Recipe: Macaroni Cheese

I expect that every family has their own take on the classic dish that is macaroni cheese. It's simple, tasty, cheap, and very easy to make. Some people add bacon, or roasted tomatoes- some versions even include beef, or red wine! Had a disastrous attempt at making one about a month ago using red wine and smoked bacon- actually ended up tasting revolting- Cheers metro recipes for making me waste a load of nice ingredients! My mum makes a really nice version with mushrooms, and cheese sauce made with wholemeal flour, thats very interesting too. This version has three different cheeses in it, which I think just gives it a great savoury edge (but lets not think about the calorie count, ey!). I served this with some delicious new season asparagus, just steamed with a bit of lemon butter on top.

Macaroni Cheese
250g macaroni
40g butter
40g flour
500ml semi-skimmed milk
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp crushed garlic
100g grated red leister cheese
15g finely grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
100g grated cheddar

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cook the macaroni in boiling water, according to it’s packet instructions. Meanwhile, make the white sauce (like you would normally) with all the other ingredients, except the cheddar cheese.
2. Drain the macaroni and add it to the cheese sauce. Stir to combine well, season to taste, and pour into a large baking dish. Top with the cheddar cheese, bake in the oven for 30 minutes, and then serve!

Recipe: Sundried Tomato and Basil Frittatas

This is another canape recipe that I will be making for my friends birthday party next week, and it's a very quick and simple variety to make. I was surprised how much a lot of these "frittatas" rose, almost like souffles, but they settle down once you get them out of the muffin tin and onto a plate or tray. This recipe can also be a fantastic filling for a full-sized quiche.

Sundried tomato frittatas (makes about 36)

12 medium eggs
60g finely chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
Black pepper and a little salt
Butter (for greasing)

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs well. Add all other ingredients to the beaten egg.
2. Butter/ grease all the individual holes in two mini-muffin tins. Spoon the egg mixture 2/3rds into each hole (do not pour, as this will mean the later fritatas will have more sundried tomato than egg mixture, as the sundried tomato sinks to the bottom of the mix).
3. Bake in the oven for about 14 minutes, or until fully cooked. Plate and consume either hot or cold.

Thicken your eyelashes

Who doesn't want long, thick and full lashes like a barbie doll??  Long eyelashes that are thick and beautiful are something that every women envies and wishes to have. So now your wish can come true!

It is said that the eyes are the windows of the soul... 
So, why not open up those eyes more and make them look even more lively with longer, thicker and bolder lashes?? A good set of eyelashes are definitely a statement piece that enhance the way your eyes stand-out and are a top notch accessory to our look. Using natural home remedies offers endless options that are used with confidence in the domain of beauty care to get the fabulous look you are searching for! So, to obtain that let's eliminate the chemical "thickeners" an let's head to the cabinets, as these ingredients are most likely already present and ready for use! These are some of the time-tested options offered that are both efficient and have a visible effect on your eyelashes. 

Olive Oil: 

It's not a novelty that olive oil has a miraculous effect both on stimulating hair growth as well as strengthening your hair, leaving your strands conditioned, so why not add this magical ingredient to our eyelashes? 


This one is as easy as 1-2-3!! Simply, pour a few drops of olive oil on a cotton ball and apply it to your lashes. Leave it on over night, that way you will wakeup from your beauty rest with your eyelashes in a shiny and fabulous condition (who doesn't want that). 


You can also add castor oil in the same manner to your eyelashes at bedtime to get thickened and longer lashes. One of our goals that we are achieving when using this is keeping our lashes moist, avoiding them becoming brittle and breaking off. 

Vitamins: 

The lack of  vitamins in our system can lead to a decrease in the quality of our eyelashes. The regular consumption of a healthy nutrient is of crucial importance to keep your lashes in pristine condition, even after using mascara or an eyelash curler. When our body has all of the vitamins and minerals it needs to function efficiently, hair will naturally increase in growth. (The preferred vitamins are B, D and E)


Are your eyelashes in desperate need of help? Vitamin E oil is the one that is going to answer your call of help on this one. It is an ageless method that enhances the growth of your eyelashes and is one of the greatest remedies to stop hair fall out. Also, restoring luster and shine to your lashes. Apply a few drops of this oil on your eyelashes and leave it on. This will boost their growth, thicken them as well as make them softer in no time. Keeping them looking healthy (yes please)! 

Skipping the Eyelash Products: 
In order to give your eyelashes time to recover from the damages it is highly recommended to skip eyelash products (at least eyelashes curlers, which tend to stress them) every once in awhile. This will allow the hair follicles to benefit from the miraculous effect of the natural remedies. Often these instruments can exercise a harsh effect on the texture of our lashes and even lead to breakage!

Remove your makeup:

Make sure you remove all traces of your eye makeup at the end of the day, especially on your lashes, as they need a breather. Avoid roughly tugging or rubbing when you remove your eye makeup to protect your lashes as well as the sensitive skin around the eye.

You can finally achieve naturally thick eyelashes safely and inexpensively without even leaving the house or glueing something on! By trading in the products for something that will give you the desired results and improve your look using green methods. Add these steps to your daily beauty regimen and soon enough you will be able to toss out your fake eyelashes for good and show off your own. 


Now, in your near future you can look forward to longer thicker eyelashes all thanks to a few simple tricks! It will have everyone wondering, "is she wearing false eyelashes??"

Recipe: Asian tomato and rice soup

I had to make another rather quick dinner, from the bits and bobs we had in the house last night, before rushing off to a comedy show, so i made another rather nice soup! It's almost a fusion dish really, with tomato not really being added to many chinese/ asian dishes, but it is absolutely scrummy- sweet, tangy and a little bit spicy! If you cant find the wiltshire chilli farm sauce, any sweet chilli sauce of some sort will do!

Asian Tomato and Rice Soup (serves 2)

2 tbsp rapeseed oil
½ white onion, diced finely
1 garlic clove, diced finely
½ red chilli, finely diced
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1 litre vegetable stock
40g The Wiltshire Chilli Farm Fruity chilli sauce
40g basmati rice
Salt and pepper to taste
Freshly chopped coriander for garnish

1. Sautee the onion, red chilli and garlic in the rapeseed oil for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add the ginger, tomato paste and ground coriander and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, sugar, stock and chilli sauce, and boil for 10 minutes. Add the rice and cook on a high heat for a further 12 minutes. Season to taste, garnish with fresh coriander and serve!

Nestlé: An 'eggsample' of redesigning Easter packaging

It's that time of year when traditionally the confectionery industry comes under fire.

"Too much plastic," we cry, as we open those boxes that protect the chocolate egg and its other sweet contents, and despite the reduction of packaging in recent years, an article in last week's Guardian, revealed that there are manufacturers, particularly those associated with the luxury end of the market, that are still not doing enough to rid us of the plastic crud that comes with our chocolate egg,

So it was interesting when Nestlé's press team got in touch last week, to see if I fancied checking out their latest packaging. If that saves me the embarrassment of poking about with my magnifying glass amongst the supermarket aisles, how could I decline such an offer.


I've been aware of Nestlé's reduction efforts for the last four years, since my interest in waste began.  However, the company has been redeveloping its packaging since 2006, with the aim of making its entire Easter egg packaging 100% recyclable. During this time, the company has made great inroads into the 3,000 tonnes of Easter packaging waste.  The branded mug range represents the final set of products to be tackled, helping Nestlé achieve its goal and saving 48 tonnes of plastic in the process.

For a consumer with a geeky interest in waste reduction, Nestlé's work in this area has been a really positive step, especially when it comes to plastic, because even now, many local authorities across the UK still do not collect this material for recycling.  By switching to alternative 100% recyclable materials, Nestlé states that it will save 726 tonnes of plastic waste each Easter.

So what has Nestlé done exactly? The key shift has been redesigning its products so that it doesn't have to rely on plastic to protect the egg. Designing out waste at source is one of the first goals of moving to a Zero Waste future. An example can be seen here, where FSC certified card is now used to secure the mug and confectionary inside the box.

However, the branded mug range still incorporates some plastic in its packaging, but this is compostable film, which is used for the windows.

Nestlé's latest announcement prompted me to have a browse along the supermarket aisles to see what other manufacturers are up to and it was great to see that competitor Cadbury's has also gone down the route of replacing plastic packaging with basket-shaped card.  But as last week's Guardian article claimed, there is still a lot of plastic rubbish still being distributed around the country, contributing to 3,000 tonnes that ends up in landfill.

Of course, despite the positive news from Nestlé, and the other fact that the company has incorporated a 30% reduction in packaging overall, that compostable window still niggles me. Such is the risk of sending such packaging to a Zero Waste geek.

I will happily separate that fillm and see how it breaks down under the auspices of the composter in my back garden, but what concerns me is how many other consumers will follow suit?  Will they notice and if so, will they be bothered? And of course not everyone has a home composter, for which this material is intended.

At least Nestlé includes clear instructions on what to do with the materials, so the lesson to us all is to keep a close eye on labelling, no matter what we buy.

If that is the lesson for us, the consumer, perhaps the lesson for Nestlé then, is to redesign its packaging even further to remove the need for compostable plastic, possibly shrinking the size of the windows in any product that currently needs such protection.

But I know I'm picking at bones here. Nestlé has taken a leading role within the industry by lightweighting its packaging and switching to recyclable materials and it's time that other manufacturers should follow suit.  And while they're at it, perhaps the industry can also come up with an alternative solution for that ubiquitous plastic film which either litters landfill or is poor carolific fodder for EfW.

Ouch, I think this waste-geek needs some chocolate.  

It's just a shame it's all gone.

Well that is the risk that comes with opening up the Munchies Easter egg box to assess the packaging.

And with all this talk of chocolate, I'm now regretting donating the accompanying Kit Kat and Yorkie boxes to our school's Easter Egg Bingo.

Recipe: Chinese Chicken Egg Drop Soup

Yesterday I had a bit of a longer break than normal from work, so i figured i would have time to cook something for my lunch. This recipe is FAB, definitely takes less than 30 minutes to create, infact i would hazard that it can take even less than 20. If any of you have had chinese takeaways or been to a chinese restaurant before, you may be familiar with the "chicken and sweetcorn soup" they serve, the recipe of which is usually identical in each restaurant. That dish is a variation (the thicker version we all know of is apparently an "American-Chinese" invention) of the traditional "Egg Drop" or "Egg flower" soup. By adding the egg in a slow stream whilst the soup is boiling, it creates delicate thin strands of cooked egg within the soup that creates a fabulous texture. I have also made this exact same recipe with some cooked egg noodles added in at the end and that worked pretty well too.

Chicken Egg Drop Soup (serves 2)

2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 finely chopped spring onions
1 small cooked chicken breast, diced finely
1 150g tin sweet corn
900ml chicken stock
20ml dark soy sauce
1 large egg, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Sautee the spring onion in the rapeseed oil for 2 minutes, stirring often. Add all the other ingredients except egg, and boil for 5 minutes.
2. Whilst the soup is boiling rapidly, pour the beaten egg in a steady stream whilst stirring constantly, to create thin strands of cooked beaten egg within the soup. Do this four about 2 minutes or until all the egg is cooked.
3. Season to taste and serve!

Recipe: Crushed Pea, Spring Onion and Mint Linguini

I thought considering spring is in full swing now that I ouight to switch to the more lighter "zestier" recipes perhaps. All the new leaves on the trees and all the lush sunshine has always made me think that if Spring had to have a definitive colour, i reckon it would definitely be green. This is a really great, fresh, healthy recipe- that is not only great as a main course, but also a fab starter (i usually serve a small amount of it with a large pot of olive on the side) or as a side dish to an Italian meat dish. Fresh peas can of course be used instead of frozen if you like, but they will probably require a bit more cooking that explained in this recipe.

Crushed pea, spring onion, and mint linguini (serves 4 as a main, or 8 as a side dish or appetiser)

500g dried linguini
350g frozen peas
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for drizzling later)
2 tbsp olive oil
6 spring onions, sliced finely
40g finely grated parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Put the frozen peas in a bowl and pour enough boiling water (from a kettle) to cover them. Leave them for a few minutes to defrost in the water.
2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the linguini, and cook according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, drain the peas, and “pulse” in a food processor with the mint, extra virgin olive oil, and a little seasoning- you want it “crushed” rather than completely smooth and blended, so don’t blend for too long.
3. In another large pan, fry the spring onions in the normal olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the crushed pea mixture to this, the cooked linguini (along with a ladleful of the starchy water that the pasta had been cooking in) and parmesan. Stir around with tongs on a high heat for two minutes until everything is hot and well combined.
4. Season to taste, and serve, with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over the top.