Homemade hand sanitiser

Using hand sanitiser during the current Coronavirus pandemic is sensible. However; the idiots panic buying bulk loads are not. They are utterly selfish; hoarding more than they will ever use, leaving others to go without which ultimately puts everybody at risk. Fortunately, these prats are not buying up the simple ingredients you need to make your own (because they are probably too lazy). 🙄

Anyhoo, now I’ve aired my views on that, let’s move onto something more constructive...

Here’s how to make your own hand sanitiser following a recipe confirmed by medical experts.

You will need:

Aloe Vera gel (find it with the after sun products), pure alcohol, and essential oils if you wish to add a fragrance (though let’s face it, that’s not really our main concern here...)
The proportions are as follows:

1/3 Aloe Vera Gel

2/3 Alcohol (Isopropanol, Ethanol, etc)

5-10 drops of essential oil for fragrance (again, totally optional).

So in practice, that’s:

1/3 cup of gel mixed with 2/3 cup of alcohol, or if you’re working in ML, that’s 80ml gel mixed with 160ml of alcohol.

Mix it up and put it in an empty bottle, making sure it’s a tightly sealing lid as you don’t want the precious germ killing alcohol to leak out or evaporate!
Stay safe, people. Oh; and don’t be a prick - leave some hand soap and toilet roll for others please! 🙄

Cheesy Garlic Cream Mushrooms

Ok... if you thought yesterday’s experiment was good, this will knock your socks off! I’m sat here in a food coma after diving face first into this pile of wonderfulness. 

Here’s how to make your own bowl of edible heaven:

Take a punnet of mushrooms and quarter them. Fry them in a good glug of Olive oil for a few minutes until they start to brown. Stir through a tbsp of butter and fry for another minute or two, then transfer them to an oven proof bowl, using a slotted spoon so that the water from the mushrooms (if any) is left behind. 

Drizzle with double cream, sprinkle with parsley and garlic powder and season with salt and pepper, before adding your cheese (I used sliced Gouda, Emmental & Red Leicester,  but you can use whatever). Whack the bowl into the oven for 6-8 mins, remove and dig in. Don’t forget to have a tissue on hand in case you start to cry like a little girl...

Honestly it’s THAT good.

Cheesy Garlic Roasted Sprouts

Today’s experiment; creamy cheese garlic roasted sprouts! I just felt if I ate another egg today, I may start screaming and never stop... 

Here’s what I did, if you want to try it yourself:

Halve the sprouts and fry them in a pan with a good glug of olive oil, until they start to brown.

Add a few shakes of garlic powder and a knob of butter; stir to coat and then pour into an ovenproof bowl. Roast in the oven for 7-8 minutes, remove and season with salt & pepper. 

Drizzle with a little double cream, cover with cheese (I used sliced gouda and grated Red Leicester, but anything would probably work) then return to the oven for 5-6 minutes.

Empty the glorious bowl of bubbly lushness onto a plate and go at it like a whirling dervish... 

I’m so happy right now! **pats full tummy**

Thai Curried Haloumi & Spinach

INGREDIENTS

3 tbsp Thai curry paste (I prefer green)

2-3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 block of halloumi

1 tbsp cumin seed
1 Bag of spinach

Onion powder

Garlic granules
Salt & Pepper to taste

METHOD

Put the oil into a small pan to warm, then add the curry paste. Slice the halloumi into cubes and add them to the pan, stirring to coat. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until the cheese looks like it’s going to melt.

In a separate pan, gently toast the cumin seeds; once you can smell the flavour being released, add a drop of oil and then the spinach.

Once the spinach has wilted down, it is cooked; season with a few shakes of garlic granules and onion powder, then salt and pepper to taste - bearing in mind that the haloumi is already salty! Plate up the spinach and top with the curried cheese. And that’s it! 

Keto New York Cheesecake

This is a keto friendly version of a classic baked cheesecake, without the base. If you are not doing strict keto, or have allotted some of your carbohydrate allowance just for this, feel free to make your cheesecake base first, then use this recipe to top it! (as you can see, that is what I have done).

Ingredients
675g cream cheese (softened)

5 tbsp unsalted butter (softened)

1 cup powdered Erythritol

3 large eggs (room temperature)

150ml sour cream (room temperature)

zest of 1 lemon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150c. Take a 9-inch springform pan and line with greased parchment. Wrap the pan with aluminium foil covering the bottom and up the sides, making sure at least one layer completely covers from one side to the other as it needs to watertight. 

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth, then add the erythritol and combine. One at a time, beat in the eggs, making sure each one is fully mixed in before moving to the next.

Add the sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon zest, then beat again until the all the ingredients are well combined and the mixture is smooth. Pour into the pan and smooth over for a nice finish.

Place the pan inside a large roasting tray that has sides high enough to hold water half way up the cheesecake tin. Pour boiling water into the tray so that it covers the bottom half of the tin, set it in the oven and bake for 80 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, allow to cool to room temperature. Take a sharp knife and run it around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan then release the sides of the springform. 
Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving, if you can wait that long!

It’s all in the jeans...

I have been wearing the same pair of jeans over and over again for a year. I know. And this is AFTER buying a new pair! I was dieting when I bought the replacements so I bought the same jeans, just a size down. Since then I have simply not been able to get into them! I told myself at the time: “I won’t buy anymore size 12s as I intend to be a 10...” and so, here I’ve been, stuck in perpetual single jean hell; washing and wearing... washing and wearing. As you can see, they’ve badly faded and I’ve all but worn the crotch out, still refusing to give in. A few weeks ago I decided it’s never going to happen and was planning to wave the white flag - go buy some more 12s and be bloody-well done with it, but then I started keto as a last, desperate attempt. Guess who got into her new jeans today? 

That’s right... I’m in ‘em!! Take that fat tummy, you’re on your way out at last! 

Coconut & Chilli cauliflower rice.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 large cauliflower

Handful of kale (chopped)

Handful of spinach (chopped) 

10 baby plum tomatoes (chopped)

1 large red chilli (chopped)

1tbsp butter or ghee

1/2 tbsp chilli oil

1tbsp coconut oil

2tsp Garlic powder

1tsp onion powder

1tsp stock powder

METHOD:
Grate the cauliflower to make your rice.

Melt the butter in a large pan with the chilli oil, add the rice and give it a good stir to coat; let it cook for a few minutes to soften.

Add the coconut oil, allow it to melt if solid, then stir in the remaining ingredients and cook through. 

Season with Himalayan pink salt.