Friday 29 April 2016

Pesto Veg Pasta Salad



Ingredients:

750g pasta shapes
1 jar (190g) green pesto
5 tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots, finely chopped
150g frozen peas
150g frozen sweet corn
100g baby corn, finely chopped 
200g sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
5 tbsp dried basil 
Plenty of black pepper



Method:


  1. Cook pasta, leave to cool a little.
  2. Steam the sweet corn, carrots, baby corn & peas until soft. 
  3. Add the olive oil & pesto to the pasta & mix well. 
  4. Add the steamed veg, chopped sundried tomatoes, black pepper & basil & again mix well. 

Serve cold as part of a buffet or alone as a meal. 



Sunday 17 April 2016

Lavender Hand Cream Recipe




My hands require lots of TLC, they're always cleaning, washing, gardening and I have never really found a commercial hand cream I am happy with so I thought I'd have a go at making my own with pure natural ingredients...

Ingredients:


100ml sweet almond oil
2 heaped tbsps coconut oil
2-3 tbsps olive oil
1.5oz grated beeswax
35 drops of lavender essential oil

Method:


  1. Heat the oils together until warm.
  2. Take off the heat & stir in the grated beeswax.
  3. Place in the fridge for 5-10 mins to begin cooling.
  4. Add the lavender and mix well, it will start to thicken so place into a jar to cool completely.


It smells divide & only a little is required each time it's used.

Friday 8 April 2016

Orange Cake



I found a recipe on AllRecipes.co.uk for an orange cake but then adapted it slightly to add some extra fruity-ness.

Ingredients:

2 oranges, juiced & zested

Cake:

250g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
300g caster sugar
125ml milk
125ml orange juice
125ml sunflower oil
3 eggs
2 tbsp orange zest

Icing:

250g icing sugar
125g butter
2 tbsp orange juice
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp orange zest



Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 170C.
  2. Zest and juice your oranges, keeping the zest and juice in separate bowls.
  3. Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl - flour, baking powder, salt & caster sugar.
  4. In another bowl mix together the wet ingredients - freshly squeezed orange juice, milk, eggs and oil. Mix together well - (it does curdle but it's ok despite looking disgusting at this stage).
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry also adding the orange zest and mix together well.
  6. Pour the mix into 2 round cake tins.
  7. Bake for 30-35 mins or until golden brown.
  8. Allow to cool for a few minutes then remove from the tins.
  9. Place on a cooling rack & allow to cool completely.
  10. Beat the butter and slowly add the icing sugar a little at a time - until it's all mixed in.
  11. Add the orange juice, zest & vanilla essence and mix well.
  12. Once the cake has cooled spread half of the icing on top of one of the cakes. Place the other cake on top pressing it down slightly.
  13. Use the remaining icing to cover the top of the cake - smoothing it with a smooth butter knife or something similar.
  14. Decorate by sprinkling the remaining orange zest on top of the cake.

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