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Student discounts 2019

Student discounts for 2019

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This time of year comes around so fast, doesn’t it? We’ve got piles of stuff in the hall and I’ve got a bit of a lump in my throat because I know it will soon be time to say goodbye for another year, but it’s always mixed with that feeling of excitement, new beginnings and great times ahead. This list of student discounts started as a few notes for Charlie when he started uni, and ended up being a massive post with all sorts of information about student discounts, shopping, bank accounts, ID cards and more. As usual, you might be an old hand at this, in which case much of this won’t be news to you (thanks to the people who put ‘I knew all this already’ on my Facebook page last year - all the eye rolls for you), but you might also be a new student, so I’ve listed absolutely everything you need to know. Do remember that some of the discounts will only be about for a limited time, so if you’re thinking of buying something, it’s best to do it now. Remember, you need to prove you’re a student and the first thing you’ll need to do is register with the NUS here: National Union of Students.

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Veggie dinner inspo from Mindful Chef

Veggie dinner inspo from Mindful Chef

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From chatting to people who send me messages every time I post a Mindful Chef dinner on my social media (they’re obviously very popular - I always get a flurry whenever I mention them), it seems that people’s reasons for using a recipe box service can be as varied as the meals themselves. Recently I’ve had chats with people who were stupidly busy at work but still wanted to eat well, people who were trying to kick start themselves into a healthier eating regime, and - increasingly - people who are interested in eating less meat (for whatever reason). Think about it: if you’re planning dinner, most of you will generally have quite a few meat-based recipes that you cook on a regular basis (I would always fall back on chicken breast roasted with veg in the oven, a chilli, shepherds pie, that sort of thing), but if you’re making a change, you don’t have those recipes to hand, so it’s really helpful to get some veggie dinner inspo from Mindful Chef.

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The Aldi student living range

The Aldi student living range - in store now!

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Whether you’re sending your beloved offspring off to university for the first time, or whether, like us, you’re now old hands at the sad September send off, I’m in no doubt that the cost of everything has you reeling. Generally in the first year, students will be in halls of some sort, but even then the cost of bedding, kitchen equipment, clothes, toiletries, cleaning stuff, food and other essentials can really add up. If you’ve ever shopped at Aldi, you’ll have noticed they sell a whole range of amazing, great value things online and in store. These Specialbuys tend to be seasonal and cover everything from DIY to gardening, cycling, beauty and homeware. Happily, I’ve got news of the Aldi student living range, which hits the shelves today - I’ve given you an early heads up, because I know they can be popular, and I’ve even got a sneaky peek at what’s going to be available so you can plan ahead.

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Vegan coconut and peanut butter flapjacks

Vegan coconut and peanut butter flapjacks

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So I chatted a while ago about the fact that Charlie in particular is keen to give up meat and dairy. I was just about to make flapjacks the other day when I realised that they obviously contain quite a bit of butter. Oops. Happily, I’m quite into cooking with coconut oil at the moment, so I tried that instead et voila - vegan coconut and peanut butter flapjacks were born - and oh my goodness, they’re SO good! The texture is the perfect amount of chewy and the peanut butter adds a lovely little sweet/salty flavour too. Regular readers will know that he’s also a dried fruit hater, but feel free to add some in if you like it - chopped dates would be amazing, ooh, or dried pineapple - it would be like a pina colada flapjack! Also, a quick word about peanut butter - I used the Meridian Crunchy Peanut Butter because it’s just 100% peanuts and doesn’t contain palm oil - but if you’re concerned obviously just check the label.

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How to make a classic mushroom risotto

How to make a classic mushroom risotto

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Risotto is one of those recipes I like to cook when I’m really in the mood to take my time and potter in the kitchen. I think all the chopping and stirring is the best, gentle form of therapy. I cook the mushrooms (with lots of garlic) really slowly before I start (anyone else a bit weird about mushrooms? I love the flavour, but they have to be cooked well - a flabby mushroom is nobody’s friend). This is a great one for serving a crowd, as although it’s relatively easy, the flavour is fabulous, and it’s also quite forgiving as it will sit for a while once it’s made. You can tart it up with garlicky, buttery chunks of toasted sourdough and a fresh green salad, or just eat it in big greedy bowlfuls in front of the telly. Here’s how to make a classic mushroom risotto.

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On test: new Mindful Chef healthy frozen meals

On test: new Mindful Chef healthy frozen meals and smoothies

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What’s in your freezer? Ours is full of things like breadcrumbs made from leftover bread, frozen veg (leeks and onions are SO handy), fish (bake it straight from frozen wrapped in foil with a little butter and a slice of lemon) and those baby prawns that you can just bung in a curry or risotto without even defrosting. I don’t really buy frozen meals, so I wasn’t sure what we were going to think of the new Mindful Chef healthy frozen meals. Having said that, I think the Mindful Chef boxes are brilliant, so I was happy to give them a go. They also offered to send us some of their new healthy frozen smoothies. Here’s our verdict.

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Gorgeous summer desserts with Saga Magazine

Gorgeous summer desserts with Saga Magazine

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You know me, I’m all about the desserts, so when Saga Magazine - the UK’s bestselling subscription magazine - asked if I’d create some gorgeous summer desserts for their lovely readers, of course I was absolutely delighted. I wanted to include some simple recipes and fresh flavours, all perfect for an English summer, so I started thinking about sweet berries, fresh peaches, raspberries, zesty lemon, and obviously fluffy clouds of whipped cream. Plus, of course, it wouldn’t be summer without a big pitcher of Pimms, would it?

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Healthy (ish) maple pecan granola slice

Healthy (ish) maple pecan granola slice

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I’ve been fiddling around with this recipe for aaaages: I’ve made it into cookies, I’ve added dried fruit (and then taken it away again because Charlie moaned), twiddled with all the quantities, twiddled a bit more, and now finally I think I’m ready to share. I’ve called it healthy (ish) maple pecan granola slice because while it’s not in the least a ‘healthy’ recipe (is there even a healthy flapjack or granola slice that doesn’t taste like sawdust?) the butter and sugar have been kept to the absolute minimum that it takes to actually hold the thing together (I mean, 10g butter per person is pretty good - whizzing the oats helps with this too).

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How to make chocolate chip blondies

How to make chocolate chip blondies

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After the somewhat epic Nutella cheesecake with smashed Ferrero Rocher that Charlie chose for his 21st, I was kind of hoping for something easy from Sam. He didn’t disappoint when he went for blondies (yes, it has actually taken me a complete month to get round to posting this recipe). What’s a blondie? Well, think of it as the soft, fudgy, butterscotchy little sister of the brownie. Instead of chocolate, the blondie gets its flavour from brown sugar and vanilla, resulting in squidgy, sweet, chewy bars that are perfect for sharing. I feel like there are two types of blondie recipe: cakey ones or squishy ones and this is definitely the squishy variety. Fancy baking these delicious, chewy, vanilla-scented beauties? Here’s how to make chocolate chip blondies - you won’t believe how easy it is.

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Creamy vegetable bake with a cheesy topping

Creamy vegetable bake

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This is such a good recipe if you’ve got leftovers. In fact, we like it so much that I’ve started deliberately cooking too much roasted veg on Sunday so we can use the leftovers for this one on the Monday. I’m not a vegetarian or a vegan (but did you know that next week, 13th - 19th May is National Vegetarian Week?), but I always try to do a couple of meat free meals a week. If you are, I’m sure you have all your favourite brands/substitutes for things like stock, cheese and cream. I would imagine coconut milk would work okay, but a dairy-free friend of mine has told me that Oatly do an actual crème fraîche substitute. There’s a bit of prep to this recipe, but once you’ve got it down I promise you’ll make it again and again, and probably personalise it too. If you like more sauce, add more stock, or maybe you’d prefer it without the topping. I think it would make a delicious filling for a pie too. The thing I love about this dish is that it’s always slightly different, depending on what you have in the fridge.
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Nutella cheesecake with smashed Ferrero Rocher

Nutella cheesecake with smashed Ferrero Rocher - because you’re only 21 once

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My baby boy is 21. When I first started writing this blog, we’d just moved to Ireland and Charlie was eight. Honestly, it seems like a lifetime ago now. I’ve said before that I never really felt like I was a natural at all this motherhood lark, so I’m eternally thankful that they’ve both turned into the kind, funny, loving adults (eek!) they are today. It’s really lovely to see them live, love and flourish. Charlie’s in his second year of university now and happily settled with a lovely girlfriend, and although it’s true that you never stop worrying about them, by the time they get to this life stage, you have to sit back, relax and just hope that you’ve given them all the skills to make the right decisions in life. which is kind of a relief after the stress of those teenage years. And talking of decisions, if you’re a regular reader, or maybe if you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you’ll know about the Birthday Challenge. In this household, the birthday person gets to choose whatever cake they like, however obscure, and I promise to make it for them. Once upon a time, it was all about finding the most obscure recipes (think of it as the inspiration for the technical challenge on GBBO), but now, they just choose something yummy, which is fine by me. Charlie’s choice was for a ‘Nutella chocolate cheesecake with Ferrari Rockets on top’, and while he was heading back down the motorway ready to celebrate with all our friends and family, I got to work creating the perfect, silky smooth Nutella cheesecake with smashed Ferrero Rocher* on the top.

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Lentil and vegetable hotpot 3

Lentil and vegetable hotpot

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Although we’re not vegetarians, I try to make several meals a week that don’t include meat, so when Hello Fresh asked me if I’d like to try one of their recipes, I went for the veggie option and chose this lentil and vegetable hotpot. I would imagine this would be really easy to make into a vegan dish by changing the cheese too, so it’s a really good staple supper recipe to have under your belt if you’ve got a houseful of people who all have different dietary requirements. I’ve changed the recipe a tiny bit (we love a bit of spice), but feel free to leave it out or add your own tweaks too. I guarantee this will end up being one of your favourite veggie dinners. These amounts are supposed to serve two but we had a ton of leftovers - just double up if you need to.

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Weekend wishlist: gorgeous wines for Mother's Day

Weekend wishlist: gorgeous wines for Mother’s Day

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Well hello there! My brain is currently swirling around in a big fog of jet lag after flying back from Singapore yesterday (feature in Cruise International coming very soon on Silversea Cruises’ fab new culinary enrichment programme, .S.A.L.T. (Sea and Land Taste), which enables guests to discover even more about their cruise destinations by sampling the local culinary scene. It was a fabulous week and I can’t wait to get writing (lots of pics on Instagram if you’re interested, including this one from a beautiful sunset cruise on the South China Sea). In other news, Mother’s Day is rushing towards us at an alarming rate, so I thought I’d be a doll and give you some inspiration so she doesn’t end up with a bunch of service station flowers again (hoping my children are reading this). I’m definitely no wine expert, but I’ve taken to snapping a pic of the wines we enjoy with a view to sharing some of our finds, so excuse the pretty ‘home made’ photos. Whether you’re cooking dinner for your mama and want some new wine recommendations to try, or whether you’re just looking for a pressie, here are some gorgeous wines for Mother’s Day. Read more

Mexican movie night - with chips and dips!

Mexican movie night - with chips and dips!

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Nothing beats chips and dips and a movie with your favourite people, so when the lovely McCoy’s asked me if I fancied coming up with a few delicious accompaniments to their lush new crispy Mexican tortilla snacks, Muchos, I knew exactly what everyone would love: Mexican movie night! These delicious puffy, crispy, folded half moons are packed with flavour and absolutely perfect for sharing (and dipping), so I laid on a big spread of the different flavour Muchos: Smoky Chilli Chicken, Cool Sour Cream and Onion and Nacho Cheese, and accompanied them with some of our favourite Mexican dips: a fresh, zingy salsa fresca, creamy guacamole and deliciously cheesy warm queso dip. So pile up the Muchos (happily for us, they come in big sharing bags), grab some beers or mix up those Margaritas (fizzy lemon with a sugar and lime zest frosting is perfect for the kids) and settle down for Mexican movie night. To accompany our chips and dips, we’ll be watching Pixar’s Coco, of course, and the completely hilarious Jack Black in Nacho Libre.

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Mindful Chef 15 minute meals

Mindful Chef 15 minute recipe boxes

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I’ve spoken about recipe boxes before, and one of my favourites is Mindful Chef - for lots of reasons, but mainly because the food is always really fresh and healthy, and the recipes always turn out really well. If you’ve not heard of them, they are a fab little company that delivers boxes straight to your door with all the ingredients - and step by step recipe - needed to create delicious meals at home. We tried one of the new Mindful Chef 15 minute recipe boxes, plus another box with the normal recipes (around 20 - 25 minutes’ cooking time). Here’s how we got on.

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Recipes perfect for Valentines Day

Recipes that are perfect for Valentine’s Day

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I know lots of people are really sceptical about Valentine’s Day, calling it a ‘Hallmark holiday’, but I don’t see that there’s anything wrong in reminding your other half that you care. When I was a kid, my Dad marked every Valentine’s Day by sending me a card with ‘gess who?’ written in it - I think it only stopped when I actually got married. It used to make my day to know that someone cared enough to send a card, even if it was just my dear old Dad. If you’re treating your loved one to a special meal, I thought I’d do a quick roundup post of recipes that are perfect for a Valentine’s Day, so whether you’re going all out with posh food and bubbles, or you just want something simple and delicious so your other half doesn’t have to cook for once, I hope I’ve found something for everyone.

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