Chocolate Nightmares and Herbs

Actually it's been a quiet week which has been good for me, as I finally got a rest, but crap for the blog..

Don't worry I have an interesting weekend planned so I promise next week post will be much better.

Anyway this week I was exposed to what can only be described as the most awful chocolate experience ever.

"How can Chocolate ever be awful?" I hear you shout.

Well it can if the Australians ever get hold of it.

Now I love our antipodean cousin. My Fab cousin Sally was born and brought up there and from what I gather (having not had the chance/funds to visit yet) it's a beautiful place full of culture and a stunning natural landscape.

But to do what they did to chocolate is just beyond wrong.(Bad Australia , No)

One of the girl in our office was sent a Dairy Milk with "Vegimite"  from a friend or should I say Fiend from OZ

As I'm not one to ever turn down a taste experience I dived right in and had a whole square that I, throwing caution to the wind, ate in one big bit now the first initial taste wasn't that bad a I bit though the familiar velvet taste of Dairy Milk and Caramel. 

But beware there is a black heart in this chocolate beast, a dollop of Vegemite and trust me it was not pleasant. It took half a pint of water and a can of diet coke to get ride of all the taste, but the horror of it will linger for a long time.

Hey well you win some you lose some, this won't put me of trying new things; although might be slightly more wary if it has Vegemite in the title.

And at least I knew what I was doing, a poor guy in our office though it was a bog standard Dairy Milk with Caramel and it was upside down and he didn't read the label so he got a even nastier shock than me.

The other foodie news of the week been helping out with my mum's herb garden keeping it alive and watered during her being away.

I'm waiting for the Scotch Bonnet Chili to come in and then I'm going to make some fiery chicken.

Although in the mean time might do something nice with the basil and mint that is already in.

So if anyone has an good recipes that include any of these herb/peppers send them my way and I will try to make them :)

Meats, Fishes and Disney Shoes

Wow it's been a mad week...

I started off the week with all go intentions of being health and sensible.

I started by making a fab fish pie:

Ingredients:
Cod, Pollock and Salmon (as much as you want depending on the Size of the pie)
Carrots and Green Beans. (For the filling)
Quark and Low Fat Yogurt ( for the white sauce)
New Potatoes and Courgettes (Zucchini) (for the topping).

In one pan par boil for 6 minutes some New Potatoes.

Then in a shallow pan add the fish on a low heat in a pan and cook off for a few minutes.

Then add the carrots and green beans and stir in.

Then turn the hob right down and stir in the Quark and the low fat Yogurt. At this point I added some Chili powder to liven it up a bit as I am a big fan of the spice.

Transfer into a dish then cover the top with the new potatoes sliced and some sliced Courgettes. cook in a hot over around 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Then you should have a lovely healthy fish pie that server 4 people.

serve it with some salad and Voila something yummy but not calorific. Also if your on Slimming World it Syn Free.

So after that lovely healthy start to the week it went a bit awry.

It started with me, traveling between offices for a meeting deciding on Having Ice-cream for Lunch.

It was from Snowflake Gelato from their concession stand at Selfridges. I  had two scoops, one of Stracciatella and one of banana. It was so cream and so lovely just the thing on a hot day in London. I was definitely enjoying it, although probably a bit too much judging by some of the looks I got walking down Wigmore Street whilst devouring it lol :)

As the weather has finally turned sunny I  managed to get a little BBQ on the go first one of the year yay.

We had the standard eats of Burgers and Sausages with a yummy salad and olives

The highlight was an amazing new dip from Tesco's a Beetroot Tzatziki. Really fresh tasting with a little bite of sweetness from the beetroot, hands down my new favorite dip.

We also took a trip to visit some friends in the lovely town of Whitney near Oxford. It is a lovely little town and we were treated to a show of Morris Dancers. I used the Periscope app to film it all. I am loving this new App only wished I did more interesting things to film.

The App lets you broadcast live from wherever you are (well as long as you have Wifi or 4G). It is my new guilty pleasure as if I'm on it, I'm normally watching people filming from Disney World, especially the Parade as, because of the time difference, it on just after I get in from work. Although with the little man it normally just a quick fix before the bedtime story.

Back to Whitney, we were visiting to ask our friend to be godparents to our little boy, they said yes which was fantastic, we have to wait so it co-insides with the In-laws leave year as they need to be back for a weekend - probably end up a logistical nightmare but I'm sure I can sort it.

After lots of hugs and happiness at them saying yes, we went for a fabulous lunch at Chequers-Smoke-House My husband and I had their meat platter to share which was comprised of chicken, brisket, Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, Pulled Pork, Burnt Ends, Corn Bread, Sweet corn, Coleslaw and Chips.

My friends had huge mouthwatering burgers they even did a naked "Pig" burger for the Gluten free member of the party.

the food was great, really tasty and a bit of a bargain for the 4 of us to eat and with drinks it worked out to £25 per head. Definitely be giving it another try even if it just to have a taste of their Mac N Cheese which a person on the table next to us was having as that looked yummy too.

Oh and this week I finally got my son some Disney Vans woo hoo...

Only taken me best part of 3 weeks going to different stores and tweeting the company (Which they didn't respond to, not great customer service boo).

They are so cute but as they are limited edition I'm undecided whether I should let him wear them or just squirrel them away for a later date when they could be worth a few more bob...

Although knowing me as he'll look so cute in them I'd rather just let him have the fun in them.. Which will probably be wreaking them in the first puddle we come across, oh well :)

Low Fat Shepherd's Pie

Been on a cooking frenzy this week to help with my weight loss 

So I've made a very low fat dish and if you're on a Slimming World it's Syn free..

Shepherds Pie:

Chop/dice

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

300g Mushrooms 

250g baby tomatoes 

In a pan boil up 1 potato a couple of carrots and a swede. 

While in another pan brown off 500g of Turkey mince. Adding in some red onion.

Add the chopped veg to the pan with some tinned chopped tomatoes. 

Simmer for 10 mins before adding it to a oven proof dish.. 

Mash up the potatoes, carrots and swede and spoon on top of the mince.

Bake in the over at 200 degrees for 20-25 mins 

Sever with some Salad and voilà you've got yourself a yummy health meal.

Also as you've made so much you can always reheat the leftovers the next day to say you cooking again..