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 :)

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.

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

Bacon and mushroom risotto

Hello everyone,

Just had to share this lovely recipe which all my children enjoy.

Now i made this with the cheapest possible ingredients and everyone loves it.
I stopped buying arborio rice as it is just too expensive. It works well and can be served as a main dish  or as a side.But best thing of all its less than a £1 :)

25g (cooking bacon sainsburys 950g basic value)
300g Tesco Long Grain Rice (40p per kilo)
2 chicken 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)
mushrooms ( from a pack priced at 95p)
cheese (about 35p)
 onion (from a bag of 10kg priced at £2.50)


Bacon and mushroom risotto

one large onion chopped and finely sliced.
2 rashers of smoked bacon (chopped into slices)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1/4 pack of mushrooms sliced
300g of long grain rice
1litre of stock (i used chicken)
1 tbsp of black pepper
30 grams of strong cheddar cheese


Fry onions  and garlic till soft
Add bacon and mushrooms and fry till cooked
Place the above mixture into a bowl.
With the remaining oil in the pan 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.
Add the onion mixture to the risotto and stir till fully warmed.

Once cooked and heated serve straight away.

I sometimes serve this salad and homemade bread.

This time we just had it warmed up home made bread.

I think in total the risotto and loaf cost about 98p in total. It made enough for 2 grown men and 2 bottomless pits and me and they went back for thirds.


Hope you all like it x