Salted Herby Chicken

This is a very easy dish to make and brilliant whatever the weather , and it was very welcome after constantly eating out in Amsterdam ; very nice to come home and eat homely food.

Ingredients 

Chicken mine was a 1.4 kg so cooking was around 1 hour 20 plus resting 

4 teaspoons of natural sea salt

Grind of black pepper

And the rest of the herbs make half a tea soon each.

Mixed herbs 

Thyme

Oregano 

Mint 

Marjoram 

Parsley 

New potatoes cut in 2 ( enough for how ever many people are having this )

Rapeseed oil,spray 

Method 

Preheat the oven to 190c

Blend the salt , black pepper and herbs together 

Place the chicken in an oven roasting dish

Spray with the Rapeseed oil spray 

Sprinkle the salt and herb mixture over the chicken 

Cook chicken for 1 hour 20 minutes but do follow the instructions for the weight of chicken you have.

20 minutes into cooking boil the new potatoes for 10 minutes then drain and place round the chicken , spraying the potatoes with the Rapeseed oil spray.

Checked after the allotted time that everything is cooked .

If you like whilst the chicken is resting you could roast your potatoes further.

Served with vegetables of your choice.

Ever Wish You Had An Exotic Name ?

Have you ever wished you had an exotic name ?

When faced with an airport delay at schipol airport I decided to amuse myself with people watching although not quite the setting of a Parsian cafe still entertaining nontheless.

Various people came and went , I sat there imagining their lives , listening to the myriad of languages being spoken . So very truely cosmopolitan is the world of travel .

Imagine my excitement at Starbucks when they got my name right ...

"Claire "

I felt like a jet set celebrity with everyone knowing who I was ! 

And there came over the airport tannoy a request for a lady called Julietta to go to the gate for her flight to Rome.

Awwh Julietta is your life as glamorous as the tannoy made it sound ?

Easy Simple Flatbreads ( No yeast )

I attempted this recipe yesterday and I have to say it went rather well , the kitchen on the other hand looked like a battleground it was hard to say where flour and countertop started or finished to be honest. But all the best creative geniuses were never tidy ...

Ingredients

150 g Plain flour ( this about will make 4 flatbreads by my reckoning , just double up to make more keeping everything the same but perhaps adding a little more coconut milk  )
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of very lazy garlic ( you could use garlic powder)
1 teaspoon smoked salt
4 level tablepoons of non fat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons of coconut milk/almond milk /any milk


The smell of freshly baking bread has to be one of the best smells in the world, I mean who doesn't love the smell of freshly baked bread gently wafting in the kitchen . And NO YEAST !

It is amazing what you can do with minimal ingredients !

I forgot how easy it to to make your own flat breads and jazzing up your meals , I have been buying my own flatbread and I have to bow down to having a lazy culinary phase but now summer is here ~ no more !

Method

1. First add the flour , garlic powder, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre next add the yogurt, oil and milk.
2. Next mix together well , cover will cling film and leave at room temperature for 20 - 30 minutes .
3. Once it has rested divide into 2 . Then into 2 again . With this mixture I ended up with 4 dough balls. It was my first go!
4. flour your work surface , I used my hands to flatten the balls then used the rolling pin on the 2mm setting to roll into a round shape. It does;t have to be perfect after all rustic is the latest buzz word isn't it ?

1. Lightly grease a frying pan , 2 minutes on each side , brush with oil oil ( before you do flip over ) 
2. You can brush with all again before you serve. These can be made a little in advance and kept warm wrapped up in foil.

But wait I forgot to add the yogurt mint sauce ... basically it's a few tea spoons of mint sauce mixed with some left over non fat Greek yogurt !! 

Win A Drinkwell Ceramic Avalon Pet Fountain

With the summer of sport well underway, there are plenty of distractions that could take attention away from our four legged friends. To promote the importance of good hydration during these warmer months PetSafe® is giving away a Drinkwell® Ceramic Avalon Pet Fountain worth £72.99 (RRP), perfect for attending to your cat’s hydration needs.

And with two cats to keep hydrated a constant water supply is essential ! Make sure that your pets have access to water and that it is kept topped up.

For more information on keeping your pet well hydrated, please visit: http://intl.petsafe.net/en-gb/pet-hydration

So thanks to PetSafe® they have a water fountain for me to give away to you which will be send to the winner by themselves. 

For 

Open to UK only 

a Rafflecopter giveaway




Disclosure : Jack and Rollie are being sent a water fountain of their own in thanks for this post. * Obviously I had to type this for them !

Stop The Body Shaming

Body shaming goes both ways and it has to stop!


Body shaming isn't restricted to young girls it affects us all including boys.


And it is worrying.



We should be mindful of what you say to people , we really should .



Instead of perhaps saying "Blimey when so and so was younger but now they really look like they have shed the timber " ( This was my son that they were talking about  )


The pursuit of the body beautiful is squarely at the door of social media , thats not the whole story but media in the various guises through the years has played its part as has society.


Our young people are very vulnerable and we have to be so very careful we need to help young people in the balancing act of life and the words you use they have an affect. I found myself saying "

You are like a twig , you'll snap "

I have stopped in my tracks as this isn't what I need to be saying especially with a teenager going off to university next year and I am not ready to own a university student yet . Sensibility needs to start at home , sensibility needs to filter through to the media.

I have just got home and looked an an email and again in a round about way it was related to body shaming pointing the finger at Jennifer Aniston and how to avoid those bloating foods.


Stop the body shaming ~ size is size .