Open when...letters ❤️

As you know my boyfriend, Tom, has just turned 21! I did go out and buy him some presents, but as well as that I wanted to do something really personal. 

I'm just about to start a new job down south and he is going to be doing a PGCE in Lancaster! I know we are both going to miss each other loads so I wanted to give him a present that would remind him of me and that he could use while I'm 300 miles away this year! 

I had seen loads of these open when letter ideas on Pinterest and thought they were perfect. I like the idea of being able to be there for him on paper when he needs me! 

I saw loads online with fancy envelopes with patterns on but tbh my Tom won't care about an envelope with an Aztec pattern, he'll be more interested in what's inside (hopefully)! So that's why I used plain envelopes... I had so much fun drawing on them all :) 

It was great procrastination for exams too (shh...) 

Here's a list of the topics I did and some things that were in them (they all had a little note from me) 

Open when:  

You need cheering up- things to be thankful for etc.  

You can't sleep- a word search, some sleeping tips

You're horny (don't judge me)- I cannot disclose this information

We've had a fight- a little flowchart, a mini chocolate bar

You need motivation- poem

You're jealous-poem, a kiss 

You're ill- 2 ibuprofen, 2 paracetamol, a beechams cold and flu sachet

You're thinking about our future- pictures of gorgeous houses etc.  

You need to know someone loves you- lots of kisses, reasons why I love him

I've just left after visiting- cute coupons to excite him about the next visit (e.g. massage/cuddle/movie night etc.)

You need to have a rant and I'm not available to listen- paper to write down everything that is wrong and get it off his chest

Boy, did these take me ages to make...

D'you like them? 

I hope you do... but what's really more important is that Tom really liked them! In fact he even got a bit emotional but lets not tell him I told you that!

Tom's Swimming Pool Birthday Cake

It was my boyfriend's 21st birthday on Sunday so of course I made him a cake (with our friend Kayleigh who I've mentioned before when I made the Budget Baker's Birthday Jar)! 

We decided to make a swimming pool cake as Tom loves swimming and is captain of our university team. It was loads of fun and he really liked it! 

Ingredients for the sponge: 

250grams butter 
250grams caster sugar 
4 eggs
250grams self raising flour
2tbsp baking powder 
1 tsp vanilla extract

Firstly we mixed together the butter and the sugar until it was lovely and smooth. While I was doing this Kayleigh sifted out the flour into a bowl to remove all of the lumps. I wisked up the eggs (only using a fork) and added them slowly to the butter and sugar. My arm got tired so it curdled a little bit, but that's okay because we just added a little bit of the flour to stop it from getting out of hand! 

Then we added all of the flour and folded it in a figure of 8 (this fills it with air and helps the sponge to rise). We added in the baking powder and vanilla extract. 

Mix, mix, mix. 

The baking powder had so many lumps in it :( After what felt like an hour of mixing we got rid of those stubborn lumps! Phew. We poured the mix into a square/rectangle tin and let it cook on 180degrees for about 35 mins. 

Fast forward 35 mins after some embarrassing dancing round the kitchen with Kayleigh and our sponge was ready to come out! Yay!

While the cake was cooling we made up the buttercream top. Warning: arm workout inevitable. We decided buttercream would give us a better swimming pool effect... you'll see why later. 

Ingredients for the buttercream: 

Icing sugar (a lot) 
Butter 
I tsp vanilla extract 
A lot of blue food colouring 


Mix together the butter, vanilla extract and icing sugar, keep adding icing sugar until it gets to a nice consistency. We left it quite a bit more sloppy than usual because we wanted it to be able to look like water. 

Actually that was a lie... I'm awful I know. I'll tell the truth now. 

We made the buttercream to the perfect consistency but didn't factor in that we were adding food colouring. And to be honest it took a lot more than we expected to make it look blue. For a while it was a horrendous mould colour. Ewww! So after adding quite a bit of the colouring it ended up a lot more runny. But it didn't matter in the end, it looked quite good and tasted really nice. 

For the cake we made a little swimmer man out of royal icing which we just bought ready made (cheater alert!) and for the lane ropes we bought some of those sweetie necklaces! We obviously didn't want to leave the string on the cake so we cut the necklaces in half holding it carefully so the sweets didn't go everywhere... Then we placed it down in a line and pushed in the sweets with a flat knife edge. Then really really carefully I pulled out the string from one end. 

Tip: Cut the string just next to where the knot is or it will pull all the sweets off the cake... trust me I learnt the hard way! 

Oops, I forgot to mention... of course it has a jam layer in the middle. 

Can you tell that there is a bit too much food colouring? It was an accident but it gives the cake such a good 'water' effect! I can't believe how lucky it turned out that we didn't quite have enough icing. And it tasted great so don't worry about doing this! 

Jess & Flash

I have some adorable news!

I've got two gorgeous little kittens... (well when I say I do, I mean my parents do). 

The kittens were my Auntie's cat's litter, she had 4 girls and 1 boy and we have taken two of the girls. The other kittens have all gone to lovely homes too :)

My dad thinks this one looks like Postman Pat's cat so we have called her Jess. D'you see the resemblance? 

The other little girl is called Flash because of the stripe down her face. 

Flash is her nickname, but her Sunday name is going to be 'The Grand Master Flash'! I know that sounds pretty male doesn't it but their mummy was called Monty so it's already all upside down in there world. 

I think Jess is my favourite so far (I know I'm not supposed to say that) because she is much calmer than Flash and it means we can get better snaps of her...

Jess also loves being cuddled and purrs really loudly when you tickle her belly!

The babies also can't sleep alone... they have to snuggle up to each other at bed time before they'll sleep soundly! HOW CUTE? 

I've got them a really really really good value for money house/bed/igloo to sleep in! 

Dyou like it? I do, especially for only £9 from Quality Save -what a bargain. The lid zips off to make an open top bed and there is a really soft cushion inside that comes out and can be easily machine washable. Buy of the month! 

But they don't really sleep in it... They just sleep on me in all sorts of random positions. But hey! I'm not complaining. 

Cross your fingers that our other cat Fuzz likes them! 

I'll keep you updated :)

How to be speedy in the Supermarket

Here are my top tips for being really speedy in the supermarket...

There is no need to spend ages dawdling around walking up and down each aisle pondering over life.

Get IN. Get OUT.

Here are my top tips for being really speedy in the supermarket...

1. Pick and Stick: Most people already have their one supermarket that they're loyal too, if you don't then you need to decide. Nothing will slow you down more than entering into the maze that is a new supermarket...
2. Mini List: Make a mini list only! Just include the really important things that if you forgot you would genuinely go back for. Any more on the list will make you dawdle, and unless you can write the list in aisle order you'll be faffing about reading the whole list as you get to each aisle.
3. Pre-Pack: This is an important step because it saves lots of time in the later stages of shopping and when you get home. When you put something in your trolley follow this order system- Freezer-Cupboard-Fridge. Put everything that will go in the freezer furthest away from you, cupboard stuff in the middle and fridge things closest to you in the trolley. I do it in this order so I don't get mixed up with fridge and freezer when I get to the till, some of them can be either and its hard to remember which when you're speed packing. 
4. Till Grouping: Put your items on the conveyer-belt in the same order as the pre-packing. At this stage I make sure to spread out the heavy things within each category. (e.g. I don't put the juice and the milk next to each other on the converter-belt because they're too heavy to go in the same bag). If the supermarket is a bit busy you'll have some time at this stage to get your grouping perfect. 
5. Speed Packing: Theres nothing to stop you now! Just grab a bag and throw the items in as they're passed to you. They'll be in the right order... all you have to do is realise when one category has ended and another has begun and make sure you start a new bag!

See my tip for saving money at the supermarket. 

Saving Money at the Supermarket

I'm not going to bother telling you what to and what not to buy at the supermarket, you will get what you want and you'll spend as much as you want too! You might buy branded, you might buy basics/value, you've got brand match on your side so you're not losing out by being at the wrong supermarket.

But what can you do to save a bit of money? 
It's all about what time you go shopping. Now in 24hr shops it can sometimes be a bit later than in others but I recommend 8:45pm as a general time in all shops.

• It's usually not very busy
• The clearance ladies have just done a sweep of what is going off today and just marked it down 
• The bakery have hot cross buns practically for free (tomorrows breakfast yes please?) 

If your supermarket closes at 10pm, don't make the mistake of thinking that going for a quick shop at quarter to will get you loads of good bargains... they have definitely started (and probably nearly finished) throwing away all of the clearance food that is left over by then!! 

But the food goes off today/tomorrow? 

Not a problem, whack it in the freezer!

I put everything from meat to bread in the freezer. It doesn't make much difference just that you need to take out things to thaw in the morning before you go to work. And don't give me that "I don't have time for that in the morning", I timed myself it took me 29 seconds to get out a bag of ready-prepared chicken breast and put it in a bowl of water. 

I have been known to follow the clearance lady (as I like to call her) around the shop watching her mark things down and then popping them in my trolley. I've even engaged in a 10p garlic baguette war with a random man... yes I'm talking both of us holding an end each like an old fashioned comedy sketch or cheesy movie. It wasn't love at first sight... and yes of course I won the garlic bread! 

Borderline OCD?

When it comes to deciding what is a suitable take-away to go to, people usually have the same criteria...Price, Taste and Proximity. Add one more factor and you've got me! 

Does the take-away serve the food in plastic or foil containers? 
Foil=goodbye
Plastic=come to mama

Originally this factor became important after I lost a tupperware which I had paid approximately £3 for. Well, that was unacceptable and couldn't happen again... what a waste of money!

I decided right then that I was no longer taking my lunch into university or work in anything that I couldn't get for free. You may say that take-away containers are technically not free but in my mind they are because most people throw them away! 

And well, you were always going to buy the take-away anyway weren't you...

When does it stop being weird and start being really useful?

Well, aside from not wasting any money if you accidentally lose your tupperware (or accidentally leave it dirty in a bag for two weeks and then can't bare to use it again even after you've cleaned off all the mould) they're really good for storing things in your fridge. 

My life can get quite busy sometimes and I know it will get even more busy when I'm working on placement next year (my degree has a year in industry) so it is great to spend one morning or afternoon at the weekend or one evening just sorting out my fridge or food for the week. 

Usually it doesn't take too long for me to prepare my non-junk fast food because my ingredients are already prepared (post on how I save cooking time by prepping in advance coming soon). So I make up some easy dishes and keep them all in my free containers until I want to heat them up. 

It basically means that if I come in from a horrible day or I'm in a rush to get somewhere I can just grab one container and pop it in the microwave and my dinner is ready. And yes sometimes I am too lazy to wash up a plate as well so I eat it out of the container. But also I can just grab a container and take it with me for lunch as well. 

It probably takes a few hours out of my life on a sunday morning but if I spent 30-45mins a night cooking on weekdays that would be 2hrs 30-3hrs 45 used up. So if I spend any less than that prepping then I'm winning. But lets be honest, there is always more free time at the weekend so its better doing it then anyway.

I'll post a picture of all my prepped meals next time I've done them but I've only got 2 containers left in the fridge right now so it wouldn't be a suitable example!

When did the useful collecting become unhealthy?

Yes, you're right some of them don't look like take-away containers... they're Haribo tubs (still free in my mind)!

Gooey Oreo Cookies

Today I've been feeling a bit down and stressed with revision so I decided I deserved a yummy treat. I was absolutely craving a gooey warm half baked cookie. I had no chocolate chips in so decided to get creative... then I remembered I had mini oreos!

Ingredients (only for 4 cookies):

2tbsp softened butter

3tbsp white caster sugar

2tbsp brown sugar

8oz Plain Flour

2tbsp water

1tbsp Vanilla Essence- I didn't have any today :(

1 packet of mini oreos

Firstly mix together all the sugar and the butter until it is nice and smooth. Then add the water and the vanilla extract... make sure you mix it nice and fast so it doesn't go all curdled like it did for me (oops, told you I don't know what I'm doing). If it does curdle just add some of the flour, but if not add all of the flour straight after anyway.

Mix it all up so it looks like this...

Now you can add in your mini oreos or if you don't have any then whatever you want to put in instead.

Pop some grease proof paper on a baking tray and put a bit of butter over the top of it so the cookies don't stick to it.

As you can see the recipe says it makes 4 cookies but my photo only has 2...because well, I made my splodges wayweigh too big (pun intended).

I thought it would make them more gooey inside but it probably didn't in the end. Also you could probably make 6 or 8 cookies from that amount of mixture but I just couldn't resist eating some of the dough!

If only it were socially acceptable to be obese... I'd be in my element.

Pork and Apple Sausage Pasta

This is a lovely way to make a pasta dish more exciting or to do something a bit different with your sausages. You can use a whole variety of sausages to do it... I've used Pork and Bramley Apple today but sometimes use Pork and Honey Chipolatas.

Ingredients (serves 2):

3 Pork and Apple Sausages- You can alternatively use pork sausage meat and just chop up an apple into small chunks and add them to the pork.

1 Onion

1 Clove of Garlic

1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes

1 Chicken OXO Cube

Pasta (I used Fusilli), just as much as you normally make for 2



Firstly, pop the kettle on to boil (you need enough water for the pasta and for the chicken stock).
While its boiling, take the sausage meat out of the Pork and Apple Sausages, which is a lot easier than it sounds. Make sure your sausages are fully defrosted if you have had them frozen. Make a slice along the length of the sausage but don't go all the way through, just deep enough to break the skin. Then using a fork to keep the sausage still, take your knife under the skin and peel it to the sides. Then just scrape the meat out of the skin with the edge of your knife. It's really easy just go with it...

Now pop the pasta on to boil and make up about 200ml of chicken stock.

Fry up the diced onion, chopped garlic and the sausage meat in a little bit of oil. Don't be tempted to eat any even though it will smell absolutely incredible.

Once its all cooked through add 150ml of the chicken stock and the tin of tomatoes. Turn the heat down a bit and let it all simmer for about 10 mins.

By now your pasta should be cooked. Drain it and add it to the pan if there is room (I do this so that I can check that the pasta-sauce ratio is correct and its easier to mix it all up in the pan without spilling). If you don't think there is enough sauce then you can add the rest of the stock.

Serve it up and grate a bit of cheese on top (any kind is fine really, I used Cheddar)

Enjoy!

Spanakopitta (Spinach and Feta Parcels)

So I had never had Greek food before I started going out with my current boyfriend Tom, then he took me to his family's favourite restaurant and now I'm obsessed! Unfortunately, there are no Greek restaurants where I live at University so I don't get to have it as much as I'd like.

Last year I decided I was going to try to recreate the spinach and feta parcels I had the first night I ate Greek food. I thought it would be an absolute disaster, but Tom said they were the best he'd ever had... and we weren't still in the white-lies keeping each other happy stage of the relationship! It must have been beginners luck!

Here's how I made them...

Ingredients (for 12 parcels):

1 large bag of fresh Spinach

Butter

Feta Cheese

Just-Roll Filo Pastry (I'm a cheat... pastry is not my forte)

A sprinkle of plain flour for rolling

Firstly I melt the butter in a pan and add the spinach to cook for a couple of minutes, until they start to look soggy.

Then I take them off the heat and let them cool down before mixing them with the feta. While they're cooling down I roll out the fill pastry and cut them into little 10cm squares. There needs to be 2 pastry squares per parcel that you want to make.

This took a while the first time so the spinach was cooled but when you start to get used to doing this you can usually have a sit down or watch a bit of TV in between.

When the spinach and butter have finally cooled pop them into a mixing bowl and add the feta. Be careful not to add all of the juicy watery stuff that is in the feta packet as this makes them a bit too soggy. Mix together the ingredients in the bowl until they've made a sort of lumpy paste.

Then you want to lay out the pastry squares diagonal to each other so they look like this...

Sorry I didn't take a picture of this step but I'm sure the diagram makes sense. Plop a teaspoon of the paste into the middle of the squares, be careful not to put too much in as they can overflow a lot. Then grab the corners of the top square and try to make them meet each other at the top... and do the same with the bottom square.

Once you've done this for all of your parcels just pop them in the oven for 15-20mins at 180degrees. The parcels taste a lot better warm so if you are planning to save some for another time then I recommend cooking them for only 12-15mins so that you can pop them in for 5mins before you want to serve them at a later time.

Prawn and Mushroom Linguine

This is a really quick meal! Btw if you notice the kitchen looks different to usual thats because I'm at my parents' house not at University at the moment. I love cooking here there is so much space and the utensils are such good quality (Happy Emily!) 

Ingredients(serves 1):

About 10 King Prawns

A knob of Butter

1 Small Onion

1 Garlic Clove

2/3 Button Mushrooms

Salt and Pepper

1 Scoop of Vanilla Ice-Cream (don't knock it until you've tried it) 


Firstly, boil the kettle and pop the linguine on to boil. 

Then, I melt the butter in the pan and then fry up the onions, garlic and prawns in it (which makes them taste incredible). Again, because you know by now that I don't like soggy mushrooms, I add them later but you can do them now too if you want. Make sure you have enough butter in so that its nice and juicy like in this picture. 

I prefer to cook them on a lower heat for longer which stops all the juices from drying out.

Just as the pasta is al dente (nearly cooked) I add the mushrooms and the scoop of ice-cream to the pan with the onions and prawns. I fry them all up for a while, letting the ice cream melt to make a sweet creamy sauce. It is really nice to use the ice cream but it does mean you have to use a bit of salt and pepper to counteract the flavours or it gets a bit too sweet. 

Then I strain the pasta and add it into the frying pan (with the heat turned down low). Once its all mixed in I just check to see if there is a good enough sauce ratio and if there isn't I add some more butter/ice-cream/double cream...any will do. 

Chicken, Apple and Walnut Risotto

Trying this incredible combination of ingredients for the first time (and risotto for that matter) was inevitably going to be something to remember. Especially seeing as it was when I was about 8 years old and was on a mountain in a very posh restaurant in Austria with an amazing view. Now when I think back to it, I can vaguely remember the view but the memory that hasn't diminished at all is that of the taste of this risotto. The mixture of apple and walnuts into such an incredibly creamy sauce is mouth watering. I've tried lots to recreate it and haven't managed to quite get it yet, but I think I've got close...

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

Half an Onion

Two Chicken Breasts

1 Garlic Clove

2 Handfulls of Arborio Rice

Chicken OXO Cube

3/4 Closed Cup Mushrooms

Approx 10 Walnuts

1 Apple (I used a Braeburn) 

Double Cream

Grated Mature Cheddar

-And remember I'm a student so thats only come to £4.36 (calculating based on actual amounts of ingredients used not what the whole packet costs etc.) So thats approx £2 a serving which I think is difficult to match...especially something that tastes this good! 

So firstly I finely dice the onion and chop the chicken into cubes. You can basically use as much onion as you like but having some gives good flavour so don't leave it out unless you really hate it. Chop up your garlic clove instead of crushing it because for some magical reason chopping it keeps the flavour better than using a garlic crusher (or that might just be a myth). 

Fry up the onions (I like them practically cremated so thats why my risotto usually ends up looking quite a dark creamy colour), chicken and garlic in some oil. At this point pop the kettle on to boil some water. 

It's important to make sure that the pan isn't too dry before the next step, so if necessary add a little bit more oil. Put the rice into the pan and mix it around with the fried onions, garlic and chicken. Frying the rice for a little bit without any liquid will help to release some of the starch... which basically makes the risotto thick and not like sloppy rice pudding. 

You should only need to do this until your kettle has boiled and you've had chance to make up a jug of chicken stock using the OXO cube. Once you've got the stock ready you need to add it bit by bit to the pan. Put just enough stock in to cover the rice in the pan and wait until it has been absorbed by the rice. Make sure you keep stirring or the bottom will get very dry! 

This is an important stage and should be repeated about 5 or 6 times. During this stage, when I have time I chop up the mushrooms and apple and break up the walnuts. It will probably take around 20 mins for the rice to absorb all the liquid and the slower you allow it to absorb, the more creamy the risotto will end up. When it gets to the last little bit of stock that needs adding it's time to add the apple, walnut pieces and mushrooms.

I add my mushrooms late because I really don't like them when they're overcooked and soggy. But you could put them in earlier if you like! Then I grate some cheese while I'm waiting for that last little bit of stock to be absorbed, and once it has I add the cream. Sorry, I don't really do measurements (I'll try to start) but I put about a shots worth of cream in there. Yes... such a student way of measuring things! 

Then I add half of the grated cheese to the pan while it is still on the heat to let it melt and then mix it all in with the risotto. 

Do you see my little cheese grater there? It's such a handy little accessory, I used to always get cheese everywhere and now it all gets collected in the little holder. It's from IKEA, my parents got it for me just before I went to uni and it was only £5.50. I think that's definitely worth it... plus it comes with a spare grater front. 

Serve up and put some more cheese and extra walnuts on top for decoration. 

P.S- Sometimes I add a bit of Spinach to this if I am feeling healthy or craving it, but I didn't have any in today so I left it out.

Who is the Aspiring Housewife?

Hey guys! 

Here I am, an aspiring housewife with a big problem! I have neither a house nor a husband...guess I'll have to work on that part. 

All joking aside, I am not one of those types who wants nothing more than to cook and clean all day (although that does sound very appealing to me). I want a career too, but the word 'housewife' basically symbolises all of the things I like to do for hobbies. Cooking, Cleaning, Baking... I even like doing Laundry! Am I boring you already? 

I am super excited about the stage in my life where I'll be able to have my own house to decorate! For now I satisfy those cravings through Pinterest...(you can follow me here if you'd like)

Basically, the other week I was starting to make a board on Pinterest of my favourite recipes... but I make so many little changes to recipes that I find so important that it was frustrating me that I couldn't Pin to my own. So now I'm going to start doing just that! 

I'll also do loads of other little posts every now and again about random things I'm interested in or doing! I'll include in that the little gifts I like to make up for people... I'm kicking myself because I didn't take any pictures of this cute little Baker's Survival Kit I made for my friend Kayleigh! Oh well, I'm sure I'll have some other things to post about soon enough. Look out for some because my boyfriend's 21st is coming up in June so I'll definitely have some kind of gift to post about then!

Well, hopefully you feel like you've got to know me a bit better now, come back soon and there should be some more interesting stuff on here! (I have no idea what I'm doing yet, but its already fun!)

Budget Baker's Survival Kit

Why, oh why didn't I take a photo of this?

I don't think I'll ever kick myself enough, this was the cutest gift I have made someone in a while and all in all it only cost me £9. I am crossing my fingers that it looked like it had cost me more than that when it was all done...well I really hope it didn't look cheap!

The gift was for my friend Kayleigh who absolutely loves baking... (you can check out some of her wonderful cakes here) I had decided I wanted to get her something to do with baking and I had been seeing mason jars being used all over the place on Pinterest. This was my inspiration, so I got a Kilner jar for £2 and decided that would be the base of my gift.

My favourite thing that I put into the jar were these heart shaped cookie cutters from Sainsbury's. They were the most expensive part of the gift at only £3. Unfortunately (because I'm not a pro) I bought some that didn't all fit in the jar, but for this time that was okay! A few of them did fit in and I just popped the others into the gift bag... I nearly kept them for myself to be honest though they were so cute!

I added in some really cute pink polka dot cupcake cases, some chocolate chips, chocolate buttons and vanilla essence which all came to another £4.

I used one of the cupcake cases to make the top of the jar look really cute... you can see an example here (sorry I didn't take a picture of the one I made, imagine this with pink polka dots).

The Kilner Jar came with a little blank sticky label which I put a little message on and stuck on the front. I think if I were to do it again I would 1) TAKE PHOTOS and 2) put some ribbon or a bow around the jar or something!

I'm really excited to make little gifts like this again, I think they are so personal and much much better than receiving something that you don't really want or need. At least I know my baker's survival kit will get good use :)