Christmas Buddha Bowl - Bakemas Day 20

Sweet Potato & Chestnut Lentil Loaf - Bakemas Day 18

Spiced Apple and Plum Cabbage - Bakemas Day 13

Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Mash Crumble - Bakemas Day 6

Apple & Cranberry Quinoa Salad - Bakemas Day 12

Sometimes in the middle of copious amounts of mince pies and truffles you just need a big ole’ bowl of salad...just sometimes!

Chestnut, Cranberry & Cashew Broccoli - Bakemas 8

Mango, Chilli & Lime Vegan Quinoa Salad

I spend entirely too much time thinking up ideas for sweet recipes so in a bid to force myself to come up with savoury recipes I’m embarking on a great adventure...if you call eating salads a great adventure.

Green Veggie Pesto & Goats Cheese Pancake Pizza

I know Pancake Day was a few weeks ago but mostly that day just re-establishes my love of pancakes...cue me making them every day for the next month. Okay not quite, but I have managed to succeed in keeping a relatively consistent intake of pancakes since then mostly in the form of standard lemon and sugar crepes and my cookie cookie dough pancakes. I’ll be honest I ate cookie dough pancakes twice the weekend following pancake day although I did use coconut sugar instead of muscovado and caster and really that’s just the same as eating fruit right?

Garlic & Rosemary Baked Camembert with Cranberry Relish - Bakemas Day 18

10 Minute Jacket Sweet Potatoes with Curried Tuna and Feta

Lazy food is something I’ve been loving recently. I’m very good at putting off eating a meal because I’m so indecisive eventually I just end up hangry and need to eat. Even if you don’t do that I’m sure you’ve been in that situation where you’re too lazy to cook but you want to eat something relatively healthy. At the moment my answer is jacket sweet potatoes, they’re so simple and I can guarantee if you’re making for one you can have this on the table in 10 minutes, or on your lap on the sofa, whatever floats your boat.

Watercress & Rocket Soup With Garlic, Ham & Feta Welsh Rarebit

I’ve had an odd craving for green leaves recently. There’s something about green food that’s ridiculously appetising to me, I love a good salad but even though it’s spring, most days it feels way too cold for salad. Soup is kind of like a hug in a bowl and you have no idea how happy it makes me to have a bowl of green food in front of me and I get the added bonus of sort of stomping on those leafy cravings.

I like soup but honestly I tend not to eat it that frequently, I always find a bowl is too much because it makes me feel all sloshy; you know like when you’re really thirsty and you down a glass of water and then it feels like there’s a river in your belly, it’s kind of like that but a little more ...swampy. I probably shouldn’t say stuff like that, I think I’ve really perfected the art of saying things that potentially put people off eating, never mind, this is obviously called waffle and whisk for a reason! This soup is delicious though and you know it's good when I still eat two bowls regardless of the potential stomach sloshing.
Also, I can’t sing the praises of this Welsh rarebit enough; I’m all but drooling thinking about it. Do you know what Welsh rarebit is? No? Well we’re on the same page then! I Googled it about a week ago when I decided to make this and apparently it’s sort of like cheese sauce on toast.

I’m sure you’re wondering what I’m going on about seeing as I made it but this is another one of those “how my mother makes it” kind of things where that’s all I ever knew Welsh rarebit to be. Turns out, not that much like Welsh rarebit at all, although I only briefly looked it up and it seems relatively open to interpretation.

I’m not sure why I’ve never thought it switch it up before and add garlic and different types of cheeses but I just opened myself up to a world of possibilities, next stop anything I can find in the fridge! For now though this is the best Welsh rarebit I’ve had and I’ll still stand by that fact you can’t really go wrong with cheese and garlic, add in a little ham and I’m about ready to get back in the kitchen and make more of this.

Grilled Pineapple, Lime and Chilli Quinoa Salad

I’ve had a pineapple sitting in the kitchen for a while now, don’t worry not too long it’s only just ripe. The pineapple originally was for a recipe that I just cannot for the life of me get right, it tastes amazing like addictively amazing but it always looks completely horrible so I figured I should take a step back for a few weeks and tackle it again some other time, it will be revisited though and it’ll definitely be worth the wait.

I was looking through last year’s diary writing down all the ideas I ended up skipping because they weren’t fully formed or I wasn’t in the mood to make so I could have them all in one place and came across spiced pineapple salad, yep, not fully formed, I get easily distracted. Anyway, I’ve been on a bit of a chilli kick recently, got a lot of those in the fridge too also involving another recipe I won’t be posting yet because I might look a little bit obsessed with chocolate cookies which side note: I kind of am.

Anyway back to chillies; I don’t dislike spicy food, I just sometimes don’t see the point in it but ever since I went to Devon and pretty much everything vegetarian I picked up involved chillies, especially this chickpea roll from some nice lady in a little market in Dartmouth, this market basically sold honey, meat, rugs, pastries and fish, I have had dreams about it ever since and definitely need to try and re-create it, but I’ve kind of been converted to adding a little spice to my food so there is no better time to make a “spiced pineapple salad”.

With the time change, lighter evenings and the random bouts of sun in England my brain has definitely been tricked into thinking it feels like spring outside so I’ve already started craving green leaves and all things salad related. I seriously love a good quinoa salad, I feel like I make more quinoa salads than I do other mains but that’s probably not true, I probably just think about quinoa salads more than anything else.

This quinoa salad is sweet and spicy and tangy and I’m not sure what more you could ask for. The pineapple was the perfect ripeness it almost didn’t make it in the salad because I was picking at it while I was shooting, although that would have been a pretty sad pineapple salad minus the pineapple. I refrained and finally grilled it which just made it even more delicious and add the tangy lime and spicy chilli dressing on top while still hot and I could probably just eat a bowl of the pineapple on it's own as dessert. Dessert-like elements in salad can't really be a negative.

Lime, Avocado & Grape Vegan Quinoa Salad

Do you have those meals you always make when you don’t know what to eat? My mum’s is egg and chips; it’s sort of become a running joke. When I don’t know what to eat and I feel like I should be eating something healthy my go to salad is my Vegan Quinoa Salad with Apple, Sultanas and Sunflower Seeds, it’s probably one of my favourite salads and is ridiculously easy to whip up, although now this blog post sounds a little bit like an advert for that salad (p.s. You should check out that salad if you like quinoa salads; it’s delicious).
I’ve been eating a lot less meat recently, not as a rule just more of a ‘it happened and now I’m slightly avoiding it where I can’ because I sometimes find that meat free life agrees with me more so I figured another “go to” vegan quinoa salad under my belt would be useful so I’m not absentmindedly eating the same thing all the time.

I’m definitely torn between which salad is better which surprised me because avocados aren’t my favourite; I usually need to eat them with something to cut the creaminess because I’m not much of a fan of creamy foods. I always think it’s good to try things you’re not too sure about again or with other foods to find a way to make them enjoyable and even though I wanted a salad to go along side the other one as a regular I wasn’t expecting to love it this much. Grapes and avocados together? I’m sold! This is probably the most I’ve enjoyed an avocado and I think I might be putting them in the shopping basket from now on.

Beetroot, Goats Cheese & Spinach Pancakes/Crêpes with Chutney

I think this might be one of my favourite things I’ve made for this blog so far, even though this revelation will probably cause my chutney supplies to deplete drastically faster than I’d anticipated and in a few months probably leave me wishing I’d made at least double the amount I did, I guess the four jars I have left after giving away two to my sister and brother in law and two to my granddad and his wife for Christmas will have to suffice.
It’s actually quite shocking that up until now I’d only entertained the idea of sweet pancakes, sadly that’s a lot of wasted time I’ve accumulated without savoury pancakes in my life but I’m sure I’ll have made up for that soon.

One of the best things about this is how simple this is, if you know how to make pancakes the rest is a doddle and as I sat down to dinner after the string of “damn this is good” comments I felt like I was trying something new in a nice little restaurant. So simple but so delicious; it's definitely worth more than the little effort it takes to make.

Bolognese Quinoa Bake

I’ve been way too into quinoa bakes as of late which is probably partially to do with my slight laziness right now but if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life I would probably pick quinoa bakes. It’s honestly the best thing when it gets to dinner time and you can just take pre-prepared quinoa out the fridge grate some cheese on top and bung it in the oven, I also don’t feel bad having a "lazy dinner" because quinoa and veggies are healthy, win win!
I’m not really sure why I’ve never thought of this before, wheat is not my best friend but bolognese is my favourite and why just put bolognese on top of quinoa when you can add cheese and bake it in the oven. I really wouldn’t put it past me to try “add cheese and bake it in the oven” to everything.

This is a good way to switch up your leftovers rather than just eating spaghetti bolognese a few days in a row, not that I would be opposed to that, but if you have a little wheat issue or get bored of the same thing two or three days in a row this is perfect and you can add more vegetables which I’m always up for too, although I used peas because they're my lazy vegetable of choice.

Sausage & Sweet Potato Mash Pie

There seems to be a heavy theme running in my savoury bakes at the moment in the form of garlic, cheese and sausage; I would apologise but I’m not even slightly sorry. I also want to bake everything, there’s just something about baked food that feels like comfort food and comfort food is perfect when it’s this cold and as you can tell I’m not veering off the path quite yet.
This is kind of a heavily modified shepherd's pie; in that case I’m not sure what you’d call this, pig farmer pie? That just sounds a bit like you’re eating pig farmers in your pie, very Sweeny Todd. Maybe I shouldn’t be mentioning cannibalism, just to clarify there are no humans in this pie! Does that make it sound like I would actually cook humans? Okay, I’m way off track!
I was never the biggest supporter of Sheppard’s pie; as much as I love baked foods I sort of have something against beef baked foods so I was a little apprehensive about how much I’d enjoy this. I took my first bite and the first thing I said was “I am so making this again!”

Can we talk about how good sweet potato mash is too, I can’t believe I’m saying this but this was my first time making and tasting it and I am a fan! I have to eat it with something savoury but that’s why this recipe works so perfectly. I couldn’t resist adding mustard though; I would add wholegrain mustard to all of the mash!
This may not be the quickest meal to whip up but it doesn’t really require much effort and it is definitely worth it. It’s a great alternative to Sheppard’s pie and the sweet potato mash makes things a little healthier and healthier is always good. I'd also advise adding a big pile of broccoli on the side, broccoli and fresh baby spinach but definitely lots of steamed broccoli.

Sausage & Vegetable Stuffed Mushrooms with a Cheesy Garlic Breadcrumb Topping

Mushrooms are probably one of the only vegetables I always turn down, I won’t talk about the ins and outs of my distaste for them because I’m sure it will make this recipe seem oh so inviting but what I will say is if I had to eat mushrooms I would eat them like this. I think cheese, garlic and sausage can make anything enjoyable (maybe I should put that theory to the test GMM style) but these stuffed mushrooms are delicious, so delicious a mushroom-disliker may potentially like them! I can’t guarantee it but I’m definitely an advocate for trying things anyway and if in doubt...just add more cheese!

Tomato & Vegetable Quinoa Bake

There’s something about new year and me getting a cold, okay so I only have 2 two year running streak which I don’t wish to continue but I’m pretty sure the cold I had before Christmas that didn’t quite go away came back with a vengeance when the clock struck 12, actually it was when I woke up on the first but let’s say it’s when the clock struck twelve for dramatic effect. It’s safe to say with the way I’m feeling I’m not in a new year new me kind of mood, I’ve got more of a new year, same slob kind of thing going on although post cold I’ll potentially be ready to kick some serious butt...potentially! Usually when I get a cold I’m in a constant state of hunger and I always find the more I eat the faster I get better but now I find it ridiculously easy to skip meals and have to end up eating at midnight to get enough food in and am usually all around too tired to be bothered to cook anything nutritious. This quinoa bake is pretty much the answer to my cold and maybe the answer to your dinner woes, do you have dinner woes? It’s healthy and still pretty much comfort food which is exactly what I need at a time like this.

Cranberry & Clementine Quinoa Salad

Christmas is over and I feel like I was so busy this year I didn’t have time to enjoy it. Mental note for next year: be more organised! Maybe I should start making Christmas cards now, that’s something I always run out of time to do; I’m sure that’s very idealistic thinking I can’t imagine I’ll actually start doing that. So after 24 days straight I took three whole days off and in those three days I spent entirely too much time thinking about this blog, whoops, there goes my "time off"! It took me a long time to get round to making this, I’m pretty sure I’ve had this idea stacked away in the back of my brain for about 3 months and I think the only reason it took me so long is because I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. I know that sounds crazy, why come up with the idea if you don’t think you’ll like it (I seem to be good at that) but for some reason I always think I don’t like Clementine’s but whenever I eat them I really enjoy them. As a kid I wasn’t a fan of the texture so the idea puts me off, my sister and I used to suck the juice out and leave the rest. I also really dislike going about my daily life and someone peeling a Clementine in the near vicinity of me, the smell really bothers me, not that I don’t like the smell it just bothers me a little. Is this making any sense? Anyway Clementine’s in salads are my new favourite thing, just staring at these pictures makes me want to go make a quinoa salad with Clementine’s in. I'm glad a friend told me that it sounds good because I found this ridiculously delicious, way more than I could have ever expected. This wasn’t actually the plan when I came up with this but after eating this I realised it’s the perfect salad for leftover meat, the mix of the cranberry and clementine would go to well with turkey or ham. It would also be a good serving salad for a party, cranberry sauce on the side. If you don't want to add meat and you want a little protein sunflower seeds are tasty with this (I forgot to photograph that bit I was too busy eating).

Garlic, Cheese, Roasted Vegetable & Chickpea Crumble - Bakemas Day 21

I was already a little obsessed with putting every fruit and all the flavours in a crumble topping, now that I’ve made my first savoury crumble I might just have to put everything in a crumble, and I mean everything! Parsnips in a crumble? Roasted parsnips with cheese and garlic in a crumble add in carrots and did I mention roasted garlic? Seriously it’s like all my dreams coming true.

I love roasted vegetables, I would eat a plate straight out the oven and this crumble was me wanting roasted vegetables with crumble on top and cheese, who wouldn’t add cheese if they could. I didn’t want this to be remotely like a casserole because I am not a fan; I think I’ll have to tackle those in the New Year because I mostly remember them being overcooked and full of beef and I’m sure there must be light at the end of the beef stock soaked tunnel. What I’m trying to say is if you’re looking for a recipe for a saucy gravy filled vegetable crumble you’re looking in the wrong place but whatever you’re looking for make this because you won’t regret it. This is a perfect vegetarian main for Christmas or any day in the colder months, as I’m sure my family will find out next year, or as a vegetable side to your turkey, ham or whatever it is you like to eat on Christmas day.