Recipe: Halloween themed cocktails with Funkin

Ready made fruit mixer connoisseurs Funkin offered to send me a selection of their products to help celebrate Halloween. I didn't need to be asked twice! They've put together special party packs to help make it easier for you to enjoy your bash rather than spending all night rustling up the drinks.

My personal favourite was the Murder A Midori-to so I thought I'd share the recipe. It's so quick and simple to make meaning it'll be perfect to pop in a punch bowl for your guests to help yourself.

Ingredients:
50ml Midori
100ml Funkin Mojito cocktail mixer
Mint leaves to garnish

Method:
1. Fill the glass with cubed ice.

2. Add all the listed ingredients and stir well.

3. Add the mint garnish and voila!

There are plenty more recipes on the website. The mixers aren't just for spooky occasions!

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Recipe: Spanish inspired sausage casserole

Bonfire night is coming up soon. The evening conjures up images of snuggly scarfs, sizzling hotdogs,  warm fires, spicy chilli con carne, fizzling sparklers and tasty sausage casseroles. Sausage experts Heck sent me a little hamper of their range and challenged me to put together a recipe. The great thing is the sausages are gluten free so no one has to miss out!

The Smokey Paprika Chicken Chipolatas immediately caught my attention so I decided to rustle together a sausage casserole with a Spanish twist. As I'm loosely following Slimming World again too - well trying too! - it's free on the plan and packed with lots of vegetable goodness.

Ingredients:
2 cans of tinned tomatos
1 can of chickpeas
1 pack of Smokey Paprika Chicken Chipolatas*
2 courgettes
1 pack of mushrooms
Chilli powder to your taste
2 red onions
2 red peppers
Frylight

Feeds 4 with leftovers!

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees if using a fan oven. Chop the peppers, courgettes, mushrooms and red onions and place in a large casserole dish sprayed with frylight. Season to taste. Fry them for 5-6 minutes.

2. Place the sausages under the grill and cooked for 15 minutes, turning frequently.

3. Chop the mushrooms and place in the casserole dish with the other vegetables. Pour in both cans of chopped tomatoes. Season with the chilli powder to your taste. Add some extra paprika too if you fancy it! Cook for around 5-6 minutes.

4.  Pop in the chickpeas and cook for around three minutes.

5. Chop the sausages up and place in the dish before popping the oven. Cook for around 20 minutes until bubbling.

6. Serve with rosemary roasted potato cubes.

I'd love to know if you make this, drop me a tweet!

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Why a little self-praise goes a long way

Bigging yourself is hard isn't it? As a Brit I'm very self-deprecating and find it difficult to accept compliments gracelessly. I like to to think it's what makes us so charming as a nation. Some might disagree. Someone tells me that my dress looks nice? I often reply that's it's only an old Primark number and it was the only thing that didn't need ironing. Someone tells me that they enjoyed an article I've written? I often rip it to pieces and say oh I wish I'd popped this in.

We're often told that no one likes a bragger. No one likes someone who is overconfident about their abilities, their looks and their work. But sometimes you have to believe in yourself. Because if you don't believe you're capable of doing amazing things or that all your hard work has made into a little star, how do you expect anyone else too?

I often feel like a bit of a fraud. I work in an industry that is very subjective. One person could love your writing whereas another might think it needs a lot of work. That's what happens when you work in a creative industry. There is no right or wrong answer as colleagues all have different things that they look out for. I admit that my confidence was knocked following my redundancy and I seriously considered a career change. But then I freelanced at a handful of places and after seeing my work published, I began to think maybe I wasn't so bad at this writing lark after all. I just needed to believe in myself. To tell myself that I do have the skills and I'm actually not too shabby at stringing a few words together. It's incredible how much of a weight was lifted off my shoulders after I allowed myself to feel proud. How much my confidence grew.

It doesn't make yourself a bad person to praise your abilities. To say you know what? I'm actually bloody good at doing this and I don't care who knows. It's not about being a big head. It's about being proud at how far you've come and that your efforts have finally paid off.

You've got this. You just have to admit it yourself.

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