Food Coma

You know when eat something so good that it makes you wanna snuggle down for a nice, warm, cosy sleep? Let's just say that this week was full of naps.

In food news;
- I made pulled pork,
- I made some magical ketchup,
- It was Pancake Day!
- ICE CREAM!
- Home made ready meals,
- NAPS!

Shredded pork, pure and simple. Who doesn't love that in a sandwich? Pork is fantastic at the best of times but when you make a super sauce for it, you just cannot go wrong.

A fruity and tangy sauce which is just beautiful with pork. I've spread it inside a bacon sandwich, and liberally sploshed it on top of my shredded pork, but so far, my favourite use for it was a combination of the two.

Which is where Pancake Day comes in! This year, sweet pancakes didn't really take my fancy, and I needed to rustle something up for a late dinner. So we made wholemeal pancakes, threw on some pork and bacon (Double threat pancakes!), on went the sauce and then I (not-so-) delicately topped it with some asparagus spears. Meaty, filling, a little bit sweet - a great pancake, but when I think about it, nothing tops nearly half a jar of Nutella on a pancake! Naughty me.

So it was Valentine's Day this week. And myself and Sam have decided that we 'don't do' Valentine's Day. But the big softie couldn't help but take me to the cinema to see Wreck-It Ralph (honestly, if you love retro gaming, animations and a brilliant twist in your storylines, this really is a must-see!) and for a Ben & Jerry's 'Core' ice cream (ICE CREAM!) - If you could put diabetes into a cup, this would be it. But despite the slightly sicky feeling afterwards, my tastebuds definitely thanked me.

This week I also took a basic bechamel sauce and made something pretty simple, a little bit decadent but extremely tasty.

If I could give a fellow amateur cook a piece of advice, I'd tell them to make sure they can get a couple of good sauces in their kitchen repertoire. Basic sauces can be built upon to make a great meal. For example, a smokey Mac n' Cheese.

Okay. So it isn't technically mac n' cheese as it was made with penne but who's bothered?

- Boil up some pasta to packet instructions, drain and set aside.
- Make a bechamel sauce. (Butter and flour in equal parts to make a paste, and add milk. Easy. Just add flour or milk depending on how thick you want your sauce)
- Season well. Black pepper, paprika, granulated garlic (it's much stronger than fresh, so be careful!)
- Take your sauce off of the heat whilst you make yourself some breadcrumbs. (Or buy them, no one's judging you!)
- Mix your pasta and sauce, add anything else you want. We chopped and fried up some smoked bacon. I've said it before - cheese and bacon is a match made in heaven!
- Spoon your lovely, gloopy, pasta mix into an ovenproof dish and whack on more cheese and pop it in the oven for around 15 minutes, gas mark 6ish until breadcrumbs are golden and the cheese is bubbly.

Stick some leftovers in boxes and freeze. I've got some cool foil boxes that I put the mix in, sprinkled more breadcrumbs on and put them in the freezer. Good tasty ready meals and no horse anywhere. Whack it in the oven for half an hour, gas mark 6 (Maybe?) In the foil tin, couldn't get much easier!

Try it and see what you think.

Breakfast Bites

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Especially when you've got a big day ahead of you but it's even important if you have slow days and have to wait In for your boyfriend's stupid new bike to be delivered. (Like yesterday!)

If you're anything like me, you need breakfast to function properly. I either walk around like a zombie, or it's impossible to talk to me when I'm hungry as it just makes me angry. And you won't like me when I'm hangry!

With this in mind, yesterday morning, I decided to treat myself to Sunshine Toast for breakfast. On the left, is what Sunshine Toast should look like (Thanks Google), and on the right, I could only described as how not to do Sunshine Toast (strategically hidden under a dollop of ketchup).

My bread slice was too small, as was my cookie cutter and half way through I realised that the pan wasn't even properly over the heat! I told you, I'm a zombie in the mornings. Life would be boring if we got everything right the first time, and after all, we learn from our mistakes!

Calories for Sunshine Toast:
- Butter (1 tsp) - 34 kcal
- Warburton's small Toastie bread - 70 kcal
- Medium free range egg - 88 kcal
- Tomato ketchup (1 tbsp) - 21 kcal
Total calories in Sunshine Toast: 213 kcal

A nice and light way to start your day, and some protein to help you feel fuller for a bit longer. Match this with a nice cup of coffee to keep you alert and the hunger pangs away.

As I've mentioned, food and cooking is a hobby of mine and I think it's steadily becoming a passion of mine. I've always loved food and I used to enjoy cooking but only really found joy in it since being chucked in at the deep end and having the necessity to cook for myself at university. On going to university I discovered a cookbook by the guys at SORTED food and have followed them ever since. Personally, I think some members of my generation are pretty clueless on cooking and nutrition. Okay, so you don't need to enjoy cooking food, but I think it's important to be educated on the subject - a mission statement shared by myself and SORTED, who are trying their best to get younger people into the kitchen.

The SORTED team know a bit about breakfasts! And I spent last night/this morning giving two of their make-ahead, eat-on-the-go breakfasts a try. Their Slimmer's Breakfast Muffins proved to be quite tricky, as they of a very moist consistency, possibly from the grated fruit in the mix, so I'll be sure to try and drain it on kitchen paper before putting it in the baking mixture next time. I also tried their Granola Bars, which were great. But if you are eating on the go, you will need a wet wipe or something to clean up with afterwards!
I made 13 muffins at approximately 183 calories and 12 granola bars which were 330 calories each - which are quite heavy, but the seeds, dried fruit and porridge oats are great for keeping you full and ready to go. On inspection, both were tasting fantastic, and I can't wait for breakfast to get stuck in properly!