DIY Frozen Sweet Potato Chips

I had no idea what to call this post!  Basically it's a 'recipe' for making a big batch of sweet potato chips which can be stored in the freezer until needed.  I love doing this as I always have them to hand to shove in the oven for lazy dinner nights.

Sweet potatoes are so good for using as an alternative to normal potatoes for chips or wedges but can be a bit time consuming to make from scratch each time.  I've used this method a few times and it works out great.  I live by myself so it's handy having them in 1 portion sized bags that I can just bring out and use when I fancy them.

As well as being super yummy, sweet potatoes are really good for you!  They are full of vitamins C, D and the minerals iron, magnesium and potassium.  [source] 

Start by washing your potatoes - use as many as you like.

Cut them up into relatively similar sized chips/wedges.  You can peel them if you like but I love the skin!

Boil a big pan of water, enough to cover all the potatoes, and add them to the pot.  Leave them boiling for a few minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare a bowl with cold water and add ice cubes.

Transfer the chips from the pan into the cold water and leave until cool.

Once they have cooled, separate them into portions and seal in freezer bags.

Put them in the freezer! 

To actually cook them, all you do is bring out a bag and run the chips under cool water to thaw slightly.  Spray a foil lined baking tray with oil, place the chips on the tray and spray with some more oil.  Leave them plain with some sea salt and pepper sprinkled over or rub in mixed herbs or spices using olive oil for some flavour.  Place in the oven at about 200c for 18-20 mins.  Voila!

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Homemade Veggie Nandos

Nando's seems to be a bit of a love or hate thing, some people are obsessed and others think it's rubbish and overrated.  I am part of the 'love it' category which probably sounds crazy to some people seeing as Nandos is a chicken restaurant and I don't eat chicken...  But if you actually look at the menu, yes there's loads of chicken, but there's also loads of veggie options!  For example, for the main meals you have bean burger, veggie burger or portobello mushroom and halloumi...  The one I always get is the latter, usually in a burger with chips and spicy rice.

However one night I was lying in bed and had this sudden amazing idea - to make a homemade Nando's using Quorn?!  So the next night my boyfriend and I were cooking dinner so we decided to have a go at this and see how it would turn out.

We went to Asda and picked up the following ingredients:

Quorn 6 Chicken Fillets
Nando's Peri-Peri rub in Medium
Nando's Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce
Nando's Chip Salt
Asda Seasoned French Fries
Shredded iceberg lettuce
Pitta bread (we got the giant ones)

1. We started by turning on the oven for the chips and rolling 4 chicken pieces in the spice rub.
2. Put some chips on a tray and sprinkle some chip salt over them.
3. Heat olive oil in a griddle or frying pan then place in the 4 chicken pieces.
4. Fry the Quorn on both sides until cooked through, adding in more of the spice mix if desired.
5. Toast the pitta bread in toaster or under the grill to heat them up.
6. Assemble everything on the plate - 2 pieces of Quorn, lettuce and sauce in the pitta, then chips at the side with more chip salt over the top.

It was sooo good!  Far too spicy though, when we made it the second time we used the Lemon & Herb Peri-Peri rub and it was so much better, didn't burn my tongue off!  My boyfriend hadn't tried Quorn before and he said he really enjoyed it and couldn't tell it wasn't real meat.

Have you got any good meat substitute recipes?  The Nandos products are also suitable for vegans so it could quite easily be adjusted for a vegan diet too.

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Simple Creamy Pasta

In case you don't know, I love pasta!  I eat it far too much and I've started buying gluten-free packs so it's healthier!  I usually have it for my lunch if I'm quite hungry and need something more filling.  I quite often make cheesy pasta which you can find the recipe for here, but it's a bit more time consuming so I've started making this really quick and tasty one.  It's a bit vague because I just make it up every time so hopefully you get the gist!  This serves one.

it tastes better than it looks!

Ingredients:

• 80-100g pasta shapes
• 2-3tbsp of mayonnaise - enough to coat the pasta
• 0.5-1tsp of mustard (I tend to use Dijon)
• Some grated cheese - as much as you like!
• Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

Method:

Boil the pasta as you would normally then drain and return to the pot.

Add in the mayo and mustard, stir until the pasta is coated.

Add in the cheese over a low heat and let it melt.

Finally, add in the tomatoes and serve!

Other suggestions:

You could eat this cold, so prepare it the night before to have for lunch the next day.  

You can add in any other vegetables if you want, just sauté them in a pan while the pasta in cooking then add in at the end.

Add frozen peas or sweetcorn 2 minutes before the pasta is ready.

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So that's it!  If you have any easy pasta recipes then please leave me links below!

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Easy Cheesy Pasta!

I was feeling like some pasta yesterday afternoon but we didn't have any sauce so I made a cheese sauce from scratch!  I wasn't very sure how this would turn out but it was actually really good so I thought I'd share it with you - also so I can make it again!  This recipe serves one.

Uhh, looks really appetising doesn't it, haha!

Ingredients:

• 20g of margarine/butter
• 20g plain flour
• 175-200mls milk
• 1 tsp of English Mustard (adjust to taste)
• salt & pepper
• 2-3 tbsp of any kind of cheese
• 1 mug of macaroni

Method:
Melt the marg on a low heat and then take off the heat and sieve in the flour until it is a paste.

Put it back on the heat for 2 minutes - this takes the floury taste away!

Boil a kettle and put your pasta on at some point and leave to cook while you finish the sauce!  I add a drop of sunflower oil to stop the pasta sticking to each other. 

Gradually add in the milk to the flour mixture, stirring to avoid lumps.  I only used 150mls of milk but my sauce was a lot thicker than I would have liked!

Once all the milk has been added (the more you add, the thinner it will be) bring to the boil and keep stirring.

Simmer until it is all thickened up nicely!

Take off the heat and add in your mustard (if you want), cheese (I used Parmesan and Gruyere) and seasoning.  Then give it a taste and see if you need to add any more of anything.

Drain the pasta and stir it in with the sauce, voila!

I was going to add some wee tomatoes but I totally forgot...

Anyway, I thought this was rather tasty!  Let me know if you have a go at it, or if you have any other good easy veggy recipes on your blog!

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