This was a new invention of mine the other day, when I really wanted something simple, warm and homely. This is now something I will definitely have again when I'm feeling low and need something wholesome, particularly in the winter.

Ingredients

1 Sweet Potato

1 1/2 Medium Potatoes

1 Carrot

1/2 Courgette

1/2 Aubergine

Handful of Kale

Sweetcorn cut from half a cob

1 Tin Tomatoes

3 second plug Red Wine

Optional: 1 vegan sausage per person

Cut the sweet potato into small chunks (about 2cm cubes) and cook in the oven on 180°c for 40mins until soft. I cooked mine with a little drizzle of rapeseed oil and a sprinkle of thyme to enhance the flavour. When the sweet potato has been in the oven for 10 minutes (30 minutes left), put the other potatoes onto boil for 30 minutes. They need chopping to a similar size as the sweet potato, then once they have been brought to the boil, let them simmer until soft. I timed both the potatoes perfectly so that they finish cooking at the same time.

While you're waiting for the potatoes to cook, prepare your vegetables (They won't need cooking as they will cook in the oven). Cut the carrot and courgette into 1cm thick rounds, slice the aubergine to a similar thickness, and cut the sweetcorn off the cob (or you can use ready prepared sweetcorn).

Start layering the vegetables, carrots at the bottom, then the courgette slices, aubergine, sweetcorn, and topped with kale. Pour over the tin of tomatoes and the wine and shake the dish slightly so it settles into all the gaps. Layer the sausages on top of the vegetables if you're having sausages.

Mash the potatoes separately, layering the sweet potato mash first, then topped with the normal potatoes. 

Put the hotpot into a pre-heated oven at 210°c for 1 1/4 hours, removing it's lid halfway through to crisp the potatoes.

This time only a few weeks ago it would have been dark for at least an hour, but now it's only just sunset! My college days the last few months were a dreary schedule of:

-Catching the bus in the dark (7:40am)

-Thoroughly 'enjoying' taking every lesson with my much needed sunshine blocked out by curtains

-Catching the bus home in the dark (4:30pm-6)

-Repeat

Needless to say I was rather starved of sunshine, so it's very uplifting knowing the light mornings and nights are already firmly on their way!

Do you have the same problems? Here's my top tips on how to get your daily sunshine in the winter:

 1) Get outside

When you're stuck inside all day every day, it's amazing what a quick burst of fresh air can do. In the winter it may be cold and damp, but making time to get out even for just a 10 minute walk will wake you up and make you happier (maybe less so if it's raining)- I walk to Costa Coffee, I get both the benefit of fresh air and a nice warm drink at the end of it!

2) Exercise

Just like in my first tip, having a brief walk or a trip to the gym will wake you up and give you motivation throughout the day. Anything that gets your heart and muscles working faster than usual will lift your mood (you've probably heard that exercise releases mood enhancing endorphins) and increase your concentration - I find being inside in unnatural light for a long time makes me sleepy and I lose concentration easily.

3) Eat sunshine foods! (High in Vitamin D)

When you don't have time to get outside, particularly during winter months, you need to include plenty of vitamin D in your diet. But when it's cold and miserable outside we tend to gorge on fatty comfort foods, which lack the necessary nutrients. Fear not! I have composed a list of the best feel-good vitamin packed foods you can include into your diet easily on a daily basis:

- Bananas, for breakfast or in smoothies

- Sun-Dried tomatoes, great on salads

- Sardines/Tuna/Salmon, I like these on toast, sandwiches or in pasta

- Olive oil, cook your food in this and drizzle on pasta or salads

- Vegetables, there isn't anything they don't go with, pile em' high! If you're not a fan, try eating in soups, mix into fruit based smoothies, or blend into a pasta sauce

- Dried fruit, grab them as a quick snack, eat in flapjacks or cookies

I hope my top tips help you through the winter months, they certainly do well for me. What will help is even more is knowing Spring is on it's way! (Woohoo!)

If you have any tips to get us through the winter please share, I'd love to hear all your suggestions!

New York Winter Style

I thought with all the new SS15 catwalks showing skimpy summer clothes, we were due a reality check. It's not warm enough for that yet! Not in England anyway.

Last week I went to New York (Post about that coming up tomorrow!), and it was beyond freezing. When it's 'wear all the clothes you own' kind of cold, let's make them fashionable clothes. I had a browse on net-a-porter.com and Selfridges.com and chose my favourite winter items that should hopefully go together. They are a little pricey, which is why the only thing on here I own is the coat - which I now swear by in blustery winter temperatures. I'm also planning to buy the lipstick, new Coco Chanel 'Rouge Coco Hydrating Crème' when I get my braces off in March, to highlight my new straight teeth! 

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