Recipe: Spinach and Walnut Stuffed Mushrooms

These are the lushest stuffed mushrooms I have EVER tried. I mean, my mum makes some mean garlic and herb butter stuffed mushrooms- but this is a killer recipe man! Very quick to make, delicious and healthy. Nice with a fresh side salad, or actually I reckon one of them would be a nice side for a steak. It would also make a fantastic vegetarian starter for a dinner party. If you can't get wild garlic, add 10g more frozen spinach, and 2 cloves crushed garlic.

Spinach and Walnut Stuffed Mushrooms (serves 2 with salad)

4 large field mushrooms
150g frozen spinach, defrosted, and then most of the moisture squeezed out of it
1 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
10 wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
40g walnuts, roughly chopped
Some grated fresh nutmeg
30g Philadelphia
10g wholemeal breadcrumbs
40g finely grated cheddar
Salt and pepper
Some sort of herb garnish (mostly for appearance really)

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Remove the central stalks from the field mushrooms, and finely dice these stalks. Place the mushrooms, face up, on a baking tray, with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. Heat up the 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan on a medium heat. Fry the finely chopped mushroom stalks and wild garlic for about 5 minutes. Add the defrosted spinach and fry for 3 more minutes, and remove from the heat.
3. Mix in the Philadelphia, chopped walnuts, some finely grated nutmeg into the spinach mixture, and season to taste. Stuff this mixture equally into the 4 cooked flat mushrooms. Top with the cheddar and then the breadcrumbs.
4. Bake the stuffed mushrooms in the oven (at 200C) for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve!

Recipe: Banana and Strawberry Smoothie

The guys at Corsham Football club gave me like a dozen bananas after the race! Loadddds of em! I had a couple after the race though, cause apparently eating a banana straight after you go on a run is really good for muscle repair and energy. Something to do with the potassium I believe. So every day since the race i've been making myself this smoothie, cause it makes me feel so healthy and energetic- and it's very tasty too. I have frozen most of the bananas,chopped, into individual plastic bags- and you can put the frozen banana straight from the freezer into the blender with the rest of the ingredients- making you a super cold fruity drink! Oh, the reason why theres a slice of toast in the picture is because I came up with this recipe as part of a peice I wrote upon the importance of eating a healthy breakfast.

Banana and Strawberry Smoothie (makes 2 glasses)

1 banana, sliced
75g strawberries, quartered
25g blueberries
150ml orange juice
100g natural yoghurt
1 tsp honey

1. Put all ingredients into a blender or food processer and blend until you have a nice smooth mixture. Pour into glasses and it's ready for drinking!

Competition: Epicure/ Creative Cooks Monthly Recipe Competition

Hey everyone. Good news- i won another recipe competition!! I didn't win that Delia Online/New Zealand Lamb recipe thing. Well at least i think i haven't, to be honest their PR company couldn't run a piss up in a brewery, so i really have no idea what's going on. Aaaanyway, with my "Sweet potato and feta salad" and my "Spaghetti with Courgettes and Almonds" recipe (both of which are on this site), I won "Creative Cook's" (an organisation that is ran by the well known/renowned food company Epicure) monthly recipe competition!

I won £150 worth of "Joseph Joseph" Cookware- some really nice looking modern colourful cooking equipment. The digital kitchen scales are really cool too- i really needed some new ones to have at Nick's place. Well chuffed i am!

Thought I would just pat myself on the back a bit, and then say "thanks very much Epicure!"

Recipe: Creamy Garlicky Gnocchi, with mushrooms and bacon

This was just what I needed- I made this for myself on saturday night as a nice carbohydrate rich, starchy meal, to have before my race on the sunday morning. Because i heard that's what experienced runners do- they tend to have starchy foods such as rice, pasta or potatoes the night before a race, to keep their energy levels going. Yesterday I completed a 10k run in Corsham, which was in aid of "RUH prostate Cancer", and I also raised extra money for my charity of choice WSPCA (World Soceity for the Protection of Animals). I completed it in 1 hour, 9 minutes, and 30 seconds. I am very proud of myself, as that is a very good time for my first 10k race, and i'm also very proud of myself because i've wanted to do a 10k for so long, it's always been a "New Year's Resolution"- and this year I actually did it!

This dish is a simple and quick dinner for one, very comforting and creamy! You'll find my wild garlic pesto recipe is on my asparagus soup recipe, if you fancy making it. If not, I think that any other type of pesto would work well in this dish.

Creamy garlicky gnocchi with mushrooms and bacon (serves 1)

130g pre-packaged gnocchi
1 tsp olive oil
75g button mushrooms, quartered
1 rasher smoked bacon, diced
35g wild garlic pesto (or use any flavour you fancy!)
50g Philadelphia
Salt and lots of black pepper
Basil leaves for garnish.

1. Fry the bacon and button mushrooms in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, boil the gnocchi according to packet instructions.
2. Drain the gnocchi, reserving 60ml of the starchy water you have boiled it in. Add the cooked gnocchi, pesto and Philadelphia to the mushrooms and bacon. Stir until well combined and the sauce is nice and thick. Season to taste, garnish with basil and serve!

Recipe: Creamy Asparagus Soup, with Wild Garlic Pesto

This soup is soooo lush! Really tasty and creamy, and made with some fantastic tasting local Wye Valley asparagus. Beautiful and thick, and the nutty wild garlic pesto drizzled on top compliments it perfectly. If you have any pesto left, it's delicious to have as a simple dip, with loads of crunchy vegetable crudite.

Asparagus soup with wild garlic pesto (serves 2)

For the soup:
50g butter
4 wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme
200g asparagus (woody ends and all!), finely chopped
300g potatoes, peeled and finely diced
700ml chicken stock
250ml skimmed milk
Salt and pepper to taste

For the pesto:
8 wild garlic leaves
20g toasted pine nuts
10g finely grated parmesan
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the white onion, thyme and wild garlic in the butter on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add all the other ingredients, increase to a high heat, and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, blend all the pesto ingredients in a food processor until smooth, season to taste, and set aside.
3. Remove the soup from the heat, allow to cool a little, and blend until smooth. Return to the pan and heat up until nice and hot again. Season to taste, swirl in some of the wild garlic pesto, and serve!

Great Tips for Anti Aging

As a mater of fact, everyone has to face this time of age someday. But, with our few efforts we can still try to look young and smart :)

Here i am going to share some very useful Home Remedies for ANTI AGING:

The oldest remedy to reducing wrinkles on the face is to drink plenty of water. It makes a difference and it shows.

Buy castor oil and apply this on your skin, to soften your skin and remove wrinkles.

Fade Age Spots- Apply a few drops of lemon juice on your face once or twice a day can face age spots and freckles. You can also mix lemon juice with yogurt and apply the mask on your face. Yogurt contains lactic acids which help in exfoliating your skin.

Fight Wrinkles- Rub the core of pineapple on your face for a few minutes and leave for 15 minutes. This remedy helps remove fine lines.

Remove Puffy Eyes and Wrinkles under Eyes- Apply bee’s honey on the skin all the way from the bone under your eye to your temple. Let it dry and then rinse off.
- Put metal spoons in the freezer from 10 minutes. Cover your closed eyes with the spoons for 10-15 minutes.

Light Circles under Eyes- Put slices of raw potato or cucumber over your eyelids for about 15 minutes. You can also wrap a grated raw potato in cheesecloth and apply to eyelids. Potato contains an enzyme that is used as a skin lightener in many skin care products.
- Place cool, used tea bags over eyelids. Leave it on for 10 minutes.

- Gently massage the skin with pure castor oil in the upward direction. Massaging improves blood circulation which results in tightening of muscles and tissues. It also gives the skin firmness and prevents wrinkles.

- Mix green pineapple juice and apple juice. Apply the mixture on your face and leave it for 10-15 minutes. This mask can be used every day. It helps remove wrinkles and heal cracked skin.

- Mash 1/4 banana or 1/2 avocado until it becomes creamy. Spread the cream all over your face. Leave for 15-20 minutes and rinse off with warm water. Banana is a wonderful anti-wrinkle ingredient while avocado is a natural rich moisturizer.

- Scrub your face with sugar. Sugar contains glycolic acid which is used in facial peels to treat and prevent wrinkles.

Recipe: Green Vegetable Minestrone

This is a lovely tasty summer soup, wonderfully fresh tasting with the seasonal green vegetables and fragrant fresh herbs! The hint of savoury smokiness from the bacon makes it taste wonderful as well. This year I am trying to grow my own french beans from seed, so im hoping perhaps in a couple of months I might be able to make this dish with my own homegrown beans! Stellini (sometimes called Astrini) is the MOST adorable pasta i've ever seen- it's all diddy! They are tincy, star shaped pasta (hence the "Stell" or "Astr"- latin routes for the word star) that i got from my local farm shop. If you can't find it, add some little macaroni instead, and give the macaroni at least an extra 5 minutes of cooking time. You can also, of course, make this soup vegetarian by using veg stock and getting rid of the bacon.

Green Vegetable Minestrone (serves 6)

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for garnish)
1 red onion, finely diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 rashers smoky bacon, diced
1.5 litres vegetable or chicken stock (or a mixture)
2 bay leaves
2tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
½ tsp dried thyme
120g spring greens
50g tenderstem broccoli, sliced
50g french beans, sliced
50g Sugarsnap peas, sliced
90g very small pasta
50g frozen peas
Finely grated parmesan and torn basil for garnish

1. Sautee the red onion, celery, carrot, bacon and garlic in the olive oil, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add stock, bay leaves, parsley and thyme, and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
2. Add the spring greens, broccoli, green beans and sugar snaps, and cook for five minutes. Add pasta and cook for 3 minutes. Add frozen peas and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Season to taste, garnish with parmesan, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a few torn basil leaves.