OK I am late to this party. I have always boiled (read: mostly avoided) vegetables but something has changed and now I have to confess I am quite into them. Apparently steaming them is better for you too. Something about not boiling the nutrients out of them.

As such, have discovered a good way to steam veg with no additional washing up.

1. Boil some water (with inevitably pasta/rice in it).
2. Cover with a colander.
3. Chuck in the veg.
4. Pop a pan lid on. 
5. Wait.

That's all.

Hope we're all well.

Muv and I made a green smoothie. It wasn't horrible. It was green. It was healthy. If you've got any other ideas, get in touch. The jar came from Elena and is pretty funky I think.  We got talking to John last night and he explained he was super keen on all these healthy smoothies as he's got a NutriBullet; I don't have one so we just used a blender. Seemed to do the trick. 

This recipe came from my Mum ("Muv") and is really good. Very simple. A purist risotto. Do it. 

Huge shoutout to Amelia for coming over the other day and showing me how to make one of her salads. They're delish and we had a good chat and put the world to rights. She has a really lovely instagram page so go follow/like/share etc. 

I had a go today with Elena and Rob and it was good fun. These salads are pretty big so arguably enough to share if you fancy it, or if you're hungry they'll do you fine. And because everything comes in multi-packs from supermarkets, it's not too expensive to do. 

Ingredients

• Gem lettuce
• Handful spinach, watercress and rocket (comes in a bag)
• A small hunk of red pepper (or other colour)
• 1 stick celery, chopped
• 1 smallish carrot, cubed
• 1 big tomato, cut into eighths 
• A hunk of round goats' cheese (got it from little sainsbury's in Durham)
• Half an avocado

Bonus stuff:

• Beetroot
• Nuts, Amelia mentioned sunflower seeds
• Balsamic/olive oil as a simple dressing

Method

Get the oven at 180. Grab your goats' cheese. Amelia said to put a small cross in the centre with a knife as apparently this stops it melting everywhere in the oven. We are not sure why this works but it does. So do it. Pop on baking dish in oven for 20 mins or so (until it's a beautiful golden brown).

Wash the lettuce and chop it into strips. Bung in bowl. Add in the spinach, watercress and rocket. Arrange semi-artistically.  

Chop up the red pepper and carrot. Bung in. Chop up the celery. Bung in. Chop up the avocado. Bung in. Chop up the tomato, arrange around the side. Just because it looks cool. (See Amelia's Instagram and follow her for very funky looking salads).

By this time, the cheese should be nearly done. Take out and carefully spatular on to the salad. 

Season with pepper and maybe add a dash of balsamic/olive oil if you want. When Amelia came over we also put chopped beetroot in but sadly I forgot today. 

This is quite light and went down well. Loadddds of tins in this one so it's really easy and pretty cheap. Enjoy. This is pretty similar to the No Cook Lemon Cheesecake, so if you're into lemons, try that.

Ingredients

• 200g crushed rich tea biscuits
• 100g butter
• 300ml cream
• 397g condensed milk
• 1 tin of cherries, remember to stone them

Method

Melt the butter over a low heat. Crush the biscuits. Add the biscuits to the butter. Stir about to coat. Bung in a baking tin with removable base (my tin is 7 inches). Press down with back of spoon. NOTE: I've started using rich tea biscuits because they're a bit lighter than digestives but as a result there is less fat in them and so the base is a bit more crumbly. If you prefer a solid based, add more butter - reckon 150g would do it.

Whisk the cream until it starts to thicken - you should be able to see creases in the cream.

Add in the condensed milk and beat for a good 5 mins. It should start to thicken. It won't go mega thick but it should get to a stage where it holds its shape. 

Pop a sieve over a bowl and pour the cherry tin out. The juice will go through and the cherries will be caught. The cherries will have stones in them so take them out - either cut open with a knife or I found you could just squeeze in your hands and it would come out. 

Pop two pudding spoons of the juice in the cream and blitz again. When thickened, pop the cherries in and stir with a spoon. Pop in the baking tin on top of the base. Clingfilm and fridge for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best.

Enjoy!

This is really good! I used rich tea biscuits for the base as I thought they'd be a bit lighter than digestive biscuits. Still tastes great! I put mint on because I was trying to be edgy. It really doesn't matter if you don't have any. But it's nice if you do. 

This is nice and refreshing. I put a little bit of honey in it to just make it a little less tart. Give it a go! 

This was seriously good and really very filling. Feta is great, as is plenty of the dressing. Top stuff. Recipe based on one from BBC Good Food but not in such huge quantities - this does one meal.

Cannot convey how good this was. And it's healthy. Do it. Found this recipe on BBC GoodFood; they use small tomatoes, I used big ones because that's what I had. 

I had two halves for supper but it  could be a great starter too. Also, had this for lunch and if you heat the peppers up in the microwave and bung them on some toast then that's pretty good.

I've seen a lot of these going around so thought it was high time I try it. Can report it was great. You can add sugar or honey if you want but I didn't because I'm trying to be good. Putting the strawberries in overnight helps with sweetness I think.

It's basically edgy porridge. Give it a shot. 

I have seen these floating around all over the internet for a while now so I thought I would try it to see what all the fuss was about. Have to say they are very good. They're kind of dense and because it's just banana and egg it's pretty healthy. I think these might become my new breakfast for when I haven't got any milk for cereal. Or maybe when I feel like a pick-me-up in the summative revision season... Do give it a go.

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1 banana, chopped and mashed

Method

Chop your banana into a bowl and then mash it with a fork. Make sure you mash it well otherwise the pancake won't work so well. 

Bung in an egg and give it a good beat with your fork. (Not going to lie, it doesn't look that attractive at this stage).

Fry in butter, flipping when brown. Keep the pancakes quite small. This recipe makes two.

I topped both with a little honey and raspberries. Eat.

When BuzzFeed did their recipe they just used bought 'brownie mix'. Where's the satisfaction in that? Here's a cheeky recipe for super fab brownies using three ingredients. And it's got a cheeky vanilla cheesecake-y top. Living the dream. 

​So this is like our Three Ingredient Brownie recipe but with a cheeky vanilla cheesecake topping! FUNKY. Did it with proper Nutella and it's just gorgeous. I am a huge fan! They're really lovely and moist. Went down very well! I cut it into 6 large slices.

This is like a grown up lemon drizzle cake. I made it gluten free because Freddie was running a "gin siesta" and he can't do gluten. Gluten free flour doesn't seem to change how the cake cooks or anything. So just do it.  Gin and lemon is a classic combination and it works wonderfully in this cheeky cake. Give it a go!  Remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel/like the Facebook page.

So I was pottering off to the shops when I bumped into Mike and we got chatting and he suggested I try this. It's a rather amazing tomato tart. Well worth a go. Vegetarian. Glorious. I tried having it after the oven when it was still hot but can confirm it's much better when it's cool. Suggest maybe taking it out of the fridge a little before eating though so that it has time to come up to room temperature a bit. 

Give it a go!

I'm suddenly becoming aware of just how much sugar there is added to all the ordinary stuff we eat. I'm a big believer in having a balanced diet, so that does mean you can enjoy a nice pud every now and again. But things like smoothies and milkshakes are notoriously bad at all this kind of thing. So here is a nice little milkshake that tastes and does good for you. No added sugar.  It's bananas, milk and oats. You don't need honey or sugar or syrup. It's great as is. Do it.

So here we are. Meat-free Monday. This was actually really good. It's lovely and rich and super healthy. There's that famous "fact" about celery - it is meant to burn more calories than it gives you or something. So if you're trying to be a bit healthier, then this is definitely a good one. And, as I say, it isn't just eating a lettuce leaf. You can eat healthy and well without becoming a rabbit. #profound. 

The recipe came from a beautiful blog called Sprouted Kitchen. Go check it out!

Does about 4 meals. I've frozen some. Wine is pretty key in this one so grab something nice. Check out Barking Booze for some suggestions.  

So I had this out in Hong Kong over the summer and they had it for sale in the grocery so I got some. It's gorgeous. Takes no time to cook and is super delish. You just need some garlic so this about as it gets. Trick is to keep the heat low when frying the garlic. 

Probably a side or could be a green quick bite if you are trying to be super healthy... 

So I said that for my New Year resolution I was going to be more vegetarian because, as has been duly noted by Ravi and Chloe, I am really not great at it. This was a lovely little supper that was actually surprisingly filling. And you feel gorgeously healthy afterwards. Very easy, very nice. Give it a go. 

OMG. This is amazing. It'll rock your world. It's obviously not as healthy as a fruit-only ice cream but by changing the base to banana you're making it much better. And it tastes FAB. So easy that you have no excuse not to do it. 

This is a lovely little snack (or lunch) and very healthy. Tastes lovely too. The feta is a great little addition. Give it a go. Basically you're looking to get a nice balance between spinach and egg. Too much of either is nasty. If you want to make a big one, could add in two eggs I reckon. Haven't tried it though...

Let's face it: smoothies are not as great as we think they are. Sure, they taste good but really the reason why we love them so much is because they're full of sugar. So this is a 'reduced' sugar recipe; obviously it's not as sweet but it does still get lots of fruit in you without the sugar. Give it a go. Watch the video.

Super easy and super healthy. This is a great snack and a fabulous way to get some fruit in you!

Saw this on a blog late last night I think. Gave it a go. It's like french toast, but with an egg. Amazeballs. What a way to start your day. Smother with ketchup. Music in the vid is my own; enjoy!

Ingredients

• Bread
• Egg
• Butter

​
Method

Cut a hole out of the bread with a glass. Melt the butter on a lowish heat. Pop the bread on. Crack the egg in. Cool until it's pretty much all white through. Flip. Season. Eat. 

Fab.

I'm living with two and a half vegetarians (Cora is kind of sitting on the fence and has a cheeky bacon sarnie every now and again). This means that I am often encouraged to eat more vegetarian stuff. I've given in and here is a rather nice Nigel Slater recipe. I added wine and I think this makes it much better. It's actually really filling and great on a cold winter night.

Give it a shot. If you haven't got carrots but do have bacon then try this recipe.

Now it's getting colder, it's high time for some more egg nog! This is a lovely little warmer. And the cheeky salted caramel liqueur adds that super special kick. Give it a go. Check out the Bailey's version and the original.

Ingredients

• About 3/4 of a mug of milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 50g chocolate
• A top up of Salted Caramel Liqueur

Method

Pour the milk into your mug (this is just to measure it). Now pop it in a pan (off the heat). 

Crack an egg into another mug and beat with a fork until foamy. Add to the milk.

Break the chocolate into small pieces and add to the milk. 

Now turn the heat on very low and stir constantly with a wooden spoon. 

You'll know it's done when the mix thickens and it begins to steam. Pour it into the original mug and top it up with the liqueur.

Fab. Enjoy.