hmmmm comfort food

Hi all,

Well its been comfort eating here in the mad house.

Just a quick post as knowing me i'll lose the recipe!

jambalaya 

2 tbsp veg oil
200g sausage, sliced into chunks
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
2 peppers sliced thinly
2 onions, sliced thin
300 grams of long grain rice
1 litre of chicken stock
3 cloves of garlic crushed


Heat oil, add onion and garlic, when browned add the sliced sausage and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the paprika, cumin, chilli powder, black pepper, and salt. and stir for about a minute till sausage is coated. Add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes to thicken. Add peppers and stir.

Stir in the rice and mix well. Add the stock, turn the heat to low and cover. Takes about 45 minutes to an hour to cook. When the ric e is cooked its done. Then serve.

We all really enjoyed it.

Back soon 

kez x

something new :)

Stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce served with risotto.

Stuffed Cabbage
6 Cabbage leaves (boiled in water for about 6 minutes)
250g red lentils
250g yellow split peas
salt
pepper
chilli powder

Tomato Sauce

1 large onion sliced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tabsp of tomato puree
1 pint of water
2 tbsp of dried Italian herbs (optional)
Pre heat oven to gas mark 4

While the cabbage is boiling,place lentils and yellow split peas into another pan with boiling water add spices and leave to cook till lentils and split peas are soft.
Drain cabbage leaves and leave to cool.

At the same time make the tomato sauce
fry one large onion, 2 cloves of crushed garlic when cooked place in a casserole  dish or baking tray
add the tomatoes, tomato puree and stir.



Next make get a cabbage leaf and place large spoonfuls of lentils into and roll up in a pasty shape and place into the casserole dish with the tomatoes. do this till the cabbage leave have all been filled.
Next place the water over the cabbage leave and lightly mix it with the tomato sauce. add more salt and pepper and place in the oven for about 40 minutes.

Whilst this cooking make the risotto.

300g Tesco Long Grain Rice (40p per kilo)
2 veg stock cubes ( 8 cubes for 10p sainsburys basics)
water (paid for courtesy of northumbrian water)
2 garlic cloves (from 20p head of garlic)
black pepper (1p)
cheese (about 35p) 
 onion (15p)


Risotto

one large onion chopped and finely sliced.
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
300g of long grain rice
1litre of veg stock 
1 tbsp of black pepper
30 grams of strong cheddar cheese


Fry onions  and garlic till soft
add the rice and stir till fully coated in oil
Then  add the stock bit by bit till fully absorbed.
If the rice isn't cooked just add more water till it it.
Add the cheese and fully stir into the risotto.
Place the cabbage onto a plate with some tomato sauce and risotto and serve.

Makes a very filling meal  :)


Till tomorrow :)

cooking on a budget

Well after all the debates regarding Jamie Olivers new book and program i thought right lets watch it and see what happens. 

Now i can cook, well kind of, no ones died yet! I have myself how cook from scratch and its hard at first but its get easier the more you do it.

I used to be a big fan of his and i would regularly watch his programs, especially the grow your own one.  Some really good ideas about growing fruit and veg and using them straight from garden.

This program in it self is not really for people on a low grocery budget. Personally i think its more for the higher spenders. For instance mu budget is  £200 a month, so very low. My sister phoned me up and said i've just watched that jamie program and thought it was rubbish. Her words were " where the hell am i going to buy a blender like that, just looked in the catalogue and it costs £150 quid!"  This coming from someone who spends over £100+ a week on food, and more if she buys a takeaway.
My sister can cook sunday dinners, but nothing much else. So this program is supposed to be for her.
 then she says "Oh and those pans where do i get them from? " My advice to her just use a rectangle roasting tin or cake tin. She said oh that not what he said. 

A few year ago there  was a program called Economy Gastronomy, it was really good, had better ideas and really took the time to tell you how to make things from scratch. Not the cheapest ideas but they took the time to tell you have chicken stock from the bones.


But what really annoyed  me about the whole program was the pizza and bean thing.

A supposed heating engineer sat in the background with a bottle of beer, glass and a fake cockney accent. No pizza costs £12 from a takeaway, i know, i served my time in five different ones! 
A 16" pizza costs about £9.50 and that's a full blown meat feast. So its a load of nonsense. In Hackney,London its even cheaper! again i know because when we visited family there we got a takeaway for £20 came back with a 16" pizza, chips, and 2 extra large kebabs, sauces and drinks for us all.

My partner is also a gas heating engineer and he wouldn't dare go on telly with a beer in his hand! Its just something no self respecting person would do. If he really meant to make to a pizza he should have been there making it with Jamie.

Or having beans with his fish pie, yeah right, you could tell it was fake by the look in his eyes. We are big bean eaters. I thought what a toss pot trying to appeal to the "poor" people. 

I'm not great at budgeting but i'm getting better, i do need help with ideas. We all do.
But this program just isn't for me or anyone struggling on a low budget. Lots of the recipes he's done in this program he's done in past on his other shows.  Best thing thing is they less preachy.

So for me, the program is a let a down, bring back allega and paul!

School Starts

Well at the title suggests when my eldest went back to school today, i was quite worried as he's been very stressed. But he left for his bus and came back at half three smiling. Always a good sign!!!

Took my youngest to the park as he's not back till Wednesday, it was a lovely day and he enjoyed himself.
Still it was hard watching him try and play with the other kids, poor thing doesn't initiate conversation and shys away. Instead he just hangs around on the outskirts watching. Luckily he's seems quite happy with this and enjoyed just being around the other children. After an hour or so he asked to go home, it just got too loud for him.

I was very naughty and used some money that i put away for my treat day, it was £10 that i had been saving ready for Wednesday for when i could have a couple of hours to myself, child and partner free.
Oh well doesn't it was lovely having our lunch together chatting away.

We then came back and both of my boys sat and played on a football game for about an hour before we had the leftover bolognese sauce with jacket potatoes :)

Waste not want not in this house!!

Scroogy September

Well as the titles suggests September is going to be more than scroogy, i am determined to try and spend as little as possible. The bank is way past the black and in the red. CC's are maxed out and can't be used.

Part of the deal is  the bills  will be paid as well as transport costs etc but general spending will be a big no no. Can't stop the transport costs. My eldest needs £15 a week, youngest  £10  and me a whopping £20, so £45 a week just for that. School meals are £20 a week for two children, so youngest is straight on pack lunches no choice in the matter. Eldest well, we'll see how it goes.
My partner and me pack lunches, and the business pays for the vans fuel.

Decided our grocery budget for the month will be £200 for a family of four, three cats and guests. 

Whilst at the same time keeping the store cupboard filled to a reasonable level.
the idea is that hopefully by the end of the month i will have been able to save up some holiday money for our first family holiday with my dad in October. As well as fingers crossed save up enough money to buy a new freezer. Ours went kaput about a month ago, its really hard adjusting to life without one. I've just realised how much we rely on one item. but also how much we waste :(

The fridge is bare and the veg is past its best but lets see how far the fresh stuff goes.

Wish me luck and lets see how it goes

kez xx




Grocery Spends £2.26

Items:  £2.26 on 2 x thick loaves of bread, 2 x tins of garden peas, single cream, 4 large onions and 10 satsuma's.

General: 0

Last of the summer shine :)

Brrrrr is it getting cold or is it just me.

We all went to the town meal today  in Middlesbrough, it was really good and had lots of entertainment on for adults and children alike.
Ranging from bouncy castles, punch n judy, magic shows, go karts through to creating art using a bicycle and paints! It wasn't too busy and the lads loved it. People were walking round on stilts and juggling.

The only thing we didn't do was ride on the old buses to the Transporter Bridge. The queues were really long so we just left it and watched the magic show instead.
Came back with "big dig" recyclable bags filled with some sachets of tea, coffee, sugar (all fairtrade) and 3 boxes of seeds to plants. 

As part of the big meal, lots of free food was given out, all freshly made there and then. From cold salad through to hot curries, pakoras and mousaka. Plenty of bottles of water given out, as well as tons of information regarding water and energy saving.

In the middle arena, there were bands playing lots of different types of music. It was lovely, we just sat  in the deck chairs watching.

We missed out on the honey but no matter. The jars literally sold out within 30 minutes it was that popular.
Met a few people there who i haven't seen for years. One of them asked if i wanted to come and volunteer on the allotment with Teesside Hospice. 

Last year i donated veg,herbs and salad items that we had grown in pots. This year sadly we didn't as i have time to grow anything.  The whole food festival basically runs on people donating they own produce and then it all gets cooked up on the day and given away for free to all attendees.

After that we did the dreaded school uniform shopping, took ages to do as my eldest has shot up. after a couple of hours we ended up getting a taxi home, naughty i know. But guess what its the same price for a taxi home as it on the bus! How ridiculous is that public transport costs more than a taxi, is absolutely extortionate.

Well better plan for the month ahead and make sure we have everything ready for school.

Till tomorrow  :)

black dog approaching!

A day of anxieties and stress

After a really successful day yesterday, i felt good but anxious.
Today i'm the opposite, i'm so stressed out its unreal. I know why it is, its because i'm going in the evening.
I don't do evening wanderings .

But after the stress of last week when a person verbally abused my children and me i've become even more anxious. I'm scared in case i see her, but really i shouldn't be. I have done nothing wrong, well thats what everyone is saying.

I suffer from depression and moods go up and down, my GP is currently deciding whether to put through for assessment of manic depression as i am clinically depressed. I also recently started counselling.

So when you have a off day, this is what i do.

I ignore the world snuggling on the sofa with my boys
Ignore my phone
Lock the doors

Then best of all put on a film and lose yourself.

Sometimes its the best medicine in the world to just run away and relax

kez xx

pic from http://things-we-heart.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/random-hearts-we-heart-rainy-daywhy-its.html

Afternoon Tea :)

Well we had a lovely day today, just chilling with a friend and two children.
They all played games and loved snacking on the little tid bits.

So we had a kind of afternoon tea with sandwiches, mini sausages, cakes and biscuits.
Yesterday i starting making the them the sweet and savoury.
Never tried these recipes before so today we tried them


No-Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

76g of butter
100g dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla flavouring
255g oats
100g of milk chocolate
2 large tablespoons of peanut butter

Melt butter and add in the brown sugar and vanilla
Then add in the oats

Cook ion low heat for about 3 minutes till blended. Take off

Heat and press 1/2 of the mixture into a bottom of a baking tray.

 Melt chocolate and peanut butter. then spread the mixture over the oat mixture .

Then add the rest of the oat mixture on top.

Then play the cake tin ino the fridge for a couple of hours or over night.

Once solidified take out of the tin and chop into pieces if you wish.

Trying also making jam bar but they sadly didn't work but, instead they were squishy. They tasted  as good as a crumble.

192 g self raising flour

120 oats

220g brown sugar

396g grams of butter

1 jar of jam.

Mix all the ingredients in except the jam.

 the jam.

Once blended together. Place oat mixture  on a tray. Then add the jam and the remaining oat mixture on top. 

Bake on oven on gas mark 4 till golden brown. Then take out and leave to cool completely.

As the recipe didn't quite work out i would serve it hot with custard.

Or just eat it cold as is.

Its really nice though :)

Pantry / Store Cupboard

Today i received an email from a concerned reader who was afraid of my financial circumstances with two children.But also from another reader who asked what kind of things do i have in my store cupboard.
So i thought to make it easier i would just post pictures up.

                                                               Top of the pantry

Middle and bottom

The floor of the pantry

As you can see i have tons of spices, tins, pasta, dried noodles, flour, bag full of potatoes.
So don't worry my children will have protein, vitamin, iron filled tummies.

My basic essentials i try to always have in are:

Non-Fresh
Baked beans
Tinned tomatoes
Chick peas
Tuna
Tinned Fruit
Kidney Beans
Dried Noodles
Pepper 
Salt
Chilli Powder
Pasta
Oats
Lentils
Rice 
Bread Flour
Plain Flour
Self Raising Flour
Yeast
Jam
Sugar
Stock cubes
Diluted Juice
Tea Bags
Coffee
Vegetable Oil

Fresh
Carrots
Onions
Milk
Garlic
Cheese
Eggs
Butter

Pets
Cat food dry and tinned
Cat Litter


I find if i have these basics in, i can make anything from soups to curries, from flapjacks,porridge to pancakes.

Its hard to start off a store cupboard of any kind, its expensive to buy everything in one go.
So instead i buy say an extra item every week.
For instance today i saw 4 tins of chopped tomatoes for £1 so splashed the extra £1 and bought them. Now i already had four tins in the cupboard but thought its good deal, works out 25p a tin instead of 37p.
Its little things like that really help you out in the long run.

I must admit most of the non-perishable items we eat are the supermarket basics.there is nothing wrong with this as generally the food has less in than brand names.


Hope that gives you some ideas :)

Carrot Cookies

After being told how nice carrot cookies were i decided to try and make some.

Carrot Cookies

1 tablespoon margarine or butter

2 tablespoons of granulated sugar

4 drops of almond (or vanilla)

4 tablespoons of raw grated carrot

6 tablespoons of self raising flour

Mix sugar and butter together

add flavouring and carrots mix together

then add the the flour and mix.

Split mixture into about 12 balls and flatten with your had onto a baking tray.

Cook say on gas mark 4 till golden brown. Or say 15-20 minutes

Have to say these were really nice and the lads have scoffed the lot!

They sweet but don't overly taste of carrot in the slightest.

These will be perfect for out picnic tomorrow! 

This recipe is from World War Two, so it seems to be very economical and healthy.

Its very quick to mix and cook, so will definitely be making them again.

A Piece of Heaven in a Sea of Grey: Summer gardening :)

A Piece of Heaven in a Sea of Grey: Summer gardening :): Well i'd thought a few pics of the garden so far. This is the sunniest spot in the garden so i went to Morrisons and saw these two pla...

Summer gardening :)

Well i'd thought a few pics of the garden so far.

This is the sunniest spot in the garden so i went to Morrisons and saw these two plants for £3 in the reduced section.

A grapevine and  a fig tree. So i had to have to them. Along with two large pots for £10 out of Discountuk fingers crossed next year we might able to harvest some grapes!

Grape vine (left) fig tree (right)

Turnips, Leeks and a fat tom cat!

tomatoes , four cabbages that decided to walk from they supposed patch where the leeks are now to where the tomato plants are.

Rhubarb and mint :)

This used to be broken paving stones so i ripped it up and sown some grass seed. Within two months this is what it looks like so pleased :)

The garden is and children's little project and has kept us thoroughly occupied since we've moved.

Black dog returning :(

This is my first post in a long while, when we moved house i couldn't get on the internet or anything, so frustrating.

So far our six weeks holiday have been fantastic, lots of time chilling. My boys loved going to the beach, scrambling round rocks. Meeting up with friends, just been fantastic, then yesterday it all went to pot. We had such an awful day.

Went to my friends (L) house, we decided not to go to the park and it was freezing, autumn is here brrrr 

It was meant o be a catch up, no stress just having a picnic, kids mucking about while we all chatted.

While we there another friend turned up, (D)now for a few months shes been really funny with me. I have no idea why, i've asked, my other friend has asked and still none the wiser. At one point i thought i was being extremely paranoid and blamed myself for everything as i supposed i had done something wrong to her. Its part of my anxiety i automatically assume that i've done something wrong.

Well we were all getting along fine, we did an indoor picnic, i was helping L with the food, things like filling up plates and bowls with extra crisps. Getting drinks, while D was with the kids making sure they were all right.
Then i heard a shout from ds1 saying "kez, please can i have a drink". I said "yes sure, be one minute". Then suddenly D starts shouting at my kids saying that's wrong, its not right. You call her mam and having a go at him and ds2. I walked back into the dining to see what was happening and they she is physically leaning over him shouting into ds2's face and shouting at him. He almost falling off the chair and i said D leave him alone. What are you doing, if he want to call me "kez or mam, its up to them".

She started screaming at me, at this point, i said right were going home, kids get your shoes on. D comes running at me as were walking away and L comes in between us. Luckily she did as she started screaming at me saying you've been wanting to fall out with me ages and raises her fist. Luckily L comes to me my aid and stops D and says you need to calm down, kez has done nothing wrong. Just leave the room, go see the budgies. I still haven't raised my fists, L said to me there is no way i would have let her hit you, as L thought she was going to attack me. I just thought her fists were in frustration not actual attack mode.

By this stage i am completely in tears and having a full blown panic attack. I couldn't breathe, i was scared angry, humiliated. Luckily L understood what was happening and came and sat down with me, she told me to go and to just and calm for a bit. So i did, took me over an hour to calm. All seven children came over to me and demanded hugs and saying please don't go, we want you to stay. The little fella, D's son demanded to sit my knee for a cuddle and wouldn't let me go.

In the end i calmed down and sat with L, D was in the other side of the table. D kept saying to me why aren't you drinking, i said oh i am. I wasn't, it was non alcoholic ginger beer, before that i was drinking juice and coffee. I just was so uncomfortable i lied, to stop any more arguments.When we were on our man, all of 1 minute, D asked me why i was so emotional. So i told her straight she should ashamed of herself, she knows all about my panic attacks etc I was so angry and i didn't shout i spoke quietly saying saying she scared all the children, called her paranoid and you need to sort yourself out. She started again and said no, I'm not doing this in front of any children. you want to do this we'll talk about it another time.

The worst thing is i scared the children, they saw me breakdown and its something i never do. Even worse is that it was in L's house. All 7 of the children have certain needs, 3 of them are 13yrs, 3 are 9yrs and one 5yr old. Five of them have high functioning autism, all five are anxious and at least three have adhd. The five asd one don't do touching at all and 3 can't cope with shouting, loud noises etc. So for me to act the way i did, crying is abhorrent to me.

While i was crying, whenever the children came near me i told them jokes so they were laughing. All seven of them wouldn't leave me alone and insisted on following me everywhere, the poor things. even when i came out of the toilet and they were all they waiting for me. L's daughter never does touching and when i came out of the toilet dragged into her room and demanded the biggest hug off me imaginable, poor thing was in tears. She demanded me to stay and i wasn't allowed to go home, her and ds1 are good friends. when i told her mum she was shocked about the hug and said to me i'm the only person she hugs other than her parents. she obviously trusts you.

L phoned me after i came home to make we were all right, she then validated a few points with me and said you didn't do anything wrong, as outsiders we've seen what D is like now with you. she kept saying that i didn't shout, when i said i did, she went your level was like a mouse compared to when we shout. even my OH didn't hear you and the door was open. The kids were shocked because your voice was louder than it normally is, because your quietly spoken.
She even said do you realise the kids never went to D after it all happened. They refused to look at her and demanded to just be near you, not even her own kids would speak to her. Its shows that the the 7 children trust you and that you are a rock to them. None of them asked if she was ok, instead her 5 year old demanded to sit on your knee. Children with asd don't do that, especially my 13 yr old.

So i'm stuck again now, my confidence has been shaken even more, i spent last night crying. My whole body is in agony, OH is quietly fuming. He knows i would have gone over the edge, so he just sat and listened.

Were having an in day up to now, both lads and myself are in shock from yesterday. Both of them scared and have asked for just a quiet day. I told them the plans for next week and said do you want to cancel them. Both of them said no, we still want to go to the beach, but the deal is we don't see D. Now they just want us to stay with LA they friends on the beach as they think they nice people. LA phoned me about the trip and told her what happened at L's. She was furious and told her the boys want to go but i'm unsure. LA said nothing will happen i will make sure of that. She was angry because she even said your not an aggressive person, your to kind hearted and said the kids obviously felt safe with you and thats all 7 demanded your attention. They wanted to make you feel safe like you do to them.

So i'm all over the place the today. Sorry for the essay i just didn't know what to do.
I am just so glad i come on here and have people who let me vent and rant. I also find writing things down helps me clear my mind and put my thoughts in order.

who would thought it was beginning of summer?!

Well what i can say its blooming freezing, i would have to have posted about how the garden is nicely flourishing with plants. But instead i have the sorry news that most of it has died courtesy of the rubbish cold weather.

The new house is slowly coming along, the carpets still aren't down but we have bee having lots of repairs, so its not all bad. Its another hard month financially for us, i've just found out Natwest have messed up our accounts again, thats it i'm leaving them for another. I have simply had enough, poor customer service, atm machines not working its just poor.

So today i'm making a meal plan to see what i can do for the next two weeks. No doubt it will involve pasta, rice and potatoes and i'm going to get back into baking and cooking more scratch.
Also going to attempt to try and make a suet pudding of some kind, so before it could be a disaster!.

On the plus side my lilys have finally they showed they head hoorah!!!!
Oh and Twining have delivered the free samples of tea, hmmm earl grey and english breakfast yummy.

till later x

We have finally moved!!!

Its a been an incredibly long time since i last blogged.
My health was dire (still is), we were having a nightmare sorting all kinds if things out and battling with a landlord who refused to do repairs.

But something happened, i received a phone call from the local council and shock horror they offered us a 3 bed house!!!!!!! Now for us it was a massive shock to the system as we have been bidding for social housing for the past 11 years with no luck.

So we viewed the house and accepted it! Its 3 bed with a garage and we actually have an outdoor area :).
I was really dubious about moving though as the area we now live in is in between four really bad estates. They are literately no go areas and after 7pm if one person throws a brick at a bus no public transport will go through it.

But the area we are in is so quiet and nice and my children love it. They can play football outside without some car going 90 miles an hour up the road.
Do don't give up hope you never know it might happen, just like it has for us!


As well the above i have also being attending conferences to do with children and adults with disabilities, learning and additional needs. It was truly terrifying standing up in front of people and saying a speech, still have shivers now thinking about it.

Lemon Curd Cake and Twinks

Realised i didn't actually post the recipes and i always lose them so best i put them on here.

Lemon Curd Cake
100g margarine
75g castor sugar 
2 eggs 
175g self-raising flour
1 jar lemon curd

Heat the oven to 180  degrees. Grease /line a  loaf tin 
Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix together till binded.
Then pour the cake mixture into the loaf tin and  level the top so its straightish. 
Place in oven and bake for approximately 40 minutes until browned.



I use granulated sugar instead of castor, as that's what i had in.
Oh and value lemon curd so its works out really cheap to make. Think its comes out at less than 50p to make the cake. Tastes lovely hot but also great for pack lunches.


Twinks  are like hob nobs and i got the recipe off the Money Saving Expert website. A member off there made this recipe up and they are so moreish hence the name Twinks.

(220g)8oz sr flour
(220g)8oz sugar
(220g) 8oz porridge oats
(8oz)  margarine

1tbsp golden syrup
1tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp bic soda

mix flour, oats and sugar, melt marg, syrup and water in a pan stir in bic soda and add to dry mix, mix well, make smallish balls and put on greased tray and flatten slightly with a fork, 180oc for 15 mins, cool on the tray, you just want them golden in oven not brown.






When the twinks come out of the oven they are quite squidgy  but after a couple of minutes cooling they harden. Beware they are diet killers. I think i got about 30 out of the mix. oh and leave plenty of space between them on the tray as they spread out when cooking.

It's been a while ....

Last time I posted I wasn't very well, my health was at an all time low. Everything was getting me down including my slum of a private rented home.
Since then I've been exceptionally busy, we've been offered a house off our local council. Myself and my partner have been on the lost for about a decade. Guess what were taking it!
Today had been a mixture of packing and baking.
Made a batch of twinks, lemon curd cake and a chick pea and chorizo casserole.

Tomato and pepper pasta

Hi all, 

Another cold day here in the north.we had a very quick.dinner tonight. This pasta takes about 15 minutes to cook.I normally start cooking the pasta and then start making the sauce, so its ready at the same time.

Tomato and pepper pasta.
Serves 4
 
500 grams of pasta (basic dried pasta 29p)
One onion thinly sliced. (10p)
One yellow pepper thinly sliced (20p)
2  garlic cloves crushed (or 1/2 tsp of powered garlic) (5p)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g tin) (25p)
1 tsp of black pepper (1p)
1 tsp of oregano         (1p)
1 tsp of salt                (1p)

put the pasta onto boil
Place sliced onions and garlic into a frying pan and cook till soft.
Then add the sliced pepper and fry till cooked.
then add the tinned tomatoes, pepper, salt and oregano  stir and boil down till the  liquid is almost gone.
The pasta should be cooked by the time the sauce has boiled down.
drain pasta, place some  in a bowl with some tomato sauce and serve.
simple and quick

Costs about 92p in all

 

Here are some variations

Meat :- add raw bacon and fry at the same time as the onions and follow the recipe as normal

Sometimes we like to add cheese after we've placed the pasta and sauce in a bowl. 

Yummy and perfect for a quick lunch or dinner.

fruity bread yummy

Hello,

Well its bread day made a huge 700g bloomer, a small loaf and a fruity loaf.
Now i've never made a fruit loaf so thought what the heck lets give it a go.

So for the bloomer, fruit bread and small loaf i've just used the same recipe as i would for a basic large white loaf. Now i've made it by hand as my bread machine has broken down. The bread machine recipe is on further on the blog to.

Which is 

Basic Bread Recipe
300g Strong White Bread Flour
300g Plain Flour
1pint of warm water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
7g dried fast action yeast 

For the fruit bread, same as above but also add 100g of whatever dried fruit you may have.

If making by hand place the flour in first ,then the salt, sugar and yeast.

Mix together till fully combined. Then slowly add the water whilst stirring till it has formed into sticky but not wet consistency.

Now leave to rise dough till its doubled in size. Once it has done this, knock the dough back down again .

You can now shape into loaves, buns etc Place the shaped into a loaf tin, baking tray and leave to rise again. Once it has done this, preheat the oven to gas mark 5. Leave for 5 minutes for the oven heat up and place the bread dough in the oven.

Bake for about 45 minutes or till cooked.

After you have mixed the dough it shold kind of look like this, if its too watery add more flour and mix again till its the right consistency.

I then  split the dough into two pieces, one for the fruit bread and one for the small loaf.

I place the small loaf dough into a separate dish. 

Then added about 100g of mixed dried fruit mix. 

I then mixed it all together and placed it back in the bowl.

to rise.

After placing the bread into bowls i covered them up with a carrier bag to trap the heat in to help them rise.

Heres all three of looking scrummy :)

ahh fresh bread, can't beat it.

Sausage and stuffing plait.

Hi all

Been a another cold and blustery day. 

Spent the day at my sisters drinking tea, cofee and chatting about life, kids basically anything and evrything.

Another recipe for you to try, i'm sorry i don't have pictures daft phone decided to run out of battery.

Sausage and stuffing plait.
1 large onion (thinly sliced and diced) (10p)
4 cloves of  crushed garlic (optional) (20p)
1 pack of basic sausage meat (494grams) (£1.45)
1 pack of puff pastry (£1.00)
1 pack of basic sage and onion stuffing (15p)
Fry onion and garlic till cooked and place into a bowl.
Mix the dried stuffing with the onions
Mix the above with the sausage meat.
Roll out pastry into a rectangle shape.
Fill the middle of the pastry with the meat mix, then fold pastry over into a sausage roll shape.
Place onto a greased baking tray and cook till pastry is brown, about 25 mins.
Serve hot or cold.
The above did us two meals with extras for the boys.
The first meal we had it had it with was veg, mash and gravy for one meal.
The second meals was sausage plait with chips and beans.

The plait can also be frozen and eaten cold, so very flexible meal.

Till tomorrow

Kez x

Macaroni Cheese

Oh what a freezing cold day, we've snow, sleet, rain and now ice, the view is so lovely. Everywhere is a lovely shade of white, absolutely beautiful.

Looked in the fridge and found a jug full of cooked pasta and i thought its to cold for pasta salad so pasta bake it is.

This makes a meal for four people.

Macaroni cheese

500g of dried pasta

2 tablespoons of butter

2 heaped tablespoons of plain flour

1 pint of milk

50g of strong mature cheddar

1 tablespoon of mustard

1 tomato sliced (optional)

Place 500 grams of uncooked pasta and cook till done. Once cooked place pasta into a large oven proof dish ready for when you place the sauce over it.

 

Melt butter in a pan

 

Once the butter has melted stir in the plain flour.stir till its a thickish paste

 

Gradulally stir in the cold milk till it smooth and cream with a whisk.

 

Carry on stirring till smooth and creamy.

 

Add cheese and stir till melted, stir in mustard.

Place cooked pasta into a dish and lay the cheese sauce over it, till pasta is all covered.

I added sliced tomatoes to the top and a sprinkling of cheese

and plae in oven on gas mark 4  or 180 degrees in an electric oven

 

Now as i'm  to cheap to but macaroni pasta i just use what i have.

500g sainsburys basic pasta 39p

1 pint of milk 25p (taken from 2l milk container £1 tesco milk)

50g cheese 43p (taken from 350g cheese pack £2.98)

2tbsp plain flour 3p (from 1kilo bag 45p)

mustard 6p(jar was 45p)

tomato 10p

So the price i think is £1.26 in total give or take and works out about 32p each.

We sometimes serve this with home made bread and salad if we have less leftover pasta.

The sauce should last a few days in the fridge and freezes well.

Till tomorrow

Kez