Blog - All That I'm Eating

New In The Kitchen April 2016

May 5, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 3 Comments

I know it’s technically May but the end of April crept up on me somewhat and before I knew it I’d run out of time to post this in April. It’s been a busy month again this month and new in the kitchen were some gluten free products, soft drinks and Belgian waffles. This month has been a bit less about me experimenting with new products but rather enjoying some that are ready to go.

First up I tried a couple of gluten free products from B Free. I made some bean and veggie wraps with their fajita kit. The kit contained wraps, spice mix and salsa and had a really good smoky flavour, I honestly wouldn’t have known the wraps were any different to standard ones. I also tried some of their other seeded wraps and pitta bread. The pitta bread warmed and dunked in hummus was good, if ever so slightly sweeter than other pitta breads and the seeded wraps made a nice change for my lunch filled with chicken and salad. A friend of mine has recently been diagnosed as a coeliac so I gave her a couple of the wraps to try for herself, after a couple of disappointing products she had tried from other brands, and she really liked them. read more

River Cottage Canteen Winchester

April 27, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 7 Comments

This was a gifted meal.

Winchester is home to many lovely things. A cathedral with an excellent second hand bookshop round the back, a marvellous independent tea shop and now, although I say now it has been there for some time, the River Cottage Canteen Winchester. It’s in such a lovely setting, next to the river Itchen in a park and they get as many of their ingredients as possible from Hampshire. If they don’t come from Hampshire they come from Devon (i.e. River Cottage HQ) and almost every ingredient has a story behind it. read more

Topped Chocolate

April 22, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

I wasn’t quite sure what to call this when I first made it but it’s become known as Topped Chocolate in my kitchen. There have been a few different flavours and so far this one, with honeycomb and pumpkin seeds, has been my favourite. It’s not a complicated recipe by any means and you can add almost anything you like; pecan and coconut or raisin and walnut are some that I have tried. One big chocolate bar makes enough for two for a week, if you take a small piece that is!

You will need (for one big slab): read more

Three Ingredient Date and Coconut Bites

April 14, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 6 Comments

There are an awful lot of new ‘healthy’ or ‘superfoods’ around at the moment and they are everywhere you look. Avocados, coconut oil, seeds and berries, cacao nibs; the list goes on. Now, I’ll try anything once and I have had a flirtation with all of the aforementioned foods but what happens when the Vogue moment is over, everyone’s moved on to something new and you’re left with a cupboard of half opened ingredients. Well if you’re me and throwing it away is not an option (although the compost bin might actually be the best place for the cacao nibs) you get creative. Welcome to my Three Ingredient Date and Coconut Bites; ready in a flash, use up some ingredients and made with all the good stuff. read more

Five Days in New York: How To Do Everything

April 10, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 11 Comments

So you’ve booked your flights and hotel to the Big Apple and it’s a little while until you go, plenty of time to plan. You start looking online for ideas and inspiration for where to go and what to see; it’s all a bit overwhelming and you tell yourself you’ll come back to it. You buy a guidebook, thicker than you thought, and start trying to narrow down what to do. Again, it’s so full of ideas you don’t know whether to start at the back or the front. Have no fear. I had five days in New York and I have been through the process for you; here’s how I did it all. read more

Beer, Mustard and Onion Macaroni Cheese

April 4, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

It’s always interesting to try something different with a classic. Not content with, although always very welcome, standard macaroni cheese I wanted to add a few bits here and there to make it extra special. I dreamt up my beer, mustard and onion macaroni cheese and set about making it. I wasn’t sure how best to incorporate the beer so I settled on trying out a beer béchamel.

Ingredients

You will need (for 2):

150g macaroni
25g butter
25g plain flour
100ml milk
200ml beer – preferably a bitter (if you’re not sure what’s what, this guide can help!)
50g strong cheddar, grated
100g emmental, grated
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
2-3 tsp caramelised onions
Salt and pepper

Method

Cook the macaroni according to packet instructions. Preheat and oven to 180C.

To make the beer béchamel melt the butter over a medium heat then add the flour. Cook the flour for at least one minute. Mix together the milk and beer then slowly add this to the butter and flour, stirring all the time so you don’t get any lumps. Cook the béchamel for a few minutes until thickened then remove from the heat. read more

New in the Kitchen March 2016

March 29, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 5 Comments

March is a funny time of year in the kitchen. Sometimes it’s warm and sunny and you’re waiting for the first asparagus of the year. Other times it’s cold and raining and you just want to eat pie and mash. As always, it’s nice to have new products to try as it gives me an excuse to cook up something different or new and try something I might not have tried otherwise. This month it’s a mixed bag of yoghurt, fruit, juice, pesto and cake!

I almost always have plain yoghurt in the fridge. It’s so useful to serve with curry or chilli, a good snack and always good for breakfast. Sometimes I get a bit bored of plain yoghurt and want to have something different with my breakfast. Rachel’s have their core range of yoghurts to choose from and also release limited edition flavours from time to time. The most recent one that I tried was their Greek yoghurt with honey. I really liked how thick this was and thought the amount of honey was just right; not too sweet but with plenty of flavour. read more

Bergamot Lemon Drizzle Cake

March 24, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 9 Comments

Lemon drizzle has got to be up there with my most loved cakes. If there was a line up of carrot, lemon and chocolate caramel cake I’d be hard pushed to decide which to have, and, let’s be honest probably try to find a way to get a slice of each. You may have been following my bergamot adventures and it would have been silly not to bake a bergamot lemon drizzle cake as it combines two of my favourite things in one: tea (bergamot from Earl Grey) and, well, cake.

You will need:

250g butter, softened
250g caster sugar
4 large eggs
250g self raising flour
Zest from one bergamot lemon
Juice from two bergamot lemons
3 tbsp caster sugar

Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180C. I always use an independent thermometer in my oven, it’s such a liar. read more

Beetroot, Lentil and Bergamot Lemon Salad

March 18, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

I’ll be honest, salads don’t tend to excite me very much. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the freshness a few leaves bring on the side of something else but as a standalone dish, it’s not really for me. However, things have changed and I’ve started to make, what I would call, more ‘bulky’ salads. This particular combination of beetroot, lentil and bergamot lemon is so colourful and combined with a bit of goat’s cheese is equally good warm or cold.

You will need (for two large salads): read more

Recipe Box Comparison

March 14, 2016 By All That I'm Eating 22 Comments

So you’re thinking of trying out a recipe box. There are a few different ones to choose from and if you’re wondering where to start, who to choose and whether it’s worth it, do read on. I have tried six of the recipe boxes available and every one of them was tasty, delivered nicely and I cooked something I hadn’t tried before. This recipe box comparison will look at all sorts of things: price, flexibility, ease of recipe, quality and more based on the meals and experience that I had at the time but I have included the prices as of today. read more