Fat Bottom Foodie

Post Lockdown Food!

Hi my fellow foodies, I hope you’re all doing well!

This week is dedicated to the lovely post lockdown food I’ve had since we’ve been able to return to some kind of normally

Firstly, I met up with some friends and had a delicious panini in Hartlepool. It was from a local deli called Bianca’s

I ordered the mozzarella, pesto, chicken, jalapeño and pepper toasted panini

As a side, I ordered the three cheese chips. These were bloody unreal as they were proper chunky home cooked chips

Simply unreal and it all cost just over £8!

Next, I went to market shaker for some double g&t’s and a catch-up with my girlfriends

I saw some pizzas boxes on other tables so checked the menu myself and had to order their pizza for £7 a pop

I went for a simple but classic margherita pizza as it’s one of my favourites (call me boring if you like) but it was super tasty

The crust was so fluffy and thick I could’ve used it as a pillow, honestly

I got a garlic dip with it and my god it was the strongest garlic dip I’ve ever had. Probably a bit too strong as chewing gum was needed afterwards

Overall, I’m more than happy with the food I’ve had so far and can’t wait to head out for some more meals soon

Catch me on isnta @fatbottomfoodies for more foodie content

Pinch Of Nom

Hi my fellow foodies, I hope you’re all doing well!

I got my hands on the pinch of nom cookbook as I’ve heard some great things about it

All the meals in the book are low calorie and healthy, so this really appealed to me

After a flick through the book I decided to make a Saturday night ‘fakeaway’ for our chilled date night

For starters I made the chicken sashlick

After a whiz around the shop I gathered all the ingredients needed (which were listed in the book!) and started to prep

I cut the chicken breast into small pieces, mixed in the garlic, paprika, chilli oil, green yoghurt, salt & pepper

Next, I grabbed the bamboo cocktail sticks and added the seasoned chicken to them and placed them on a baking tray lined with tin foil

They went in the oven for around 20-25 minutes and came out looking super delicious

They were on the spicy side but I enjoyed this and served them with a side dip of sweet chilli sauce to add even more flavour

For mains, I made the crispy chilli beef

This was mouthwatering! Honestly it was so good I really need to make it again sometime soon

I seasoned the big daddy rump steak with salt and pepper, then dipped it into a beaten egg and then into flour

The season beef strips were placed on the baking tray lined with tin foil ready to be popped in the oven for 20minutes

While the beef was crisping up, I fried spring onion, chillies, carrots and peppers with spices in a wok. Then I added a beef stock cube for extra flavour

Then, I added in a packet of egg noodles and the crispy beef pieces to fry for 2 minutes before it was ready!

I will definitely be making these meals again as they were super tasty! I can’t wait to try out the other great recipes this book has in it

How exciting! Catch you soon my fellow foodies and don’t forget to keep up to date on Instagram @fatbottomfoodies

#Gifted!

Hi my fellow foodies, I hope you’re all doing well!

This week I wanted to do a little round up of some of the best gifted items I’ve received in the last few weeks

I’m so lucky to be sent such lovely foodie samples to promote. Let’s have a look at what I have been given…

First up, The spice of sultan!

Delicious spice meal packs containing a Moroccan tagine with rose petal harissa and a goan fish curry with coconut and ginger chutney

I opted to make the Moroccan tagine first with the rose petal harissa, and it was just the right level of spice

On the packet it tells you what ingredients you need to make it, as well as a step-by-step guide on how to cook the meal and serving suggestions! Very helpful and it made it easier to know what to do with the spice blend

The packaging for this was just insane and so colourful, I loved it

Such a lovely little start up business, please do check them out

Next up, we have Bake For The Soul, a little baking business who very kindly sent some dessert goodies

It contained cookies, brownies, sweets and some lovely decoration (very Instagrammable!)

As I have a big sweet tooth, this gifted box was perfect! The branding was on point and the gooey brownies were absolutely delicious

Last but not least, we have Veganizzauk. The vegan sister company to Pizza Punks!

They sent pizzas and cans of camden hells larger. The pizzas were: sea salt and black pepper chicken. Gorgonzola, rioja pear and walnut and truffle mushroom and tuscan sausage

The pizzas were delicious and I feel sooooo lucky to be send such lovely food

I’m excited for the next few gifted foodie posts in the near future!

Hope you enjoyed this post and I’ll see you in two weeks

Check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more delicious foodie posts

Breakfast & Berries

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

Lockdown is still in full swing, so this post is dedicated to the delicious breakfasts I’ve made during my work from home days

I like to mix things up with my breakfast as I can easily get bored of eating the same thing everyday. I decided to use blueberries in everything I made

As they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all, so why not make it exciting?

First up, we have…pancakes!

Delicious blueberry pancakes for breakfast is a great way to start the day

It took a few attempts to flip the perfect pancake but it was worth the wait

I topped it with blueberries and golden syrup to make it extra sweet

Secondly, we have porridge

I love a big bowl of porridge on a morning

I decided to add two squares of dark chocolate to make it sweeter and add more taste

The frozen berries are perfect to cool the porridge down as it gets really hot once out of the microwave

I think the chocolate was a bit too much to be honest, I would only add one square the next time I make it

Last but not least, we have a smoothie

I recently bought myself a blender to make some daily smoothies

This was my first attempt at making one!

I added a good couple handfuls of frozen summer berries: blueberries, raspberries & blackberries

Then I added some frozen mango chunks, half a banana and topped it up with a couple inches of milk to reduce the thickness of it

After a quick blitz, it was ready! I poured it into a glass, added ice and garnished it with a few blueberries for aesthetic purposes

It was unreal!

I hope you enjoyed this post, I will catch you 2 weeks time for the next post

Check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more foodie updates

OiSaki Kitchen

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

The other week I went for a lovely daytime stroll in Durham City Centre for some fresh air and to get some lovely food

OiSaki Kitchen is right by the river so it seemed like the perfect option to grab some dinner

I have already had their chicken katsu curry before, so I thought it would be better to venture out and try more of what they have to offer

I opted for the breaded pork bowl with noodles and veg

The portion was huge and well worth £7 for a filling dinner. The noodles were sticky and delicious and packed with veg and lovely crispy beansporuts

The pork belly was tender with a slight crunch from the breadcrumbs

It was drizzled with mayo on top which added some extra flavour and taste, which I enjoyed

My friend got the same as me but opted for chicken instead of pork for her meat

I had a little nibble and the chicken is delicious too! I would maybe prefer the chicken to the pork instead. I will remember this next time

I will be back to try another dish in the near future, as te first two that I have tried have been so lovely

A short and sweet post this week but I’ll catch you in 2 weeks time for the next post

Check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more foodie updates

Coxhoe Corner

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

As it was a Saturday night, I was finally able to try the Coxhoe Corner Indian takeaway for the first time ever!

It opened pretty recently and I’ve heard only good things about it so it was exciting to be able to check it out and review it myself

We ordered by the phone and collected it just over an hour and a half later as it is about a ten minute walk from home (not bad!)

They’re currently collection only as they’re finding their feet with the volume of orders. Luckily the staff were very friendly and kept us up to date with the timings of the order

So! What did we order…

First up we have the munchie box

This was mega and contained: doner meat, lamb kofta kebab sticks, delicious tandoori chicken bites, a whole garlic naan bread, two onion bhajis, a handful of onion rings, hand cut chips & a mild curry sauce to use as a dip

It was a perfect choice for £15, and we were able to try a lot of the foods which they offer on their menu

A great way to try a bit of everything! It was delicious and filling too. Well worth the price for the amount that we got

Next up, a chicken tikka masala curry with Pilau rice

An absolute classic curry order for me. I love nothing more than a chicken tikka masala and I’m happy to say that this was delicious

The curry had the right mix between spice and sweetness. It was super fragrant with the coconut and had a hint of spice to make it perfect

The chicken chunks were huge and there was plenty of them too. I chose the garlic pilau rice as I am obsessed with garlic and it added some extra flavour into the mix

I would definitely order this curry again as I was very impressed!

As a side I ordered the garlic naan bread, I’m happy it was huge as I could’ve ate two to myself if not

It was super soft and packed with garlic

Overall I was very impressed with the Coxhoe Corner Indian takeaway

It’s great to support such a lovely local businesst in these challenging times

It really did live up to the hype and I’m sure I’ll be back one weekend soon to try something different

For more delicious food posts, follow me on Instagram @fatbottomfoodies

Homemade Grub 2.0

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe in these crazy times

As promised, here is homemade grub 2.0 as unfortunately, we still can’t go out for food

I’ll do a little roundup of my favourite homemade dishes from the past week to hopefully give you all some inspo for your lockdown meals

First up, we have poached eggs on sourdough toast. Perfect for breakfast, dinner or tea!

I must admit, I am the poached egg queen! I’m happy that I’ve finally captured this on camera as I think that these are the best that I’ve made yet

I got the sourdough bread in the reduced section from my local COOP as it was priced at around 60p, so it was a steal really

Just look at the yolk for proof that I am a great poached egg maker…

Seasoned with lots of black pepper and sea salt, this is such a healthy way to start the day (and not forgetting to mention, an incredibly tasty one too)

Next up, we have steak night

Aldi Ribeye steak with herby potatoes and bistro salad has to be one of my favourite meals to make for tea. Priced at under £3 per steak, it is so cheap to make

I like my steak cooked medium so it is tender and still had a tinge of pink to the meat. Packed with flavour, the steak was covered in M&S peppercorn sauce

It comes in a microwavable packet so you can pop it in for 2 minutes then it is ready to drizzle all over your meal

I personally like to use the entire packet since I love it so much but maybe that is a bit extreme

The potatoes were cooked to perfection and seasoned with dried herbs and added butter to make them extra fancy

Now, onto one of my favourite curry’s… the chicken katsu!

What a treat it was to make this katsu curry for tea

I started by breading the chicken breasts and putting them in the over to cook whilst I focused on the rice and the sauce

The sauce was chinese curry powder mixed with hot water, a bit of mustard and a hint of soy sauce for extra flavour

Adding veggies into the sauce helps with flavour and makes it healthier too! So, I added onions, carrots, peas and some spinach

With the rice so sticky and soft, it felt like a takeaway curry

It was so delicious and I will definitely be making it again in the near future

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog post

Check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for your daily dose of food

Christmas Extravaganza

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

So, the Christmas period is officially over and the new year has just begun. It’s been tough but I hope to keep you all entertained with my foodie content

This year was a bit different due to covid but it didn’t stop me enjoying the festivities and popping open the bubbly

Christmas day is a foodies favourite holiday! There’s unlimited amounts of food, snacks, sweet treats and leftovers for days on end (the best bit)

For our Christmas starter we opted for cheese. We shared a delicious Camembert and dipped in homemade dough balls, which my mam cooked in the shape of a Christmas tree

I was far too excited at this point that I forgot to get a picture of it but believe me, the cheese pull was incredible my friends!

Next up, was a beast of a Christmas dinner. We had turkey, beef for our meat, with tons of veg, stuffing, mash, roasties and the best big…pigs in blankets. Nothing says Christmas quite like pigs in blankets

We popped another bottle open to share with our dinner, pulled crackers, laughed at the silly little jokes inside and felt very full!

This has been a short post this week, but I hope you enjoyed it!

Catch me at @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more foodie content

Homemade Grub

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

As we are in another lockdown, I thought it would be nice to share some meals I have been making for tea

I really miss eating out for the whole experience, but I do enjoy home cooking just as much (plus, it’s way cheaper!)

I’ve rounded up a few of my best meals from the past month or so

First up, beef stir fry

Sticky egg noodles with beef, peppers, onions, green beans and baby corn

This was delicious and had a lovely sticky teriyaki sauce drizzled all over it. The beef was so tender and juicy too, which made it better than a simple veggie stir fry

I have to rave about the sticky medium egg noodles too, as they proper soaked up the sauce which made it perfect. I can’t wait to make it again

Secondly, steak night!

Juicy steak with peas & roasted veg

This makes for such a tasty tea which feels the closest to a restaurant meal as steak is a luxury for me!

I roasted the carrots, onions and sweet potatoes and seasoned them with salt, pepper and herbs for extra flavour. This is also a staple to any meal for me, I just love roasted veg

The steak was medium, left a bit pink inside and super tasty. I need to cook this more often as Aldi do this ribeye steak for under £3 I’m sure. Absolutely delicious

Next up, we have sweet n sour

I hadn’t made this for months so I was excited to make it and most importantly, eat it for tea. The sauce wasn’t homemade but the effort was still there

I cut, fried and seasoned the onions and peppers alongside seasoning them

I added the chicken and seasoned once again with salt and pepper to add extra flavour. The jar of sauce went in and boiled till it was perfect

Last but not least, halloumi beef burger

This meal was incredible. I made the mince into 4 burger patties and added onions into the mix

I added grilled halloumi, burger sauce and tomatoes in the soft white bun when the burgers were out of the oven

The halloumi was the best part of this as I haven’t had it in months! Another little treat for me

The fried sweet potato slices were lovely as they were seasoned with paprika and sea salt

Hopefully for my next post I am able to go out to capture my blog content. If not, then look forward to homemade grub 2.0!

Check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more homemade grub

Takeaway Takeover 2.0

Hi my fellow foodies, I hope you’re all doing well!

I thought it would be good to bring back the takeaway takeover, so this blog post is takeaway takeover 2.0!

As we have entered another national lockdown, it seems sensible to share my lockdown takeaways to give you all some inspo for your Friday/Saturday night takeaway

First up, a local favourite, Dragon chinese in Bowburn. We love it here, it’s very close to home and their beef is so tender it is very moreish!

The order was: beef chow mein (my ultimate favourite), egg fried rice, salt & pepper chips and sweet n sour sauce

As always, the chow mein was delicious, the soft noodles, fried onions and packed with juicy beef strips makes for the perfect combo

Egg fried rice adds some lightness to the rich chow mein and with the sweet n sour sauce drizzled over, it makes it all super sweet and adds a nice tang to it

Now, I hadn’t tried the salt and pepper chicken from this chinese before but I have to say that it was lovely. Maybe a bit too spicy for me, but with the sweet n sour sauce drizzled over it, this cooled my mouth down

The crunchy veg and onions mixed in with the salt, pepper and chili was a lovely combo. I may order this again sometime and make sure I have a glass of milk on the go whilst eating it…

Next up, we have Pizza Roma in Coxhoe. This is an all-timefavourite local pizza shop, it cannot be beaten

It provides better value for money than leading pizzas shops like Dominos, and dare I say it’s much tastier!

The order was: Bolognaise pizza, margarita pizza and a half n half donner kebab and chicken kiev pizza

A lovely family night feast with 3 large (12”) pizzas for under £7 each! Very good value

We ordered some potato wedges to share as a nice side dish too, which came with a pot of tangy BBQ sauce to dip them in

My choice of pizza was the classic margarita, as I was craving some cheese. Fair to say, I did get my cheese fix with this pizza

We all left 3 or 4 slices of this huge pizza and ate the rest the next day which was equally as tasty

There may or may not be a takeaway takeover 3.0, depending if we have another lockdown or not…we shall see

Anyways, that’s it from me!

Don’t forget to check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more foodie posts