Recipe: Cumin and Paprika Oven Vegetables

If there's one thing I love, it's vegetables and seeing as I'm trying to get fit, I've been eating a lot more of them so I've been experimenting with spices and stuff. I've found that I really like cumin and I really like paprika so I mixed them together in this roasted vegetable dish and I love the result. This is now one of my favourite ways to have vegetables and I like it because you just chuck all the ingredients into the dish and stick it in the oven. My favourite kind of cooking is when I don't have to look after the food I'm cooking, I can just leave it to cook, knowing that it will be responsible and not do anything it's not supposed to.

So what you're going to want to do is get some veggies! I've gone for:
2 Courgettes (sliced)
2 Red Onions (wedged)
1 Butternut (sliced)
3 Sweet Potatoes (sliced)
Some Parsnips (I bought the frozen ones and just put about half of the bag in)

Then I added these spices to it:
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp Cumin
1 tbsp Paprika
1 tbsp Oil

Then give it a little pix in the Pyrex dish!

Finally, put it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. When the butternut and parsnips are soft then it's ready because they usually take the longest.

When it's done all the veggies will be nice and soft and will be coated in lovely spices!

This evening I served mine with Salt and Pepper Chicken Breast and Tomato Spaghetti and it was delicioso! A nice healthy, and yummy way to get the veggies!

Christmas Time

 Some phone photos of today! We spent the day watching movies, and I cooked a Salmon Coulibiac which is a fancy fish pie! Lots of presents wrapped for other people, but none unwrapped here! I've actually had time to sit down and write letters since the holidays began so there's that too!

And then some better photos!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes are one of the very few things that I feel comfortable making. No need for the recipe, because I've made it so many times, it is stuck in my head! I like that my cupcakes are most of the time, successful. There are so many recipes out there that could fail very easily but these seem to taste good even if they go a little bit wrong. I was going to take step by step photos for you, but then I ended up not having much time to bake them. So you just have the finished product. 

Ingredients
8oz Butter
8oz Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
8oz Self Raising Flour
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Milk

Method
1. Soften (but don't melt, less than 30 seconds in the microwave) the butter and mix with sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs and beat them in until just mixed.
3. Sift in the flour and mix well, but don't over beat. It should just be mixed well together and not further than that.
4. Add vanilla and mix a little.
5. If the texture is a bit thick, add dashes of milk until it is a little thinner. You should aim for a ribbon dropping consistency, maybe a little thicker than that actually.
6. Place spoonfuls in baking cases and bake for 8-12 mins in a 180'C oven.
7. Allow to cool before icing with buttercream.

Ingredients
1 block Butter
4 cups Icing Sugar
1/4 cup Milk
Vanilla Essence

Method
1. Soften butter by mixing to a nice smooth consistency.
2. Add icing sugar and milk and mix until all the ingredients are combined.
3. Add vanilla to taste, usually 1 tsp and a little bit does it.
4. You don't want it too thick because it has to go through the piping nozzle. If it's too thick, add some more milk. If it's too thin, add some more icing sugar.
5. Place a nozzle at the end of a piping bag and pipe onto cakes in a circular motion.
6. Decorate with sprinkles and then enjoy!

Recipe: Savoury Muffins

Ingredients

1 Large Onion (Finely Chopped)

1 Large Pepper (Finely Chopped)

6 Eggs

2 Cups Self Raising Flour

1 Cup Cheese

1 Cup Oil

Salt, Pepper and Chillies to taste

Chopped Parsley or Coriander

1 Cup Chopped Polony (or sausage or cold meats) 

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together

2. Drop spoonfuls into baking cases in a cupcake tray

3. Bake for 18-20 mins at 180'C

Easy peasy and super delish! 

You can also use other veggies besides pepper! 

Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

1 Green Mango (you don't want a really really ripe one!)
Spring Onions (or normal onions or red onions)
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Crushed Red Chillies
Coriander

Method:

Cut the mango up into cubes and put in a bowl.
Add all the other ingredients.
Mix it up!
Garnish with some more coriander or parsley.
Serve as an accompaniment to a meal or with crisps!

Spiced Pumpkin with Coconut

Here's a recipe to spice up your pumpkin. It's very easy, very quick and very yummy!

Ingredients:

2 Medium Butternuts (a small pumpkin or some other squash will also work)
2 Onions
1 Tbsp Dessicated Coconut
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Methi Masala or Ground Chillies (if you use Chillies, maybe use a little bit less)
1 Tbsp Ground Coriander
1 Heaped tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Oil
1/2 Cup Water

1. Chop up Butternut into big pieces and the roughly chop the onion.

2. Fry the onions in the oil until it's light brown and glassy.

3. After the onions are done, add all the spices and the coconut. Let it cook through a little bit!

4. Add the butternut and mix it all up.

5. Place a lid on the pot and let the butternut cook in the spices until it's soft. Stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot!

All done! Enjoy!!

I Heart Pavlova

My mama loves to make pavlova and I love it! So yesterday she showed me how to make it, and I thought I'd show you. It's very easy, especially if you have egg white powder. Some might say it's cheating, but so is buying ready made meringue! It just makes it quicker if you use egg white powder so you have a dessert faster. That's my selling point. 

Ok, so you will need: 

10 Tablespoons Water

1 Heaped Tablespoon Egg White Powder

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 cup or 250ml Sugar (caster sugar is easier to blend, but you could use granulated if needs be) 

To Decorate: 

Fresh cream

Fruit of your choice

 1. Put the egg white powder and the water into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy! Like in my picture!

2. Slowly add one cup of sugar while beating.

3. Beat the mixture until it starts to hold peaks. It looks all smooth and blended at this point. Add the Vanilla Extract

4. Spread the mixture over a baking tray that's covered with greaseproof paper. It's nice when you make it a little bit flatter, but it's really upto you how thick you want it to be. I'm not sure if it will bake all the way through if it's very thick.

6. Bake for 30 minutes at 150'C and then for 30 mins at 100'C.

7. When it's done baking it will be nice and hard and a light light browny colour. Let it cool all the way down.

 8. Whip the cream and add a little bit of icing sugar and vanilla to sweeten. Then top with chopped or sliced or diced fruit! 

9. Enjoy! :D

Om nom nom!