Low Fat Creamy Mushroom Pasta

I had to wear a fur gilet inside today in August because it was that cold- lovely British summer as per usual. This called for the kind of food that would suit my wintry attire so I came up with a comfort food recipe that goes easy on the fat. It's going to see me through the winter in my ice cube of a student house and also ticks all the other student-friendly boxes: takes 10 minutes to cook, uses cheap ingredients and even better, saves a few calories for alcohol. Win win.

Low Fat Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 7-8 chestnut mushrooms
• 1/2 courgette 
• 10g olive spread
• 75g pasta (go for wholewheat if you're feeling extra virtuous- I wasn't) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp low fat crème fraîche
• 35g Philadelphia light 
• 5 tsp grated parmesan 
• squeeze of lemon
• Salt and pepper, to season 

Method:

• Cut the courgette into small 1.5cm chunks. Pull the stalks out of the mushrooms and cut into thin strips. 
• Put the pasta onto boil according to the packet instructions. Usually it takes about 10 minutes. 
• Once the pasta is on place the courgette, mushrooms and butter into a frying pan and fry on a medium heat for about 6-7 minutes, until fully cooked. The courgette and mushrooms should be soft and squidgy to touch. Once cooked take off the heat, drain any excess liquid that may have been released, and put to the side.
• Once the pasta is cooked, drain then put back into the saucepan. Add the cooked vegetables to the pan then put back on a low heat. Stir in all the remaining ingredients, constantly stirring as you cook. Cook until the sauce has fully melted and combined. Note, the lemon can be overpowering so you literally only need a tiny little squeeze. 
• Serve with a rocket side salad. 

Green Eggs and Ham

When my sister and I were little some of our favourite bed time story books were the Dr Seuss books, and the best one was always green eggs and ham. Although I was disheartened to learn upon growing into an adult that no, green eggs do not in fact exist, I feel this recipe comes close enough. It's also looks a tad more appetizing than the illustrations in the book...

Green Eggs and Ham

Ingredients: (serves 2)

• 160g tender-stem broccoli 
• 100g finely chopped leek
• 100g diced courgette 
• 1/2 pack of spinach
• 30g honey roast ham 
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp crème fraîche
• 1 1/2 tbsp grated parmesan
• Salt and pepper, to season 

Method:

• Pre-heat the grill so it is on a high heat. Finely chop the leek and dice the courgette. 
• Boil some water and in the meantime place a large frying pan on a medium heat with a few sprays of cooking oil. Once the water is boiled add to a separate saucepan with a steamer on top and steam the broccoli for 6-7 minutes. At the same time gently fry the leek and courgette for 5 minutes. 
• Once the courgette has begun to soften add in the spinach and cook until wilted. The spinach really breaks down a lot so its usually a question of throwing in a load of spinach, seeing how much volume there is left once its been wilted, and throw in more if necessary. 
• Add the cooked broccoli and the ham to the frying pan followed by the crème fraîche and parmesan. Stir everything until covered with what should be by now a melting creamy sauce and season with salt and pepper. 
• Crack in the eggs - try and make a slightly flat space to crack them into. Cook the eggs until they are 3/4 cooked then finish off for a few minutes by placing the frying pan under the grill until the eggs are completely cooked. 

Cinnamon Apple Slices

These cinnamon apple slices are a great little snack for when that sweet tooth is nagging at you and you're stood outside the biscuit cupboard trying to resist the little voice in your head saying 'open me'! Withstand those sugar urges and make these instead! Best eaten fresh out of the oven, perhaps served with some natural yoghurt and sultanas.

Cinnamon Apple Slices

Ingredients: (serves 1)

• 1 large granny smith green apple
• 1/2 lemon
• 3 tsp sweetner 
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Sprinkling of nutmeg

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius and spray a baking tray with a small amount of cooking oil spray. 
• Slice the apple in half and carve out the core from each half. Slice each half into small strips of apple about half a centimetre in thickness. 
• Squeeze the juice of half the lemon into a bowl and place all the spices and sweetner into a separate bowl. Mix the spices.
• Take each individual slice of apple and dip one side into the lemon juice, then dip that same side into the spice mix so there is just a light brown dusting over the apple.
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until a deep golden brown colour.

The Best Baked Courgettes

It's always hard to eat healthily on a rainy day. It's tipping it down outside and all you want to do is snuggle up on the sofa with a hot drink and bowl of steaming stodge. However these baked courgettes are a great way to get that warm fuzzy feeling inside without the subsequent calorie-induced guilt! This recipe uses the red pepper sauce recipe: see the link at the bottom of the page.

The Best Baked Courgettes

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 1 courgette 
• 6 tbsp pre-made red pepper sauce
• 1 handful of grated mozzarella 

Method: 

• Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and spray a baking tray with cooking oil spray. 
• Top and tail the courgette and slice in half lengthways. Carve out the middle part of each half to get rid of the seeds.
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. During the last 5 minutes  heat the red pepper sauce in the microwave on a high setting for 4-5 minutes, until piping hot throughout.
• Take out the courgette and spoon half of the sauce over each courgette half. Sprinkle on as much mozzarella as you fancy then stick under the grill for a few of minutes until the cheese has all melted. 

Click here for the recipe for the Red Pepper Sauce

Traditional Sponge Cake with Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Fudge Cake Sauce

This is my go-to cake whenever I need to whip something up for a friend's birthday. The chocolate sauce is very decadent so is perfectly balanced against this light sponge. Sponge cakes can take a while to perfect and I find the best results are achieved with an electric mixer combined with a lot of practice so roll up those sleeves and get going!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 8 oz self raising flour
• 8 oz caster sugar 
• 8 oz olive spread (or butter) 
• 3 eggs

For the chocolate fudge sauce: (recipe fully accredited to Nigella Lawson)

• 125g butter
• 90g dark chocolate plus a bit extra to decorate
• 140g icing sugar

Equipment:

• Electric mixer
• Two round baking tins 

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and grease the two baking trays with a little bit of butter. 
• Weigh out the sugar and butter then cream together in the mixer.
• Weigh out and sieve the flour. Add about 3/4 of the flour to the mixture and mix on a high setting for about a minute. 
• Whisk the eggs then add into the mix along with the rest of the flour. Mix together again on a high setting until everything is combined. The general wisdom is that too much mixing will knock out all the air from the mixture however I find that a final mix on a really high setting for about 30 seconds produces a very light cake. 
• Pour half of the mix into each tin then use the back of a knife to even out the mixture. 
• Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. To test if the cake is done or not push lightly on the top of the cake- if it bounces back up then it is fully cooked. 
• Leave to cool for a good half an hour. Remove the two cakes from the tins and cool a bit more on a wire rack whilst you make the icing.
• Weigh out all the ingredients. Cream together the butter and icing sugar until it has a very light and creamy texture. 
• Place the dark chocolate in a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Keep the water on a medium heat and stir the chocolate until it starts to melt. Once 3/4 of the chocolate has melted take off the heat and continue to stir until there are no lumps and the chocolate is fully melted. It is important to keep an eye on the heat of the water, keep stirring constantly and to take the chocolate off the heat before it is all melted in order to prevent it from burning. 
• Add the melted chocolate to the icing mixture and mix until the icing is a consistent dark brown colour. Spread half on the top of one of the cakes then place the other cake on top. It is important to ensure the cakes are completely cool before doing this. Spread the rest of the icing on the very top of the cake.
• Decorate! Try grating a line of dark chocolate over the top, scattering some white chocolate buttons over the top or crumbling some ginger biscuits. 
• Keep in an airtight container. 

Low Histamine Brown Sugar Biscuits

The twin's first reaction to being told she had to go on a low histamine diet was "but what sweet stuff can I eat?!" As a person with a very sweet tooth this would also be my instant thoughts! As a result we have now developed this tasty biscuit recipe that is so unbelievably simple and very quick to make- which is good because she lives on these now and we make at least a batch a week!

Low Histamine Brown Sugar Biscuits

Ingredients: 

• 6 oz olive spread
• 6 oz soft light brown sugar
• 7.5 oz plain flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough 

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a large baking tray with baking paper. 
• Weigh out all the ingredients. Cream together the butter and sugar in an electric mixture until a golden brown colour.
• Sieve the flour then mix into the mixture gradually until you have a dough. You should be able to pick the dough up straight out of the mixing bowl- if not then add some more flour. 
• Place the dough onto a floured board and dust a rolling pin with flour before rolling out the dough. The dough should have a thickness of about half a centimetre.
• Go wild with cookie cutters! Keep re-rolling out the dough to get as many biscuits as you can out of it. 
• Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until a very light brown colour. The biscuits will be very soft to touch when they come out of the oven. Leave to cool. 

Peanut M&M Cookies

I baked a massive batch of these peanut butter M&M cookies in preparation for a camping trip with a load of sailors to ease the pain of shivering under a leaky tent. They were gone within the first couple of days and I can honestly say I don't think I've seen a group of boys so happy to see me as they were when I got out of my car clutching two giant boxes of these cookies! I even got a marriage proposal- yep, they're that good!

Peanut M&M Cookies

Ingredients: (makes about 14 cookies) 

• 110g olive spread
• 100g caster sugar
• 100g soft light brown sugar 
• 195g plain flour
• 30g self raising flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 egg 
• 1 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 pack of peanut m&ms 
• Note: it is easiest to use an electric mixer to make these. 

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a large baking tray with baking paper. 
• Weigh out all the ingredients. Cream together the butter and sugar. In a separate bowl whisk the egg then add into the mixture and mix in. 
• Add both flours, the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and mix until everything is adequately mixed together. 
• Once the flour is all mixed in add the peanut butter. Note, if the mixture is looking very gloopy then add some extra plain flour until it is binding together more and has a more doughy consistency. The mix however does not have to reach the consistency of a traditional biscuit dough that can be rolled out onto a board. 
• As the final ingredient, pour in the bag of m&ms and give a quick mix to spread them out a bit. 
• Once you have your cookie mix, use a slightly heaped tablespoon to measure out the size of each cookie and dollop onto the baking tray. You may need to use the back of the spoon to flatten the cookie and make it into more of a circular shape. The un-cooked cookies should look like the picture above. The cookies will need to be very spread out on the baking tray as they have a tendency to balloon into one giant tray of cookie- if that's what you're going for however then go right ahead! It's certainly a great excuse to munch on cookie segments as you attempt the important job of trying to separate the cookies! 
• Bake in the oven for 11-14 minutes (depending on how soft you like your cookies) until golden brown. Leave to cool for a good half an hour before attempting to get the cookies off the baking tray- the cookies will still be very soft once they are out of the oven. 
• Store in an airtight container and consume within 4 days. 

Vegetable Squidges

What do you think of when you think of a 'light summer lunch'? Salad? A measly bowl of soup? An egg white omelette with an assortment of fairly tasteless green ingredients? We're shaking things up a bit. Throw some colour and taste into healthy eating with these vegetable squidges- an assortment of colourful veg gently fried into a bright ball of taste.

Vegetable Squidges (Serves 1) 

Ingredients: 

• 3oz grated carrot (approx 1 carrot)
• 3 oz grated courgette (approx 1/2 courgette)
• 1 oz finely chopped leek 
• 2 oz frozen sweetcorn
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp olive oil 

Method:

• Grate the carrot and courgette using a normal cheese grater. Finely chop the leek and weigh out the frozen sweetcorn. 
• Place the carrot and courgette onto a piece of kitchen paper and put another piece over the top. Push down gently on the kitchen paper until the excess moisture from the vegetables has been absorbed.
• Place all the vegetables into a mixing bowl and add the flour and olive oil then mix. Separate the mixture into 5 even sections. If the mixture is not binding together much add a bit more flour and oil.
• Spray a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil. Spoon each section of vegetables into the frying pan (not yet on the heat) and squidge into circular flat shapes using a spatula.
• Place the frying pan on a medium heat. Fry for 10 minutes until the vegetable squidges are a golden brown colour on both sides- once the underside is cooked use a fish-slice to turn over and cook the other side. Try not to turn over the vegetable squidges too many times as it may lead to the mixture disintegrating.  As you cook the squidges occasionally press down on the squidge with the back of a spatula for a few seconds to flatten it. You may also need to re-shape the vegetable squidge as it cooks to stop it from falling apart.

Scones

This recipe is courtesy of a family friend, Debbie Taylor. Scones are one of those things that evoke memories every time you wrap your lips around them. For me, I associate scones with a slightly salty taste in the mouth and splashes of water on my face as I munch on a squished up golden ball of goodness between races at sailing events. Mum used to bake them on a friday night before we packed up the campervan and headed down south for the weekend. She'd wrap several in foil and put them into our dry-bags just before we launched as an energy boosting on-water snack if racing was going well or a comforting pick-me-up when the day was going badly.

Scones

Ingredients: 

• 3oz butter
• 3 oz sugar
• 12 oz self raising flour 
• 1 egg
• Dash of milk
• optional: 1/2 cup raisins 

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a baking tray with baking paper- you may need to rub the bottom of the tray with butter to stick it down. 
• Weigh out the butter and place into a large mixing bowl. Weigh out the sugar and add in, then whisk until the mixture is smooth and creamy. We use a large electric mixer as it is so much easier than by hand and gives a far creamier texture. 
• Weigh out and sieve the flour, then add in in small amounts to the mixture. Leave about 1/4 of the flour. 
• Whisk the egg and pour into the mixture with the rest of the flour. Beat in, then finally add a dash of milk to make everything stick together. If you want to add raisins in then pour these in and mix. 
• Sprinkle flour over a large wooden board and roll out the dough using a rolling pin. Flour the rolling pin to stop it from sticking. Use a circular cookie cutter to cut out the dough, and place each scone on the baking tray. It doesn't really matter what size the cookie cutter is as long as all the scones are the same size so bake evenly, just note that fairly small scones may take less time in the oven. Our scones are usually about 2 inches in diameter. 
• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. The scones should be a golden brown colour. Cool on a baking rack then serve plain, with butter, or with clotted cream and jam. 

Cous Cous and Roasted Vegetables

For anyone trying to diet cous cous is a tasty alternative to rice or pasta and surprisingly filling for such a tiny grain. It also takes no time at all to cook and can be added to a huge variety of ingredients to liven up side salads and main meals. 

Cous Cous and Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients: (serves 1)

• 100g cous cous
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 courgette
• 1/2 leek
• 1 red onion 
• 1 red pepper 
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

For the roasted vegetables:

• Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
• Chop up the carrots, courgette and pepper into 1/2 cm chunks.
• Dice the onion then cut the leek into quarters to form four long strips. Chop along the strips at 1cm intervals. It may look like you have a lot of veg but it shrinks down a lot. 
• Place all the vegetables into a mixing bowl then add the olive oil. Stir until the vegetables are coated then place on a baking tray and roast for 30 minutes. (Note: I'd keep a close eye on the vegetables after about 25 minutes- they can burn very easily) 

For the cous cous:

• Place the cous cous into a saucepan. Boil the kettle then measure out 250ml of water and pour into the saucepan on a medium heat. Constantly stir the cous cous for 5 minutes adding extra tablespoon's of water if it starts to dry out. The constant stirring is key- otherwise it will just stick to the bottom. 
• After 5 minutes all the water should have absorbed and the cous cous will be cooked. If you have added too much water by accident just drain the cous cous in a sieve. 
• Serve and spoon the roasted vegetables over the top.

Notes:

• For a bit more flavour when stirring in the oil add 2 tsps of garlic granules, 1 tsp of chilli granules and a sprinkling of pepper to the chopped vegetables.
• I tend to make huge batches of roasted vegetables then stir in 2 tablespoons of tomato puree once cooked, using the mixture as a filling for wraps and pitta breads with a bit of lettuce and goats cheese or extra mature cheddar. 

Chilli Con Carne for Men

This chilli con carne is not for the faint hearted. This is real man's chilli with no holding back on spice or flavour! It's been perfected over a number of years, starting with my dad doing what most people do and simply throwing in a packet mix to some mince and chopped tomatoes. Fast forward ten years later with multiple flavour experiments and we've got the best chilli recipe I've ever tasted. Handle with care though. I cooked this for my (only) male housemate for a moving-in dinner last year and he was fighting back a few beads of sweat. Sour cream not allowed.

Chilli Con Carne for Men

Ingredients: (serves 6-8)

• 500g lean mince
• 2 red onions
• 1 red pepper 
• 5 fresh chillis (the small ones) 
• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tins of kidney beans
• Glass of red wine
• 1/2 tube tomato puree 
• 1 1/2 tbsp original reggae reggae sauce
• Schwarz chilli con carne spice mix 
• 1/2 tsp sweetner
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic 
• 1 tsp tamarind
• 1 tsp allspice 
• Salt and pepper 

Method:

• Chop up the onion and red pepper into fine chunks. De-seed and chop the chillies- do not touch your face during this process! Wash your hands after handling the chillies. Fry the onion on a fairly high heat for 2 minutes then add the mince and brown. 
• Once mince is brown all over reduce the heat then add in the chopped tomatoes. Open the tins of kidney beans and place in a colander. Rinse and drain the kidney beans then add into the pan along with the chopped pepper and chillies. 
• Add in the wine, tomato puree and reggae reggae sauce.
• Throw in the sweetner and spice mix followed by all the other spices, stirring in between. You may want to taste for flavour and add more in depending on how you like it. Note: if the chilli gets too spicy, add in some sweetner. This will reduce the spiciness.
• Simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. 
• Serve with basmati rice, a sprinkling of cheese and a giant bowl of tortilla chips!

Notes:

• Try spooning the chilli into a taco for a different take on mexican food. 
• This is perfect freezer food- I make it every year at the start of uni and get it out when I get home after 6pm lectures and need food RIGHT NOW. Defrost during the day then re-heat in the microwave for 5 minutes.

Red Pepper Sauce with Courgette Pasta

A massive challenge in the past few weeks has been trying to come up with non-tomato based sauces for pasta. It's even more of a challenge when said person you are cooking for doesn't like lemon or pesto and is limited in the types of creamy white sauces she can have. But finally we've found the money prize! It's a bit of a faff to make but so worth it in the end, and if you make a lot it's easy to store in the fridge or freezer. Even better news is that this recipe is extremely low calorie and bursting with veggie goodness. 

Red Pepper Sauce with Courgette Pasta (under 300 calories per serving)

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

For the sauce:

• 3 red peppers
• 1 leek
• 1/4 cup sweetcorn 
• 1/4 tsp sweetner
• Shredded basil leaves, to season

For the courgette pasta:

• 1 1/2 courgettes 

Method:

For the sauce:

• Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Place the peppers on a baking tray and roast for 20 minutes. Meanwhile chop up the leek into 1/2cm round circles. Take out after 20 minutes and add the leek. Roast for another 20 minutes, until the skins of the pepper are fairly blackened. 
• Take out of the oven and remove the top, centre and all seeds from the peppers. Then peel the skins off the pepper. Chop pepper into thin strips.
• Add the pepper and the leek into the blender, but keep a handful of the leek to the side. Add in the sweetner and blend until you have a smooth consistency. 
• Pour the sauce into a saucepan and add the rest of the leek and the sweetcorn. Keep on a low heat whilst cooking the courgette pasta.

For the courgette pasta: 

• Cut the ends off the courgette and then use a peeler to peel into thin tagliatelle-esque strips. Peel until you get to the seeds then stop. 
• Bring a saucepan of water to the boil then boil the courgette strips on a fairly high heat for about 3 minutes.
• Drain the courgette then serve. Add the sauce and then season with basil. 

Low Histamine Nachos

Its harder than you think to build a great nacho dish when you're allergic to half the usual ingredients but we've done it! 

Low Histamine Nachos

Ingredients: (Serves 2) 

• 1 bag of plain tortilla chips - for really low-allergy nachos look on the back to check there are no preservatives or additives. We used Tesco's own brand plain tortilla chips. 
• 1/2 red pepper
• 1 leek 
• as much grated mozzarella as you like, depending on how cheesy you have your nachos 

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 210 degrees Celsius. 
• Find a deep oven dish and empty the bag of tortilla chips into it. Chop up the pepper and leek into small chunks.
• Put cling-film over the dish then shake so that the pepper and leek are mixed through.
• Thrown on the grated mozzarella and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Healthy Granola

Granola is one of those things that I think is healthy...at least that's what I sit there and tell myself as I munch through my second giant bowl of the evening whilst watching Made in Chelsea. But so many of the shop-bought bags (my personal fave is Sainsbury's own-brand tropical granola) are full of sugar and actually pretty calorific. So I've come up with a recipe that goes slightly easier on the fat and calories but still tastes just as great. It's also going to be a lovely distraction when I get back in after going out tonight, and hopefully will stop me from doing my usual tipsy clear-out of the biscuit cupboard! 

 

Healthy Granola

Ingredients: 

• 100g oats
• 75g chopped mixed nuts (e.g peanuts, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts) 
• 50g sunflower seeds 
• 75g raisins
• 3 dates (chopped) 
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp maple syrup (you can get away with one if you're trying to be really healthy)
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• Cooking oil spray

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Weigh out all the dry ingredients (excluding the fruit) chopping any nuts into smaller pieces if necessary. Add all dry ingredients into a large bowl.
• Squeeze half a lemon over the mix and stir in.
• Add in the maple syrup, honey and cinnamon and stir in until everything is coated.
• Spray a baking tray with a small amount of cooking oil then bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Take out every 5 minutes to toss the mix to avoid chunks burning. Keep an eye on the granola- it may take just under 20 minutes or a few minutes longer. Once the granola is a golden brown colour and feels fairly dry remove from the oven.
• Stir in the raisins and dates and any other fruit you want to add. Dried apricots and banana chips can be a tasty addition. 

Notes:

• Keeps in a airtight container for 2-3 weeks. 
• Serve with yoghurt, milk or snack on it dry like I do!

Guilt Free Chips 'N' Dip

I'm now on day 6 of my diet. And it is HARD! All I want is a giant- ass pack of doritos complete with dip. So to satisfy my carby cravings the twin concocted some guilt-free tortilla chips and a healthy low- fat dip of her own for me. These are so versatile and will go with literally any dip, so expect a load more dip recipes coming soon!

Guilt Free Chips 'N' Dip

Ingredients (Serves 2) 

Chips: (approx. 200 calories per serving)

• 2 plain tortilla wraps 
• Olive oil spray 
• Salt and pepper to season 

Dip:

• 5 medium sized carrots
• 1/2 courgette
• pinch of thyme
• (even smaller!) pinch of coriander - can be overpowering
• 1 heaped tsp chia seeds 
• 1/2 tsp sweetener
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 250 ml water 
• salt and pepper to season 

Method:

Dip:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Peel carrots and chop into 1/2cm circles and repeat with the (unpeeled!) courgette.
• Spay a baking tray lightly with the olive oil spray then toss in the veg so its slightly coated. Roast in the oven for 20 mins, turning over every 5 mins.
• Put cooked veg into a blender along with all the other ingredients and half the water. Blend the mixture. You may need to pause several times to pull chunks up from the bottom so they blend better. Slowly add the rest of the water as you blend. You may need to add more depending on how thick you like your dip. 

Chips:

• Use a pizza wheel to cut the tortilla wraps into small tortilla-sized triangles.
• Spray a baking tray with olive oil then add the tortilla triangles. Spray the top of the tortillas lightly then season to your taste. You'll need a bit more salt and pepper than you think. 
• Bake for 5 mins then turn over and lightly re-season then bake for another 2 mins. 

Notes:

• Experiment with different seasoning. Great combos are: garlic salt, paprika, chilli and garlic.. 

Super Berry Smoothie

Feeling tired every morning? Need a sugary snack as soon as it gets to 11am? Well you obviously haven't tried the super berry smoothie! This originally started out as a diet breakfast but has evolved into a daily smoothie ritual. Great for breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack or even a nice soothing drink before bed. But don't be fooled. This isn't your average find-all-the-fruit-in-the-fridge-and-blitz-its-up. Oh no. This has got two extra ingredients set to boost your energy levels throughout the day: chia seeds and maca powder (available from health food stores and some supermarkets)

Super Berry Smoothie 

Ingredients: (Serves 1) 

• 2 handfuls of blueberries
• 2 handfuls of raspberries
• 1 handful of strawberries (optional) 
• 4 tbsp of natural yoghurt (I use Yeo Valley) 
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp maca powder 
• 1/4 cup of ice 
• you will need a blender! 

Method:

• Chop the tops off the strawberries then throw all of the fruit into the blender. 
• Add in the yoghurt, chia seeds and maca powder.
• Fill glass with the ice then add into the blender.
• BLITZ until the fruit is broken down completely and you have a smooth drink.

Notes:

• Chia seeds are THE new health food of the moment- full of fibre, antioxidants and great to throw on anything for a bit of added crunch - definitely worth the slight investment 
• Maca powder is rich in vitamins B C and E and is known for increasing energy levels. After about 3 days of smoothies in a row (as part of a balanced diet and lifestyle) you should see a change to your energy. 

Sophie's Creamy Courgette Pasta

Creamy Courgette 'Pasta'

Like most of the meals I've been cooking recently this all started with the twin sister beginning her usual moan about not being able to eat anything interesting. After serving up a fat bowl of ravioli for the grandma that was it. She wanted pasta. Pasta pasta PASTA. A big fat bowl of yellow loveliness covered in lashings of cheddar cheese. So it fell to me to create a grand 'pasta' dish that would negate the harsh reality that she was not in fact eating pasta at all. Of course nothing beats that satisfying feeling of lolling on the sofa in stodge-induced stupor, but this comes pretty close. And even better, it takes 5 minutes! So any students take note. Healthy food that's super cheap and can be whipped up during the Come Dine With Me ad break! 

Sophie's Creamy Courgette Pasta

Ingredients: (Serves 1)

• 1 1/2 courgette
• 2 handfuls of sweetcorn 
• 1 1/2 tbsp ricotta cheese (or mascarpone/ crème fraiche)
• Some form of cooked meat- I used homemade burgers (see recipe archive) 
• Salt and pepper, to season 

Method:

• The courgette 'pasta': cut the ends off the courgette and then use a peeler to peel into thin tagliatelle-esque strips. Peel until you get to the seeds then stop. 
• Bring a saucepan of water to the boil then boil the courgette strips on a fairly high heat for about 3 minutes. Add in the sweetcorn at this point too. 
• Drain the courgette and sweetcorn once cooked, then chop up the meat and spoon out the cheese and chuck everything back into the saucepan.
• Stir everything together on a low heat until the cheese has reached a thin sauce-like consistency, adding in enough salt and pepper to season as you go. This should take about 2 minutes. 
• Serve up! Top with some parmesan shavings.

Notes:

• Get creative with the cooked meat you add in. I guarantee that anything will work- try some chorizo or steak strips. 
• Add in pesto or sun dried tomato paste when stirring in the cheese for extra flavour.