you can't do anything else, if you know what I mean!) it's easy, simple and doesn't take much work.

Presenting Homemade Pizzas with Oven Sauteed Potatoes and Homemade Dough Balls

Starting with the potatoes. This is a recipe based on Delia Smith's oven-sautéed potatoes with red onion, garlic & rosemary in her How to Cheat cookbook but I prefer to do it with fresh ingredients. First peel the potatoes. For two people I used three largish rooster potatoes chopped into round slices. Then part boil them so once baked they will be soft in the middle. Once boiled put them on a baking tray and spray them with fry light (you can use regular oil if you wish) and put them in the oven. While these are in I prepare the pizza base. I use Sainsburys own pizza base box mix which is only 69p for two mixes. Bargin. Once the base is prepared, I divide the mixture into three, two to make pizzas and a third to make the dough balls. Then roll it out as thin as you'd like. The boy likes his quite thick where I prefer mine very thin. Then I mix some tomato puree with garlic and mixed herbs to make the pizza sauce (you can buy your own already pre mixed pizza sauce if you prefer) and spread it over the base. Top this with cheese then select what toppings you want for your pizza. Today we had mushrooms, peppers, parma ham and cherry tomatoes. Homemade pizzas are a great way to use up what you have spare in your fridge. Before putting them in the oven, it's time to make the dough balls. Divide the final chunk of pizza base up into small balls, roll them around in your hands until they're relatively round. I then used a skewer to make a hole in each dough ball which I filled with home made garlic butter. Garlic butter is so simple to make that I rarely buy garlic bread anymore and just make my own. In a dish spoon in some soft butter, add one small spoon of garlic powder (powder works better in garlic butter than fresh) and add some dried herbs. Mix together until really soft (if you want a cheesy flavour add some parmsan) then I spooned some into each dough ball. With the remain butter I cover the dough balls before putting them onto a grease proof papered tray and then into the oven with the pizzas. Once everything is in the oven, chop half a red onion and separate each individual layer. Add this to a bowl with a crushed clove of garlic and two spoonfuls of olive oil (this time I used oil opposed to fry light) and some dried mixed herbs. Mix this together then spoon over the potatoes and return them to the oven until crisp. Remove from the oven when everything is brown and the cheese on the pizzas has melted, then serve.

To drink I made my infamous Sailor Jerry's mojito. I am a huge Sailor Jerry lover and it's always my drink of choice when I'm out (either with diet coke, ginger ale or in a cocktail). Incase anyone is unsure what it is, it's a spiced rum with vanilla tones and usually retails for about £16. As I work behind a bar, the boy is always asking for sophisticated drinks and since I do it for a living I usually say no, but tonight along with our meal I treated him. Mojitos look complicated but are infact so easy and so delicious! You just need one lime per drink, some fresh mint, sugar syrup (you can buy this for under £2 in Sainsburys), soda water and rum. My rum of choice is of course Sailor Jerry. First, chop the lime into 8 slices and squeeze these into a glass then add 15 small leaves of mint (or 10 larger) and crush. To crush I use the end of a pizza cutter but any utensil with a flat end will do. Add a few ice cubes and mix together. Then pour over one shot of sailor jerrys and half a shot of sugar syrup. Mix again then top with soda, and that is all there is to it!

It all seemed to go down well and in return I was ran a deliciously hot lush infused bath (tonight an apple scented bubble bar from B Never too Busy to Be Beautiful and So White bath bomb from Lush's winter collection which also smells of apple). A happy night all round I think!