BLOG TOUR: The Slimming Foodie Easy Meals Every Day - Pip Payne

Say goodbye to dinner time dilemmas with more than 100 simple, healthy and tasty recipes from bestselling author The Slimming Foodie

Perfect for home cooks of all levels, this book will take the stress out of mealtimes, with recipes that are fuss-free and use everyday ingredients that won't break the bank. Including a chapter for each day of the week, plus four weekly meal plans and shopping lists, it has never been easier to eat well after a long day!

CONTENTS INCLUDE:

Meat-free Monday

Sweet potato & mozzarella sausage rolls; Gnocchi-topped veggie cottage pie; Cauliflower cheese & jalapeño soup

Trays-out Tuesday

Korean-style sweet chilli chicken; Miso-maple glazed salmon; Bacon, leek, potato & pea bake

Whip-it-up Wednesday

Creamy basil & sundried tomato chicken tagliatelle; Sausage & mushroom ragu; Philly cheesesteak-style orzo

Thrifty Thursday

Courgette pesto pasta; Crunchy Vietnamese-style chicken salad; Simple red lentil dal

Feasting Friday

Stir-fried char siu pork with udon noddles; Spiced lamb & aubergine rice with minty yogurt; Tamarind prawn curry

Sumptuous Saturday

Harissa & coconut braised chicken; Pork gyoza; Mac 'n' cheese lasagne

Staples Sunday

Eat-up Sunday curry; Slow-cooker mushroom bourguignon; Ultimate bolognese sauce

Something Sweet

Rustic profiteroles with caramelized biscuit topping; Watermelon fingers with honey-lime dip; Blueberry scones

Lucky Dip

Green beans with spring onions & garlic; Salt & vinegar roast potatoes; Everything seasoning

 

What did I think?

I'm so pleased that I joined this blog tour as I have now discovered the Slimming Foodie and after sampling a couple of the recipes, I definitely consider myself a fan.

I feel like I'm always on a diet but with The Slimming Foodie's recipes there's no need to go hungry and you can have delicious, tasty meals that will quickly become family favourites.  I love how the book is set out in sections and each recipe states the nutritional information as well as serving size, preparation and cooking time, introduction to the recipe and notes.

There are a lot of recipes I want to try in the book but I chose two to try for my review and I can't believe how well they turned out.  In the 'Trays-out Tuesday' section, I made the black bean & corn-loaded quesadillas and the sweet potato & black bean layer bake.

Black bean & corn-
loaded quesadillas

I have to say that I used to make quesadillas but they were just a bit too faffy and I always lost half the filling when I turned them over in the frying pan.  That didn't happen with The Slimming Foodie's black bean & corn-loaded quesadillas as you make them in the oven after folding the tortilla over.  This makes them so much easier to flip over and although an odd bean or sweetcorn tried to fall out, it was definitely less messy than flipping in the pan.  This recipe has already been made again. Thank you, Pip Payne!

Sweet potato & black
bean layer bake

I had never had black beans before I made the quesadillas but I liked them so much that I made the sweet potato & black bean layer bake next.  This was so easy to do and although it needs a good hour in the oven to cook, preparation time is only about 15 minutes and that's includes chopping onions and peeling sweet potatoes.  Pip's note on the bottom suggested adding jalapeños so I customised the recipe to include some extra spice.  The taste is amazing; it's so richly flavoured and smoky (thanks to the large helping of paprika) and the sweet potatoes work really well with all of the spices.  This recipe is already a firm favourite in my house and I can't wait to make it again.

So that was two recipes I tried and each one turned out perfectly, giving me the confidence to try a lot more of the recipes in the book.  The recipes are so easy to follow and every one I looked at had easy to source ingredients.  I love the notes at the bottom of a lot of the recipes with hints, tips, ingredient substitutions or customisation ideas - with Pip Payne's support, you don't have to be afraid to experiment a little.

Filled with tasty, filling and easy-to-follow recipes, The Slimming Foodie Easy Meals Every Day is already one of my favourite cookbooks and the first one I reach for when planning my next healthy and nutritious meal.  Very highly recommended.

I received an ARC to review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

About the author:

The Slimming Foodie is a firm believer that you don’t have to completely change your eating habits to lose weight. With Pip’s clever swaps and cooking techniques, you can slim down while still enjoying all your favourite foods – it’s a modern weight-loss method that puts flavour first.

Keeping a love of food at the fore, Pip’s approach is about bringing back convenient home cooking by making healthy and tasty recipes that are accessible to a new wave of home cooks. Creating great-tasting meals that are cooked from scratch and cut down on fat and sugar while following science-led nutrition advice.

Pip’s previous books, The Slimming Foodie, The Slimming Foodie in One and The Slimming Foodie in Minutes, all published by Octopus, were all Sunday Times bestsellers and together have sold more than 110,000 copies via Nielsen BookScan.

The Slimming Foodie has a combined social media reach of more than 450,000 followers.

Theslimmingfoodie.com

Facebook.com/slimmingfoodie

Instagram.com/the_slimming_foodie

Tiktok.com/@the_slimming_foodie

Pinterest.co.uk/theslimmingfoodie

X.com/slimmingfoodie (formerly Twitter)

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BLOG TOUR: A Curious Cook - Bridget Morton

A comprehensive and supportive guide to vegetarian cooking for people with coeliac disease.

Bridget Morton puts her own personal experiences of living with coeliac to good use in the kitchen, whipping up nutritious, delicious and comforting dishes designed to help manage her symptoms.

What did I think?

I have to say from the start that I don't have coeliac disease, however, I am unable to eat certain foods (particularly white bread) without being crippled by stomach pains.  I try to keep my food as stomach-friendly as possible and I do enjoy cooking and creating tasty dishes in the kitchen.  It's sometimes a bit of lottery whether my slaving over a hot stove will cause stomach pain or not so A Curious Cook by Bridget Morton sounds like the perfect cookery book for me to reduce, if not alleviate, the risk of pain.

Over 95% of the book is dedicated to recipe pages, so there isn't a lot of annoying chat or pointless photos (like it's a photoshoot for Hello magazine) in the front of the book like you find with many other cook books.  The author's concise introduction discusses her cooking journey in a light and humourous way, mentioning her reasons for writing the book and offering snippets of advice.  

Following the introduction, there are handy conversion tables (to save you googling or having to ask Alexa) and a list of store cupboard basics before launching into the main event: the recipe section.  There are 104 recipes in total which are split into 7 sections: Savoury Tarts and Pies; Flatbread Dough; Pancakes, Crackers and Muffins; Small Savouries; Vegetables and Salads; Sugar; and Sauces, Preserves and Drinks.  A good proportion of the recipes are accompanied by a short introduction from the author and colour photos that show the finished product.

I would have liked to have made some of the recipes in advance of posting my review but unfortunately there wasn't enough time before my spot on the blog tour.  There are loads of recipes I want to try that look uncomplicated for novice cooks like me: winter squash and chilli tart (made with a variety of interesting flours); small savoury pies (made in a muffin tin and filled with tomato and feta); fennel seed tarallini (little twisty savoury biscuits); chickpea dal (this looks so easy to make and I love chickpeas) and courgettes with tomato and cumin (a delicious winter stew).  There are other recipes that sound lovely but they involve shallow frying in oil and that's a bit too advanced for me.

I was delighted to find that a lot of the recipes use courgettes.  Not only do I love courgettes but my uncle grows them on his allotment so our kitchen is always well stocked when courgettes are in season.  There are also a good number of chickpea recipes which are a store cupboard staple for me as I love them.  I can see A Curious Cook becoming a well-used and favourite cookbook in my house.

The only tiny gripe I have with the book is in the presentation; the paper in the book isn't coated like you find in a lot of cook books.  You will need to be careful when using it in the kitchen as if you're anything like me, it's sure to get splattered; an acrylic cookbook stand is a useful addition to the kitchen anyway and would be perfect to protect this book from splashes.

A Curious Cook is a fabulous cookbook for both coeliacs and vegetarians with a suspected gluten intolerance.  The recipes are clear and simple, with relatively easy to source ingredients, and they all sound tasty and comforting.  I suspect my stomach will thank Bridget Morton in due course.

I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher to read and review for the blog tour; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from:

UK.Bookshop.org

Amazon

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Deliciously Vegan Everyday Kitchen (Deliciously Vegan Kitchen Book 2) - Sibel Hodge

Whether you're already following a plant-based diet or you just want to add more meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free dishes into your life, Deliciously Vegan Everyday Kitchen is for you!

Low on fussy preparation and high on flavour, this everyday meal bible uses budget-friendly ingredients and has tasty vegan ideas for everyone. All dishes are packed with plant power and are easily made gluten-free.

Taking inspiration from her Mediterranean roots, Sibel takes you on a culinary journey through the Med, Asia, India, and around the world. With over 80 recipes, broken down into meze and dips, sides and sundries, sumptuous salads, and light bites and main meals, Deliciously Vegan Everyday Kitchen is full of twists on old favourites and tasty new dishes, all easily prepared, including: vegan "egg" mayonnaise, Southern fried tofu nuggets, mango and sweet potato masala, spicy buffalo cauliflower bites, caramelised roast vegetables, salt-and-pepper tofu, cauliflower and broccoli cheese, onion bhaji, no-fuss paella, Greek-style shepherd's pie, Middle Eastern potatoes, sweet and sour tofu, sexy cabbage, Indian mushroom rice, potato-crust pizza, moussaka, rich spaghetti Bolognese, kung pao tofu, hummus, creamy stroganoff, coriander roasted carrots, Turkish potato salad, Spanish frittata, cheesy potato bake, Sicilian aubergine pasta, sticky BBQ tofu, Turkish pizza, maple sprouts, Chinese curry, Moroccan cauliflower steaks, braised mince bourguignonne, onion gravy, plus much, much more!

Crammed with wholesome, satisfying, healthy, and nutritious ingredients, cooking vegan never tasted so good!

What did I think?

I had no idea that Sibel Hodge, an author whose amazing thrillers I have previously read, had also published not just one but two vegan cookbooks.  I admit to having a bit of an addiction to buying cookbooks but then never cooking anything from them so I was determined to actually try my hand in the kitchen in order to review Deliciously Vegan Everyday Kitchen.

I had a good flick through first to see what caught my eye and selected a few recipes I wanted to try.  Then the virus that shall not be named hit the UK; food stockpiling left supermarket shelves empty and I couldn't get a single green pepper for love nor money.  So I ended up only making two of the dishes but not only would I make them both again, the spaghetti bolognese has already been made again and has become a firm favourite.

I've been a pescatarian for more than half of my life so I'm no stranger to a meat-free diet and with more people turning to a plant based diet, veganism is no longer something to be scared of.  For anyone new to a vegan diet, Sibel Hodge includes an absolutely invaluable 'Quick Tips' section at the start of the book.  Hands up if you're afraid of tofu?  <Raises hand>  I never had any idea how to prepare or cook these little white chunks that so many people rave on about and although I haven't yet worked up the courage to try it, thanks to Sibel Hodge's quick tips, I will definitely give it a go in the future.  The tip about buying fresh root ginger is absolute genius too!

The recipes are split into four sections: Meze and dips, Sumptuous Salads, Sides & Sundries and Light Bites & Main Meals.  I made two recipes from the Light Bites & Main Meals section: Quick Pita Pizza and Rich Spaghetti Bolognese.  The recipes are so clear and simple, perfect for the novice cook (i.e. me) and they don't have any weird and wonderful ingredients for which you have to search high and low, unless you're looking for a simple green pepper during lockdown of course.

My Quick Pita Pizza attempt almost fell at the first hurdle: cutting a wafer thin pita bread in half.  Not one to give up easily, I stuck it in the toaster for a minute so that it filled with air and gave me a fighting chance.  I was concerned that this might make it too crispy, so I found that you can also put it in the microwave for a few seconds.  So with pita bread successfully separated into two halves, I then made my pizza as per the recipe INCLUDING green peppers (painstakingly picked out of a bag of frozen mixed peppers with frost bitten fingers).  They taste delicious and really are very simple to make; the hardest part is halving the pita bread!

My Quick Pita Pizza

The Rich Spaghetti Bolognese is DELICIOUS!  I may have misinterpreted the recipe at the first attempt as 200g of spaghetti was a lot of pasta for two people.  I think it maybe refers to cooked rather than dry pasta so I amended this when I made it again.  There is a huge quantity of bolognese to share between two people so I think this would easily stretch to three.  I also made a slight adjustment as we like our meals with a bit of heat, so I added 2 teaspoons of chilli powder and it was AMAZING!  I was very pleased with my effort, thank you Sibel Hodge.

My Rich Spaghetti Bolognese

With over 80 recipes to choose from, each one with a colour photograph, you're sure to find a new favourite dish among this great selection.  I loved that a lot of the recipes are for 2 people so I didn't have to amend the quantities or make the full amount and freeze any leftovers.  Simple, quick and tasty, Deliciously Vegan Everyday Kitchen is THE vegan cookbook to have on your shelf (or even your virtual shelf as it transfers perfectly to ebook).

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

Buy it from Amazon