Ingredients:

• A jar of any commercial sweet & sour sauce

• A packet of cooked chicken breast (either whole or pieces)

• Onion

• Carrots

• Peppers (either fresh or roasted from a jar)

• A tin of pineapple or discounted fresh chunks

• Sugar snap peas for crunch and colour. 

Method:

Stir fry the onion, carrots and peppers until soft. Add chunks of cooked chicken breast, pineapple pieces, and sugar snap peas and fry a bit longer. Pour over the jar of sweet and sour sauce and bring to boil, then simmer to heat through.

Serve with either a packet of own brand microwave rice or cook fresh. 

Ingredients:

• 20g butter 

• 20g plain flour 

• 250ml , skimmed milk (warmed up ) 

• 120g dried macaroni 

• 1tsp paprika 

• 1 + 1/2 tsp garlic granules 

• 1 vegetable stock cube ( broken up ) 

• 30g red leister cheese 

• 30g of strong mature cheddar ( or any cheese you have will work ) 

• 4 cheesy crackers ( crushed up ) 

• salt & pepper

• optional: bacon

Method:

Start to Cook your pasta according to the pack instructions .

Preheat your oven to 180/160 fan.

If using bacon , chop up into small pieces , fry off and set to one side . 

In a pan , melt your butter , then whisk in the flour gradually , add your (warmed up ) milk slowly , a little bit at a time until you have a smooth mixture. To your smooth mixture add the paprika , garlic granules, salt & pepper, and crushed stock cube, whisking until smooth.

Take your pan off the heat and stir through you cheddar (or other chosen cheese) if the sauce becomes too thick, add a spoonful of your pasta water to loosen it up again.

If using bacon, add to the mixture at this point.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the sauce ,stir through and then add to a baking dish , sprinkle over your grated red leister and your crushed up crackers.

Bake this for around 15/20 mins, enjoy

Ingredients:

For the pizza sauce-

• 200g tomato purée

• 100 ml oil (olive oil works well, but any oil is fine)

• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 1 teaspoon basil

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder or 2 fresh garlic cloves

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• Chilli flakes (optional)

For the dough-

• 450 g flour

• 15 g dried yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 50ml oil

• 250 ml hot water

Method:

For the dough-

Place the flour, dried yeast, salt, and sugar into a large bowl and mix well.

Mix the oil with the hot water. Gradually add the hot water and oil mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing with a butter knife or fork until the dough comes together. Knead by hand for 10 minutes, or use a mixer with a dough hook for 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Remove the dough and knead briefly to release the air. Divide into 2 or 3 portions, depending on tray size. Dust your work surface with flour and roll out the dough, turning it as you go.

Place the dough on a pizza tray.

For the sauce-

Place all ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth and well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

For the final bake-

Add sauce and toppings of your choice. If using a tray with holes, line it with baking paper first.

Preheat the oven to 250°C. Bake on the middle shelf for 8 minutes - the baking time may need adjusting depending on the thickness of the dough and the toppings used.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups long grain rice

• gammon left over from Christmas

• 2 chicken breasts

• garden peas

• 3 eggs

• dark soy sauce

• light soy sauce

Method:

Cook the rice and refrigerate overnight. Slice the chicken breasts and fry off until cooked through, and in a separate pan, boil the peas.

Scramble the eggs in oil or butter. In the same pan, combine the chicken, peas and rice, along with your leftover gammon from your Christmas meal. Slowly heat together with the soy sauce and enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of Pork Sausage Meat 400g

• 4 Eggs

• Golden Breadcrumbs

• Caramelised onion jam

• Jalapeño/Chilli Jam

• 1 bowl with mixed egg

• 1 bowl with flour 

Method:

Boil a pot of water and place the eggs into the water. Cook for between 6 mins 15 seconds (extra runny) to 7 mins 30 seconds (soft boiled) depending on your egg preference. Remove Eggs and place into iced/cold water to cool and then deshell.

Place the sausage meat into 2 bowls (halved) then add a tablespoon of Jalapeño Jam to one bowl and then a tablespoon of caramelised onion jam to the other and mix them both well.

Wrap 100g of the pork sausage meat around each egg. Dip the sausage meat in the flour bowl and then dip in the mixed egg bowl and then roll on a plate of golden Breadcrumbs.

Add the finished eggs to a preheated air fryer, spray with oil and cook on 180 degrees for 20 mins until golden brown. You can also deep fry if preferred for around 5-8 minutes. 

Looking to add more recipes to your cook book? Check out another of our Member Spotlight recipe blogs.