Easy Chicken, Chorizo and Bean Rice - A Perfect Midweek Meal

This last week I have realised how hard it is to juggle home life and working full time. I have found that when I get home in the evening all I have wanted to do it relax. But when you come home to a family, relaxing is way down on the list. So to make life a little easier I have been looking for ways to make meal time not only stress free but also tasty. I quickly realised that the freezer was going to become my best friend. I do not normally have many frozen foods in but this week they have been life savers. Having pre prepared frozen vegetables, in particular, has saved me no end of time and this recipe shows you how versatile and full of goodness they are.

We all love the chicken and chorizo combination. Chorizo add such a fantastic depth of flavour, you really do not need to worry about extra herbs or spices. When cooking easy midweek meals, the least washing up the better, so I have made this a chore saving one pot meal. Tasty, easy and not a lot of pots, what more could you wish for?

This is what I did...

Tomato and Basil Soup topped with Quinoa

I love a good homemade soup. They are not only easy to make but when you make soup yourself you know exactly what has gone into making it. My favourite flavour combination for soup has to be the classic tomato and basil. This soup contains so much goodness and is full of delicious flavours.

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#NationalVegetarianWeek - Mexican Spiced Butternut Squash Noodle Stir Fry

As you know, I love a good foodie celebration and this week is no exception! This week it is National Vegetarian Week. I am not a vegetarian but I do love vegetarian meals and this week is a good excuse to try some new veggie meals.

National Vegetarian Week is to promote how truly versatile and delicious fresh vegetables are. Even The Hairy Bikers are going veggie this week. We all know that we should eat more vegetables and how good they are for us but often finding new ways to incorporate vegetables into meals and be the stars of the dish is the challenge. Buying vegetables are also a great way to save money on your weekly shopping and if you have enough room growing your own is such a rewarding thing to do.

This recipe is all about savouring the vegetables and adding a little spice that will compliment this meal perfectly.

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British Sandwich Week - Two Italian Toasties

Who doesn't love a good sandwich? The mighty sandwich is such a versatile meal, it can be easily adapted to suit individual taste, there really is nothing that you cannot do with a sandwich.

One of our favourite ways to have a sandwich is by toasting it. When you toast a sandwich the flavours transform into something special. So when I was asked if I would like to try the Breville DuraCeramic Sandwich Press I jumped at the chance. Toasted sandwiches are a firm favourite with everyone here so I had a feeling that it would go down well!

To celebrate British Sandwich Week I was challenged to create an international, flavours from around the world, sandwich. I decided to use Italian flavours. We all love Italian dishes and flavours and even more so after our holiday to Italy last year.

Like all families, we have different tastes. I love vegetables, while the Hubby is a big meat eater. So to satisfy all of our tastes I have created two delicious Italian deli style toasted sandwiches, one filled with vegetables and the other filled with meat.

This is what I did...

Quick and Easy Warm Rice and Quinoa Salad

When it comes to lunch time, I want something that is healthy, something that I can prepare quickly and easily. If it is not quick and easy I tend to go for a sandwich. I love salads but after a few they can get boring. So to make them a bit more exciting I have been trying some new ways to enjoy a salad. You can expect to see some new salad recipes over the next few months!

My first new salad recipe is a salad that is so full of flavours, health benefits and quick to prepare. To make it quick and easy to prepare I have used a pouch packet of Tilda brown basmati rice with quinoa, pumpkin and sunflower seeds. I am a huge fan of the easy rice pouches but love that this one has the added grains and seeds. When I saw it on a recent shopping trip I knew that it would make a delicious addition to a salad.

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One Pot Spring Vegetables and Pesto Pasta

Green vegetables are not only super good for you but they are also deliciously versatile. They can be added to a wide variety of dishes and can be paired with so many different flavours.

This recipe actually started off as a soup but as I added the all of the ingredients together I realised that they would make a delicious one pot pasta dish. So I added some vermicelli and hey presto we had a new meal! But what really does complete this dish is the pesto. Before you serve it simply add a spoon of pesto and then stir it in to the pasta and vegetables to add some extra flavours.

This meal is quick, easy and keeps the amount of washing up down to a minimum, perfect for a busy mid week meal.

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St Patrick's Day Guinness Shepherd's Pie

Friday 17th March is St Patrick's day. Whether you are Irish or not you simply cannot get away from it. So for this weeks recipe with Aldi I thought that I would bring you a taste of Ireland. Today's recipe uses an iconic ingredient from Ireland, Guinness. 

Shepherd's pie is such a classic, comforting meal and one that can be easily adapted to give it added twists. This meal was a huge success with the family and with the added vegetables in the a colcannon for the topping I knew they were getting even more goodness in their meal. Colcannon is an Irish mashed potato that is full of extra vegetables.

So this St Patrick's day why not try my Guinness Shepherd's Pie!

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Kale and Egg Brunch

Since starting the Slimming World eating plan back in October I have been focused on good, healthy food to get my weight down. I have now lost 30lbs and now is the time to start thinking about toning up and getting fit. My weight loss has slowed down and this is due to me relaxing the eating plan a little and then need for more exercise. I was recently referred to the gym via my lovely doctor who could see how my belly was affecting me. During my twin pregnancy I got huge and my poor stomach was stretched more than I thought it was possible. I carried two, beautiful, healthy babies so believe me I am not ashamed of how my stomach looks now. It is a testament to carrying two 6lbs babies at the same time. But I do get very uncomfortable as I have been left with excess skin. After visit the doctor, who I will admit was so much more understanding than I was expecting she advised me to loose weigh, which I am doing, and improve my fitness. After waiting for almost 4 months I got the call from the gym! I have had my induction session and a tailor made workout has been set for me. This week is my second week of going to the gym. At the moment I have only been twice but I am hoping to up it to 2 sessions a week. 

Now that I am focusing on my fitness, the food, on my gym days, has changed. I am not concentrating so much on the 'syns' but eating what I know is good for me. Before I go to the gym I start the day with a bowl of my Full of Energy Porridge. This bowl of porridge is full of goodness from the oats, banana, cinnamon and peanut butter, just what my body needs before a good workout. What you eat after a workout is just as important. Protein is essential after exercise as it helps to repair your muscles. My go to protein foods are eggs and chicken. Today I am sharing with you one of my favourite post workout meals, Kale and Egg Brunch. This is such a simple meal that is full of flavour and full of goodness!

This is what I did...

#SimplySeasonal - March 2017

Welcome to a new month of #SimplySeasonal.

We are now in March and it is lovely to see the signs of spring finally beginning to show. With spring on the horizon we have also been buying seeds for our vegetable patch and greenhouse. We are looking forward to being able to get outside more and have got plenty of ideas for what we are going to grow this year. Now that we are in March our chickens are now out of quarantine for avian flu so they have, at long last, started to lay eggs again which means I will be baking more!

Last month 19 deliciously seasonal recipes were shared and selecting which to feature was extremely difficult so they all get a mention! But my favourite 4 recipes from February's Simply Seasonal will definitely make you hungry for more!

Cypriot New Potato Salad

One of my favourite vegetables to use has to be the new potato. As soon as new potato season arrives they are my go to potato. However, as we know, in the UK we do not have new potatoes all year round, we simply do not have the weather for them. Thankfully Cyprus does and thanks to Tesco we can enjoy them right now!

These deliciously versatile potatoes have come straight from sunny Cyprus and are of the 'Spunta' variety. The Spunta potato has a lovely yellow skin and is a fantastic all rounder potato but in my opinion, it is perfect for salads! Their mild, buttery, earthy flavours mean that they are a potato that will go with vegetables, meats and even fish. They are the perfect potato for when you are short of time as all they need is a wash and they are ready to be cooked. They can be steamed, boiled, baked and even made into chips.

As I said before my favourite way to use Cypriot new potatoes has to be in a potato salad. Forget buying a tub of potato salad, once you have tried my healthy potato salad there will be no going back!

This is what I did...

#SimplySeasonal February 2017

Welcome to February's #SimplySeasonal!

Last month I started this new monthly feature and blog party to celebrate all seasonal ingredients. Following Mother Nature and using the fruits and vegetables that are at their best is not only a delicious way to cook throughout the year but can also be a more economical way of cooking. Fruit and vegetables that are in season tend to be cheaper in the shops and if you have enough room you can even have some of them growing in the garden.

Before I tell you what fruit and vegetables are at their best this month let me show you what tasty recipes were shared in January.

I love kale at this time of year and the Pesto Kale Salad that I added to the linky has become a favourite dish. Since making this I have been adding kale more and more to salads.

Basement Bakehouse shared an easy way to transform a high calorie pizza into a vegetable, healthy based pizza. This Easy Peasy 30 Minute Cauliflower Pizza is a must try!

Soups are perfect for this time of year. Dragons and Fairy Dust shared this deliciously seasonal Parsnip and Cauliflower Soup and reasons why they are also eating with the seasons!

The second recipe that I shared featured more kale. This Naked Coleslaw is both syn free for anyone following the Slimming World plan and contains only low FODMAP foods so you know that it is going to be packed with goodness!

Smoked Haddock Kedgeree - Cheap Budget Meal with Aldi

For many families sticking to a food budget is an essential part of life. However with the rising costs of foods and household products it can be hard. Each week I am delighted to be sharing with you a delicious, healthy meals, for the whole family, that can be made for under £5. Having three children and animals means that our weekly shopping bill can be high, but since I changed where I buy our food and household products from I have noticed a huge drop in our weekly expenses. Yesterday I shared my top money saving tips which include meal planning, writing a shopping list, using a calculator as you shop to name a few. But the one biggest influence on our shopping bill has to be switching to Aldi. Last week I posted a picture via my social media platforms showing what I had spent at Aldi for a weeks worth of shopping.

I was not surprised by the response. So many people also commented on how they had also switched to Aldi and were spending a lot less each week! I spent £55.92 and bought vegetables, cereals, free from milk, cows milk, a lot of fruit, cat food and even a box of dishwasher tablets that cost £5.99 so our food shopping actually came to under £50!

Today I am going to share with you a meal that was based on Aldi's Haddock and Kale Kedgeree. In usual Hijacked By Twins style I have taken the recipe and adapted it to taste and added extra vegetables.

This is what I did...

Low Syn/Gluten Free Broccoli Pizza Base

I love pizza but on Slimming World it is a no go if you want to keep those syns down! As I am not one to be beaten I got researching and found a recipe for a cauliflower base on the Slimming World website. I had a go and it was nice, but there was something missing. I found it had to handle and when I tried to turn it over it did break. But this did not put me off, I planned to try again. However when I checked if cauliflower was high or low FODMAP I discovered that it was high. As the hubby is following a low FODMAP eating plan I had to think again. I started to think about what other vegetables could work and broccoli kept coming back to mind. It has a similar texture to cauliflower so thought I'd give it a go.

It was a huge success! Forget cauliflower pizza bases, broccoli is the one the choose if you want a vegetable pizza base. It was so much easier to handle and finished with an irresistible crispy edge, it was so good! I did make a cauliflower one too, for me, and did end up eating the broccoli one with the hubby. As it was such a hit here I thought that it would be a great recipe to share with you.

This is what I did...

Smoked Fish Tagine - 101 Cook Books

One of my favourite Christmas presents had to this gorgeous, traditional tagine.

I have wanted to invest in a tagine for a while now and my lovely eldest son picked up on this and asked the hubby to buy me one for him to give to me as my Christmas present. This gift means a lot for two reasons, the first is that it is something that I have really wanted but secondly, J took the time to listen and realise this was something that I wanted and found this one for me himself. My first born is certainly growing up at a scarily rapid rate! As this is a traditional tagine a heat diffuser is needed to prevent cracking, so once I had one I could not wait to get cooking! 

You may also see in the title I have a new theme. This is the first, what I hope to become a weekly feature, 101 Cook Books posts. Like a lot of foodies I have a huge collection of cook books. I have had a count of the books that are in my kitchen, office and living room bookshelf and have actually accumulated about 101 cook books! Before I counted them I had no idea how many I had and yes, I was amazed by the number. My 101 Cook Books posts are my way of sharing the books that I love but I am also wanting the posts to encourage me to use my books more often. Each week I am going to use one of my cook books to make a meal and I am going to blog about it. My posts will feature the recipe, tell you what, if anything, I changed and tell you a little bit about the book. Over time I hope to tell you about all of my cook books and who inspires my everyday cooking.

Today's recipe is based on a deliciously slimming recipe that I found in Slimming World Free Food Feasts. Since I started to follow the Slimming World eating plan this has to be one of my favourite go to cook books. It contains 60 fantastic "free" recipes. If you do not know how Slimming World works, "free" foods are foods that can be eaten freely, no calorie counting, no weighing and no limit except from your appetite! My Smoked Fish Tagine has been based on the Slimming World Squash, Swede and Chickpea Tagine recipe. The majority of the recipe has been followed, I have not used the garlic as the recipe states as they are high in FODMAP's but have added carrots, red pepper and smoked fish.

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Smoked Salmon and Kale Pasta - An Aldi Recipe

Recently kale has become my favourite green vegetable to add to meals. When I serve it on it's own, as a side serving, the children are not keen but as soon as I add it to a sauce or mix it with other ingredients they all eat it with no questions asked. So any recipe that contains kale is an instant hit with me.

When I was looking at Aldi's Feed the Family for £5 recipes their Smoked Salmon Pasta immediately caught my eye. Smoked salmon is a fantastically versatile ingredient and thanks to Aldi it is a more affordable ingredient to use. The recipe is part of Aldi's latest campaign that is showing families that you can prepare healthy, tasty meals for under £5. Over the coming weeks I am going to be trying out some of their recipes and taking some inspiration from them to show you that it can be done. Sticking to a budget does not mean that you should compromise on healthy choices.

Today I am going to be telling you how I have taken inspiration from Aldi's Smoked Salmon Pasta recipe which is served with a spinach and walnut salad. I have not made the salad but have added kale and broccoli to the pasta and have even made it Slimming World friendly by making a few simple swaps.

This is what I did...

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Soups are a perfect winters lunch. They are warming, super healthy and full of nutritional goodness. If you make your own they are even slimming! One of my favourite soups has to be a good old tomato soup. The tomato is such a versatile ingredient and it is an ideal base for soups. My recipe today uses the base of tomatoes but the other vegetables really are the stars of the show.

For this soup I have used roasted vegetables. Roasting vegetables gives them an added boost of flavour, their sweetness really does come through and transforms their overall flavours. Combined with the trusty tomato this soup is a bowlful of healthy deliciousness.

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Butternut Spaghetti Stir Fry

Vegetable noodles are a great way to get added goodness into our diets. But when you want to make a quick meal they are not so great. Spiralising the vegetables can take time that is precious when you are living in a busy household. So when I saw pre prepared vegetable noodles in Aldi I could not wait to try them.

I have made my own courgetti in the past as well as carrot noodles, but I have not tried to spiralise any other vegetables. Aldi have brought out two delicious varieties of vegetable noodles, courgette noodles and butternut squash noodles. I love butternut squash but never thought about spiralising it. As soon as I saw it on the shelf it went straight in my trolley along with plenty of other vegetables for today's recipe.

Today's recipe is not only a super healthy meal but is also a great budget meal!

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Christmas Dinner Vegetables from Aldi

Anyone that has cooked a Christmas dinner will know how stressful it can be if you have not got everything planned out in advance. But I thought that I would share with you a few ways to make it easier and how you can prepare a lot of the food before the big day. This will not only make it less stressful but it will give you back some valuable time that can be spent with your loved ones instead of slaving over a hot stove!

This week Aldi are certainly making it more affordable this Christmas. Their fantastic 'Super 6' fruit and vegetable offer is for 6 must have vegetables for your Christmas dinner. This week the 'Super 6' are priced at just 19p for the following:

• Broccoli
• Maris Piper Potatoes
• Parsnips
• Brussels Sprouts
• Carrots
• Little Gen Lettuce

So, depending on how many people you will be serving you could potentially buy your Christmas day vegetables for just over £1!

In this post I am going to tell you how to make the perfect roast potatoes in advance, carrots, parsnips and a way to serve up the sprouts that will make you want more!

Chunky Root Veg and Bean Soup

At this time of year I love a good warming bowl of soup. I find it so comforting, on a cold day to sit inside, snug and warm with a big bowl of soup. Not only is it a great comfort food but it is also a great way to get plenty of goodness into our diets.

While shopping the other day I spotted a stew vegetables bundle reduced down to just 25p and I knew it would be ideal for a soup so popped it into my basket! The vegetables that are in this super chunky soup are cheap roots and full of flavour.

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Full of Veg Pasta Bake

Since starting Slimming World seven weeks ago how I cook our meals has really changed. Now when I cook I am striving to cram in even more vegetables. This includes already healthy recipes. Bulking out dishes with more vegetables simply means bulking out with even more goodness!

When I was looking through one of my Slimming World cookbooks, Family Feasts on a Budget I found a lovely recipe for Sweet Potato Pasta Bake. I had planned to follow the recipe but, in true Hijacked By Twins style, I could not stick to the recipe and added a lot more vegetable goodness.

This meal was a huge success and I wanted to share it with you today.

This is what I did...