Monday 27 November 2017

Soup-er easy soup


This recipe is so easy and takes around 20 minutes from start to finish. The blend of ingredients tastes fresh and comforting all in one bowl, perfect for winter days when you need a pick me up at lunch.


Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
2 courgettes
2 inches fresh ginger
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp stock powder
Water to cover
2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Place a large pan over a medium heat and pop the oil in the bottom to heat. Finely dice the onions, garlic and ginger and saute until the onions are soft and translucent. Peel and dice the sweet potatoes and chop the courgette to similar size pieces. Place in the pan and gently fry for a couple of minutes.

Add in the stock powder and enough hot water to cover the vegetables, making sure to stir thoroughly. Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are soft. Blitz the soup using an immersion blender or a food processor and serve. Simples!

When you try this recipe, please take a picture and tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife. I'd love to see your creations.

Sunday 19 November 2017

Ratatouille and Sweet Potato Shepherdless Pie

Lots of people on vegan groups I below to have been talking about shepherdless pie and other winter warmers and with the cold weather having arrived with a vengeance I wanted to join them in making real rib-sticker food. While I love lentils and pulses, the day I made this I really wasn't in the mood for them. This recipe combines the joys of ratatouille and a sweet potato topping.


Ingredients:
1 large onion
2 inches of fresh ginger
1 large courgette
1 large aubergine
4 large mushrooms
4 large tomatoes
half a tube of tomato paste
500g of tomato pasata
2 large sweet potatoes
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp parmesan
4 tbsp olive oil
boiling water
salt and pepper

Method:


Scrub the sweet potatoes and place them in a hot oven to bake for roughly an hour and a half until soft all the way through.

While the potatoes are baking, chop all the vegetables into cubes and mince the fresh ginger. Place the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and saute the onions and ginger until the onions are soft and translucent. Add in the courgettes, fresh tomatoes, aubergine and mushrooms and saute for a further couple of minutes. Pour in the pasata and tomato puree and top up with water until everything is covered. Add in around a teaspoon of salt and pepper and leave to simmer until all of the vegetables are cooked through and then take the lid off, allowing the liquid to reduce to a thick, saucy consistency. You will need to keep a good eye on this and stir it regularly when its reducing to prevent a burnt bottom.
Once the sweet potatoes are baked, allow them to cool slightly so they can be held and then remove the skins. Mash the sweet potato with the butter and salt and pepper to taste.

Place the vegetable mixture in an oven proof dish and top with the mashed sweet potato. Sprinkle with parmesan and more salt and pepper and bake in a medium oven for around 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the top is golden.

I served mine with green peas, an all-time favourite of mine, but it would also make a fantastic side dish. Perfect for lazy days and days when comfort food is essential, this dish is one to make you smile. Please tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife when you make this. Enjoy!




Sunday 12 November 2017

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

I made these after loads of requests for chocolate fudge cake from my other half's work and they turned out extremely well. I gave some to a friend who later texted me describing them as 'SEX, WEEEEE!' so they must have been good!


Ingredients:

Cupcakes
175g self raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g caster sugar
2 tsbsp golden syrup
2 eggs
150ml sunflower oil
150ml milk

Icing
75g unsalted butter
175g icing sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp warm water



Method:

Preheat your oven to 180c. Place your dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Gently add in the wet ingredients, stirring thoroughly to incorporate. Place cupcake cases in a muffin tin, I find this saves on explosions and extra mess, and spoon the mixture in. Roughly 2 tbsp of mixture will fit in each case. Bake the cupcakes for roughly 15 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Take the cupcakes out of the tins and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Once the cupcakes are completely cool, place the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor and whizz, slowly adding the water until you get a thick and pliable mixture. I used a knife to apply the icing to the cupcakes but you could also pipe it on for a more professional finish.  Place kitchen towel under the cupcakes when icing them to catch the drips and save on cleaning after. I added chocolate hearts to mine for a cute finishing touch.

These went down an absolute treat with several requests more already. Please tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife when you make these. They really are a must try!



Sunday 5 November 2017

What I Wore.. Winter Wedding Edition

Friends of ours got married yesterday at a gorgeous local hotel and I thought I would share my outfit and how I styled it with the cold November weather. I won't lie, it was a case of stubborn determination to look good over actually being warm although the majority of the time was spent inside so weather wasn't an issue. 

Outfit


When the Ruby Shoo delivery came in at work I just knew I HAD to have the new deep purple Ivy shoes and the matching bag, I love my red ones so much it was a no brainer. So with the shoes and the occasion planned, all I had to do was find an outfit. 

With the shoes being a stunning deep berry shade with touches of mustard and turquoise I originally though to wear a mustard colour dress for an autumnal look. Some late night browsing on ASOS found the dress I went with in a soft grey.

The dress features a wrap fronted lace top with a satin-feel midi length full skirt, a real princess dress. I fell in love the second I tried it on and it fitted perfectly, something that rarely happens for me. For a nod to keeping warm, I found a deeper grey wrap in Gingers, perfect for throwing round my shoulders. 
 
Hair and Makeup 

My amazing friend Fiona has just set up doing make-up and yesterday was her first day so it would have been rude not to support her new venture. She created the most amazing berry toned smoky eye to complement the colour in my outfit and gave me the most flawless, glowing skin ever. Shes a total genius so check out Fee Artistry whenever you need a pick-me-up. 


For my hair I turned to another seriously talented friend. Alexandra Bespoke create gorgeous bridal hair accessories and she made me the perfect hair comb with berry tone lace and grey beading. Alex offered me loads of stunning options to choose from and made my chosen piece incredibly quickly so I was beyond delighted.I kept my hair really simple with a half-up-half-down and placed the comb in the back as my hair had a day of doing its own thing. 


I love any excuse to get dressed up and this helped my push myself out of my comfort zone, as does writing about it! Hopefully this can inspire some outfits.