Hello,
Welcome this this week's Little Gems! So last week I was feeling a little under the weather and hardly ventured out at all... this week however, I made up for it! Had a lovely week eating out and about, trying new dishes at home and spending time with lots of friends and family. I hope you had a lovely week as well. Here's what I got up to...
The Village Cafe | Hale
(top) Jacket potato with Chilli
Jacket Potato with Cheese & Beans
It's funny when you have something you've not had in ages and then you start to crave it again! I randomly had a baked potato the other week from here with cheese and beans (which I swear I've not had in years!) and now I can't seem to get enough! This has to be one of the perks about being self-employed (there aren't that many!) - having a break in the day where you can spend time with friends. I went with Princess Pilates for a quick bite to eat at lunch on Monday and had a lovely time at it too!
As the mornings are getting colder and darker, porridge always seems to be the answer. This was a tasty one too with fresh berries! Yummy!
Nice and healthy green and alkalising salad at work for lunch
I made this delicious mushroom casserole on Tuesday. If you saw my Instagram stories I showed how I made it - I literally made it up as I went along! It tasted soooo good too! It was jam packed with flavour as I really cooked it down for around 3 hours overall. Totally worth the wait. You know when it goes down well when you make a huge pan full and there are no leftovers! :)
Another night this week again I decided to make this up as I went along. I had some lentil bolognese in the freezer which I decided to defrost and cook. I made this concoction with lasagne squares, chargrilled aubergines, courgetti and bechamel sauce. I basically just layered veggies and gluten free lasagne sheets with bolognese and bechamel sauce until it was full! Popped it in the oven until it was cooked through and the cheese was brown. It was delicious too! Another one where there was hardly any leftovers!
Wolfhouse Kitchen | Altrincham Market
(top) Potato and Prawns with Chilli, Chinese leaves, Aubergine and Tofu Rice Bowl
I adore Wolfhouse so so much! Their food is consistently good and always tastes fab! This meal with my Mamma (and Dexter) was super tasty albeit extremely filling! You must try their rice bowls if you're ever in the area. They are seriously good! Please note though they are not veggie! The aubergine and tofu bowl contains fish sauce but I eat a little fish so I don't mind.
Common Ground | Altrincham
(top) Avocado on Sourdough with Poached Eggs and Pickles
Buttermilk Pancakes with Ricotta Cheese, Poached Pears and Caramelised Walnuts
Oh my god, look how sexy this is! I'm drooling just looking at them! These pancakes are heavenly!!!
Friday lunch with Princess P again! We went to our fav place - Common Ground and I had the 'toe-curlingly good' pancakes. I can't bring myself to order anything else when I'm there they are that good!
Had a lovely night with friends on Friday at a wedding - plus I got to catch up with this beautiful one! My sister from another mister!
Chilli, Mixed Peppers and Onion Harissa Omelette with Veggie Sausages on Granary Toast
Ok, so this was not mine! I had to take a picture of it though! This is what I made my hubby for brekkie on saturday morning! I can't even look at it without feeling stuffed! I love making omelettes, there are so many things that you can pack in them to make them so filling. This one though was next level!
Went for a quick drink at the new Two Brother Cafe in Altrincham. I adore the decor in there, it's super cool! Cakes were pretty nice too! Hubs had the caramel shortcake and I went for the peanut butter vegan brownie. No, it was not as good as The Garden's vegan brownies (they are amazing!) but it was pretty nice all the same! It's so lovely seeing Altrincham coming alive again with so many independent retailers! Gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling :)
Porta Tapas | Altrincham
Do I need to really say what I ordered?? I know, it's always the same, but it's always so so good! I literally can dream about some of the food here!
The sprouting broccoli is in-cred-i-ble! Nom nom nom!
Plus hubs had the 'Creme Brulee' special!
Piccolinos | Hale Village
RAVIOLI ZUCCA - Roast butternut squash, amaretti biscuits, hazelnuts & sage butter
As I sit here typing this I am stuffed to the brim! I don't know what was wrong with me today, but I was in that mood. The mood when only carbs and carbs will do! The garlic bread was an impulse, it was unnecessary I know, I was hungry however and needed that combo! You know the one... bread and pasta!! I get so excited when they put this back on the menu for Winter. It is rich and super heavy. Plus all that yellow liquid on the plate is pure butter. So much butter in fact that you leave with a greasy film in your mouth from the vast amount of the golden stuff. However, it's totally worth the gazillion calories - well, now and again at least!
So, that was my busy week of eating out! I think I need to go and lie down now, I'm literally falling asleep from feeling so full!
Zzzzzzzz.......
I hope you had a lovely week too!
Thanks so much for reading,
Big love,