Spicy Beef Chilli
You will need

• Two onions. chopped
• One red pepper
• Three garlic cloves, grated
• One green chilli, finely chopped
• Two bay leaves
• One tablespoon of ground cumin powder
• One  tablespoon of paprika
• One tablespoon of chilli powder
• One tablespoon of freshly chopped sage and parsley
• One chicken stock cube
• One tin of chopped tomatoes
• a pinch of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of pepper
• Two tablespoons of tomato puree
• One tin of drained and washed kidney beans
• tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce
• Minced beef or turkey mince

First off start by heating your saucepan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil, Add your onions and cook for 10 minutes with salt, pepper, bay leaves ,tomato puree and your ground spices. Add your red peppers and freshly chopped parsley and sage and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Brown your mince in the saucepan for 8-10 minutes.
Followed by adding a chicken stock cube, a tin of chopped tomatoes, sweet chilli sauce ,a pinch of sugar and your drained and washed kidney beans.
Simmer gently for 40-45 minutes and don't forget to take out the bay leaves when your finished cooking...

Roasted Chickpeas

you will need

• one tin of drained chickpeas
• 1 teaspoon of chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric
• half a teaspoon of black pepper
• 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil

Preheat your oven to around 180, Drain your chickpeas and rinse them.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment and drizzle with olive oil.
Season chickpeas with your ground spices and make sure all chickpeas and evenly coated.
Roast for 10-15 minutes until the chickpeas are golden brown. I like to use these in salads as they add texture to the dish, or even as a snack on there own.

Egg white and honey face mask.

I know some people may not like the idea of putting raw egg on their face but egg whites in fact benefit our skin greatly, making out skin tighter and over all making the appearance of pores a lot smaller and it is said that benefits our skin and slows down aging in later life. If you have blackheads on your nose this is a great mask that targets certain areas of the face.

You will need

• 1 egg white, separate the egg white from the egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Simply mix until the egg whites and honey until the egg whites start to foam a little and apply to clean face, allow to set for about 15-20 minutes.

Chocolate Face Mask

I do this chocolate mask at least once or twice a week, As dark chocolate is a natural source of antioxidants, it helps with hydration of the skin and also tightens pores. The egg white in this mask also tightens pores and leaves the face feeling fresh. The egg yolk is natures moisturizer,( that feels really cheesy saying that) I often use egg yolks and honey in my hair as it conditions the hair better than any conditioner and leaves the hair feeling very glossy and shiny. The cinnamon in this mask encourages the blood flow throughout our bodies which I suppose is a good thing... The oats will add as the exfoliator in this mask... AND it smells amazing and leaves your skin really soft enough of my ramblings.

You will need

• 1 tablespoon of dark drinking chocolate, I use Cadbury Bournville Coco powder
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Half a cup of porridge oats .. not cooked of course

Simply get a bowl and add all your ingredients till it forms a smooth paste, Add the porridge oats.
When I put this on I like to have my face free of all makeup up , and splash some warm water on my face or better yet, boil a kettle and sit over it with a towel over my head, whatever you do please don't put your face in it cause that's not going to end to great.
When your face is steamed and what not , put on the mask all over your face and leave on for about 15 minutes.

Brown sugar lip exfoliator.

Although I don't recommend eating this considering this is a food blog but it does use ingredients you may have at home.I do this at least one or twice a week, its cheap and it works so give it a go and leaves your lips feeling really moisturized and removes dryness.
 You will need

• One tablespoon of brown sugar
• One tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.

Simply mix together one tablespoon of both brown sugar and one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and mix till it becomes a paste and massage gently onto wet lips but for a more intense exfoliate use on dry lips and massage into lips for one 1 minute or until you feel its done its job.

Cream sauce with fresh herbs

I forgot to take a picture of this today , im not gonna lie the dinner was SCOFFED. But its a lovely rich sauce which complements meat extremely well and takes very little time to prepare and cook.
You will need

• one tub of mushrooms, cleaned with some kitchen paper, never wash your mushrooms as they absorb way too much water.
• 3 cloves if garlic minced
• 2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced or which ever consistency you'd prefer your sauce to be.
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper and sea salt
• 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped oregano
• 1 tablespoon of freshly chopped thyme
• 250ml of double cream

Heat a medium sized saucepan with a good glug of oil and with a pinch of sea salt add your onions and cook down on a medium to low heat  for 10-15 minutes.
Add your minced garlic , and fresh herbs to the onions and cook for a further 1 minute.
Add your sliced mushrooms to the saucepan, I like the mushrooms to be cut quite roughly as there going to shrink anyway during the cooking process, cook for about 2-3 minutes.
At this stage you could deglaze the saucepan with 100ml of white wine if you like, but as I didn't have any I just went ahead and added 250ml of fresh double cream along with cracked black pepper.
Reduce for about a minute and there's your sauce. Check for seasoning.

Chocolate Brownies

You will need

• 225 g good-quality dark chocolate (broken into pieces)
• 225 g butter
• 300 g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 75 g plain flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C line the baking tin with non-stick parchment paper.

Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water.

Stir constantly until it is melted and smooth.

With an electric beater, whisk the sugar and eggs together for about 2-3 minutes until pale and light.

Slowly add the melted chocolate and butter then add the vanilla extract and continue to whisk until thickened.

Lastly, add the sifted flour and baking powder and fold in gently.

Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 30 minutes until the top is firm and the brownies have come away slightly from the sides of the tin.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When cooled cut into squares and sieve icing sugar on top

 

 

Macaroons with Lemon Curd Filling!

For the macaroons you will need

• 180g Caster sugar
• 3 tablespoon of water
• 4 egg whites
• 180g ground almonds
• 180g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 150 and line 2-3 baking sheets with baking parchment.
To make the macaroons, dissolve sugar in 3 tablespoons of water over a low heat for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Increase the heat and allow the sugar to boil for about 10 minutes, without stirring! Until it reaches 118c ''Soft boil'' temperature.
Whisk the egg whites in a free standing mixing until they start to foam. ( I done this by hand.. YET again hint hint mammy if you see this).
Still mixing , Gradually add the sugar syrup in a steady stream until the sugar is incorporated and the egg whites form stiff peaks.
In a separate bowl , mix together the ground almonds, icing sugar 165g of the egg whites and a teaspoon of food colouring,mix together.
Pipe 5cm circles of the meringue mixture onto the baking parchment with at least 2cm gaps between them.
Leave them out for 45 minutes for the shells to dry out a little and a crust to form.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool and then gently remove them from the baking paper. Be very gentle here, they can break very easily.
While the biscuits are cooling, make the lemon curd.

You will need

• 4 egg yolks 
• grated zest and juice of 6 lemons
• 70g caster sugar
• 70g salted butter

Put the egg yolks, half of the butter, lemon juice , zest of the lemon and caster sugar into a saucepan and gently heat for 10 minutes until the curd thickens.
Strain the lemon curd into a bowl to remove the lemon zest and whisk in the remaining butter. Chill in the fridge until the curd is firm and the biscuits are cool.
Sandwich pair of macaroons with lemon curd and put them back into the fridge to chill. preferably overnight.