Cous Cous with Pumpkin

1/4 pumpkin, cut into cubes
1 small onion, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp pesto
100g wholewheat cous cous
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 handful pumpkin seeds

Put the pumkin and onion onto a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade. Meanwhile, put the cous cous in a bowl and add 125ml boiling water, cover and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and pesto to the cous cous, mix well. Add the pumpkin and onions, mix and sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on top.

Cheese and Onion Potato

To make use of the leftover cheese and onion pasty filling: Bake a potato until nice and crispy, cut in half, heap on lots of cheese and onion mix, bake until bubbly. Top with chopped cherry tomatoes.

Smarties Cookies

350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda1 tsp baking powder
250g butter, softened
300g sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 bag Smarties

Beat the butter and sugar together, add the egg and vanilla, mix well. Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking soda, mix well to form a dough. Roll the dough into 30 balls, place onto prepared baking trays and flatten slightly, allow plenty of room between the cookies as they expand a lot. Push in Smarties and bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade. Allow to cool for 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Nutella Swirl Cupcakes

200g butter, softened
200g sugar
4 eggs
200g self raising flour
400g Nutella

Beat the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs and stir well. Sift in the flour, mix. Put 2 teaspoons of cake batter into prepared cupcake cups, add one heaping teaspoon of Nutella then another teaspoon of cake batter. Use a toothpick and stir each cupcake to mix the Nutella and cake batter. Bake for 20 minutes until cooked through.

Cheese and Onion Pasties

2 onions, chopped
250g mature cheddar, grated
2 tbsp veg oil

Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions and cook until softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Mix in the cheese. Roll out defrosted puff pastry to the thickness of a pound coin, add 1/4 of the mix, wet the edges of the pastry with water. Close the pasty and crimp the edges if you wish. Place on a baking tray and brush lightly with milk. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade.

Beef Pasties

800g minced beef
2 onions, chopped
1 potato, peeled and cubed
2 onions, peeled and cubed
2 handfuls frozen peas
3 tbsp veg oil
1 beef stock cube
Gravy granules

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onions and cook until softened. Add the beef and cook, stirring and breaking it up so it doesn't form into lumps. Add the potato, carrot and peas, crumble in the stock cube. Add enough water to cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add enough gravy granules to thicken the sauce. Mix well and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, roll out defrosted puff pastry until it's the thickness of a pound coin. Using a small plate as a mould, cut out circles. Place 4 tablespoon of mince mix in the middle, wet the edges with water and close the pasty. Crimp the edges if you wish. Place on a baking tray and brush lightly with milk. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade.

Unbaked pasties:



Just out of the oven:



Pasty and chips:

Chilli Chicken

8 pieces chicken
1 small red onion, chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
Salt

Place all the ingredients into a baking dish, mix well, cover with cling film and refrigerate for several hours. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade.