You Big Eejit

Making a decision

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 19:10:00 +0000

A couple of disclaimers...

1. I'm not writing this for attention, or ego stroking... complements are very welcome and I appreciate support but this is a decision I've made and I feel I owe some kind of explanation
2. If I say anything "negative" about blogging, please assume I am referring purely to my own personal feelings. Anything said on here doesn't reflect on blogs I read and love, nor the people who write them.

Now I've got you all interested...

I think I am going to give blogging up for a while. Indefinitely.

Nothing has happened. No-one has upset me. Things have just changed. I've been lacking in motivation since I got home from Australia, not even being tagged in memes or regular posts like Meal Planning Monday or Some Things I Love have been able to entice me back. I have been feeling a bit wobbly about having everything OUT THERE and so PUBLIC and even started an anonymous blog to continue in years to come, somewhere I could write in privacy and relative safety... but I am still feeling different about blogging all of a sudden.

The truth is, I just don't want to blog any more.

I don't want to mentally write posts every time something vaguely interesting happens, or feel pressure to have something for my lovely readers to read. I don't want to worry about people knowing where I work and what I do and when I go on holiday. I just want to get on with life without assuming that people should know what I am doing.

This is a really tough decision to make because it is so permanent - yes I could just have the blog lying dormant and resurrect it when I am feeling more creative but to be honest, I am not a wishy washy kind of person. I want to be decisive about this. This blog has led me to some amazing friends but I will still have those without this blog. I will still READ blogs and COMMENT on blogs and of course I will be on Twitter to chat to those amazing friends. I suppose I am just realising that life can go on and people will still be there even without the presence of this blog. I am not that important.

I know that many of you have enjoyed reading and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support and lovely comments and helpful hints. Please don't see this as me dismissing that. But I think you'll agree (especially if you blog yourself) that a blog reflects you and your feelings, and there isn't much point in a blog that doesn't want to be written.

I am going to go through my posts, all 300 odd of them spanning 4 years, and delete all but my recipes which are handy to have and my Messy Church craft posts which according to my stats come up in people's searches for ideas. But in time I will probably delete the blog altogether...

As an aside - thank you so much to those of you who I shared my new blog with. Ridiculous as it is, I have made this decision about that one too, despite the high hopes I had for it. I need to take a break completely.

Perhaps one day I will return to blogging, perhaps not. If I do then I'll want a fresh start anyway. In the meantime it is time to say goodbye to the Big Eejit.

I will be on Twitter so please keep in touch (if you aren't already)

Thank you so so much for being lovely readers

God bless xxx

Messy Church Craft Share: The story of Hannah

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sun, 26 May 2013 22:13:00 +0000

Image used with permission

We are in the middle of a little mini series at Messy Church, looking at women from the Old Testament. Last month we looked at Ruth, a story of loyalty and romance and redemption, but I forgot to take pictures of the craft so didn't have a post to share for that one! This month we focussed on Hannah, the mother of Samuel, the prophet who chose the young shepherd boy David to be one of Israel's most important kings.

Hannah's story is a beautiful one, but one that requires some sensitivity. Hannah was infertile, living a life of humiliation and misery while her husband's other wife bore many children and mocked her for her failures. Coming to God in anguished prayer she begged him for a son, and soon afterwards she had one who she named Samuel - "God hears" - and as soon as he was old enough she took him back to the Temple and gave him back to God. Samuel lived in the Temple and at a young age God spoke to him and he began a life of a prophet. It is important to tell this story without giving a message of "Just ask God for it and you will get it"... similarly there are many women who have prayed Hannah's prayers and still remain childless. So we wanted to tell Hannah's story without causing pain and grief, and so we focussed on the subject of prayer.

Hannah prayed openly and honestly, she came to God just as she was - heartbroken, bitter, angry, hurt, and desperate. Hannah's story teaches us to be real with God, to bring him our joys and sorrows, and to give him a good yelling-at if we need to because he can take it.

So these are the crafts we did - they could be used in other contexts where you are encouraging children to pray or reflect. Some are a little tenuous but great fun all the same ;)

Prayer Candles (from Messy Church 2)
Candles have long been used as a symbol of God's presence, a focus for prayer and reflection. I had one lit on my desk when I was writing my dissertation, to help me stay focussed and calm. We gave the children a clean jam jar, some glass pens and glitter glue to decorate them with, and then a tea light to put inside.

Prayer candles

Praying Hands (from Messy Church 2)
Sometimes it's difficult to know what to pray. Repetitive prayers learnt by rote may seem ritualistic and old fashioned but they are often good for when our hearts are so full we don't know what to say. These praying hands are good for ideas too - we assign a topic for each finger and when we want to pray we can just look at our hands!

Praying hands - my example!

Praying hands

Blessings Boxes (from Messy Church 2)
When I was little my mum gave me something from her childhood - a box of "promises", encouraging Bible verses to pick out each day. I loved it. I felt like it was a special treasure and even if I didn't understand the verse I loved picking it out and reading it. The blessings boxes were a similar idea - boxes to be decorated and filled with encouraging verses that could encourage you or to pass on to someone else who needed encouragement.

Blessings boxes

Tuck boxes (from Messy Church 2)
Ok ok, so this *was* a little tenuous...but the kids loved it! We read that every year Hannah visited Samuel in the Temple and brought him a new coat, and Messy Church founder Lucy Moore suggests she might have brought him some treats too :) We bought some wafer oyster shells and invited the children to decorate them with food colouring before filling them with tasty treats.

Tuck boxes

Samuel's Coat (my own idea!)
And speaking of Samuel's new coat...! We always do a big picture to display in the hall, usually a joint collage or something the can all add their own thing to. So we made Samuel a very nice bright new coat :)

Samuel's coat

Prayer Notebooks (from Messy Church 2)
People pray in different ways. Personally I prefer to write my prayers down in a journal - it helps me concentrate on my thoughts and also provides a great record of the ways in which God has answered my prayers and my life has changed. We provided notebooks for the children and invited them to decorate the front with a mosaic pattern. Although we called them prayer notebooks, we encouraged the children to use them generally to write down things that they were happy or sad or worried about, so that they could look back on them and be encouraged at the way the situation changed or made them feel.

Prayer notebooks

Let me know if you give any of these crafts a go!

Home made tortilla chips

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Thu, 23 May 2013 19:25:00 +0000

I make no secret of the fact that I LOVE crisps. Give me a bag of crisps over a bar of chocolate or piece of cake any day. I love many types of crisps, anything from Worcester sauce wheat crunchies, to salt'n'vinegar Walkers, to Flamin Hot Monster Munch, and...tortilla chips.

Our favourite tortilla chips of choice are Marks and Spencers jalapeno flavoured chips - they are great for snacking, dipping, topping a fajita lasagne, or piling high with chilli and cheese to make nachos. I also love the humble Dorito, with chilli heatweave or lime being my favourite flavours.

The other night I watched Ina Garten (AKA The Barefoot Contessa) make her own tortilla chips and I thought I would give it a go, having some tortilla wraps left over from my lunches this week. She actually deep fries them but as I am a bit scared of deep frying things in a saucepan (too many chip-pan fire safety adverts on TV when I was growing up) I decided to oven bake them instead. The result was lovely and crunchy with a nice kick from the seasoning. I'll be honest, they don't come anywhere near a proper bag of crisps but they are a nice easy alternative to whip up in a hurry, and I've no doubt they are a bit healthier too!

Homemade spicy tortilla chips

Cut 1 or 2 tortilla chips in 8 wedges

Place on a baking tray and brush both sides with a little oil

In a small bowl mix up coarse salt, onion salt, chilli powder and smoked paprika - the quantities are up to you but I used about 1/4 tsp of everything except the salt which was just a pinch. You could also experiment with other flavours like cayenne, chipotle, or cumin.

Sprinkle the spice mix over the tortillas and bake in a 200deg preheated oven for 10 mins.

Keep an eye on them - they burn very quickly!!!!!! (yes I did discover this the hard way)

I had these with lentil dhal and they went very well, but I reckon they'd be best scooping up some nice hot chilli :)

Enjoy!

Speedy spaghetti and sausage meatballs

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sat, 11 May 2013 19:31:00 +0000

Oh Big Eejit readers have I got a treat for you tonight.

This is a recipe I have adapted from one I tore out of an Essentials magazine ages ago. I like meatballs a lot but feel it's a bit of a waste of money buying ready made ones when you can make them yourself out of mince...but then I could never be bothered with that either. This is the best of both worlds - easy and cheap. Bonus!

Speedy spaghetti and sausage meatballs

Ingredients

2 TBSP olive oil

450g pack of pork sausages

Small red onion, chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Pinch fennel seeds

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 TBSP tomato paste

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

400g spaghetti, cooked to pack instructions

Method

First of all, skin your sausages. It is a bit messy but strangely satisfying (or that might just be me...!) Heat the olive oil in a deep saute pan, tear your sausages into chunks and add them to the oil.

Cook for about 5 minutes until starting to brown, draining off any excess oil. Add the onion, garlic and fennel seeds and cook for a few moments more. De-glaze the pan with a splash of white wine.

Add the chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and tomato paste, along with a splash of water. Reduce the heat and simmer until your spaghetti has cooked. Take a ladle or 2 of the pasta cooking water and add it to the meatball sauce - it'll help it stick to the spaghetti better.

Serve on a warmed plate sprinkled with cheese, and some chopped basil if you have it.

I honestly cannot recommend this recipe enough - it is so delicious and tasty with lots of nice flavour from the fennel seeds and onion. Mr gave it a massive thumbs up too so it is definitely one to add to the regular list. I'm sure that meatball sauce could be easily frozen as well.

Why not give it a go!

Chicken and Broccoli Bake

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:34:00 +0000

This is another Mother-in-Law special from Mummy J. I am always pleasantly surprised by how much I like this because I am not a huge fan of broccoli, but the fact that it is with chicken and a delicious sauce somehow makes it more edible! Fussy, me?! ;-)

It is very simple to make and freezes well. Don't be put off by the peach juice, it adds a nice sweetness. If you didn't fancy it, you could just add more milk and lemon juice.

Chicken and Broccoli Bake

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

4 large chicken breasts, chopped into chunks

1 large or 2 medium heads of broccoli, cut into florets

1 tin of Campbells condensed chicken soup

1 tsp curry powder (I used hot)

4 TBSP mayonnaise

Juice from 1 tin of peaches

1 tsp milk

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Brown the chicken in a frying pan and cook the broccoli until al dente. Layer the chicken and broccoli in a lasagne dish or similar.

In a bowl or measuring jug, empty the tin of condensed soup and mix with the curry powder, mayo, milk, lemon juice and peach juice (I used about 2 thirds of the tin as I didn't want it to be too sweet). Pour the mixture over the chicken and broccoli and sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cheese.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until the top is brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Serve with buttered wheaten bread

It got Mr's seal of approval for being as tasty as his mum's, which is always a sign of success!

Let me know if you give it a go!

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Messy Church Craft Share - Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 18:36:00 +0000

Image used with kind permission

It's Easter crafts galore in this edition of Messy Church craft share. I realise that for many the Easter crafting season may be over already but just in case you wanted to do some more then here are some ideas!

As you can imagine, Easter is a very special and important time in the church calendar. It is a time of hope, new life, repentance and joy. We celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the new life which that can bring. And of course, we celebrate the new life shown in Spring warmth (ha!) and new growth. We tried to convey some of these messages in our Messy Church crafts. Some are specifically Christian, others are more general. Please feel free to use any of these ideas with your family or children's work.

Edible Easter Garden

This is far and away our most popular craft. I got this idea from my lovely friend Tina from uni, and I don't know where she got it from!

There are a lot of components, but some you may already have in your house and if you are doing it for a crowd then get a conveyor belt production line system going! The garden is assembled inside a large takeaway container (I bought mine in Bookers) and is made up of:

Rice, put in a lidded box with a squirt of green food colouring, then shaken to coat all the rice. Obviously this bit isn't edible!
A Coco-Pops path
Iced Gem flowers
A muffin hill
Matchmaker cross - glued with edible glue bought in a craft shop
A brownie tomb - using mini brownies cut in half
Fondant icing grave clothes
Cookie stone...rolled away!

Add caption

Each one looks a bit different but that's the beauty of it!

I believe this is a wonderful way for children to remember the Easter story in a multi sensory way.

Painted Eggs (taken from Messy Church)

In order to make life a bit easier for myself I bought some polystyrene eggs from Yellow Moon for the children to paint. They used normal ready mix paint in a variety of colours and different paint brushes to use. We found it handy to rest the eggs on milk bottle tops for both painting and drying. We made sure each child's name was on the bottom of the lid because inevitably some get left behind and we have to reunite them with their owners!

Decorated crosses (from Messy Church 2)
As I was buying the eggs I spotted some wooden crosses on sale and decided to snap those up instead of cutting out 50 or so from card....! The children decorated them with felt tips, tissue paper and sequins and then wore them round their necks with pride for the rest of the session!

Tissue Paper Flowers (taken from Messy Church 2)
This is such a simple and easy task. Just take a few squares of tissue paper, pinch them in the middle to make a point and stick the point in the end of a straw. Secure with some sellotape, then tease the "petals" of the flower out a bit. A nice way to celebrate the colour Spring flowers bring after a deary winter.

Big Picture - Lambs
Each month we try to do a big picture that can go up on display in our hall for church folks and visitors to see. It is a nice way of showing families that we value their creations as well!

First of all an amazing lady called Rosie painted a wonderful background on lining paper for us, then we filled it with sheep! We drew around our hands on black sugar paper, then stuck on cotton wool and wobbly eyes. Our thumbs made the sheep's head and our fingers the legs. I think this might be one of my favourite crafts, it looks so effective!

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any pictures of the children doing their sheep but you can make out their little handprints clearly. I also encouraged them to look at their handprint in amongst the "flock" and remember that they are part of the Messy Church family.

When the crafts were over and the queue to do the Easter garden died down we went into the church for the celebration. It is always difficult to do the Easter story sensitively with children without glossing over the key elements of the story. I used pictures to bring the story some meaning and I hope I was able to help them understand the message of hope, happiness and new life in Jesus that Easter can bring.

We also gave the children a gift. You may have seen the "Real Easter Eggs" in supermarkets this year. They are from the Meaningful Chocolate Company and aim to celebrate the Easter story along with the joy of eating chocolate! Each child who came today got one of these eggs, which also comes with a story board and stickers so they can remember the Easter story. It was a real blessing to be able to give them this gift and I hope it has a positive impact on them to receive it.

What Easter crafts have you done this year? I'd love to see some.... I can store up ideas for next year ;-)

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Doing Free Play at KidZone!

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:43:00 +0000

In case you are wondering, KidZone is the youth club I run for primary school kids! It is great fun and as it was the first thing I set up when I started the job, it's kind of my "baby" and I am really proud of how it has developed and the great team I have in place to make it all possible.

Free Play is something I brought in last year as a result of a Playwork module I did for my degree. In it we learnt that play is a form of learning and "work" for children, and can reach its best potential when the children have as much choice as possible. This is naturally within certain boundaries, and rather than being a crazy free for all, it is actually carefully managed. A good playworker is one who can create the best atmosphere for children to play and learn safely and effectively. Play of this sort is child-led but adult managed, the adult creates the play environment but the children decide how it is to be used.

Normal nights at KidZone involve some free time at the start of the session where they get tuck, can play board games or the Wii, watch cartoons, colour in or just chat and chill. This works well for the most part. Then they split into 2 groups - games or craft. "Or" being the operative word here. Because we have a limited amount of leaders and a rabbit warren of corridors the children chose and activity and that is what they do for the evening, no wandering around in between, for their own safety more than anything but also so that they are doing something productive. This works and the children enjoy it but I wanted to bring in these Free Play nights to give them a different experience and a bit more choice.

I put more leaders than normal on the rota so that we could use more rooms in the church and children could be properly supervised. Here's a rundown of the different activities on offer:

Physical Play
The hall was filled with large empty cardboard boxes (courtesy of the Christian Aid book sale in half term!), balls, uni hoc sticks, skipping ropes, space spots, hoops, beanbags, cones, mini netball hoop and blankets. These were laid out in a way that didn't suggest they had to be used for any particular game - children could chose what they wanted to do.

Obstacle course

Above you can see that a couple of the girls created an obstacle course with the hoops and space spots, having to skip through them using the ropes. Not pictured is another group of children who engaged the leaders in a game of netball. I emphasised to the leaders that they must be led by the children and it is interesting to note a mix of those happy to do their own thing, and those wanting to play a structured game.

Messy Play
This was the room I was in charge of! I set up tables with painting, water beads, cloud dough, and "gloop"... and of course a basin and towels to wash their hands. I was pleasantly surprised at how much they engaged with this. The water beads, gloop and cloud dough were all ideas I had got from Pinterest and parent bloggers and had been used with pre-schoolers. But even my top end primary kids enjoyed these tactile activities.

Getting the hands gloopy!

Cloud dough - 4 cups plain flour to half a cup of baby oil - reminded the children of baby powder.

Cloud dough is soft and silky but can be moulded into solid shapes.

Water beads - a great tip from The Boy and Me - start off minuscule and gradually get bigger in the water

Still not at their full size!

There were some great comments as they were playing:

"It feels like rotten milk" (gloop)

"It's all hard at the bottom but water on top" (gloop)

"You can't pick it up!" (gloop)

"I'm going to make it freeze" (cloud dough)

"It feels soft in my hands. Is that why you call it a cloud?" (cloud dough)

"I found the biggest blue one. Did it go in first?" (water beads)

"They feel like berries!" (water beads)

One of the children, who attends Sunday morning worship with her family, asked me to keep the beads in the water so she could see how big they get and show her younger brother and sister.

Creative Play and Junk Modelling
A great way to get rid of (clean!) recycling ;-) This is the "making" room - 2 tables piled high with cardboard boxes, plastic tubs, LOTS of masking tape, card, paper and various collage materials like tissue paper, pasta, ribbon, sequins, feathers etc. I have a couple of kids who would happily spend their entire lives creating beautiful things from junk and adding sparkly glitter and sequins to anything., so they were in their element here. Rather than a specific craft, they were able to make whatever they wanted and proved themselves to be creative and imaginative.

Making a kite

Chill Out Zone
This was a place where they could just sit and chat, play quiet board games, watch cartoons and grab a drink if they wanted. Often the kids came and went from this room, but one little boy stayed the whole evening watching cartoons. I wanted to encourage him to go and try some other activities, but held back. If after a busy week this was what he wanted to do, then I wasn't going to stop him!

Board games - can you spot the retro Mr Pop? One of mine from the 80s!

Enjoying Looney Tunes!

So that was our Free Play night, and it went down a treat. They just loved it - "Can we do this every week?!" Well, considering I was on my hands and knees for 20 minutes scrubbing cornflour gloop off the carpet afterwards....perhaps not ;-) But we will definitely do it once a term I think. It's well worth the extra effort.

Do you have any ideas you can share for my next Free Play session?!

I've linked this post up to Edspire's Messy Play blog hop, in memory of the beautiful Matilda Mae x

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Messy Church Craft Share - Jesus' Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:08:00 +0000

Image used with kind permission

As I was sorting out my display for Messy Church at work today, an idea came to me. But first of all - you may ask, "What IS Messy Church?!"

Well, Messy Church founder Lucy Moore (along with Diane Louise Jordan no less!) explains it best herself on their website. It is a church for people who don't go to church. It isn't on a Sunday, there's no sermon, no standing up and sitting down in certain places at certain times. It isn't an outreach event designed to get people in to Sunday morning services. It is a chance for families to spend time together, having fun, experiencing Christian community, sharing in yummy food, and learning a little about God in the process. The "Messy" part comes not only from the crafts we do (which do get rather messy!) but also the fact that community can be a bit messy! We have messy lives and creative minds and that is something to be celebrated.

So anyway, as I was sorting out the crafts from this month's session I thought, I wonder if these ideas might be helpful to someone? I see loads of parents blogging about the craft they do with their children, and perhaps they might find some inspiration here. For Messy Church, the crafts are "Bible based" - that is, we link them to our theme and Bible story for the month. But they are not exclusively religious (in fact many aren't religious in the slightest!) so they may be helpful if a parent, teacher or fellow Children and Family Worker is looking for inspiration.

This month's theme was "Jesus' Baptism" and these are the crafts we did:

Water pictures (adapted from Messy Church 2)
We used various colours and shades of paint to recreate the many hues we see in the water around us. I especially like the dark moody one at the top!

Water pictures

Glitter bottles (taken from this website)
We added glitter and sequins to a bottle of water (I used the travel bottles you can get in Boots... you can imagine the looks I got when I bought 30 of the things), along with a squirt of glycerine to make the water thick and gloopy. The children loved swirling them around.

Glitter bottles

Sandy footprints (adapted from Messy Church 2)
Because baptism is something that Christians do when they decide to follow Jesus, we picked up on the "following" theme with these sandy footprints. We drew around our feet, cut them out, covered in glue and dipped in sand.

Sandy footprints

"Footprints" poem (adapted from Messy Church 2)
If you haven't read the footprints poem there is a link on the caption. I think it is beautiful, and makes me a bit emotional. I see it as a reminder that God is always with me, I am never alone. And it is also a timely reminder that in those times when I feel that God has deserted me the reality is I will look back and see that he was the only thing keeping me going. We used foam footprints to decorate the poem and if they wanted, children could write a message to someone so that they could be encouraged by it.

"Footprints" poem

We also made dove shaped biscuits, the dove appearing at a key part in the story of Jesus' baptism, which we decorated with white icing and lots of sprinkles. No photo though, sorry!

I also really wish I had taken photos of the "celebration" time, when we gathered together to listen to the story. I opened up the baptistery in the main church and the children all sat around the edge with their legs dangling. No water in there obviously, but it was still wonderful for them to be able to see it. It made describing baptism so much easier and I hope it gave them an experience that will stay with them.

Let me know if you use any of these crafts!

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Chicken fried rice

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:05:00 +0000

I luuuuurve Chinese food. Chinese food makes me so very happy. It is a real treat for us to get in a takeaway or head out to the all you can eat buffet. However I've never really attempted Chinese cooking at home, save for honey chilli chicken and Mary Berry's sweet and sour chicken. And of course, Mr's famous curry sausages and rice are made with Chinese curry sauce concentrate we get at the Chinese supermarket. But apart from that we haven't been very adventurous, and I always worry that without the MSG from takeaways it won't taste as good!

This recipe - loosely based on a Slimming World recipe I saw at my mum's house - is hardly adventurous either but it is so deliciously authentic I'd actually say it was as good as the real stuff. Give it a go and tell me what you think...

(Apologies for lack of picture, every time I make it I am so keen to get stuck in I forget to take one!)

Chicken Fried Rice (serves 1)

Before you start, it's helpful to have the following ingredients chopped and ready to go. This dish is stir fried and needs to keep moving in the wok so you won't have time to prep as you go. It seems a lot but worth it, I promise.

Ingredients
One garlic clove, minced
Small piece of ginger, chopped finely or grated (sorry for vague amounts but I use 1 tsp of the Very Lazy stuff!)
One small red chilli, finely chopped, or 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes
Half a carrot, sliced into thin batons
Half a red pepper, sliced into thin batons
Handful of frozen peas
Shredded cooked chicken breast
One portion of COLD cooked rice (do not used recently cooked rice or it'll turn to mush)
One egg, lightly beaten
5 spice powder
Soy sauce
Shaohsing rice wine (if you have it, not necessary)
Sesame oil (ditto)

Method
1. Heat a couple of tablespoons of vegetable or other flavourless oil in a wok. Add ginger, chilli and garlic and stir fry for a few moments.
2. Throw in the carrots, peppers and peas and stir fry until beginning they start to colour and pick up all the flavours.
3. Add the rice and chicken and stir well. Slosh in some soy sauce and a sprinkle of 5 spice.
4. After stir frying for a few moments, push the rice to one side and pour in the egg. Wait until it sets a bit then start breaking it up with a fork. Then mix the whole lot together - the egg should mix through in little shreds.
5. Add a splash of rice wine - this will help deglaze the wok if the egg has made everything catch a bit.
6. Finally sprinkle a few drops of sesame oil over the rice (only a few, this is a strong oil and would quickly overpower everything else).
7. Serve up and eat immediately.

When I have made this, the flavours exactly match those you get in the stuff from the Chinese. And it is low fat too - only about 400 cal according to MyFitnessPal!

Let me know if you give this a go!

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Hummingbird Bakery Breakfast Bran Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Lots of my Meal Planning Monday readers expressed an interest in these muffins so I thought that I'd share the recipe with you! It actually worked!

I made these because I wanted something to have between breakfast and lunch to save me succumbing to crisps or a chai latte and caramel waffle from Starbucks. I am a little and often eater, so need to graze, but often don't graze on the right things! Lately I have been having a smoothie or carrots and salsa which haven't quite hit the spot, so I gave these muffins a go.

Hummingbird describe it as "having cake for breakfast" but they do actually feel more virtuous and definitely kept me "topped up" til lunch.

This recipe is from their "Cake Days" book.

Breakfast Bran Muffins

(makes 10-12)

Ingredients

180g plain wholemeal flour

50g rolled oats

50g All Bran (note - NOT Bran Flakes!)

1 tsp finely grated orange zest

20g raisins

20g sunflower seeds

1 TBSP baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

pinch of salt

120g soft light brown sugar

250ml whole milk

2 eggs (large, at room temp)

80g butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 170degC and line a muffin tin with muffin cases

Put the flour, oats, All Bran, orange zest, raisins, seeds, baking powder, bicarb of soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl or mixer and mix together.

Pour the milk into a jug and crack the eggs into it, whisking it all together.

Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and whilst mixing at a slow speed, pour the wet ingredients in slowly. When the ingredients have come together, increase the speed to medium and pour in the melted butter.

Once it is all incorporated, spoon the mixture into the cases, filling them about 3/4 full.

Bake in the oven for 18 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and springy

Elevenses!

They are delicious - I am most definitely back on speaking terms with Hummingbird Bakery! They taste wholesome, the raisins and seeds providing nice texture. They are not too sweet either, yet feel like a treat. I might make a new changes next time, perhaps adding grated carrot or a pinch of cinnamon.

Have you got any elevenses favourites?

Auntie Vi's Honey Chilli Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:00:00 +0000

My husband sacrificed a lot to come and settle in Somerset when we got married - he left his job, his family and friends, and the country he was born in! But most important and sacrificial of all were the foods he left behind, staple favourites which cannot be found here in England. Namely:
Pear-picking Porky and Polly Pineapple ice lollies from Dale Farm (no, not the travellers' site, it's a dairy!)
Veda bread (malted bread, no fruit, delicious toasted with butter and cheese)
Tayto crisps (cheese and onion crisps that taste like no other!)
Fifteens and top hats (tray bakes which grace the table at every single child's birthday party)
Sausage and egg sodas (no, not a drink - sausage and egg on a toasted soda bread)
And..... honey chilli chicken

Honey chilli chicken can be found on any Chinese takeaway menu in Northern Ireland. It is one of the most popular dishes, and yet it seems to be exclusive to Ulster. Since moving to England hubby has yet to see it served in any Chinese restaurant either here or in Devon where my parents live. He has had frequent tantrums about this, believe me. So in a vague attempt to ~~shut him up~~ placate him, we have endeavoured to make our own. This recipe is from his Auntie Vi, so it is authentically Norn Iron! There is a lot of chopping and preparation but I personally love that. Once it is all ready this dish is fairly simple to make.

Honey Chilli Chicken

(serves 4 - 6)

Cut up some chicken - you can use any type you want. Auntie Vi recommends drumsticks, we used thighs. You could use breast as well. As long as you have enough for 4-6 portions (we used 12 thighs). Cut it up nice and small so it is bitesized, then toss it in some flour seasoned liberally with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 TBSP sunflower or groundnut oil in a wok or deep saucepan. Fry the chicken in batches and then put in an ovenproof dish. The flour will make it nice and crispy. Just fry it til it is brown and then transfer to a 150degC oven to keep warm.

Discard the oil from your wok, give it a wipe, and put in 2 TBSP of fresh oil. Fry 2 chopped onions, 3 crushed garlic cloves, and 3 tsp grated ginger until soft. Add 5 TBSP honey, a diced red pepper, a diced green pepper, and 2 chopped red chillis (we deseeded ours, you might feel a little more brave!). Fry for a few moments.

Mix 1 TBSP soy sauce, 4 tsp cornflour, 2 TBSP lemon juice, 3 tsp hot chilli powder, and 1 pint water in a jug (we did this beforehand so it was ready to go) and pour into the wok. Lower the heat and simmer gently until the sauce has thickened. Give it a taste to see if you want to add more honey or chilli.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and put back in the oven for 10 minutes to bubble and thicken.

Serve with boiled rice.

Delicious!

Hubby declared it a success, and although it still doesn't beat a takeaway from Little Fat Buddha in Ballyhackamore, it's a close second!

Pot Roast Meatloaf

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:04:00 +0000

I promised you this recipe and here it is. This meal was amazing, you need a bit of time to prepare it but it is well worth it.

It is from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food book, which Jewhurst got as a Christmas present from his mum. I like Jamie's recipes - he likes to use lots of ingredients to get maximum flavour, and his style of writing is easy to read.

Meatloaf is one of those dishes I always pictured to be processed and nasty, until I went to America and had some for Sunday dinner with garlic mash and green beans. I realised that meatloaf is a wholesome and tasty dish, made with pure minced beef rather than offcuts and fillers. It's basically a giant homemade beef burger, and therefore it didn't take much to convince Jewhurst to make it!

Jamie Oliver's Pot Roast Meatloaf (Jewhurst Family Version!)

Pre-heat your oven to full whack. Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry off one onion, along with a teaspoon each of ground coriander and ground cumin. Once soft, put in a large bowl to cool.

Meanwhile, crush 12 Jacobs Cream Crackers in a plastic bag with a rolling pin or blitz in a food processor. Tip into the bowl of onions, and add 2 tsp dried oregano, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, and 500g minced beef. Crack in one egg and some seasoning, then with clean hands mix well.

Place the meat mixture in a baking dish and mould into a fat rugby ball shape. Smear with some olive oil and put in the oven, turning the temperature down straight away to 200degC. Bake for 30 mins.

Meanwhile fry another onion in some olive oil, along with some garlic and a chopped red chilli. Sprinkle 1 tsp smoked paprika and some seasoning. When soft, tip in 2 tins chopped tomatoes, 2 TBSP each of Worcestershire Sauce and balsamic vinegar. I also added a sprinkle of sugar. It is here that Jamie adds chickpeas, but instead we opted for parboiled new potatoes cut into small chunks. Bring the mixture to the boil, then simmer on a low heat.

After the meatloaf has been in the oven 30 mins, bring it out and spoon the sauce around the edge. Put 12 rashers of streaky bacon over the meatloaf and the sauce, and return to the oven to cook for another 10-15 mins or until the bacon is crispy.

Slice up and serve with the sauce, and a nice dressed green salad.

Snapped just before Mum got stuck in!

This should serve 4 - 6, although there was 4 of us and not much left over.....! We are definitely making this again, not just because it is great for visitors but also because I reckon it would freeze brilliantly. No doubt you will see this on Meal Planning Monday posts in the future!

Coconut and chocolate flapjacks

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:00:00 +0000

I had the most appalling night's sleep the other night. I was pretty much awake from 1.30-5am, spending half of it lying in the darkness and the other half downstairs with a hot chai latte and "Bloody Tales from the Tower" on National Geographic. Anyway, I think I might have had a touch of insomnia-induced delirium because at about 3am I took a sudden notion to make flapjacks. I resisted, knowing that the sound of the KitchenAid would probably wake my husband if not our neighbour as well. I did get as far as looking up a couple of recipes and last night I made them at a much more sociable hour.

This recipe is a mix of Good Food and Mary Berry, and like the Pollo Alla Cacciatora earlier it was not without its issues. But the end result is lovely :)

Coconut and chocolate flapjacks

Throw 250g porridge oats and 55g desiccated coconut into a bowl or freestanding mixer. Meanwhile melt 125g butter, 125g soft brown sugar and 3 TBSP golden syrup in a saucepan.

Pour the melted caramel into the oats and coconut and mix thoroughly.

Gratuitous KitchenAid shot? Why not!

Allow the mixture to cool SLIGHTLY - don't leave it too long or it'll go hard (yes, I am speaking from experience). Mix in 100g chocolate chips/chunks then transfer to a greased baking tin. A medium one will be fine, mine (a Jamie Oliver brownie tin) was far too big.

Bake at 170degC for 20 mins or so, keep an eye on it though - it may need more or may cook quicker depending on the size of your tin.

Once out of the oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into pieces (again, how many depends on the size of your tin). Allow to cool in the tin for another 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack.

Coconut and chocolate flapjacks

They are lovely - slightly crunchy but with a nice chewy texture too. Excellent with a cup of tea!

Pollo alla Cacciatora (Hunter's Chicken)

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:54:00 +0000

I was in 2 minds about whether or not to blog about this or not. I was a bit disappointed in the taste to be honest. But Gary encouraged me to blog about it anyway so I could say what I would different, so here it is.

This is a Nigella Express recipe, adapted for the slow cooker. You can see the original recipe here.

Pollo Alla Cacciatora
(serves 4)

Heat some garlic oil (or oil and a bit of garlic) in a pan, then add 6 chopped spring onions and 75g of bacon lardons. Sprinkle some dried herbs and fry for a few moments.

Add 3 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces, and brown in the pan for a few moments. Transfer to a slow cooker and add 400g chopped tomatoes, 110ml white wine, 2 bay leaves and a teaspoon of sugar. Cook on low heat for 8 hours (or if you are pushed for time, 6 hours on medium or 4 hours on high).

Add a 400g tin of canellini beans for the last 30 minutes - crank the heat up to high as well. If it is too watery take the lid off and cook on high til it is reduced.

Serve with crusty bread, rice or pasta.

Pollo Alla Cacciatora

As you can see, it looks lovely. I just found the taste rather bland. I have a few theories:

I used cheap tinned tomatoes which usually doesn't make a difference but in this case I think I got what I paid for;
A bit more sugar would bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes, instead they tasted quite bitter
The bitter taste might have also been down to the wine, perhaps adding it to the pan to cook out a bit rather than pouring into the slow cooker would work better next time
A splash of Worcestershire sauce, or tomato puree, might have lifted the flavour a bit
Ditto a sprinkling of Parmesan and some basil

Anyway, live and learn. Give it a go and see what you think - don't let my experience/lack of cooking skill put you off!

Oh, and by the way.........

Handed in this morning. Hooray!

Guest post - Sour cherry and chocolate hot cross buns

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:41:00 +0000

So Easter is upon us and with it comes the usual treats of Easter biscuits, chocolate, and the good old hot cross bun. I love hot cross buns but I have never felt the urge to make them myself. So I was really pleased when my lovely friend Alice - my best friend from secondary school - agreed to write out the recipe for me to put on the blog. Over to Alice!

This is a recipe that I found in a free Waitrose recipe book about five years ago and they just appealed to my inner chocoholic!! I don’t like a lot of the shop brought hot cross buns as I don’t like the peel in them, so thought why not make my own!!! I have done them every Easter since and have become a firm favourite amongst my family!!! I love the zing you get from a sour cherry when you bite into it and the starting to melt chocolate inside. They are best eaten on the day you make them, but if you eat them the day after split them in half, pop on a baking tray and toast under the grill (not in the toaster) and serve spread with a bit of butter, they taste divine!!! Hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Sour Cherry and Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

(makes 12)

1) Sift 450g of very strong flour (white) ½ tsp of salt and 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon into a large bowl and lightly combine the ingredients. Add 50g caster sugar, 1 packet of 7g fast action dried yeast, 2 x 80g packs of Forest Feast Sour Cherries and 100g of dark chocolate chunks (I buy the dark Green and Blacks and chop into small pieces) and then stir until just combined.

2) Gently melt 50g butter in a small pan, add 250ml of semi-skimmed milk and heat for a minute until tepid. Pour in one large beaten egg and then stir enough of the milk mixture into the flour mixture to form a soft dough. Don’t panic if it feels really wet, it will become more elastic when you knead it.

3) Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 10 mins until smooth and elastic. Divide it into 12 equal pieces and shape into balls. Make sure at this point you push and chocolate or cherries into the middle of your dough so it doesn’t ooze out when you bake it. Transfer onto two large baking sheets which you have lined with grease proof paper and cover with lightly oiled cling film. Leave to prove in a warm place for about 1-1 1/2 hours (I put mine in my airing cupboard). They should double in size

4) Preheat the oven to 190 Celsius, gas mark 5. To decorate the crosses, put approx 50g of plain flour in a bowl and gradually add 5-6 tbsp cold water until you have a smooth paste, you want it like wall paper paste, but not too runny. Spoon this into a piping bag with a small/medium nozzle (the recipe said if you didn’t have one to use a plastic food bag and to cut the end off but I tried this once with disastrous results!!!). The neatly pipe a cross over each bun. Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins (I swop shelves and turn them around after 10 mins) until golden in colour.

5) While they are baking, make the glaze by placing about 3 tbsp of semi-skimmed milk in a small pan, about the same of cold water and ½ tsp of ground cinnamon and 50g caster sugar and heat gently for 2-3 minutes, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. When they are cooked, transfer to a cooling rack and brush the glaze over each one twice (do this straight away).

6) Allow to cool and enjoy!!!!

They do look absolutely amazing and may well tempt me into making my own next year!

Thanks Alice!

Mary Berry's Iced Chocolate Traybake

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:17:00 +0000

I thought I would be a good housewife and do some baking while Jewhurst was out at hockey today. Any excuse to use my beautiful KitchenAid after all...! We were given Mary Berry's Baking Bible for a wedding present and I have to say it's one of those cookbooks I would happily read for pleasure not just for baking. I love her old-school style, the way she loves precision, and the fact she is not precious about using organic, expensive, speciality products.

The name of this cake confused me, because where I come from a tray bake doesn't have to have been made in a tray - it's more defined by being bite-size and the fact you have it with a cup of tea - things such as coconut balls, fifteens or top hats. Tray bakes in NI are the key components of a summer camp, church tea or birthday party. However in this context a traybake seems to be a cake made in a sheet pan rather than a round tin. So I was interested to see how it would turn out.

Mary is well known for her precision baking and so I will be writing the recipe in the traditional style of ingredients then method, rather than my more informal style in previous recipes. I don't know about you but even though I like a more relaxed, "slap dash" approach to cooking, when it comes to baking I like to have all my ingredients out and ready, so I know I am following the recipe to the letter.

Iced Chocolate Tray Bake

Ingredients - for the cake

4 level TBSP cocoa powder
4 TBSP hot water
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
275g self-raising flour
2 level tsp baking powder
4 large eggs
1 TBSP milk

For the icing
4 TBSP apricot jam (I used raspberry and there was no difference in taste)
150g plain chocolate such as Bournville (39% cocoa solids)
6 TBSP water
350g sifted icing sugar
1 tsp sunflower oil
Malteasers

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180deg/Gas Mark 4. Grease a large brownie or swiss roll tin and line the bottom with baking parchment

2. Blend together the cocoa and hot water, and leave to cool. Put the remaining cake ingredients in one bowl or freestanding mixture, pour in the chocolate mixture, and beat until well blended. Turn the mixture into the tray and level the top

3. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 mins (I actually took it out earlier because it was done after 30 mins) or when the cake springs back when touched and has started to shrink away from the sides. Leave to cool in the tin.

I actually let it cool then tipped it onto a wire rack to cool. Shhh, don't tell Mary!

4. To make the icing, warm the jam in a tiny saucepan or a bowl in the microwave, and brush over the cake

You *could* skip this step I reckon. To my mind, it didn't add anything to the recipe, as you are using soft icing rather than fondant which needs to stick. It's up to you, but I will just say that 4 TBSP is too much - I had loads left.

5. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt gently in a saucepan with the water. When smooth and melted, mix in the oil and then leave to cool slightly before mixing into the icing sugar.

6. Pour over the cake and smooth gently with a spatula or palette knife dipped in hot water. Decorate with chocolate shavings from the remaining Bournville (Mary's suggestion) or Malteasers (my suggestion!)

This photo was taken on my phone so apologies for the quality, but it gives you a good idea of the size and consistency and my ridiculously bad icing skills.

It tasted lovely - light, "springy" (Jewhurst's words) and really chocolatey.

Cheers Mary!

Recipe Shed - Chicken and Ham Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0000

It's pies this week on Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed, which worked perfectly with our plans for a chicken and ham pie that we'd been thinking of making for a few weeks!

My mum did us a joint of ham at Christmas - my mum's Christmas ham is legendary. She roasts it with honey and cloves, and then makes the most incredible lentil soup with the stock. Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it) she made rather a lot and we had quite a few slices left over even 5 days later. So we threw them in the freezer and set about finding a way to use them up.....and discovered this. It's a Good Food recipe, tweaked a bit to suit our tastes and storecupboard.

Chicken and Ham Pie

(serves 6)

Put 6 cubed chicken breasts in a large pan, along with 3 or 4 cubed potatoes, and a variety of veg (we used frozen peas and sweetcorn but carrots, broccoli or celery would work as well). Add 800ml hot chicken stock, dried herbs, and seasoning. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

Place a colander over a large bowl and drain the contents of the pot. Reserve 1 pint of the hot stock and put the chicken and veg to one side. Rinse out the pot and melt 50g of butter. Add 2 chopped onions and cook out for 5 minutes. Stir in 50g plain flour then begin to add the hot stock a little at a time to make a smooth thick sauce. We used the full pint but on reflection it made the sauce quite watery so perhaps don't use it all. Add 300ml milk and simmer for 5 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat and stir in the juice of a lemon. Put the chicken and vegetables in a large pie dish, along with as much cooked ham as you fancy (we used 4 large thick slices) and cover with the sauce, allowing to cool for a while.

Preheat the oven to 200degC. Take a 500g pack of ready rolled shortcrust pastry (or be really virtuous and make your own) and place it over the top of the pie dish. Add a few steam holes and decorate with pastry leaves, if you are so inclined!

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. We had this on its own but to make it go further you could serve it some more veg, or (Jewhurst's suggestion) chips....!

Isn't it a beaut? It tasted AMAZING. The clove from the ham gave it a nice warmth without overpowering it, the chicken was tender and the potatoes gave an interesting texture to the filling. I also thought that perhaps the filling could be made in the slow cooker to really intensify the chicken and vegetable flavour.
Have a look at some other pies on Reluctant Housedad's blog. What's your favourite pie?

I have also linked this up to Mrs M's Recipe Link Party

Recipe Shed: Healthy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0000

Time to hook up with the Recipe Shed from Reluctant Housedad again, and what better theme to kick off the new year than the healthy stuff! We can all admit to over indulging a bit over Christmas but going healthy is always so much easier when the recipe is a tasty one which is interesting to make and attractive to the eye.

My contribution is from Slimming World, a recipe I nabbed from my mum's SW book. I have no idea about the Syns/points/calories etc., but I am guessing that the absence of fats or dairy products, not to mention the presence of healthy fillers like rice and pulses, means that it's a safe bet for a healthy diet.

Rice-filled Peppers
Serves 1

Chop one red pepper in half and scoop out the seeds and white membrane. Leave the stalk intact to help keep the filling in the pepper (not to mention making it look pretty!). Meanwhile fry a small onion in a little oil - I used coconut oil which is a healthy option - and add 1/4 tsp each of chilli flakes, paprika, and dried mixed herbs. Cook out until the onion is soft. Add a portion of cooked rice, a small tin of kidney beans, and some sweetcorn. Taste for seasoning - I added some Ludlow sauce for tanginess but Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce would also add nice flavour. Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers and bake in an oven for 40 mins at 180 deg.

(Funny story behind this photo - I managed to upend one of the peppers transferring it to the plate. Literally upside down pepper with filling everywhere. You can see a few rogue grains of rice I missed with the kitchen roll...)

If you want to gather a few more ideas for healthy food to balance out the Christmas splurge then head over to Keith's blog and check out the entries!

Mars Bar Trifle

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:18:00 +0000

Trifle. Love it or hate it? I am not the biggest fan, although I wouldn't say I *hated* it, but I tend to only like the cheap ones with not a lot of fruit or alcohol in them, which kind of defeats the purpose. I saw this recipe in my December edition of Essentials magazine and knew I had to try it immediately. However when there are just 2 of you in the house it is slightly ridiculous to make a pudding that would serve about 6 people, so I saved it for Christmas Eve down at my mum's. I promise you, when you eat this, you will die and go to Heaven....

Mars Bar Trifle
(serves 6... maybe more if you are conservative with portions!)

Slice 12 Mars Bar mini rolls and layer them along the bottom of your trifle bowl. Then pour over 1 tin of caramel - like Nestle Dulce du Leche or similar - and smooth over with a hot spoon. Meanwhile, heat 1 regular sized carton of Ambrosia chocolate custard in a saucepan, then dissolve 3 gelatin sheets which have been soaking in cold water for a few moments into the custard. Pour the custard over the caramel and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes. Whip up 200g whipping cream, and spoon over the custard. Finish off with chopped Mars Bar (2 is enough) and drizzle with chocolate sauce.

Apologies for the spectacularly crap picture. I had to use my phone and the light in my mum's kitchen was poor. Do you like the retro trifle bowl? My mum's, obviously.......... ; )

There are a few changes I would make to the recipe next time. First of all, I would do individual portions, unless I knew I was feeding a crowd. It is a delicious recipe but too big for just 4. You need to give small portions because it is so rich. Secondly I don't know if I would bother with heating the custard and adding gelatin. It made the custard very solid and I didn't like the texture when I was eating it. I guess it is to make a more stable base for the cream but I reckon it would be fine just to chill it, or just add the one leaf of gelatin.

Let me know if you make it and what you thought of it!

Chicken Fajita Lasagna

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:13:00 +0000

I promised you this little beauty from Jewhurst's repertoire - Chicken Fajita Lasagna:

This is a brilliantly simple dish that can be prepared in advance and just popped in the oven when you need it. It also freezes really well once cooked so make a big batch and keep some for another day.

Chicken Fajita Lasanga

(Serves 4-6 people)

Fry 2-3 chicken breasts in some olive oil, along with a red and yellow pepper, until the chicken is browned.

Pour in 2 jars of fajita sauce, we used Old El Paso but Discovery is also good.

Simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile get out a large lasagna dish and grease with butter. Begin to layer tortilla wraps with the chicken, starting and ending with the tortillas.

Sprinkle grated cheese over the top. If you are making it in advance, wait until it is cool before transferring to fridge or freezer. If you are eating it straight away, put it in a 190deg oven until the sauce is bubbling, the cheese has melted, and the tortillas are brown and crispy.

Serve with a nice salad and/or some crusty bread.

We really love this dish because it is so easy. You could make a few additions to our recipe - perhaps a few chillis to up the heat a bit, or some creme fraiche to cool it down. Lovely!

Recipe Shed - One Pot Wonder (and a review of Ludlow Sauce!)

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:09:00 +0000

I'll start with Mrs Hesketh's Ludlow sauce...

I discovered this at the Ludlow Christmas Fayre on a deli stall - The Deli on the Square to be precise. It was sitting in a little bowl with chunks of bread next to it, and I ventured over to taste. Oh. My. Days. It is delicious. The taste is somewhere between balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, and from what I could gather from the leaflet provided and the recipes on Mrs Hesketh's website, it is hugely versatile as well. There are actually 4 different types - Ludlow Hot, Ludlow Summer, Ludlow Winter, and original Ludlow Sauce. It was the latter that I bought. So far I have tried it splashed into tomato soup (gives a nice tang), and for dipping with bread (quite sharp on its own, nicer when balanced with some olive oil as well). The website suggests stews, risottos, marinades...and the following recipe for lentil dhal.

I am also linking this up with Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed where he asks us to share our one pot wonders. I love one pot suppers, simply because it means I can stand over my beautiful Le Creuset casserole dish and just stir (and stare!).

I got this recipe from Mrs Hesketh's recipe page and it was insanely simple. I must confess to tweaking it slightly, adding some stuff and changing the method. I hope she doesn't mind! You can see the original recipe here.

Mrs Hesketh's Lentil Dhal with Cheese

Get out your chosen one pot pan. That trustly old favourite you always use for these dishes. Then heat 2 TBSP butter and 1 TBSP olive oil until melted and bubbling slightly. Add a small chopped clove of garlic and cook for a moment.

Sprinkle 1/2 tsp each of ground ginger, ground coriander, and ground cumin, as well as a pinch of chilli flakes

Add one chopped onion and cook until soft, stirring so it is coated in the fragrant butter and oil. Splash some white wine, if you have it, and cook out for a moment.

Pour in 600ml vegetable stock, a TBSP of Ludlow Sauce (you could probably use Worcestershire sauce instead but I strongly recommend the good stuff), a tsp tomato puree and a bay leaf, as well as some salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are cooked and have absorbed the liquid. You may need to add a bit more water (I did, but I may have had the heat too high).

Proof that it was made in one pot!

Stir through some chopped coriander, before serving in a bowl with a dollop of mango chutney and a few strategically and creatively placed coriander leaves

The original recipe calls for 175g of cheddar to be stirred through before serving, however as I was only having one bowl and saving the rest, I just stirred a sprinkling of cheese though after taking this attractive photo.

By the way, do you like our lovely bowls? We got them on our wedding list. Aren't they pretty?

Head over the Reluctant Housedad's page and check out the other one pot wonders in the linky.

I was not asked to review Ludlow Sauce and have not received any product or payment in return (Mrs Hesketh can verify!).... I just think it's really nice!

Recipe Shed - 5 ingredients or less

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:58:00 +0000

This week's Recipe Shed from Reluctant Housedad is a good 'un: a dish using 5 ingredients or less. I'm coming at it a bit late because I only made this dish yesterday. On the plus side, I used our new camera so the picture is MUCH better!
You'd be surprised at how many recipes call for more than 5 ingredients, even the ones you think are really easy! But this is a great recipe from Nigella which fits the bill perfectly. I use it a lot when I have visitors over.

Minestrone in Minutes
(serves 3-4)

In a large saucepan, heat 750ml chicken stock, a 350g jar of pasta sauce (I use Dolmio), a can of Mixed Bean Salad, and a pinch of chilli flakes. Bring to the boil, then add 100g small pasta - any type you want.

Simmer until the pasta is just cooked, then turn off the heat to let the pasta swell a bit and soak up the flavours.

Look! Look! It's a DECENT picture of food!

If I add any more to that recipe it'll be cheating.......but if you wanted you could add some grated cheese on top, or stir through some cooked sausage, or serve with crusty bread.

Head over to the Reluctant Housedad blog to see some more 5 ingredient dishes, and add your own!

I've also linked this up to The Crazy Kitchen's Foodie Foto Friday :)

Recipe Shed - Spices

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:19:00 +0000

I missed out on Recipe Shed last week because of a busy week and lack of inspiration. On Meal Planning Monday I lamented the fact that one of this week's dishes would have been great to link up to Recipe Shed last week, as it is a veggie dish. I realised tonight that it is also slightly spicy, so I am linking it up to this week's Recipe Shed, where the theme set by Reluctant Housedad is "Spices" :)

I have taken a *tiny* bit of liberty here as the "spices" in this dish are verging on negligable. But it does involve spices I use in practically every dish I make so I'm linking it anyway. Also the lovely Seren who always comments on my MPM posts said how nice it sounded so this recipe is for her as well.

This is a big favourite of mine, loosely adapted from a Rosemary Conley recipe. I add lots of chilli flakes or use sweet chilli Philly because I like mine really spicy. The beauty of this dish is that you can tinker with the ingredients to suit your taste.

Garlic Mushroom Pasta
(serves 1)

Cook some pasta - any type, I used wholewheat fusilli - according to pack instructions. As this is for one person, just cook as much as you would have normally.

In a small frying pan or wok, heat 1 TSP oil and fry off a clove of chopped garlic and 1 chopped spring onion.

Add some sliced mushrooms - I used half a packet of baby button mushrooms, I guess you just add as many or little as you like and fry off til softened.

Dollop 2 teaspoons of Philly cream cheese and stir to coat the mushrooms and spring onions. Add a splash of milk to make a creamy sauce, and a big pinch of chilli flakes. Simmer gently while the pasta is cooking. If it starts to thicken too much, turn off the heat and put a lid on the pan, or add more milk.

When your pasta has cooked, drain and tip into the sauce. Stir thoroughly and serve immediately.

Apologies for the crap picture. We have bought a new fancy-pants Canon camera with wedding present money so in a month or so my pictures will be MUCH more impressive! (We've made an executive decision not to use it til we're both in the country....!)

For more spicy recipes head over to Reluctant Housedad's blog!

Spaghetti aribiatta

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:00:00 +0000

This is one of my staple dishes, and one of the first things I made myself when I moved into my new house. I watched an episode of Saturday Kitchen whereby James Martin made pork in an aribiatta sauce and I adapted what he did to create this recipe. I have tried to give quantities to make it easier for you, as I tend to make this off the top of my head for just me.

Spaghetti Aribiatta
(serves 2)

Cook enough spaghetti for 2 according to pack instructions

Meanwhile, heat some oil in a pan, and fry off 1/2 an onion and 1 chopped clove of garlic. Add some cubed salami (optional but REALLY tasty) and fry until golden.

Add 400g of chopped tomatoes and lower heat. Sprinkle in 1 tsp chilli flakes (or less if you prefer - I like mine spicy!) and 1/2 TBSP of sugar - this really brings out the taste of the tomatoes.

Simmer until the sauce is reduced, and take off the heat if spaghetti is still cooking.

Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain (retaining some of the cooking water) and add to the sauce. Add a dribble of cooking water to help the sauce adhere to the pasta. Toss the spaghetti and sauce together.

Serve with grated parmesan and some torn up basil leaves, if you have them (I didn't).

Recipe Shed - Sausages

noreply@blogger.com (Lauren - Big Eejit) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:34:00 +0000

Many thanks to the Reluctant Housedad who has devoted this week's Recipe Shed to sausages, after I had a small paddy at him the other week *blush*

Jewhurst and I made this a few weeks ago while he was staying over. The original recipe for this stew comes from the good people over at BBC Good Food, but after making it the first time Jewhurst remarked that it would be nice with some spuds in it as well, a la Irish Stew.

We had a little play around with ingredients and timings and came up with this:

Sausage Stew with Potatoes
(Serves 4)

Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in deep frying pan or large casserole. Fry 12-16 chipolata sausages until browned (you'll probably have to do it in batches) – remove and chop into pieces when cooled slightly.

Cook 1 onion and 4 chopped cloves of garlic in the same pan, adding splash of water if they start to catch.

Add a 350g jar of ready made tomato sauce (I used Dolmio), 450ml chicken stock, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, and 1tsp tomato paste. Bring to a bubbling simmer.

Add the chopped sausages and 500g potatoes to the pan (small baby new potatoes or larger ones cut in half), lower heat, and simmer for 40mins or until potatoes are cooked.

Enjoy with a plenty of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

This is perfect warming food - a great dish to have now that the weather is starting to turn. It also freezes/reheats well.

If you have a sausage recipe to share, or are looking for inspiration, why not head over to Reluctant Housedad's blog and take a look?