Kaley...

On Saturday me and my niece finally got round to decorating the Halloween Gingerbread House I'd made. I'd picked up the 3D Gingerbread House cookie cutters in Aldi the other week, along with some other Christmas themed cookie cutters, and really wanted to try them out so this became the perfect excuse! I thought I'd share our 'creation' with you all, hehe.

We had fun doing it!

I'll be doing a post on building a gingerbread house closer to Christmas when I make one again. Hopefully I'll be able to practice my decorating skills a little by then too! I will say though that having cutters to make it was great, and they're dishwasher safe too which is always a bonus! 

I ended up changing my plans yesterday and didn't manage to go food shopping (I tend to do my food shopping on a Sunday unless I'm working nights), so didn't manage to get the bits needed for what I'd planned on cooking for dinner so had to just have a rummage around, see what I had and have a look through some recipes. I wanted something quick again as I just didn't fancy spending long in the kitchen and this is what I came up with.



Bacon & Kale Pasta

Ingredients:

150g Fusilli Pasta (or any pasta really)
2 Rashers Smoked Bacon - Chopped or 150g Bacon Lardons
1/2 Red Chilli - Deseeded & Finely Chopped
1 Clove Garlic - Crushed
2 Handfuls Kale - Chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp Soft Cream Cheese
1/2 Lemon or Lemon juice
Splash of Water
Oil

Method:

1. Put salted water on to boil for the pasta and cook as per pack instructions.
2. Heat some oil in a large frying pan and add the bacon and cook on medium for a few minutes until just starting to crisp.
3. Add the crushed garlic and chilli to the pan and cook for another minute or so.
4. Turn the heat to high and put the kale in the pan with a splash of water and cover for about 4 minutes, the kale should be wilted. 
5. Turn off the heat and add in the cream cheese and squeeze in some lemon juice, give it a bit of a stir to help the cheese melt down then season with some pepper.
6. Drain your pasta and add to the pan and give a good stir.
7. Enjoy!

Tip: If like me you don't have any lids big enough to cover your frying pan just use some tinfoil to cover your pan.

You should get 2 decent size portions from this. I used some Maple Syrup Bacon I had and it was amazing but any smoked bacon will work and it keeps well for the next day too! (Guess what I had for lunch...?)

Well I hope you enjoy this, let me know!

Em x