Meal Planning Monday Week 34

Monday: fish and veg for me, gammon and mashed potato for him

Tuesday

Dinner- was supposed to be out but it just got cancelled; now working from home so I will get creative with whatever is in the freezer

Wednesday

Lunch – team lunch at Wahaca

Dinner – sausage and tomato casserole

Thursday: curry - had on the meal plan last week but didn't make it

Friday - chicken pie and mashed potato

Saturday

Lunch – at a car show where my boyfriend is taking part in the Sportingbears “Dream Rides” team, offering rides in supercars to paying customers for charity. He did this at Leeds Castle last year and it was brilliant – though it means I will have to occupy myself all day!

Dinner – something quick as I don’t know what time we will get back

Sunday

Lunch- Waterzooi chicken soup/tomato soup for him

Dinner- Slimming World nachos/potato wedges

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Embellished Photo Greetings Cards

You may have seen the family photo letter collage I already completed using my voucher from Snapfish, the photo printing people.
 

There was another idea I wanted to try, that uses a printed personalised photo from Snapfish but also allows for some homemade embellishment. I didn’t know until I started looking around the Snapfish site that they do personalised cards – you simply upload a photo and choose the card design. There are birthday cards, with the design already provided (eg an age, some animals and so on) or more blank, colourful backgrounds where your photo takes centre stage (you can also choose cards where you can add multiple photos). As well as personalised birthday cards they have a huge range for other occasions, some of which are folded cards you can write inside, and others are flat cards – like postcards, but used for save the date reminders for weddings and birth announcements and so on.

 

I chose a couple so I could experiment and see what they had, with the intention of using my craft supplies to add some finishing touches at home.

 

It’s my Dad’s 60^th birthday next month so I made him a personalised card with some family photos. There was a layout where all I had to do was drop in the photos:

 I wanted to add some extra embellishments so used a cardboard label mounted onto blue card saying 'for the world's greatest dad' at the bottom, and a silver outline sticker saying 'dad' in the top right corner. As the title of the card was 'birthday star' I put some silver star stickers in the top left corner as well.
 

 

My sister is in the process of buying a new house; I couldn’t find a layout suitable for ‘congratulations on your new house’ so instead chose a card saying ‘we’ve moved’. This is designed to tell people of a change of address but you can change the wording, so I changed it to congratulate my sister and her boyfriend on the new house. The space in the middle was to add a picture; if you were using this card to tell people you had changed address then a picture of the new house would be perfect! But as I didn't have that - my sister hasn't moved yet - and I wasn't sure what else to use, I decided she would like a picture of my cat! To me it looks a bit like the cat is peering through the letterbox :-)

 

Most of the 'new home' embellishments I had were too large to fit on this card but I did have a pack of stickers with clear backgrounds that I thought would work. It had a flower on it so I added some extra flower stickers around the card.

Personalised Christmas cards are a lovely idea, especially if you are sending them to family or friends you haven’t seen in a while. I didn’t really have any suitable photos from previous festivities (we don’t really do posed family photos) but I did have some nice ones of the holiday I took with my boyfriend to Lapland a couple of years ago. It wasn’t Christmas but there was still plenty of snow!

This card had a lovely background with snowflakes around the edge so I decided to embellish it with some extra snowflake stickers. You can't see them all too well in this photo but they are there!

Finally I used a collage layout for a birthday card and used pictures of different cakes I've made.

I embellished this using some little cupcake stickers on each point where the lines crossed:

 

All of these cards would be nice without the extra embellishments but I do think it's nice to add a little extra!

Thanks to Snapfish for the voucher code for their site

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Scrapbooking: a great way to preserve memories

I think it’s a shame these days that people don’t get their photos printed out. But it’s so easy to take photos these days with mobile phones and digital cameras that I would spend a fortune printing out all the photos that I take. I used to do that, until a few years ago, and have dozens of photo albums containing hundreds if not thousands of photos. But I find it hard to narrow down holiday snaps to just 24 or 36 – like when you used to only have that many exposures on a roll of film – and it gets expensive if you print out 100 photos at a time. Having said that, I have done that, using Snapfish – a photo printing website where you can upload your photos and print them out from as little as 7p each.

 

Not long after I met my boyfriend I started scrapbooking, as a fun way of crafting and preserving memories. I made one for him with a few pages, including our first Christmas and first holiday together, and planned to add some pages every year. The last couple of years I don’t seem to have been able to find the time so I was long overdue – since I last added to our scrapbook we’ve moved in together, bought a house, and gone on several holidays to Lapland, America, Vienna and Mexico.

 

Snapfish gave me a voucher code to spend on their site and do some crafting with whatever I bought. The main project I tackled was covering some cardboard letters spelling the word ‘love’ with a collage of mini photos.

 

I also decided to get some more photos printed out to use in our scrapbook. I got some standard-sized 6x4 photos (from 7p each) and some 10x8 collage photos (£1.09), which allow you to take up to 20 images and shuffle them around in different combinations, so some print out different sizes than others. These are then great to cut up allowing you to arrange them wherever you want in the scrapbook.

 

I keep various little souvenirs – ticket stubs, paper napkins from restaurants and so on – and I have a huge stash of crafting supplies as I make a lot of cards. I often look online for specific embellishments I want for a particular project.

 

So how do you get started with scrapbooking? First get a scrapbook – it can be any size but for this project I prefer to use 12x12 inches. I have made much smaller scrapbooks before for friends where I only had room for one 6x4 photo and some embellishments on each page. I’ve also seen some nice 8x8 scrapbooks with thick black cardboard pages. My 12x12 scrapbook actually has clear plastic pockets rather than pages, which gives you even more freedom.

 

You can buy loose pages from craft shops (eg online or my local high street has a card making supplies shop), Hobbycraft, Ebay and so on. Sometimes they come in packs, which is usually cheaper, but you can also buy individual sheets of card or thick paper which means you can choose exactly the colour and pattern you want for your project.

 

Decide on the theme or subject of your page. What story are you telling? This will also help you decide your layout – for instance if there is going to be one main image or several. It could be celebrating the birth of a new baby; a child’s birthday; a holiday; or a season, like a selection of autumnal pictures (children playing in the leaves and so on).

 

Once you’ve chosen your photo(s), the next step is the embellishment. You can add what is known as journaling – i.e. words – either by using some letter stickers to spell out a word or name, or writing some lines on a piece of card or paper and adding this to the page. Or how about using your computer to print out captions to go under the photos?

 

Photos look nice when matted onto a piece of card and then mounted on the page; you can also give your page a title, a border – anything you like. Think about layouts – do you want pictures in a particular order to tell a story? A main image with smaller ones underneath, or overlapping the corners, or create a pocket out of card that you can tuck ticket stubs and mementos into? Have a look at Pinterest for some inspiration.

For this page I decided to record some memories of a recent holiday to Mexico. I bought a packet of stickers in a gift shop at Uxmal, one of the archaeological sites we visited, that had a lot of the different places we've been to.

First to choose the cardboard for the page itself; I wanted something with a bit of  a Mexican feel but that didn't have too dominant a pattern. I decided to go for a plain red page, but mount a square of card on top that had red flowers on it.

I used Snapfish's collage printing service and cut up a photo collage I'd had made of some of our holiday photos from snapfish and decided to mount them on card. I arranged some down the side of the page, and some on the patterned piece of card, at slight angles.

 

I decided the stickers looked best across the bottom of the page; I only used three but they were some of the most impressive places we visited and the three stickers I chose were roughly the same size and shape as well - I liked the uniformity.

I had a packet of Jolee's Mexico stickers I'd bought from Ebay a while ago in anticipation of this project which contained the word Mexico in big letters, which I stuck across the top of the page. It had some other stickers which I had fun with  - when my boyfriend saw the page he commented "You've got me in a silly hat and a lizard playing maracas!". Sadly only one of those things actually happened on holiday.

There were some red chilli pepper stickers I put along the bottom and also a margarita cocktail sticker I added to a little photo of our amazing hotel balcony where I enjoyed a few drinks in the sunshine. Finally a tall thin cactus sticker filled a space I had been wondering what to do with and added the final touch!

Thanks to Snapfish for the voucher for their website

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Strawberry and Flaxseed Smoothie

I was at someone's house recently and noticed she had a Nutribullet which reminded me of my much cheaper jug blender which I got as a birthday present from my friend Jane when I was at university - so that was about 15 years ago and it's still going strong! I hardly ever make smoothies as I just don't have time in the mornings, and smoothies to me are really a breakfast drink. I usually end up making a cup of tea in the mornings, only having time to drink half before I have to leave to get my train, and having breakfast at my desk at work which is usually a yogurt, or cereal if I remember to put some cereal in a Tupperware container to take with me!

But I had some strawberries that needed using up, plus a couple of over-ripe bananas - we are still getting a fruit basket every week at work and whenever there are some black bananas left at the end, my boss puts them on my desk as he knows I can bake with them!

I also had some soya milk left over from when a vegan friend came to stay and thought the creamy flavour and thicker texture (as I usually buy skimmed milk which is very thin) would be lovely in a smoothie.

I also had some flaxseed in the back of a cupboard; flaxseed is incredibly good for you as it's an anti-oxidant and good for your heart, blood pressure, is a source of fibre and all sorts of other things too.

So into the blender went the soya milk, strawberries, banana and flaxseed.

I also added a squeeze of agave nectar (a vegan honey substitute) for a little sweetness. I tested it and added a little more milk to thin it down and decided I really ought to make smoothies more often!

Smoothies are a good way to use up leftover fruit which is going soft; for that reason I'm sharing this with Credit Crunch Munch, hosted by Charlene at Food Glorious Food on behalf of Camilla at Fab Food 4 All and Helen at Fuss Free Flavours.

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F1 Foods: Hungary Round-Up and the next challenge: Belgium

The Grand Prix races have been a little further apart recently so it was back in July that I launched the latest challenge, to cook something related to the Hungarian host of the Formula 1 race. Perhaps not the easiest of countries to choose particularly for UK entrants, as the only Hungarian meal I had heard of before was goulash. Surprisingly, nobody entered goulash in the challenge!

 

First we had these Gerbeaud Slices from Suelle at Mainly Baking. The recipe originated from the House of Gerbeaud in Budapest; these are slices filled with walnut and apricot jam and chocolate on top and look wonderful - I can't believe I've never heard of them before!

 

 

 

Kohlrabi soup is something I've heard of but I didn't know how to make it or even really what a kohlrabi was - it seems to be somewhere between a cabbage and a turnip. This recipe from Jane at Onions and Paper looks very easy to make, and very warming for a cold winter's (or August!) day. 

 

 

  

I made Langos, which we ate on holiday in Vienna; they are popular in Austria but from what I read online, actually a Hungarian recipe. They are basically a kind of pillowy dough that is deep fried and served with sour cream and grated cheese – delicious! Quite filling but I think a small one of these would be a nice alternative side with a cooked breakfast. I think they would be quite nice served sweet with chocolate and icing sugar too!

 

 

 

 

Finally we had Szilvas Pite - not only do I not know what this is, I don't know how to pronounce it! Elizabeth at the Law Students' Cookbook has enlightened me: it's plum cake. It uses Greek yogurt and almond extract; Elizabeth said the plums sunk a little but it looks pretty good to me.

 

The next Formula 1 Grand Prix takes place in Belgium on August 21-23. I’m opening the linky now and you will have until Friday 28th to submit your entries.

');

 

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Vegan Meringue and Pavlova (yes it exists!)

Can you make vegan meringue? Yes you can! I bet you didn’t know that – and I bet you will be surprised by the secret ingredient.

I had a barbecue recently and served up this meringue and cream, and waved it under the nose of my vegan friend… not to tease her, but to tell her that I’d made it for her! The meringue doesn’t contain egg and the cream doesn’t contain cream!

I am ridiculously excited at having found out about this and have been spreading the word; each time I tell someone the main ingredient in the vegan meringue- and the fact that it looks and tastes great – they are amazed.

No, not chickpeas… but the water that is in the tin. It’s called aquafaba and you can read the fascinating story of how people have been looking for egg replacers which work in meringue. It seems to be a relatively recent discovery.

The meringue is really easy to make – just the same as a regular meringue, though the aquafaba did seem to need a bit more whisking than egg whites, so I was very glad of my Kitchenaid stand mixer.

You need:

For the meringue:

liquid from a 400g tin of chickpeas

1 cup caster sugar

1 tbsp arrowroot powder (available in supermarkets in sachets from Dr. Oetker)

1 tsp vanilla flavouring

1 tsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

For the cream:

400ml tin coconut milk

Icing sugar to taste

Fresh berries to decorate (optional)

Preheat oven to 140C. Drain the liquid from the tin of chickpeas into a bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer and whisk, starting off at low speed and gradually increasing the speed to high, for several minutes until the liquid foams up and then forms soft peaks, much like whisking egg whites.

Add the sugar and arrowroot powder and mix on medium speed and then high until you have stiff glossy peaks.

Add the vanilla and vinegar and whisk briefly to combine.

Place a piece of greaseproof paper on a flat baking tray and spoon out the ‘meringue’ into a circular shape. Turn the oven down to 120C and bake for 2 – 2.5 hours. Turn the oven off and leave the meringue in the oven to fully cool overnight if you can. At the same time, place the can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight.

The next day, carefully peel the greaseproof paper off the meringue – rather than the other way around – and place on a plate to serve. Mine did break up a little unfortunately!

To make the cream, open the tin of coconut milk – the contents will have separated into a thin water-like liquid and a thick, almost solid, top layer. The tins will often separate in this way even in the cupboard and you can easily mix the two layers together to add to a curry and so on – but for this recipe, you want the solid layer. Carefully spoon it out into a bowl and add icing sugar to taste (add about 3 tbsp initially then taste it). Whisk until you have the consistency of double cream.

Spoon on top of the pavlova and top with fresh berries - I used strawberries and blueberries. And there you have it  - a vegan pavlova!

I'm sending this to Tea Time Treats as they have a theme of summer holiday baking; the strawberries and blueberries make this quite summery and this is a good dessert to have after a BBQ as you can make the meringue in advance then assemble it very quickly. The challenge is hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Jane at The Hedgecombers,

I'm also sharing it with the Vegetable Palette challenge, hosted by Shaheen at Allotment 2 Kitchen; the theme is 'more glorious reds' and she accepts fruits as well as veg.

In addition I'm sending this to the Food Year Linkup hosted by Charlottes Lively Kitchen. This would be lovely if you were holding a Breast Cancer Care's Strawberry Tea fundraiser.

 

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Watermelon Smoothie Mixer Hack (and a cocktail)

I saw this on Facebook recently - someone had a brilliant trick with a whole watermelon (I don't know why these things are always called 'hacks') which enables you to turn the fruit into a refreshing drink in less than a minute - without needing to peel and cut it up and put it in a blender.

On Saturday I went to a barbecue at the home of Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker, who is a good friend of mine. She'd seen this Facebook clip as well and had tried it out, with perfect results! She had more than one watermelon so demonstrated again to a rapt audience, and allowed me to film it and put it on my blog.

All you need is a whole watermelon - putting it in a bowl to keep it steady like Ros does here is a good idea. Use a sharp knife to cut a square out of the top of the watermelon, large enough for the paddle beaters of a hand mixer. You can take one of the beaters out and just use one if you like.

Stick the mixer into the watermelon, and turn it on! Ros said you can tell when you've mixed it enough - then all you do is turn it upside down and pour out the watermelon juice!

It's brilliant and a real party trick. The juice tasted lovely, though was quite thick, so I mixed mine with lemonade and added a shot of vodka for a very refreshing cocktail.

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