Family Archive

One thing I have got ready though is this post about a rather lovely cook book called Saffron Soul by Mira Manek that I was sent to review along with the book from my last post so as you might guess this post is a little late…..

This is a gorgeous recipe book filled with mouth watering recipes backed up with gorgeous photography, I really love to see what I am making is supposed to look like and this book does just that. I said yes to reviewing this book one because it looked and sounded great and two because I am all about this kind of food. I’d actually go so far to say that Indian cuisine is probably my favourite source of food I love the spice and flavour plus there is lots of vegetarian options which suits me as I am trying to cut meat out of my diet but thats a whole other blog post!

Mira’s style of food is a modern take on classic Indian recipes which have been inspired by her mother and grandmothers cooking, she uses basic ingredients such as lentils, grains and spices and shows how these simple everyday items are filled with health benefits. There is so many good looking recipes in this book I found it hard to choose which one I would feature on here but eventually I decided on these chickpea tikkis which by the way are bloody delicious!

Chickpea Tikkis

Tikki ingredients:

1 x 400g can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 tsp coconut oil or rapeseed oil, plus 2-3 tsp for frying
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, ginger and chilli paste*
1/2 tsp garam masala or chaat masala
1 green chilli, finely chopped, optional
2 Tbsp tahini
1-2 Tbsp coarsely ground peanuts
handful of chopped coriander leaves
5 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp himalayan salt
small bowl of sesame seeds

To make:

Immerse the chickpeas in a saucepan or bowl of boiling water for a few minutes so they soften and are easier to mash. Drain the water and mash the chickpeas.

Heat the oil in a medium-large saucepan, add the onion. Stir for a couple of minutes on a low heat and then add the garlic, ginger and chilli paste*, garam masala and green chilli. Stir again for half a minute then add the mashed chickpeas, tahini, peanuts, coriander, water and salt then stir together and take off the heat.

Divide the chickpea mixture into 8 and roll between your palms to form balls, then flatten to form tikkis. Heat a frying pan and melt 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in the pan.

Dip each tikki in sesame seeds and place half the tikkis in the pan, adding a few more drops of oil round each tikki so it cooks well. Leave to cook on a low heat for a couple of minutes until the underside is lightly browned and then turn the tikkis. Again, add a few drops of oil around each tikki and let them cook for a minute or two. Turn again if necessary and add more oil if required. Repeat with the rest of the tikkis.

Serve hot with yogurt sauce**,tamarind and date chutney** and a wedge of lemon or lime to squeeze.

* I used fresh garlic, ginger and chilli instead of the paste
** yogurt sauce and tamarind and date chutney recipes can be found in this book

I invited my sister round for dinner and made these tikkis for her, we had a yummy fresh salad on the side and she made a vegan yogurt, tahini and lemon dressing which was delicious! The tikkis were so tasty, really nice nutty spiced flavour and they were really filling too. They kind of remind me of a nutty falafel, they would be perfect for vegan pattie options at a BBQ or popped in a wrap/pitta for a healthy filling lunch or just straight up with a dip…very tasty and very versatile.

If you want to see more from Mira you can check out her Twitter and Instagramaccounts for some tasty food inspiration.

Hello, well thats another month down! And what a month this has been, I’ve been doing all sorts of things but there is one thing I just can’t contain any more…..

I GOT A NEW JOB!!!

Yep its going to be all change round here soon and I can’t bloody wait! Right let me start at the beginning….As some of you know I work with adults with learning difficulties which I love it was a complete change of career when I got the job as a support worker and I really questioned myself if I could do it and be any good at it when I got the job two years ago but I took to it like a duck to water and loved it.

I was so happy to be given the chance and it really has changed my life in so many ways one big way is knowing the career I would like to follow. This year I have been thinking about looking for another job and in September I finally saw an advert that interested me and although I love the guys that I work with I have been looking for something a little more challenging where I can learn more and better my career. The job was for a Support Coordinator for the local council at their social services run day centre, I thought what the hell and applied really not thinking I would get the job but you know what I did and I start on the 1st of December!!!!

Can’t believe it really, I am so excited and the best thing for me is that all the guys I work with at the house now all go to the day centre so I will still see them all which is a real silver lining for me and for them. The job is a lot better then the one I have now especially the hours, no more sleep ins and weekends off which is the first time ever for me, I have never had a Monday to Friday job. I am hoping I won’t be so tired and have more time to check in here but as always no promises!

So thats the biggest news this month and now is a little catch up with pictures of other stuff thats been going on this side of the screen…..

I went for lunch with my sister and a friend in Rye which is just a short drive from Hastings.

We had a lovely catch up over lunch and got to hang out with this cutie which is always a pleasure.

I’ve injured one of my knees which is not good so workout wise its been pretty lame round here, I’ve been going on walks and still been able to go to yoga but thats pretty much it. I’m waiting to get an appointment with a Orthopaedic doctor at the hospital but who knows how long thats gonna take : (

I bought some pretty awesome new kicks which I have been living in, these are so comfy and I absolutely love the colour.

Food wise I’ve been eating all sorts of stuff, I treated myself to some gluten free cereal which has been going down easy especially when pimped with some hemp seeds. I say treated myself because its so expensive for such a small box of cereal and once I have it in the house it doesn’t last very long so its a definite treat.

I made an awesome banana bread which was gluten and lactose free and I only used bananas and a few sultanas to sweeten it, delicious but again another treat as me and Dale will just gorge on it until its gone….food self control is pretty much zero round here!

My sister has been to San Francisco recently and bought back these lovely treats for me, the choco crunch cookies were gorgeous but the chocolate unfortunately had dairy in it so I gave that to Dale. I’ve noticed that dairy really does not help my skin when it comes to acne so I am trying my best not to eat it along with too much sugar which again is why the cereal and banana cake is a treat.

Lunches are never the same but this healthy fat punch in the face was so tasty, some people shy away from good fats but not me oh no!

Dinners again have been random but I’ve been keeping them pretty healthy, this was a fillet of trout oven baked on top of carrot and mushroom rice drizzled with lemon oil. This was a total party for the tastebuds and will definitely be made again.

November looks to be another busy month for me, I will be working my last 3 weeks at the house then I have a holiday planned to visit my family in Ireland. When I return its my birthday the big 35 before starting my new job on the 1st jeez I’m getting flustered just thinking about it!

Lots of exciting stuff to come and I will be back to tell all I promise, until then enjoy the last few days of the month and have a blast if your going out for Halloween!