Chilly, chilly, chilli

Well it has been a bit chilly here in Staffordshire! We've had snow and ice galore, days off school, sledging and snowball fights! Luckily it didn't affect Violet's nativity, which was super! It has also been the perfect weather for sitting and cosying in with some crochet! This week I finished this infinity scarf by Moogly using some 'Oh my gosh' pima cotton aran, it's the first time I'd done the infinity scarf version, and I think it might be one of my favourite makes! If you're local to Lichfield and visit Melbourne in Lichfield you might even spot it being worn (Deb makes lovely lovely coffee, with a choice of dairy free milks, and more often than not has a vegan and gluten free cake option!) Back to the pattern! It's a very easy pattern, works up quite quickly and can be worn in a number of ways - perfect!

Also this week I dyed a few new tights designs! I shared the first of these on Friday and they had such a good reaction! So I've listed them on the site and I thought I'd do a giveaway to win some or anything else from the site, be sure to enter over on facebook and instagram - I'll be drawing one winner from each post tonight at 9pm!! If you'd like to order some click here or on the image There's also 10% off across the site using code Christmas10 at checkout!

And speaking of being chilly, I made a batch of warming vegetable chilli yesterday and it was delicious, so as promised I'm sharing the recipe!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 courgette, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1/2 yellow pepper, diced

1 carrot, grated

1 stick celery, chopped

400g tin black beans, drained

400g tin kidney beans, drained

400g tin chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 vegetable stock cube

1 chunk dark chocolate

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp marjoram

few sprinkles sage

1/2 tsp onion granules

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 bay leaf

salt & pepper to taste

Method:

In a large pan, heat the oil and fry the onion for a few minutes, add the rest of the vegetables and garlic and fry for five minutes, add all the herbs and spices and fry for a few more minutes. Add the tomatoes and tomato puree, then half fill the empty tomatoes can with boiling water and dissolve the stock cube, then carefully tip into the pan. Stir well and add the beans, bay leaf and chunk of chocolate, season to taste, stir well and leave to simmer for at least half an hour, adding more water if too dry. Serve with rice and/or tortilla chips.

Thank you for reading! I'll be back soon with news of yarn clubs for next year...!

Mia x

#chilli #vegan #handdyed #indiedyer #handdyedclothing #childrenswear #childrenswear #moogly #infinityscarf #crochet #rainbow #coffee #lichfield