Loaf Cake

This is a quick & easy cake you can whip up if you have guests coming - I made one yesterday, and as ever, it goes down very well.  I got this recipe from my step-mum and it's one of the kids favourite cakes.

Pain d'Epice (Spice Bread) or Loaf Cake as I like to call it...

Ingredients
125g plain flour
150g icing sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
2 tsp baking powder
175g unsalted butter (room temp)
4 eggs

Method
This couldn't be easier - put everything into a food processor and mix together until well blended.  

Pour into a loaf tin and bake for 45mins at 170C fan / 190C / 375F / Gas 5.  

Serve warm with optional fruit conserve, although I personally don't think it needs it.

Easy Chocolate Brownies

I've always been put off making brownies as I thought they were a bit fiddly but this easy recipe only took me 10 minutes.  OK, so there is a long baking time (the kids were patrolling the kitchen so they could hear when the timer went off!) but they are worth the wait.

Ingredients
50g dark chocolate
25g butter
3 eggs
1 tbsp clear honey
225g soft light brown sugar
75g self-raising flour
100g walnut pieces
25g white chocolate

Method
Turn the oven on to 160 / 225 / Gas Mark 3.  Grease a square tin - it needs to be quite deep.  I use the type that has a removable bottom you can slide out, as it makes it so much easier.

Put the dark chocolate and butter into a small heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of shallow simmering water to melt, stirring occasionally.  (Don't let the bowl actually touch the water or it will burn the chocolate mixture and taste awful.)  Remove the bowl from the pan and set aside to cool briefly.

In a bowl (or I used a deep measuring jug) beat the eggs, honey and brown sugar together, then gradually add in the melted chocolate mixture.  Stir in the flour a little at a time then add the walnut & white chocolate pieces and stir well.  Pour the mixture into your greased tin.

Bake for around 30 minutes then cover with foil and bake for a further 45 minutes.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a while.

Cut into squares and devour with a cup of tea.  

I was having people to lunch the day after making these and served them warm with vanilla ice-cream too!  

Doodles wasn't keen on the walnut pieces but you could easily leave these out or, as they tend to sink to the bottom, just cut the bottom part off to serve to a child who doesn't like nuts.

Orange & Choc Chip Biscuits

These were super easy to make and so perfect for the kids to help with.  Doodles loved cutting out the shapes - we used hearts this time but they could be any shape.  This is another recipe from Annabel Karmel's Feeding Your Baby & Toddler book - this was my bible when Spiderboy was learning to eat and I still use it!  

You might want to prepare the dough & chill it first if you have an impatient toddler who can't wait to get going :)

Ingredients
175g butter (at room temp)
75g icing sugar
225g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp grated orange zest
60g plain chocolate chips

Method
Sieve the flour & icing sugar into a bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients except for the choc chips and beat together well (or throw everything into a food processor and let that do the work!)  When the dough has come together, stir in the choc chips and knead the dough thoroughly before rolling into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and put into the fridge to chill for an hour or so.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut out your shapes.  Place on a baking tray (using greaseproof paper if you have it) and bake at 180 degrees for around 10 minutes.

Sweet Potato & Honey Soup

I had intended to make this with pumpkin as they were plentiful 1 day before Halloween but 2 days later there were none to be found in my local shops so I substituted with sweet potato instead.  It was still pretty good...so good in fact that I didn't want to stop and take a photo before eating it!

Ingredients
1kg of sweet potato, peeled & chopped
2 small onions, chopped
1 litre vegetable stock
2tbsp honey
200ml double cream (or creme fraiche if you are counting calories)
1tbsp paprika

Method
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan and add the onions.  Sweat them for 5 mins until they soften.  Add the sweet potato & paprika, and cook for a further 10 mins, stirring to ensure it doesn't burn.  Add the stock to the pan (mine was cold as I made it the day before), bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 - 20 mins until the sweet potato is soft.

Stir in the honey and puree the soup with a blender (my hand held stick one was fine for this).  Stir in the cream or creme fraiche and heat through before serving with a sprinkling of paprika on the surface.


NB: This made a huge batch so I froze half.

Raspberry & Peach Pudding

Puddings weren't big in our house when I was growing up so I'm not great with them.  However Spiderboy has been eating some very traditional desserts at school lately and loves them so I'm trying to make a few more.  I've made this twice in the last month, and its gone down very well indeed.

Ingredients (serves 2)
Tin of peaches in juice
Punnet of raspberries
Natural Greek yoghurt
Teaspoon of caster sugar
Ginger biscuit

Method
Layer the peach slices and raspberries at the bottom of the bowls, setting aside 6 raspberries.

Pour half the peach juice from the tin, along with a few tablespoons of the yoghurt and 6 raspberries, into a jug and blend into a puree.  (This literally took a minute - just a quick whizz using my stick blender).  Pour this over the fruit in the bowl.

Mix a few tablespoons of yoghurt with the sugar (use more or less according to taste) and pour this over the puree.  You can continue to layer like this until you reach the top but ensure you finish with the yoghurt on top.

Crumble over a ginger biscuit and serve in a glass bowl for added grown-up elegance ;)

Easy Chocolate Birthday Cake

There is a glut of birthdays in our family around this time so I was pleased to discover this chocolate cake recipe in a book recently. The kids helped me make it a few times, and really enjoyed it.

Ingredients
Cake
60g butter (softened)
165g caster sugar
1 egg
225g self-raising flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
125ml milk
60ml boiling water
1/4 tsp bicarb soda

Icing
160g icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp boiling water

Method
Cream the butter & sugar until smooth, and add in the egg, beating well.

Sift the flour and cocoa together, and fold them into the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk.  

In a cup, combine the water and bicarb, and lightly fold into the mixture.  Pour the complete mixture into a well greased cake tin and take at 180 / 160 fan for around 30-40 mins.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely.

When you are ready to ice the cake, sift the flour and cocoa into a bowl and mix together.  Add the water a little at a time until you reach your desired consistency.  Spread over the cool cake.

Before the icing dries & sets completely, carefully sit your numbers (or letters if you want to spell out a name!) on top and sprinkle over Hundreds & Thousands.  Gently left the numbers up and you will be left with sprinkled numbers in your desired age - easy peasy!

I saw the idea of using pre-cut numbers or letters a while back - I think the Blogger in question cut them out of cardboard so if you don't have these kind of plastic ones you could easily do that.

You could always add some more decorations to fancy it up further, or just some candles. I love the idea of using jelly beans to create flowers too - check it out here.  

Prawn & Chilli Linguine

This is one of my fail-safe recipes, a fall back when I don't have anything else planned or we need a quick meal.  Obviously it's not kid friendly, as I add fresh chilli (unless your kids have very tolerant palates!)  It has a lovely clean fresh taste, and I can guarantee that everything in this recipe will already be in my cupboard, fridge or freezer so chances are you will have the ingredients too.

Ingredients
Linguine or spaghetti (enough for 2 people)
Pack of frozen prawns
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded & chopped
30g Parmesan, grated
Any left over veg (in this photo, I used green beans but the previous week I added cherry tomatoes so use whatever you have lying around)
Half a fresh lemon - grated zest plus the juice

Method
Put the pasta on to boil.  If you are using fresh veg like the green beans, put these on to boil for a few mins too or they may be too crunchy.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan, and add the chilli.  Add the prawns & the grated lemon zest, and allow to cook through.

When the pasta is ready, drain and add immediately to the frying pan.  Throw in the lemon juice, the veg and the Parmesan and toss well.

Serve immediately with a glass of chilled white wine (and no, that part is *not* optional!) 


If I don't have prawns, I use a tin of crab meat - equally delicious.  If I don't have a fresh chilli, I use Lazy Chilli from a jar.  See, there really is no excuse not to make this!

Spicy Salmon Pilaf

This has become a bit of a favourite in our house recently - its very delicious but also feels extremely healthy.  Of course it also has the added bonus of being easy to make ;)

Serves 2

Ingredients
2 salmon fillets
100ml natural yoghurt
1tsp curry paste
Half a green chilli
1 small onion, peeled & chopped
2/3 cardamom pods
2 tsp mustard seeds
200g brown rice
400ml hot vegetable stock
2 cupfuls of frozen peas
2 "blocks" of frozen spinach (or a few handfuls of fresh)

Method
Mix the yoghurt, curry paste and chilli together and pour over the salmon in a shallow dish - set aside and allow to marinate.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Heat some oil in a pan and add the onion, cardamom seeds and mustard seeds.  Cook gently for 5 mins until the onion softens.  Turn up the heat and add the rice, stirring for a few mins.  Pour in the stock, the peas and the frozen spinach (if you are using fresh spinach, add it at the very end) and bring to the boil.  Cover and simmer for around 25 mins, keeping a close eye so it doesn't dry out - in which case, add a little more boiled water.

While the rice is cooking, put the salmon as it is into the oven and cook for around 20 mins.  

Serve the rice with the salmon on top or on the side, sprinkled with some fresh coriander if you have it.

Child-Friendly Paella

Last year my sister bought me a paella dish.  It is wonderful, and I have created some deliciously authentic paellas in it.  However, I am pretty sure Spiderboy and Doodles wouldn't be too enthusiastic about chowing down on an octopus leg so I made this child-friendly version recently and am delighted to report it went down a storm.

Ingredients
1 onion
Clove of garlic
2 small chicken breasts, diced
1 red pepper
300g rice
1tsp turmeric
750ml chicken stock
2 chipolatas, cooked & sliced
100g small prawns
Method
Heat some oil in a frying pan and add the onion & garlic, cooking for a few mins.  Add the chicken & seal for around 5 mins.  Add the red pepper and cook for a further minute.

Rinse the rice in cold water and add it to the pan, stirring thoroughly along with the turmeric.  Keep stirring for around a minute or so until everything is coated and mixed.

Pour in the stock and leave to simmer for around 15 mins, or until all the stock has been absorbed by the rice.  

Add the sausages & prawns for the pan and simmer for a further 5 mins before serving immediately.

Quick & Easy Banana Ice-Cream

This is clearly not ice-cream as we know it but the kids were fooled and polished off a bowl without hesitation.  Nice to have another alternative to banana cake when I've got over-ripe bananas in abundance!

Ingredients

6 ripe bananas, peeled & sliced

1-2 tbsp fromage frais

1-2 tbsp fresh orange juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

A few drops of lime juice to taste

Method

Lay the banana slices out on a tray and freeze for around an hour (or until frozen).

Remove from the freezer and put the pieces in a food processor or blender along with the fromage frais, orange juice and vanilla extract.  Whizz until smooth, adding more fromage frais and / or orange juice to get your desired consistency.  Add the lime juice to taste and serve in bowls with chocolate sprinkles on top!

Pour the remainder into a tupperware box and freeze - remove from the freezer around 10 mins before you want to use it or it will be too hard to scoop.

Lumberjack Cake

I made this on Sunday and whilst it took a long time to cook (especially when you have impatient children watching the oven!), it was worth the wait.  I convinced myself it was healthy too, what with all that fruit in :)  

When I told DS that it was called a Lumberjack cake, he said "a Numberjacks cake?  Wow!"  I had to disappoint him and let him know it wasn't anything to do with our CBeebies friends and then explained what a lumberjack is.  To which he said "oh, does the cake have wood in it then?"  Sigh...

Ingredients
3 small eating apples, peeled and diced
200g dried dates (stones removed), chopped
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250ml boiling water
125g butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
220g caster sugar
1 egg
225g plain flour

Topping
60g butter
100g brown sugar
125ml milk
50g desiccated coconut

Method
Put the chopped apple & dates into a bowl and add the bicarb and the water.  Cover the bowl with clingfilm and let soak for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the butter, vanilla essence, sugar and egg in a bowl until light and fluffy.  After the allotted soaking time, add the apple & date mixture into the creamed butter mix and stir in the flour.

Pour the mix into a greased tray-bake pan or similar and bake at 180 (fan) for 50-60 minutes.

When the cake is ready to come out, add the topping ingredients to a small pan and heat slowly.  Remove the cake from the oven and pour / spread the topping evenly on the cake.  Return to the oven for a further 20-30 minutes.

Let the cake stand for 5 minutes (if you can bear it) after removing it from the oven before slicing.

I just ate the final piece tonight (2 days after making it) and it was still deliciously moist so it keeps well in a tupperware container.

Meal Planning Monday

It's back to reality and routine this week with the return of school.  I've mixed feelings about this really...one part of me does a little happy dance but the other part is sad to have our time together come to an end.  

I find that each holiday follows the same pattern - before the break-up I make a plan for activities each day so we are organised...I also try to pre-plan the meals but that doesn't always work :/   By day 3/4 I'm tearing my hair out and gagging for them to return but a few days later we've found our groove and I start enjoying our time together.  It's all about readjusting your expectations isn't it?  No, my house is not particularly tidy (or spotlessly clean) during school holidays but does that matter?  Once I let go of the stress of not being in my usual routine, we start to have fun.  And that is what's important, right?! 

Nevertheless, I'm easing myself in gently this week with some tried & tested easy recipes that will make the transition back to our school routine a little easier.

Monday - Mild chicken curry with apple

We always have this when I've made a roast chicken the day before :)

Tuesday - Pasta with homemade pesto & garlic bread

Need something quick & easy after school!

Wednesday - Turkey meatballs

Another favourite in our house - I make these with pepper sauce and serve with spaghetti.

Thursday - Homemade Pizzas

The kids love helping me make these and as they put their own toppings on, it helps cater to their different tastes.

Friday - Kashmiri Butter Chicken 

I made this a few weeks ago and it was *so* good!

This post is part of Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday - you will no doubt find some delicious edible inspiration from all the other link-ups if you're struggling with your menu this week!

Slow Cooked Kashmiri Butter Chicken

I stumbled across this recipe in a book called Ultimate Slow Cooker by Sara Lewis.  I've not used many of the recipes but the ones I have always turn out fabulously, and this is a book I pick up when looking for a dinner party recipe.  Last night however it was just DH & I but I kind of wish there had been somebody else to share it with, as it was so delicious!  The amounts below could easily have served 4, alongside rice and naan bread.

Ingredients
2 onions, peeled & quartered
3 garlic cloves
4cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled
1 large red chilli
4 chicken breasts
25g butter
1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
4 cardamom pods, crushed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
300ml chicken stock
1 tsp light muscovado sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
3-4 tbsp double cream
2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted

Method
Turn the slow cooker onto Low.

Blend / chop the onions, garlic, ginger and chilli in a processor until they form a paste then set aside.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken breasts on each side.  Place in the slow cooker.

Melt the butter in the frying pan and add the onion paste.  Cook for a minute until it just starts to colour then stir in the seeds and spices.  Cook for another minute then add the stock, sugar and tomato puree.  Bring to the boil and pour over the chicken.  Push the breasts underneath the liquid mixture and replace the lid.  Cook for 5-7 hours.

Before serving, stir in the cream and top with toasted almonds.

Slow Cooked Beef Adobo

I was flicking through my slow-cooker recipe books for some inspiration last week when I came across this.  Its a bit like a rich beef Asian stew...it is apparently eaten in the Philippines but also popular in Spain.  It was a nice change, and one I'd make again.

Ingredients
750g braising steak, cubed
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp plain flour
450ml beef stock (I used vegetable stock as I'd run out)
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 bay leaves
Juice of half a lime

Method
Brown the beef in a frying pan, remove & set aside.  

Add the onion to the pan and fry for around 5 mins (you don't want it to brown).  Add the garlic and cook for 2 mins more.  Stir in the flour then gradually add the stock.  Add the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and bay leaves and bring to the boil.

Transfer the beef to the slow cooker and pour over the onion & stock mixture.  Cover and cook for 8-10 hours.

Before serving, stir in the juice from half a lime.  

I served the beef with rice, and a garnish of spring onion, sliced carrot and coriander leaves.

Meal Planning Monday

Remember the restaurant meal I boasted about last week?!  It was *so* worth the wait.  Pan fried scallops followed by Chateaubriand steak with thick-cut chips and salad, all washed down with wine and Bellini cocktails.  And yes, I did have to look up how to spell that.  The steak...not the cocktails :)  Kudos to my child-free sister for surviving 24 hours with my two monsters - not quite sure she's recovered yet!

Anyway, back to the reality of school runs and family suppers now.  The Easter holidays are looming so I will be using my slow cooker a lot more than usual so that at least I don't have to worry about dinner *and* trying to entertain the kids!

Monday - Everything Fried Rice and after a quick root around in the freezer, I'll be adding bacon in too.

Tuesday - Slow-Cooked Chilli ...this is a firm favourite in our house!

Wednesday - Kids will have left-over fish pie and I will rustle up something easy for DH as I'm out meeting a friend for a pub dinner :)

Thursday - Quick Beef Stroganoff...a new recipe that I'm trying from a new Quick & Easy Family Meals recipe book.  Hope it lives up to its name...

Friday - Kashmiri Chicken cooked in the SC...looking forward to that one!  Not too spicy so hoping the kids like it too.

This post is part of Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday so don't forget to check out all the other recipes right here.

Strawberry & Almond Traybake

This was really quick & easy to whip up, and the kids loved it - definitely a keeper!

Ingredients
200g butter (room temp)
200g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
100g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
4 eggs, lightly beaten
150g strawberries, chopped
20g flaked almonds

Method
Put all the ingredients except the strawberries and flaked almonds into a mixer / processor and mix thoroughly.  Spoon into a greased baking tin and smooth so it sits evenly.

Scatter over the strawberry pieces and sprinkle over the flaked almonds.  Cook at 180 / 160 fan for around 45-50 mins - keep checking to ensure it doesn't burn.

Allow to cool slightly after removing it from the oven, and cut into squares.  Enjoy with a large cup of a tea :)

Fresh Pesto Sauce

Have you made Pesto sauce at home?  It is ridiculously easy and tastes *so* much nicer than shop bought.  I just whipped up a tiny jar to use this week - one of my "go to" meals for the kids is fusilli pasta with pesto stirred in and grated cheese on top!

Ingredients
25g fresh basil leaves
1 garlic clove
2 tsp pine nuts
3 tbsp olive oil
10g Parmesan 
Pinch of salt

Method
Put all the ingredients except the cheese into a blender and go!  Then stir in the grated Parmesan and refrigerate.

Stir into fresh pasta and enjoy :)

Meal Planning Monday

I'm very into meal planning...it saves me time, money *and* takes a lot of the stress & hassle out of dinner time each day.  When I don't get round to planning, I always end up spending more as I pick things up as I go through the week, and dinners are chaotic!  

I usually plan my meals for the week on a Sunday evening so when I stumbled across Mrs M's Meal Planning Monday link-up, I thought I'd join in!

With only a few weeks until I have to bare all in a swimsuit on holiday, I'm trying to be as good as possible :(  So here goes...this is what will be on this week's menu for us:

Monday
Seafood pilaf 

Tuesday
Spaghetti Squash Casserole (assuming I can find a spaghetti squash somewhere...none in Tesco's this morning!)

Wednesday
Butter bean & chorizo stew
Kids: Pasta with pesto

Thursday
Pork & sweet potato casserole

Friday
Grown-ups: Fish & chips at the school quiz!
Kids: Fish fingers & homemade chips

I try most of the time to make one meal we can all eat but hubby & I do quite like spice so I tend to sit the kids out of those meals.  I don't plan for the weekend meals as we're never sure what we're doing so I just wing it with my store cupboard staples!

Curried Coconut & Cauliflower Soup

I've been eating this all week for lunch, and its delicious.  Don't be put off by what looks like a huge list of spices...most of these will already be in your cupboard!  

Ingredients
3 onions, peeled & diced
3 garlic cloves, peeled & crushed
50g butter
1 red chilli
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground ginger
225g potatoes, peeled & diced
100g desiccated coconut
850ml vegetable stock
1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 tin coconut milk

Method
Soak the desiccated coconut in 300ml warm water and set aside for 15 mins. 

Heat the butter in a frying pan, and cook the onions and garlic for around 5 mins.  Add the chilli, coriander, mustard and cumin seeds, tumeric, paprika and ginger and cook for 1 minute, stirring well to combine.  

Transfer to the slow cooker adding in the potatoes, coconut plus its soaking water, vegetable stock, cauliflower florets and the coconut milk.  Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours.

If you have a stick blender, use that to whizz round the soup whilst still in the slow cooker - if not, you can transfer the soup to a liquidiser and do it that way.

Fish Pie

This is a regular staple in our house, and I have been making this recipe pretty much unchanged for the past 4 years...I can guarantee my kids will always eat it!

Ingredients
500g fish fillets (I use salmon & cod but you can use whatever you like)
500ml whole milk
1 bay leaf
30g butter
1 onion, peeled & diced
3 tbsp plain flour
1/2 tsp mustard powder
100g frozen peas
75g frozen shrimps
40g cheddar cheese, grated
1kg potatoes, peeled & chopped

Method
Put the fish & the bay leaf in a shallow frying pan and pour over the milk.  Bring to the boil then cook for 5 mins.  Take out the fish fillets and put them into the ovenproof dish you are using, then flake them with a fork.  Strain the milk through a sieve reserving the liquid in a jug, and discard the bay leaf.

Melt the butter in a pan and once melted, add the onion and saute for a few mins until soft.  Stir in the flour to make a paste and cook for 1 minute.  Add the strained milk a little at a time, continually stirring and letting the sauce thicken.  

Stir in the mustard powder, peas, shrimps and cheese and cook through for 2 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the flaked fish in your dish.

Boil the potatoes until soft, drain and mash with a generous knob of butter (and a little milk if they seem dry).  Spoon the mash over the fish mixture, ensuring it reaches right to the edge of the dish.

Bake at 180 degrees for 25 mins.  

I often have leftovers from this, and it keeps fine for 2 days in the fridge and also freezes well (assuming the fish is fresh not frozen originally).