Five tasty homemade hot pockets you need to make for dinner

Oct 5, 2015

Hot Pockets are an American favourite – and it's easy to see why.

Crispy, delicious crust with a tasty, hot filling of your choice is hard to turn down, especially on these cold nights!

Here are five hot pocket meals you need to make dinner as tasty as it can be:

Ham, Broccoli and Cheddar Hot Pocket

This classic trio of ingredients will have you reaching for more. A perfect mid-week dinner for you to devour when you get home from work!

Chicken Pot Pie Pocket

We all love a good chicken pie, but this hot pocket has taken your regular chicken pie to a different, tastier level.

Homemade Pizza Hot Pocket

Yes, this might be the ultimate college girl treat, but we're totally digging it!

Meatball Sub Hot Pocket

Imagine a juicy meatball sub stuffed inside a pie crust… yep, we knew you'd love it!

Egg, Avocado and Cheese Hot Pocket

Perfect for a weekend breakfast, this hot pocket is stuffed with scrambled egg and mashed avocado which makes a perfect combo.

Pizza cupcakes are here to take your snacks to delicious new levels

Oct 2, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Not many things can make us happier than hearing that we’re having pizza for dinner.

Whether it’s a planned excursion to your favourite pizza place, or you decide to treat yourself to some delicious homemade pizza goodness, it generally makes us very happy campers.

However, there is one other snack that is likely to get the same positive response as delicious pizza slices: cupcakes.

So you can imagine the delight that travelled around the internet when the food gods at Cosmopolitan decided to combine the glory of pizza with the deliciousness of cupcakes.

Don’t worry, it’s not some strange sweet and savoury hybrid snack, instead this just straightforward tasty pizza delivered in cupcake size.

If you need some foodie inspiration then you can see it all come together in tasty harmony below:

Pizza… on a boat? One couple made their dream business a reality

Sep 29, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Have you ever dreamed about quitting your day job and escaping to a tropical island to live in peace in the sunshine?

It sounds like a pretty good idea when you’re stuck inside while the rain is beating down outside the window.

Well, one couple decided to go ahead and make their dream a reality.

Not only did Tara and Sasha escape their office jobs for paradise, they also included pizza. The two quite their jobs and opened a pizza shop, on a boat, in St. Thomas.

While we thought that food trucks were one of the coolest things to happen to our beloved lunch breaks, we can’t say we ever imagined pizza boats before. 38-year old Sasha was a programmer in New York, but when he left that job to work on a yacht, he met Tara.

They fell in love, and shared a love of pizza and boats.

So the next step was obviously to fit out their boat with a commercial-grade pizza kitchen. West of Puerto Rico and right around St. James Bay, Pizza Pi travel around the end of St. Thomas serving customers on the water.

They do close for hurricane season, their website informs us they will reopen in November 2015.

Pizza Pi is rated one of the top restaurants in the area on TripAdvisor.

If that sounds appealing, then good news: they are hiring.

Sasha and Tara are currently looking for a business manager and a food prep staff member among other positions.

Shock horror! Irish lunch wraps have as many calories as a 12″ pizza

Sep 28, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Yep, you read that headline right – unfortunately.

A survey for Safe Food has shown that many lunch wraps that are sold in shops around the country contain as many calories as a 12" pizza.

Researchers viewed 240 wraps from 80 outlets across Ireland, and found that many have up to 1,000 calories as well as a high salt and fat content.

According to the survey, one person in every three believes that a wrap is healthier than a normal sandwich, whereas a tortilla wrap contains just as many calories as two slices of white bread.

Chicken Salad, Chicken Tikka, Chicken Caeser Salad were three of the most popular fillings – but they also pack on the calories.

If you opt for a Chicken Tikka wrap with crisps and a soft drink, you're looking at consuming 1,400 calories, which is 60 percent of a person's daily recommended intake.

So if this has scared you a little (or a lot), Safe Food advise you to opt for lean meats and fish, fresh fruit, vegetables and cut back on any dressings!

Marshmallow pizza is a THING… and it’s actually quite interesting

Sep 28, 2015

by Amber Saunders

You might not believe us when we tell you the picture above actually isn't pizza at all.

They're not even savoury in fact! Nope, these deliciously detailed pizza's are actually marshmallows with incredibly realistic dyes on them!

The very strange (but amazing) treats are the brainchild of Firebox, a self-proclaimed "shop for the unusual".

On the takeaway menu, the marshmallow pizza is available in Margherita, Hawaiian, Pepperoni and Vegetarian styles.

It's fluffy, vanilla-flavoured and possibly one of the best gag gifts we have ever seen – especially because it's packaged in a real pizza box.

You can order these sweet pizzas in two sizes, either an 8 inch, which will set you back €21.79 or 12 inch which costs €17.69.

And if you really want to make this surprise gift that extra little bit special, you can ask the brand to print a custom message on the box lid.

According to the site, these pizzas will stay good for four to six weeks once opened, but we doubt they we last that long around any sweet-lovers.

This is surprisingly the most popular food on Instagram

Sep 24, 2015

by Amber Saunders

The most Instagrammed food is surprising, BUT we love it!

Yes, brightly iced doughnuts can step aside. Macarons, your time has passed – because IG have crowned pizza its new 'it' food!

Vice reports that the cheesy Italian dish is the most photographed food on IG. The study was carried out by chef Alessio Mecozzi and PR firm Klaus Davi.

The researchers poured through 300m food photos uploaded onto IG and found that 17m of them had the hashtag #pizza added to it.

Not surprisingly, New York had the most pizza photos, hogging 6.1 percent of all pizza pics around the world.

Pizza is one of those Internet-friendly foods with a cult following, producing countless memes and even emoji delivery orders. It also doesn't hurt that celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and Jennifer Lawrance are totally obsessed, too.

Sushi ranked in second place in the study, followed closely by pasta.

But we have to say, we think pizza is No. 1 too.

Six new and interesting ways to spice up the humble apple pie

Sep 23, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Apple pie is a favourite for many.

Our grannies made them, and our mothers did too – but now we want to have a go!

If you want your apple pie game to be on-point, here a really delicious ways to spice things up a bit:

Apple Pie Pancakes

Whip these amazing apple pie pancakes up for breakfast over the weekend! The smell alone will have everyone rushing to the kitchen.

Apple Pie Pizza

We know, this sounds like a weird one! But dessert pizzas are always a good idea – and this apple pie variation is no different!

Apple Pie Fries

Another savoury but sweet combination! There's no question though that apple pie fries plus a caramel dip is a match made in dessert heaven.

Mini Apple Pie Cheesecakes

A layer of apple pie is sandwiched between two layers of creamy, fluffy cheesecake in this rendition. Hungry yet?

Apple Pie Caramel Apples

Now this would be a Halloween treat! These caramel apples are the cutest things to have at any party.

Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars

Baking the classic apple pie as a bar is so much easier (and tastier!). Just remember to pace yourself!

These Nutella pizzas are going to make your life so much tastier

Sep 23, 2015

by Amber Saunders

Pizza is delicious. Around here we are massive pizza fans and we reckon that nothing makes our day quite like a pizza delivery. Although, a homemade pizza is going to get us just as excited, we are not huge fans of all the labour it requires.

Some days we just want to sit on the couch and have food brought to us, is that such a terrible thing?

What is a terrible thing we decided was having to make that painful decision about whether we want to go all out and splurge on pizza, or would we be happier eating Nutella from the jar? We are also massive fans of dessert.

Then, luckily for us we realised that we no longer had to make the tough decision because there was a way to have the best of both worlds: Nutella pizzas.

A photo posted by SHEmazing (@shemazingie) on Sep 18, 2015 at 7:46am PDT

We were very very happy with this discovery. We decided this was a luxury we needed in our homes and not just when eating out. Lucky for you, these are not that difficult to make at home, Buzzfeed even put together a video to help you out.

Ingredients:

Package of ready-made pastries (as many as you need, go for it)

Icing Sugar for dusting/garnish

Nutella jar

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. Granulated Sugar

A round oven pan

Toppings can then be whatever you desire, we do love strawberries and chocolate though.

The old theory about how to have ‘healthier’ pizza is actually TRUE

Sep 11, 2015

by Amber Saunders

We love pizza as much as the next girl but we tend to get a little but put off when we release there’s a grease filled swimming pool sitting on our next slice.

Trying to blot it off with tissue generally seems like a futile attempt at salvaging any hope of maintaining any of the goodness left. However, it turns out that our efforts may not be in vain.

Scientists put the grease removal technique to the test and their results have definitely made our day.

A dietician at Top Balance Nutrition put it simply and confirmed that “removing grease of oil from any product or any dish is going to reduce the calories.”

One study has revealed that blotting excess grease from your pizza can potentially remove up to 14 per cent of total fat and 17 per cent of the saturated fat. That’s an awful lot of calories to cut down on.

The Georgia-Pacific Health Smart Institute are not the first people to come to this conclusion. In 2013, Food Detectives put it to the test and discovered that blotting will reduce the damage of every pizza slice by up to 3.5 grams of oil.

Keep in mind that not all pizzas are created equal, and sometimes that oil is there for a good reason (flavour being the main one). There’s also the risk of going overboard on the blotting and removing any sauce that may have gone on top of the cheese, or indeed any actual toppings.

While life is definitely better without excess unhealthy fat and oils in our diet, it is also very boring without any flavour.

Mamma mia! Scrumptious Italian recipes you NEED in your life

Aug 26, 2015

by Amber Saunders

We all love a good, hearty meal at times – and on these days (hello there, August rain), a cheesy treat is the way to go.

Inspiring many great Italian meals, we have rounded up the best cheesy treats for you to indulge in. Hurrah!

Whether you want to spoil yourself on the weekend, or make your a loved-one or flatmate a mid-week surprise, here are the tastiest and easiest Italian dishes you can show off with:

Umbrian-style white pizza

If you don't like tomatoes, this is the way to go.

Buy a pizza base (or make one from scratch like a boss)
Top with wafter thin slices of potato, six anchovies, sage leaves and torn pieces of a mozzarella ball
Cook in a very hot oven for 15 minutes and viola – you pizza is made!

Stuffed baked potato

This snack is pure perfection and full of golden, crispy goodness.

Take one big baked potato (already baked that is) and slice in half
Scoop the potato out of the skin and put it into a bowl
With that, mix in crispy bacon, a dollop of cream, some butter, mozzarella cheese and salt and pepper
Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins and pop in the over at 220C for 20 minutes

The ultimate cheese omelette

Cheese and eggs are a match made in foodie heaven.

Thinly slice some mushrooms, half a red onion, chives and a tomato
Then crack three eggs into a bowl and mix everything together, along with seasoning
Fry the mix on a hot pan with a knob of butter and immediately add some grated mature cheddar and parmesan
Cook for 5/10 minutes and then just enjoy the oozy goodness

Italian Mediterranean pasta salad

A glorious Italian taste sensation

Bung a bag of penne pasta into boiling salted water and cook al dente
Add frozen peas at the last minute
Drain the whole lot and pour into a bowl with a good glug of olive oil.
Stir in a cup of crispy bacon, chopped chives, veg of your choice and a packet of your preferred cheese
The cheese will melt and ooze and transform the whole thing into a fabulous tasty meal

Kicky cheesy scones

Super easy yeast-free bits – just try not to eat them all!

Rub together 225g of self-raising flour, 55g of butter and a pinch of salt
Then stir in a liberal amount of cheddar
Pour in 150ml of whole milk and stir until you reach a doughy consistency
Separate into ten even pieces on a baking tray, brush with milk and grate some strong cheddar on top
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C for about 12 minutes.

Cappuccino cheesecake

For something a little bit sweeter try this

Mix crushed digestive biscuits with 85g of melted butter and a tablespoon of espresso coffee
Then pour the mixture into a baking tin and squash down so it's all even
Stir three tablespoons of espresso into a pan along with half a tub of mascarpone and heat gently, stirring until it bubbles
Then drop four gelatin leaves into a bowl of cold water to soften
Squeeze excess water from gelatin and add to coffee-cheese mix until dissolved
Beat the other half of the mascarpone tub with 225g of icing sugar
Stir the coffee and sugar together until sweet and creamy, than slather thickly over your biscuit base
Leave overnight and see what glorious-ness awaits you in the morning

Wrong. So very wrong: McNuggets, burgers and chips… all on a pizza

Aug 17, 2015

by Amber Saunders

We all have our ultimate, so-wrong-it's-right, pure indulgence food: no, it's not pretty and no, you're not proud of it… but needs must.

For example, a chicken burger mashed into a baguette, topped with chips, sealed with mayo and finished off in the George Foreman sounds horrific – but then, who are we to judge?

Still when SHEmazing! spotted a new fast-food-cum-pizza trend online, we felt a line had been crossed. In fact, even we were oh-so horrified by the concept.

The meal involves a pizza base, tomato sauce, mountains of shredded mozzarella – and your favourite items from the menu at McDonalds.

Here, we take you through it all… prepare to be disgusted (or possibly very intrigued):

Get your ingredients together: McDonalds fries, chicken McNuggets, and a couple of cheese burgers, as well as plenty of grated cheese, a pizza base and tomato sauce:

Top the base with sauce to taste, and then setlle your fast-food items on top:

Continue piling high until all the McDonalds menu of your choosing is arranged on the base:

Next, you'll need to smoother the whole thing in LOTS of cheese:

Then pop in a pre-heated oven for around 25 minutes – 190C should do it:

Remove and eat immediately – pretending to be horrified but all the while feeling strangely satisfied:

Mamma Mia! Ireland’s biggest pizza is here… and it’s just monstrous

Jul 22, 2015

by Amber Saunders

We feel a little ill even thinking about this – but apparently you can now buy a colossal, mind-boggling 32in pizza in Dublin.

Being dubbed Ireland's biggest pizza (and we believe them), Pinheads Pizza on South Circular Road is seemingly doing a roaring trade.

Ordinarily setting you back €32, if you can polish it all off – along with two of the establishment's milkshakes – you'll be given your dinner for free, as well as a spot on their wall of fame.

"As part of a recent revamp of our store, we decided to come up with some new ideas which included the creation of the Biggest Pizza in Ireland," their website states.

Sadly, at the moment Pinheads don't deliver – they say they simply haven't designed a big enough box yet – but if you're in the area, would YOU be up for the challenge?