Coco Dress

Yellow Coco too! So comfy! And easy to make! Whoo!

Megan Dress

I made a Megan Dress too! From Tilly and the Buttons book 'Love at first Stitch'. I'm on a bit of a Tilly rampage at the moment and this is definitely my favorite so far. I added a peter pan collar, pockets and lengthened the sleeves too to make it basically my perfect dress. The skirt is just plain navy cotton and the top is made from a second hand mens shirt.

Yay!

Crazy Hudson Pants

Whoo!!!! I made some crazy leggings! (and a navy Coco- It's so comfy and flattering (maybe not in this picture...)) They're so cool! Hehe!!!  I'm so pleased with them! They're super neat and have POCKETS! I really like pockets.

Here's a blurry photo of the pocket. These leggings are the Hudson Pant from True Bias with some fabric from Minerva Crafts. They were super easy to make, especially as there was no zipper related psychological barrier to overcome. I think I'm going to make a few more pairs (maybe in less crazy patterns)...

Butternut Squash 3 ways

Sorry for being super slow about this! Bonus 3 for 1 though! Here are my favouritest butternut squash recipes ever (They're all vegan too- booyah):

Butternut Squash Chilli

1 BNS
2 red onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
1 cup red lentils
1 jar sun dried tomatoes
2 tins tomatoes
1 tin kidney beans
salt and pepper

1) Chop up that BNS. Leave the skin on (don't waste your life peeling it :P ). Plop it in a roasting tray and roast it at a high temperature until it's a bit squidgey.
2) Chop and fry the onion
3) Crush in the garlic and some chopped chilli.
4) Throw in the spices
5) And the lentils, SDTs, toms and kidney beans. Maybe a bit of water if it looks a bit dry.
6) Simmer until the lentils are cooked
7) Stir in the BNS when it's all done.
8) EAT IT ALL!!!!

Actually don't, its even better the next day.

Butternut Squash Korma

1 BNS
1 onion
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (or cumin seeds)
1 tsp Nigella seed (I'm pretty sure this is what makes it taste amazing)
50g grated fresh ginger
1 red chilli
1 tsp ground corriander
75g chopped dates
2 tbsp dessicated coconut (Or maybe it's this that makes it tasty)
2 tsp soft brown sugar (Oh no wait. Yeah it's the sugar that I like)
1 tin coconut cream

1) Chop'n'roast the BNS. Give it a 20 min head start.
2) Chop'n'fry the onion (and maybe some other veg: peppers, mushrooms, courgette etc.)
3) Chuck in all the spices
4) And the sweet stuff
5) Give it a few mins then add the coconut cream.
6) Add the BNS and maybe a bit of water to make it a bit saucier.
7) EAT IT ALL!!!!!

Goes super well with normal curry stuff (rice, peshwari naans, poppadoms etc.)

Butternut Squash Casserole

1 BNS
2 large onions
2 tsp sage
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp flour
175ml white wine
1 can butterbeans
400ml veg stock
2 tbsp tomato paste

for the dumplings:
200g self raising flour
100g veg suet
2tsp mixed herbs
8 tbsp cold water

1) You know the drill. Chunk the onions and roast them at the same time too. This time the BNS doesn't have to be fully cooked as it will be going back in. So maybe only roast for 20 mins.
2) Make the dumplings by mixing everything together and making little balls.
3) When the BNS and onions are roasted put them in a casserole dish. coat them in the flour.
4) Then mix in everything else. You could add more veg here too. maybe carrots, peas, potatoes...whaaaaat....
5) Arrange the little dumplings on top. Aww.
6) Plop a lid on and stick back in the oven for a bit. Maybes 15-20 mins.
7) EAT IT ALL!!!! No seriously. I made this for the first time the other day and was super impressed. Am going to make it again next week. nyom.

Hope you enjoy them!

1) Adapted from Happy days with the naked chef
2) Adapted from Rick Steins India
3) Adapted from Cook Vegetarian- October 2014

Austria montage!

Here's a video of our trip to Austria. It was suuuuuper fun!

teapot

Mirrors from Nicola Rowlands

I've been following Nicola Rowlands' blog for a few months now because she makes really cool stuff (what better reason to follow a blog?). I saw that she had these super cute pocket mirrors for sale and grabbed some! They're adorable and motivational! Hehe. 

Cute huh? I've started buying things from Etsy because it's a great way to buy unique local(ish) handmade things from tiny businesses. I.e you get cool stuff and you get to feel good about it too.

xxx

pesto pasta

So, I'm veganing it up nowadays and it's super fun. It's giving me a reason to try new things and I like it! I've seen a lot of funky vegan recipes in the internet but they often contain things that I've never heard of before, in particular 'nutritional yeast'. It sounds crazy and gross but it's actually kinda cool. It has a cheesy taste without all of the fat! Sweet. I had a look in town for some but I couldn't find any. However, We went on an adventure at the weekend and found a really cool shop called The Honey Tree and they had some. Yay! So this is my first recipe using it. I think it's resulted in the best pesto I've ever made.

- Pasta

- Courgette

- Green Pepper

- Some frozen spinach

- 2 cups basil

- 1/2 cup walnuts

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- Juice of 1 lemon

- 2 garlic cloves

- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast

- Salt and pepper

1) Boil the pasta

2) Fry the courgette, pepper and spinach

3) Whiz the rest in a blender to make the pesto

4) When everything is cooked, mix it all together.

Eat it aaaaaaaallllll! hehehe!

xxx

Vegan coconut cake

Coconut cake is my fave! And It's super easy to make too.
- 100g vegan marg
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 cups desiccated coconut
- 2 cups self raising flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp corn starch or arrow root mixed with 2 tbsp water

1) Melt the marg, sugar and milk in a pan
2) Mix in the rest!
3) Bake at gas 5/ 190 degrees C for 30-60 mins

It's done when you poke it with a knife and it comes out clean.

Nom nom nom nom nom.
xxx

Macaroons

Macaroons are easy, yum and gluten free.

Ingredients:
- 3 egg whites
- 310g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 3 cups desiccated coconut
- 50-100g chocolate

1) Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form
2) Add the sugar, beating constantly until thick and glossy

3) Fold in the rest of the ingredients

4) drop tablespoons of the mix onto lined baking trays and bake at 160 degrees (315F/ gas2 2-3) for 20 mins.

5) Allow to cool and then melt some chocolate.
6) Dip and drizzle away.
7) Eat all in one go because they're super yum and mainly air. I guess you could share them if you want.

Cloud pillow

I've seen oodles of these cloud and mountain pillows floating around the internet and I thought that they were super cute so I made some! (Tutorials can be found here and here, although it's not much more that cut out the shape, sew it together and stuff it!). Fun though!

Nexus cover

I got a nexus for Christmas! (Second hand of course.) So naturally I had to make a cover for it. Good job too as I've been hoarding a whole load of Sewing Cafe fabric for a while and have had no idea what to do with it. Anyway, I made this.

It was super easy to make. I used:

-1 fat quater of pretty fabric
- 20 cm strip of felt
- 1m bias tape or ribbon

1) Cut a 16.5 x 50cm strip from both your pretty fabric and your felt
2) Iron and sew your bias tape in half length ways so you get a long ribbon.
3) Place your fabric right sides together with the ribbon in between them. A little bit should poke through the top edge.
4) Sew most of the way around, leaving a gap big enough to turn it the right way around.
5) Turn the right way out and iron!
6) Get your nexus and fold the fabric so that it covers it. Sew up the edges (I had to hand stitch this as it was a bit thick for my machine). Iron again!
Done!

my christmas

 Montage!
 xxx