Lets Cook one pot meals round up

Here is around up of some delicious one pots meals perfect for the cold winter.

Yoghurt and Coconut Chutney and Chobani yoghurt review.

I was recently sent some pots of Chobani yoghurts to sample. The yoghurts arrived in a well packaged  portable transport cool box and I  was pleasantly surprised to see how fresh they were upon delivery.The yoghurts were individual sized 170g  tubs  in the following flavours; Pomegranate, strawberry, black cherry, peach, blood orange and no fat plain.In addition to these there are other flavours and larger tubs available too.
Each tub of the fruit yoghurt had a dollop of fruit compote in the bottom of the pot and it was generously topped with rich creamy thick low fat  yoghurt. On a personal note I found that the generosity  and creamy texture of the  yoghurt meant that there was not enough  fruit compote in the tub. I would have preferred a little more fruit in each tub. All the flavours I was sent were delicious, although the pomegranate one was my least favourite as I found it a little too bland and lacked flavour for my liking.

Chobani yoghurts are very versatile and can be used in a variety of ways, on their website there are many recipe ideas with a very helpful conversion chart.I used the yoghurts in a variety of ways, I made a fruit smoothie with the cherry yoghurt and  for breakfast  I stirred peach yoghurt  into some muesli and fresh fruit. I made strawberry muffins and added the strawberry yoghurt to it,  and the natural plain yoghurt I made yoghurt and coconut chutney with it.I enjoyed the yoghurts very much and would definitely buy them .
Thank you to Chobani for sending me such delicious yoghurts to sample, all the views in this post are my own.
This is the Yoghurt and coconut chutney I made using the natural yoghurt:

Creamy and delicious spicy yoghurt and coconut chutney.

Ingredients

170 grams (1 small  tub) Chobani Natural low fatYoghurt ( or any Greek yoghurt)
30 grams  / 1 oz  dessicated coconut
1 green chilli finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

For tempering:

6 curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 tablespoon sunflower oil
1/2 teaspoon urad dhal
1 red dried chilli

Method:

1. Put the yoghurt in a bowl, add to it the finely chopped chilli, dessicated coconut and the salt and mix well.
2. Transfer the yoghurt mix to a serving bowl.
3. Heat oil in a pan , when it is hot add the mustard seeds, dried chilli, urad dhal and curry leaves.
4. Wait for the tempering to splutter and immediately pour the tempering onto the yoghurt mixture.
Serve as a dip with some poppadoms, tortilla chips or potato crisps

You may like:
Tamarind Chutney

Announcing event~Lets cook edible gifts for Christmas

Lets cook edible gifts for Christmas 

1st Dec - 31 st December 2012

It's the 1st of December and there are only 24 more days left  to Christmas.Christmas is a celebration  enjoyed worldwide, its a time for spending time with family and friends, for sharing  and giving  and for  spreading the love to our nearest and dearest and also to those less fortunate than us.
This event is all about cooking, baking and making edible gifts and edible decorations that we can give as presents.Be creative make a edible gift, package  it with cellophane, ribbons, bows and to give it to a loved one and see their reaction when they receive such a personalised gift.

To Participate:

1.Make any edible vegetarian gift  (eggs allowed) please link your post using the linky below by entering your Post Name and Post URL
2. Please link this event announcement with your entry, this is mandatory.
3. Use of logo is not mandatory but usage is encouraged as it helps to spread the word visually if you can use it.
4. Multiple entries are allowed, archived are only allowed if reposted and updated with this event link.
5. In the event of problem using linky you can email me the entry at simplysensationalfood@gmail.com

Please use this format

Your Name:
Recipe Name
Recipe URL
Image no larger than 300 pixels.

Giveaway Jelly Belly Christmas box

I have been sent a box of Jelly Belly Beans to try from Jelly Belly UK.The box is one of the Christmas collection and consists of 20 amazing flavours all beautifully presented  in individual compartments .You can check out all the amazing flavours at the Jelly Belly site where you can order the Jelly Belly beans online. Their site is informative and there are some fun things to interact with on the site itself; for example making your own Jelly Bean portrait, their music video and some special discount codes.

I have become a real Jelly Belly fan and really would like to share Christmas Cheer with my blog visitors. What better way than to have a give away of a box of  the Christmas collection Jelly Belly beans to 2 lucky winner.

Many thanks to Jelly Belly for sending me the Christmas box of Jelly Belly Beans to try; and  for generously providing 2 boxes of Jelly Belly Beans as prizes for this Giveaway. All the views expressed  in this review are my own.

How To Enter
·         Simply complete the Rafflecopter widget below to verify your entries
·         Entries can be via blog comment, Facebook, Twitter etc
·         Please read the rules they form the terms and conditions of this
·         Closing date - 14th December 2012 6.00pm .


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Juices and Biscuits from Organic Village

I was recently sent some juices and biscuits from Organic Village. simply.food is a vegetarian blog and I am very keen on healthy eating and using products that are organic so the products from Organic village were perfect to sample.
I was sent a bottle each of pomegranate juice, carrot juice and beetroot juice together with a packet each of Breton butter biscuits and Breton Butter Galettes. Unlike supermarket bought juices these were very natural and needed an acquired taste as they relied solely on natural sugars from the fruits to sweeten them. There were no artificial sweeteners present in them compared to other juices I have tried. I also used the juices for adding to sauces and cakes.

The biscuits were divine; they melted in the mouth with delectable rich crumbly and buttery taste. All their products are 100% organic the healthy fruit juices are not made from concentrate, and contain no added water; they are just pure juice with all the goodness intact as nature intended. They retail from £1.29 for 120 ml to £ 3.99 for a litre bottle. In addition to the juices and biscuits, Organic village also sell nuts and organic cheeses.

 Organic Village is all about sourcing the tastiest and purest of produce .The products not only delicious but also packed full of essential nutrients for health and building a range which combines top quality with affordability. So at last everyone can enjoy organic goodness without paying a premium price. Organic Village products are available from thousands of reputable retailer’s natural health stores, specialist food halls, delis, health and fitness clubs, cafés and restaurants across the UK and Europe. They also have an online shop and will deliver to anywhere in the UK.

Thankyou to organic village for sending me the samples to try. All the opinions expressed  in this post are my own.

Fajita Kits by Discovery

Picture  courtesy of Discovery foods

I love Mexican food and find that it is fast and easy to prepare.When discovery sent me two Fajita kits to try I was more than pleased to put them to the test.Each Kit contains everything you need to make your family a tasty Mexican feast. All you have to add is the filling.

The Perfect Fajita Kits are available in three tantalising variants: Original (medium heat), Crispy Crumb (mild heat), and Mexican BBQ (mild heat).  

The kits contains:

• eight Soft Flour Tortillas, 
• a sachet of Discovery’s mouth-watering Salsa or Soured Cream
• a packet of Discovery’s sensational Seasoning Mix.  

The ingredients used are the highest quality; the kits are versatile and ideal for midweek meals or larger family get-together.All the kits come with simple to follow step-by-step recipe suggestion so that you can create your Mexican meal in minutes. These kits take up very little storage space and are perfect store cupboard ingredient to rustle up a fast and speedy nutritious meal after a hard day’s work.

With my kit I made veggie mixed bean Fajitas.I would like to thank Discovery food for sending me these kits to try.All the opinions in this post are my own.

Veggie mixed bean Fajitas

Cocktail / Mocktail workshop at Balans Stratford.

Megan our cocktail making host at Balans, equipment, shaker, muddler,shot measures, ingredients and my fellow blogger friends who attended the workshop with me.

I was really excited to  receive an email invitation to attend a Cocktail workshop at  Balans  which is  situated in West field Stratford City . It offers the perfect location to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner. In addition to food Balans offer amazing cocktails in their bar. They also offer cocktail workshops which are catered to individual specification for small groups.The price is £39.95 per person and includes a welcome drink and 4 cocktails to make and litebites.The cocktail workshops would be perfect  for  a girls night out, hen parties or birthday celebrations.

I was excited to attend the workshop as it sounded like a fun evening, however being a teetotaller I was worried that Balans would not be able to cater for me.However much to my surprise despite being the only person refraining from alcohol in the party, I was made extremely welcome and  the 4 cocktails ; Berrylicious, Margarita, Red ribbon and Balans White Russian that the group members made, were all adapted for me as mocktails with no alcoholic.

Our party host Megan had everything organised beautifully, she had all our ingredients laid out for each cocktail and  gave  us easy to follow instructions.The evening ran as clockwork and where the time flew we did not realise. Megan also shared some really good tips about making sugar syrups, pouring different ingredients into a glass to create separation of colour and substitution of ingredients for teetotallers like my self. (If this proved to be a challenge she did not show it and she came up with answers immediately.)

Hands on deck shaking , pouring and sipping Mocktails.

In between the cocktail workshop we were spoilt with a selection of  litebites  followed by more cocktail making and finishing with mince pies to close the evening.

Litebites that we enjoyed.

I am sharing here  the 4 mocktails that I made.

Berrylicious

Ingredients:

3 raspberries

3 blackberries

45 ml of mixed berry puree

50 ml ginger beer

15ml fresh lemon juice

Ice

Method:

1. Add berries into a cocktail shaker. Muddle (mash) berries in the shaker. 

2. Add mixed berry puree and ice to the shaker.

3. Shake gently and Ghetto Dump into short glass. (This means transfer all the mashed up berries and juices into the glass)

4. Top up with ginger bear

5. Garnish with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries

Serve immediately.

Virgin Margarita (Can be served straight up, on the rocks or frozen)

Ingredients:

 50ml lime juice

 50 ml lemon juice

 50 ml orange juice

 50 ml sugar syrup

Salt and lemon wedge for garnish

Method:

1. Salt half the glass rim. (Rub lemon on half the rim and dip the glass in salt)

2. Pour all ingredients into shaker.

3. Shake really hard and strain into glass.

4. Garnish with lime wedge or wheel.

 My Creations.

 Red Ribbon -This cocktail at Balans is made in aid of Elton Johns Aid foundation and proceeds from it are donated to charity.

Ingredients:

25ml Pomegranate puree

25ml Vanilla sugar syrup

50ml Raspberry puree

50 ml lemonade

Ice

 Method:

1. Rim the glass with vanilla sugar. (Rub lemon on glass rim and dip the glass in vanilla sugar)

2. Add the Pomegranate puree, Vanilla sugar syrup, Raspberry puree and ice to a shaker

3. Shake all ingredients and strain into glass.

4. Top with lemonade

Serve immediately

 My creations.

 Balans Virgin White Russian

Ingredients

50 ml Espresso coffee

25ml Hazelnut syrup

50ml double cream

25ml milk

Ice

Dust with cocoa

 Method:

1. Pour the coffee and hazelnut syrup into a serving glass.

2. Put the cream and milk into shaker with ice. Shake gently so as not to whip the cream.

3. Gently pour the cream in a steady stream onto the coffee with the help of a spoon , If done correctly the cream will float on the coffee.

4. Serve with a dusting of cocoa powder.

I would like to thank Megan and Hannah from Propellernet  for inviting me  and of course Balans for hosting the  workshop.