Fancy dinner party.

After two weeks in the house and on a night when Kieran was working away, I bravely decided I would cook a meal for 5 friends. I don't know what I was thinking! My cooking experience is limited but armed with a book called 'quick and simple recipes' and about 4 hours I thought I couldn't go wrong!

I went to Dunelm and bought a posh table cloth and real napkins (no kitchen roll for my dinner party!) and set about setting the table.

The wine glasses and chargers are from Marks and Spencer and the champagne glasses were from TK Maxx. I thought it all else failed, at least my table looked good!

To start, I made cajun chicken strips with a yogurt lime dip. These were so easy to make and absolutely delicious even if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

4 tablespoons of paprika

2 tablespoons of dried oregano

2 tablespoons of thyme

one teaspoon of salt

one teaspoon of black pepper

3 crushed gloves of garlic

Dip:

low fat natural yogurt

1 lime

1 teaspoon lime coridal

Method:

Add paprika, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper and garlic to a bowl. Cut chicken into strips (I got 18 strips from my 4 breasts so enough for 3 each if serving 6). Add chicken strips to bowl and mix around to coat the chicken.

Once the chicken has a healthy covering of the seasoning, lightly cook in a frying pan with just a drop of oil. I cooked both sides for about 4 minutes on each side but it depends how thick you cut it. You should know when it's cooked all through.

For the dip, add a the teaspoon of codial to about 400g of the yogurt. Squeeze in the juice of the fresh lime and grate the rind into the mix. Chill in the fridge.

I warmed my strips through in the oven and served with the chilled dip.

The main course was homemade carbonara but my pan was not big enough for the spaghetti, the sauce was bland and I wasn't pleased so I still need to perfect this! Dessert was simple - fresh strawberries!

Would I do a dinner party again? Yes, but I will cook things that can be prepared in advance and then simply warmed through as I think this will relieve some of the stress. I am however cooking my first ever roast over Easter for my mum so fingers crossed for me!