Thursday 30 October 2014

October favourites!



Wow hasn't the year flown by! I still feel like I'm only just getting used to writing 2014 on dates and in 2 months it will be 2015!

This month is based around breakfasts, workout gear, getaways and a wedding!


Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. I'm a huge fan of them. There are so many options for breakfast, but this month I had had two favourites, muesli and poached eggs.

Summer is coming here and I was so excited to see strawberries back at the supermarket at a good seasonal price.
Strawberries + Banana = Best fruit combo







My favoutite workout gear are these 3 pieces from NIKE. My boyfriend brought these for me and I just love the colours! 





My favourite getaway
Central Otago NZ

I've mentioned this place in a previous post.
This place is beautiful all year round. 



Last weekend my boyfriend and I went to a beautiful wedding. The weather hasn't been great here at the moment but the day of the wedding was sunny, warm and perfect!
My dress is from Emerald Boutique. I loved the colours of this dress, perfect for a warm summer day! 



I hope you all have had a great month! Bring on November!
What were you're favourite things this month?

Brit :)

Thursday 16 October 2014

Honeyed Glazed Pumpkin



Hey Everyone! 
I love trying out new recipes with different vegetables to try mix things up a bit.
It can actually be so easy to enhance flavours of vegetables to make them not only taste amazing but so you can still get all the important nutrients from them.
It's well into spring here now (not that the weather is showing us that at the moment!) but we still had a couple of pumpkins to use up. 
I love pumpkin because it is so versatile. It can be sweet or savoury. Baked, roasted, boiled or steamed. You can eat it in pieces or it can make a really yummy puree. 

This recipe is inspired from a recipe I found in the My petite kitchen cookbook. She is a blogger from NZ who comes up with the most amazing nutritious, wholefood recipes! My copy of the book has post it notes in nearly every page for recipes that I want to try! Check out her blog here 









Honey Glazed Pumpkin

( Serves 3-4 side dishes )



Ingredients

1/4 pumpkin
1T Runny honey
Small handful of chopped coriander and Italian Parsley 
1/4 cup Chopped Olives( I wanted to use black olives but we only had stuffed green olives but they still tasted great!)
1T coconut oil melted
Salt and pepper


Method

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius 

Carefully slice the skin off the pumpkin. Using a sharp knife and a chopping board that is not wobbling around ( place a wet cloth underneath your board to help ).

Cut pumpkin into thin slices, roughly 10 - 5 mm thick.
Place pumpkin into a roasting dish.

Drizzle honey and coconut oil onto pumpkin.
 Season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until pumpkin is cooked right through.

Place into a serving dish and sprinkle with chopped herbs and olives.
Serve while still warm.



Even my cat was trying to get in on this!

Enjoy!

Brit xo


Saturday 11 October 2014

Sweet Sunday - Chocolate Brownie



This has to be one of my all time favourite brownie recipes. It's texture isn't too gooey and not too cakey. It is more like a fudge texture.
I love making this recipe for my family - it always goes down well with a cup of green tea!

I found this recipe from a New Zealand chef called Jo Seagar. The cookbook it is in is called "Jo Seagar cooks" I have so many of her cook books, she has sooo many great recipes to try.

This recipe its super easy and quick to prepare, and doesn't require much effort at all!

This is a great special occasions recipe but isn't for everyday eating as it doesn't contain much nutritional value.
If you're lucky enough to have leftovers, it can be easily frozen. Bring it out a few hours before it is required to give it enough time to thaw out. :)










Recipe
Approx 18 peices

200g melted butter
3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups caster sugar
1/4 t salt
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
2 cups chopped chocolate (I used Whittakers 72% dark chocolate)

Pre heat oven to 150 degrees Celcius
Prepare a 20x30cm Slice tin with baking paper
Mix the butter, cocoa, sugar, salt, eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat until the colour lightens (about 4-5 mins).
Incorporate the flour, baking powder and chocolate - gently mix.
Pour in your slice tin and bake for 50- 55 minutes.
Once baked, cool completely in the tin so the brownie doesn't crack.
Cut once cooled ( or if you and you're guests are super impatient like my family you can attempt to cut when still warm so you can eat it straight away!)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does!
I will be doing a few allergy friendly baking recipes in the future so keep a look out for them!

Brit  :)

Wednesday 8 October 2014

Easy Vegan Couscous


This is a simple Couscous recipe with great summer flavours.
When I'm cooking during the week I like to keep meals easy and simple.
This Couscous recipe can be used as a side dish to a meal or can be a meal itself.

Couscous is usually quite inexpensive. This recipe is friendly for anyone on a budget or looking to feed a crowd.
If you're lucky enough to have any leftovers, store it in the fridge and have for lunches the next day!


Ingredients

2 cups Couscous
2 cups boiling water
1 onion finely diced
1/2 large red capsicum finely diced
handful coriander leaves finely diced
1 T coconut oil
1 gherkin finely diced (optional)
Salt and Pepper

Method

Place the couscous into a bowl that has a sealed lid. (you can also use a saucepan).
Pour the boiling water on the couscous.
Immediately cover with the lid and leave aside to cook.
While your couscous is cooking, heat coconut oil in a small pan. Add onion and capsicum
Gently saute until onion is cooked.

Check the couscous after 4-5 mins
The couscous should be a soft texture when you bite it. But not soggy.
Once cooked, add the onion mixture, coriander and gherkin.

Lightly fluff up with a fork so it is not lumpy and all stuck together.

It's important to flavour and season your couscous as it lacks flavour on its own.
Here you can add Salt and pepper and season to your own taste.

Try this recipe next time you're stuck for ideas :)

Have a great day!
Brit x