DIY Projects

This past weekend I worked on something that I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Do you ever get the urge to start projects (or as I like to call them ‘school’ projects, they remind of elementary school. In a good way!) but never get around to actually starting them? Well I did mine and couldn’t be more happy. You see I really enjoy cooking, nothing too complicated or hard (hence our recipe segment featuring easy BUT delicious ones) that my boyfriend ended up getting me a subscription to Olive Magazine…last year! The magazine itself is amazing, filled with loads of meal ideas, recipes and tips. But after nearly a year and half (and counting) I have a pile of magazines that I never touch. I needed to act. Fast. My good friend got me started (thanks for the bday gift Anne) and gave me a stationary recipe book. And I finally got to do it, I needed a relaxing day anyway as I’ve been go, go, go for nearly 3 weeks straight, that on Saturday I sat in front of the TV (in bed, at the kitchen counter…) and went through nearly half of them cutting out recipes that I’d actually use (this is the key, you want something in the end that’s actually useful). It’s by no means done but now I can easily maintain it. It felt great after and I used it right away…nothing beats the sense of accomplishment. If you’re like me and have recipes all over the place here are some tips:

1. Buy either a binder, dividers and paper or a stationary recipe book
2. Compile your favourite recipes and/or ones you’re definitely going to use
3. Create segments – mine came with premade dividers (which was fine by me as they were perfect): Starters, Meat, Fish, Vegetables, Baking, Desserts. I’d recommend a Drinks sections as well or dividing them up by main product.
4. Try to fit as many as you can on one page without over lapping/crowding (to save space…)
5. If you’re messy or want to preserve your ‘sheet’ of recipes it might be a good idea to place then in a plastic sheet.
6. Use it once a week

Have you done a DIY project recently? Let us know about it.

Orange & Carrot Muffins

Is it just me or do you finding it a lot harder waking up in the winter too? I know the added hour is ‘suppose’ to make it better but lately I find myself struggling to get out of bed. I’ll press snooze several times then actually turn off alarm (a dangerous move!) and go back to bed. Even my boyfriend tries to help. He’ll open the curtains to let some ‘light’ in. When that fails he’ll give me a little nudge then pull off the covers…god I hate that, it’s always so cold! But alas it works and I finally drag myself out of bed. I’m pathetic I know. But wouldn’t it be great to have something yummy once you’re up? This is where these muffins/scones come in. The texture is more to that of scones (even though they called muffins) and with oranges and carrots it’s sure to brighten your day.

What you'll need:
75g butter, melted
2 oranges, juiced and zested
1 egg, beaten
100g carrots, peeled and grated
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g caster sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with squares of baking parchment (or I use silicone muffin cups and they work just as well), pushing them down to make little cases. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl with a pinch of salt. Whisk together the wet ingredients with the carrots then stir this into the dry ingredients, but don't overmix - it's better if it's a bit lumpy.

2. Spoon into the muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen.

Recipe taken from Olive Magazine