Easter Nest Cupcakes

An Easter chocolate cornflake cake with a hidden surprise inside

You will need:
- 100g Milk Chocolate, broken up
- 100g Dark Chocolate, broken up
- 150g Marshmallows
- 6 Tbsp Golden Syrup
- 100g Butter
- 200g Cornflakes
- A packet of mini eggs

1) Put the Butter, the Golden Syrup and Broken up pieces of chocolate and melt together on a low heat, stirring regularly so not to burn the chocolate

2) Whilst your waiting for the mix to melt, combine the marshmallows and cornflakes in a large bowl with your hands

3) Place the cupcake cases into your cupcake tray

4) Once the chocolate mix has completely melted, add to the cornflakes and marshmallows and then mix with a wooden spoon ensuring all is covered, it may look like there isn't enough but there will be so keep mixing.

5) Once completely covered, spoon the mix into each case before placing the eggs on top of each one to create your easter nest

6) Place in the fridge to set before consuming



Ok I have a confession....as you will see from the image I have cheated here slightly...the recipe is old and originally I didn't use mini eggs which is why they aren't pictured D: I will probably update the recipe once I have made them myself over the weekend

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Roasted Plums with Greek Yogurt, Honey and Almonds

If you read my post from about a month or so ago then you will be aware that I went to Greece and that when I came back I decided to make my family a Greek inspired meal so here is part 2 - also known as the dessert- recipe.

Ingredients

1 pound of plums, pitted and cut in half or quarters
1 tablespoon of honey
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
24oz Vanilla Greek Yoghurt
Drizzle of Honey
Almonds

1- Preheat the oven to 200C, line a tray with tin foil
2- In a bowl mix the cinnamon, brown sugar and honey then add the plums and mix until completely covered
3- Pour out a single layer of the mix onto the tin foiled tray and roast for 15-20 minutes
4- Divide the yoghurt up between the individual pudding bowls before placing the plum mix on top
5- Sprinkle the almonds on top of the plums before drizzling a small amount of honey over each dish
Then tuck in and enjoy!

Best served immediately as the juices separate over the yoghurt when left in the fridge

Tip - Add extra cinnamon for a stronger flavour!

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Stuffed Tomatos Recipe

Sticking to the Greek theme from my previous post I thought I would try and replicate one of the dinners we had whilst over there, the next post will have a recipe for a Greek dessert as well!

Ingredients

4 beef tomato's
a pinch of sugar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and extra to drizzle
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
200g minced lamb
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp tomato puree
50g long grain rice
100ml chicken stock
4 tbsp chopped dill
2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp chopped mint

1 - Slice off the tops of the tomatoes and scoop out the insides, finely chopping the pulp and putting it with the juices to one side being careful to not break the skin. Sprinkle the inside of the tomato with a little sugar to take away the acidity before placing them to one side on a baking tray.

2- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan adding the onion and garlic on a low heat until soft but not brown. Add the lamb, cinnamon and tomato puree, turn up the heat and then fry until the meat has browned.

3- Add the tomato pulp and juice along with the rice and the stock. Season generously with the herbs and spices then simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.

4- Stuff the tomatoes up to their brim, place the lids on top and drizzle with 2 tbsp of olive oil and sprinkle 3 tbsp of water into the tray. Bake for 35 minutes then serve with crusty bread, olives, feta cheese and salad.

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The Bullet Journal

Many of you may have seen or heard about something called a Bullet Journal, I'm terrible at maintaining things as I get bored or forget to do them so when I heard Carrie from ItsWayPastMyBedtime mention it I decided to investigate further and maybe start one myself.

From what I can tell its hard to explain what exactly a bullet journal is, is it a diary? Is it a to do list? Is it a calendar? The answer to this is that it is all three... because you start with a blank notebook, it is the journal that you can make into anything you want it to be whether it is something you repeat every week/month/day its up to you to add it to the journal. I might not have made that sound very clear so I am going to list and explain the average contents page of one.

Contents Page - An overview of what is in your journal and where.

Key - The journal is made up of bullet points so you need a key for bullets to represent different events/occasions/goals of course it doesn't have to be as complicated as the one shown below but I feel this gives a good overall idea of the sort of things people include and you can add more symbols to suit your life.  (Migrated means that the task has been moved to the following day/month/week)

Credit Pinterest

Year at a Glance - A calendar that includes all of the holidays/birthdays/big events taking place throughout the year. 

Credit Pinterest

Credit Pinterest

Blog Post Ideas/Films I want to Watch/Bucket List/Doodle Page - This is a space for lists of ideas/personal goals etc that using the key you can track. (See my Pinterest page for inspiration)

Credit Pinterest

Month Overview - An overview of things that need to be done by certain dates throughout the month,  monthly goals, joke of the month, word of the month and things that have happened surrounding that word- I particularly like this as it changes the way you think of things.

Credit: Pinterest

Monthly Trackers - Tracking something for that month whether it is your water intake, personal fitness tracker, habit tracker, mood tracker, expense tracker.

Credit: Pinterest

Weekly Overview - Now I have seen this laid out in so many different ways, it is essentially the diary bit of your journal and things you have to do on a daily basis/have done that day/how you were feeling etc.

Credit: Pinterest

This is just a basic overview of what you might find in a bullet journal, there are many different videos online and there are no right or wrong ways of doing one, you don't even have to be artistic as there are many printouts online if you would prefer to cut and stick. You also don't have to have the same layout or design for every week/day/month you could mix them up a bit. I am heading out this afternoon to get a suitable notebook to start mine and I will probably post about it/an insight of what my journal looks like after the first month or so. - This is a really good video to give you an insight of what you could do with your journal - PlannerHolics Video

For now, keep an eye on my Pinterest as I am going to be filling it with bullet journal inspirations over the next month or so, things will be quiet for the next few weeks however as I am going away to Greece so expect an exciting blog post when I get back! 

Useful Links

PlannerHolics Video giving you an insight of what you could put in your journal

What is a Bullet Journal - Buzzfeed

23 Bullet Journal Ideas That Are Borderline Genius - Buzzfeed

Bullet Journal Website

My Pinterest 

Update - Its been like ages since I wrote this and I am still yet to do the follow up post because I am so busy but it will be coming soon(ish)

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Crunchy Oat and Raisin Cookies

Hi Guys!

For my birthday as you shall see on my next post, I got a Hummingbird Bakery recipe book so I decided to try out the recipe for Oat and Raisin cookies, I do feel that I cooked them for a little bit too long as they weren't soft and gooey like I was aiming for however they still tasted good.

270g Unsalted butter at room tempurature
160g Caster sugar
160g Soft dark brown sugar
2 Eggs
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
380g Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
110g Rolled Oats
220g Raisins

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3

1- Cream together the butter and sugars before adding the eggs one at a time ensuring that you mix them in well along with the Vanilla extract
2- Then mix the flour, oats, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon in a separate bowl before adding to the main bowl and mixing well
3- Stir in the raisins until they are evenly dispersed

4- Using your hands make golfball sized balls of dough and flatten onto trays covered with greaseproof paper
5- Cook for 12 minutes or until golden brown

Enjoy!

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Meal Inspiration

Quite often I find myself being hungry, going to my cupboard and just not feeling inspired to eat anything so either ordering take-out or just eating a packet of crisps or something which isn't exactly great. I have decided to put together a list of different meals and I figured that I couldn't be the only one with this problem so I may as well post it on here...tweet me or comment below with any other meal ideas/recipes.

Big Meals

Carbonara - Spaghetti, Grated Parmasan, Bacon, Egg

Chilli Con Carne - Mince, Chill Powder, Kidney Beans, Rice or Pasta

Bolognese - Mince, Tin Toms, Bolognese Powder, Sweetcorn, Carrot, Pasta

Mini Roast - Pork Chop, Vegetables, Yorkshire Pudding, Gravy

Bangers and Mash - Sausages, Mash Potato, Gravy or Beans

Chicken, Salad and Crusty Bread

Pizza

Lasagne - Mince, Onion, Garlic, Stock Cube, Chopped Tomatos, Lasagne Sheets, Cheese

Shepards Pie - Mince, Carrots, Tomato Puree, Onion, Potato

Chicken Pie - Chicken Pie, Vegetables and Gravy

Ratatouille - Meatballs, Rice, Leek, Onion, Tin Tomatos

Light Meals

Jacket Potato with...Beans, Cheese, Mayo, Left over mince, Prawn Mayo

Sandwich...Fish fingers, ham, cheese, egg, prawns, chicken

Beans on Toast

Egg on Toast

Mushrooms on Toast

Stir Fry - Noodles, Soy Sauce, Stir Fry Mix

Quiche and Salad

Soup

Pizza Bread - Ketchup, Cheese, Bread

Nachos - Sour Cream, Salsa, Cheese, Tortilla Chips

Pasta with...

Mascapone Sauce

Tomato and Basil Sauce

Cheese Sauce - Flour, Milk, Butter, Cheese

Cheese

and Chips...

Chicken Nuggets

Fish

Sausage

Chicken

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