This is a quick and easy filling salad. I made it on a sunny day so it doesn't quite suit today's rainy climate but it is a good comforting salad and would work well on a cold day too. This salad could be adapted with feta or broccoli.

Quinoa is one of those grains that I think people are scared of. It originates in Peru and was used as a staple grain for centuries. It is pretty unheard of over with people choosing more well known grains such as rice, pearl barley and cous cous. There are apparently three types of quinoa red, black and pearl. I was curious and asked company Alice and Oscar to send me a sample to try.

I was sent the fairtrade pearl Alice and Oscar Quinola and I found it really easy to use. I just boiled in water for ten minutes and found that the grain became soft with a slight nutty taste and texture.

For my salad I used:

- a handful of pearl quinoa boiled for 10 minutes
- leftover cold chicken
- salad leaves
- avocado
I added some salad dressing and a couple of slices of homemade bread. 

Do you use Quinoa? I'm hoping to come up with some more recipes sweet and savour so watch this space. 

NB: I was sent the Quinola quinoa to try and provide an honest review.

I have been trying my hand at enriched breads since Christmas with varying success. They usually taste delicious but are a little stodgy. This time I followed Paul Hollywood's recipe for Sicilian Lemon and Orange Sweet Bread after watching his Bread show. 

I added cherries to mine and didn't get a chance to finish with the topping. The bread comes out quite brown but I noticed this was the case on the tv show before Paul added his topping. This time I put my bread in the oven, when it was just barely warm, for the second rise and the bread came out, moist, light and crumbly.

I would recommend trying the recipe as it makes a lovely weekend breakfast.

This isn't really a recipe and might seem entirely obvious but sometimes it's the simple blog posts that I like to read, the ones that make me think, 'oh yeah, why don't I do that more'. At the moment I'm trying to make my food go further. This is a quick dinner that my mum used to make with leftover chicken and tagliatelle. I didn't have the right pasta but the idea is the same. The best bit of this recipe is the lovely crunchy and tasty breadcrumb and cheese topping.

For this dinner you will need:

- leftover roast chicken
- vegetables 
- onion and garlic
- can of tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar 
- Bread - the top slice that no one ever wants works well
- A bit of grated cheese 

I have recently been complaining about my knives and so was happy to try a Kitchen Devils Utility Knife which is supposed to be great for chopping fruit and vegetables. I have been using it for a month now and have sharpened it once. It is great at cutting through the skin of tomatoes and the toughness of carrots. I would definitely say it is a good all rounder for the kitchen especially as it is only 7.99. These knives are sold in Lakeland and most supermarkets.

Disclaimer: I was sent a Kitchen Devil knife to review and was not required to give a positive review.

I'm entering this into May's credit crunch munch run by Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla at Fab Food 4 All. This month's round up is being hosted by Janice at Farmersgirl Kitchen.

The sun is shining and my thoughts have turned to Pimms. Looking at my shelves I have lots of different spirits  brought back from holidays and homemade cordials and drinks. I could really do with cleaning the shelves before people bring back a new set of random holiday liquers. I also love buying and making fresh cordials but often don't get round to using them all up.

So this month we are going slightly off the food theme and asking you to use up some of that lingering liquid to make something delicious and summery!

Do join in and remember you can republish old posts with the No Waste Food Challenge Badge.

Do join in and remember you can republish old posts with the No Waste Food Challenge Badge.

1. Please add your post to the linky below.
   
2. Please include the title, recipe and a link to your post. If the recipe is not your own make sure you credit the author. 
3. Feel free to republish old posts just make sure you add a link to the challenge and add the challenge badge.
   
4. Make sure you email before the end of the month.
5. Please also include a link back to this blog and use the badge below.

At the end of the month I will do a roundup post and hopefully we'll all have more imaginative ways of using up tour odds and ends of preserves.