The best spaghetti bolognese recipe ever (okay, I'm biased)

Spaghetti bolognese is one of the first dishes I ever made for myself. It kinda got me through uni, with a little help from Dolmio of course. But for years it was my backup dinner; a really simple thing that I could fling together with zero effort and I didn't really enjoy but found bearable because it was easy. 

Chili and Lime Salmon Recipe with Lurpak

Salmon gets cooked only on the rare occasion in our household. It's one of those things that I'm totally aware is very good for me, but that I can't bring myself to make and eat very often. Even then, when we do have salmon, it's most likely raw atop a lil' bed of sushi rice, mmmmm. 
But, when Lurpak invited me to try their new range of infused butter, I knew the chili and lime flavour* had to be tried on a nice piece of salmon. I've always been a much bigger lime fan than lemon, which is the more classic addition to any fish seasoning. Usually I spend a bit of time adding olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice (sometimes it just feels right) and parsley, but with this I simply dolloped a teaspoon of the infused butter on top of the salmon and we were ready to get cracking in the oven. 
The chili added a nice kick of heat to something that otherwise may have been overtly fish-y, and it is definitely something I would give a go again. I served mine over brown rice with cabbage, but there are so many other ways this could be served. Next time, I'm thinking a salmon pasta dish will be really tasty with the chili and lime!
If you're a little lazy in the kitchen, or don't have the time to season your salmon with care, I would recommend giving this a go to please guests or the family.
Ingredients (serves 1): - 1 piece of salmon (preferably boneless) - 1 tablespoon Lurpak Chili and Lime infused butter*
Method - Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius) - Place a fairly large piece of foil on a baking tray. - Pop the salmon on the centre of the foil and place the butter on top of the salmon. - Bring the edges of the foil together over the salmon and lightly scrunch. - Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes. - Unfold the foil and enjoy!
What is your favourite way to cook salmon?
Although this post features gifted products, all opinions are as always my own.
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Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry Recipe

I'm loving sharing more recipes with you guys on here at the moment, so I thought I'd chat a little bit about this quick and easy chicken and broccoli stir fry. Just like my chicken fajitas recipe that I shared earlier on in the week, this has become a weekly staple for us recently as it's so quick to whip up. This actually takes a measly 15 minutes to get sorted, so if you're looking for a quick fix at the end of a long day, or if (like me) there are some days when you'd rather do anything than spend an hour cooking something, then this is a fab go-to. Plus, it's got about one zillion nutrients so, y'know, it really is a little health kick in a meal.

I use brown rice for this because, as I've mentioned in my overcoming food fears post, there are certain foods I haven't quite got round to finding enjoyable, White rice is 100% one of them. I prefer the flavour, texture and added health benefits of brown rice. The one downside? It doubles the time this takes to make. Brown rice tends to take around half an hour to cook, as opposed to the standard 12 minutes for white rice. So bear in mind that if, like me you want to make the switch to brown, you'll need to allocate a little more time.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

- 2 chicken breasts

- 1 bunch broccoli

- Grapeseed/extra virgin olive oil

- Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

- 3 tablespoons soy sauce

- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

- 2 tablespoons honey

- 1 tablespoon cornstarch

- 1 minced garlic clove

- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Method:

1.) Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces and the broccoli into small florets. Keep them separate.

2.) Boil water for your rice and put it on to cook.

2.) Heat some oil in a wok or frying pan. Place the chicken in and fry until it is cooked through.

3.) Whilst the chicken is cooking, mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a mug or small bowl.

4.) When the chicken has been cooked sufficiently, add the broccoli to the pan with a little more oil. Fry until the broccoli has gone a bright green colour (this should take roughly four minutes).

5.) Pour the sauce over the chicken and broccoli and cook for another 2 minutes.

6.) Serve.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe - if you do make it, please tag me in your pictures - I would love to see them! 

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Restaurant Review | Las Iguanas

I'm currently effectively obsessed with South American food, so Las Iguanas has become a firm favourite in my restaurant repertoire. Nachos are treats from the gods, and in my mind a restaurant is only as good as its nachos (true story). So, when I got some good news recently, me and the boyfriend headed out to Las Iguanas to try a whole range of goodies. Although the restaurant was busy, we had managed to make a booking just a few hours before so didn't have to queue up. Unfortunately we were seated in a really dark corner so the lighting wasn't as great as I would have liked for photos, but we still received great service throughout the meal.
Here's what we picked:
Cocktails:
I decided I was going to try as many cocktails as possible for you guys and I may have failed a tad - not drinking for a while + three cocktails meant I was fairly KO'ed. BUT, I did get to give four a whirl for you, even if I didn't manage to finish them. 
Strawberry Red (Malibu, strawberry liqueur, lemon & cranberry juices & lemonade.)
This is probably my all-time favourite Las Iguanas cocktail. It's not too sweet, and not too bitter. Plus strawberry flavoured anything is pretty much a winner in my books. 
Vanilla Mai Tai (Havana Club Especial rum, Absolut Vanilla vodka, lime juice, almond syrup & bitters.)
This is one of Las Iguanas' new cocktails this season, but was actually my least favourite of the four. I found it a little too strong and bitter for my liking - I like a good amount of mixer!
Pink Passion Fruit (Pink Pigeon vanilla rum, apricot liqueur, Funkin passion fruit purée, vanilla sugar & pineapple juice.)
This was basically heaven - tropical flavours with vanilla and an extra dose of sweetness, mmmmm. Even my passion fruit hating boyfriend enjoyed this one!
Pisco Power (ABA Pisco, Funkin guava purée, agave, apple & lime juices)
This was recommended to us by a friend and is another of Las Iguanas' new cocktails. Cocktails rarely seem to contain apple juice, but this was so tasty I think they definitely ought to more often!
Food
Now onto my favourite part. A few years ago I would have hated to have a meal at Las Iguanas - spice was my worst nightmare, but now I pretty much fantasise about some of the dishes here on a weekly basis.
Taco Sharing Tray   Me and my boyfriend got this to share as a starter (be warned - it's fairly large!). You get to choose three taco fillings, so we got the braised lamb, chipotle chicken and shredded beef. With this you get a small bowl of salsa and one of salad as well as 6 or 7 wraps. Our one disappointment with this was how little salad you got, but the meat was very well seasoned. My personal favourite was the beef - I would definitely recommend giving it a go!
Nachos
If nachos are on a menu, there's a 99% chance I'll order them, so I couldn't give these a miss. I opted for a standard topping of cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream (NOM). These were fairly standard nachos for a fairly standard price, so I was hardly wowed, but they did the job.
Pato Taquito
This is honestly what dreams are made of. If you only want to try one thing at Las Iguanas you NEED to give this a whirl! It's roasted duck with caramelised onion in a soft tortilla accompanied by cranberry salsa and oh my word it is tasty. I couldn't finish my meal, so took this home with me and it totally passed the test of still being tasty for the next day's lunch!

All in all I had a fab time at Las Iguanas with good service and yummy food. We didn't have to wait too long for anything (bar the bill - it always seems to be the way, right?!) and I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you're a fan of South American food!
*This post was not sponsored, it simply contains my honest review of the food, drinks and service we received on a busy Saturday night*
Have you been? What would you recommend?

Festive Breakfast Recipe, with Added Supplement Love*

Pancakes and smoothies are the breakfast of champions, and I'm always looking for a little something I can pop into them for an added health kick. I've tried a number of "superfood" powders out there, but the problem is that I'm SO fussy, so if something tastes a little bit too powerful or different I tend to prefer to avoid it. Thus, I have half a tub of Spirulina at home that I keep trying to get through, but have owned for about a year now and it just changes the taste of everything I put it on so utterly I can't handle it. It's made from blue/green algae and I honestly think it tastes like that. Then we have my cacao & hemp powder, similarly discarded at the back of a cupboard, brought out every so often simply because I hate wasting food and don't want to outright bin it. Everyone raves about cacao so I thought I'd try it, only to realise that everyone raves because it makes smoothies taste kind of like chocolate milk, something that I unfortunately don't like.
Despite these setbacks, I have FINALLY moved into a new zone of nutritious powders with Aduna*; a zone where my favourite smoothie recipes and pancake stacks aren't marred by intense flavouring, but enhanced by a subtle addition of Aduna's moringa* or baobab* powder. So, what do these supplements do exactly? Well, moringa is crammed full of iron, calcium and protein - making it a must for any vegans out there, or anyone who wants an easy way to up their intake of these nutrients. It also strengthens the immune system, supports the normal growth of nails and hair, and much more. Baobab similarly has a whole range of benefits, including masses of Vitamin C, calcium and potassium, and can aid your energy levels, weight management and blood sugar levels (all of which I need a lot of help with!)
So, what's this festive recipe I hear you ask? Well, here we go: it's my Kale and Cranberry smoothie - with added nutritional powder
Ingredients: 1 banana Handful cranberrries (fresh or frozen) 2 handfuls kale 150 - 200ml rice/coconut/soya/oat milk
Whizz these up in a blender with a teaspoon of your baobab or moringa powder and you're good to go! I always like to top mine with a little drizzle of honey because I've got such a sweet tooth, but that's totally optional.
What are your go-to supplements?

No More Loneliness | Raising Awareness with Sunrise

We all know how awful it can be to feel lonely, yet it must be so much worse to feel lonely and either less mobile, or more isolated than us young'uns would be. So, I teamed up with Sunrise Senior Living to create a meal to raise awareness for the often crippling loneliness that elderly people feel. I invited my dearest grandmother to come along so that I could make her a meal, courtesy of Sunrise and the recipes they sent me, and play some games with her.
I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous. My grandma is basically the master chef of our entire family and I wanted to make something to finally prove that I'm basically an adult and totally capable of cooking things for myself. So, I went with a goat's cheese and roasted cherry tomato salad (one of my own recipes which you can find here) for a starter, and Sunrise's beef bourgignon recipe. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with myself. Despite the bottom of my pan looking a little cinder-y, the main itself was delicious, and I've definitely saved the handy recipe card it came on for future use.
When Sunrise first contacted me, I was given a choice of potential games that they could send for us to play. After we'd eaten our meal together I got my whole household (well, the three of us plus Grandma) together, so that we could all play some card games. I am so glad to say that grandma absolutely loved this - though maybe that was the wine from the meal talking?! The entire day gave us a chance to spend some quality time together, as well as for her to learn some new card games and finally get out of the house. As we lost my grandfather earlier this year, it's become even more important that as a family we spend time together, so Sunrise provided me with a perfect opportunity to do exactly that.
Finally, I challenge you to do what I did: spend some time with a neighbour, friend or relative who is elderly: cook them a meal of something they wouldn't eat everyday and take the opportunity to listen to their woes and joys this Autumn.  

Vegan Creamy Tomato Soup

Heinz's Tomato Soup is my absolute number one go-to comfort food. So, when I cut dairy from my diet because it really was making me poorly I was gutted. I'm not a fan of thin cup-a-soup style soups that have no dairy in and I felt stuck. After having a look at a few different dairy-free recipes, I mixed them up a bit and came up with this. It's sweet and comforting, without all the nasty additions that are in pre-made soups. My only warning is that the taste of coconut comes through a fair bit, so if you don't like it, then you probably won't like this! This recipe takes less than ten minutes to prep and cook, so is pretty brill for a quick fix lunch! 

Healthy Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe

Spaghetti bolognese is one of my number one go-to comfort food dishes when I fancy making something filling and easy to cook. It takes so little time, and it's something that I feel like I can adapt every single time I make it. This version is a little less fatty due to the turkey mince, and absolutely crammed full of veggies. I find this such a great meal for slyly popping in extra veg without people noticing how much is in it, so it's great for fussy little ones.

Easy healthy tuna pasta bake

So, basically tuna pasta bake is one of my favourite comfort foods to make at uni. It's cheap, involves hardly any prep and is so gloriously carb-filled that it's perfect for days when I just want to slob out and chill. If you have a couple of tupperware boxes to hand, this is a brilliant recipe for creating leftovers. Personally I hate having to get up and prep my lunch before going to uni - this way, it's already ready from dinner the night (or a few!) before.