Easy Chocolate Cake Pops

Recently we had a surprise baby shower for my sister-in-law and I decided to try and do something special for her cake. You may or may not have heard of cake pops but they are starting to become a rather popular concept. And I was pleased to discover that they aren't too difficult to make. I tried my hand at two different kinds of cake pops the first one being the easiest that I am going to talk about today and the second one was a bit more of a challenge that I will share on Thursday. The easy thing about this recipe is that you can use a lot of ready made products for even greater ease.

Discovering the delicious flavor of Spanish Chorizo Sausage

Since I moved to the UK I have discovered a new love for the Spanish sausage, Chorizo. It has such fantastic flavor and as I have discovered can be added to many different dishes for a spicy flare. I served this particular dish while my dad was visiting from the States and both he and my husband loved it. And because Chorizo keeps so well I find it is something I can keep on hand for a quick and satisfying dinner option.

Getting ready for the holidays by finding new baking inspiration

September is winding down and I am already starting to think about the holidays. I know that is a taboo thing to be thinking about this early but alas I am. I think because this is my first year with Morgan. Even though she is too young to appreciate it I am so excited to celebrate the holidays with my little girl. Plus I have family from the States coming to visit this holiday season so I have even more to celebrate. Seeing as how this is my first time to spend the holidays in England I have wanted to experiment a little more, try to add to my holiday baking list. It has only been for the past few years that I have really gotten into my pie making and this time I wanted to try something a little bit different. Chris loves custard so when I saw this recipe I thought it would be a perfect fit. The crust is a little different to work with because of the whole-wheat flour, but it tastes delicious.

Lighter dinner options

After a few nights of rather heavy meals both my husband and I really enjoy eating lighter options. For me it is all about a healthy balance, I would never completely give up dishes like curry or sausages and mash, I just know that I have to also make sure I include much lighter options like grilled fish or like today's recipe Charred Grape Tomatoes and Basil over Pasta.

My pre-made ingredient secret; Patak's Curry Paste

I would like to get to know my readers a little bit better so I would like to ask you a question. What is the one pre-made ingredient that you use to make dinners easier for you. It might be a pre-mixed spice rub, pre-cooked meat or really anything, mine is Patak's curry pastes. For those days that I just need something simple that I can throw together that I know is going to taste good and keep my family happy it has become my go to ingredient. Because everyone needs something that takes very little effort that you know will turn out great every time.

Coming up with money saving ideas even when the tap is leaking

It has been a while since I posted a money saving idea and I have an odd one today that I would like to share because you never know when someone will be stuck in the same position.


We live in rented accommodation so we have to rely on a landlord to fix things, which means that things don't always get taken care of as fast as you would like. However even if we owned our own place problems might not get fixed as quickly as we would like because of finances, so either way you can at times be left with a frustrating situation. So sometimes it takes some out of the box thinking to save money when situations like today happen. We have a leaking sink and the plumber is not coming until Monday. Now we live on metered water, which means that literally every tiny drop that comes out of the tap is money coming out of our wallet. This frustrates me, even more so because I am home most of the day so I can hear the sound of the tap dripping and it is a constant reminder of the wasted money. So I this morning I stuck a pot under the tap and I have been using the wasted water throughout the day. First I filled the kettle when I wanted to make some tea, then I had to water a few plants, clean the bathroom and now it is filling the pot that I need to boil the water for the pasta tonight. It is still annoying that the tap is dripping but it has made me feel a whole lot better being able to use the water instead of just having it be wasted.


So keep your mind always thinking outside of the box and tell me what ideas you have come up with to save money when a situation presents itself that is out of your control.

Trying to recapture a piece of Summer as Winter draws near

So in England Summer is officially over, it is starting to get colder and we are beginning to unpack the sweaters and jackets. This will be the first time I have ever lived somewhere that actually has a winter it is a strange, new experience for me. I am not use to September being the time for sweaters, normally I would still be having BBQ's and swimming. So to help warm up I decided some good old fashioned fried chicken would help us recapture the feeling of summer picnics. I subscribe to a wonderful website called Delish, from on of my favorite magazines EatingWell. And in one of their articles they had this recipe that sounded just perfect, and the best part is it is a lot lower in fat because you don't fry it. But don't worry it is just as crispy and juicy coming out of the oven as it would be out of the fryer.

Learning how to alter recipes to cater to your personal taste

I think the day I discovered that I didn't have to follow a recipe in order to be able to cook changed my life in the kitchen. Not having any formal knowledge, my culinary skills have come from lots of reading and even more practicing. Not all of my attempts have been successful. I have had meals that turned out so bad that we went out to eat instead. The great thing about using a recipe is that it is a blueprint for a delicious meal and if you follow it you dish should be a success. But when you feel adventurous enough, learning to go off-roading in the kitchen can really change who you are as a cook. Whether it is altering a dish to fit your taste, creating an entirely new dish using a recipe as your foundation or by just taking inspiration from a concept and creating a dish from scratch, it is a exhilarating feeling. Because not only does it mean that you are growing in your culinary skills but it also means that you have grown to know what flavors go together, what herbs could be added to make the dish pop, how to substitute and get similar results. Just knowing these things without the aid of a recipe is very freeing and allows you to be as creative as you want.


Today's recipe was a combination of several inspirations. My husband and I bought several beers from the farmers market over the weekend but we are trying to restrict our drinking to only the weekends so I wanted to use up the last dark ale so it wouldn't be in the fridge tempting my husband during the week. My second inspiration came from the weather, being typical English weather it has been very unpredictable. I woke up to blue skies and warm sun but by noon the clouds had rolled in and the temperature took a dive and by late afternoon it was raining. So I decided I wanted something warm and filling. After doing some research I decided that Steak and Ale stew was just what I was looking for. But the only problem was I couldn’t find a recipe that utilized all of the ingredients I wanted in it. So I decided to experiment and use a recipe I found on BBCgoodfood.com and just alter it to fit with what I had on hand.

Cilantro Chicken with Peanuts an easy meal idea for even the craziest of days

I talked a lot about the ease of cooking, it is so important to not allow cooking to become something that is so complicated that you avoid doing it. Learning how to put things together in a way that is healthy and tasty but also very easy is a vital way to cut down your food budget. I relearned this lesson last week while we were in the middle of moving and unpacking. I felt too tired and things were too chaotic so we ended up eating out for most of our meals, all together we spend more last week on food then I normally do for two weeks worth of meals. The thing is I know plenty of dishes that take no time at all and are very tasty so really I have no excuse. The biggest thing is making sure you have certain basic stock items in your house all the time, that way when those crazy days sneak up on you there is always something you can put together for dinner.  I always have cilantro (coriander) on hand as well as chicken so this easy meal just required me to get some honey-roasted peanuts. Although you could just use plain peanuts as I have done before and it taste just as good. This recipe was yet another culinary delight that I got from my Sonoma Diet Cookbook, I can’t say enough about their recipes. They are not only healthier as they are apart of their diet, which on a side note is a lifestyle-focused diet, which in my opinion is the only way to successfully diet. The other added benefit of the recipes is that they are all easy to prepare and these days with a little one needing constant attention that is a very important thing.