In the Laptop vs the Sewing Machine the former won…

Unfortunately cushion #1 wasn’t finished last night for reasons beyond my control… The sewing machine table is next to the desk on which stands the boy’s new external laptop screen.  And there is only one set of plugs meaning when he has the screen plugged in and the laptop charging there aren’t enough plugs for the sewing machine Why you ask, don’t we get an extension gang thing?  Well, we have, but two of the four plug sockets have broken…  I managed to get a seam done this morning before work which means I have ONE seam left to sew and it’s really infuriating me!  I love finishing things and I was so close   I guess I’ll be rushing home from work tonight so I can finish it before I start tea which will be…

Toad in the hole

1 egg
Salt
Pepper
Mixed Herbs
2 oz plain flour
¼ pint milk
5 sausages (veggie or regular)
Oil

• Fry the sausages for 5-10 minutes.

• Heat some oil in an oven proof dish at 180C.

• Mix the beaten egg, salt, pepper, flour and milk together until there aren’t too many lumps left.  Some people are really fussy about getting rid of all the lumps.  I’m not and it doesn’t seem to affect the end result…

• Lay the sausages in the oven proof dish and pour on your batter.  The key is to do it quickly and use hot oil.

• Cook for about half an hour.  Serve with new potatoes for the summer or roast potatoes for winter.

Edited to add:  There’s another Duck Rescue story out there in the blogosphere!  Meet Petit Filoux who rescued 9 ducks over the weekend!

What a wonderful weekend!

I hope everyone was able to  enjoy the sunshine we’ve been having!  On Saturday we popped over to Leeds where I found an exciting fabric stall on the market.  Luckily I only had £4 with me so I was limited to two metres of polycotton; one green and one purple to make the cushion covers with.  We also had a really yummy lunch at Wagamama’s; their way of thinking really works for me – they assume that you’ll be taking out ingredients which means I can be fussy without feeling a nuisance!  On Sunday we went to Tescos (:() then enjoyed the sunshine.  There is a lovely spot at the end of our road with a small wall so we sat on that and played our Viking game and drank homemade lemonade.  I had visions of people doing much the same back in Viking times but the boy assures me that the Viking city was further down river…  Sunday food was steamed salmon, new potatoes and green beans which was perfect for the hot evening.  I also managed to get started, and almost finished, on one of the cushion covers which is quite exciting!

The week ahead will hopefully see one completed cushion and one half completed cushion (I need more fabric to finish the other!).  It will also involve lots of washing machine loads and packing…

Tonight’s food is sweet potato open ravioli, tomorrow is toad in the hole and then I’m done cooking for the week!  Wednesday I’m out for a meal, Thursday is eating on the run before my final sign language exam (EEK!) and Friday I think we’re having  takeaway to reduce the washing up before we head off on our HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!! (Can you tell I’m excited?)

Sweet potato open ravioli

Three sweet potatoes

Soft cheese

Ground nutmeg

Chilli powder

Salt

Pepper

Oil

Lasagna sheets

Butter

Chopped sage

Pinenuts

• Peel the sweet potato then cut into 1″ chunks.  Toss in a bit of oil, salt and pepper then roast for 20 minutes or until soft.
• Mash the sweet potato with the soft cheese, ground nutmeg and the chilli powder.
• Cook the lasagna sheets as per instructions.
• Melt the butter in a small frying pan.  Add the pinenuts and the sage.
• To serve, lay one sheet of lasagna on the plate, spoon on some of the sweet potato mix, add another layer of lasagna and repeat.  Then drizzle the sage and pinenut butter over the top.

Moroccan Filo Pie

On my way home from work I posted my stitched postcard, photos of which will follow once I know it has been received.  Once home I finished off my rainbow magnet and made a cloud magnet.  Next in the series will be a sunshine magnet!

Last night I made Moroccan Filo Pie and was really pleased with how it turned out.  It tasted good and looked, if I do say so myself, pretty fantastic!

Moroccan Filo Pie (serves 6)

2 tablespoons of oil

3 tablespoons of ras el hanout*

14 oz spinach

2 400g tins of green lentils

270g pack of filo pastry

2 oz pinenuts

3 oz grated cheese

2 tablespoons of fresh parsley and coriander

2 large eggs

• Heat half the oil in a large pan.  Add spices then spinach and a splash of water.  Stir in lentils and tip into a bowl to cool.
• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Stir pinenuts, cheese, herbs and beaten egg into the lentil mix.
• Cut pastry to fit an 8″x11″ dish.  Brush one layer with oil and place in the dish, repeat four times then cover with lentil mix.  Brush remaining pastry with oil, scrunch up and arrange on top.  Cook for 30-40 mins.  Serve with naan bread.

Alternatively make half quantities of the filo pie then use the remain pastry to make chickpea and potato rolls…

Chickpea and potato rolls

1 tin of chickpeas

A few sliced and cooked new potatoes

Handful of chopped coriander

Ground coriander

Ground cumin

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Half a pack of filo pastry

Oil

• Mix the potatoes, chickpeas, herbs and spices.
• Brush a small rectangle of the filo with oil.  Layer with another piece of filo, again brush with oil.  Repeat so there are three layers.
• Spoon on some of the mix.
• Roll the filo around the mix.  Seal edges.  Brush with oil.  Repeat with remaining pastry and mix.  Cook for 15 mins till golden.

*Ras el hanout (makes 1 jar)

2 cinnamon sticks, broken in a few pieces

1 tablespoon each of cloves, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek, fennel seeds and mustard seeds

• Place all ingredients in a frying pan and place over a gentle heat.  Cook until the seeds start to pop then toss them and cook for another couple of minutes.  Grind ingredients whilst still warm.
• Store in an airtight container for one to two weeks.

Macaroni Cheese!

Well the boy has yet to write down a recipe for this but as we made it again last night I stood and took notes!  Unfortunately I work both in metric and imperial so you’ll have to bear with me…

Macaroni Cheese (serves 2 or 3)

3/4 pint of oat/soya/regular milk

knob of butter

1 oz plain flour

Salt

Pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

100g grated lactofree hard cheese

Enough pasta to fill your ovenproof dish (we used penne pasta)

• Preheat the oven to 180.
• Cook the pasta as per the cooking instructions
• In a small pan gently heat the butter and milk, be particularly careful if you’re using soya milk as it splits easily.
• Once the mixture is warm add the salt, pepper and nutmeg then stir in the flour, adding it a bit at a time.  Once you have a thick sauce remove from the heat (you might not use all the flour) and stir in three quarters of the cheese.
• Combine the pasta and sauce in your ovenproof dish.  Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and cook for 20-25 minutes then grill for a further 5 mins.

Chocolate bread and butter pudding!

Just a quick recipe for today:

Chocolate bread and butter pudding

25g/1oz butter, plus extra for greasing
8 thin slices bread
350ml/12fl oz oat milk
2 free-range eggs
25g/1oz granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Chocolate chips

• Butter the bread and grease a dish
• Lay half the bread in the dish
• Whisk the milk and eggs then stir in the cocoa powder and sugar
• Pour half the mixture onto the layer of bread
• Sprinkle on the chocolate chips
• Add another layer of bread then pour on the remaining mixture
• Bake at 180 for 20 mins

Gorgeous Easter weekend food

This bank holiday will be a time for lots of yummy food, eating out and at home:

Sushi from Yo Sushi as mentioned in my previous post

Indian Restaurant because we love Indian food.  I love being able to have lots of little bits of different food, for example I’ll probably have popadoms, veggie samosas, rice and pakora.  I love all the different flavours and textures in one meal.  We make curry alot at home and have attempted some of the other Indian dishes we are partial to but I think we need to venture out and try making more of our own.  It’s so much more fulfilling!

Fish Pie is such a comforting meal and is really filling as well.  Perfect for the cold weather which seems to have hit us!

1 puff pastry sheet

some fish

some prawns

a couple of eggs

potatoes

oat milk

sunflower margarine

lactose free cheese

flour

salt and pepper

• Peel the potatoes then slice and boil them until cooked then layer in the bottom of an oven proof dish
• Hard boil the eggs then peel and quarter them
• Make cheese sauce (am a bit sketchy about how to do this as my partner always makes it…)
• Stir the fish, prawns and eggs into the cheese sauce and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes
• Pour the cheese sauce, fish, prawns and eggs over the potatoes
• Cover with pastry, cover with a bit of grated cheese adn pierce the pastry a couple of times
• Cook for approximately 30-40 mins
• Enjoy!

Yummy Fish Pie

Homemade Pizza is so much better than shop bought.  Although being lactose intolerant and not like tomatoes I would say that wouldn’t I!  We normally use a breadmaker to make the dough for our bases (we used to use shop bought bases but this is much nicer).  For my pizza I use lactose free cheese and go crazy with the mixed herbs and red pepper.  I also find it tastes that bit better if you drizzle a little olive oil over it before putting it in the oven; I’ve been using chilli oil to give it an extra tang!