Category: food

Half term diaries part 2

Part two of February Half term!

Here’s what I’ve been up to.

Wednesday 20th February/Thursday 21st February 2019

During both of these days I was at work allday 7.30-6.

Working with kids is good fun though and we did lots of fun activities.

I really enjoy planning fun activities to do during the holidays.

Friday 23rd February 2019

In the morning I met up with my twin sister and my nephews for some bowling fun.

Both of the boys really enjoyed themselves as Noah only had a go at bowling when he was very little and Casey has never been before.

The boys had a great time and they were really good at bowling, it’s safe to say Auntie Ro Ro lost 🎳

Afterwards we had some lunch and some treats (of course!) DOUGHNUTS!!

In the afternoon we headed to Norwich to stay with my Auntie and cousin for a long weekend.

We popped into the Norwich Primark en-route, in order to see if they had the onesie of my dreams…

…they didn’t disappoint!! & it was the only one left 🙌🏻

Once at my Aunties, we settled down for a delicious Mexican taco feast.

Saturday 23rd February 2019

Today me & Tim started off the day with a Parkrun in a nearby village.

Once we got back we spent the rest of the morning/afternoon chilling out, having lunch and playing games.

The Pointless Mini game was a particular fave.

In the late afternoon we went and saw my cousin, his wife and kiddies for a catchup up and a cuppa, which was nice!

We rounded off the evening with a delicous meal out together at Zizzi’s.

We played a few more games when we got back too. Love a board game!

Sunday 24th February 2019

Today we went out l to enjoy the lovely sunshiny weather, you’ve got to make the most of it when you get it here in the UK!!

We stopped off for a yummy snacky lunch at a lovely pub in Ranworth.

We shared some stuffed peppers, Cheesey chips, homemade houmous, falafel & flatbread and some onion rings, yummy!

After that we went for a little walk along the river. It was so pretty and just lovely in the early Spring sunshine.

A great weekend rounded off with a scrummy roast beef dinner and baked Apple dessert, when we got home.

It’s been a great half term!!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: food, Life, travel, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Half term diaries pt 1

Hi guys!

I thought I would document my half term, here on my blog. After all, I started this blog to capture memories, and so I thought that since I have a few things planned this week, this would be a nice way to document them.

Friday 15th February 2019

Half term is here!!

And what better way to roll in the half term than a delicious meal with a friend.

Me & my friend Steph met up for a long over due catch up at Wagamamas.

I tried a few things that I hadn’t had before and it was super delicious.

Then we rounded the evening off with a trip to Creams, a nearby dessert restaurant.

They do amazing crepes 😍

Saturday 16th February 2019

Me & my hubby Tim spent the day relaxing at a local spa ‘Aqua Springs’. This was our Valentine’s treat and a great opportunity to relax and spend some time together.

We rounded off the day with a couple of games of Cluedo with my mum and dad.

I’ve been wanting to play for ages but it’s not so good with just 2 players so we’ve had to wait.

I love their original Cluedo board!!

Unfortunately, I was the only one who didn’t win a game 👎🏻

Sunday 17th February 2019

Today, me & Tim visited my uni friend Kirsty and her little ones in London.

It was lovely to have a much needed catch up and Tim got to meet the newest edition to the gang, little Bella.

We had a great time chatting, playing some silly games and eating pizza.

Monday 18th February 2019

Today me and my friends Steph met up again, but this time in the day time so that I could see her boys too.

We had a lovely time at the soft play centre, a bit of lunch and then back to hers for a cuppa and a chat.

In the evening we went round to my mother in laws to see her and give her, her birthday present.

Another nice cuppa and a catch up to round off the day.

Tuesday 19th February 2019

Today me and my older sister Charlotte, and my niece Evie, went for Afternoon tea.

We successfully resisted any treats in the staff Room for the whole of the half term, and this was our reward.

We havn’t been here for Afternoon tea before but it didn’t disappoint!

There were four different finger sandwiches each (Chicken, Tuna, Cheese & Ham)

And a lovely warm sausage roll 😍

There was also a scone with cream and jam and a assortment of cakes, very nice!

Once we had finished we got the bus back into town, visited Elmer and then went back to Charlottes for a play.

My favourite girly 💜

What have you been up to this half term?

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, food, Life, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Dechox is here! 🍫🚫❌

Dechox is a fundraising campaign set up by The British Heart foundation to help fight ‘heart break’ (Very apt for this month!)

The campaign involves you giving up chocolate for the month of February, and in the process, raising lots of money for charity.

& a very worth while charity it is.

I will be carrying out the challenge from Fri 1st Feb until Thurs 28th Feb.

No chocolate, no chocolate flavourings, nothing with chocolate in at all. #sendhelp

Here is the website where you can find out some more information.

So, keep your fingers crossed for me and good luck to anybody who is also taking on this (insane, let’s be honest!) Challenge!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, food, LifeTags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Blogmas Day 24: Decorating gingerbread men.

It’s Christmas Eve!!

I can’t believe it, this Blogmas has been the quickest yet.

Only One day to go!!

love doing festive craft and cooking with my nephews and niece.

I found these cute ‘decorate your own gingerbread man’ sets in the Co-op.

You get six mini gingerbread men (perfect for little ones) some icing tubes and sprinkles to decorate.

This is great for little ones as the gingerbread men aren’t too big, a good treat size, and nice and simple for them to.

They were all very excited to get started.

The set came with a little tube of icing and two different types of sprinkles.

It was a nice little bit of festive fun for the kiddies and of course their favourite part was the eating!

Merry Christmas Eve!

If you want to know how we are spending Christmas eve have a look at Blogmas Day Five

Whatever you are doing, I hope it’s a good one 🎄

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, christmas, food, Life, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Blogmas Day 22: My cheese pastry Christmas tree 🎄

Since I have done a few sweet recipes posts this Blogmas I thought I would share a super quick, and very easy savoury recipe with you.

It’s got a lovely festive twist in its appearance and is perfect for a Christmas buffet table.

This cheese pastry Christmas tree looks great on a party table, very festive and super tasty.

You don’t need much to make this recipe either!

Ingredients

•One or Two (Depending on the size you want to make) ready rolled puff pastry sheets. I used one for mine but for a buffet I would make a larger one using two sheets.

•Grated cheddar cheese

•Cracked black pepper

•An egg to brush over the top

Optional festive extras: Caramalised Onion Chutney or Cranberry Sauce.

Recipe

Lay the puff pastry out flat and cut into strips that are 2cm wide. I made 11 out of one sheet.

Take a strip and push some grated cheese into the pastry. If you are having the chutney spread this onto the strips first then add the cheese.

Crack some black pepper over the top.

Roll the pastry up from one end to the other to create a pinwheel effect.

Put to one side and repeat with the other strips.

Once you have made them all arrange them as you see above, to create the Christmas tree.

Use some left over bits to create the pot and star on top.

Brush the pastry with a beaten egg and place it carefully into the oven until it is lovely and golden.

Serve & enjoy.

If you don’t add the chutney into the recipe you could serve it on the side for dipping.

Let me know if you had a go at this.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, christmas, food, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Blogmas Day 21: Our Festive Snack table 🎄😁🍴

As I have said previously, the festive food goodies are one of my favourite bits of Christmas.

It’s great to enjoy some yummy treats, surrounded by friends and family.

There are a few treats that we get every year and this year we (mainly me haha) have taken that a bit further and have been creating a ‘Festive snack table’.

Everytime we’ve gone to a supermarket or seen a tasty, tempting snack we’ve picked it up for the table and it’s starting to look rather good.

This is great for cosy evenings and if any guests come over during the festive period.

Here’s what we have included on our snack table…

Chocolates

Festive chocs are a must! Especially for a chocoholic like me!!

A Christmas classic is the matchmaker style chocolates. I picked these up in Aldi in both the chocolate orange and mint flavours.

I also got a selection of truffles.

We have the new Malteaser truffles that are amazing and, my husband’s favourite, the Lindt Lindor truffles. I picked those up in the original milk chocolate flavour and the new Mint flavour, they look so festive 🎄

You have to have a tub of chocolates at Christmas time, it’s a must. Whether your favourite is Heroes, Celebrations or Quality Street these just feel so Christmassy.

My favourites are Heroes (Cadburys ftw!) Where as my husband’s is Celebrations.

Biscuits

Shortbread is my absolute favourite biscuit and a Christmas must have. I love those festive tins too. I have my favourites, the Tesco tin, and I’m also trying out the Aldi shortbread too.

Mince Pies

I’ve really been enjoying mince pies this year and I’ve been testing as many different ones as I can (It’s a tough job but someones gotta do it!!)

Co-op have come out on top so far but I’ve also been trying the Tesco, Aldi and M&S ones, just to be sure! Haha.

Specialty items

I discovered my love of Panattone last year when I was gifted one, so this year I purchased one of Aldi’s Pandoro, I can’t wait to try it.

Savoury Snacks

Our savoury snack choices this year were of course Pringles and Aldi’s version, stackers as well as Twiglets and Mini cheddars.

Other

These cute Robin treats were part of Aldi’s Christmas range and we couldn’t resist. On the right is a hollow chocolate robin character and on the left is a chocolate orange celebration cake.

I hope I can bring myself to cut into them, they are pretty cute!!

So, that’s our snack table! What’s your favourite festive snack?

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, christmas, food, Life, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Blogmas Day 19: Rocky Road Bombe recipe.

Here’s another delicious, festive recipe for you guys to try over, the Christmas period.

Its super easy and quite quick to make, but it looks impressive and really festive on a Christmas buffet/party table.

This is a Rocky road (are you sold already!!!) Bombe, decorated to look super festive as a Christmas pudding.

I love this idea and it’s so effective!! As soon as my husband saw this recipe he wanted us to give it a go.

The great thing about the Tesco Real Food website is that it has everything you need to know to make the recipe, tweak it if you want to add an extra festive touch but also, if you are doing your food shop you can add all the ingredients that you’ll need to your basket in one go, no hunting for everything you’ll need!!

You can add or take out too if you don’t want to strictly follow the recipe.

I’ll leave the link to the recipe below for you, definatly take a look at the page and some it their other yummy recipes too.

Tesco Real Food recipe

1. Melt the dark chocolate over some boiling water.

2. Whilst it is melting crush up the biscuits, don’t crush it too finely.

3. Once the chocolate has melted, pour it into the biscuit mix.

4. Add the raisins and mini marshmallows and stir altogether.

5. Make sure everything is coated in the dark chocolate.

6. Pour into a medium sized plastic mixing bowl. Flatten the top.

7. Leave to cool down and harden in the fridge.

8. Once it has cooled for an hour or so, take out of the fridge and ease it out of the bowl. Turn upside down onto a plate and lift off the bowl to reveal the dome.

9. Melt the white chocolate over boiling water. Once it has all melted pour it over the top to look like the icing on a Christmas pudding.

10. Garnish with a little sprig of plastic holly, to add the finishing touch. Serve.

Yummy!

Let me know if you have a go at making this.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, christmas, food, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Blogmas Day 16: My work Christmas meal 🎅

On Friday I had my annual work Christmas meal. Every year we go to Ask Italian but, this year we decided to try somewhere different. .

..Not that different though, it was still an Italian haha but we went for Zizzi’s this time.

I think we had picked the same night as a lot of work groups, it was very lively!!

It was officially Christmas jumper day on Friday too so I wore my newest festive jumper to the meal.

The food was really good and I thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

I went for the Super Festivo menu starting off with the Mushroom style bruschetta (I can’t remember the official name)

Anything with cheese and mushrooms is brilliant in my book and this was very tasty.

For my main I had my favourite calzone from their menu, the pollo al spinaci.

I’ve always been a fan of the creamier pastas and sauces so this is so up my street as it has a white sauce instead of a red sauce. I was filled with a delicious creamy cheese sauce, mascarpone, mozzarella, spinach, chicken and mushrooms, SO.GOOD.

It also came with a really yummy tomato dip which was perfect for dipping bits of the crust in 👌🏻

Dessert was absolutely fantastic. Hands down one of the best desserts that I have had in a long time. It was a Christmas special and is a combination of two of my faves. It was half brownie, which was so rich and decadent, and half panattone, so orangey and fruity and festive, it was incredible.

Plus, you got an adorable chocolate pine cone on top!! How cute.

Amazing.

It was a lovely evening and nice to have some yummy food and a chat, away from the workplace.

Have you had your Christmas do yet?

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, christmas, food, LifeTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Blogmas Day 10: Mini mince pie pastry bites

This is my first foodie post of Blogmas 2018 and it’s a tasty recipe for all you mince pie fans!

I have developed a real love of mince pies over this recent festive season but as I follow the SW plan I’m trying to find ways to enjoy my favourite festive treats and stay on plan (ready for the inevitable over indulgence on the main days of Christmas)

So, this recipe, although SW friendly is still great for anyone looking for a twist on a classic, a bite sized treat of Christmassy goodness that won’t add to the waistline as heavily as a traditional mince pie might.

This recipe uses Light puff pastry, so a bit different to the traditional short crust.

It is so simple, and those recipes are the best kind.

Ingredients

-One roll of Tesco light puff pastry (Not frozen)

– A jar of Tesco Mincemeat

-One egg, beaten. (To egg wash)

-Sweetner (To sprinkle)

(This post is not sponsored by Tesco but I did an online shop when I ordered these and wanted to keep it simple when working out the syn values using the Slimming World app)

Recipe

Roll out the pastry flat and cut into squares (roughly 5cm x 5cm)

I weighed each square to make sure that it was 20g each. If you aren’t on SW you won’t need to be so particular.

On each square add a teaspoon of mincemeat.

Fold over the pastry from one side to the other and crimp along the edge to stop any leakage.

Lay the back onto the baking parchment that the pastry comes in, on a bakig tray.

Beat the egg and brush over the top of each one to help them turn golden.

Sprinkle each one with a little sweetener.

Bake in the over for 10/12 minutes on 200°.

Enjoy hot or leave to cool.

I prefer them warm with a cuppa.

These work out as 5 syns each which I don’t think is too bad. One with a cuppa would be perfect to get that festive mince pie hit.

20g (ish) of light pastry 4.5 syns

1 tsp mincemeat (0.5 syn)

Total: 5 syns each.

Enjoy!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, christmas, food, Life, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Blogmas Day 8: A Festive get together🎄

As a group, me and my friends from school try to get together as much as we can (which proves more difficult as the years go by! Damn adulting) we often get together for birthdays and other such occasions and for the last few years I’ve organised something to get us altogether at Christmas too.

We’ve done Secret Santa to death now amongst us all, we have done a festive party at mine and Tim’s a few years in a row now too so we needed something different this year.

In the end we opted for a nice and easy festive meal out together at a restaurant.

We went to a local restaurant called ‘The Oyster Reach’ which is part of the Beefeater chain.

Christmas themed party wear/jumpers was the dress code.

They had both a set and festive menu to choose from and I think we all went for a mixture in the end.

Most of us enjoyed three yummy courses. I went for Calamari to start, my favourite starter.

The festive burger for my main, which alot of us chose.

It was probably the most juicy burger I have had in a while, very tasty.

& I couldn’t resist a cheeky side of pigs in blankets! Well it was a Christmas meal after all.

For dessert I had this delicious chocolate orange melting pudding. Chocolate orange is my favourite flavour combo, heaven.

It was great to get together, catch up and just have a laugh and some yummy food.

The perfect way to spend time together at this time of year.

How do you like to celebrate at this time of year?

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

by Categories: Celebrations, christmas, food, Life, UncategorizedTags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment