Photo A Day

There a quite a few photo a day challenges but the most well known to me is Fat Mum Slim's. I decided to give it a whirl this month and so far do good. It's a fun and easy way to take photos with a creative edge, it also forces you to pay attention to the world which is never a bad thing!

I didn't do the first one as I was a late starter but the pics above are my first four photos of the challenge. You can check out my offerings on instagram @lucymelonclarke.

FMS photo a day // Monthly challenge

photo credit: fatmumslim

This month me and my mum decided to do something new and have a go at the fat mum slim photo a day challenge. You get a list of things to photograph (above) but the specifics are up to you. It's been really interesting to see the different ways me and my mum have interpreted the cues, as well as everyone else taking part. It's also been really nice doing this with my mum as we live so far apart it's a fun way to find out a little bit about each other's day which we wouldn't necessarily have shared otherwise. Here are my photos so far...

From top, left to right: something colourful, light, you today, motion, afternoon, 8 O'clock, what you saw today, corner.

Are any of you doing the photo a day challenge? You can follow me on Instagram @nicci_in_love if you want to play along! I'm still working on thinking of something pink to photograph...

Nicci

xxx

Zest 10k Challenge

Image Source

Nicci, Freya and myself signed up to the Zest 10k Challenge a while back this year. I think it's safe to say we had all pushed it to the backs of all our minds until recently. The challenge is on 15th June so it's about a month and a half away! We have now realised how close to the day it is and we have all been getting our run on in preparation!

We have all previously ran at least 10k (Nicci ran a half marathon last year) so we should be okay with the distance, however the added fun is the OBSTACLES!

We're talking inflatable slide, zig-zag balance beams, a spider's web (?) and a pontoon maze! It's safe to say it's not your average run. We're not bothered about the time we do it in, we mainly want to have some fun and get fit whilst doing it.

We've discussed various possible outfits for the run and at the moment the look below is winning......

Image Source

Wish us luck!

Lucy

xxx

Step it up

Image source

So last night the fear finally got the better of me. I dusted off my trainers, spent a frantic ten minutes searching my entire house for my iPod armband thingy (it was very sensibly in my gym bag after all) and squashed myself back into my running leggings. The reason for the fear is that on June 15th (less than two months away!!!) Lucy, Freya and I will be taking part in The Zest Challenge. This is a 10km run with obstacles thrown in for good measure.

Now I thought I would be golden for this one, I ran the Royal Parks Half marathon last year in a not too shabby time. Five minutes after leaving my house though I realised it was going to be so much harder than I thought. I am seriously out of shape!! I huffed and puffed my way once around Finsbury Park (approximately 3km) and I swear I nearly died. Now this could be a little to do with the Green and Black's Easter egg I scoffed about 30 mins before the run, but mostly I think I need to train my ass of from now until June.

So with my new found focus on the task in hand, I thought it would be nice to update my running music a little as well. Nothing too crazy, mostly mid tempo to get me started off. I'm going to try it out tonight and hopefully will make it the whole way through the playlist, it's only 11 tracks, surely I can do that...? Wish me luck!

sly little playlist

Nicci
xx

This Morning

This morning was a lovely one, very relaxed and so very sunny! Spelt pancakes were on the breakfast menu this morning (which being a new recipe fitted in with the monthly challenge) They were yummy and a hybrid between american style pancakes and traditional ones. I also had some blueberries in the fridge which were looking a little sad so I popped them in the pan with the batter and they were all jammy and delicicious. 

Lucy

xxx

Panettone bread and butter pudding

I have to admit to not having been as on it with the monthly challenge as Lucy has been. This has been partly due to a strictly enforced food budget thanks to the horribly late pay day this month, still a whole week to go! So when Ed came home from work with this panettone I knew I could do something with it which would be slightly more inspiring than my usual pasta bakes.

Before Christmas Lucy and I found these adorable aprons at a vintage fair but this was the first time my apron got an outing! Here I am trying to channel Nigella...not sure I'm a natural.

 

the basics you need for this recipe, I loosely based mine on this recipe but adapted the quantities for just the two of us. It was so simple to make but really tasty.

Just mix up all the wet ingredients so you have a sort of custard, then pour over sliced and buttered panettone and bake until set and golden. Buttering the panettone adds a delicious savoury edge to the dish which I really enjoyed.

Voila! Baked fruity spiced custardy goodness all in less than10 mins prep time. My kind of dessert! Serve with ice cream or pouring cream for added goodness.

Nicci

Xxx

 

Monthly Challenge - New Recipes

This recipe has been my favourite of the new ones I've cooked. I saw this recipe for an Olive Oil Cake and I decided to give it a whirl but added lemon and pistachio to the recipe. It came out really well and I was pretty darn happy with it! ( I also got to use my salvaged scales!)

Lemon and Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

Makes one 20cm diameter cake

• 3 medium eggs
• 150g soft dark-brown sugar
• 150ml olive oil
• Juice and zest of 2 lemons
• 200g wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 100g crushed pistachios

For the Lemon Drizzle icing

• Juice of half a lemon (approx)
• Icing Sugar
• Handful of pistachios to decorate

Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas mark 4, then line the base and sides of a deep, round 20cm cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick, then beat in the oil, zest and juice.

Combine the flour, baking powder and pistachios in another bowl, then fold this through the egg mixture.

Spoon into the tin and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer poked in comes out clean.

Once the cake has cooled slightly, combine the juice of half a lemon and then add icing sugar 1/2 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency has been reached. (Not too thick)

Drizzle over the cake and add pistachios on top for decoration.

Mmmmm tasty cake!

Lucy
xxx

Monthly Challenge - New Recipes

I've been trying to stick to the New Recipe challenge and it's going fairly well! As part of the challenge I made Peppery Chicken which worked out really well and I was pretty happy with the results. It was really tasty, moist and quite tangy.

Peppery Chicken from Shutterbean

I made the recipe with thighs and drumsticks instead of wings and I only marinated for half an hour as I was pressed for time. 

Serves 4-6

• 12 pieces of chicken (wings/drumsticks)
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 4 medium cloves garlic, smashed to a paste with a little salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Lay the chicken wings out on a baking sheet and season well with salt and pepper, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the allspice, cloves, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic and oil; toss to coat evenly. Let sit for 1 hour at room temperature, or cover and refrigerate for up to overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Have a large roasting pan or baking sheet at hand.
Spread the wings evenly in the pan or on the baking sheet in a single layer. Roast, uncovered, until they are nicely browned and crisp, about 1 hour.
Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

I had the chicken with buttery mash potato and green beans.

I cooked this recipe for friends and the wine was flowing so I forgot to snap pictures of the full dinner, damn wine! So this picture is from the day after of the leftovers, hence the slightly odd pic!

Lucy

xxx

Look what I made!

Unlike Nicci and Lucy, I don’t really cook. I claim I can’t, but on the TV show Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook (remember that? Amazing!) I would definitely be on the Won’t team. However, I’ve been branching out a bit, and I successfully created some dishes over the festive period that I was quite proud of.

 I have included some pictures of what I believe were my best bits. They include: A California Christmas Cake (generously doused in sherry); Banana, Date & Apricot Muffins (I made mini loaves cos I couldn’t resist the cases); Sweet potato and lentil filo parcels; Honey-roasted parsnip soup (picture of the honey and roasting process as a picture of soup would be rather dull); and the big Festive family meal I made all by myself including a Butternut squash Jalousie, fruity red cabbage, brussell sprouts with sticky shallots, and crispy sage potatoes (aka Grenade Potatoes to Mattie Hirst).

On the back of this, I have decided that cooking more shall be my new resolution – I’m going to aim for one new recipe a week and the rest of the Fancy Full ladies are attempting this for a month as well! And to make it more fun for myself, I am going to create a beast of a scrapbook full of all the successes for future reference, but made all pretty! My very own recipe book – watch out Delia.

Freya

xxx

Monthly Challenge - New Recipes

Image Source

Here at Fancy Full we have decided that we need to add a few more challenges in our life! Each month we will be introducing a new monthly challenge and trying our very best to stick with them and see where they lead us.We realise that we are coming in half way through this month but it's better late then never!

This month's is............NEW RECIPES

 We will be cooking a new recipe every week at least and we're going to aim to cover starters, mains and deserts. We will then share our culinary delights with you here at Fancy Full.

I don't know about you, but I get stuck in a rut sometimes with cooking and hopefully this will add new recipes to the weekly repertoire.

Feel free to join in the challenge and let us know what you've been rustling up in the kitchen!

Lucy 

xxx