Chicken Zorba
One of my favourite meals ever, is this delicious, simple Chicken dish. It’s quick, easy to cook and utterly delicious. So, if you’re looking for a totally guilt free treat this week, look no further…
To serve 4 people, you’ll need:
Juice of 2 limes
4 chicken breasts
150g tub Greek style natural yoghurt
170g tub houmous
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon freshly chopped mint
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 pitta breads
To serve: mixed salad leaves, tomatoes, olive oil
Prep time: 15 mins and 30 mins marinating
Cooking time: approx. 10 mins
- In a bowl blend together the lime juice, coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt and mint.
- Cut the chicken into thin strips.
- Add the chicken, mix well to coat chicken, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Mix together the yoghurt and houmous, cover and chill until ready to serve.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden.
- Toast the pitta breads on each side under a preheated hot grill until lightly brown.
- Cut the pitta breads in half crossways, open up and spread with a generous spoonful of the houmous and yoghurt mixture.
- Fill with the chicken mixture. Serve immediately with your salad and enjoy!
Childhood memories
Hooray! Lent is officially over for 2012 people! For those of you who gave up chocolate, bread, alcohol, or something worthwhile, I salute you. I don’t know how i’d have coped. I went for a slightly easier (but still tough) challenge and gave up eating crisps and ice cream.
To be honest, I thought i’d find the crisps the hardest of the two, but a few days after lent has finished and I still haven’t found myself reaching for a packet from the cupboard. Ice cream on the other hand…
I didn’t even know I liked ice cream so much until now. I found myself craving it, dreaming about it and even searching for the nearest frozen yoghurt outlet (it IS different!)
But, i’m very pleased to say that I resisted, and now that I am officially allowed it again, I have decided to enjoy it in the best way possible… In the form of a Coke Float. These are a serious childhood memory of mine, that we were only allowed at Birthday parties or when we went to TGI Fridays. If you’ve never had one, please just try it. It will be the perfect end to what I hope has been an enjoyable Easter for you all.
Sounds like Spring
This week officially saw the arrival of Spring! Sunglasses firmly on, beer gardens overflowing and the arrival of some seriously good tunes to get us in the mood…
Here are a few of my favourite Spring tracks at the moment.
Jai Paul- Jasmine (if you haven’t heard of him already, check out his track BTSTU too.)
Nneka- Shining Star (Joe Goddard Remix)
Dry the River- New Ceremony
and finally…
One of my favourite performers ever- Florence and the Machine- Never Let Me Go
Happy listening! x
Olsen Inspiration
It’s a perfect, sunny, Friday evening, and one of my favourite ways to spend some time in the last of the sunshine is to relax in the garden with a magazine. Today, i’ve decided to pick Elle as my magazine of choice, and for one reason in particular.
And, that reason is…Mary-Kate Olsen is on the front cover. I am a huge fan of the sophisticated style of her and twin Ashley, and love looking at new photos of them for inspiration. They always look so chic and effortlessly stylish.
The critically acclaimed designers have taken the fashion world by storm over the past few years, and here’s just a few examples of how…
If like me, you’d love to have the Olsen Twin look, check out their fashion label The Row, (named after Savile Row in London) here: http://www.therow.com
Happy Mothers Day!
I know this blog has been neglected over the past week and i’m sorry that this post isn’t going to be very long, but i’ve had a pretty hectic few days!
But, as it’s Mothers Day, I just wanted to wish my lovely, beautiful, clever and all-round wonderful mummy the best of Mother’s Days! She’s the kindest person I know, and I couldn’t live without her.
I hope you all enjoy today! x
Fancy a Filofax?
Ok, I have a crush. Not the kind of crush you’re thinking of… I have a stationery crush.
At the start of London Fashion Week, my gorgeous friend who works at Slam PR said she was working on the Alice Temperley for Filofax launch party, and that’s when my obsession began.
Anyone who knows me well will tell you that I don’t go anywhere without my trusty Filofax. If I ever lost it I’d be, quite simply, lost.
I HAD to look at these designs and see what I was missing out on, and oh boy I’m missing out! My leather brown lovely just doesn’t quite compare to the two limited edition design’s, ‘The Guinea’ and ‘The Affair’.
The British designer said: “I was inspired to create a beautiful functional organiser that could be used and treasured daily, year after year.”
I totally agree, and if I had one of these it would definitely be treasured daily with a price tag of almost £400. But still, I WANT ONE NOW.
So, I know it’s not Christmas for a while, and my birthday is in January… but if anyone would like to make my Filofax the prettiest one going, I’d seriously love you forever.
The collection named ‘Your Life in Your Hands’ is available from Selfridges, Filofax stores and the Temperley London boutique now.
Cabbage soup?
Does anyone remember when eating nothing but cabbage soup was the fad diet of choice for a number of celebrities and young women?
Nope? I never tried it either. I’d never even tried cabbage soup then and wasn’t at all fussed if I ever did, it just didn’t appeal at all.
Then, when I was on holiday last summer and the waiter said the soup option was ‘Caribbean Cabbage Soup’ I think curiosity took over and I found myself being amazed by how yummy this dish actually was.
I decided to try and make it at home, and found that it’s so easy to make for a quick, hearty meal. So, i’m not recommending you eat nothing but this, but if you are looking for a healthy, tasty, and cheap soup to make, why not give it a go…
Ingredients: (serves 3)
1 cabbage
1 onion
1 bag of spinach
1 pack of Okra
1 large clove of garlic
2 vegetable stock cubes
Thyme, Parsley and seasoning
Start by chopping the onion, garlic, cabbage and okra. Add a bit of olive oil to a casserole dish and fry the onion and garlic. Have your stock cubes added to some boiling water ready to add. When soft but not brown, add the cabbage and okra. When softened put about half of the vegetable stock in to stop any sticking.
Add the spinach and once softened, add the rest of the stock, your herbs and seasoning. Leave to bubble away for a little bit until most of the water has soaked in, and then remove from heat and leave to cool slightly.
Put your mixture through a blender until you have an even and smooth consistency, and return to the casserole dish.
Re-heat and add more seasoning if needed. Once finished you can add some double cream or creme fraiche to add to flavour.
Owl Fever
As I sat there intently glued to my Twitter feed of #LFW this week, I was SO excited to discover that Burberry were streaming their catwalk show for London Fashion Week live on their website, so that dreamers like me wouldn’t miss out.
I’ve always loved the brand and Christopher Bailey’s inspirational designs especially, so the Burberry Prorsum A/W 2012 collection certainly didn’t disappoint.
The pieces were classic Burberry with a twist, beautiful trench coats but with large bellow pockets, which were a big feature in the women’s collection. There were also a selection of fabulous fitted pieces, knee length skirts, nudes, quilted jackets and lots of… belts.
Belts were a prominent theme throughout the show, with high-waisted leather, tweed, animal themed buckles and a drawcord bow style.
The country animal theme had a strong presence throughout the show, with birds being the main attraction. The ‘quirky’ style owl that has been flying about (awful attempt at a joke I know), was the image on a number of Tees in the collection, and used as a feature on some of the accessories. My favourite is the suede clutch bag (centre).
Whether you’re a fan or not, it would appear that the ‘quirky’ owl is here to stay. Here are some alternative ways you can get your hands on one…
This gold necklace is from Dorothy Perkins and is in sale at the moment for just £3!
Cute greetings cards! If you look in most card shops you’ll find owl designs everywhere at the moment.
This vintage owl cushion is from Sass and Belle who have lovely gift ideas and decorations. You can find alternatives to this owl, which costs £14.95, on the website www.sassandbelle.co.uk
Hug Me If You Like Comedy
I love stand-up comedy, so I was extremely happy when I was sent to do a review of Patrick Monohan’s tour, ‘Hug Me I Feel Good’, last week. Here’s what I thought of the ITV1’s ‘Show Me The Funny’ winner…
What a friendly guy Patrick Monohan is. Never before have I seen a stand up comedian hug every member of his audience both during his set, and on their way out of the door. To be honest, I found it all a little bit strange.
It was only when I started writing this review that I realised the name of his tour was, ‘Hug Me I Feel Good’! The great thing about his show and it’s title though, is that his very clear love for a good cuddle, is the only (slightly) scripted part of his set.
I left Colchester Arts Centre feeling like we’d just been having a catch-up, rather than watching a stand up comedian. Monohan’s friendly and relaxed manner instantly makes you warm to him, and the fear of ‘audience participation’ quickly disappears.
I wasn’t aware that his shows were unscripted and relied on interaction with the audience quite so much, but this is what really impressed. His razor-sharp wit, and confident banter with people provided a very entertaining evening.
Being in Colchester there were a lot of the obvious type jokes about people from the area, that have arisen from ITV’s hit show, ‘The Only Way Is Essex’, with Monohan asking the audience if anyone has a ‘vajazzle’ for example. These were well received by all, along with tales about what people have stolen from work before.
My favourite part of the night however, was a hilarious sketch that the Irish-Iranian comedian called, ‘The Art of Spooning’. He invited a man he’d referred to as ‘dad’ all evening on to the stage to demonstrate the ‘proper’ way to spoon, which resulted in the lady next to me crying with laughter.
Unfortunately, after this perfect end to a successful start, I found that Monohan lagged in the second half of his set, with audience participation ‘taking over’ somewhat, and people adding their own stories, which weren’t quite the comedy I was looking for.
Known for performing beyond his allocated slot, Monohan had almost reached 11pm and the audience was clearly flagging. The show ended on a high however as he plucked male members of the audience including a policeman and a 14-year-old boy, up on to the stage for a dance performance. Even though I sat there slightly cringing, the assortment of bad ‘dad moves’ and Spanish salsa really was the enjoyable end it needed.
Winter Walks
One of my fondest childhood memories is long pub walks in the countryside with family friends. We used to spend our Sunday afternoons discovering different routes around the Suffolk area, ending up in a lovely country pub for a spot of lunch.
I’m currently living in sleepy Suffolk again, and sometimes struggle to find different things to spend my Sundays doing (with not a huge amount going on here!), so I like to think a stroll in the countryside can be the perfect idea.
If you’re living in Suffolk and wondering what to do this Sunday, why not give one of these pub walks a try? http://bit.ly/cAJZow
Here are some photos I took on my latest walk…
If you’re thinking of exploring the great outdoors, use it as an excuse to wear your wellies, and make sure you’ve got some great socks to go with them! For me, the best welly socks around can be found here: http://www.hunter-boot.com/
I’m loving this winter inspired pair: Happy Sunday! x
