October Foodie Favourites

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Tea Cozy Kitchen! October has been and gone and the 'C' word is just around the corner (seriously where has this year gone?) so I thought I would take this opportunity to talk through some of the foodie and not so foodie things that I have been loving in the month of October. This will be a monthly feature and will hopefully inspire you with recipes, recipe books, future purchases and some much loved TV shows to watch. so let's get started!

1. Porridge

I'm sure you know by now that I love porridge so it had to be included in the favourites as I have had it for breakfast nearly every day this month. It is the perfect cosy breakfast and I love that you can change it up with different fruit toppings and additions. This is one of my favourite combos at the moment, porridge cooked on the hob with whole milk topped with apple, honey and cinnamon, it's perfectly seasonal.

2. Charity Shops For Kitchen Stuff

So this month I have been trying to fill out my kitchen a little with some nice serving plates and platters etc. for taking food photos and for generally just making my food look better. I love that mix and match look, think Jamie Oliver's food styling. They have some great things in TK Maxx but at £20-£30 a pop that's a bit out of my price range. So, I thought I would give some charity shops a go and they were amazing. I got all these items for just £6 (I mean how great is that?) and they were just what I was looking for. I love that I can buy stuff at a great price and give money to charity. You do need to root around a bit but you can find some gems, I would just recommend giving them a wee wash first.

3. Recipe book favourites

These are my recipe book favourites for this month, as you can tell I've been eating mostly from these three resources for the whole month of October. I love eating seasonally and the good food and Tesco magazine are great for recipes featuring ingredients which are in season now and therefore tasting better and cheaper, yay! Also, as always I've been loving Jamie Oliver's Family Classics. I bought this book a couple of months ago and have been dipping in and out of it since. It's such a great book, all the meals are reasonably healthy and so tasty, well done Mr Oliver.

3. Pumpkin and Butternut Squashes

I couldn't have an October favourites and not feature our orange friend the pumpkin. Although great for carving they are also great for eating and are great in cosy stews at this time of year and are very good for you. I've been cooking a lot with these guys over the course of the month, I've made squash mac 'n' cheese, Sicilian squash and chickpea stew and a spicy pumpkin and lentil one pot meal. I've also have had them dotted about the house because they are cute and festive (I especially love the munchkin pumpkins, they are so cute).

4. Vanilla Nut Ground Coffee

I found this coffee in TK Max for £4 and thought I had to give it a go. I love Starbucks Toffee Nut Latte but wanted to have something like it at home and this just hits the spot. It's lovely and sweet and feels quite festive. It also gives off a lovely aroma in the kitchen when you are making a pot of it. I would really recommend TK Maxx for food, they usually have fancy and quite posh ingredients for a much lower price. I've seen very fancy truffles, different cured meats, nuts, syrups and flavourings all at very reasonable prices. So get yourself down there, they also had loads of different flavours of this particular brand of coffee. It's perfect with a cookie too!

5. Gilmore Girls

Not a foodie favourite but like everyone else I have been obsessed with the Gilmore girls this month, don't even get me started on how excited I am for the revival later this month, I am so excited. I don't know what it is about this show that everybody loves so much but it just seems to have that perfect formula of comedy, drama and sentimentality. I grew up with this show and missed a season or two as it was hard to see on UK TV  but I have been getting caught up on what I missed ready for the revival series, did I mention I'm so excited? The only problem is this show makes me so hungry, they always seem to be eating and talking about yummy food, not to mention all the coffee they drink. I have heard that there is a lady who has written a recipe book inspired by all the food talked about in the Gilmore Girls, I will have to get my hands on that! It's the perfect show to sit down and have a cuppa and escape for an hour or two.

There you go, those were my 5 foodie favourites for October. I'm sure there are loads more but you have to draw the line somewhere, I could go on and on about the things I love but I will stop here! Let me know what things you have been loving this month? And are you a Gilmore Girls fan? Also let me know if you have any recipe book recommendation's this month, I'm always on the look out for more inspiration in the kitchen.

Thanks for reading and stop by again soon,

Rachael xo.