This is a product that I’ve been using for about a year, when they first brought it out here in the UK and it is one of the best things I’ve had with chicken.

Before you jump to any conclusions, this is not a sponsored post in any way. It’s just something I want to share out of the kindness of my heart, how great am I!

This is a product that is part of the Maggi range, and it comes in 3 flavours – Italian herb, garlic and paprika, and it is pretty good value as you get 4 in a pack.

The best part is that you don’t have to use oil when you cook it. Just be careful though because the chicken probably won’t cover the whole area so the spice on the uncovered area may burn and set off the fire alarm!

I really love the paprika one, I’ve tried the garlic one but I found it too salty and I didn’t enjoy it much. Just to make it even better there's only 25 calories per papyrus paper so you aren't adding a whole lot to your meal, except a ton of flavour!

When you cook the chicken in this paper, it keeps it moist and doesn’t go dry as it sometimes does in the oven. It only takes about 10 minutes to cook so it makes a quick and healthy dinner!

This is what the papyrus paper looks at first

Pop it in the frying pan, with no oil or anything!

I normally serve mine with a load of vegetables but I overcooked my cabbage last time I had it, how embarrassing…

I can't recommend these enough! Have you tried any Maggi products? Do you think you will be trying these?

My favourite dish to make…

Chicken Pie, I love making this and it has to be one of my favourite dishes to make for everyone. While I’m sat writing this I’m making it for all my housemates for when they get home from work (I’m great aren’t I). I always pack it full with carrots (and onions) to get more vegetables in, and they help you see in the dark right?

I’ll give you the recipe of course:

Ingredients:

1 Onion, chopped

2 or 3 Carrots, chopped

3 Chicken Breasts, chopped into chunks

A splash or two of olive oil

1 Stock Cube

1 tbsp Gravy Granules

Salt and Pepper

Puff Pastry

I added a bit of oregano today, and also I served it with loads of cabbage and then my housemates had chips as well!

Method:

1. First put a splash of oil in a pan and heat it up a little. Add the onion and soften it then add the carrots and cook for roughly 5 minutes or until they are all softened. Season with salt and pepper.
   
   
   
2. Next add the chicken and cook for roughly 8 to 10 minutes, check that its cooked thoroughly first before carrying on. Season with salt and pepper.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Make up the gravy and stock in one jug, fill it with boiling water and mix it all together. Then add it to the chicken and vegetables and let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
   
   
   
4. Take it off the heat and spoon it in to a ceramic dish (mine is floral and pink obviously), so that there is a good layer along the bottom. It’s best not to fill it to the top as it can overflow and the flavours blend together better if there’s a smaller amount of mixture.
   
   
   
5. Put a layer of puff pastry over the dish. I always let it fall over the sides so it puffs up nicely and we get extra pastry with the pie!
   
   
   
6. Cook it in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and you can hear the gravy bubbling inside.
   
   
   
7. Serve with chips or mashed potato or even more vegetables and most importantly, enjoy!
   

Review. £5 off of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables at Tescos.

Almost a year ago I received an email from Tescos to sign up to a new site they were developing called Orchard. Now on this website you fill out a number of surveys so that they understand your habits and preferences. Then every so often you get “invited” to programmes where you are sent vouchers to try new products that Tesco have launched.

The most recent programme I signed up to take part in was one where I got £5 off of any fruit and vegetables that I ordered with a Tesco delivery. Perfect timing as I needed to stock up at uni!

I got a whole range of vegetables, as you can see from the photos I went all out!

Back to the point of the programme and my review. The aim of the programme was to see what the freshness was like of the products delivered. I must say it was really good! The products were definitely better than if I had picked them myself. The dates were all the best you could have found in store.

Would I recommend Tescos to you?

Well I personally have never had a bad experience with Tescos. The reason I always shop there is because I get club card points and vouchers. Not only that, obviously it is an added bonus, the range of products they do is great, they are always keeping up to date with their brands and doing their own version of the products as well.

Yes, I would definitely recommend shopping there. People can judge so quickly but it’s really quite good!

You may ask why I bought so much, I couldn’t possibly eat it all before it goes out of date. Well you’re right, I always get vegetables that I can freeze, so I chop it all up and divide it into plastic bags and put it in the freezer.

That way I can choose which vegetable I want with my dinner or if I want to put extra vegetables in a chilli con carne or bolognaise sauce then they are already in the freezer ready for me to use.

The cute patterned bags are from IKEA!

"Courgetti"

It feels like it's been ages since I've written a blog post, but it really hasn't, work seems to have just taken over this week and getting back into a routine after being on holiday has to be one of the worst things...

Anyway, let me introduce you to "courgetti". Yes, it is a real thing, 100% credit given to my mum for the name because it simply is courgette spaghetti.
Yet again, I was apprehensive about trying something new but I had a good feeling about this one and just writing about it now makes me want it (though it doesn't help that I've barely had time to eat today).

It is probably the most basic recipe ever and it takes simply minutes to make.
All you need is a courgette, some butter and a clove of garlic.

First of all, you need to get the courgette like spaghetti. At home we have a special peeler that cuts it into fine strands when you peel it. But if you don't have one of these (I suggest investing in one!) then use your standard vegetable peeler to get slices of the courgette then use a knife to thinly slice them.

So you've got your courgette all ready, put a bit of butter in a saucepan with some garlic. Let the butter melt and the garlic soften a bit, just so your breath doesn't smell really bad once you've eaten it...

Once the butter has all melted, add in your courgette and toss it around in the garlic and butter and let it soften a bit, I reckon about 4 minutes should do the trick.

"Mum wait I need to take pictures!" 

Obviously drain away some of the juice or you'll end up with puddles of it.

I may have cheated with the sauce I put with it, I was tired and too hungry to want to make something! These are handy little pouches though and taste great. I heated it up then mixed it in with my courgetti and added some leftover chicken for a bit of protein. 

And the final dish! It tastes a lot better than it looks, and is way more filling than you would think. Plus there's no carbs, I mean how much better can it get than that?

You know it's true!

Athens - part 2

So we made it to day 3 of our holiday in Athens and I have gotten the biggest blisters all over the balls of my feet from when we attempted (and failed) to find some nice places to eat.

In the end, that night, we went to a restaurant called Dionysos which had the most incredible views of the Acropolis, which lit up when it was dark. It really is a must see if you ever visit Athens. 

Anyway, for dinner we had the most amazing food (and if you've already seen it all on my Instagram then you get to see it all over again now!). To start we had bread (this seems to be the case in all restaurants) and then calamari and courgette fries, so yummy! I said before I came on holiday that I would try food I hadn't had before, and that starter was it, I probably wouldn't choose to get it again but I did enjoy in nonetheless. They weren't greasy at all which was a huge relief. For the main I had American ribeye steak,  cooked medium rare of course, my mum had chicken and my dad had pork belly. It was so beautifully presented that I had to take pictures of it all.

Unfortunately, we were all tempted by dessert, while my brother and I went for the chocolate ice cream, my sister had an incredible lemon meringue pie and my parents had crepes suzette with ice cream and an orange syrup, not my cup of tea personally but they loved it.

Don't we look cute!

Chicken with bulgar wheat and a light sauce

American ribeye steak with a light sauce, asparagus, and potatoes

Pork belly with mashed potatoes

Our view of the Acropolis at night!

Lemon meringue pie 

The next day we headed out to the national archeological museum which was actually fascinating, with amazing statues and sculptures and all kinds of old bits they had found. 

The national archeological museum

Look at them trying to be all interested!

They had a tortoise there!!

Then on the Saturday evening we did "Athens by night" and went round on a coach for a few hours to see all the sights of Athens. We then went to a Tavern and saw a folklore show. Without a doubt one of the funniest nights I've had. The food we ate was pretty average, starting with Greek dips, bread, salad and some pasta. Followed by chicken in a light sauce with potatoes and spicy vegetables, which after a few glasses of wine and being starving, it tasted pretty great (you know that kind of drunk where you get the munchies, yeah I was at that stage). We finished with a scoop of ice cream and some more folklore singing and dancing!!

The very first Olympic Stadium.

He ruined a great selfie

The Greek parliament

Mum and hope got up for Greek dancing!

This tastes way better than it looks

After a somewhat eventful night I completely overslept and woke up 5 minutes after breakfast ended, oops! Even so, we ventured off to venture through the streets of Athens (with my poor blistered feet) and headed to the flea market which was unbelievably busy. I refrained from getting something to eat from the many bakery's we passed along the way, and instead had my first frozen yoghurt (or Iin Greek, frogen yüz)! After going round the flea market and picking up some treats, we went to get some lunch which was an utter disaster (and obviously this is my opinion, so please don't take offence). My mum and I tried something different and got chicken gyros...I honestly have no idea what was on my plate but it didn't taste like chicken I'm used to! So we left basically the whole meal!!

Chocolate frozen yoghurt with lots of fruit! My first ever one :)

The disaster...

I found a blog post that had happened to come up the day we got here on bloglovin' about Athens, conincidence or what, however on there they recommended a restaurant named Strofi, my dad saw it had some good reviews so we booked a table there for the Sunday evening. It was a stunning restaurant, 3 floors, and an even better view of the Acropolis (yes, it's one of my favourite places now if you hadn't guessed). So we sat on the rooftop taverna and enjoyed dinner with a view (again). That night I had some feta and bread to start (I'm awful I know) and then I had grilled chicken, grilled vegetables and "potatoes of the oven", simple yet so nice and I'll definitely be making it for myself at home without the potatoes. I was feeling slightly unwell and some nutritious food was just what I needed! The rest of my family had slightly more traditional starters (although I know feta is Greek!), my dad ordered moussaka which everyone loved and my sister had grilled halloumi, tomato and pine nuts.

The view from Strofi

Halloumi with tomatoes and pine nuts

Grilled chicken, grilled vegetables and "potatoes of the oven", lush!

And my mums pork stuffed with sundried tomatoes with the same sides

Today was finally the day we went to the Acropolis!! First we went to the museum which was utterly fascinating (no sarcasm here), the statues that they managed to recover and preserve were so amazing, it doesn't even seem real. We ate in the restaurant there instead of the cafe for a bit of a better meal and the kids of the family just had pasta bolognaise, but the food here is unbelievably salty!

We wandered round the rest of the museum and the museum shop then trekked up to the Acropolis, I wish I was exaggerating when I say it was a trek but I'm honestly not. It was the best part of 35 degrees today and I swear I almost fainted but I got to the water fountain in time. If you ever go, please take water as there was barely any shade along the way and no where near enough water foundations. Besides that, it was incredible and amazing and fascinating and beautiful, did I mention it was incredible? Honestly, I don't think I'll ever see anything so great again. And don't worry my dad, brother and sister walked ahead and got us some iced lemonade, the best drink I ever tasted after being so dehydrated that I drank my brothers too! (I'm a wimp I know). We are now all collapsed in the shade by the pool and we won't move for the next two days! 

My beaut family

And now I'm enjoying this beauty

On a side note, I have written out my meal plan and gym workouts around work when I get back at the end of the week! Wish me luck!

Much love if you got through reading all of that. X