RECIPE: Delightful Butternut Squash Pasta with Sage and Caramelized Onions

Last week, we decided we wanted to make Squash Wellington again (recipe here from sorted food), because we absolutely loved it last time we made it (you need to try it, it’s divine), but being into the #VegBoxChallenge etc, I wanted to make sure we also use the other half of the butternut squash for another meal. So whilst Daniel was training away at his Kung Fu class, I decided to try and come up with a delicious, creamy pasta dish, without actually using any cream (get me!). And well, we liked it, so I thought I’d share it on here. (I didn’t tell Daniel I hadn’t put in soured cream (as planned) and he didn’t notice, so that’s got to show that it’s tasty without it, right?)

RECIPE: Delightful Butternut Squash Pasta with Sage and Caramelized Onions

♠ Preheat your oven to 200°C
♠ Cut your (peeled) upper half of a butternut squash into little cubes
♠ “Marinate” the cubes in a little olive oil, salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper
♠ Put them on a baking tray and in the oven for approximately 30mins (or until they’re cooked, it might take less or more time depending on your oven, you can tell they’re cooked by that they’re really easy to squeeze and turn into puree without applying much pressure)

In the mean time, get on with your sauce
♠ Cut one white onion into thin slices, chop half a chili and a small handful of sage
♠ Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan, when it’s heated up, add the onion
♠ Add just over 1 teaspoon of vegetable stock powder, the chili and the sage
♠ When it starts to catch, add a generous splash of water. Let it cook off and repeat this procedure until your butternut squash is cooked. Honestly it’s worth it! 
♠ When the butternut squash is cooked, put your pasta on. 
♠ Add a generous splash of balsamic vinegar to the sauce
♠ Turn the heat off and add the butternut squash cubes, as well as 2 tablespoons of Greek Yoghurt to your sauce
♠ Puree with a hand blender and serve with the pasta and plenty of grated Parmesan (or a vegetarian hard cheese alternative)

Note: The photo of the dish also includes roasted chickpeas, but they really didn’t add anything, so I didn’t include them in the recipe. I also would not recommend using the pasta I used, it just doesn’t cook in any sort of reasonable amount of time. Just a tip, you know. 

 

Things To Try Thursday – 18/04/13

SWEET

♣ This one is definitely too much effort and equipment for my little kitchen, but sounds delicious, in a very strange way – Salt and Vinegar Chips topped Chocolate Cake

♣ Muffins for Breakfast? Sorry was that actually a question? Sweet Potato, Maple and Pumpkin Seed Muffins

♣ Cookies would do too, I guess – Breakfast Cookies

♣ For the child inside – 6 popsicles you should make today

SAVOURY

♣ I like anything with “too much cheese” in the name – Too much Cheddar and Jalapeno Muffins

♣ Too pretty to not be on here – Lunchtime Tarts

♣ Now that’s it finally seems like spring might actually be on its way – Buttermilk – Asparagus Salad

♣ As children, we often had bread roll pizzas. This ones in here because it mixes nostalgia with sophistication – French Bread Pizza

How many teaspoons are in a cup?

Measure Up Kitchen Conversion Chart by Shannon Lattin from (Click photo to get to source)

Things To Try Thursday – 28/03/13

SWEET

♠ Don’t these Raspberry Swirl Rolls just look incredibly indulgent?

♠ Apparently the best cookies ever (they certainly look it): Swig Sugar Cookies

SAVOURY

♠ Nothing screams SUMMER as much as proper fresh tomato pasta: Martha Stewart’s Fresh Tomato Sauce Pasta (honestly have a look at it, and it’ll remind you that summer will probably actually eventually come round)

♠ Crispy Edamame YES PLEASE

♠ I love BBQ sauce. It’s not something that I’m particularly proud of, but why hide it hej! No surprise then that this Aubergine BBQ Pasta sauce sounds very appealing to me

♠ Always up for a tasty Goat Cheese Chive and Mascarpone Scone

♠ This is more an idea than a recipe, but sounds delicious nevertheless: Pesto, Mozzarella, Baby Spinach and Avocado Grilled Cheese

DRINKS

♠ I think these Coconut Vanilla Bellinis actually sound too comforting to also be this elegant? Have a look!

♠ This combination of watermelon or coconut water sounds like a refreshment sensation: Watermelon Breeze

Happiness Journal

Last christmas, my lovely aunt gave me a Happiness Journal (the one above) and I when I read a ‘Thankful Thursday’ post by Lisette yesterday, I remembered this cute little book on my bedside table and thought I’d tell you about it. 
Basically, every night you’re supposed to write down three things that made you happy that day, no matter how little or big they were. They can be little things like someone smiling at you or big things like getting engaged (I’m a soppy romantic, so naturally this was the first thing that came to my mind). 
The idea is that you finish your day by thinking about something positive and to encourage you to see something good even on miserable days. And then the next morning, you read through what you wrote the night before, so you start your day on a happy thought as well. 
Anyway, unfortunately I couldn’t find the book in English (German readers can find it here), but I think it’s a lovely idea. The book is really nice to have, especially because it’s also full of cute little stories, but if you can’t get hold of it, you could just start one yourself, a bit like a diary, but a book that just focuses on happy moments, so when you’re feeling down, you can look back through them. 
Honestly, it’s so simple and makes a nice difference to my day, you should try it

Love, Johanna

Food and Money

Today’s post’ll be a little more serious than they are on here usually. The reason I want to talk about this is probably quite obvious, there’s scandals concerning horse meat in what’s supposed to be beef wherever you look, even if you wanted to, you couldn’t ignore it. Now, of course as consumers we expect that we get exactly what it says on the package, I for one always expect that there’s really tough checks in the UK (or at home in Germany) and that I can just trust what it says on the package. Of course, one would think that companies label correctly (if not for consumers’ sake, for their own, because they’ll get into big trouble when this comes out!), but come on, don’t we all know that especially these big companies are not exactly known for their morale? But often it’s not even down to their morale, they often expect to buy exactly what it is they will put on the label, but they are supplied with something else (like horsemeat).

Anyway, don’t just make assumptions, can people not see that if they expect to pay like 4 Pounds for a whole chicken that this can’t be 1) good quality and 2) sustainable business? That chicken lived. It had to live somewhere (and hopefully, but let’s not kid ourselves, not in the most awful conditions), it had to be fed etc. That all costs money, people! If what I read is correct, they’re about 6 weeks old when they’re slaughtered, that my friends is 49 days (I’m not even going to go into whether eating meat is morally ok or not, this post is purely about what we expect to spend on food). If for a moment we leave out that the farmers theoretically have to earn something before they sell on the meat, just to keep their business going without being subsidized (which again is a whole other issue), it already doesn’t seem feasible. And then of course retailers wouldn’t accept anything they don’t make money on, so these 4 pounds for a whole chicken have to include that too! That’s crazy! How can anyone expect to pay this little for a whole chicken? A whole animal that used to be alive!
OK I guess by now you get what I’m getting at. Most people don’t spend enough of their money on food. Food is important, it’s what keeps you going and healthy! I’m not talking in amounts either, I’m talking proportionally to their income. People in the UK spend 8.8% of their money on food. How shocking is that? I know I’m a little to obsessed with food, but come on, food should be one of everybody’s priority. But, I’m not saying it’s not possible to eat well on a tight budget. You totally can, with good planning and some clever tricks. What I’m ANNOYED about is that people constantly push for lower prices, which is a major contributing factor, in my opinion, why there is such a crisis as the moment. Small moral companies go out of business, because they’re not willing to find significantly lower priced substitutes for the products they produce to be able to cut the price to whatever crazy price retailers demand, whilst the big companies just go with however cheap they can get.
I hope it’s clear that I do really think that retailers and producers are at fault here, all I’m saying is that people, being unwilling to think about where their food comes from and how it’s been produced and not spending a reasonable amount of money on it, have to take some responsibility as well! Just assume the worst of companies, assume they’re completely unethical, and question how the food you eat, could have possibly been produced for that price. And if you actually want to cut what you spend on food, FINE, but do it by going vegetarian a couple of nights a week, get your protein from pulses and nuts and the like.

I know it’s difficult. I know we all don’t have the time to check where our food comes from, all I’m asking is to be aware that as consumers, we carry a certain degree of responsibility as well. 

Anyway, after my little rant, I thought I’d share some of my favorite tips to eat well while economising.

♧ Go vegetarian as often as you can. When you do eat meat and fish, try to make sure it’s sourced responsibly

♧ Pulses are so cheap and healthy! Use lentils for example to make a tomato sauce/curry go a lot further. They are very filling and full of protein too!

♧ Buy some nice vegetable stock, it will help you to get some nice flavour in your dishes without having to buy every single spice there is

♧ Try to cook with other people. The divided cost of cooking for several people is much cheaper than for just one.

Valentine’s Day

Hej People. It’s Valentine’s Day, I know you know, but do you know what I mean by that? Be happy! Yes I’m in a (happy) relationship, and yes that makes it easier to enjoy this day, but why be so anti? In my family, Valentine’s Day has always been more about showing the people you love your appreciation, rather than just your partner, which I think is really nice. My grandad sends all the female members of the family flowers every year and in years when I wasn’t in relationships, I had nice Valentine’s Days with my mum. It doesn’t have to be so black and white (in a relationship/single, showing appreciation to your partner/noone), why not use this day to show the people you love how much you care?
If you don’t want to give into the commercialisation of holidays, don’t, just take more time. Cook something nice for your family and actually all sit down at the table at the same time and talk, no iphones/ipads/etc allowed! Or just send the people you care about a nice text. Yes yes, we should show the people we love that every day, and I’m sure we all do in some way or other, but I (personally) think it’s nice to have a day that reminds you to go that step further every once in a while.
So I hope you have a nice Valentines Day, whether it be with your boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, fiancé/e, mum, dad, little brother, older sister, your best friend, or a whole group of friends.

Here are some little ideas to make today more special that don’t cost much (apart from one, they also work if you just want to treat yourself).

♡ Have an indoor dessert picnic (make these)
♡ Play board games with your family (e.g. Backgammon, Chess, Cluedo)
♡ Look through old photo albums
♡ Drink Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows
(Here’s also a list by Gala Darling with many ideas)

All I’m saying is don’t be so anti, and just enjoy the day anyway

RECIPE: Courgette salad with chargrilled Halloumi

Aloha! Before I crack on with revision, I just thought I’d quickly share this delicious and fairly healthy recipe with you, which I find ideal for lunch to keep me going throughout the day, you know something that makes the day a little more interesting than referencing.

♣ Cut a couple of slices of Halloumi and put it on kitchen roll, so it looses some of its
moisture.
♣ With a vegetable peeler, peel 1 courgette into beautifully thin ribbons
♣ Chop 4 spring onions and cut 1 red pepper into 1cm-ish squares
♣ Add the spring onions, the red pepper and 1 handful of rocket to the courgette ribbons
♣ Turn this wonderful secret sauce from TheLondoner into a salad dressing:
- Make the sauce by combining 1 tsp of Harissa paste, 1/2 tsp of honey, the juice of
1 lime, 1 tablespoon of mayonaise
- Mix this with two generous spoonfuls of greek yogurt
- Note: You don’t necessarily need to use all of this dressing, and you can play with
consistency
♣ Chargrill your Halloumi slices in a griddle pan until they’re nice and golden
♣ Serve the salad with Halloumi in a wrap or in a pitta bread.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! I hope you all got to spend some quality time with your family and got a little escape from the real world (coursework deadlines or even more stressful things). Oh and obviously I also hope your loved ones appreciated the presents you chose for them and that they spoilt you too. I’ve already had an amazing christmas with my family, and there’s more fun to come. Yesterday we first went to mess, followed by my aunt reading out a lovely christmassy story, the very traditional and very off-tune christmas song singing (has to be done!), lots and lots of presents. Dinner was raclette, which I absolutely love. I ate an enormous amount of cheese (but seriously how could you possibly stop before you literally have to?
Today my nan cooked lunch, which was some roasted meat (for the meat eaters), bread dumplings and red cabbage, which was also delicious. And tomorrow we’ll go for about 11 courses at a delicious restaurant. Amazing.
It was also super nice to come home just in time for christmas (I arrived at midnight on the 23rd) and to spend some quality time with my family, whom I haven’t seen nearly enough in the past couple of months. Sadly on thursday I’ll have to return to the real world where delicious food is replaced with coursework deadlines and exams, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed (and am sure I will enjoy the rest of it too) my little escape from the real world.

How do you celebrate christmas, do you stretch it out over 3 days like us Germans or do you focus on christmas day?
Oh and just because we all love cute pets, here’s my little christmas beever dog

Jeans JEANS Jeans

I’ve bought 2 pairs of jeans today! TWO. That’s more than one and I like them. Strange huh. I hate buying jeans. They never fit me, and I always give into buying ones I don’t like, just because I need one.
Today however I bought two. Because I loved them! Both of them!
We went to an Outlet Centre near me today (which is great, I just always forget it’s there) and I thought I’d give this Levi’s thing a go (where they measure what your proportions are and then put you into a jeans category that will hopefully really suit your figure). I wasn’t sure whether they would do this service at an outlet centre, but the girl I asked was incredibly professional and nice (if you go there, watch out for a petite blonde girl). She said I was exactly between slight and semi curvy so I could wear both. She also got a lot of brownie points for saying she thinks I’m a size smaller than what I thought. If you, like me, struggle to find a nicely fitting jeans, you should definitely give this a go!