I’m going to get right down to the point - this recipe is more for the mums out there trying to shift the bigger-than-they-used-to-be love handles over afternoon tea, rather than for a big hearty meal for the family, so its ideal to make when the kids are round at their friends house or grandma’s.

I thought of writing a ‘Recipe of the Week’ like this when i stumbled upon a cooking book called “Hungry Girl: 200 under 200“. You may or may not have heard about this but in a nut shell its a book of 200 recipes all under 200 calories! Fab!

The type of food you can expect to find range from a ‘Big Bad Burger Wrap’ and ‘Mmm Mmm Goo-lash’ to ‘Creamy Crab Salad’ and ‘Chocolate Marshmallow Madness cupcakes’ - now that last one definately got my attention!

If you like the recipe below then you can buy the book on Amazon for around £10. A lot of the recipes in the book are American food-market focused (e.g. egg substitute urgh!) but there are quite a lot of recipes suitable for us over here on the other side of the pond. So, without further ado I present….

Chocolate Marshmallow Madness cupcakes

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I went to my friend’s house the other day ‘Playdate’ and she’d told me on the phone she was making a ‘Hot American Chicken Salad’. So, naturally, I thought she’d be making a salad with pieces of warm chicken in it.
After walking in to a beautiful home cooked smell and sitting down for the meal, she produced this massive dish with kettle chips and cheese sprinkled on the top. “What’s that?!” was followed by her explaining that this was in fact the Hot American Chicken Salad she had told me about.

It tasted amazing, mainly because it was soo fattening but everyone deserves a treat every now and again?! As the ingredients are all already cooked you don’t have to faff around frying but you just chuck everything into one big bowl, mix together and then put it in a serving disk, followed by kettle chips and cheese and then baking it for a short while and hey presto! Gorgeous grub in under 20minutes.
Hot American Chicken Salad

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Now I have a bit of a confession to make. I went a little bit crazy at the weekend when the new stock came into Get The Label. I thought to myself: “The weather is getting very cold, I’ve not got enough jackets/hats/gloves to help me survive, so I must must must buy MORE!” This thought was swiftly followed by me logging onto the site and getting very ‘click happy’.

But after my little spree, I am satisfactorily kitted out in everything to help me brave the cold British weather, just in time for Bonfire night! There is nothing worse than standing there, holding a sparkle, while shivering like a scared rabbit, so this year I am prepared!

In addition to my outfit (the most important thing of course) I had to think about the food for the evening. Treacle toffee, treacle apples and hot pot are my three favourite things to munch on throughout the evening and all are fairly easy to make at home, especially the treacle apples. I love tucking into a tray of hot pot, warming up my hands at the same time! Sorry everyone around the UK, but this traditional Lancashire version is the best!

Traditional Lancashire Hot Pot….

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We’re entering Halloween territory now so I thought it was time to do a few themed recipes. And I don’t mean peeled grapes pretending to be eye balls or spaghetti marquerading as guts!! I know we don’t celebrate (is that the right word?) Halloween like our American friends, but I still think it’s nice to get a few decorations and have a themed meal, and it’s fun to get the kids dressed up. If, like most families, you carve a pumpkin at halloween, these recipes are great because they make use of the pulp and seeds.

The first recipe is from a brill website called Domestic Sluttery. If you haven’t already visited it you really should!

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I decided this week to have a look in my cupboards and see what was available for Recipe of the Week, rather than buying all ingredients new. In my house there is always (for no particular reason) chopped tomates, tomato puree, garlic and onions. On this search I also found kidney beans and mince. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what I made! Forget the pack mixes - homemade chilli is the best and most of the time you’ll find most of the ingredients hiding away in the kitchen. Don’t forget that if you have to buy the spices for the first time and it seems a bit expensive - you won’t have to buy them every time!

My usual chilli recipe is a bit ‘play it by ear’ so I got this one from BBC Good Food. Enjoy!

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