Cauliflower Pakoras; great finger food for kids

Cauliflower pakoras are something I'd never made before until recently, but as part of my 7 a day challenge I made some vegetable pakoras using peas and loved them.  When I moved house a few days back and restocked my cupboards (including buying some gram flour), the helpful assistant in the shop suggested cauliflower was pretty good and, in fact her favourite.  She also said that fresh spinach was, in her opinion much better in Indian food than frozen.

I always like a bit of advice when it comes to cooking so I gave it a go.  The jury is out in the spinach.  In my opinion frozen is just as good but the great thing about baby spinach is you can use it as a salad vegetable or cook with it and it just so happened I had some in my fridge so I went with it.
Traditionally I don't think the cauliflower is precooked but although I don't like soggy cauliflower, I'm not overly keen on cauliflower which bites back either so I partially precooked mine.

 

Caulflower pakoras - serves 2-3

 

Ingredients

 

7 Small cauliflower florets
30g, 1oz Fresh spinach, finely shredded
100g, 3.5oz Gram flour (chickpea flour, garbanzo bean flour, besan)
2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp Madras curry paste (or more if cooking for adults if liked)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 tsp Baking powder (use gluten free if avoiding gluten)
75 - 150ml Cold water
Oil for frying
 

Method

Part cook the cauliflower by boiling for approx 4 minutes so still firm but almost cooked.  Cut into halves.

Heat up approx 1 inch of vegetable oil in a deep saucepan.  Never leave hot oil unattended.
 

Mix the flour, curry paste, lime and baking powder with enough water to make a batter like consistency.

Add in the spinach then add in the cauliflower.  Try a drop of batter in the oil, if it sizzles immediately, put a coated piece of cauliflower and see how it cooks.  If it browns too quickly but the batter is still runny inside, lower the heat.  If it takes a long time and seems greasy, increase the heat.

Cook in batches of 3-4.  Leave to drain on kitchen roll then serve as a starter, a side dish or as I did for my son with some rice cooked with peas and some mango chutney mixed with plain yogurt to dip.
 

Reheating:  Once cooked, keep in the fridge and either eat cold (although they do go a bit soft) or much better, reheat in a preheated 180oC / 350F oven for approx 6-10 minutes or until warmed through and crisp.  It's almost worth making extra to have the leftovers with no effort the next day!?

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Weetabix Cake

Weetabix cake?  Am I serious?  Well I'd been trying different ways of using cereals quite a bit recently what with rice krispies with mackerel but I'd never found a way of using them in cakes like I had with bran loaf.  Shreddies seemed promising but were a bit of a failure when I gave them a go.  Who knew Weetabix would work?

This tastes similar to my bran loaf, loads of fibre, sweet whilst being low in added sugar, dairy free fat free and lovely with a pot of tea!

Weetabix Cake

Ingredients

2 Weetabix (or own brand equivalent)
350ml, 12 fl oz Decaffeinated tea (just make with one decaf teabag)
110g, 4oz Muscovado or soft brown sugar
280g, 10oz Sultanas (golden raisins)
1 egg
225g, 8oz Self Raising Flour (or all purpose / plain flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)
1 tsp mixed spice

Method

Crush up the weetabix, mix with the sugar and dried fruit.  Soak in the tea for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 160oC.  Mix in the spice, flour and egg and pour into a greased silicone loaf tin or a greased and lined conventional loaf tin.

Bake for about 1hour 10 mins (in my oven anyway) or until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Eat warm or cool.  Keeps reasonably well despite being fat free.

Make it Thrifty

Keep an eye out for value or smart price packs of self raising flour, breakfast cereal and dried fruits.  They work just as well in this as the more expensive packs.

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7 a Day Challenge; Day 3 - Vegetable Pakoras

7 fruits and vegetables a day is a bit harder than I thought.

A few days ago, I set myself a challenge to eat 7 fruits and vegetables minimum in 7 days to see how it affected me, my wellbeing and how hard or easy it might be.

I'm on day 3 now and I need to find ways to liven things up!

Breakfast

I was at work early today so took breakfast of rice crispies and a banana.  This is actually far more than I'd normally eat for breakfast so I ended up saving the banana for mid morning.  I will definitely be stretching myself more from a culinary point of view at the weekend when I have more time!

Lunch

Lunch was Gazpacho again (2 portions of vegetables) due to making a double batch yesterday with watermelon and a satsuma afterwards.  I was up to 5 of my 7 after lunch but felt the need to 'retox' with some chocolate cake.  A girl needs something unvirtuous!

Tea

Ok... this week has been harder (even by day 3) than I expected.  I needed fried.  So wrong.  I know, I had chocolate there was even some sugar on the rice crispies.

But the problem is I'm just so full!  Maybe I don't eat big portions but 7 lots of vegetables, in the portion sizes recommended really limits what else you can eat.

So I needed fried.  I needed something which felt wrong even if it was full of vegetables.  Pakora it is!

Vegetable Pakoras - Makes enough for two

Ingredients

100g, 3.5oz Gram Flour (chickpea flour, garbanzo bean flour, besan)
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp  Curry Paste (as hot as you want it to be, I was cooking for myself so used madras but I'd use korma paste for my son)
60g, 2oz Defrosted frozen chopped spinach
60g, 2oz Defrosted frozen peas
2 Spring onions (scallions)
Juice 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp Baking powder (gluten free is easily available if avoiding wheat)
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander, chopped (cilantro)
70 - 100ml, 2.5 - 3.5 floz water

Oil for frying
Mango chutney to serve

Method

Mix the flour, spice, curry paste and lemon juice.  Mix in enough water to make a batter about the thickness of pancake batter.

Add in the baking powder, spinach, peas and spring onions and mix well.

Heat up about an inch or couple of cm of oil in a saucepan and when it's hot, drop a spoonful into the fat.  Cook until well browned turning a few times.  Use this 'trial' pakora to check that it's cooked through by breaking it open.  If it's a bit runny in the middle chalk that one up to experience and, turn the heat down a bit to cook the others.

Drain on kitchen paper and serve.  Update:  Store any leftovers in the fridge for a couple of days and reheat at 200oC for 6-10 minutes or until warmed through and crisp again on the outside.

I have to admit, I was going to have this with some carrot salad but I just fancied the pakora.  I know but they were delicious.  I could only manage to eat half of the batch which actually means I'm a bit light on my vegetable count for the day...

Or am I?  Under the '5 a day' rules anyway, pulses were permitted for one of the 5 a day... so my chickpea flour counts!  Result!

The pakora might not have been fabulous for the waistline but they were great for the soul.

7 a day done!  Kinda.  Why does it feel I've achieved it via a technicality?  7 portions of 10 different fruits and vegetables; banana, satsuma, tomato, pepper (capsicum), cucumber, watermelon, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), spinach, peas and spring onions (scallions).

I would be absolutely honoured if you would consider nominating me in the Britmums BIB awards, especially the food category.

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Mild Chicken and Vegetable Curry for kids

My son has been off curries recently.  Nursery have tried but he'd been really reluctant.  Stupidly I then started to avoid cooking curries.  I always say the only way to ensure your child is fussy is to stop offering certain foods and there I was doing it myself!

As a child who grew up in the UK midlands, not liking curry is not an option!

So faced with some chicken and chicken stock which needed using up from Sunday lunch one week, I made this.  Nothing authentic about it but it was very tasty.

Mild Chicken Curry - serves 1 adult and 1 toddler

Ingredients

1/2 onion, fined chopped
1 Garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp Oil
1 rounded tsp Korma curry paste
400-600ml, approx 1 pint chicken stock or water (I used 200ml home made chicken stock made from the bones of the Sunday joint and 300ml water, see method below)
30g, 1 oz Red lentils
30g, 1 oz Frozen chopped spinach
2-3 small leftover waxy potatoes
A large handful of leftover chicken
1/4 tsp Garam masala

To serve; basmati rice; frozen peas.

Method

Fry the onion in the oil for a few seconds until starting to brown.  Add in the garlic followed by the curry paste.  Stir then add the stock and / or water.  Make sure you're using low salt or home made salt free stock if you are using it.

Add the lentils and boil, covered for 10 minutes.  Check and stir adding in more boiling water if it's starting to reduce too much.  Once boiled, simmer until the lentils are cooked.  This can take 5-20 minutes depending on the age of the lentils.

Once cooked you can leave the sauce until later when you're ready to eat.  Refrigerate if it's going to be more than an hour or so.

When ready to eat, cook some basmati rice on a hob adding in a large handful of frozen peas in the last 2-3 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, reheat the sauce and add the spinach.  When it's melted into the sauce add in the chicken and potatoes and heat through.

Last minute stir the garam masala into the curry and serve with the rice and pea mixture.  A great source of hidden vegetables (peas in the rice, spinach and lentils in the curry) and a great source of protein (chicken and lentils) but the best thing was, even though it was mild for me, it was still flavoursome and my son LOVED it!  Everything went!  Yay Mummy!

Then we followed this up with banana and custard.  Well I am from the midlands... :-)

Make it Thrifty

This is a darned thrifty recipe anyway because it uses up leftovers (chicken, stock, potatoes) but you could use whatever you have left.  Cooked cauliflower warmed through might be particularly good.  I've been vague on the quantities of chicken but it really doesn't matter.  Use what you have!

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Sugar Free Apple Scones

I'm sorry, these must be the ugliest scones ever made but they do taste nice.

My son used to have this huge thing about dried apple, then, overnight, with a huge bag left in the cupboard, he decided he didn't like it anymore.

So I tried these for size and I think they're lovely (if extremely ugly!)

Apple scones - makes approx 8 small scones

Ingredients

225g, 8 oz SR flour or plain (all purpose) flour with 2 tsp baking powder
50g, 1.75oz Butter or dairy free margarine
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon (Cinnamon powder)
100ml, 3.3 floz Apple juice
130g, 4.5 oz Dried apple

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC (Fan), 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

Put the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, butter and chopped pieces of dried apple into a food processor.  Process till the butter is rubbed in and the apple is in small pieces (don't carry on till they disappear though!)

Turn out into a bowl and add the apple juice.  Bring together into a dough and pat out into a thick layer, certainly no thinner than an inch.  Cut using a small, round fluted or straight cutter.  Mine was 6cm (a bit more than 2 inch) diameter.

Put on a floured baking tin and reroll the scraps until the dough is used.

Brush the tops with milk (optional) and bake for 10-12 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Serve with butter and / or apple butter if liked (if you're not worried about them being sugar free) or these would also be equally at home with cheese.  Tasty.  My son looked at them and said "no", I suggested he tried a bite and he loved them.  Just so ugly... Sorry!

Best served on day of baking or freeze, defrost and warm through slightly in a microwave.

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Dairy Free Bran Loaf - great for the whole family

People who have been here from the start might recognise this recipe.   Well I've reviewed it, changed it slightly and photographed it.  It is a great one though, loads of fibre from the cereal and dried fruit and very low in sugar so I felt like it needed more prominence!

Bran Loaf - makes one loaf

Ingredients

60g, 2oz, 1 cup All Bran cereal (the regular plain kind)
180g, 6.5oz, 1 cup Sultanas (golden raisins)
60g, 2oz, 1/3 cup Soft brown sugar
250ml, Approx 1 and a bit cups decaf black tea (or chose a fruit tea if liked)
1 egg
1 tsp Mixed spice (apple pie spice)
150g, 5.5oz Self Raising flour (or all purpose flour plus 1.5 tsp baking powder)

Method

Pour the hot tea over the cereal, sultanas and sugar and leave to one side for at least an hour.

When ready to cook, put the oven on to 175oC, 350F, Gas mark 4.

Mix the sultana mix then add in the egg, spice and flour with a little more water if needed.

Line a loaf tin or spray a silicone loaf tin with oil spray.  Scoop the mix into the baking dish and bake for approx 50-60 minutes or until cooked through.

Cool on a wire rack and serve with a nice cup of tea (for Mummy) or a nice cup of warm milk (for my wee man.)

The MAD blog awards are open; I would love it if you would nominate me.

Here is the link:  http://www.the-mads.com/vote/ if you'd get the chance, I would like to be considered for the "best food blog" category.  My blog URL is this:  http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk

I've linked up to Nomday Monday

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Crispy Mackerel Salad

So this was a meal for one and a delicious one at that.  It can be difficult to motivate children to eat well but I find my own diet can sometimes be lacking, especially when I'm eating alone.  This is a source of omega 3, tasty and delicious, even if you're a touch reluctant when it comes to oily fish.  Most importantly though, after a long day, it's quick.

Crispy Mackerel - Serves 1

Ingredients

2 tbsp Sweet chilli sauce
1 Mackerel fillet, defrosted if frozen
15g, 1/2 oz Rice Krispies
15g, 1/2 oz Plain flour / all purpose flour
Spray oil

Salad, rice and sweet chilli sauce to serve.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.

Crush the rice krispies and mix with the flour.

Skin the mackerel if liked.  Cut into thick strips about the width of a finger.  Dunk each strip into sweet chilli sauce and then into the flour mix.

Put onto a tray lined with non stick baking paper spray with oil and bake for approx 15 minutes or until crisped on the outside and cooked through.

Serve with salad and / or rice with a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.

The MAD blog awards are open and although I do feel embarrassed to ask, I would love it if you would nominate me.

Here is the link:  http://www.the-mads.com/vote/ if you'd get the chance, I would love, love, love to be considered for the "best food blog" category.  My blog URL is this:  http://mamacook.blogspot.co.uk

Thank you.  x

Make it Thrifty:

Frozen mackerel fillets are a great way to keep costs down.

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Smoked Mackerel Fish Cakes

I may worry (probably unduly) about my child's nutrition but it can be difficult to encourage kids to eat oily fish. Oily fish is an excellent source of Omega 3 oils.  Omega 3 are a group of oils which, although the jury is out on the specific health effects; it's generally believed they're pretty good things to have in your diet.  Sources include things like salmon, herring, sardines, mackerel, fresh tuna, pollock (at lower levels) etc.  There are other sources but oily fish is the most concentrated.  This might not look like a lot of mackerel in the recipe but there's about five times more omega 3 in mackerel than there is in cod.

So how to get this goodie into your child's diet?  A challenge and I've linked some other oily fish recipes at the end if you'd like some more ideas!

Smoked Mackerel Fish Cakes - made 6

Ingredients

1 Potato (mine weighed just over 200g, 7oz before peeling)
85g, 3oz Butternut squash (peeled weight)
1 tsp mild, grainy mustard
25g, 1oz Hot smoked mackerel (i.e. the type which is ready to eat)
Spray oil

Method

Peel the potato and cut the butternut squash into chunks and then boil together in water for approx 20-25 mins or until fully cooked.  Drain well then mash together using a potato masher.  Allow to cool.

Flake the mackerel into the mash mix and add the mustard.  The mix might be a bit soft but once you get your hands in it should be pretty mouldable.

Mix well then shape into fishcakes and put on a lined baking tray.  Cover and chill until ready to cook.

When ready to cook, preheat an oven to 200oC, 400F, gas mark 6.

Uncover and spray the tops with spray oil.  Bake for 25-30 mins or until brown.

My 3 year old ate 4 of them (he asked for seconds).  I think that's a hit!

Make it Thrifty:

Try using leftover vegetables to make this to keep costs down and why not cook something else in the oven at the same time?  Like sweet potato wedges to have on the side (or roast carrots and radishes like I did if you're feeling more adventurous) or a crumble for pudding?

Here are some other great oily fish recipes for your family:





Tuna Meatballs

Fish Pie











Herb crusted Salmon

Baked Salmon Fishcakes







January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies' and this recipe has hidden veg and Omega 3.  I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge:

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No added sugar, nut free Granola

I find commercial granolas a bit too sweet if I'm honest and although my son loves things like this for breakfast, they're also pretty expensive and, as a three year old, there is still a choking risk on larger nuts.  Not of course if you make it yourself and control what goes in!  This is refined sugar free!

I have to be totally honest and say the chunks weren't all as quite as big as I would have liked but I suspect I might have to add more honey to make that happen.  There were some satisfyingly large bits though and a tasty and pretty healthy option for breakfast.

This should be for over 1's only due to the honey but also be guided by your child and their ability to chew the delicious chunky bits!  My son has been eating things like this since he was around 2 years old.

Raisin and Apple Granola makes around 400g (14oz)

Ingredients

2 tbsp Runny honey (substitute for golden syrup, maple syrup or agave nectar to make vegan)

2 tsp Oil (chose a mild, flavourless oil with high monounsaturates for health, like rapeseed)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

250g, 9oz Porridge oats

75g, 2.5oz Unsweetened dessicated coconut

4 tbsp Apple juice

2 tbsp Sunflower seeds

150g, 5.5oz Raisins

50g, 2oz Dried apple

Method

Preheat the oven to 170oC, 325F, Gas mark 3.

Mix the oats, coconut and seeds together in a bowl.

In a microwavable cup or jug mix the honey, vanilla, oil and juice.  Microwave for approx 30-45 seconds or until the honey mixes in well with the remaining liquids.

Pour the liquids over the dry mix and mix in well.  Turn onto a lined swiss roll tin and press into a layer.

Bake for approx 10 -15 minutes, give it all a stir and bake again for 5-10 more minutes; around 20 mins in total until you have crunchy browned pieces with no soggy bits.

Leave to cool then mix with the raisins, chopped up dried apple and pour into a sealable box (e.g. tupperware).

Serve with dairy or soy milk or yogurt and fruit.  My son loved this and suddenly wasn't quite so interested in Shreddies anymore!

I've linked this up here.

Make it Thrifty:

Look out for 'value' or 'smart price' packs of porridge oats, they work fine and are much cheaper than the branded varieties.

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Turkey Sliders for all ages

A slider, so I'm told is a small burger.  I've mixed these up by making them with turkey (seasonal) but also sneaking in some hidden vegetables (why not) and a bit of spice!  These are super easy and healthy because they're made with white meat and baked not fried.

I do have a bit of love for sweet chilli sauce.  Although when my son was under 1 I diligently avoided giving him sugar as much as possible, I eased up as he got older.  Sweet chilli as an ingredient is a great way to introduce some gentle spicing in a way that is more predictable than using a small amount of chilli.

He tried some of my sliders with sweet chilli sauce but on balance preferred his served with ketchup.  Had I got any in the house, I would have served these with baked sweet potato wedges but I didn't so I served with cooked carrot sticks instead.  Might seem a bit strange but he loved it!

Turkey Sliders - made 5

Ingredients

125g, 4.5oz Minced (ground) turkey
60g, 2 oz Grated courgette (zucchini)
1 tbsp Thai style sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp chopped fresh Coriander (cilantro)

Method

Mush all of the ingredients together then shape into patties and chill on a tray lined with baking paper and covered with cling film (saran wrap).

When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.  Remove the film and bake for approx 18 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve in small buns with lettuce and either sweet chilli sauce or tomato ketchup.  I have to admit I liked them and I'd be tempted to make them again just for me!

It just so happens that January's Family Foodies challenge is all about 'hidden goodies'.  Is there a more appropriate challenge for Mamacook?  I think not!  So I've submitted this along with a few other recipes to Bangers and Mash and Eat your veg's challenge:

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Child friendly Prawn Laksa

Laksa isn't an obvious choice for a preschooler but why not?  Most kids I know are fans of prawns and noodles.

I've toned this all down a bit to make it friendly for kids who aren't big fans of spice.  Although my son does have more spice in his food than he sometimes realises, last time his Dad cooked him a curry, he was less then keen and apparently ended up eating fish fingers so I went gentle (but noticeable) on the spicing here.

He looked at it.  Said "I don't think I like that"
I said "Have you tried a prawn?"
He said "Ooh, no"
Has a couple of bites, then starts eating the mushrooms and noodles.  I'm trying to photograph my portion while my stomach is rumbling because it smells pretty good (I'm not one of those food bloggers who cooks to photograph, I cook to eat.)
"Mummy this is yummy"
And indeed it was :-)
A touch too mild for me but there was spice there and a real depth of flavour.  You can do as I did and slice up a little raw red chilli to put on top for a bit of zing.  It's great to be able to make a dish that you can adapt for everyone in the family without feeling you're having a huge turkey twizzler compromise or reaching for the pack of emergency fish fingers...

Don't be scared by the long list of ingredients, this is a piece of cake.

Laksa - Serves 1 adult and 1 child

Ingredients
Paste
50g, scant 2oz Onion, chopped (half an onion)
2 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 heaped tsp smooth peanut butter
2 slices of green chilli, seeds removed (approx 1/4 of a chilli, use more if liked)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp chopped ginger (see 'make it thrifty' below)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water

For the Laksa
1 tsp vegetable oil
150g, 5oz raw prawns (see 'make it thrifty' below)
100g, 3.5oz mushrooms
Half of a tin, approx 200ml, 7 fl oz canned coconut milk
1/2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tbsp fish sauce
Juice of half a lime
1 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) plus more to serve
150g, 5oz straight to wok rice noodles (see 'make it thrifty' below)
Additional lime and chilli to serve if liked.

Method

Chop the onion and garlic and put into a jug or small blender with the remaining paste ingredients.  Blend until smooth (I use a stick blender and a jug which I find which is the best way to make a spice paste as in a large blender, you often find bits get stuck).  You can make this earlier in the day and leave it covered in the fridge if you like.

When ready to cook, devein the prawns if liked (I prefer to if I have time) and quarter the mushrooms (or halve if small).

Heat a tsp of oil in a wok, add the paste and heat through.  Add the coconut milk (make sure if you're using half a can you use half of the thick stuff and half of the thin) and another tbsp fish sauce and bring to the boil.  Add the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the prawns, after a minute add the cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with a little water before adding.  Bring to a bubble and put in the noodles.

Heat through then add the lime juice and chopped coriander (cilantro) then serve sprinkling with extra coriander (cilantro) leaf, lime and sliced red chilli if liked.

Make it Thrifty:

I buy frozen ginger as it means it doesn't go off.  It's not that different in price to fresh ginger and it's frozen in portions of about a tbsp.  For this, just allow it to defrost before making the paste.  I also buy raw prawns frozen.  The great thing about buying them frozen is you can be sure of the freshness and again you're not going to have the waste.  Or you could make it with vegetables instead.

In general I'm not a fan of the straight to wok noodles (sorry manufacturers), I find them too soft.  The only reason I used them here was because I couldn't get any dried rice noodles but you can make it far cheaper by using dried noodles and cooking as per pack instructions.

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Onion Bhajis for Toddlers and Grown ups

Onion bhajis or pakoras; is there a more convenient finger food?  They are so ridiculously easy and cheap to make yourself too and you can mix up the type of vegetables in them.  Here I've included a bit of carrot.

My son liked them but only the bits with smaller onion pieces, he found the long bits a bit stringy.  Next time I might make them with more finely chopped or grated vegetables.  He was a big fan of the spicy yoghurt dip though which surprised me.

Onion Bhajis - makes plenty for one adult and one child

Ingredients

100g, 3.5oz Gram (chickpea) flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp Garam masala
1-2 tsp Medium or mild curry paste
110g, 4oz Onions, sliced
Half a carrot, finely grated
Juice of half a lemon

Oil to cook

Spicy yoghurt dip (optional)
1 tbsp yoghurt
2 tsp medium curry paste
1 tbsp mango chutney

Method

Mix the garlic, spices and lemon juice together.  Add the gram flour and mix to a thick paste with approx 10 tbsp water, add it slowly until it's a thick batter only just thinner than a paste.  Add in the onions and carrot mixing to coat.  Make it thicker rather than thinner.

Heat a couple of cm / an inch or so of oil in a deep frying pan until a small amount browns in 2 minutes.  You don't want it too hot.

Drop dessert spoons of the mix into the oil and fry on both sides until browned.  Drain on kitchen paper while you cook the rest.

Serve as a starter or a side dish with dhal or as I have here as a simple lunch with a spicy yoghurt dip and some rice cooked with peas.  For younger kids or ones less keen on spice they might just prefer to dunk into mango chutney.

If just making for grown ups or for kids who are more keen on spicy foods, add some chilli or use a hotter curry paste.  If your child is less keen on spicy foods, you could miss out the curry paste completely so they are flavoursome without being at all hot.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a pretty cheap recipe as it is but I believe you could make them with plain flour rather than buying chickpea flour but I've never tried it.  Another way to keep costs down is to use a wok to fry them as they often have a narrower tapered base so you use less oil.  Also keep an eye out for large packs of Indian spices in supermarkets.  They're often cheaper than the small branded supermarket ones.  If you share a big bag of garam masala with a friend it will cost you far less.

I've linked this up to the wellness weekend.

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Gingerbread men

...or considering the time of year... Gingerbread Mummies!!!

I posted a recipe for Gingerbread men a while back (or ninja bread men, I do like a play on words!)  This though is adapted to give a lighter result which is less dominated by anything other than the ginger flavour.  I found the treacle in the old recipe tended to drown out the spicy warmth.
Gingerbread Men � Makes 8-20 depending on size

Ingredients

60g, 2oz Butter or margarine (use non dairy to make dairy free)

60g, 2oz Caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp Runny honey

115g, 4oz Plain (all purpose) flour

1 tbsp Ground Ginger (Powdered Ginger)

Pinch mixed spice (pumpkin pie spice)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC, 350F, Gas Mark 4.  

Cream the butter and sugar, add the honey, vanilla extract, cream together then mix in the dry ingredients.  Bring together with your hands and kneed lightly.  Roll out thinly, using flour to dust and cut out the men.  Reroll any scraps and repeat.

Put the men or shapes onto baking trays lined with non stick baking paper.

Bake for approx 8-10 minutes or until starting to brown and crisp (they won't be completely crunchy until allowed to cool).

Cool on a wire rack, then decorate.

I did the gingerbread man "Mummy" decoration with a simple plain buttercream and a narrow plain nozzle criss crossed over the men.  I then cut off the excess at the sides of the biscuits and did the eyes with some black writing icing (I can never find I get a 'true' black from home colours.)

I have no idea whether having one of these is better than eating a pile of sweets.  Ok, one of these is obviously better than a pile of sweets but I have always thought that home baking, even unashamedly full on, naughty ingredients home baking like this is somehow more fulfilling than sugary sweets.  Hey, I could be wrong but it makes me feel good.

Store in an airtight tin and they should keep a couple of days.

There's no need to decorate these in the Hallowe'en style I've suggested, you could make it more traditional or, a great idea for a kids party, get some writing icing and get them to decorate them themselves!  Surprisingly popular with adults as well as kids!

Over 1 year olds only please because of the honey.  Enjoy!

Make it Thrifty:

A pretty cheap recipe as it is but look out for bags of Indian or Chinese spices rather than buying ginger in tiny jars.  It does lose a bit of potency over time but it still keeps reasonably well.

I've linked this lovely old recipe up to the Spice Trail Ginger challenge.

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Slow Cooked Mexican Style Beef - Makes two meals

After my thrifty food posts and the weather becoming cooler, I thought I'd look at beef brisket again.  I mean I do love a good pot roast and love leftover cottage pie even more but woman cannot live by pot roast alone!

So I thought I'd mix up the flavours a bit and see if I could make a dish with a super easy leftover idea.

Slow Cooked Mexican Style Beef - Day 1 - serves 2 adults (or more if you don't want leftovers)

Ingredients

800g beef brisket
2 onions, cut into wedges
2 tbsp oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 chilli, chopped (without seeds)
125ml red wine
1 red, yellow or orange pepper (capsicum)
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tsp smoked paprika

Method

Fry the onion in half the oil.  Put into a slow cooker with the garlic, chilli, pepper, tomatoes and paprika.

Fry the brisket in the remaining oil.  Put into the slow cooker.  Deglaze the pan with the red wine.

Cook on high for 1 hour and then low for at least 4 hours or until very tender.

Serve the meat with some of the vegetables if liked (drain off but keep the juices), add avocado, coriander (cilantro), sliced raw onion, tomato and avocado if liked.  Add seasoning if you like, maybe some pickled jalapenos if you really must and devour.  (Keep a napkin on hand!)

Mindblowingly delicious if a little messy.

Chill the leftover beef and sauce for the next day.

Slow Cooked Beef Chilli (day 2) - serves 2 generously

Ingredients

Left over beef and sauce from the previous day
1 tin of cooked red kidney beans (or pinto beans or mixed beans if you prefer)

Rice to serve

Method

Take the beef out of the sauce and put on a plate.  Spoon the sauce into a saucepan and start to heat.  Drain and rinse the beans and add to the pan.

Put the rice on to cook and cut up the beef into chunks.  Add to the saucepan and simmer gently until everything is warmed through.

Once the rice is cooked, serve with the chilli and any avocado / coriander you have left if liked.

Make it Thrifty:

Brisket is a cheaper cut and by cooking it in a slow cooker, the electricity costs are vastly reduced (I've heard that the power used by a slow cooker is similar to a light bulb.  Not sure if it's true but it's certainly much less than an oven.)  Make it cheaper still by missing out the avocado and coriander.  You could bulk out the chilli further to serve 4 by cutting up the beef into smaller chunks and adding a tin of pinto beans as well.



I've sent this in for approval for "the spice trail" challenge which for November 2013 is on chillis!

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The BRAT diet for dodgy tummies

When I was little, I thought my Mum made me banana on toast as a treat when I was feeling poorly.  I was wrong.  She was being sneaky but with my best intentions in mind.

The idea is that BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce and toast) is meant to stop the swirly tummy in it's tracks.

Well it wasn't my son, it was me.  And isn't it always the way that when you feel ill, the first thing you reach for is the food from your childhood?

So not so much a recipe, more a snapshot from my childhood.  My mum used to sprinkle with a little Demerara sugar on top.  I've used a touch of honey but miss out for children under 1.

Banana on toast to make a sore tummy feel better - serves 1

Ingredient

Piece of bread, toasted
One overripe banana
Half a tsp runny honey

Method

Mash the banana onto the toast and drizzle with honey to serve.

So far, I'm feeling a bit better.  Maybe it's been the magic solution, just like Mummy's kisses.  :-)

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No Refined Sugar Breakfast Muffins; great for adults but also for kids

I have some 'cupcake' cases in the cupboard, bought in a moment when I actually needed fairy cake cases but picked up the wrong thing.  They were somewhere between a cupcake and a muffin in size, nearer a muffin so I decided to cook something more substantial to fill them.

Ok, they may look 'parent sized' but my son has a large appetite so he still ate two.  No refined sugar though which can't be bad.  Sorry, just for over 1 year olds though as under 1's can't eat honey.

Ooh, I've just realised while I was writing this up, this is dairy free!  Purely accidental!

Breakfast Muffins - makes 8

Ingredients

1 egg
75ml apple juice
1 tbsp oil (chose something flavourless like rapeseed or sunflower)
50g, 1.5oz grated apple (approx half an apple)
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g, 3.5oz self raising flour
30g, 1oz porridge oats plus an extra 1tbsp to sprinkle
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
90g, 3oz sultanas (golden raisins)

Method

Preheat the oven to 160oC, 320F.

Mix the first 7 ingredients together (the wet ingredients).  Mix the next 5 ingredients together (the dry ingredients).  Mix the two together but don't go mad, you don't want it fully mixed through.

Put into the cups and then sprinkle with the extra oats.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and springing back when pressed.  If you use proper muffin cases, they may take a little longer.

Leave to cool.  No idea how long they last in a tin, it only lasted two days in our house.  Do leave them to cool fully before eating though, otherwise they tend to stick a bit to the wrappers.  I may try spraying a little spray oil in the cases next time to help them release.

Make it Thrifty:

This is a great way to use bananas which are a little past their best preventing waste.  If you cook them at the same time as there are other things in the oven too it will reduce cooking costs.

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Quick Ginger Biscuits

My son had a hankering for some biscuits after nursery.  I must be mad because what do I do after a hard day at work?  I only go and make some!

Not masses of sugar here but certainly just treat food.  When they cool, they make a pretty crunchy biscuit but my son loves biscuits like that.  While still warm they're a bit softer so don't be surprised if they're still soft when you take them out of the oven.  This was a recipe from my mum but originally from my aunt.  The recipe was originally to use 1lb of flour!  That must have made 40 odd biscuits!  I know my son eats a lot but...

Ginger Biscuits - makes approx 10

Ingredients

1 dessert spoon of golden syrup
45g, 1.5oz Sugar (I used golden caster sugar)
60g, 2oz Margarine (use dairy free if avoiding dairy in your diet)
110g, 4oz Self raising flour (or all purpose flour and baking powder)
1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
A generous 1/2 tsp Ground ginger (powdered ginger)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180oC, 350F

Melt the sugar, syrup and margarine together gently in a pan.  Take off the heat.

Line a baking tray / cookie tray with baking paper (or you could just about get away with spraying a non stick one with spray oil).

Mix in the remaining ingredients and quickly form into balls about the size of a small walnut.

Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes (10 in my oven).  Cool on a wire rack.

Keeps for a couple of days in an airtight tin.

Make it Thrifty:

This is already a pretty thrifty recipe but if you have the family to eat them all, doubling the recipe to use more often space will keep cooking costs down.

I've linked this lovely old recipe up to the Spice Trail Ginger challenge.

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Day 3 of raiding my cupboards; have I lost the plot? Has Jamie Oliver?

Something A Girl Called Jack said rang true.  Why are we so judgemental about people?  Why does it matter what people eat, what people spend their money on?  Doesn't the judging turn people off?  After my first post on Jamie Oliver's comments on what people on low incomes, it's interested me and I've started to think about it much more.


Perhaps I've got off on the wrong tack.  Perhaps, although I can write a thrifty recipe in my sleep, I'm like the person who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing?

I am soon going to be setting up a house.  I've been flooded with offers for 'stuff'.  Mostly TVs (ironically considering Jamie's comments about the chips, cheese and massive TV) but all kinds of stuff and offers of decorating, gardening, etc, etc.  It's fantastic that loads of people have rallied around.  Money will be tight though, (really tight) which is why this has been an interesting challenge for me.  But I've not had an offer for food.  My family and friends are pretty supportive though so I doubt any of them will turn up empty handed but how many people are as lucky as me?

A friend of mine made me think.  He came to see me many years ago, out of the blue and admitted he was homeless.  I was so angry with him for not calling me for help.  We'd lost touch, he'd been sleeping on friend's couches for months.  What had happened was he'd fallen out with his parents over his fiance, then he'd split up with his fiance, lost his flat and loads of friends with the end of the relationship.  At the same time he'd lost his job and bam!  An intelligent, attractive, qualified and charming man was homeless.  By the time he was telling me this, he'd got another job and had lined up somewhere to live but it had been a tough time.  He'd not told me out of a sense of pride.

Imagine going through that with a family?  I can't.  I've been lucky never to go to bed hungry.  Some people do genuinely start and end the day hungry, even in the UK.

We all forget sometimes how close we are to homelessness or poverty.  It's just life dealing us a couple of major blows at once.  It's not as impossible or unlikely as you might think.  We all might be on the edge of a precipice, in reality, what keeps any of us from tipping over the edge?

So I hope my posts this week don't come across as patronising and it's something I'm going to think more about towards the end of the week.

Anyway, on with what I've been eating.

The lasagne from last night was a huge hit with the 3 year old.  He kept saying he was done, I'd move to take his plate away but he'd return for seconds, then thirds until it was all gone (and he had as much as me).  What's more I've got some leftovers for lunch today and tomorrow.  Great for reheating at work and I had two slightly jealous "that smells lovely" comments.  I'm never 100% convinced about reheated pasta in the microwave but somehow at work when hungry, it's a little touch of home and so comforting and obviously attracting the envy of my colleagues.  So that one lasagne will have fed 3 adult portions and a toddler.  Not bad.

In the evening, I raided my freezer for the sourdough, bit poncy I know, some bacon which was frozen at the end of life and my intention was to make some soup.

This probably isn't a regular occurrence in everyone's life but the joy of sharing a workplace with foodies is one of my friends has had a glut of vegetables and had a beetroot going begging so my soup is pretty vibrant!

Obviously bacon isn't going to convince anyone of health benefits but better than a bacon sarnie and soup is a great way to fill up and squeeze vegetables into everyone's diets.  My original intention was to raid the fridge and freezer to make an impromptu concoction of what I had in but this turned out to be a 'proper recipe' and here it is...

Beetroot and Bacon Soup - Serves 2 adults

Ingredients

2 small or 1 large onion
1 carrot
90g, 3oz Bacon, chopped up
220g, 8oz Peeled and chopped beetroot
A couple of sprigs of Lemon thyme (optional)
or use herbs of your choice if you have any
1 tbsp Oil (I used olive oil)
350ml, 12 fl oz hot stock or water

Method

Chop the carrot, onion and peeled beetroot into chunks, put in a baking dish and drizzle with oil and add the thyme if using.  Put in the oven at approx 170oC / 350F for about 40 minutes or until softening and browned at the edges.  To save money, put this in the oven at the same time as you're cooking something else.

Chop up the bacon, fry gently in a dry pan.  Once cooked, add the roasted vegetables and the stock.  Bring to the boil.  Once boiling take off the heat and blend.

Sprinkle with more fresh lemon thyme if desired.

A top tip is if you have, say, half a loaf of nice bread like I had, wrap in foil and put in the oven at 170oC / 350F for 15 minutes or so or until warm through.  This remelts the starch and makes the bread taste fresh from the oven.  Something as humble as bread, warm from the oven is transformed.

�Linking up with Nomday Monday�

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