If you are a real foodie and need some inspiration in the kitchen then Riverford will change your life! The company began as a vegetable box delivering organic produce from local farms and now they offer recipe boxes where you receive all fresh ingredients and a step by step guide on creating delicious tasty meals at home. When the box arrives I was very impressed with how all the ingredients were labelled and put into sections by recipe. Even the fridge items arrived in a cooler bag which was handy. I found that this was the easiest way to cook using all fresh produce as most of the time I am unsure on what to cook or just lack inspiration! I chose the try out the vegi recipe box which meant that I received all the ingredients to make these tasty meals…

I recently tried out the Italian restaurant Vapiano’s, located in the Corn Exchange in Manchester which has been transformed into a dining complex which has 13 different restaurants. This place is a very relaxed, simple dining experience with self service stations serving pizza, pasta and antipasta. You are given a Vapiano credit card before you are seated, the idea being that you swipe the card at each station once you place your order. This makes the ordering process fuss free and easy. The restaurant is vibrant with casual benches to sit at and a wide choice of dishes available to select from. The chefs were all super friendly and knowledgeable about the dishes and ingredients were very fresh.

I often go to London to visit my sister and when I do I love eating out and trying new places, after all London has such great choice for everything. My sister and I went to try out the menu at Franco Manca in Belsize Park as we had heard such amazing things about the pizza. We were not disappointed!! If you like pizza and you want good value, then you need to try Franco Manco, they are dotted all over London and famous for their sourdough pizzas which are light and fluffy and just taste amazing. The menu is only small but they also have a specials board which include a variety of dishes every day.

As you may have noticed by now I love eating out and trying new places. Most of the time I go into town but Didsbury is an up and coming area, full of trendy bars and restaurants. When I got asked to try out the new menu at Gusto I was very excited as Italian is definitely one of my favourite foods. As I visited during December the restaurant was all festive and decorated in fairy lights and baubles. The restaurant has leather booths for larger parties and smaller tables for romantic dining. I took my husband with me and after a long day at work we decided to begin with a much needed glass of wine and garlic bread which was delicious, it tasted so fresh!