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Showing posts from April, 2016

Garlic and Lemon Linguine with Chargrilled Chicken

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Garlic and Lemon Linguine with Chargrilled Chicken- a very simple pasta dish of linguine and mushrooms in garlic and lemon oil, with added flavour from the chargrilled chicken. Dinner ready in 25 minutes. Jump to recipe When we were on holiday in Canada, we went to a restaurant called The Spaghetti Factory a couple of times. It specialises in different pasta dishes and serves them up with a free salad or soup and garlic bread. Delicious! One dish that we had there was a garlic linguine with chicken. I really enjoyed it- there was a real kick of garlic in the linguine. At the time, I said straight away that I was going to try and make something similar at home. This garlic and lemon linguine with chargrilled chicken is my attempt to do just that. It's different to what we ate in Canada, but has similar flavours. Lemon and garlic give the linguine and mushrooms a ton of sharp flavour to contrast against the caramelisation on the chicken. It's very garlicky, so you might want to

Cajun Chicken and Bacon Tray Bake

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Cajun Chicken and Bacon Traybake- a quick and easy recipe with roasted potato, red pepper and onion, perfect for quick weeknight dinners. Syn-free on Slimming World and under 500 calories. Jump to recipe The trouble with being on diet plans is that you need to be organised. No getting in from work and thinking what shall I have for dinner, I can't be bothered to cook, let's get take-away! It all needs to be thought of in advance. So, it was a bit awkward last week when we were just getting started and I found myself without any planned dinner. It needed to be quick and fit in with Slimming World for my husband's diet. And so the Cajun Chicken and Bacon tray bake was born! I love a tray bake dinner. It's so easy- chop it all up, throw it on a baking tray and hey presto! You need 2 baking trays for this recipe as the key to getting it cooked quickly is space between the different food on the tray. One baking tray is for the potatoes so they'll get nice a crispy when

Choc-Chip Orange Muffins

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I had the baking itch this week but we're both on healthy eating plans at the moment (My Fitness Pal for me, Slimming World for him), so what to do? Take them to work, after we'd tried one each of course! With all the orange curd I have on the go after my choc-orange Easter cake, I decided on orange curd muffins with chocolate chips, and they were delicious. I love chocolate and orange as a combination- Terry's chocolate orange at Christmas is a must! When I was filling the muffin cases, I over-filled them, so some spilled over slightly when they rose. You can probably get 13 out of the recipe, but I tried to squeeze them into 12 for convenience! If you're a choc-orange fan too, give them a try.

Choc-Chip Banana Bread

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We got back from holiday last week to an empty fridge. This is because I like to be organised when I go on holiday, using everything up, giving away anything still in date that hasn't been used. We had booked a supermarket delivery in the last couple of days of the holiday, so we knew food would be arriving shortly after we got back. There was one thing that had escaped my attention in the big clear out though- the fruit bowl! So, there were 2 totally black bananas staring back at me when I went in the kitchen. That coupled with half a packet of chocolate chips meant banana bread was on the agenda. With everything else going on that day, I didn't get round to doing it until 10pm! A bit of late-night baking runs in the family. My mum is always doing it. Banana bread keeps so well, you can store it for several days in an air-tight tin. For other 'using up ripe banana' recipes, click here: Banana recipes .

Very Garlicky Slow Cooker Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

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Very Garlicky Slow Cooker Lemon and Rosemary Chicken- a slow cooker recipe for chicken breasts that is then shredded ready to use in chicken sandwiches, pasta dishes and more. An incredibly easy and versatile slow cooker dish. Jump to recipe If you are looking for a versatile food that you can make in bulk and use in different ways for lunches and dinners then this is the recipe for you! Very Garlicky Lemon and Rosemary Chicken is a chicken recipe for the slow cooker. It's very simple- only 5 ingredients to throw in and you're pretty much done! Once it's been shredded it can be served hot: with gravy and mash, mixed with cream cheese or a tomato sauce and pasta, or mixed with mayo and served in a jacket potato. Leave it til the next day and have it mixed with mayo in a sandwich, on a salad or with some couscous. See, it's super-versatile! I do need to warn you though, it's seriously garlicky, so go ahead and tone down the garlic if you're not such a fan. If you

Slow Cooker Beef Curry

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Curry is probably my favourite takeaway. It's not just the curry and rice, it's all the delicious bits that go with it. Mmmm naan bread! Saag Aloo! Poppadoms! Mango Chutney! Samosa! Bhaji! The problem is wanting to have a bit of everything, but not being able to fit it all in. There's a talent in clever ordering. It's very easy to make a half-decent curry at home. There's a bit more talent required to make a really amazing one. One of my colleagues at work makes spectacular curries and delicious little morsels of Asian goodness as well. I am nowhere near up to that mark! Getting it right is all about the combination of spices. Slow cooking a curry means that you can use cheap cuts of meat and you can leave it cooking without standing over it. Below is my slow cooker beef curry, which freezes well and is full of delicious smells to come home to! I use beef rib trim, which can be hard to get. You can use stewing steak or other humble cuts as well. If you are doing Sli