Food up dates!

A huge carrot cake I made the other day after finishing exams. I usually bake when I have to study but having free time to bake is great! I have used this Hummingbird cookbook recipe before and is a winner every time!

Poppies cafe appreciation! The one down in Dunloire does very good mochas and scones. There's also a lovely window seat to look out.

I'm not to mad on meat substitutes and always a bit scared to try them. One evening I was craving spaghetti bolonase, so decided to buy some and give it a go. It is really easy to make and very yummy! I have used it a few times since. I need to use it for other dishes like lasagna and tacos.

A salad I made for college one day. It had broken up homemade vegi/bean burgers, rocket, carrot along with some left over bulgar wheat.

Milanos pizza. This is from the lighter range. There's a hole cut in the middle and it is filled salad. It it beyond delish.

This is a terrible picture but it is a sweet potato burrito from burritos and blues! I was never to much of a fan of burritos but this changed my mind.

Best malts around! This malt is from The Counter. So chocolaty and the burgers and staff are great!

Select stores Yum. A salad from the Blazing Salads's salad bar and a chickpea curry.

Boojum Vegi tacos and chicken burrito. Jesse and I sat in the park and ate this lovely dinner.

A beast of a dinner. Homemade burger, salad, salsa, potatoes and a sweet potato stuffed pepper. #fatty

And just a potato salad!

I haven't updated this properly in a while!

I have been taking pictures of all sorts of things anyway so here it goes!

Food glorious food

Turns out I was using the wrong cupcake cases all along. I got some proper ones in a little shop in town called The Irish Yeast Company. I got loads for around 2 euro, I think.

Vegetarian Mexican Nachos. When in London, we went to a Mexican restaurant in Soho, I think. I forgot the name of the place but they were yum. I really wanna make something like this soon.

My first ever macaroon. I got this in London from a French cafe called Paul. Was delish. Gonna try make them soon.

Just some cooking. A orange loaf and a lentil lasagne. Both didn't last too long because Nick, our foster dog got them both :(

Milkshakes! My new fav thing to make. They're so yummy in the summer and easy to make.

Banana and Honey Porridge.

I have never seen the attraction of porridge at all. It has always just been sludge and only tasting alright with piles of sugar on it.

When I was in London, this all changed. We were in Marks and Spencer grabbing breakfast and Georgia got the Banana and Honey Porridge. She didn't finish it all so I had the rest. It was so tasty and wholesome. I could tell that it had been cooked in milk and left quite milky.

So, I tried to make some myself. I have had it the past 3 mornings and the difference it makes to my apeitite through out the day is amazing. I'm not hungry and craving everything.

You need about a handful of porridge oats per person. Slice some banana in it. I use half a banana for one serving, a whole banana for a 2 servings etc. Add Honey, a fair bit and some brown sugar. Heat it up slowly while continually stirring it to break up the banana. I always add more milk in to it at the end to moisten it up.

I serve it with more honey and sugar on top and voila! I have had it with a smoothie made with freshly squeezed orange juice, a banana and a few strawberries.

My favorite cakes

Cheesy bites

I saw these being made on river cottage, a show I love to watch. He used courgettes in his but I am using peppers instead. These are perfect party food and soooooooo yummy.

First off you just chop some garlic and peppers finely and fry off until soft.

Grate some cheddar cheese along with whatever other cheese. I've made them with feta cheese and mozzarella and both taste good. So put the cheese, garlic and peppers in a bowl along with a beaten egg and bread crumbs. Mix it all up and mold into little balls and then bake for around 15/20 mins and voila!

Bean Burgers

I have allready posted about them before but here is a couple different ways to use them.

I sometimes get sick of having them as a sandwich so I stuffed a pepper with one along with chilli and honey and baked them. Was so yummy.

I enjoy them most in a wrap and they are perfect with salad cream, hummous, a salad and nandos sauce. I always bring one of these in for my lunch.

Puy Lentils

I had a go at using puy lentils and now I highly recommend them.
Firstly I made a salad for college using them. I based it on a salad that marks and Spencer do. Again, this was really simply to make.
I first baked some butter nut squash chunks and bits of pepper.
While they were baking, I boiled up the entils. It takes around 20 mins. So just boil until soft.
You for sure need a dressing on this so what I did was combine a balsamic vinegar I all ready had with lemon juice and chilli. It went perfect with it. Mixed it all together and put it in some tuber ware.
:)
A healthy lunch!

Puy lentil lasagne. I first came across a puy lentil lasagne while flicking through the Irish Vegetarian Society magazine. Now this was so yum and not to hard to make either.
I started off by roasting off some vegetables along with lots of garlic and chilli. I used peppers, butter nut squash(what else do I use?) and mushrooms but you can add whatever. While they were roasting, I boiled up the lentils.
I also made some tomato sauce by frying off some garlic and a finely chopped white onion and then added 2 tins of tomatoes and left to reduce. I would in future though use 3 tins. I also made a cheese sauce, which didn't turn out amazing as I didn't use a recipe and just guessed. When everything was done I pilled it all up and covered with cheese and baked for around 30 mins.

Cheesy lentil bake

I had a lentil bake a while back in The Happy Pear and thought it was so tasty so I tried to make my own. I made this weeks ago so I can't remember exactly how I made it.

I boiled some red lentils ( don't ask me how much.. just enough to cover the dish I was cooking it in.

Added various curry powders and spices to it.

Boiled until all the water had gone.

Mixed in some grated cheese and a beaten egg.

Topped with breadcrumbs and grated cheese and baked until brown on top!

It was extremely easy to make

Lentils are great for a vegetarian diet because they are very high in protein and iron and apparently voted one of the top 5 healthy foods by Health magazine!

It went pretty well with a salad and chilli sauce.

Cheesy Chilli Butternut Squash Quesadillas

So yum and easy.

I got this inspiration from a similar recipe I saw on another blog. Some people aren't aware of what a Quesadilla is. It is basically 2 wraps with cheddar cheese in the middle that is fried until the cheese melts. That's the most simplyist version. Of course you can add whatever to it.

My version contains, cheddar cheese, chilli, rocket and a butternut and pepper mash.

I just cut some butternut squash and red pepper into small chunks and grill until soft with a little oil. I add the chilli in there too. When it's all soft, I mash it all up.

Turn your pan on a low heat and place one of the wraps down. On the wrap, spread some of the mash along with the cheese. Place the other wrap on top and grill on a low heat until the cheese has melted!

Avoca-Powerscourt noms

Out in the extremely lovely Enniskerry is Powerscourt House and gardens. The views and house alone are worth going for. What makes it even more attractive is that there's an avoca restaurant there :). The restaurant runs nearly the whole length of the back of the house. Several huge bay windows run the whole way down the restaurant. I wasn't lucky enough to get one of those tables. There's also a very large patio out the back with unreal views.

Blue skies make me happy.

I got a vegetarian Pastie which was AMAZING!