Greek-Style Chicken Kebab

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

The weather is picking up, which means BBQ's and just eating al fresco in general and the dish and recipe I'm going to share with you today is perfect for eating al fresco, or even when you fancy a takeaway, but don't have the funds or are on a diet.

This recipe comes from Kayla Itsines' The Bikini Body 28 Day Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Guide.

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:

300g chicken breast fillet, cut into 4cm cubes

3 large handful of lettuce leaves

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

1/2 small red onion, sliced

1 1/2 medium cucumber, halved lengthways & thinly sliced

200g tzatziki

Dressing:

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp chopped oregano

Marinade:

1/2 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp chopped rosemary

1/2 tsp chopped oregano

Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

To make the marinade, whisk the garlic, lemon juice, rosemary, oregano, salt & pepper together in a small bow.

Place the chicken in the dish and turn to coat. Ensure that all the chicken is coated, cover with cling film, and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate.

Meanwhile, soak 4 wooden skewers in cold water for 30 minutes. This will help stop the skewers from burning when cooking the kebabs.

Pre-heat a barbecue grill-plate or chargrill pan over a high heat.

Thread the chicken onto the skewers and grill for 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, turning frequently.

To make the dressing, whisk the lemon juice, oil and oregano together in a small bowl or jug.

Place the lettuce, tomato, onion and cucumber in a large bowl, and drizzle over the dressing and toss gently to combine.

To serve, simply place the kebabs and salad onto serving plates and serve with the tzatziki on the side,

This was really east to cook and full of flavour, the salad and tzatziki worked really well with the chicken.

This recipe serves 2 and it had the perfect amount, for both myself and Skye, I'd happily have this again.

If you're interested in purchasing Kayla's books, then you can buy them from both Amazon and Waterstones.

You can also find her on social media accounts on both Facebook and Instagram.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Baked Goods: Fudgy Brownies

Hello

Annyeoung

Konnichiwa

Ni Hao

You know it's bad when you love baking and sharing baking recipe's but you've not really baked or posted anything baking related since the beginning of last year. Don't get me wrong I have done some baking but only a few cupcakes and cheesecakes, basically recipe's I have shared before. If you've seen my recent Weigh in Wednesday post then you know about the Kayla Itsines book that I have purchased that has meal plans, with the recipe's for each dish, well she also has added a section titled naughty made nice, which has plenty of desserts made that bit healthier, from brownies to cookies, there's even a recipe for hot chocolate. The recipe I'm wanting to share with you today is from that book and this is the first time I've made Brownies from scratch, I've always used the the ready to make brownie mixes.

Shall we get baking some naughty made nice brownies?

Ingredients:

125 g wholemeal plain flour

80 raw cacao powder

pinch of sea salt

170 ml coconut oil, melted and cooled

4 tsp pure maple syrup

200 g coconut sugar

4 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

125 g dark chocolate chips, plus extra for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (160 fan/gas 4) and then line a 20 cm square cake tin with baking parchment.

Place the flour, cacao powder and salt into a mixing bowl and mix until combined, set to one side.

Next place the coconut oil (I forgot I had to melt it), maple syrup, coconut sugar (I used caster sugar as I couldn't find any coconut sugar in my local Tesco) and vanilla extract in another large bowl and mix until combined well.

Next add 1 egg and stir until just combined and repeat with the remaining eggs.

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and gently stir to combine. Stir until there isn't any streaks of flour left, don't over mix. Gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the brownie mixture into the lined cake tin and if desired sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

Bake in the oven foe 30-35 minutes or until the brownies feel set and a thin crust forms on top. Insert a skewer or toothpick into the centre, the brownie should be a little wet, but have some moist crumbs on it. The brownie will continue to cook in the tin as it cools.

Leave the brownie to cool completely in the tin, then cut into 12 even squares. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days (if they last that long) or refrigerate for a fudgier texture.

I loved making this recipe, I made it a little harder for myself by forgetting to melt the coconut oil but it all worked out in the end. I love that coconut oil was used instead of butter and I really liked that you got a little taste of coconut in the finished brownies. It's safe to say that these brownies didn't last long before they were all eaten and I look forward to baking them again, I hope to next time be able to get coconut sugar so I can follow the recipe completely and see if they taste any different than with caster sugar. I can't wait to try more of the naughty made nice recipe's and share them with you all. If your a novice at baking then I really recommend this Fudgy Brownies recipe as it's really easy to follow plus you can eat these without feeling your caving on your diet.

Have you made any of Kayla's naughty but nice recipes?

Have you made her Fudgy Brownies?

Did you find it easy finding the ingredients?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

Annyeoung

Sayonara

Zai Jian

Bye

Cooking: Moussaka

Hello

Annyeoung

Konnichiwa

Ni Hao

It's time for my first cooking post of 2017 and today's recipe comes from Kayla Itsines: 28 Day Healthy Eating & Lifestyle Guide book which has over 200 recipes. I also want to add that I added one of the ingredients to the recipe and I accidentally used dice beef instead of beef mince.

So shall we get started?

Ingredients:

1 medium aubergine, sliced

oil spray

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 medium carrot, grated

1/2 courgette, grated

250 g lean beef mince

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of ground nutmeg

pinch of paprika

220 g tinned crushed tomatoes

125 ml(1/2 cup) reduced-salt vegetable stock

1 medium potato, peeled

40 g reduced-fat cheddar cheese, grated

I started off by preheating the oven to 160 degrees and lined a baking tray with baking paper, placed the sliced aubergine on the lined tray and then sprayed lightly with the oil. I then popped the aubergine in the oven for 15-20, once they were ready I set to one side.

In a large pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and add the onion, garlic, carrot and courgette and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Next add the mince or in my case diced beef and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Then add the oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg, paprika, tomatoes and the vegetable stock and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While everything is cooking, place the potato in a saucepan of water (I always used already boiled water from the kettle first) and bring to the boil for 15 minutes or until the potato is tender.

Once ready drain the potato and pop to one side to cool, once ready cut into slices.

I don't have any pictures for these next steps and my dish was too big to do two/three layers so I could only make one layer.

spread a small ladleful of the meat mixture along the base of a 2-litre capacity dish, layer half of the aubergine slices and half of the remaining meat mixture. Repeat layers again, finishing with the meat mixture on top.

Arrange the potato slices over the meat mixture and sprinkle over the cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes in the oven or until the potato slices are golden and the cheese has melted, leave to stand for 5 minutes and then serve.

I can't wait to try this recipe again when I start following the recipe's more and actually get the correct meat, my error was only writing that I needed lean beef and not writing that it was mince, I also think this is a recipe that my parents would enjoy too. This was my first time trying aubergine too and I was surprised that I liked it, I was expecting that I wouldn't. It took me a little longer than the time suggested to prep just because it was my first time cooking it so kept having to go back and look at the recipe, I'm looking forward to trying and following the recipes and meal plans from her book.

If you're wanting Kayla's book then it is available in most UK supermarkets as well as available from her website as well as Amazon.

Let me know in the comments below if you try this recipe.

See you soon!

Annyeoung

Sayonara

Zai Jian

Bye