How to make a Festive Wreath

Hello everyone and welcome back to a very festive and crafty Tea Cozy Kitchen! Today's post is going to be a crafty one. I'm going to share with you how I made my Christmas wreath for absolutely no moneys, nada, zilch, FREE! I always love festive wreaths but I find that every year they just get more and more expensive,  they just end up dying anyway. So, this year I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my very own unique wreath. Anything that can make Christmas that wee bit cheaper is a win in my book. Let me tell you, it was so easy and only took up about an hour of my time (you can probably tell from the look of mine, it's a tad shoddy! ha!).

First things first, the main reason that this was free is that I just foraged in my garden for foliage that I could use. I was going to go to a forest but chickened out as I thought it could be considered stealing from nature ( I know i'm paranoid!). But if you're braver than me ( let's face it you probably are) then by all means forage for branches and foliage etc. in your local forest.  Just be careful you're not stealing from other people's gardens! Also, let me just say I am no expert, this is just how it worked for me!

The best kind of foliage for making a wreath is some sort of bendy branches to make the shape, bushy but bendy foliage, like pine to fill it out, ivy to wrap around the wreath and hold it together and pretty decorative plants like, holly, eucalyptus or in my case, dying hydrangea. Other decorative items like pine cones, berries, bows, dried fruit and ornaments are also a good idea. I wanted to keep my wreath quite simple and traditional  (for this, read FREE!) so I just used whatever I could find in the house, these ribbons were from last Christmas. I think mine looks very Victorian (for some reason best known to myself!). I love the colours in the hydrangea and how it ties in so well with the ribbon.

Here's what you will need:

A wire hanger

Green thread or string

Your foraged foliage and decorations

Here's what to do:

1. Bend your hanger into a circular shape and attach both ends together so it forms a wire loop.

2. Bend your bendy leafless branches around the hanger so it holds the shape. You might need to do about two or three layers round the wire until the shape feels sturdy.

3. Slot your pine branches in between the bendy branches to your preferred fullness. Don't worry if it's a bit messy we will neaten it up at the next stage. I think it's probably a good idea to go fuller than you might think here.

4. Wrap green thread around the shape two or three times, pulling in any stray pine branches and neatening the wreath.

5. Tuck your ivy branch into a secure spot and wrap around the wreath a couple of times, attaching the end of the ivy branch securely. This also helps to neaten up the wreath AND ivy leaves are pretty! You might want to another layer of thread here if the wreath feels a bit loose or untidy.

6. Slot your more decorative plants in your desired spots, making sure that they are neat, secure and you can see them well.

7. Attach your bow and any other decorative pieces and hang on your front door! There you go, a pretty festive wreath for free! Ta-da!

There's still time if you fancy making a wreath before Christmas, it's the perfect thing to greet people as they arrive to your house for festive celebrations. If you have made a wreath before please let me know any hints and tips that helped you as I will definitely be doing this again next year! Also, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments below! I really enjoyed making this wreath, even if it isn't the prettiest, I love it because I made it (and it was free!). You could even get your friends round and have a wreath making night with festive drinks, that would be so much fun! I will be back soon with another foodie related post and maybe even a sneaky recipe! As always, thanks for reading,

Rachael xx.

Meal Plan Monday Festive Edition

Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas (not quite, but i'm enthusiastic)!! Welcome to a very special edition of meal plan Monday! How was your weekend? I hope Monday has been treating you well thus far! Today's meal plan Monday brings you some delicious and festive inspired meals to help get you in the festive spirit or to give you some inspiration for your meals over the festive period. I'm so excited about this meal plan as I love festive food but I also tried to keep it semi-healthy as I know full well that I will over-indulge pretty soon. So, this week you will see some familiar festive ingredients popping up, Brussel sprouts, blue cheese, cranberry sauce and smoked salmon, um yum (my mouth is watering already). These meals would all be great for using up Christmas leftovers, you know when you a vat of sprouts and blue cheese that just need using up. A couple of these recipes could even be great starters for Christmas day or Christmas eve suppers. I really enjoyed coming up with this meal plan, there's always so many tasty festive meals to try and let's face it, three days is just not long enough to eat all the Christmas food, we've got to drag it out! Price-wise, this week was a little more than I normally pay for a week's groceries (only £5, not too bad!) but when you consider the quality of the ingredients and the meals, I thought this was all right. Let's get on with the plan...

Tuesday: Salmon and Cream Cheese Frittata with Green Veg, Tesco Magazine.

Wednesday: Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Roasted Sprouts, Tesco Magazine.

Thursday: Chicken Mushroom and Spinach Pasta Rolls, Tesco Magazine.

Friday: Crustless Stilton and Squash Quiche with Green Veg, Tesco Magazine.

Saturday: Stilton and Parsnip Soup with Wheaten Bread, my recipe.

Sunday: Hearty Whole-wheat Pasta with Brussel sprouts, Nigelissima.

Monday: Cuban Black Bean Soup and Cheese Toastie, Nigella Christmas.

As you can tell, this week's menu inspiration came mainly from the Christmas Edition of the Tesco Magazine. I've said this before on the blog but this is an absolutely wonderful resource for meal inspiration and it's free, which is great for recipes this good! I always pick up the new issue any time I'm in Tesco and keep them to refer back to. You should definitely check it out when you are in Tesco, or any of your local supermarkets, I believe they all have their own magazine with recipes. The other recipe books I used this week both come from the amazing Nigella Lawson. You just can't do Christmas without this amazing lady's input, no-one does Christmas entertaining quite like her. I used both her Christmas cookbook and Nigelissima for inspiration this week. Both are great recipe books and two of my favourites so I would definitely recommend picking up a copy for the holiday period.

I hope this has given you some inspiration for your festive meals and Christmas menu! I'm definitely looking forward to making these this week, especially the frittata, the quiche and the pasta rolls (I LOVE pasta, mmm...carbs!). What are your favourite Christmas meals? Please do share with me, i'm all out about the Christmas food! I will be back tomorrow with another festive post, this time I will be getting crafty (i'm leaving you in suspense ha!). Thanks so much for reading,

Rachael xx.

November Foodie Favourites

Hi all!! So, it's that time of the month again where I give you a run down of all the foodie and not so foodie things which I have been loving! November was a very cold and dreary month here in Northern Ireland. Christmas festivities were in reaching distance but we still had a lot to get through! I spent a lot of time curled up indoors in front of the fire watching TV, reading books and drinking tea (I really could hibernate in the winter). So here's what I have been loving this month...

Peppermint Tea

There's nothing like a steaming cup of peppermint tea in the evening to relax both the mind and the stomach! I find that having a cup of tea before bed helps me sleep and also settles my meal before hitting the hay! This one from Tesco is great in taste and value (so cheap)! I used to only go for the fancy branded tea but this one is just as good as the brands that cost 3 times as much!

TV favourite- The Missing

The BBC really hit the nail on the head with this drama! Set over the span of about 10 years in a couple of different European countries, this drama keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end! I absolutely loved it and I couldn't work out the plot, which is fab news for me as I always end up guessing what happens! I don't want to go into too much detail about what happens (spoilers!) but it basically surrounds a family in the army in Germany when their daughter goes missing. It's a lot more complicated than that obviously with lots of twists and turns that had me hooked! I think it's still on BBC IPlayer so you should definitely check it out. (also GILMORE GIRLS!!!! Don't get me started that's a whole other blog post!)

Book Favourite- The Muse by Jessie Burton

Let me just start of by saying that I love Jessie Burton, her writing style is amazing, you really feel like you are immersed in the novel with the characters! If you haven't read her first novel, The Miniaturist, you should (go read it now!). Her second novel doesn't disappoint either, set in two different decades in two different countries, this novel is pure escapism! The novel explores many different themes and gives you a bit of everything. Also, how gorgeous is that cover?

Tesco Chocolate

Let it be known that I am a complete chocoholic, anything chocolatey and I am there in a heartbeat! So imagine my delight when Tesco brought out a new range of chocolates, I just had to try it. It's so reasonably priced compared to my favourites (Green and Blacks, Lindt etc) that I was a little sceptical about the taste BUT it's delicious. The great thing about this chocolate is it's yummy when eaten on it's own but also great for baking. They have many different flavours, my favourite (it didn't hang around long enough for a picture) is the salted caramel flavour and the hazelnut flavour, so yummy! They are only £1 for a bar, which is amazing value for good quality chocolate! I love nothing more than sitting down in the evening with the hubby, a big mug of tea (or red wine!), a bar of chocolate and watching a good film/ TV show binge!

Candle from Sainsbury's

I spotted this candle in Sainsbury's one evening, it was reduced, it was festive and I need candles like I need a hole in the head, so of course I bought it! I'm so glad I had that moment of weakness, it smells deliciously festive! The scent is lovely and lingers all over the house when the candle is lit! I can't remember what the scent is, all I can describe it as is the most Christmassy smell EVER. And it was only £7.50 for a beautifully gilded gold, 3 wick candle, WIN!

Film Favourite- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Raise your hand if you're a Harry Potter nerd?? Just me then (my hand is waving like mad!). When this movie came out I was so excited, it brought back all that Harry Potter excitement. The movie did not disappoint, it was magical and I cheered at every Harry Potter reference in the film (sad, I know). I won't say very much about it, I've been told I give away spoilers too easily, just go and see it if you love Harry Potter or want a magical movie to while away an afternoon.

Wheaten Bread

Last but by no means least, I have been loving making my own wheaten bread! Wheaten bread is a Northern Irish delicacy that I can't believe it has taken me 26 years to master and cherish. It's so delicious and I love that I can rustle it up so quickly! It's perfect with soup or eggs or avocado or anything really, it's just so versatile! You can find my favourite recipe here. I also love that it's quite healthy, the recipe contains oats and wholemeal flour so is full of fibre and I know exactly what goes in to it! You should give it a try sometime.

There you go, that is just some of the things which I have been loving in November, I hope I have given you some food for thought and maybe gave you some ideas. What have you been loving this month? Any recommendations are more than welcome in the comments down below :).

Hope you are having a wonderful day,

Rachael xx.

What I Eat in a Day 6

Hello everyone and happy hump day, welcome to another what I eat in a day post! I had quite a busy day yesterday baking and cooking up a storm in the kitchen! Thankfully this meant I has some yummy treats to eat throughout the day and help me through a very cold, dark and drizzly day! I ate quite a lot this day as the day before we had NO food in the house and I couldn't make any tasty treats (major organisation error with the grocery shopping on my part), I didn't have any of my usual meals to look forward to and it was a very sad day for food (think plain pasta for lunch, yuck!). So, we got our grocery delivery the night before this day and voila I had all the food I could possibly wish for (except the dominoes pizza, pastries and cinnamon rolls I always crave!). This is what I ate yesterday...

BREAKFAST

Porridge made with whole milk topped with apple, honey and cinnamon

Back to an old favourite, I just can't get away from porridge at the moment. Nothing gets me warmed up and energised for the day like a huge warm bowl of sweet porridge, just lovely! I'm still trying to think of new and inventive ways to make my porridge in the morning but this is my absolute favourite and feels very festive, perfect to eat looking at the twinkly fairy lights on our Christmas tree.

LUNCH

 Butternut Squash soup, wheaten bread and two clementine's

I posted the recipe for this soup and bread yesterday (you can find the recipe here) and boy was it delicious! I love the kick of heat that the chilli gives in the soup, perfect for warming you up on a dark and dreary day and perfect with the crispy cheesy bread dipped in! Yum yum! And to top it all of, as usual, I had my obligatory clementines!

AFTERNOON SNACK

 A slice of banana bread topped with butter and cinnamon, and a large coffee

This afternoon I definitely needed a wee pick me up and I had loads of over-ripe bananas so I had the genius brainwave of making some banana bread! I love the smell of this baking almost as much as I love the taste! You can find the recipe I use for banana bread here. It's a Nigella Classic and is perfect slathered in butter and sprinkled with the spice of the season, cinnamon. And of course it tastes great washed down with a big cup of coffee for an afternoon jolt of energy! Just perfect for a 5minute break to revive and refresh for the rest of the day!

DINNER

Crispy Chicken Traybake

Dinner was this delicious Italian Crispy Chicken traybake, a new recipe I have not tried before! This recipe came from the Mob Kitchen UK team, you can find their website here with loads more tasty recipes. This dish was absolutely amazing flavour-wise and was so easy to throw together, that's literally what you did, just throw everything in the tray and bake, simple and delicious! The dish comprises some of my favourite ingredients, olives, loads of garlic and crispy ciabatta bread! The Mob Kitchen website/ Instagram is a great resource for recipes, they cater for every dietary need and create nutritious and delicious meals to feed your family. Every meal they create feeds a family of four for under £10, amazing value for a meal this delicious! You should definitely check them out if you are looking for some delicious and affordable recipe inspiration.

Dinner was again followed by a huge mug of peppermint tea, you really can't beat it as a nightcap (for some reason it makes me so sleepy). We drank our tea whilst watching Lost, we finished season one last night and I can't wait to start season two, what a cliff-hanger! I'm such a sucker for a cliff-hanger, they always get me to watch 'just one more episode' (in reality like 5)! And there you have it, everything I ate yesterday, hope enjoyed this peep into my life of food. I will be back again on Friday with another exciting foodie post, thanks for reading,

Rachael xx.

Butternut Squash Soup with Cheddar and Apple Wheaten Bread

HELLOOOOO! I promised you a recipe today and now I am delivering on that promise! I have been working away in the kitchen all morning and have rustled up two different recipes to share with you today! Number one is my Rosemary, Chilli and Garlic Butternut Squash soup and number two is my cheddar and apple wheaten bread recipe! Both are equally delicious and can be served together for a delicious, comforting and satisfying lunch ( not to mention healthy and cheap!). These are the perfect recipes for a warming winter lunch or for a tasty and easy starter to have with your Christmas dinner, you could even get a head start now and pop it in the freezer ready to be defrosted on Christmas day (yes that's too organised for me too!). On with the recipes...

 Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe made two big bowls of soup, one for me and one for the freezer! But if you wanted smaller bowls you could probably get three servings out of the recipe.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash

1 large onion

1 tsp of dried rosemary

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp. of olive oil

a good pinch of chilli flakes

salt and pepper to season

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and chop and peel your butternut squash, smallish chunks are best.

2. Drizzle over 1 tbsp. of oil and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper and sprinkle over the rosemary.

3. Roast the squash in the oven for about 40mins until the cubes are soft and have browned a little.

4. When the squash is done roasting heat the remaining 1 tbsp. of oil in a saucepan and add your onion and chilli flakes and fry until the onion is soft.

5. When the onion is soft crush in your garlic gloves and fry for another minute. When this is done add in your squash and give everything a good stir. Crumble in the stock cube and add boiling water until the squash is just covered. Simmer for 10mins.

6. When it has simmered for 10mins just use a stick blender until it is your desired consistency. I like mine pretty thick but you can add more water at this stage if you like it thinner. Check the seasoning and there you go, you're done!

Cheddar and Apple Wheaten Bread

I recently discovered how easy this bread was to make when my husband and I decided to stop buying supermarket bread. I have since made this recipe my go to bread recipe every week (the less said about the sourdough, the better!). This recipe makes a pretty huge loaf of bread but you could half the recipe too which would make a perfect loaf for a lunch for three people, perfect when served with the soup. This is not a traditional recipe as I have not used buttermilk, I just use milk and yogurt as I find it hard to get buttermilk and I don't always have it in my fridge like I do yoghurt and milk. My favourite thing about this bread is the cheesy crust and the cheese pockets throughout the loaf, absolutely delicious! The apple just gives little bursts of sweetness throughout and is perfect with the cheese.

Ingredients

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

250ml whole milk

250ml natural yoghurt

100g oats

250g coarse wholemeal flour

250g plain flour

a good pinch of sea salt

100g cheddar cheese, cubed

1 apple, any variety, cubed

25g butter, cubed

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and put all your dry ingredients into a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.

2. Add in the butter and mix until combined and the mix forms a crumbly texture.

3. Add in the apple and cheese and mix with a spoon until evenly dispersed.

4. Add in the yoghurt and milk (you could use 500ml of buttermilk, more traditional but less handy). Mix until everything is combined.

5. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and sprinkle with flour.

6. Turn your bread mix out unto the baking sheet and shape into a loaf shape. Don't work the dough very much at all as this can make it very crumbly.

7. Take a sharp knife and cut a cross in the top of the loaf and pop it in the oven for about 45mins, until it's golden and crisp on the top.

8. Leave to cool and cut into slices slathered with butter or more cheese (you can never have too much cheese!) to serve.

And this is what it looks like all served up, doesn't that just make you hungry!

So there you have it two delicious recipes for the price of one! Let me know if you try this recipe, I would love to know what you think of it! I'm really loving soups this winter, I love how you can pack loads of veggies in there and they taste so scrummy! I've been being really adventurous with my soup recipes too, testing out a load of new ones! What are you favourite soup recipes, I would love to know? Anyway, enough soup talk, thanks for reading and I will be back tomorrow with my regular what I eat in a day post, so I will see you then,

Rachael xx.

Meal Plan Monday

Greetings everyone, I hope you're all having a lovely non-mondayish (yes I just made up that word!) Monday! How was your weekend? I had a fabulous weekend filled with Christmas decorating, coffee, Christmas shopping, giant pastries and Christmas meals out, just perfect! I'm back today to share with you my meal plan for this week. I'm definitely getting into the Christmas spirit and so, a couple of festive inspired meals have snuck in there! Well the tree is up now after all :). Don't worry though, if you want some more festive meal inspiration, that will be coming up in next week's meal plan, a whole week of festive inspired meals to get the taste buds going! This week however, it's a bit of a mixed bag, I've got some meals that I still haven't got around to eating from previous weeks meal plans, a few soup recipe favourites and some exciting new recipes to try! I feel I may have planned a few too many meals this week but that's always good for stocking up the freezer (and our bellies) for this busy festive period! So on with the plan...

Monday: Peach and Chickpea Curry with rice and peas, A Girl Called Jack.

Tuesday: Sweet Pea Fish Pie and Veg, Save with Jamie.

Wednesday: Carrot and Parsnip Soup with a cheese toastie, Avoca Soups.

Thursday: Crispy chicken traybake

Friday: Sprout and Caramelised onion soup with wheaten bread, Leon Family.

Saturday: Chilli Hot pot with green veg, Leon Family.

Sunday: Tomato, Thyme, Red Pepper and Goat's Cheese tart with veg, Leon Family.

Monday:  Veggie Burger with Sweet Potato Chips, Leon Family.

This week my recipe inspiration came mainly from the Leon family and friends cookbook! I love this cookbook, it is absolutely one of my all-time favourites. You may have heard of Leon before, they have a small chain of healthy fast food outlets in the UK, I've never been but I have heard great things. I actually got this book for Christmas last year so I though it was about time to bring it out again. The book is filled with family classic recipes with a few culinary twists in there! Every meal turns out so tasty and they have so many hints and tips along the way that really help you expand your culinary knowledge! It's a great book even just to flick through at bedtime to read the stories behind the recipes and look at all the beautiful pictures. I would really recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook delicious, nutritious meals for family gatherings, for anyone who wants to cook tasty meals and learn about cooking in more detail or for anyone who has a big family to cook for! Also, the recipes are very economical and great for eating on a budget (always a win in my book!). I'm slowly trying to collect all their books. So far I have the vegetarian cookbook, the family and friends and the fast food book but there are many more and each offers something new and equally delicious. Give'em a go!

So there you have it that's what we will be eating this week! I'm really looking forward to the veggie burgers and chips, I love a veggie burger almost as much as I love a beef burger! I'm also really looking forward to all the soup recipes, I always crave something warm and cosy at this time of year and can't get enough of the stuff, with a cheese toastie dunked in (of course!). Speaking of soup, I will be back tomorrow with a sneaky Garlic, Chilli and Rosemary Butternut squash soup recipe, so keep your eyes peeled, I might even throw in a tasty wheaten bread recipe if you're lucky! This soup would be great for a starter for your Christmas dinner too, just sayin! Thanks for reading, talk soon,

Rachael xx.

Christmas Candy Cane Chocolate Bark

Howdy all and a very merry second day of Christmas to you! That's right, Christmas starts as soon as December does and I couldn't be happier! We are going to decorate our tree today, TODAY (i'm jumping around whilst typing this)!! So, in light of the festive season beginning I am bringing you my first festive themed post in the form of a really tasty, easy and affordable recipe for Christmas gifts. There's just something so lovely about receiving and gifting handmade Christmas presents! I always think it shows that a lot of time and effort went into the gift. In this consumer driven world we live in, it's nice to take a step back from the mad money panic and do something personal and thoughtful! This chocolate bark is great to make a big batch of and give as gifts to whomever you wish! So easy to whip up, it literally takes about 10mins to assemble, perfect for last minute gift ideas. Also, just a wee hint, I made enough for two gifts and it cost me about £1, so bargainous and no-one needs to know. All you have to do is leave it to cool, break it up and put it in pretty bags tied up with string, sorted! So, without further adieu let's get on with the recipe...

You will need:-

100g dark chocolate, broken into chunks
100g white chocolate, broken into chunks
about 3 candy canes, bashed up
some edible glitter
festive sprinkles or whatever you have that would look good

Here's the plan:-

1. Melt your dark chocolate and white chocolate which ever way is easier for you, but remember to be careful we don't want any burnt chocolate in there. I used a bowl over a pan of boiling water for the dark chocolate and the microwave in 5-10s bursts for the white chocolate.
2. Lay some baking paper, shiny side up on a flat surface.
3. Pour the shiny melted dark chocolate unto the baking paper.
4. Immediately after, pour the white chocolate unto the dark chocolate, swirling around as you go!
5. Take the a knife and swirl the chocolate around, letting it spread a little as you go, being careful not to spread it too thin. You should have a lovely swirly patterned chocolate.
6. Take your candy canes and sprinkle over the top of the chocolate.
7. Sprinkle over your festive sprinkles, or whatever you are using. Cranberries, nuts and raisins would work great too! This would be great for a more adult friendly version.
8. Dust with edible glitter and leave to cool where it is or in the fridge, whatever's easier!
9. When it's cooled until it's solid, break it up into sporadic chunks and put in little bags and tie with ribbon. You will need to store this somewhere cool, it won't look so pretty as candy cane chocolate soup in a bag!

And there you have it, a 10minute edible Christmas gift, yummy! By the way, it's perfectly acceptable to make this with the intention of giving it as a gift but end up eating it all yourself, it's Christmas after all, you've got to treat yourself too!

There you go, a very easy and tasty handmade Christmas gift that friends and family will love. It's an especially easy recipe to have children help make, they will love licking the bowl of melted chocolate after (my husband still does this!). Please let me know if you give this a go. Also, do you have any great gifting ideas, please share them in the comments, let's inspire each other through this festive season. I've got some more recipes and ideas where that came from so stay tuned over the next month! As always, thanks for reading,

Rachael xx.