I am not one to go out and buy a recipe book so i have been looking online to find some nice and easy recipes as i am not the most confident cook and i stumbled across the BBC website all about food.

They have fun and easy recipes to cook with your children, videos of cooking, a message board where people share tips and also updates of the cooking shows being shown at the moment.

You can search for 10,000 recipes so you are not limited to the selection there is and you can search by ingredients,  programme or by chef.

to have a look for yourself got to www.bbc.co.uk/food

Gordon Ramsay recently filmed Gordon’s Great Escape for Chanel 4 by traveling around India and learning to cook the traditional Indian Way and he has now published a book with lots of recipes he learned whilst on the road.

Another Celebrity Chef who likes to travel around is Jamie Oliver where his latest programme was Jamie at Home Christmas Special which i absolutely love as these 2 are my favorite celebrity chefs.

Gordon’s great escape starts Monday 18th January on Chanel 4 and i for 1 will be watching.

This can be purchased through his website, on Amazon and many other online and high street book stores.

I hate to admit it but i was given a slow cooker for Christmas and i absolutely love it.

When i get home from work my tea is ready for me so i dont have to spend even more time on my feet cutting, dicing and cooking.

So far i have made:

Chicken Curry
Chilli Con Carne
Sausage hot pot

and i really want to make an Onion soup in it as it is really cold at the moment and would be nice to have it to heat up when i get in from work.

You can pick up a slow cooker in any electrical shop eg, Comet, Argos, Sainsburys, Tesco, John Lewis

I am a big fan of Philadelphia cheese and I have been tearing out the recipe’s that have been in the magazines but if you go on their website you can print off the recipe’s for something a little bit different.

My favorite is the Parma Ham and Chicken Escalope and they are really easy to make even if you are not a good cook (like me).

All you do is put a slice in the centre of the chicken breast, fill with Philadelphia with herbs and wrap the chicken in parma ham and cook in the oven.  Add potatoes and veg and you have a healthy meal.

click on to www.philadelphia.co.uk and see what else you can cook up.

Further to our recent posts about all the food we  will be indulging in over the Christmas period, I will no sooner have eaten my 8th mince pie before I am considering starting the New Year Diet! I know it is a band wagon that many people jump on, but I take it very seriously. When cooking for one, it can be quite difficult with regards to portion sizes. However if you are cooking a healthy dinner like soup, you can pop it in the fridge and it will last all week. When making soups, you can be very versatile and experiment, basically anything can go in to them. They are a very healthy and quick dinner to prepare when you are very busy!- enjoy!

It is this time of year when we are all rushing around trying to get the last minute food shopping done before Christmas Day.  All the big supermarkets are open near enough 24 hours a day trying to capture as many sales as possible.  The shelves look like they have been ransacked, metal trolleys scattered all over and people running around looking stressed.
I picked up the turkey at the weekend and have got the majority of the alcohol and food that will keep.  It is now just a case of going back down to brave the rush for vegetables and consumables that are better to get closer to the day.
I think when Christmas Day actually arrives I will be sick of the sight of food and not want to eat any!

I always go through phases of eating something over and over again and suddenly going off it. My favorite phase was when I was addicted to Boost bars before they bought out the ones with guarana in them and I had to have one every day, sometimes twice. This lasted for around four or five months and yes, I did put a little bit of weight on but I couldn’t not have a boost!

This is the same when I am cooking, sometimes I have to have brown pasta with tomato and chili sauce for days running because it’s the only thing I fancy. Why is this? It may be that I am lacking in a certain vitamin or mineral that the craving possesses however I have always found it a bit strange. Any ideas people?

I am pretty sure there will be millions of people across the country who will have an abundance of turkey left over from their traditional Christmas dinner this year. The majority will be waking up on Boxing Day morning to consider what they should do with the left overs…I have found there is plenty of inspiration and ideas online which should help you out if you do not want to be eating turkey sandwiches for the foreseeable future!

Having had a look, here are some of my favourites which you could try: Turkey stew, turkey stir fry, turkey Kebabs and turkey casserole.

For those of you who want to start the New Year health kick  a little bit early you can make a turkey salad, turkey wraps or turkey soup!

I think I am already suffering from over indulgence and the Christmas holidays are only just starting! If asked if I had a sweet tooth, then I am most likely to say no………only at Christmas!
It is far too tempting to be good at Christmas and avoid the desserts which I deprive myself of all year round. I love to enjoy the traditional mince pies and Christmas pudding with custard after a turkey dinner, but there are lots of other desserts which are very easy to make over the festive period which are very popular in our house. Apple pie with custard is one of my favourites or vanilla and chocolate ice cream with baileys is an extra special treat! -quick to make and simply delicious!

I have to admit I am not exactly a master chef in the kitchen. If I have the choice between cooking dinner or going out for a meal, more often than not I will take the easy way out!
I am sure the more I practice the better I will get, but sometimes it is difficult finding the time to fit everything in to the day, so eating out is usually the quickest and simplest option.

Although I have to admit that no restaurant in the world can compare to my Mums home cooking. She is a fabulous cook and spends most of her time in the kitchen. My personal favourite is her homemade lasagne followed closely by her chicken casserole.

Cooking is not rocket science and it can be very therapeutic, so I would encourage everyone to jump in there and have a go!