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Wow cannot believe I've had over 400 page views already, I'm glad people are taking the time to read my blog. If you have stumbled across it and enjoy it please feel free to leave a comment, and let me know any thoughts you may have, about any of the recipes, or if you've tried them and have any alterations.

Thanks everyone xxx

Pork Stuffed with Feta and Wrapped in Parma Ham.

Standing over an oven for hours on a Sunday night is not my idea of fun, so any recipes which take less than 30 minutes I'm all for. And I can definitely say I will be making this one again. I was making this for 4 people, but still had to do some alterations to the ingredients, I only used 3 courgettes, instead of 6, but even this was too many. I also used uncooked brown rice, and this took 30 minutes to cook, so added extra time, but I put the rice on to boil and began my prep, so overall it only took 32 minutes to make.

I was slightly worried, the pork would be too salty, what with the feta and parma ham being both salty ingredients, but it wasn't too salty and tasted delicious. While the rice was cooking I began to fry the pork in a pan, on a medium heat, and used the food processor to slice the courgettes, garlic, chilli and mint. Once the rice was cooked I drained it and left it to cool, removed the pork from the pan and added the vegetables and quickly stir fried these. In another pan I added a splash of water, the sun dried tomato paste and lemon juice and then the rice, stirred to heat the rice through and was then ready to plate up.

This has been one of my favourite dishes to cook so far, it was quick and simple. And can be altered to your own taste, you could roast the pork and do potatoes instead of rice, or have the courgettes with another meat.

I recommend everyone to try this immediately.

Sticky Kicking Chicken My Way

Hi Everyone,

Friday night I decided to make the sticky kicking chicken recipe again, as this seemed to be a favourite, one of the things I wasn't too keen on was the salad dressing, and without something the noodles are a bit dry. So, with that in mind I set about tweaking the original recipe to my personal liking.

For the chicken

Chicken thighs,
1 tsp Chinese 5-spice,
salt and pepper,
sweet chilli sauce,
sesame seeds

For the noodles

Noodles (1 nest per person),
sesame oil,
1 chilli,
thumb sized piece of ginger,
2 garlic cloves,
Soy sauce,


I begin by dusting the chicken thighs with the 5-spice and salt and pepper, then flatten it with a rolling pin (this decreses the cooking time) put some sesame oil in a frying pan and lay the chicken thighs in the pan.

While the chicken is cooking chop the chilli, garlic and ginger and put this to one side. Turn the chicken over sng a pair of tongs, try not to turn the chicken too much as this can make it go dry. In a seperate saucepan, add boiling water and some salt, and then the noodles. Check the back of the packet but these usually take 4-5 minutes.

By this point the chicken should be cooked, but check, by cutting it. Now add the sweet chilli sauce to the chicken thighs, it should start to caramelise and become sticky, when this happens add the sesame seeds to cover the chicken, and then take off the heat and leave to one side.

Drain the noodles, and add back to the pan, add a drop of sesame oil (to stop them from sticking) and the chilli, ginger and garlic, mix together, and add some soy sauce to taste. Now time to plate up the noodles and cut the chicken into strips and add these to the plate.

Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

I wanted to do a quick post about ingredients, when talking to people about the recipes, most people ask about the amount of ingredients you need to have in your cupboard to be able to make the dishes. I always say, yes I did have to buy quite a lot of ingredients I wouldn't usually buy to be able to make the food, but they are all ones that last for a long time. For example, all of the dried herbs and spices I've had to buy, when you only use a teaspoon at a time, they will last for a while. The first few recipes, you will need to spend a bit of money to get these ingredients, but you wont need to spend the same amount of money for each dish you make.

Another tip regarding ingredients, is one I picked up over the weekend. While walking round my local supermarket, in the frozen aisle I noticed different frozen ingredients, such as chopped chillis, ginger garlic, coriander, parsley and rosemary. How had I never seen these before?!? I was amazed, one annoying thing with cooking with fresh ingredients for only two people is the leftovers, what to do with them. Well, this has solved my dilemma, as it always seems to be these I end up with mouldy or shrivelled up in my fridge.

I can't wait to use these!

Sticky Squid Balls

I feel like in every post I say how each recipe is my favourite and I don't think it can get any better than that meal, well surprise... I was a bit disappointed!

Not as disappointed as a parent with a pregnant teenage daughter, but more, you open a pack of maltesers and there is less than normal, disappointed! I think the reason may be my lack of experience with squid and the amount of people I was cooking for.

Now I'm sure there are millions around the world struggling with the same issue as me... cooking for only two people, when every recipe is for four or more. With most recipes it's as simple as just halving the amount of each ingredients, but not with this one, I happily went to the fishmongers asked for 110g of squid, this is where I encountered my first problem, the squid was 228g, so I decided to just buy the whole squid and make extra balls. Now my second problem was the noodle broth. My boyfriend has a problem with all vegetables, in that you wont eat them, so frankly I wasn't going to spend money of lots of expensive vegetables for myself, so skipped these.

That's where my problem may lie! The vegetables coking in the broth would have added another flavour bu,t without these it was missing something. All being said, I still enjoyed the meal, the balls had a nice hit of heat while not being chewy (which is always a worry when cooking squid) and the noddle broth was still tasty.

If you are a confident and competent cook than definitely make this meal, if you cannot deal with quick cooking with lots of things on the go, this isn't really for you.

Chloe

Diet

I decided to write a post a bit different from my usual. So, bare with me everyone! The truth is I've never been skinny I haven't been below 10st since I was about 16, and I'm constantly reminded of that by prom pictures and facebook photos. In between getting a boyfriend and finishing University I piled on the pounds, and tried every diet under the sun, Atkins, Cambridge, no carbs, starving myself and the worst of all, making myself sick after I'd eaten. Not surprisingly, none of these worked, and made me feel worse about myself. My self-esteem plummeted and I felt a Shadow of my normal bubbly and confident self.

So, I finally got fed up of trying to conform to what I thought I should be like, I realised I'm not a 16 year old anymore and I need to take responsibility for my actions. So, I stopped putting pressure on myself to lose weight, I cancelled my gym membership (which hadn't been used in a year) and decided to simply eat less and healthier. Over the past few weeks, trying out these new recipes I've really noticed a difference in my eating habitats. My portion size has reduced, because the food is filling and delicious, and I don't feel the need to snack in the evening. And, my weight has dropped over the past 2 weeks! Whoo.

This is why I'm writing this post, whether anyone will actually read this and take note, I don't know, but even if I can help one person make a change in their life than I will be very happy!

So, Thank you Jamie Oliver, you are one hell of a dude!

Chorizo Carbonara

I'm standing in the kitchen on a Sunday night, going against the grain of a traditional Sunday roast I open the cookbook and opt for a carbonara. And this isn't just any normal carbonara, made with chorizo and fat free natural yogurt instead of panchetta and double cream it scrapes in at only 600 calories.

Now, I have to admit, I'm not a fan of any carbonara, I find it too creamy, and frankly I have never had one that didn't taste this way. But I decided to persevere and make this alternative. This was so quick, 17 minutes, yay!!! With a sharp knife in hand, I attack, the chilli, rosemary and chorizo, while the pasta is on the boil, then throw it on a pan with some oil. This is the hardest part of the dish, done!

Sitting down to eat the pasta I was amazed at how fresh it tasted, the yogurt and lemon made it have a zing while complementing the rosemary and chilli. I will absolutely be making this again in the not so distant future.

Chloe

Sizzling Beef Steak with Hoi Sin Prawn Noodle Bowls

This dish is perfect for a Saturday night in front of the telly, which is exactly what I wanted. Melt in your mouth steak with juicy prawns and hoi sin noodles, what is there not to like. I found this dish took a bit longer to make, mainly because I didn't buy prawns ready to cook, I had to clean them and take the digestive bit out, which took 10 minutes, but you could cut down the cooking time considerably by buying cooked prawns, and just re-heat them or add more prawns and cut out the steak.

I would describe this dish as a Chinese surf and turf, I was a bit dubious about the steak, but it works really well, and make the dish really filling. At 600 calories, its not too bad, but again, take out the steak and your calorie count would go down considerably.

I found you don't need many noodles, for four people I would only use 3 nests next time as noodles can be quite filling, and add more chilli, I like mine with more of a kick, but do it to your own liking.

Overall, I will definitely be making this dish again, it was really simple and if you aren't the best cook then this is a great place to start.

Enjoy

Pasta Pesto with Garlic and Rosemary Chicken

Hi there guys and gals, this new recipe was amazing. I decided to make this as a spur of the moment dinner, as I had most of the ingredients in my cupboards. I decided to change the fresh lasagne sheets to penne pasta (frankly I didn't see the point in spending money when I had other pasta already) So the recipe took 15 minutes whoo!!! (I feel like I should celebrate every time I do it in 15 minutes)

This recipe is a must if you love pesto (which my boyfriend does). I only used a small amount of pasta, I don't think you need much because you have the chicken and beans to fill it out. The pesto was quite difficult to make though, I struggled to get the taste and consistency right, but as Jamie suggested I added a bit of starchy water from the pasta and it came together perfect in the end. Next time I don't think I'll use as much lemon as it says to, but was still delicious.

I think this will now be a favourite recipe of mine, perfect for a quick family meal (and there is pesto left over to use another day)

Hope you enjoy

Chloe

Sticky Kicking Chicken

This recipe was the inspiration to buy the book after being on one of the first TV episodes. Crispy, sticky chicken thighs with a chilli noodle salad. For the first time it seems Jamie Oliver is putting effort into his presentation (however he makes it look like no effort).

As I was only making the meal for 2 people I halved the ingredients, and found it was plenty to eat and incredibly filling. I had processor ready, kettle boiled and was ready to go. This took me 30 minutes to make, however this was only because I couldn't find any boneless chicken thighs, so spent 10 minutes trying to de-bone the chicken (so try to make sure you get skinless and boneless chicken thighs to make the recipe much quicker and easier)

This recipe was so easy to make after I had sorted the chicken, and it's great for a bit of stress relief whle bashing the thighs! The one thing I will add is, if you aren't prepared you wont be making any of these recipes anywhere close to 15 minutes, and don't expect that result the first time, you need to get used to the recipe.

Happy cooking

Chloe

Lamb Lollipops

So, here I am, a few days in, and really starting to get into the 15 minute mindset.

I have to admit I was a tad unsure about this recipe, I mean, come on, lamb chops with a curry sauce! Would it work?!?

Yes it does! Juicy, sticky lamb dipped in a delicious curry sauce, what is there not to love. And it actually only took 15 minutes, hurrah! With only a few ingredients, it was super quick and easy to whip up. My favourite addition was the poppadoms, after seeing how they turn out on the TV programme, I was slightly scared They would not work for me, but with only 40 calories each, and a minute in the microwave, I would definitely use these instead of the fried ones.

And, you wouldn't believe how great they were scrunched up over the lamb and curry sauce, If you are sat there thinking what a pointless addition, stop! You have to have these as well, the meal would not be the same without it.

I will also say I have never seen my boyfriend eat so quickly as he did with this meal! A must make for any curry lover!

Chloe

Prawn Linguine

This recipe so far has been my favourite. Simple, different and absolutely delicious!!!

When I usually use a recipe from a book I tend to change certain ingredients if it's not something I would usually eat, for example anchovies. I usually cannot stand these in a salad or pizza, but I decided if Jamie Oliver says you cannot taste them them I will give it a try! And boy, I was not disappointed. They just melted away and left a delicious flavour.

The garlic breadcrumbs may seem like a pointless addition to the dish, and I would be lying if I said I disagreed to begin with, but have to say they added something extra to the dish that without, would have made the dish less exciting. They were simple to make, and as long as your don't burn them will taste great!

The whole meal took 20 minutes to make, so I cant really complain! 20 minutes to make a healthy and delicious dish is amazing, also most of the ingredients I had in my cupboard so didn't have to spend much at the shops.

I will definitely be making this again!!!

Chloe

My journey begins

My journey begins on a cold Saturday evening in November, over a bottle of wine and amazing food, I began to read a blog my parents had set-up for their four month adventure around the world. What began as a joke about creating my own blog has led me here. With a collection of recipes from one of the world's most famous Chefs, and an Alevel in Englsh I am delving into the world of Blogging.

One afternoon during a week off I decided to purchase Jamie Oliver's new book, 15 Minute meals. After watching a couple of episodes of the accompanying TV series, and being extremely intrigued I decided to venture into the world of 'delicious, nutritious, super-fast food' as the man himself puts it.

I have always been a fan of Jamie Oliver. Gone are the days of stuffy chefs who only seem to care about creating expensive food, and spending half an hour 'plating up' to create a perfect meal. The Naked Chef was a revolution in British cooking. Whether it was creating quick home-made pasta dishes, or calling his Nan Tiger on a Channel 4 Christmas special, he has become a national Treasure.

Lets be honest though, I was bitterly disappointed with his 30 minute meals book. I felt that unless you had spent £500 on equipment, his supposed 30 minutes of cooking quickly turn into an hour (if you have good chopping skills). But, something feels different with his new collection. It's not just quick food, its healthy and relatively cheap, and unlike his last book it's not expecting three courses.

So, here we go. My aim with this blog is to give you a normal 22 year old females perspective about the book. What recipes I enjoyed, what I would change and their realistic cooking times.

Hope you enjoy

Chloe