If Food Be The Music Of Love....

....Why Don't You Stop Yer Whingeing a good wee word; think a cross between wining, moaning and wailing...it's not fun...And Just Eat It?   So said the lady to her wee boy in the cafe, sitting next to me.   He had said "This Tastes Minging" and then, surprisingly, considering his young age around 7, "Isn't Food Supposed Tae Be The Music Of  Love....or sumhin like that?"   "Cos If Ye Loved Me, Ye Widnae Make Me Eat This Mingin Stuff".   And that's when she replied.  

I had to leave so that I could laugh; it was funny and in it's own wee way, very sweet.   I guess you had to be there to see how she smiled at him and they both chuckled to each other.  

Beef and Barley Broth

It's been stews, casseroles and pies this past few weeks; the chill is already in the air and we've felt like coorying up with a bowl of something hot, soothing and meaty!   I'm having smaller portions than everyone else but that's ok because a stew like this fills your belly pretty quickly.   All recipes to come next week.

More Broth!

Chicken Pie with Cheesy Cobbler Topping...oh my.

Tasty garlic bread

Beef, Sausage and Potato Stew...this was later topped with dumplings.   Very tasty.

Carbonnade a la Flamande with Mash and Crisp Vegetables

This is a traditional Belgain dish made with Belgian beer and slow cooked for hours.   You caramelise the onions first, making this a really tasty meal with a hint of sweetness.

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Friends, trying to eat in peace; "fer goodness sake, can I eat my soup??"

I promise all recipes next week; I have my first fair this week and I'm head to toe in badges and paintings!   Have a wonderful weekend, lovely bloggy peeps.

Shopping Week 4-6

I clutched my shopping list, barely able to contain my excitement at the meals ahead I do realise this comes across as rather sad...   I skipped round the supermarket, sans kids obviously, picking up bargains galore.   I was a teeny bit worried as I'd added some basic toiletries as well as the shopping and as you all know, I take cash with me these days, to stop me picking up that kg of smoked salmon or half price champagne.....mmmm...champagne......   I add up as I go along, rounding up.   Now this is where it gets good; my bargains and canny shopping meant that my bill for two whole weeks shopping came to....wait for it...£70.29.   Yes....that includes over £5 on toiletries so for food alone, £65.   Happy dance.....and the receipt to prove it.

As you can see from the meal list below, shopping on a budget does not mean skimping on meals or even on quality as some misguided wee soul suggested to me last week and will now rue the day....*evil, smug chuckle*...yes, I lose friends daily and expect to be clobbered soon...; the chicken was free range, the beef grade A, fresh herbs were purchased as well as good quality fruit and veg.  The remaining cash will be used for something nice from the deli or butchers or towards Friday night's soiree....entertaining is a separate budget usually although a lot of what I'll be serving is within the list below (stews, pizzas etc).

Dinners
Buttermilk chicken with smashed sweet potatoes and roasted veg.
Beef stew (enough for 15 servings) with pastry rounds
Farmhouse chicken & chorizo stew (Helen's recipe) with dumplings (10 servings)
Vegetarian lasagna x 2
Homemade pizza & hearthbread with mozarella and garlic
Artichoke Salad (still loving it!)
Macaroni cheese x 2
Salmon fishcakes with green veg
Vegetable and lentil soup with homemade rolls
Haggis, neeps and tatties
Vegetable curry and rice
Pasta with homemade tomato sauce with garlic butter swirls
Chicken and couscous
Omelettes & chips

I got some excellent beef for half price because the use by date was the next day; even if you are not going to cook it right away, it is worth buying to freeze.   As a result of this beef and the special offer already on, I made an enormous beef stew, taking a little of it for dinner that night (enough for five) and making a sour cream pastry crust to turn it into a pie.   Delicious.

I did the same with the chicken; I made the entire batch without chorizo as none was available, we had some for tea and froze the rest.   I shall defrost it for Friday night and add the chorizo, which I shall buy at the deli because I have plenty of budget and the West End deli rocks...to the dish before placing in the oven to reheat.   This is one of those dishes which is so much nicer the next day or after being frozen.

This is one of my best shops yet; I have lots left over, e.g. pasta sheets, flour, frozen meals and could easily provide 3 weeks worth of meals from it.

Lunches
Soup
Homemade bread/rolls/pancakes with chicken/cheese/jam/Nutella
French toast
Boiled eggs and soldiers
Pasta
Mini pizzas

Breakfasts
Cereal
Toast
Boiled eggs
Pikelets
Muffins
Pancakes
Cake bread

Desserts/snacks
Fruit
Chocolate, cherry and coconut bread
Biscuits
cookies

Beef stew baked in a pie

Farmhouse chicken stew minus the chorizo

Pikelet

Pizza....before baking

Hearthbreads...before baking

Roasted sweet potato and Maris Pipers

Recipes to follow.

Giveaway coming up soon; watch this space!!

And then there were two....

I made Florence a sister; Kelly called her Dolly.

Dolly having a nap after her 'operation'.

Dolly was well stuffed, unlike her wee sis Florence.

Rag Doll No. 2; pretty girl.

We had beef stew with potatoes and dumplings last night, all cooked in the one pot. Lucy helped with the dumplings.

Beef Stew, potatoes, carrots, onions and dumplings.

It was warming, tasty and just perfect for a cold winter's night.


There was nothing left!

We had shortbread drizzled with chocolate for dessert.


Shortbread...mmmmm.

The temperature reached -20 in some parts of Scotland last night. We were at -11 and despite the heating on, it is cold. Any window that may have a tiny breeze or any tile which may be a wee bit loose lets in a bit of biting wind and reduces the temperature greatly, leaving the central heating struggling to cope.

The cold water is hard to bear, the tiled floor in the kitchen is like ice. There are icicles hanging from the awning and pipes ready to burst. Therefore, I have no choice but to snuggle within the confines of the toasty living room, drinking hot tea, eating leftover shortbread and spicy almonds that I'd made for Anne last night. It is a terrible thing to admit, but underneath this fetching outfit I'm wearing not...really, really not is the pair of pjs I refused to take off when I got up.

I'm taking the day off.

Back to Food and the Pantosphere

When I went shopping last week, I had my list in hand and a good idea of what it would cost. Lamb, at this time of year, can be very expensive but there are usually bargains to be found. On this shopping trip however, sadly, not. I therefore did what any frugal, thrifty maw would do and changed my entire menu, quickly summing up that most of the ingredients already in my trolley could be used with beef or chicken instead.

The bill came to £54 and will feed us all for 9 days, possibly more, with leftovers.

My niece was staying with us on Friday through to Saturday and Kelly had a friend come over; with a few unexpected visitors thrown in for good measure, I decided to make the beef stew I had planned with added sausages and dumplings. I threw potatoes in for good measure, making it a one pot job. The kids can't get enough of stewed sausages, much preferring them to the tender chunks of beef; don't get me wrong, they totally chewed them down too but it was extra sausages requested, more than anything else.

The entire meal came to approx. £4 and fed 8 people with a little leftover for a solitary meal.

On Sunday, we had our annual trip the pantomime; 44 of us traipsed onto the train, excited kiddies in hand, to go to the Tron theatre in Glasgow's Trongate district to see the alternative panto 'Ya Beauty and the Beast'. For my American and Canadian friends, I believe this is more of a British tradition and it may be hard to imagine the appeal of grown men dressed up as panto dames, resplendent in the most wonderful, weird and wacky outfits you ever could see, but appeal it does and is a tradition I for one recommend wholeheartedly.

This is the third year we've went as a big crowd and it was hilarious, as usual. I'd arranged sweeties and juice for everyone, trying to hand them out to 43 hungry weans and their parents before the performance began; I failed but surreptitiously tossed them along the aisles until everyone had a bag of chocolate buttons, wine gums or other sweetific treat. The staff had arranged for our pre-booked ice cream to be delivered to our seats at the interval, meaning I could rest rather than run around.

The Tron does the best pantomime in Glasgow and we've been to them all; the wonderful postmodern panto performance, the excellent actors, the truly Glaswegian humour, the little bit of social statement and always a wee dig at the other pantos in nearby theatres and pantos in general make it laugh out loud funny from beginning to end. Since we inhabited the first four rows, we were picked on a few times; to Eric, one of the dads "is that a tie you're wearing, son, or is your tongue just hinging oot?"; to his wife "you all look lovely tonight...except you....don't worry hen, I hear that looks coming back intae fashion" made us feel we were part of the show. The actual theatre is small and cosy, the seats staggered, giving great views from wherever you happen to be and the staff are amazing, considering the amount of excited and wired to the moon kids they see on a daily basis and some of the parents too!

Bunty Beautox

To my Scottish friends, I couldn't recommend this more; go see it, before it's too late!
__________________________________

Beef Stew
A few pounds of beef chunks
Seasoned flour
A tablespoon of oil and butter
Beef stock to cover
Chopped onion
Chopped carrot
A dash of red wine
Potatoes, peeled and quartered-amount to taste

Cover the beef in the seasoned flour. Shake of excess. Heat oil and butter in a pan and as soon as the butter starts to foam, add in some of the beef; do not crowd the pan. Once browned all over, remove to a warm plate and put in some more beef. Repeat until all the beef is browned. Throw in the onions, give a quick stir and remove to plate with the beef. Throw in the remaining flour and stir. Pour in a dash of red wine-stand back as it will let off a cloud of steam-and stir into the flour mix. Don't worry if it is a bit lumpy. Let it reduce a little and then add the beef stock a little at a time. You can add tinned tomatoes if you want but I tend not to if making dumplings and adding potatoes.

Add beef and onions to pan, making sure any liquid is poured in too. If more beef stock is required, add it...enough to cover the meat and a wee bit more for luck...or to stop it drying out! Add carrots, stir and bring to the boil. Put on a lid and simmer on a very low heat for 1 hour. Check that it IS simmering. After an hour, add potatoes and simmer for at least another 30 minutes, I prefer an hour. Make sure that you check that the beef is tender...it will be...and the potatoes are too; sometimes, they're not, depending on size of chunks because it is cooking in a simmer only.

Add seasoning if required.

If adding dumplings, put these in 15 minutes beforehand.

Beef Olives

This weekend was Kelly's birthday; she just turned 10. How many mums before me have looked around and instead of seeing their wee child, they see instead a tall, beautiful, capable person stand in front of them and ask themselves "when did this happen??". It makes me proud and a little sad at the same time.

The weekend was busy with parties, cooking, hosting and hanging out with the extended family and Kelly's friends . It was wonderful.

I made Beef Olives for dinner on Sunday evening. They are a traditional British meal although the French do a version too, as do many countries, I'm sure, known as paupiettes de boeuf. There are a few different recipes out there but traditionally, beef olives are stuffed with sausage meat. You can buy sliced sausage over here, either square or round; the easiest way to make sausage stuffed beef olives is to buy as many sliced sausage as you do slices of beef and place it in the middle of each slice of beef, skin removed; the sausage meat will already be seasoned and salted and there is little need to add further ingredients, if you're looking to do it quickly. Alternatively, normal shaped sausages can be used with the skin removed. You won't be sorry!

Beef Olives don't exactly look pretty but they taste divine!

There are other types of stuffing though, just as tasty like the recipe on this page. It is utterly delicious stuffed with haggis, a treat I allow us to have on occasion. It doesn't actually cost that much, even though good beef is best used because you buy thin slices and batter each slice a bit more.

The first time I ever cooked anything like this was when I was 17; I had my very first 'dinner party' for friends who were 10 years older than me and was out to impress. I came across a recipe in Keith Floyd's cookbook called 'Paupiettes of Beef with Lemon Stuffing'. Having not a scooby what I was doing, I took his advice and phoned the butcher, ordering everything on the list.

Unbeknown to me, the list contained the ingredients for a large amount of homemade beef stock which used many slices of the best braising steak, amongst other things. I cheerily skipped into the butchers, basket on arm and asked for my order; the bill came to over £100. I did a double take and fainted inside my head, went pale and paid the butcher. I couldn't believe what I had done. To put it into perspective, it was more than a week's wages and I had rent and bills to pay. I decided to make the best of it and cook it to the best of my ability.

I have to say, it turned out splendidly although the state of the kitchen was a sight to behold. Every surface was covered in pots, pans and plates and it took me an entire day to clean up. It was a brilliant night though and I lived off the 'beef stock' for a week.

Beef Olives (or paupiettes de boeuf)

Oven to 190 degrees Celsius
A thin topside of beef per 'olive' although I used 21 day matured Aberdeen Angus this time.
Stuffing of choice, usually sausage meat (see this recipe). I used a rice stuffing (see below).
A little seasoned flour
Good beef stock, enough to cover the olives, 3/4 pint should be more than enough
A dash of red wine
A little hot oil

Place each slice of beef individually in a plastic bag and bash it! Not too hard now! Place a small amount of stuffing in the middle of the slice and roll as tightly as possible. Tie with string or use these new elastic strings you can buy which makes the job much easier. Repeat until all beef olives are complete and coat lightly in the seasoned flour. Fry in some hot oil until browned and place into an oven proof dish.

Pour a dash of red wine into the pan to get all the extra bits of meat, flour and flavours. Let it bubble for a minute and add in the beef stock, stirring once and removing as soon as it gets to boiling point. Pour over the beef. Cover with two layers of foil and place in the oven. Turn the heat down to 150 degrees Celsius after 15 minutes and cook for 2 hours but you can leave it a little longer if you prefer.

I think the best thing to serve this with is mashed potato although I used Flora light (low fat margarine) this time rather than full fat butter. Mmmm mmm!

Mmm, yeah, still not pretty but still tastes...and smells wonderful

Rice Stuffing

Boil some basmati rice (or any rice) as per instructions. Meanwhile, fry a finely chopped onion and garlic with some chopped mushrooms and bacon or chorizo and any fresh herbs you have lying around; I used thyme and rosemary. Add a good dash of black pepper and some salt. Add any other ingredient you like, to taste. Once the rice is cooked, drain and add to vegetables. Stir fry for a minute and remove from heat. Keep heat low whilst doing this as the rice may stick and burn.

I made some cupcakes for the kids coming back from school today....

Thanks to the lovely Anne McW, I have discovered something wonderful: Nutella can be melted in the microwave! Do you have any idea what this means? I no longer have to mix Nutella with butter icing or faff about with it, trying to top muffins or stuff scones with the stuff. I can simply melt the Nutella and pour. Pour over any surface I require. Evil chuckle.

The wonderful roasted vegetables we had tonight with the Wiltshire Ham and poached eggs.

I was going to just do potato (and sweet potato) wedges but decided to add in some peppers, mushrooms, courgettes, carrots and tomatoes. I tossed everything in olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, fresh thyme, rosemary and lavender. The smell was amazing, I highly recommend this dish. I made entirely too much but the rest will be tossed into my vegetable curry.

October Menu

In getting down with the weight loss groove, I've picked meals for the next two weeks which are as friendly as I can make them without crying myself to sleep every night; some meals are low in fat, some will be served without the usual accompaniments or without the use of butter, some will simply be small in quantity as well as, on the whole, suitable for all the family. The proof of course is in the pudding who said pudding?!, that's just rude, considering so we shall see if weight loss, a la Helen works. Without further ado, the menu of choice:

Dinners:
Pan-fried salmon with sesame seeds and a Chinese style dressing, lightly crushed baby potatoes and stir fried vegetables. Salmon fishcakes for the little 'uns and broccoli for all.

Beef olives stuffed with savoury rice and served with roasted root vegetables with thyme.
Extra mash for the kids.

Free-range chicken roulade stuffed with savoury onion and mushroom and boiled rice.

Wiltshire ham served with poached eggs and sweet potato/potato oven wedges.

Honey roast salmon salad topped with linseeds.

Lahmacun (using leftover minced lamb sauce from freezer) and homemade bread.

Vegetable curry, boiled rice and raita (with puffy bread for kids).

Spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, Parmesan and basil.
Carbonara for kids and Brian.

Tomato, garlic and thyme hearthbread with Italian meats & baked tomatoes.

Honey roast salmon, stir fried with peppers, onions and rice (me).
Macaroni cheese (them...!).

Fritatta with salad.

Baked Potatoes, tuna mayo, cheese, salad.

Chicken stew with whole new baby potatoes

Omelette with cous cous and green salad

Breakfasts:
Pancakes
Cinnamon buns (The only breakfast treat I shall have and since the last batch were frozen, I will have one per week as a treat with toast the rest of the time)
Toast with Jam/Marmalade
Fruit
Cereal
French Toast
Nutella Bread

Lunches:
Sandwiches
Soup
Crisps
Homemade bread
Oatcakes
Italian Meats
Fruit
Raisins

Kelly's birthday is this weekend so there will be cakes and party food and I will allow myself a sliver only. The shopping bill this week came to £88.22 so £44.11 per week. This leaves just under £12 for sundries. The party food is separate to this; I always allow an extra budget for these although some items already appear on this shopping list, e.g. bread, chicken, cucumber and crisps. The extra food will be no more than £10.

There are some items which should never be scrimped on, in my opinion, meat and coffee being two of them. As you can see from the receipt above, I saved £1.35 on the coffee. I bought my favourite brand 'illy' and a strong, fairtrade packet to try. I also purchased three cartons of Tropicana orange juice, breadsticks because the kids like them, they last for ages and they were on sale, some store cupboard items like stock cubes, handwash, wine on sale to take to Anne's on Thursday night; let's face it, I'd have paid full price for it but hey, who am I to argue with a cheaper price.

Lucy and I went to see 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' at the cinema after school. We shared a bag of cinema popcorn bought from Asda of course....you didn't think I'd pay full price didcha? and then went to the restuarant on the boat afterwards for good old fish and chips. Yes, I know I'm looking to say au revoir to 14 pounds but this had been planned and, although it sounds like an excuse, I start tomorrow. I heartily enjoyed my half of salt and vinegar drenched, bone achingly good fish and chips with ne'ery a scowl. The pickled onions were good too. T'was lovely and all the more so for knowing it was a treat. We sat outside as the sun, incredibly, was shining and drank it down with a gallon or in reality, the tiniest, totiest, weeist can of diet coke you ever did see.

No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk...or Eggs, or Salt, or Scales

I had a small 'accident' today; on preparing the Yorkshire pudding batter, I seemingly slipped on something and nothing, pulling down a bowl filled with eggs, salt and milk alongside the electric whisk, scales, glass and my dignity with me. We all ended on the floor, me in a heap, ankle (....for those of you who read about my other 'little' accident....the SAME freaking ankle...) all askew, milk and eggs running down the counter, into the toaster and all over the floor running away in all directions, trying to cover as much floor space as possible.

The new electronic scales lay upside down, seeped in milky batter, a glass tottered around the floor, little shards glinting from my big toe. I sat there, horrified and then yelped out loud at my own idiotic, irritating stupidity. Kelly came running through, all concerned to see her mummy lying in a heap, uncooked Yorkshire pudding surrounding her; she;d have been less shocked if it had been blood.

She tried to come to my rescue, the wee soul but I told her to go get daddy who no doubt sighed when Kelly suggested that there had been an accident. The clumsiness of his daft wife (who has realised that these 'episodes' happen 1 month apart...)must irk, especially as he usually has to pick up the pieces; he came down the stairs to rescue me.

Before he arrived, as I sat with my face in my hands, I saw two little feet heading towards me; I peeked out from between my fingers to see Fraser suddenly freeze, take in the situation and slowly retrace his steps backwards, like a cartoon burglar, hoping to have not been seen. This was less to do with the fact that he didn't want to help and more to do with him thinking he'd somehow, somewhere, get blamed. He is of the Bart Simpson school of "It wasn't me!" even if caught with cookies in his hand and chocolate round his face.

Brian cleaned everything up, fixed the scales although they kept saying 'error'...a bit like my head...and I sighed, got out more eggs, weighted scales and started all over again. To add insult to injury, I had to use the hand whisk as the electric ones had egg yolk running up inside the plughole.

We eventually had a meal of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, buttered baby jersey potatoes and a variety of vegetables. With gravy. Lots of gravy.

Vintage Kitty....I couldn't leave a comment or message, then I saw your wee tag; hope everything is ok! x

Beef Stew and Homemade Sweet Chilli Sauce with a twist!

The kids, Brian and Grandpa were served beef stew with mashed potatoes tonight. The weather has been so mixed and it has been quite cold so a good, hot stew seemed appropriate...and Grandpa likes stew a lot!

I cooked the beef as normal: I covered the cubes with flour, salt and pepper,and fried in hot oil until browned and sealed and then added an Oxo cube, stirred, added chopped onions, sliced carrots, 2 bay leaves and a sprig of thyme. I poured in some red wine and let it bubble over a hight heat. I then made up a mix of beef stock, Oxo and tomato puree and poured it over the beef. Once it came to the boil I turned it down to a slight simmer and added some thyme leaves off the stalk and some black pepper. It was left, covered, on a simmer for 2 hours and then served with creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. It was polished off really quickly.

I had prawns instead(shrimps)as I thought buttery mashed potatoes and beef weren't really conducive to losing weight and as I'd also walked for miles today I was pretty motivated...and shattered! I decided to have them on their own but with a little sauce so I set about making my own sweet chilli sauce and the twist was using sesame oil...really amazing, particularly with the prawns. I think I'll have this tomorrow too but add peppers, onions and either noodles or rice.

Sweet Chilli Sauce with Sesame Oil
1 whole red chilli, seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
Ginger, peeled and roughly chopped, around 2 inches
Tablespoon sugar
Good big pinch sea salt
Around a tablespoon white wine vinegar (added a little more near the end)
Around Tablespoon and a bit more of sesame oil

Put chilli, garlic and ginger into blender. Blend well and then add sugar, salt, vinegar and sesame oil. Blend on a low speed then turn up to high. Scrape all the ingredients together and add a little more vinegar and oil if needed. It should be thick but still liquidy.

Empty into bowl, scraping out all the bits of chilli and garlic that have clung to the side. Taste and add more sugar/salt if required. This is a spicy version so watch out...a little goes a long way. The smell is divine.

This would be great as it is, cold as a dip or with chicken or fish or even as a marinade, but I heated up a tablespoon in a frying pan and added a good handful of prawns, emptied into a bowl after a few minutes of quick stir frying and sprinkled with black pepper. It was really, really good.

Lasagna-20 portions!

I made Lasagna and Macaroni Cheese tonight. Not all the kids like lasagna so I thought they could have a choice. I make my own sauce and cook the beef for an hour and a half so that it is very tender. This batch makes approx. 18-20 portions and works out approx. 50 pence per portion. The recipe is as follows:
Lasagna- I always make large portions as it freezes beautifully and is very cost effective in bulk.
2 packets mince, large (730g each today)
Pasta sheets x 2 packets
Olive oil
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons tomato puree
3 cartons (500g) passata
200ml stock or water
1 tbs sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Nutmeg
Butter 100g
Milk 3/4 pint
2 large tablespoons flour

Tomato Sauce
Puree onions and garlic in a processor until mushy. Heat a good splash of olive oil in a non-stick pan and pour in onion mixture. Stir, bring to the boil, stir again and then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. These should not go brown. Once cooked, add puree and passata. Stir then bring to the boil. Let it bubble away for a few minutes then turn down heat to a good simmer. Add 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon salt plus a really good grinding of black pepper. Stir.

Sprinkle in a good pinch of mixed herbs (dried) and a dash of red wine. Simmer with lid on for approx. 10 minutes or until mince is ready.

Minced Beef
To prepare mince, add a little olive oil to another pan and over a medium to high heat, fry mince until completely brown, stirring continuously. (I had to do this in two batches). Drain and add to sauce. Bring to a boil, then put lid back on and simmer on a low heat for 1.5 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so. Once ready, add a good grating of nutmeg.

Bechamel Sauce
Melt butter in a pan over a medium heat. Add flour and stir constantly until a roux is formed (looks like a soft paste). Add a dash of milk and incorporate into roux. It may look a little curdled, don't worry, keep stirring! Keep adding milk, a little at a time, quickly stirring all the time. Once the desired thickness has been achieved. let it simmer for a minute, then add a sprinkle of white pepper and a good grating of nutmeg.

Prepare Lasagna:
Layer meat sauce on bottom of lasagna tin/tray. Layer pasta sheets on top and then pour over some bechamel sauce. Repeat and finish with bechamel sauce and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan. Place lasagna in oven at 180 degrees C and cook for 30-35 minutes.

Once cooled, slice into portions and place into foil trays. After eating this for dinner and having seconds, we had 14 portions left.