Sort of.
You’ve probably heard the news by now that lovetomtomHQ has a new member, baby Lucille. I started this post while I was waiting for Lucille to arrive but I got rather distracted and never posted it! I can say now that Lucille is here I’m so glad I included this dish in my batch cooking! I hope you like it as much as I do. Continue reading
It’s time for me to get back to the keyboard and thanks to your votes I’m delighted to be kicking things off with a super easy savoury recipe. I’ve become rather fond of polls on both Facebook and Instagram. I asked and you answered and a savoury dish won out this time so here it is. Continue reading
Fat Bomb
This little rectangle of delight has turned into an old favourite at lovetomtom HQ. What started out as a ketogenic snack has now turned into my version of a Cacao & Peanut Butter Fat Bomb. The perfect thing to get me through my sweet cravings and trust me there are many!
If you follow me on social media you may have heard me talk about these before but it is such an easy tasty recipe I felt it deserved its own video!
I should have mentioned in the video above that the one downfall to this recipe is that they don’t travel very well. It is not a huge problem for me as honestly as they go from the freezer to my mouth so no time to worry about taking them anywhere else! If you do want to make them keep their shape for as long as possible try mixing all the ingredients together instead of layering it like I do with mine.
I hope you enjoy and if you want to see more of what I get up to in the kitchen leave a comment below.
xo
Recipe of the Month
The past few months I have been eating to my heart’s content. Anything that was put in front of me I ate, and loved every mouthful. I really hit a high, or should I say full note when my folks were over and I ate and drank like I was on holidays for a month. In fact I wasn’t on holidays for a month and I ate so much that I knew I had to make some changes! Perfect timing really with this month’s same but different. I knew what I had to do. Cut out the crap, but given the state I was in I knew that wasn’t going to be enough.
A friend introduced me to something called a Ketogenic Diet so off I went to do some research. Now I’m not one for diets and we all know there are a million out there but I say, do whatever works for you. In this case, I am happy to say a keto diet is working for me. Initially it all seemed rather technical. Tracking, measuring, macro nutrients and fat. I’m supposed to eat fat?! But now, two months on, having tried it, experimented with it and adapted it to suit me and I am glad to say I have seen the benefits. I am by no means an expert or would never recommend a diet of any kind but the reason I’m telling you about it is because I have come across some delicious recipes in my new ‘way of eating’ and diet or no diet, these dishes are staying put. Anything good enough to stay in my recipe collection is well worth sharing and that is why I want to share this month’s recipe of the month.
That’s what it’s about for me: Tasty, healthy food that allows me to function at my best. Sometimes this takes a little experimenting and what works for one won’t always work for another but the experimenting has been fun. Thanks to my experimenting, I have two recipes in one for you this month. First a Cream Cheese Pancake that I use for so many things, (pancakes, wraps etc) and this forms part of my Courgette Lasagne which is this month’s recipe of the month. This is how I make it.
Cream Cheese Pancakes
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of cream cheese
Sprinkle of salt
*Note: When I make these for breakfast I add cinnamon to the mixture or for a savoury version I add herbs to the mixture.
Courgette lasagne – serves 2
Tomato sauce:
1 tin tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper
A few leaves of fresh basil
Sprinkle of sugar to taste (or sugar substitute)
Lasagne:
1 serve of tomato sauce (see recipe above)
1 – 2 medium courgettes cut into thin slices
1 serve of Cream Cheese Pancakes (see recipe above)
Parmesan and Mozzarella to taste
To start make a tomato sauce. My version is really simple. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook. The longer the better. You will need the sauce to be a bit thicker for this recipe as the moisture from the courgettes can make it all a bit sloppy. If you are hard-core and having zero sugar you could use a sugar substitute like Stevia or in my case, I don’t like any sugar substitutes so I sprinkle a little cinnamon in it and that does the trick.
While that’s simmering away, make the Cream Cheese Pancakes. I initially made them as a substitute for traditional pancakes but they are more crepe-like than thick fluffy pancake and for this recipe they are the perfect thickness for what would be a sheet of pasta. I make the pancake mixture in a Nutribullet. so mix all the ingredients together and whizz away. Once the mixture is whizzed up, put either butter or coconut oil in a pan (matter of preference really), pour out enough mixture to make a full circle, basically the shape of the pan and repeat until you have used all the mixture. Depending on the size of your fry pan your quantity will vary but for this recipe I get three-four pancakes. Once cooked set them aside until you are ready to assemble the lasagne. With the sauce simmering and your pancakes made, thinly slice the courgettes and then it’s time to put it all together.
In a baking dish, (I use this silicone love-heart dish for fun) layer it all up. Tomato sauce, one cream cheese pancake, courgettes, mozzarella and parmesan. Repeat until you have used all the ingredients. Put it in the oven until the courgettes have cooked and the cheese is melted and crispy and then eat. If you have a bit more time you could grill the courgettes before assembling the lasagne but I have tried it both ways and the first way is the quickest and still super tasty. You can really play around with this recipe and the quantities. I have worked out exactly what I need so it is nice and snug in this love-heart dish so depending on what you are using, make changes accordingly and of course have fun doing it!
If you want to read more about what I’m eating these days leave a comment below. I’m always happy to talk about food!
Enjoy!
xo
April Wrap up & Recipe of the month
What a fun topic last month’s same but different was! If I’m honest I spent more time reading up on different recipes than actually making them but as with all of my same but different topics, they don’t end because the month is up, so there is plenty of time to cook, bake, share and of course eat!
There have been some real highlights the past month. It’s amazing what can happen when you look at things with a different perspective. It turned out that some of the dishes in my Moroccan feast are no longer different recipes but permanent fixtures in my repertoire. I tried different ingredients in my daily juice with the most memorable one being peas! Another same but different this month and one I’m very much looking forward to is thanks to Indy Power of The Little Green Spoon. Now Indy’s recipes are not new to me but I was delighted to hear that her fabulous recipes will take shape in a cookbook and you know how fond I am of those!
Photograph courtesy of The Little Green Spoon
And now it is time for Recipe of the month. Thank you to everyone who sent in their recipes! I’m glad I’m not the only one completely obsessed with food! This month’s recipe is thanks to the wonderful Eavan from Dublin. Eavan shares my love for pancakes and the clever lady that she is introduced me to pancake mini muffins. I can’t believe I hadn’t tried this before! The name says it all, pancakes in the form of little muffins. Easy to make, totally delicious and the options are endless. Use whatever recipe you normally use for a basic pancake mix, I use this one and add whatever you like to the mixture. Pour into a greased muffin tin and bake for about 12 mins at 180 degrees. Of course it all depends on your oven and how your prefer your mini pancakes so if you want them a little crispy on the outside, leave them in a bit longer or if you prefer a more gooey texture, take them out sooner.
For this batch I added a small dollop of homemade blackberry and apple jam and the only bad thing about them was that I wanted to eat all of them! I have tried a few different variations, jam, fresh blueberries, peanut butter and next I’m going to try a savoury version. The thing I really like about this recipe (and the point of same but different) is that my love for pancakes has taken a different form, literally. I love that these are so easy to make and that I can even transport them with me to nibble on at work. Well done Eavan!
It really was a fun same but different and I look forward to working my way through all of your recipes.
xo
Violet and Percy
Heard of Violet and Percy? If you haven’t you are missing out. It is a great online shop started by Flora and she sells all kinds of amazing things. Not only does Violet and Percy have a shop but also a fabulous blog. I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest writer and that’s where you can find this month’s recipe of the month. It really is a favourite and one that doesn’t get old.
No clues as to what it is. You’ll have to click here to find out.
Enjoy!
xo
#ROTM
It’s time to get back into sharing some of my favourite recipes and this month’s #ROTM is a doozy! Winter means soup for me but I have to say as fond as I am of soup I can sometimes get bored so I was thrilled to discover this Rosemary Ferguson recipe. The title says it all really; this soup is green. Green and delicious! I was sceptical at first but I decided to go with it.
Basically there is a whole lot of green in this soup. Courgettes, broccoli, kale, lime, a few herbs, coriander, ginger, turmeric and of course garlic and salt. Click here for all the recipe details.
Super easy and super tasty. If you’re a fan of soup you need to give this a go. The crisp, citrus flavour of the lime against the vegetables provides a fresh but hearty soup and a new favourite for the winter months.
xo
Birthday Cake
I’ve been a bit slack with my recipes of the week/month and what better way to get back into it than with a birthday cake!
This month’s #ROTM is a delicious recipe from Rachel Allen’s Cake book and was a request from Mr B. It was his birthday after all, so of course he got to choose the cake.
I have only made this Victoria sponge recipe once before and by memory it was a hit, although for some reason, I do fear making sponge cakes. I don’t know about you but I always feel under pressure when baking for a special occasion. Why is it that when you bake ‘just because’ it turns out so well you think you could enter a baking contest, but when you know you will be serving it up to others, there is always some kind of baking disaster!
Thankfully Mr B is the kindest person I know when it comes to my cooking so regardless of how it turns out, I know it will get eaten. The recipe is simple and easy to follow, butter, sugar, eggs, flour. It says to divide the mixture between two same sized tins but unfortunately I only have one round cake tin so I put the entire mixture in and figured I’d cut it into two halves once it was cooked and completely cooled. Not quite a baking disaster but doing it this way brings its own problems. Uneven halves and as you can see, no clean edges, but you can only work with what you’ve got.
My cake didn’t rise as much as I’d hoped but not to worry, I piled it with homemade jam and cream to create the illusion of height!
Birthday or no birthday, this buttery, sugary delicious sponge, served up to someone special was well worth me facing my baking fears.
xo
Happy Blogiversary
I know it’s July already but June was such a busy month with lots of exciting things going on that I’m a bit behind. One exciting thing that happened was lovetomtom’s first anniversary.
It is hard to believe that I have been blogging for a year now. I had no idea where lovetomtom would take me when I started and it has been and continues to be so much fun! Without getting too mushy, can I just say a really big thank you for reading, commenting, following and being a part of the lovetomtom family.
There is only one way to celebrate such an occasion and that’s with cake of course! Seeing as I’m making cake, and a blogiversary cake at that, it’s a no brainer that this cake is recipe of the month. I should say this post is late because it took me so long to decide what to bake! Because this was going to be a treat for me (and Mr B if I left him some), I couldn’t decide if I should bake something new, bake an old favourite or even treat myself and go out for cake. Indecisive much?!
In the end, I looked to one person that makes my stomach grumble every time I see her cakes and that is Molly from My name is Yeh. I knew it was going to be a hard task recreating one of her masterpieces as decorating cakes is not my strong point but practise makes perfect and I decided to give it a go. I came across this gorgeous guest post she did for the JewHungry Blog , A Birthday Cake for Two and that is what I made. Please be sure to read the recipe and look at how beautiful Molly decorates her cakes otherwise this next bit will make no sense at all!
The recipe is quick, easy and delicious and you can decorate it however you like. I’ll be honest, the first one I decorated didn’t quite work out how I planned. I made cupcake versions of this cake, in two sizes, small and large so I could layer them into a pretty mountain of delicious cake smothered in rich buttery icing. Topped with sprinkles of course! But with my heavy hand, it ended up looking like a very sad, pudgy, lopsided mountain of mess. My patience was running thin at this point as I just wanted to eat the thing! I needed a guaranteed winner. I had the cupcake, icing and sprinkles ready to go so I simply put the three together. A far cry for Molly’s works of art and I’d say she would be mortified with my end result. Because the recipe is for two, I think this is perfect for me to practise my decorating skills which means I will probably have to bake, bake, bake and bake some more!
xo
(#ROTM)
Knœkbrød – thanks to The Migrant Chef with a lovetomtom twist
Welcome to my Recipe of the Month series (#ROTM). In this series I’m going to be chatting all about food and recipes that have tickled my fancy the past week or even month. Seeing as it’s 1st February and the fact that I’m going to give this recipe a few more goes, it’s been crowned January’s recipe of the month.
I got this recipe from The Migrant Chef (click the link for the recipe) and couldn’t wait to give it a go. Just as much as I have a big fat sweet tooth, I have an equally fat savoury tooth. I’m a bit of a grazer when it comes to food and I like the idea of preparing/baking/cooking everything myself so these seemed like a great option.
I have been fortunate enough to eat Knœkbrød, a traditional Danish crisp bread in Copenhagen. It would be a true injustice to call what I made Knœkbrød so I won’t; lets call them crackers.
When I started to make these I realised I didn’t have all the ingredients so I improvised and probably to my disadvantage. I baked on and despite my mixture being too wet, the final result was surprisingly good. The fact that they were gobbled up (not just by me) pretty quickly says it all really.
This recipe is definitely a winner and will be the first of many bakes. Next time I’m going to stick to the original recipe (don’t forget to check out the link above). Once I get it right, I will experiment with different herbs, try some with cheese and even have a go at a sweet version.
Happy baking!
xo
