Nan's Kitchen Gold | Easy no bake Chocolate Crunch Cake!

Hello you beautiful people, on a recent visit to my wonderful Nan's house the subject of cakes came up, my Nan has always been amazing when it comes to cooking and food in general (when we were there in the holidays lunch was always stunning with cheese muffins being a personal favorite of mine!) and she has amassed so many tried and tested recipes that bring back memories for the whole family. I had a look through her recipe box and found this little delight.

This recipe requires no baking that's why I love it so much!

You will need: 

- 300 g of Rich Tea Biscuits
- 175 g of Dark Chocolate ( I used Bournville)
- 397 g of Condensed Milk (sweetened)
- 115 g of unsalted butter
- 30 g of Raisins

To decorate (optional):
- 175 g of dark chocolate 

How to work the magic:

In a large mixing bowl crush the biscuits into crumbs. Stir in the raisins.

Melt the butter in a pan on a low heat, add the condensed milk and 175 g of the chocolate. stir until the chocolate has melted. Pour the melted mix into the biscuit crumbs and stir until well combined.

Pack the mix into a 6 Inch cake tin (that has been lined with clingfilm or grease proof paper) and put into the fridge for 3 hours to let it set.

Optional, Decoration:

Placed the (now chilled) cake on a cooling rack (with a tray or clingfilm underneath, trust me you will need it).

Melt 175 g of Dark Chocolate. Pour over the cake until evenly covered and allow to set.

I chose not to decorate it with the melted chocolate but it tastes great either way. This cake is great with a coffee in the afternoon.

You Might be interested in reading
- A Piece Of Pie!
- Comfort Food
- Comfort Food 2

A Piece of Pie!

                                                             

Hello you beautiful people. As you might have noticed I've really been getting in the seasonal spirit this year with pumpkin Carving and going for long walks in all the crunchy leaves. Well today I took that one step further and tried out a great alternative recipe to the american classic dessert Pumpkin Pie.

Around here about a week before Halloween a vast majority (if not all) the pumpkins in the supermarkets have been bought up and the only way to get your hands on one is to sell one of your kidneys to buy a pumpkin from a local farm (they get super expensive!).  No need to panic as I have found several recipes claiming you can make the traditional pumpkin pie but sub out the pumpkin with Sweet potato or butternut squash. Much to my surprise It turns out they were right! This recipe makes One large and exceptionally tasty pie!

So here is my version of the recipe.

Ingredients :

375 g of Sweet potato (peeled and chopped)
375 g of Butternut Squash (peeled and chopped)
140 g of caster sugar
2 eggs (beaten)
25 g (melted) unsalted butter
175 ml of double cream
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1/2 tsp of ginger
1 tsp of cinnamon
350 g of sweet shortcrust pastry

How to work the magic:

1) place the sweet potato and butternut squash in a pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. let it boil for 20 minutes or until they are nice and tender.

2) puree the sweet potato and squash in a food blender and leave in a mixing bowl to cool down. (whilst it's cooling down prepare the pastry shell)

3) Pre-heat the oven to 200 C (180 C  for a fan assisted oven).

4) In a separate bowl mix together the sugar, salt and spices mix in the melted butter, beaten eggs and double cream then stir in the puree mix until well combined.

5) Pour the filling into the pastry shell and put into the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180 C (160 C for fan assisted oven) bake for 30-40 minutes or until the filling has set.

6) Leave the pie to cool then dust with a mix of 1 tbsp of icing sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon.

You could make lots of little tarts instead of a big one if that floats your boat!

Posts you might be interested in-
Scary Good Fun!
Why Autumn Is Actually Pretty Damn Good!

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Scary good fun!

It being Halloween on Friday my wonderful sister and her fiance came over with some Pumpkins to carve, I've only ever carved pumpkins once before and I couldn't remember how much fun it actually was!

This Little devil (it even has an awesome tail on the back) was carved by my brother, I love the scar over the eye! If it was a competition he definitely would have won!

And this funky chap was made by the sisters fiance. I love his teeth!






Here we have Mrs Sherbets itty bitty kitty creation Meeeeeooooow!

The one in the middle is mine, I'm going to call him Bob. Bob is a bumkin as he actually has a shapely rear end (I would have taken a picture but I was too busy being awesome)

So from me and Bob have a very happy Halloween, and remember you are never to old to have fun (after all we are all well into our twenties).

11 Signs You Work In Hell-th Care

1) You have no idea what a lunch break is, you have heard of this fabled creature but you are yet to see one in person.

2) Meals can be consumed at two speeds, 20 bites per second or over a 7 hour period...neither speed enhances the taste of your meal, quite the opposite in fact.

3) More often than not you have had to make the very difficult decision between eating something and voiding your bladder

4) As a result of #3 you now know your bladder has the capacity to hold for up to 12 hours.

5) There is more caffeine in your blood stream than blood.

6) You have played the game "Identify that smell" on more than one occasion. Let me stop you there...It's poop...It's always poop!

7) You know the Bristol chart (Poop identification chart for those of you still blissfully ignorant) like the back of your hand and you have seen every type in the book.

8) Rubber gloves and alcohol hand gel are now and always will be your best friends.

9) Due to #8 gone are the days where had smooth and healthy skin on your hands. You now spend a fortune on moisturizer.

10) Managers, seldom present, only appear to add another 20 jobs to your current list of over 100 things ( shall I stick a broom up my rear end and sweep the floor whilst i'm at it?) managers are also trained to disappear in a puff of smoke when they are actually needed.

11) Despite all of the above, and the fact that you get paid minimum wage, you still pick yourself up in the morning dust yourself off and go in to face another day. Some days you even manage to muster a smile.

Today was almost one of those days.

So to all those who work in hell-th care give yourselves a pat on the back!

Blogging, Addictive Personalities Beware!

I will always remember A conversation I had with my mum on the subject of addiction I replied to some comment she made with "I don't have an addictive personality" and as I said those words cigarette in one hand, Can of disgustingly sugary energy drink in the other it dawned on me...the realization that actually I probably do!

When people say addiction it brings to mind drugs, binge drinkers and smokers and yes those are the common forms of addiction, the most damaging ones with scientific grounding in that the chemicals in said products are, by their very nature, addictive. But have you ever thought about the lesser addictions? Tattoos people are finding out fast how addictive they are! (I only have 3 so far)

Also coffee? Tea? Chocolate?...Hobbies...yes that's right I said hobbies!

Because Is a hobby really that far from an addiction? If you think about it, you spend a lot (if not all ) of your money on it. you will do it at any opportunity you can ( and if you have very little free time don't you just crave the opportunity to sit down and partake in your favorite pass time?) and it affects your social groups after all sometimes the best friends are the ones we have most in common with!

I'm not saying hobbies are a bad thing I think they are great ( I should know I have more than enough of them) it just got me thinking do some people pick up hobbies easier than others?

I can safely say I am thoroughly addicted to blogging I'm always coming up with great Ideas for posts, experiencing things I want to share or spotting products that I'd love to review.

So I will ask you....Blogging, do you think its addictive?

A very Lazy Sunday Afternoon

The clocks went back an hour last night meaning one more hour snuggled up in my wonderful bed...or so I thought. I woke up with a bit of a start thinking " Oh damn I've got to get up, so much stuff I need to get done!" Stupid brain! normally that's true but today it was Unbelievably far from the truth.

After a morning of Lazing about watching weekend tv (I love interior design shows but my favorite at the minute is George Clarks amazing spaces and there just so happened to be a few re-runs on this morning) and doing a bit of laundry I decided to go and visit the grandparents.

I practically grew up at my Nan & Bamp's house Mum and Dad worked pretty long hours so I was there after school every day and at the holidays with my brother and sister. My Nan often reminds me that she always knew when my brother and I were miss behaving as I have a very unique laugh when I'm up to no good.

I spent a good long while chatting with Nan in the garden and watching George running around like a loon with the wind up his tail, George is as mad as a box of frogs and absolutely will not sit still if anyone comes to visit. (I do believe I've told you about George before.)

Now Nan & Bamp have been told by the vet that George is...well...how do  I put this nicely?....he is a little on the plump side. I beleive its those eyes that are responsible, how can you look into them and not relent and give him another treat? So when I come to visit I like to wind George up and keep him playing so he gets a tad more exercise and he makes the cutest faces.

I  was offered lots of tea and biscuits which I gladly accepted since Nan is the only one who will make tea that I will drink (I'm more of a coffee girl than a tea person, I think that has given me a complex about being rather un-british!)

So I used my extra hour today spending time with loved ones, how did you use yours?

Exercise Without Stepping Foot In The Gym...Or Even Feeling Like you Are Exercising!

About a week ago I got an offer I simply couldn't turn down! My brother and his friends were going to "laser Quasar" in Hemel Hempsted and seeing as I had never played laser tag before (and I absolutely love new experiences) I had to say yes. What I was expecting was a day of great fun with some lovely people What I was pleasantly surprised about was the amount of pure cardio I got in without for one second thinking "oh Christ! I'm exercising!!!"

The set up in there is amazing, so much scenery to duck and dive around ( and if you are me, to run into...A lot!) and there were tonnes of things to giggle about through out the day. We got a day ticket for the tiny price of £11 so we ended up playing about 3 hours worth of Games in the end and it got me thinking since I'm not really a fan of the gym there has to be a lot of ways to exercise without feeling like we are exercising.

How do you get your exercise?

It's a Dog's Life- How One Became Three

I've always considered myself more of a cat person than a dog person. I'm not saying you can't be both but as a child I was absolutely obsessed with cats, so much so that my family often joked that I would grow up to be a crazy cat lady ! so when a fortunate blending of families occurred and my now step dad arrived with the beautiful old dog Sky I was unaware how much my opinion would change. Sky is so sweet natured shes like a big cuddly teddy bear but she had always been quite sedate and quiet. She coped fairly well with the move from London and settled in to her new life as a country dog.

It wasn't until little George (the long haired chihuahua) came to visit and Sky really brightened up that we knew something hadn't been quite right with Her, you see before she moved from London she had a furry friend called misty who sadly passed away and it had affected her more than anyone had realized. Don't get me wrong she loved the attention of being an only dog and would follow us everywhere I think she just needed another four legged companion.

(my sisters dog George)

One day I was browsing on line ( and doing everything possible to not be doing what ever it was that I should have been doing at the time) when I found a post about an accidental litter of puppies who were looking for homes, one of the little furry jelly beans caught our eye. We arranged to go and see the puppies ( as responsible dog owners we knew that we should get an idea of the temperament of the parent dogs and the health of the pups) and there she was Coco our pretty little brindle girly.

And here she is now, shes grown up into such a loving little girl always nudging your arm and trying to get cuddles!

It was going to be a month before coco was ready to leave her mother so we made the arrangements and waited for our second fluff bundle to come home. I watched the litters progress as they grew up into slightly bigger fluffy jelly beans and that's when I noticed one of Coco's litter mates still didn't have a home, I really felt for the poor little chap! so when we visited our new girl I gave him a cuddle and my heart melted completely there was no question he would be joining our family too.

And here he is now such a handsome boy, he is just a ball of energy. (and sounds like a turkey when he whines)

When they finally came home it was clear that sky loved her new companions, she started to mother them instantly (and taught them all her naughty habits). In a flash Sky was her eternal puppy self, she seemed to have more energy and was just a brighter, happier dog. 

some people might think that it was a bit silly taking on 3 dogs at once but they have completed our family.

Don't get me wrong there where a few teething problems...

But they have grown up and settled in!

I can honestly say I couldn't be without any of my fur babies!

Thirst For Life

I was meandering around the shops the other day and happened to notice something glinting at me from the shelves of the drinks isle. It was new Coca-cola Life in its rather spiffy green can.

This drink is marketed as being a healthier alternative to coca-cola (much like Diet coke and Coke Zero) but without the aspartame that people are avoiding like the plague. It claims to have "sweetness from natural sources" which are part sugar and part stevia.

As far as taste goes its not great...not terrible, just not quite right. It almost tastes more like Pepsi than coca-cola. At only 68 kcal per 330 ml its a damn sight better than coca-cola, so if you are looking for a healthier alternative it might be for you....but I will still be reaching for the Diet coke.

Why Autumn Is Actually Pretty Damn Good!

The seasons are changing, Its getting colder, but don't despair. When you enjoy the little things you might realize autumn can be awesome! Here are some of my many reasons why.

    Image source

This time of year the leaves are changing and the colours left behind are amazing. I love taking long walks through all the crunchy leaves enjoying the sights.

With the weather getting colder all the summer dresses go into storage, but you know what that means! Its time to get out the baggy jumpers, there is no better comfort than baggy jumpers with snug hats and scarves.

And with the drop in temperature comes my secret pass time. Its so cold that you can see your own breath, time to pretend you are a dragon my friend. RAWR!

The next great reason to love autumn....Comfort food! This time of the year everything is flavored with pumpkin spice, cinnamon or salted caramel. I cannot get enough! 

This was the cinnamon latte I had yesterday (and yes that is caramel on top).

Whilst we are following the food and drink train of thought, hot apple cider and mulled wine, two fantastic reasons to smile about autumn being here.

When you have heated up that cider why not run yourself a bath? nothing better that a hot steamy bath to while away the hours. You could create an atmosphere and light up some scented candles too.

And the final reason to enjoy autumn, the atmosphere, the days are getting shorter the darkness is fast approaching and there is a heavy mist in the air wrap up in your coat and go for a stroll. You can feel like you are a character in your very own film, pop on the head phones and you could come up with your own soundtrack too.

Tell me some of the reasons you love autumn.

comfort food 2

As you might be able to tell from my posts before, I have a bit of a thing for potato wedges and I think I might of perfected the recipe!  For the main part of the meal I made a Chicken and bacon tart.

Pizza Night

I'm so bored of tomato Pizza so I thought I'd try something a little different so this is my creation. Pesto pizza (Low fat pesto of course) with mozzarella, mushrooms, olives and cherry tomatoes with a side of potato wedges. It was amazing! I love trying out new creations.

Weight Loss, A Few Tips

I have always been chubby. Sad but true, I was a chubby baby, a chubby child and a very chubby teenager so it goes without saying that I got used to it. I often thought I have always been fat so I won't be able to change. Don't get me wrong I have tried to change, many times, without success and in this process I have tried almost every fad diet that I came across desperate for the quick fix ( I will say this now, for me fad diets don't work!) so in all my trial and error I have found a few tips that have Really worked!

Before I start I need to say that everyone is different so what works for me might not work for you.

So here we go.

1) Keep a food diary! Buy a notebook, one that you like because trust me you will be spending a lot of time scribbling in it. Before you start your healthier life or diet (whatever you are calling it) spend a week eating like normal and write everything down, every last mouthful, every sneaky snack. At the end of the week have a look at the food you've eaten and do the maths see how many calories you actually put in your system because if you don't know how you have being going wrong then how can you expect to fix the problem.

Then when you start your healthier life write everything down to keep on track, add up your calories as you go along and you can spot your pitfalls and avoid them.

2) Get Inspired And Motivated! Taking that first step in loosing weight can be terrifying and you may find that you lose sight of your target or think its not achievable, this is where pintrest becomes a handy tool, just type in "weight loss success" and BOOM! hundreds of pictures of success stories flood your screen, type in "Before and after weight loss pictures" and BOOM! pictures of how achievable it actually is are there for your viewing pleasure.

I have two boards on pintrest one of inspirational weight loss stories and pictures that make me feel better about my goal and one of all the pretty clothes I have wanted to wear but felt I couldn't because I'm too big. when I'm feeling like I'm struggling or wavering off of the path I look at these boards and remind myself why I'm on this weight loss journey.

3) EXERCISE! Well this one is fairly self explanatory really. but it boils down to this even 5 minutes of exercise is better than none at all. I try to go for a brisk walk once a day, if I do any more than that its an added bonus.

4) Remember Every Pound That Has Gone! You might have lost 1 pound or hundreds no matter what that number is remind yourself everyday of your success. Its important to recognize your achievements.

5) Bad Weeks Happen, Don't Get Disheartened! no matter how hard you try you will no doubt have a bad day or week, don't let it get you down just pick yourself up dust yourself off and keep going.



So to all of you I say, good luck on your journey and I wish you every success that you wish for yourselves :) 

Spiced Carrot Soup (50 Calories A Bowl)

This Is my all time favorite soup. Its very low calorie and extremely tasty and filling (it smells amazing too!!)
                                                                         

You will need:
1 kg of carrots
1 medium onion
a small bunch of spring onions
100g of swede
1 red bell pepper
1 vegetable stock cube
2 tsp of chilli powder
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of mixed spice
salt and pepper

                                                                   

Chop up all the vegetables and put them all in a big pot. Add boiling water until the vegetables are covered, Add the stock cube and spices and boil until the vegetables are soft. Then just blend it all together and leave it to cool. Put the cooled soup in the fridge. This "recipe" makes 12 (50 calorie) portions.

Weight Loss Progress

Since the 22nd of May 2014  I have been on this weight loss journey. I started at a pretty hefty 124 kg that's 19 stone 7 lbs (all though the largest I have been is 126 kg)  by August I was 105 kg and that's when things slowed down partly because of work stress and my holiday but now I weigh 103 kg 16 stone 7 lbs and with a year to get photo ready for my sisters wedding ( I'm going to be a bridesmaid) I am more determined than ever :).

I still have a long way to go but any progress is good! I will post more info on how I'm losing the weight and some good recipes.

On a different note I have successfully gone one week without a cigarette :)