Cheesy, Scrambled Egg Croissant

 If your family is anything like mine, and tend to always shop in Costco, you might have many (strangely large) croissants in the kitchen.

 

 Now, I have something quite special and exciting you can do with those guys...

 

Ingredients:

 

- 1 Large Croissant (I got mine from Costco which are freshly baked)

- 2 Eggs

- Milk

- Spinach

- 1/2 onion (optional)

- Cheese (I used Red Leicester Cheese)

- Olive  Oil (for cooking eggs)

 

- Sauces -Mayo, Ketchup (optional)

-Cucumber / salad for sides

-Spices of your choice (salt, pepper, chilly powder etc.)

 

Method:

 

-Preheat the oven to your standard temperature

- In a bowl whisk 2 eggs together with spices, finely chopped onions and a large splash of milk (this will help the scrambled eggs become fluffy)

-  In a medium frying pan heat olive oil and then begin to add small quantities of the egg mixture at a time whilst you keep scramblifying  (aka breaking up) the egg. Continue this until you have used all the egg mixture and your scrambled egg is fully cooked.

- Cut your croissant sideways to form a 'pocket'

- Carefully fill your pocket with your scrambled egg and sprinkle as much cheese as you like on top of the egg 

- When you have finished filling your croissant, press down and place in the oven for approximately 6-7 minutes. Keep checking your oven because you don't want anything to burn!

 

Hopefully after you have taken your croissant out of the oven it is crispy and the cheese has melted.

Serve hot on a plate with salad and sauce and enjoy!

Let me know if you enjoyed this recipe. How do you like to eat your croissants? Plain, with ham and cheese or sweet with Nutella bananas and marshmallows?

 

Priyanka xx 

Mother's Day 2016 : How Can You Change Your Mother's Daily Life?

Mother's Day is usually spent buying flowers, making breakfast (which must include tea for my mother), writing last minute hand made cards, eating out and many hugs and kisses.

 

This year was no different except that I ate 50% of the chocolate cake I made for my mum, we ate at a family friend's house and I didn't really buy her a worthwhile present. Strange as it seems, I have to admit that I haven't put in enough effort towards my mum simply on the daily basis. For example, she always screams at us for being 'dirty' and not cleaning my own mess etc. but I turn a blind eye to the tantrums she hits us with every single day.

 

How am I going to make a change?

 

As tough as my mood my be and as persistently nonchalant I can be I am going to start making a difference my the sake of my mother's stress and my own (from listening to her whine).

 

I will start to:

- Wash my own tea cups

-Wake up early enough so that we are not late for the bus (that she drives my sister and I to every morning)

-Wipe around the sink so less/no mess is left behind

- Start making an effort to clean my bathroom

- Keep my bedroom clear (to also to transform my space into somewhere I can concentrate and work)

- Do small meaningful things that I might think of to make my mum happier

 

This little target does not mean I have to start washing all the dishes every day and make a huge impact and waste lots of my own time (which I need to study in!) but it  means I can cut out the whining whilst taking virtually no time out of my own schedule.

 

What will you do in order to make your mother's life a little better?

 

Will you pay her more visits?

Call her more often?

Send her flowers regularly?

Tidy up your room?

Keep care of your own mess?

Do things when she asks you to do them?

Speak in a nicer tone?

 

Remember these things are simple and do not require much effort at all but require consistency to make a world of effort.

 

So what will you do to change?

 

Priyanka xx

The Wild Peanut Buttter

The other day I was in Asda doing my usual weekly shopping (and picking up my usual Whole Earth Peanut Butter when I bumped into this beauty called The Wild Peanut Chocolatey. At first glimpse it looked like just another delicious but sugar filled unhealthy version of Nutella but it proved not to be the case when I looked at the ingredients. This chocolate peanut butter only contains roasted peanuts, dark chocolate (cocoa mass, vanilla extract) and honey! There is really no reason to say no to this little jar of goodness. The chocolate flavour is definitely my favourite; it fulfils all cravings for chocolate without even tasting healthy, is luxuriously creamy, smooth and running just as I like it! Other favours that I have tried is the 'I'm Bananas' and 'Hello Honey' flavours of which the honey one is my second favourite. I was looking forward to the banana one but found that it did not taste like banana even the slightest and the consistency was not the same as the others.

Here are some of my favourite ways of eating this chocolate peanut butter:

- Banana dipped into peanut butter
- On top of oatmeal
- Oatmeal with mango slices, chocolate peanut butter, sweet potato brownie pieces, bananas, blueberries and pumpkin seeds.....check out my post on that here.
- Straight out of the jar
- On top of healthy banana bread / banana cake
- On a spoon into my mouth directly

I hope that you go out and buy this peanut butter because I am sure that it will not let you down. What is your favourite nut butter flavour and how do you most enjoy eating it?

Priyanka xx

TGI Fridays Belated Valentine's Day Meal

My mind's telling me no...

 

But my body, my body's telling me yes....

 

So I listened to my body. Oh, yes I did.

 

I've been to TGI Friday's once before in Piccadilly Circus and decided it was time to visit again after cravings for burgers once again.

 

I ordered the Jack Daniel's® Chicken Sandwich which was a grilled chicken breast with  Monterey Jack cheese,  bacon,  tomato, red onion and mayo on a glazed brioche bun. This came with a portion of fries and I also added some onion rings to my meal just because I was feeling cheeky. The cheesiness of the burger was a definite win-win situation and the Jack Daniels sauce was intensively sweet and very different, but equally enjoyable as regular BBQ sauce.

 

I felt that it took a very long time for my order to arrive and that it was overpriced for exactly what is was: a burger and chips.

 

My brother ordered Jack Daniel's Ribs which was coated in Jack Daniel' sauce. The same over sweetening property of the sauce on the ribs were less appealing, in my opinion, because the ribs were almost drenched in the sweet sauce. My brother almost couldn't finish it as 'it was giving him a sugar rush' and (quote) that he 'might not be able to go to sleep'. Oh, he does says strange things sometimes, but hopefully you get his point.

 

Also, on the same point of overcharging, my parents SHARED a steak dish at around the price of £20 and asked for the steak to be removed and replaced with chicken. It turned out that the meal was infact very small but expensive for no particular reason.

 

Overall, I enjoyed my dining experience and love the American vibe of the whole place. Have you been to TGI Friday's? What is your favourite dish on the menu?

 

Priyanka xx

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

Is All This Cake Really Going to Make Me Feel Better?

Cake.

 

It is becoming a common interest to me for some reason.

 

I really don't understand how I believe cake, burgers, chips, Nutella, crepes, salted caramel, brownie and well.....junk, is going to help me conquer anything at all.

 

In fact, instead of comforting me, I think all this is stressing me out even more.

 

This over load of calories makes me feeling like I haven't achieved my fitness goals in the slightest because I have simply sabotaged my self time and time again.

 

I would direct this issue primarily towards the need to feel happy.

I usually associate 'good memories' or exciting times around particular 'meal' (which probably was unhealthy) but tasted really good. Now, every time I feel a little down, I do back to these 'guilty pleasure' foods in hope it will help me feel better.

 

It usually works unless I keep doing it (every other night or so) during the week. This is because I also exercise and this completely counteracts all the will power I put into my work out.

 

Now, yes all this is a mental issue and something that has been striking my attention again and again just over the past few weeks. Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to indulge once in a while but I really isn't alright to draw attention to food for comfort and happiness because that is simply not how the world works.

 

I hope you all have been hearing about how the NHS are planning to inject more money into mental health  issues and I am very passionate that every single person in the world will one day have access to advice help and understanding from other people around them and professionally because it affects so many people all around the world.

 

If fact either yourself or a very close family member/ friend will at least once in their life be affected by a mental issue, be mild or serious. I want to be able to be honest on my blog and encourage others to raise awareness, share stories and be able to share advice because we are all in this together.

 

I also was encouraged by Jack's Gap Video on this issue of not being afraid and being able to express our worries and concerns regarding mental issues.

 

I hope this is encouragement for everybody reading this.

 

Thank you.

 

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