Family | Life | Food | Travel

03 April 2021

Chocolate Bunny Rocky Road - Easter Bakes


Rocky Road is one of those treats that we make time and time again as it's fairly foolproof, quick to create and serves quite a few hungry tums. With Easter on the horizon I decided to create a batch that was a little more seasonal - the bunnies, pastel coloured sprinkles and white chocolate on top certainly helped to provide a springtime look...




Ingredients
Share:

18 May 2015

Mini Makes - Granola Breakfast Bites

We baked Chocolate and Granola Muffins just the other day and this week we decided to make some granola cereal bars which are great as an alternative to a sit down breakfast. Mornings can be busy and sometimes we need to eat on the go for convenience so these are ideal. They are really easy to make too which is always a bonus - I like to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen and as much time with my feet up!




You will need
Share:

11 November 2013

Slow Cooked Curry

A proper winter warmer and so simple too. It's quite mild so it makes this dish ideal for all of the family, but you can of course alter it for a little more heat!


Ingredients

2 onions, diced
2 garlic cloves/tbsp garlic puree
1 heaped tbsp ginger
1 teaspoon chilli
800g chicken (breast or thighs work best)
1 tsp olive oil
30g butter
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
400ml chicken stock
1 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
80ml double cream

Method
  • Cook the chicken in a pan on a low heat with the oil for around 5 minutes then transfer to the slow cooker
  • Add the butter to the pan and once melted add the garlic, onion and spices. Cook for 5 minutes.
  • Add the sugar, salt and stock, bring to the boil and transfer to the slow cooker.
  • Cook on a high heat for 3 hours or a low/auto heat for 6 hours. Add the cream and mix through thoroughly before serving
  • Scoff!
Share:

09 April 2013

The Smoothie Society

Struggling to get the precious five a day in? Fed up of those stinky vitamins that punctuate your mornings? Can't bear the thought of holding your nose yet again as the cod liver oil slowly slides down? Well why not join the ranks of the sworn in soldiers of the smoothie making society?


The world of the smoothie has really advanced over the past few years, and is no longer restricted by the constraints of regular fruits and juices. In dishing yourself out a delicious health kick in the morning; it can be goodbye to orange juice and bananas, and hello to aloe vera juice and wheatgrass powder!

A decent blender needn't set you back the earth, but will open up a universe of possibilities in creating a healthy start to your day. The more traditional smoothie ingredients can be combined with a wide range of interesting ideas to keep things fresh and different. If you’re taking supplements such as muscle building or weight loss protein powders, these can even be added to your blend to keep you away from that tiresome shaker!

Ingredients such as wheatgrass powder supercharge your red blood cells with green plant chlorophyll to help bodily regeneration and cleansing, while aloe vera juice supports a healthy digestive system. Zinc powder and Echinacea will give your immune system a boost, and guarana, ginseng and vitamin E products can all help to provide a dose of energy to set you on your way to an active day.

The beauty of the smoothie is that there is no better way to tailor a culinary creation to your own taste and fancy. Just chuck whatever you like in the blender and as long as you're not barking completely up the wrong tree you should be fine. Taking in certain things, such as carrots, in a raw state can also be favourable to their benefits, or release different goodness to when they are cooked.

There are zero constrictions to adhere to, but below are some ideas of ingredients you can throw together to get you started...

The Traditionalist

Orange juice, apple juice, banana, strawberries, raspberries

The Supercharger

Pineapple juice, aloe vera juice, wheatgrass powder, ginseng juice, mango

The Gym Buff

Pineapple juice, protein powder, oats, banana

The Vitamin Boost

Orange juice, vitamin E powder, carrot, ginger, lemon juice

The tasty treat

Vanilla ice cream, rhubarb, white chocolate, Greek yogurt



What goes in your smoothies?
*Sponsored guest post*
Share:

25 March 2013

Meal Planning Monday

Firstly, happy birthday to the Mr! 31 today. Also a big happy birthday to my brother and uncle who grow a year older today too - March is certainly busy for celebrations. I hope he loves his presents (which include tickets to Nitro Circus, Gentleman Jack Whisky, clothes, chocolates, movies etc) although as usual he gave me no ideas as to what he would like! If he wants something he will generally buy it himself so I was clueless as always. We are having a meal out later in the week to celebrate when all the family are available to join us rather than today although a sneaky fried breakfast out may be on the menu.

Our plans for the weekend were cancelled due to the heavy snow so unfortunately we will need to reschedule our trip to Drayton Manor for another time, although we still enjoyed picnic style food at home with sun hats and Batman costumes....


A fancy dress disco in Minxy's room

This week we will be having...

Slow cooked lamb stew and dumplings
Salmon and gnocchi bake (using some lovely produce from Fish is the Dish)
Chicken and ham pie with veg
Meatball bolognese
A midweek meal out for the Mr's birthday when all the family are available to join us


I'm hoping the weather improves by next weekend or the Easter bunny might get frost bite! We have a few treats to bake this week with the arrival of the Easter holiday and we thoroughly enjoyed baking caramel egg cookies and creme egg brownies last week.


 
What's on your menu this week?


Meal Planning Monday
I'm linking this over with At Home With Mrs M.

Share:

24 September 2012

Meal Planning Monday

With the colder weather comes filling, warming foods. I can't wait to have the slow cooker on a lot more now to make some soups, casseroles and chilli! It's making an appearance this week on Thursday and Friday but it has been packed away a while, the poor thing!




The planner this week... 

Monday - Toad in the hole, mash and peas.
Tuesday - Hunters chicken (chicken, cheese and bacon and bbq sauce) with wedges and veg.
Wednesday - Pizza and Salad (child free and we have one to review).
Thursday - Slow cooked chilli con carne with jacket potatoes (adding in some Heinz FIVE Beanz too)
Friday - Chicken Tikka Masala and poppadoms.

 Next weekend the Mini Mes are off to their dads house. We will keep that free as no doubt we will be out and about catching up with friends and family or eating out.


What's on your menu this week? 
Do you cook differently for the Autumn and Winter months?



I'm linking this over with At Home With Mrs M.

Share:

03 August 2012

Project 366, 216/366 - Hamper

We received a beautiful hamper of goodies today to cook up some goats cheese dishes! We have already made one this morning which we enjoyed at lunch (recipe will be up next week) and we have a few more on the agenda too. Yummy!



TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky
Share:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig