This is the ultimate comfort food. It is often said to serve it with mashed potato but I think a bowl of this on its own is plenty enough. It is definitely my go to recipe in the winter.

Ingredients:

Stew -

400g Diced beef

2 Celery sticks

2 Carrots

1 Onion

2 garlic cloves

1 leek

3 potatoes

1 tbsp Oil

Herbs

1 tbsp Butter

2 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp tomato puree

2 beef stock cubes

Dumplings –

125g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

60g suet

Water, to bring together the dough

Method:

Put the kettle on, put the celery, carrots, onion and herbs in the pot with the oil and butter. Soften for 10 minutes, then stir in the flour until it doesn’t look dusty anymore. Then stir in the tomato puree and stock cubes.

Gradually stir in 600ml of hot water, then add the beef and bring to a gentle simmer. Let it simmer for 2 hours.

Make the dumplings by sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the suet and water to make a thick dough. Roll spoonfuls of dough into balls and coat in flour.

After two hours, add the dumplings and cook for a further 20 minutes.

I'm asking for a slow cooker for Christmas, lame I know! But I definitely think some of my recipes will improve if I cook them in the slow cooker!

My Weekend in the Countryside

To top of what started as the best week ever, ended with the best weekend at home. It started off with receiving my Graze boxes. Then driving home to Salisbury.

My Nan came over for her Friday afternoon visit, and then we went to Nandos for dinner. Again, standard Friday night dinner! It was delicious as always and nice to spend some time as a family.

Saturday has to be the most eventful day of the weekend. I went out for lunch to Fisherton Mill with my Mum, as it’s so great there. This time they had changed the menu entirely so it was time to try something new. I had marinated chicken and avocado salsa on an open sandwich. It isn’t my most favourite thing that I’ve had there but it was good to try something new. My mum had a smoked salmon and prawn open sandwich. Then we couldn’t resist but got dessert, I mean look at this meringue my mum had!

Back at home I relaxed for a bit with my dogs who I don’t get to see until I get home again on Christmas eve (I can’t begin to explain how much I’ll miss them). When my dad got home, I helped to unpack the shopping to make dinner, and then I got the phone call that made my entire week! At the beginning of the week I got one job, but being in a difficult financial place I had in the back of my mind that I needed to get another part time job as well. So I got the phone call that is going to help my career a huge amount!

I decided a couple of weeks ago that retail is the way that I want to go with my career, and this has given me the chance to be trained up through the company. I’ve never been so excited! And to make it even better, I’m jumping in at the deep end and starting Monday evening to help with Launch night. This means I get a good glimpse at the season ahead and ideas on my uniform! I’m unbelievably nervous with that bit of excitement as well.

That night we celebrated, a bit too hard, with sushi and so much wine. My sister was having a party so I joined in with them and ended up with small recollection of the night. Oops.

Needless to say I woke up with a horrible headache that I still have now! I tried to get rid of it with an amazing roast dinner but that didn’t seem to work, I enjoyed it nonetheless.

It’s now going to be one of those relaxed Sunday evenings watching X factor before I go back to Kingston and start working!

Chilli con carne

I recently found a few new ingredients that I wanted to try out so I made this for my housemates on Sunday night and they can’t stop telling me how much they love it. If they keep telling me how much they love my food I might want to live with them forever!

Ingredients:

450g beef mince

1 tin of kidney beans

1 tin of Heinz vegetable chilli beans

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 chopped pepper

1 chopped onion

Chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Method:

Start by putting some olive oil in a saucepan then adding the onion. Cook for 3 minutes then add the pepper and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the beef mince and brown off, cooking for roughly 10 minutes. Adding salt and pepper whilst it is cooking.

Add all of the beans and the chopped tomatoes and a teaspoon of chilli flakes and cook for another 5 minutes.

Leave the chilli con carne to simmer for 15 minutes.

I served mine with rice and an Old el Paso Stand N’ Stuff Soft Taco Kit and some salsa. It was so much better than any chilli I had had before and maybe that’s why my housemates loved it so much. Next I’ll be trying burritos!

Nans Spag Bol

There’s no doubt that my Nan makes the best spaghetti bolognaise, I don’t know how she does it but it always is way better than mine!

There’s something so great about it!! The whole family agrees. So here’s the recipe that she so kindly gave me, it feeds 5 people.

Ingredients:

½ a red onion

1 large carrot

450g mince beef

1 tbsp tomato puree

tin of tomatoes

1 beef oxo cube

a drop of Worcester sauce

oregano

basil

salt and pepper

Method:

Cut up the onion and carrot by giving it a blitz in the food processor and then fry it in a little oil. Add the meat and stir it into the vegetables and fry it off, making sure it is all brown. Add in the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree. Put in all of the herbs and seasoning. Simmer it for half an hour, if you have a pressure cooker then put it in there for 10 minutes. If not cover the saucepan and simmer it all.

There's always a surprise at the bottom of the pasta bowls, they're all different!

This is the best spaghetti bolognaise you’ll ever have!