Creamy and Cheesy Carbonara Pasta Recipe

Ingredients:
-1/2 Pound Pasta
-3/4 can Evaporated Milk
-1 Pack Bacon
- Olive Oil
-1 heaped Tbsp.. Butter
-Large Handful Spinach
-3 Eggs
-Cheese of choice (for topping)
-Salt
-Garlic Powder
-Ginger Powder
-Chilly Powder
-Other spices of choice

Method:
- Cook pasta in a little olive oil and salt according to the instructions given on the pack
- Cook bacon in oven / chop and fry bacon with 1 medium onion also roughly chopped (into small cube pieces) in a large frying pan.
- Allow for the bacon to fully cook and onions to be golden brown
- Mix in salt and spices of choice and of quantities (you can always modify after a taste test later)
- After pasta is fully cooked drain the pasta leaving a significant amount of the cooking water with the pasta
- Carefully stir the cooked pasta and water into the onion and bacon mix in the frying pan. Keep mixing as the spices begin to blend into the pasta
- Start to add the evaporated milk to the pasta in small quantities and mix under a low heat.
- Finally, finely chop the spinach  and stir into the pasta alongside a heaped Tbsp. of butter. Mix the pasta to make sure everything is evenly mixed and taste/add salt or spices to meet your preferred taste.

- Once everything is done, serve the pasta in bowls with cheese on top. You can microwave the pasta to melt the cheese and enjoy!

I really liked this recipe when  I made it - I don't even like pasta that much, so that is really saying something.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Comment your modifications / your own recipes below for me to try out next time.

Priyanka xx

Super Easy and Healthy Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Chocolate mousse? Hot chocolate sauce? Chocolate banana dip? Chocolate oatmeal topping? Chocolate anything?

Yes,please.

This is a great, super easy and healthy chocolate sauce recipe that you can put together in no time (and practically with no brain power at all!).

Ingredients:

- 1 Can Full Fat Coconut Milk (Unmixed)
- 100% Cocoa Powder / Bar of Dark Chocolate
- 2 Tbsp. Honey / Alternative Sweetener
-Cinnamon
-Pinch of Salt

Method:

-Boil 1/3 saucepan of water and place glass bowl on top
-Add thick coconut milk from the top of the can into the bowl without any of the excess water
-Add dark chocolate, honey cinnamon and salt to the bowl and allow the heat from the water below melt the ingredients
- Stir frequently until a sauce like consistency is reached and check the sweetness (I know that sweetness varies between people a lot!)
- Move the sauce into an open glass container to cool before refrigerating,

When the sauce is cool it has a mousse like texture but you can always warm it up in the micro oven to use as a hot fudge sauce.

Let me know if you enjoyed this recipe and how you enjoy eating the sauce the most.

Priyanka

Things That Make Me Happy #9 My Mother's Rice Pudding

Its been a (long) while since I have done a 'Things That Make Me Happy' post.

 

I guess I place all my excuses into being busy, stressed, tired, busy and busy. However, I am trying to get back to the happy place in my life that I was a year ago from now. It has been a strange and unexpected period that almost made me forget what I love the most in life.

 

But, no doubts here.

 

I do love a little (or a little bit too much) rice pudding. Now, the Muller Rice Pudding Pots you can grab from Asda simply do not classify as 'REAL' rice pudding. For you to have tasted 'REAL' rice pudding you must have tried my dear mother's or grandmother's one.

 

Honestly, it seems that generations of women from the Indian culture have been taught to cook rice pudding in several varieties from a young age and now behold many years of skill, practice and a specific taste to the puddings that they make.

 

My favourite type of rice pudding is a version make with long rice, date juice (which has been boiled to harden into a solid and melts in heat - I'm not quite sure of the name!) and milk. The rice is usually cooked slowly in the hot milk and then sweetened.

 

Oh my world, does this taste incredible.

 

Maybe its the fact I don't get a chance to eat it often or that it is simply damn incredible to me....sometimes even adding Rice Crisps / Puffed Rice adds a special dazzle.

 

Have you ever tried Indian style rice pudding? Which type is your favourite?

 

Priyanka xx

Browned Paleo Banana Coconut Cookie Recipe

 

Overly sweet tooth like me? In need for chocolate? Want to become a cookie monster without the 'unhealthy' feel?

 

Dear ones, join me.

 

I accept that my cooking skills are not perfect and that these cookies are a little over browned but doesn't mean that they taste bad at all!

 

To make these quick and easy yummies, you will need:

 

- 2 Bananas

- 1/2 Cup Ground Flax Seeds

-1/2 Cup Shredded Coconut

-1/3 Cup Hemp Seeds

-5/6 Dried Dates roughly chopped

-2 Heaped Tbs Honey

 (more or less depending on your preference; you can also sub any other sweetener)

- 4 Squares Dark Chocolate (I used Lindt 85%) Chopped

-1/2 Tsp Cinammon

-1 Tsp Nut Butter

-2 Tbs Olive Oil/ Coconut Oil

 

Method:

 

- Preheat the oven to 200 °c

 

-Line an oven tray with tin foil and spread with olive oil to prevent cookies from sticking to the foil

 

- Mash the bananas (TIP: Peel and warm the bananas for 40-50 seconds to make mashing them up easier) and mix flax and hemp seeds, coconuts, oil, cinnamon, honey and nut butter together in a large bowl.

 

-Allow to cool a little before gently stirring in the dark chocolate chips and chopped dates

 

- Place mixture on the foil and press into cookie shapes

 

-Bake in over for 6-10 minutes

 

TIP: To prevent over burning keep checking the cookies and take out of the oven before it goes too brown , pretty self  explanatory but I always seem to find the simple things in life too straight forward.

 

I ate my cookies with hot almond milk hot chocolate whilst I watched Vampire Diaries like a typical girl on a typical Friday night.

 

Let me know if you know if you liked this recipe and any variations you may have made.

 

Priyanka xx

Things That Make Me Happy #2 Cake Batter

Opps I did it again...

Yes. I will scoop up the remaining cake batter until its as clean as it can be.

Most would say its a guilty pleasure but what's so guilty about it, its the same thing as eating the cake isn't it? To be honest I'm not completely sure if its great for you because the ingredients are not technically 'cooked' ...(well raw egg anyone?) But it is covered in chocolate that makes it better :)

Well the main thing is it makes me happy! The main reasons I love cooking is because I feel satisfied after putting in the effort and you get food at the end. Duh.

Anyone else up for sharing a whole bowl of cookie batter with me?

Priyanka x

Simple Sugar Free Pancakes

Recently I have trying my best to eat healthily...but that doesn't mean that I don't continuously crave chocolate and feel the need to satisfy my sweet tooth!

I found a recipe for pancakes and decided to try it out and was amazed by how simple and healthy (no sugar!) it was but how darn delicious it tastes.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
-Oats (I used 2 packs of Oats so Simple)
-1 egg
-1 Banana (chopped)
-Almond Milk...which I guesstimated (I used Alpro but any milk will do)

Toppings :
-Melted dark chocolate
-Coconut shavings

Bled the oats by itself so it resembles flour then add the banana (natural sweetener), egg and almond milk and blend it until it is a liquid pancake mixture. Cooked them like normal pancakes adding any wonderful type of toppings and then serve! Simples.

What are your favorite pancake toppings?

Priyanka xx