This is the kind of comfort food that everyone loves on a cold autumn evening. I’m already planning on making it again for Bonfire night! Easy to prepare, tastes amazing, and doesn’t take anywhere near as long to make as a regular casserole. I first made this recipe a few years ago when our kitchen had been ripped out for renovation and I had a little fold-out table and a one-plate plug-in electric hob to work with....

Oh how I love these Soft and Light Brioche Burger Buns! With a good burger! More and more often fashionable burger restaurants in the UK are taking the lead from the US and using brioche rolls to serve their burgers on. I’ve seen it in Byron burger (the classic Byron burger is delicious), Gourmet burger (I could eat a million of their skinny fries with garlic mayo) and Five Guys (hooray!...

I know clementines are considered quite christmassy, but I’m still buying them! I have a large three-tier wire basket in my kitchen that holds my veg, herbs and citrus fruits. I didn’t realise at the time I bought it, but it holds LOADS! I mean, I could probably keep a couple of chimps in lunches for the week with the amount of citrus fruit it holds. Fortunately my local supermarket has been selling large boxes of clementines, so along with our weekly amount of grapefruit, oranges, lemons and limes, I’ve been able to fill it pretty well....

The cookie/biscuit I make most often is hands-down the amaretto-spiked amaretti. Naturally gluten-free, they’re crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I love making a big batch so that I have a large jar full when guests visit. They keep for weeks too - although they generally don’t last that long! Although I still LOOOOVE the original cookies, I wanted to make a Christmassy version - so of course my brain automatically went to cranberries!...

What could be better than beautifully browned chicken cooked with two-thirds of a bottle of wine? Oh I suppose there’s some other good stuff in there - like garlic, cream, mushrooms and pancetta. But it’s the huge glug-after-glug of wine that makes this Coq au Riesling with Pappardelle and Greens meal what it is. And that’s flippin’ fantastic by the way. You can serve it with rice, mashed potatoes, roasties, pasta, or even just a nice wedge of bread....

Oh man I love crispy, sticky, sweet anything! Have you ever tried crispy chilli beef? That is one amazing dinner served up with my homemade egg fried rice (one of Chris’s all-time favourites). This recipe uses similar ingredients (soy sauce, garlic, sugar, ginger etc). However, replacing the lime juice with orange just adds such a great sweet-tangyness. It’s not exactly what I’d call a diet dinner, but it’s one of those meals that’s so tasty that I’d prefer a small-but-perfect bowl of it, rather than a huge plate of…....

There aren’t many recipes I can get away with serving at dinner time that don’t involve meat, but this Feta and Couscous Stuffed Roasted Romano Peppers recipe is definitely one of them. Lightly charred romano peppers, stuffed with herby couscous and creamy feta cheese, then finished off with olives (no black ones for me though bleurgh!) and cucumber. I love to serve these pretty looking peppers on a bed of baby mixed leaves....

I think we got a bit carried away thinking about Halloween this year. We’re having a little Halloween party for the kids, so I’ve been buying spooky bits n’ pieces for the past couple of weeks. We’ve also been experimenting with quite a few ghoulish treats. First there was the Scream Cheese. That wasn’t really a recipe, more of daft thing to do with the kids (which they loved by the way - it’s amazing how much fun they can have with gooey marshmallow!...

The oaty chocolate hot smoothie from last week seemed pretty popular, so I was considering another creamy one for this week…. However, I just couldn’t resist a bright orange smoothie for Halloween! If you were hoping for a creamy one, then I’ll make it up to you next week. I was supposed to finish this series in October, but I’m enjoying it so much I’m going to do a bonus one next week....

I think it was the hottest day of our Disney trip last year when we came across Dole whip. A proper eyes rolling back into the head moment when we took that first taste! It’s pineapple-y, creamy, thick and refreshingly cold. I’ve had it on my list to try to recreate ever since, but I thought i’d wait until the warmer months. I’m a bit nesh, and icy cold snacks don’t appeal to me when it’s anything colder than strappy t-shirt weather....

It’s one of those things that you have to celebrate by yourself though. Personally I think my family should be exclaiming in delight that I made luscious, creamy, healthy soup from the unused ends of my ratatouille veg and the tiny bit of leftovers from the meal itself. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that everyone polished off their soup, and even demanded seconds. But wouldn’t it be nice to get a ‘WHAT?...

I know we’re in November now, so I should’t really include this in my October Hot Smoothie Saturday series, but I couldn’t resist including one more Malted Coconut Hot Smoothie bonus smoothie. This Malted Coconut Hot Smoothie has got a couple of unusual ingredients in it, but if you make a lot a of smoothies, you may already have them in your cupboard. I was looking for a malty drink, but nothing too reminiscent of Horlicks or Ovaltine....

These mini burritos went down a treat at our Boxing day buffet. I’ve got to admit, we don’t really do much for New Years eve. We get all our partying out of the way within a few days after Christmas. For us, New Years eve consists of a nice meal and then snacks in front of the TV (so errr the same as most nights then). We just about manage to flick over to the New Years countdown in time to see the clock strike midnight....

Aside from my wonderful husband, Mr Kipling might be my ideal man. Yes, I like to bake cakes at home, but I find it hard to walk past the cake aisle at the supermarket without drooling over the Viennese whirls, mini battenburgs and of course the bakewell tarts. I saw those family-sized bakewell tarts on offer at the shop a couple of weeks ago and despite only being in there to pick up a bottle of water, I came out with TWO of those icing-covered, jammy pastries-from-heaven....

It’s funny, I experiment with lots of recipes for Kitchen Sanctuary, but sometimes it’s takes me ages to publish a recipe for something we eat all the time! Five years I’ve been at this blogging thing - and I’ve never posted a recipe for spag bol? Shame on me! We eat it so much, I can make this one with my eyes shut. Gracey makes it too (love it when she announces that she’s going to cook dinner ❤️️❤️️)....

The two boxes of Turkish delights, most of the Martini, half a chocolate Santa and the special box of Bendicks mints that were put away have been consumed already. I cannot be trusted with buying sweet edibles in advance. Ever. I also still haven’t completely finished my Xmas shopping (why are men so awkward! Yes dad - I’m talking to you x), I haven’t cleared all the junk out of the dining room (by junk I mean food photography props & backdrops and by dining room I mean the conservatory that barely fits our little family of four for a normal dinner - never mind inviting others round for a festive meal) and I have done zero menu planning for Christmas get togethers at our house....

The word stew generally evokes thoughts of cold winter evenings with the fire blazing. So you might think I’m a bit strange for posting this one in Spring. However, this is more of a light, nutty curry than a hearty-filling stew. Chicken, spices, peanut butter, sweet potato and a few other goodies, all combine to make a tasty dinner. I like to add a couple of red chilli peppers to mine to spice things up a bit, but if you’re serving this for kids, you can either: Whilst the peanut butter and coriander hint at a slightly Thai-flavour-inspired dish (Thai being one of my favourite cuisines - like this Mee Siam , Yellow Curry, Peanut Pork or this Laksa), it’s the addition of tomatoes, stock and sweet potato that really brings it closer to a more traditional African stew....

Give me a hearty salad over a limp-looking lettuce and tomato concoction any day! This salad is certainly filling enough to serve as a main meal. We’re talking: Nutty red rice (replace with wild or brown rice if you prefer) Smoky paprika fried chickpeas Hard boiled eggs Chunks of perfectly ripe avocado A creamy goats cheese dressing Plus tonnes of other goodies to give you that rainbow of veg (and fruit!...

Pasta is limited on the shelves at the moment, but certain types and flour, and for the most part eggs, seem to be available. That’s all you need to make homemade pasta. It also happens to be really delicious pasta that feels like a gourmet treat. If you haven’t got a pasta machine, don’t worry, you don’t need one! A rolling pin is all you really need. However, if you have a food mixer, that’s helpful too....

Created in collaboration with Neff Bake It Yourself. It’s been a few months since I won the Neff 2016 cookaholics competition, and time seems to have flown by!. Since competing in the live cook-off I’ve been down to Neff HQ, caught up with the team, and also had a good play with all of the gorgeous kitchen appliances. My prizes have been delivered, and I’m itching to get them installed in my new kitchen just as soon as the rest of the floor is laid and the kitchen cupboards go in....