Butternut Squash and Chickpea stew

I haven't shared a recipe on the blog in a very long time. A few people asked me for this one, after I posted a picture on social media, and it seemed the easiest way.

one onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, grated
one butternut squash, peeled and chopped
one red pepper, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon
one carton of passata
750ml vegetable stock
one tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
150g of lentils

Fry the onion in oil of your choice until softened.
Add garlic, ginger, pepper and squash and fry for a few more minutes.
Stir in the spices.
Add the passata and stock followed by the chickpeas and lentils.
Give it a good stir, bring to the boil, then cover and simmer on low until the squash is tender and the lentils have absorbed the liquid. Season to taste.

This makes 6 good portions to serve with couscous or 4 if you're laying off the carbs. Excluding the spices, which I already had, it cost just under £2 for the ingredients.

Vegetable frittatas

I'm not a great lover of sandwiches. I prefer soup or falafels for my lunches during the week. Another favourite is these mini frittatas. They are super simple to make, quick to cook and will keep for several days in the fridge, if they last that long. Other members of the family have been known to pilfer them for a late night snack.

Firstly chop a selection of veggies. Here I've used a red pepper, half a dozen spring onions and a handful of chestnut mushrooms.

Divide them into a greased 12 cup muffin tray and crumble a cube of feta on top.

Beat 8 large free range eggs in a jug, season and pour over the vegetables.

Bake in the oven at 180 for about 25 minutes, until puffed up and golden on top.

Leave to cool for a few minutes and firm up a bit, before removing from the tin.

Enjoy!

Memorandum Monday ~ Chilli

January seems to be the month of foodie Monday posts. This week is no exception.

On Saturday I cooked Mexican Leek and Blackbean Chilli for the first time....

It was most welcome after a 200 mile round trip, in the driving rain, today.

Joining in with Sian, whose idea it is to share something new we learned or a first.

SIPIDI! ~ Round Up

We've had a very busy week around here, with both children at home. It's been a pleasure to spend time together, between the assignments they've had to complete. The kitchen table has seen a lot of action in the past few days.  It mostly looked like this.....

.....and not a sewing machine in sight. That's OK. I may not have made a great deal of progress on either of my sewing projects, but I do have something to share that made it off my Pinterest boards this month and onto our menu.

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew from Deliciously Ella. A lovely hearty dish, which I have served with wholemeal rice on one occasion and quinoa on the other. Just right, now that the nights are drawing in. A welcome addition to my Meat Free Monday repertoire. I did a few things differently. You knew I was going say that, didn't you?

Steaming the sweet potato seemed a bit of a faff to me. Instead, I roasted it while I had something else in the oven. I only put in one aubergine, because that's what I happened to have on hand, and frozen (whole leaf) spinach in place of fresh. The amount of spice seemed a lot. I cut that down slightly and I didn't have any fresh coriander to garnish the dish.

The recipe is supposed to feed four. It filled a very large pan and there is no way I could have eaten a quarter of it. I would say at least six generous portions.

I've spotted one SIPIDI! post around blogland this month. Karen was inspired by some cards on her Pinterest boards and made a lovely selection, using one of my favourite stamp sets: Gorgeous Grunge.

Now over to you. If you joined in this month let me know in the comments and I'll add you to the SIPIDI! board.

Me on Monday ~ The Meat Free Edition

After a very gloomy end to the week, I had to pick myself up, dust myself off and find a project to focus my energies on.

On Saturday I took a detailed set of measurements and tried to fathom out which size to cut. A welcome break from revision for my girl. A bit of a puzzle for me. Maths was never my strong point, but 3 1/2” of ease seems like far too much in a close fitting princess seamed bodice. I’ll figure it out, I’m sure.

I didn’t feel like cooking a roast on Sunday. The weather turned a bit dismal mid afternoon and a comforting cottage pie seemed like a good choice. This is my Quorn mince version. I was never really one for fake meat when I actually was a vegetarian, but this goes down well with the horde of carnivores in my house.

As for me on Monday? Still feeling a bit fragile. Spent the afternoon prepping lots of veg. Mushroom stroganoff for dinner tonight and a big pot of pasta sauce to split and freeze. Very satisfying. Waving to Sian on this sunny afternoon.

Me on Monday ~ Christmas 2014

Today I’m quietly reflecting, while I watch Moonrise Kingdom catch up with the ironing, on the past few days of family festivities.

On Tuesday….

…..the children decorated the tree.

On Wednesday…...

…..I packed the hampers…..

…..ready to deliver……

…..and whipped up a chocolate tart for the Christmas pudding haters.

On Thursday we….

…..ate…..

…..drank (the shandy that defied logic) and were merry with the inlaws.

On Friday…..

…..we did it all over again at home with Mum.

And we had clementines, always clementines, because…..

…..”Nobody likes the tangerines.”

That was ours. How was yours? Waving to Sian for the last time this year.

Time for a Recipe Tuesday ~ Stroganoff

I cook an evening meal from scratch pretty much every day. However, I’m no domestic goddess and if there’s a shortcut to be taken, I’m there. I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re after a traditional stroganoff then you’ll need to look elsewhere. But, if you want simple and tasty, then you’ve come to the right place.

Mushroom Stroganoff

1 red onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic crushed

400g mushrooms*

2tsp paprika

100-150ml vegetable stock

1tbsp tomato puree

1tsp dijon mustard

100g cream cheese

freshly ground black pepper

Heat a good glug of olive oil in a pan and sweat the onions with a lid on. Once they have softened, add the garlic and mushrooms, stir and replace the lid. Leave to cook for about 10 minutes. Add the paprika and mix well. Stir in the tomato puree and mustard. Pour in the stock. The amount you need will depend on how much juice there is from the mushrooms. Simmer for a few minutes** and stir in the cream cheese, just before you’re ready to serve.

*I prefer chestnut mushrooms and leave them whole if they are small, otherwise I quarter them.

**I usually make it up to this stage earlier in the day, then heat up at dinner time and stir in the cream cheese once the rice is cooked.

Saturday Soup Kitchen ~ The Germ Buster

September was a super busy month. The usual challenges of settling my boy back into the school routine, after six weeks of holidays. Starting my classes again and this year I had a few (too many) extra things thrown into the mix. I shouldn’t have been surprised to get struck down by a nasty cold the day after my birthday!

I discovered A Girl Called Jack’s Ultimate Feisty Soup when I had a similar “back to school” cold last year. It seemed to cure my sore throat overnight and I didn’t go on to develop an awful hacking cough like I usually do. Since then the recipe has evolved into my own comforting soup and I enjoy it just as much when I am well.

I use less tomatoes and extra stock, because I added lentils to make it more of a meal. I happened to have an odd leek hanging about so that went in as well. I was in a hurry so I grated the carrots instead of chopping them. They cook quicker that way and it meant that I didn’t feel the need to blend the soup once it was cooked.

I don’t tend to weigh vegetables for soup so there’s no need to follow the quantities to the letter, it’s just a guide. I have a Paddington mug which I use to measure out my lentils, but that’s not much use to you, so I’ve given a quantity. I use vegetable stock, but you could use chicken, if that’s your preference. If you want chunkier veg then that would work too. Just extend the cooking time.

Germ Busting Soup

1 red onion finely chopped

1 leek finely sliced

4 cloves of garlic crushed

4 carrots (approx 300g) grated

1.5 litres of stock

175g lentils

400g chopped tomatoes

chilli to taste*

fresh ginger grated**

2 tbsp lemon juice***

 

Heat a good glug of olive oil in a large pan.

Throw in the onion and leek (if using) and cook until softened. I put the lid on, and turn down the heat, to sweat them and retain any moisture

Add the garlic and spice and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring.

Add the carrots and stir, then pour in the stock.

Throw in the lentils and stir in the tomatoes.

Add the lemon juice and simmer for 10 mins or until the carrot is soft.

You could blend the soup at this stage if you wanted to, but I like the texture of the lentils so prefer to leave it as it is. Enjoy!

*I use one fresh red chilli or more usually half a tsp from the jar above, because my children like the soup, but not too much heat.

**I keep fresh ginger (peeled and wrapped in foil) in the freezer and just grate a finger’s width in. 1 tsp of ground ginger would do instead.

***Fresh if I have it, otherwise from a bottle is fine.

PS This soup freezes well and I like to keep some on hand during the Winter months

 

 

 

 

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

I posted a picture of my roasted chickpeas on Instagram the other day and Rinda asked if I would share the recipe. It was one of those make it up as you go along experiments. The oven was already on to cook the dinner and I had time on my hands. I’ve been trying to think up some healthier snacks and this fitted the bill.

I used tinned chickpeas, which I rinsed well and then placed on a tea towel. I folded the other half of the cloth over the top and rolled them under my hands to dry. That removed any loose skins and I could easily pick them out.

I put them in a roasting tin, lined with foil, sprayed with olive oil and dusted liberally with smoked paprika and powdered garlic. Followed by a couple of grinds of black pepper and a little sea salt, before placing in the oven at 200 C.

After about 15 minutes I took them out and gave the tin a good shake to turn the chickpeas. Repeated after another 15 minutes and then removed from the oven after another 15 minutes, by which time they were nice and crisp and delicious. 24 hours on, the few I saved (in an air tight container) had gone soft so they want eating up. They’re very moreish and somehow I don’t think that is going to be an issue!

PS If you were expecting SIPIDI! today, I’ve decided to give it a little break over the Summer. It’ll return in September.

Time for a Recipe Tuesday ~ Cornish Fairings

Otherwise known as the easiest and quickest ginger biscuit you’ll ever make.

Fancy a biscuit with your cuppa, but the tin is empty. Only got twenty minutes to spare? That’s plenty of time to make these simple biscuits.

This recipe is from the collection in my very old exercise book, hence the ounces.

Cornish Fairings

3 oz butter or margarine

1 tbsp golden syrup

3 oz sugar

6 oz self raising flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 190 and grease a baking sheet.

Melt the butter/marg and syrup, in a pan, over a low heat.

Stir in the sugar, followed by the rest of the ingredients.

Put spoonfuls of the mixture onto the baking sheet.

Flatten slightly and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Leave to cool and firm up a bit before removing to a cooling rack.

You’re done.

The mixture is quite stiff but don’t worry about that. It makes 16 biscuits. I like mine to be good and gingery, but you can halve the amount of spice, if you prefer. Enjoy.

It’s the perfect recipe, if you want to bake, but don’t have any eggs in the cupboard. Does that just happen to me? Would love to know, if you make them.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my desk, as is the custom around here on Wednesdays.

See it, Pin it, Do it! ~ June Edition

Another month has almost gotten away from me and I haven’t made anything at all from my Pinterest boards during June. Never fear, when I came to write the May edition of SIPIDI! I completely forgot what I was going to talk about. I got all excited about my vintage sheets and told you about them instead. Now, back to the cake.

When it comes to Birthday cake, my girl is very fussy. It must have no sugar based icing, of the buttercream or roll out fondant variety, and definitely no jam anywhere near it. Chocolate is always her first choice for the cakey part. I hesitate to call it sponge because she favours more of a brownie texture.

Over the years, I’ve tried many different recipes in a quest for her perfect chocolate cake. The one we settled upon, about 3 years ago, came from a very old Be-Ro cook book and involved evaporated milk. It was a good cake. Light and moist and very easy to knock up in the food processor. I didn’t use the suggested icing, but topped and filled it with a simple chocolate ganache and it was a winner.

This year I tried something new and apparently it was, “The best Birthday cake ever!”

I particularly enjoyed the slice I had, the day after her Birthday, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Rich and moist *and* easy to make. What’s not to like?

Over to you, lovely readers. What have you been pinning this month? Did something inspire you enough that you had a go yourself? Please share. We’d love to see.

All the SIPIDI! info can be found here and the Pinterest board is here.

See it, Pin it, Do it! ~ April Edition

Hello and welcome to another edition of SIPIDI! It’s time to see whether we’ve put any of those great ideas we pinned to good use. This month I’ve been on the hunt for a great pancake recipe. I quite often cook them for a weekend breakfast and have always used a Nigella recipe to make the thick American style. It’s a throw it all in the blender type of mix, just what you want on a lazy Sunday morning.

I have envied the puffiness of pancakes I’ve seen pictured online, but mine never seem to reach those heights! A friend of mine uses a Jamie Oliver recipe, to make the most wonderful looking thick pancakes, but (and it’s a big but for me) it involves separating three eggs and whisking the whites. I wanted a simpler way to get that fluffiness and I think I’ve found the secret ingredient….buttermilk.

I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and the pancakes were light and fluffy and delicious with a good slug of maple syrup. Success! And no egg separating needed.

So….it’s over to you. If you are a Pinterest user, what kind of things do you like to pin the most?

My SEWING board tops the charts with 44 pins and, to my shame, I have only used two of them. Although, in my defence, a lot of them were ideas I pinned for Five Things I’m Loving This Friday. I have three different RECIPE boards: Savoury, Sweet and Budget. I’ve cooked around half of the Savoury, three of the Sweet and all of the Budget recipes, well there are only two on that last one!

Which pins do you go on to use the most of?

If you’d like to join in this month, all the information can be found here. Just leave me a comment, to point me in the direction of your post, and I’ll add it to the board.

PS You can make your own buttermilk, by adding a tablespoon of white vinegar, or lemon juice, to ordinary milk. It works best with whole milk or semi skimmed.

See it, Pin it, Do it!

Only a week to go until the end of the month and Half Term is almost over. Already?! Welcome to the very first edition of See it, Pin, Do it!

One day last week I was making the dinner, which only involved cooking some rice and heating up the batch cooked chilli I’d defrosted. I had some leftover cream in the fridge and time on my hands. A dangerous combination it seems. I wanted something quick that I could make with what I had in the cupboard.

I had a vague memory of once seeing a TV chef make a chocolate pudding mixture and then pour boiling water over it, before putting in the oven. I turned to Google and came up with this recipe. It took about 10 minutes to throw together and the only thing I did differently was to put it in one large dish and bake for a bit longer.

It was delicious with cream poured over and would be even nicer with some vanilla ice cream. It’s best eaten straight from the oven, slightly cooled. I think it might have been a bit stodgy once it had gone cold. I didn’t have the chance to find out!

My Mum went gluten free a little while ago and has felt all the better for it, so I pinned another version to try next time. There will definitely be a next time.

Over to you now. Have you made something, from an idea you’ve pinned, this month? Just comment here to let me know and if you’ve blogged it (and the post includes an image) I’ll pin you to the SIPIDI board.* It could be something you pinned ages ago or just yesterday and you can join in any time.

I’ve seen one post already, thank you Gemma, and I’m hoping there will be more to come, over the next couple of weeks.  Looking forward to seeing what you’ve created this month.

*That sounds like some form of cruel and unusual punishment.

A New Monthly Meme

A monthly meme you say? That’s something new around here. It is and I really hope that some of you will join me. So what do you need for a meme? An idea is a good place to start. Perhaps a snappy acronym to go with it?

I give you SIPIDI! ~ See It, Pin it, Do it!

How often do you see something, while visiting your favourite blogs or just browsing Pinterest, think it’s a great idea and pin it? If you’re anything like me, then that’s probably quite often. How often do you actually go back and use that idea as inspiration for a project of your own, or cook that delicious recipe? Not quite so often? Well, lets do it then.

Towards the end of each month, I’ll link to at least one thing that I’ve pinned to my boards on Pinterest and show you what I’ve made. It could be a card, a sewing project, a recipe, or anything else that takes my fancy. Are you with me?

Here is where I’m really hoping that somebody out there is saying, “Yes!”

This month I’ve been trying out quite a few new recipes. Being a great lover of chickpeas, this was a favourite with me. Jardaloo Ma Murghi or Curry with Apricots.

As you can see, mine doesn’t look quite like the picture, although I did follow the recipe fairly closely. I think the original looks almost like sweet and sour. My apricots were in juice and I have a feeling that Jack’s may have been in syrup, to get that shiny quality to the sauce.

I’ve made it twice now and I did change a few things. I used dried chickpeas the first time, as specified, but you have to be organised a day ahead for that. I’ve always got the tinned variety in the cupboard and it worked equally well, when I substituted those, along with some peaches, when I couldn’t get apricots.

I prefer cumin seeds to the ground stuff, I think they have a nicer aroma when you fry them. I now use Very Lazy Chillis from the jar, because I developed a particularly nasty burning sensation, all over the palms of my hands, after chopping a fresh chilli a few months ago. The recipe says 5 apricots, which was much more than a third of my tin. There were 14 halves so I used 10 of them. When I switched to peaches I used 5 halves. Otherwise I stuck to the recipe.

As suggested, the leftovers were indeed delicious the next day in a wholemeal pitta.

Have you been inspired enough, by something on your boards this month, to have a go? If you have then point me in the right direction in your comment. If you’re interested in joining in, then let me know that too and I’ll have a go at setting up a proper linky at the end of February.

PS If you like the look of the recipe and I can heartily recommend it, then don’t forget to pin from the source, rather than the picture on my blog.

Coffee and a Catch Up ~ January 2014

I’m linking up with the lovely Abi today. She invites us all to “Sit and have a cup of tea” with her and share our news.

Being British, we might well start by talking about the weather. Specifically, the endless rain we have had this month. I took this photo standing on the bridge, that leads across the river to the library. The water was sloshing right under my feet and was more or less level with the bank on the far side. We’ve lived here for six years now and I’ve never seen it quite that high before. Imagine if the library were to get flooded. In fact, no, I don’t even want to think about that. *shudder* Here in the South it’s been a very mild Winter without the crisp cold days and clear skies I love.

It’s mock exam season around here and with one embarking on his A Levels and the other her GCSEs, there’s a lot of revision needing to be done. Everyone needs a break though and not being able to get out much, we’ve been getting cosy and enjoying a film or a good board game and plenty of hearty casseroles. I’ve tried a few new recipes this month, some of which I’ll be sharing here, on the blog, very soon. Have you got a favourite tried and tested Winter warmer? I’m loving my slow cooker and it’s had quite a workout these past few weeks. So glad I bought it.

Have a look at this lovely selection of fabrics I received in the mail last week. I’m trying to be a bit more organised this year and get ahead with my blocks. The colours on the right are for Amy’s theme of “Seaside colours, washed and worn.” The silvery grey reminded me of driftwood. The two on the left are for Beverly’s Caribbean colour scheme. I already have some fabric in my stash to go with them. It’s so much fun picking out colours for everyone and I’m really enjoying this project. Maybe you’re joining in too. How are you finding it so far? Are you getting a little more adventurous as the months go by or, like me, sticking to a plan for everyone?

I’m a little late to the party, but in other news, I joined Instagram this month. Of course you may have already guessed that from the square photos gracing this blog post. The above being the almost mandatory lunch shot. I’m loving it. Beverly suggested that Friendship Quilt folk could post fabrics, that fitted their own colour scheme, to give others an idea of what they were hoping to receive. Does that sound like a good idea? I think most of you are already members, although not necessarily active ones. I am @angelfishcrafts over there and will be using the hashtag “friendshipquilt” unsurprisingly!

It’s been lovely to see you here today and I’ll be round to catch up on all your news soon. ‘Til the next time x

Salad Days and Curry Nights

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be stood over the stove for too long on hot evenings. When we have a run of good weather, that can pose a problem. There is only so much salad I can serve up, before I have a mutiny on my hands! This curry from The Hairy Dieters book is lovely and fresh and cooks very quickly.

I’ve adapted it to feed 4 people. They are generous portions so it would feed 2 adults and 3 children. In the book the sauce is thickened with cornflour, but I prefer not to.

Coconut Prawn Curry

4 tbsp medium curry paste

2 tbsp cold water

1 large onion, very finely sliced

1 orange & 1 yellow pepper

2 tbsp mango chutney

500g vine ripened tomatoes

400ml tin half fat coconut milk

300g cooked king prawns

200g baby spinach leaves

Put the curry paste in a large pan and mix in the water. Gently soften the onion for 5 minutes, then add the peppers (chopped in large chunks) for a few more minutes.

Add the tomatoes (cut into 6-8 wedges) mango chutney and stir in the coconut milk. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.*

Add the prawns and baby spinach. Continue to simmer gently for another 5 minutes.

I serve with basmati rice and sometimes forget to put it on soon enough. The curry is done in just under 20 minutes. Perfect for these sunny days we’re having.

I spent the morning trainer shopping, with a boy who has suddenly become very fussy about his footwear. Time for an ice cold drink and a catch up with The White Queen, before I get too far behind. Anyone else watching?

*If you want to thicken the sauce add your cornflour paste at this point.

 

 

 

 

My Month in Numbers ~ March 2013

Having failed to post my numbers for February, I thought I’d get in early this month. March started with an eighty mile road trip, to meet up with nine lovely ladies, for two whole days of uninterrupted crafting time, in beautiful Herefordshire.

The following Friday was a mufti day for the children and they went off to school proudly wearing the two t-shirts they had made themselves.

On Mothering Sunday, I received this package, which contained two bars of my favourite Green & Blacks, along with a hand drawn card from my son.

My daughter gave me these two paper dolls she had drawn, of herself and her brother in their home made t-shirts.

Spring seems to be a little late putting in an appearance this year, but two bunches of daffodils help to bring a hint of it into the house.

I made twelve cards, including one for my niece who turned seventeen this month, along with Ten twinchies and twenty inchies for a swap.

I tried two new recipes, including this yummy Keralan style prawn curry from the Hairy Dieter’s book. I read two books: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, which I enjoyed and Neverwhere, which I loved. I watched thirteen episodes of The Killing. I know I’m late to the party, but I’m enjoying catching up. Gotta love Lovefilm.

That’s my March. A bit of a random mix this month and there are a lot of ‘twos’ in there! For lots more numerical posts head on over to Julie’s place.