[Ad- gifted product] Butternut squash is a lovely, seasonal ingredient that can be made into hardy, warming soups. My favorite thing to make in the winter time are soups, as you can bulk cook them, store them in the freezer, and they really do warm up the people that eat them! Butternut squash soup is pretty easy to make, though I have added a few of my own twists.
[Ad- gifted product] The kind people at Yorkshire Tonics sent us along a sample of some of their tonic range. We set ourselves the challenge of using them as mixers, but avoiding the somewhat obvious pairing of Gin and Tonic. Gin and Tonic has been a staple drink of the UK public for far longer than we’ve been alive, and so it’s a wholly cheap shot. Instead, we decided we’d dabble with other taste fusions – hopefully building on Yorkshire Tonics’ carefully blended flavours
Tonic water has peculiar origins, although I suppose it’s not really weirder than most of the other mixers or liquors out there. Several popular alcoholic drinks started out as medicines before the recipe changed up a little and they found a new role as alcoholic beverages, tonic water had a similar origin. It was originally used as a preemptive medication to reduce the chance of malaria for the British in the colonial India of the early 1800s. After a while, it found its way into several other uses and started being sold commercially. Naturally, it was mixed with alcohol and, well, we’ve all heard about Gin and Tonics, so it clearly works quite well.
Yorkshire Tonic, from Raisthorpe Manor, was actually designed to accompany their own gins – of which they have a massive selection, including lesser-seen ones like Sloe, Damson and Gooseberry. However, as we said at the start of the article, we’re aiming to prove the versatility of the tonics, which means that we’re stepping away from the usual gin pairing.
[Ad- gifted product] When it comes to pre-made spice mix, I don’t tend to have a whole lot in my cupboard, opting for my own spice mixes, based on my own tastes. With that in mind, when Schwartz reached out, looking for some coverage of their seasoning mix, I wanted to try them out and see if they were good. Schwartz seasoning mix comes in a variety of different flavors, but the Beef Casserole and Seasonal Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon were my two of choice. I felt that these two could make a balanced meal, once you make up a bit of mash!
The beef casserole was pretty simple! The packet of Schwartz seasoning mix had a simplistic, idiot proof recipe on the back, guaranteed to work even if you don’t cook often at all. The amount of ingredients needed were also small in number and included mainly pantry staples. With one onion, two carrots, some olive oil, water and 450 grams of beef, I was ready to take on the casserole. The recipe came in three steps, cutting up your veggies via slicing carrots and chopping the onion. Then heating up your oil, adding in all of the vegetables and meat, cooking it off, before adding in the seasoning mix after you’ve added water to it. From there, you just need to pop the dish into a pre-heated oven.
Continue reading “Creating a simple and delicious dinner with Schwartz Seasoning Mix”
My Nanny will be mentioned often when it comes to cooking, as she was who got me into cooking. She use to make these Scottcheroos in the summer time, as a no-bake treat for us children to eat by the pool. We rarely had rice crispy treats, as instead these were served. I really loved her version of Scotteroos, but I would suggest being patient with it, as the recipe does take some time when it comes to spreading out the bars – this is something I found particularly challenging, but over time have gotten more and more okay at it.
[Ad- gifted product] As the days have grown colder, my stomach has been wanting more and more warm foods. Soups are perfect for autumn and my favorite type of soup, apart from classic chicken noodle, is ramen bowls! I love all of the toppings that go into ramen – the way you can customize them are fantastic. I teamed up with Geo Watkins’ Mushroom Ketchup to create and share this vegetarian mushroom ramen bowl!
Continue reading “Mushroom Ramen Bowl with Mushroom Ketchup | Recipe”
