Easy Vegetarian Meal Ideas

Happy Saturday! Today I bring you a slightly different post than usual, its all about food. My second love after beauty. In the last few years, I have become more experimental with my lunches and dinners, to make them more exciting to eat! I've been a vegetarian since I was born, never had meat, fish or even eggs. I'm not entirely vegan, I don't eat eggs (religion and family), milk and yogurt don't sit well on the stomach and then I love cheese. I can tolerate some cheese but others such as goats cheese, which I adore, my stomach can't take no more :( This doesn't mean I don't have lovely food still. This is a post all about some yummy. easy meals recently and that took very little time at all!

Easy Pancake Recipe

A few weekends back randomly, me and my brother decided to make some pancakes for breakfast. Even though we had just had a fry up, oh well - it was Sunday! Or the perfect thing for the bank holiday! In our household, we don't eat eggs, eat them in things but not actually in the house? So, I have never add a scrambled, fried or boiled egg..its a long story. But we searched on the web for a recipe and combined a few we saw/picked the best one and adapted it to our taste. 

About 30 minutes later, we had a stack of pancakes and two very hungry people....

MOD Pizza Leeds

Pizza. Who doesn't love it? I don't think since starting university that I have gone one week without having pizza, the diet starts tomorrow. Last week I have invited to the grand opening of MOD Pizza in Leeds - a pizza lovers heaven. This is a very picture heavy post apologies and if it makes you crave pizza I am also very sorry!

Meat free mango glazed sausage skewers

I have to admit that despite having been a vegetarian (no meat or fish) for more than ten years I love an easy (lazy) life and usually don’t put too much of an effort in to preparing my meals. However, this recipe for sticky sausage skewers which uses mango chutney as a glaze has been a revelation! If you are hosting any veggies this summer for a BBQ this is a recipe which is bound to go down well, and it’s easy to boot! 

Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting

I sometimes have this urge to bake, it can come at the most random times and when it does I love it! This time around I had the feeling that I wanted to make something sweet and chocolaty so I decided to make these super easy Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes with Nutella Frosting! I wasn't planing on writing a post on them but due to popular demand on instagram here goes! p.s I am no professional baker so use your own recipe and methods if it suits you! 

This Recipe Makes 16 Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

188g of Self-Raising Flour
155g of Butter or Margarine
1/2 Teaspoon of Baking Soda
2 Teaspoons of Bicarb of Soda
3 Tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
150g of Caster Sugar
1 Cup of Milk 

NOTE - My family don't eat eggs, making this an eggless recipe if you do eat eggs then you can adapt the recipe. Minus the milk, bicarb of soda and add 2 large eggs instead. 

Frosting:

150g of butter or margarine 

185g of Icing Sugar

Generous Amount of Nutella (this is all up to personal preference, I added loads!)

Decoration:

Ferrero Rocher's 

Strawberries

Anything !

To Make the Cupcakes: 

(Pre-Heat at 180 Degrees)

1. Sift the all the dry ingredients into one bowl and set aside, in another mixing bowl you want to start creaming the butter and sugar together until it makes a pomade (goes fluffy). Make sure you butter is soft before using. 

2. Add in half of the dry ingredients and half of the milk and carry on mixing until thoroughly combined. You then want to add the rest of the mixture and the milk and make sure that everything is mixed well until smooth. At this point if you are following the eggless recipe then you may have to add some more milk. (Where I have put milk, is the equivalent of 1 egg)

3. Divide the batter between the cupcake cases that you own, mine are from Poundworld! Pop into the oven on the second shelf for 20 minutes. Depending on your oven they may take longer, so just check by inserting a cocktail stick and seeing if it comes out clean or not. Clean = Ready

4. Take them out to cool and start making the frosting - the tasty part! Add the butter into a mixing bowl and make it go like a pomade similar to the cupcakes, the sift in the icing sugar until its nice and fluffy. Then you add all the Nutella you want and go crazy if you want a rich colour and rich taste, and go light if you don't want it to overpower the cake. We ended up adding around 5 heaped tablespoons but I could have added more. 

5. I then took a piping bag and very badly piped each cupcake, gave up in the end and used a spoon to apply the mixture. Then add your decoration and they are ready to eat! 

Hope you enjoyed reading, and let me know if you make them! 

 

Bloglovin|Twitter|Instagram|Facebook

Naked Noodle Review

Living at university is great, but one thing I struggle with has to be food. I like cooking everything fresh, so much so that I don't own a space in the freezer as I don't need it. It does get hard at times because the option of having a takeaway is always there - mainly Domino's. Who can resist when its 50% off? If it isn't pizza then it's Chinese which is just as worse. 

But its all ok because Naked Noodle exists - a brand that has created different flavored noodles that are healthy, tasty and inexpensive! I got the chance to review their Snack Pots and Stir Fry Range and after basically eating nothing but noodles for the past week I am slightly in love and ready to report back. As far as packaging goes it definitely entices you the images of the noodles look tempting and the coloured lids match the rest of the packaging. 

Naked Noodle Snack Pots

The snack pots are great for a quick lunch especially if you have like 15 minutes and need to hurry, there are 8 flavours in the range and I have highlighted the ones I have tried in bold - Thai Sweet Chilli, Cantonese Hoisin Duck, Malaysian Laksa, Thai Tom Yum, Vietnamese Beef Pho, Japanese Teriyaki, Singapore Curry & Chinese Chow Mein. 

One thing I love about all of the Naked Noodle range is that it is all suitable for vegetarians (full list of ingredients here)! This sold me straight away. They are also really easy to make, boil the kettle, pour the water up to the fill line, leave for 4 minutes, stir & enjoy! As it sits to rest the smell of the pot fills the room. 

Singapore Curry -  This pot is by far the most flavour filled one. As soon as you eat a spoonful you are hit with lots of different spices. The main ones been ginger and garlic and then something else came through to me after wards and that was a hint of chilli - it was odd because the three main ingredients are so simple yet powerful and delicious. 

Thai Tom Yum - This was a weird one for me to try, as I''m not the biggest fan of Thai food, however these noodles taste like sweet and sour that you order from the takeaway. It's chilli yet has a tomato base and the mix is amazing. Then a hint of sourness comes through from the lime which put me off at first but I gave it a stir and it was all good. This has a good kick to it though so be warned if yo try it and aren't a fan of spicy because wow this got me at first. 

Thai Sweet Chilli - This one is my favourite of the three I tried. I am still dreaming about it now after eating it, it is good food in a pot. It has a slight kick of chilli in it and mixed with a tangy taste it is delicious. If you have ever tried any form of a sweet chilli sauce or crisps then you will love this its warming to mouth and perfect on a cold day. 

Stir Fry Packs

Then we have the food that looks and tastes absolutely delicious! These are just 1% fat and around 200 calories per pack - great for those of us on a restricted diet. The stir fry packs can be eaten on their own similar to the snack pots or as a side dish - I added some mushrooms to mine (favourite vegetable) and it was even nicer! I forgot to take pictures of my amazing meals for these, but have purchased some more so will take a picture and add it in as soon as I have had them - promise. 

They come in a range of flavours - Teriyaki, Singapore, Sweet Chilli Chicken, Chow Mein & Hoi Sin. Of the two I tried Teriyaki was my favourite added with mushrooms and some other random veg it was amazing and managed to fill me up - which noodles don't usually do! 

I highly recommend trying Naked Noodle if you get a chance university student or not they are amazing, cost next to nothing and well deserve love! You can find them at all major supermarkets at £1.20 for a the stir fry and £1.71 for the snack pots!  

 

*PR SAMPLES, ALL OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE MY OWN*

Bloglovin|Twitter|Instagram|Facebook

GBK Leeds Review

Last week the family and I took a trip down to Gourmet Burger Kitchen in Leeds, I have heard many good things about the place and couldn't wait to go after a long day working. The Leeds restaurant has had a makeover quite recently, and the GBK chain just introduced their Summer Menu. Going to these 'American Diner Places' can sometimes be a headache if you are a vegetarian but this place was amazing, and you'll find out more soon! 

Starters - My brother is having a obsession with Halloumi cheese at the moment, for starters we had halloumi bites with a Kiwi and Haberno dipping sauce - two of the most bizzare ingredients that work so well together. With the cheese this sauce went perfectly together! 

There was a whole range of drinks to choose from, fizzy, soft and then the milkshakes! Everything form Oreo to Banana, I opted with Salted Caramel it was served in a stainless steel cup and tasted delicious! 

Main - Then we go on to the star of the show! GBK do three main options for vegetarians, the Veggie, The Californian and The Falafel burger all great options with different fillings inside.But, the amazing thing that they do is they can replace any meat burger with a veggie burger!!!! How cool? For example, for my burger I chose the Bacon Pesterella which has inside Crispy Bacon, Mozzarella, Pesto, Relish and Salad. Instead of the bacon, they swapped it for a veggie burger and it tasted AMAZING. The options then on what to eat here are amazing for anyone out there, if you eat meat there is so much and if you don't there is just as many options you just swap it out for a veggie burger or a falafel.   

On the side I had Skinny Rosemary Fries, which were so tasty and even though they were really 'skinny' they weren't crispy instead they were soft and delicious. There other sides include chunky fries, sweet potato fries and their signature coleslaw. 

Overall, I have to say this meal was fabulous! I loved the fact that I was able to swap any meat burger for a veggie one and that opens up your options. It was very filling however, i highly recommend going on a empty stomach! A big thank you to Katie at the Leeds store as well, she was the greatest waitress and helped us out a lot, as well as dealing with all our queries! 

Have you ever been?

 

Bloglovin|Twitter|Instagram|Facebook

The Vegetarian Food Diary #1

For today's post I wanted to do something a little different, that would allow me to share with you a little bit more of me and my everyday life. What better to do it, then show you the food I eat? I'm a vegetarian, so I don't eat meat, fish, or eggs (no not vegan, vegetarian but not eating eggs is more of a family thing nothing else), Making life a little bit more difficult,I do eat things with eggs in them e.g.. desserts but nothing else and not a whole egg. In these posts, I will be sharing with you what I eat for breakfast,lunch,dinner and the snacks that I have. Maybe this can become a regular thing...who knows?

Quick and Easy Oreo Cupcakes

You're going to be seeing a lot more baking posts on the blog as its something that I want to start doing more of and to kick it off I'm going to show you this super quick and easy recipe to make oreo cupcakes and trust you and me they are delicious! The recipe I used for the cake doesn't use eggs but feel free to if you want! 

Ingredients

For the Cake - 

* Plain Flour

* Bicarbonate of Soda

* Baking Powder

* Coca Powder

* Butter at room temp

* Sugar

For Decoration - 

*About 2 Oreo Packets

* Butter cream icing 

-- Pre-heat your oven to 180C

Method;

1. In a bowl beat together the butter and sugar until its fluffy and combined 

2. To that you want to sift in the flour, bicarb, baking powder and coca powder and then using a electric whisk mix it all together until its fluffy and it at a thickness that you want

3. I then took one oreo and placed it at the bottom of each cupcake case, I used silicone ones because they are re-usable and much easier to use! Having a Oreo at the bottom gives the cake a sense of surprise!

4. Using an ice cream scoop I then did one scoop the batter into each case until it was full and popped them in the oven for about 12-15 Minutes!

5. Whilst the cakes are cooling I went on to make the icing I took half of the butter cream in the tub and mixed in a bowl with some crushed Oreo's. I started with the Oreo's in a bag but then decided to use the blender until they were fine and it made life easier

6. Using a spoon (or you could use a piping bag) cover the tops of your cakes and then use the remaining oreo crumble mix and the Oreo's you have left over to decorate and viola!

 

  

These tasted so good and my family were so surprised when they opened them up and it had an Oreo at the bottom, it created a beautiful picture as well! 

 

Bloglovin|Twitter|Instagram|Facebook

Vegetarian Mexican Dishes with Old El Paso

Over the last few months I have become a little addicted to cooking and with being off from school at the moment it gives me more of a chance to explore different recipes! My whole family and I are big fans of Mexican food and being Vegetarian it is something that you can't resist, so when I got the chance to review to some Old El Paso goodies I was beyond excited! Last weekend as soon as the parcel arrived we started planning a menu and here is what we cooked up...

Nachos Dinner Kit//

Guacamole// 

Sour Cream// 

The Nachos Dinner Kit comes with the chips and a yummy salsa that my dad ended up mixing together with some salad topping. The salsa was very tangy and the chips were salty so it complimented one another extremely well! Topped off with Sour Cream and Guacamole for extra taste.  

Extra Mild Super Tasty Tortilla Bake//

Jalapeño and Tomato Mix// 

Chipotle Chilli and Honey Mix // 

For mains we had this new product from Old El Paso, this tortilla bake sounds really interesting and once reading the back of the box we were sold on making the veggie version. The kit comes with 8 wraps, a stir in sauce and a topping sauce. For the filling instead of meat we used a mixed beans tin from the supermarket with some random vegetables like mushrooms (my favourite vegetable!) and added the stir in sauce which added some real Mexican flavour and it also smelt amazing. For some extra spice you could also add the casserole mixes as well, and use them in other dishes such as pasta! To make the bake, you layer up the wraps then the filling and a sprinkle of cheese followed by more wraps and so on until your're all done. Then using the topping sauce cover the top of the wraps so it is covered entirely with some cheese on top and stick it in the oven until its all crispy and bubbly. 

Mild Rice Meal // 

Chilli and Garlic Rice Meal // 

To accompany the bake we cooked, we opened up a rice meal as well, these one pot meals are great if you are in a rush and want something quick and easy to cook. It took less than 10 minutes to cook and all you have to do is add water boil it and then let the rice cook until it becomes all fluffy and yummy. I had this rice the day after as well for lunch and it tasted just as good. 

And then finally it was time to eat! I tried my best to present it well but I was more bothered about getting it in my tummy than taking a photo.I find it so cool how when you cut into the bake you can see all the different layers and it might not look like the most appetising thing in the picture but trust me it was. 

I hope you enjoyed this different style of post, I had so much fun cooking the food and writing the post even if it did make me feel really hungry 11 o'clock in the morning! Thanks to Old El Paso and Reprise Media for all the goodies I had so much fun!

*this post contains pr samples

Recipe||Eggless Chocolate Cake ♥

I thought I would mix things up a little bit on my blog and share with you a recipe that I have been using very recently to make a 'Chocolate Cake' but there is something special about this one and that is that it is eggless! My family and I don't keep or eat eggs in the house, so when it comes to baking we substitute things and I have tried so many recipes in the past that have just been to difficult to make or even don't work. There are so many recipes you can find for cakes these days, type want you want to bake in to google and i can guarantee you will find something! I hope that I will be doing more of these recipe style posts in the future, where I basically take you all along with me - enjoy and don't get too hungry!
This recipe can be made not chocolate, by not adding the coca.

Ingredients 
- Condescend Milk - 1 medium tin
- Flour - 200g
- Butter - 70g
- Milk - 1 Cup
- Baking Powder - 1 tsp
- Bicarb of Soda - 1 tsp
- Double Cream to your desire I used a small pot
- Coca Powder again to your desire I eye balled it! 

Tools
- Mixing Bowls x2 (one small, and one large)
-Electric Whisk
- Spoons
-Knife (not pictured)
- Weighing Scales
-Baking Tray/Dish

Method
-After you have got all your ingredients out and ready with the tools that you need, we can begin our baking adventure!
- First thing you need to do is empty out the tin of condensed milk into the larger mixing bowl and put the butter into. On a slow speed start to whisk together both the milk and butter until they are combined. 

- In the smaller bowl you want to measure out the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, coca powder) and use a spoon to fold them together. 

- You want to add half of the dry ingredients mixture into the other bowl and whisk together, start on a slow speed and gradually get faster. 
- At this point you also want to switch the oven on at 180/160 

- Add the other half and carry on whisking, the mixture will become thick so don't panic!
- Then to thin it down and make it the right consistency for a cake batter you want to slowly add the cup of milk this will thin down the batter and make it more cake like. 
- After this you want to grease your baking dish with some butter to avoid anything sticking and then pour the batter into the dish and spread evenly using the back of a spoon.

- Pop in the oven for around 30 minutes, or until golden brown and to check whether it is cooked or not stick a knife in slowly and if it comes out clean you are all done!
- I forgot to photograph this but, all you want to do is pour the cream into a bowl/mixing bowl and whisk until thick and then spread on top of your cake or even cut the cake in half and spread like a sandwich. I also didn't manage to take a clear photo of the cake, so just imagine it in your head! 


Hope you enjoyed this post, and let me know if I should carry these things on! xx

Home Sweet Home Restaurant || Manchester ♥

During the half term the family and I popped up to Manchester to have a day out, and after a long day of shopping and getting drenched in the rain we were hungry monsters! It was one of those days where we just wanted to eat something warm, hearty and delicious! When I was doing some research on where we could go and eat that night as vegetarians I stumbled across Home Sweet Home that is located right in the centre of the city and when reading the menu online I was dying to try it out and I am so glad we did! 

As we entered this american diner/ western restaurant it was packed and looked like we would have to wait for a while to be seated, but that was not the case! We walked and got directed to the back where there was a cute little corner table waiting for us and when I took my seat I knew I was in heaven. 

The atmosphere in the restaurant was amazing, and there is something on the menu for everyone, as veggies we all really enjoyed it as there was so much to choose from! Not only were the mains sounds good..but the drinks where amazing! I ordered the Nutella Milkshake that was topped with roasted marshmallows and was truly heavenly! I just had to take a picture to share with you all, and then for mains I had there halloumi cheese and falafel wrap with sweet potato fries on the side - this was amazing. Every bit was so tasty and I felt like I was eating my life away.  

If you ever happen to pop into Manchester, then I could not recommend this restaurant to you all more the food, service and just everything was amazing! Here are a few pictures to melt your heart and you will be very jealous of me! 

The menu was so cute, and I loved the way it is designed! 

This was such an amazing tasting milkshake and I could of had another one and skipped my food! 

I gobbled up this wrap and fries so quickly! 

a5c5f924d3021782553ec3d78f2b87e2765ede702a85fd1697