Quinoa Pizza Muffins

One of my favourite ingredients of late is quinoa. I've been using it in breakfast, lunch and dinners. It is packed full of protein and manages to add a great texture to every dish.

I will have more quinoa based recipes to share with you but the first one I wanted to shared with you was quinoa pizza muffins.

Barbecue Turkey Meatloaf Recipe

I love meatloaf, I think partly because it was something I grew up with, I remember eating it a lot when I was younger however because I'm still trying to be healthy with my eating habits, I wanted to come up with a recipe that was still full of flavour but didn't contain so many calories/fat. Immediately I thought of turkey.

This is a meat that is packed full of protein but contains a lot less fat than other meats and the way this dish is cooked means that any fat doesn't get soaked into the meatloaf like a traditional one would.

Huevos Rancheros Recipe

Whilst on holiday in Ibiza earlier this year, one of things we really loved was the food. Sitting and eating our breakfast at Cafe Mambo watching the sun rising was a definite highlight.

One of my favourite dishes was Huevos Rancheros, what is known as a typical Mexican breakfast.

I tried to recreate this, putting in a couple of my own twists.

Take a look at the recipe below :

Tomato and Courgette Baked Omelette

With Daddy Hazelden working away in London during the week, I end up cooking the girls dinner in the afternoon and then find myself not wanting to cook again later on. So I have been trying to come up with some quick and easy meals for me to eat for on those days when I really can't be bothered. Omelette is something that is not only easy to make but it is versatile too because you can put whatever you want with it. This week I used tomato and courgette to make a scrummy baked omelette.

Ingredients

* 3 x medium eggs
* Knob of butter
* Handful of cherry tomatoes
* Half a courgette

Preparation

* Crack the eggs in a bowl/jug and whisk them together.

* Cut the tomatoes and courgette into small chunks.

Slow Cooked Lasagne Recipe

One of my favourite dinners of all times has to be Lasagne however I have never made one myself, either my mum has cooked me one, I've eaten one when at a restaurant or I've bought a ready made one from the supermarket, so this week I decided to bite the bullet and see if I could cook one all by myself. And as an added twist I cooked it in my trusty slow cooker.

Ingredients

* 750g Fresh Beef Mince
* 1 Large Onion
* 1 Courgette
* Box of Lasagne Pasta Sheets
* 2 Jars of sauce, one red, one white (ok I admit I cheated and didn't do it all from scratch)
* Mixed Herbs
* Cheese for grating on top

Preparation

* Dice the onion and cut the courgette into small chunks.

* Fry the onion for 2-3 minutes.

* Add the mince to brown it off.

Leftover Christmas Dinner Soup

I'm sure I'm not alone in buying and cooking way too much food for Christmas dinner. As yummy as it all is, there is just no way I could possibly eat it all, classic case of eyes bigger than belly. So what to do with all of the leftover food? Seems too much of a waste just to throw it all away!!! Last year I made a scrummy turkey curry, this year I've decided to get out my trusty slow cooker and make a festive Christmas dinner soup.

Ingredients

* Turkey legs
* Any left over vegetables
* Large onion sliced
* 1 litre chicken stock
* 2 tbsp Tomato puree
* 6 Rashers of bacon

Preparations

* Grill the bacon and cut into small pieces.

* Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker, making sure to stir and mix all the ingredients and cook on low for 8 hours.

* About an hour from the end of cooking, pick out the turkey legs, take the meat off the bone and place back in the soup, you could always use the bone to make some turkey stock.

* Just before serving add in a tbsp or so of cornflour to thicken, of course you don't have to do this, we just prefer a thicker soup.

Of course it wouldn't be festive enough if I didn't serve it up in a Christmas bowl!!!

What do you do with all the leftover food from Christmas??

xxxx

Sausage and Bean Casserole Recipe

I love a good casserole, I find they are good hearty meals and there are endless possibilities as to what ingredients you can use to make one. This week I opted for a sausage and bean casserole which I made in my trusty slow cooker.

Ingredients

* 450g sausages (around 8)
* tin of cannellini beans
* 300ml beef stock
* tin of chopped tomatoes
* 2 tbsp tomato puree
* 1 large onion

Preparation

* Brown the sausages under the grill.
* Whilst waiting for the sausages to colour, prepare the beef stock and slice the onion.
* Mixed together the beef stock, tomato puree and chopped tomatoes.
* Place all ingredients into the slow cooker for either 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.

We opted to eat this with some crusty bread rolls this time but normally we would serve with new potatoes, you could always cook the potatoes in with the casserole to save time.

What's your favourite casserole?

xxxx

Corn Beef Hash Recipe

This week I have dug out my slow cooker, with the colder weather really setting in, nice warm dinners are in order. I am a huge lover of corn beef hash, extremely simple to make, it is another recipe where everyone has there own little twist on it though so I thought I would show you just how I make mine.

This was actually the first time that I had made it in the slow cooker though so I was more than pleased when it had finished cooking and it came out even tastier than when made in the oven.

Ingredients

* 1 tin of corned beef
* 1 tin of bake beans
* 4 rashers of bacon
*1 large onion diced
* 4-5 medium potatoes cut into small chunks
* 1 litre of beef stock

Preparation

Now this is where I love my slow cooker, preparation is extremly simple, honestly anyone could do it :

* Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker and leave to cook on low for around 4 hours. You can fry the onions first but I find they come out just as nice when you put the in raw.

This went down a treat with everyone. The great thing about doing the corn beef hash in the slow cooker was that it didn't matter that Daddy Hazelden wouldn't be home in time to eat it with all of us because it could stay in the slow cooker to be eaten later.

What is your favourite slow cooker recipe??

xxxx

Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe

Ok so November has arrived and it it seems to have brought the cold weather with it so I have started to cook some of the dishes I associate as being "Winter Warmers". One of these meals is spaghetti bolognese.

Now I think this is one of those meals where everyone seems to have their own variations, so here is mine :

Ingredients

* Fresh Spaghetti
* 500g Fresh Beef Mince
* 200g Cooking Bacon
* 3 Carrots
* 1 Large Onion, diced
* 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
* 2 tbsps of Tomato Puree
* 150ml Red Wine
* Oregano

Preparation

* In a large pan, fry the onions until golden.

* Add the mince, make sure it is all browned and then drain the fat.

* Pour in the remaining ingredients, the carrots, bacon, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano and wine.

* Leave to simmer for 30 minutes, whilst waiting enjoy the remainder of the wine ;)

* After 25 minutes, cook the spaghetti as per instructions on the packet.

* Serve in a bowl accompanied by some garlic bread.

A simple yet scrummy dinner that is perfect for the whole family!! So how do you make your spaghetti bolognese?

xxxx

Tuna and Sweetcorn Pizza Recipe

Yesterday was Wednesday dinner day with Nannie again. This time it was Freya's turn to decide what were going to have. She chose pizza.

Normally we have pizza as our treat of the week and get it from our favourite take away, Star pizza but to make a change we decided to make our own. This meant that we could choose whatever topping we wanted.

Now we weren't brave enough to make the pizza bases from scratch so I have to put my hands up and admit that we bought them ready made.

Ingredients

* Pizza base x 2
* Passata
* Cheese (whatvever one you like)
* Can of tuna
* Tin of sweetcorn

 

Preparing

* Preheat the oven to around 180 degrees

* Spread the passata over each pizza base using the back of a large spoon.

* Open up the tins of the tuna and sweetcorn and spread them evenly over the whole pizza.

* Grate the cheese into a bowl.

* Sprinkle the cheese over, you can make it as cheesy as you like, I would say my girls went a tad over board but that's what they wanted.

* Place in the oven for 8-10 minutes

Here is the finished product

You can see what I mean by them going a bit mad with the cheese but you can see from the picture below that they really enjoyed what they made.

Another quick and easy dinner. We actually made that much that the girls had cold pizza for their lunch today!!

What is your favourite topping to have on pizza?

xxxx

Cheesy Pasta With a Twist

Since Daddy Hazelden has started working in London, myself, the kids and Nannie have been having Wednesday dinner. This may not seem like anything too special but if you knew what a fussy eater Daddy Hazelden can be, I think you would be as excited as us to eat something that we wouldn't normally cook.

Each week someone gets to choose what we have for dinner and we cook it fresh. This week Elise chose cheesy pasta, this is a treat because Daddy doesn't like cheese at all so this wouldn't normally be on the menu.

Ingredients

* Tub of single cream
* Ricotta cheese
* Ball of mozarella cheese
* Grated cheedar cheese (up to you how much, depending how strong you like it)
* Fresh pasta of choice
* Turkey Rashers
* Sweetcorn

Cooking

* Put all the cheeses and the cream into a microwavable bowl and microwave on hight a minute at a time until all the ingredients have melted together. If you want a thinner sauce then add a little milk to it.

* Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the packet

* Whilst the pasta is cooking, grill the turkey rashers and then cut them into smaller pieces and cook the sweetcorn

* Mix the pasta, turkey rashers, sweetcorn and cheese sauce in a bowl and serve.

A quick and easy dinner that serves plenty. I even had sauce left over to make another dinner for myself.

What do you like to have with pasta??

xxxx

Brussels Sprouts Love Them or Hate Them?

Whilst wandering around the supermarket trying to decide what vegetables to put with our roast dinner last weekend, I spotted brussels sprouts. Now this vegetable is a bit like marmite, you either love it or you hate it, there doesn't seem to be an inbetween. These are my favourite vegetable!! Daddy Hazelden however, is not their number one fan but I dislike having to cook lots of different veggies.

A couple of years ago my mum and I came across a lovely recipe from Jamie Oliver that made brussels sprouts that little bit more appealing, he called them brussels with hustle. Even Daddy Hazelden will tell you that these are delicious. To make it my own, I added a bit of onion to it.

Ingredients

Brussels Sprouts

Streaky Bacon

1/2 an Onion

Sage of Rosemary

Worcester Sauce

Butter for cooking

Olive oil

Cooking

* Chop the brussels up finely

* Put olive oil and a knob of butter into a pan and heat

* Place in the bacon, onion and herbs and fry for a few minutes

* Add the brussels and a splash of water, put the lid on and fry for a further 4 minutes

* Then add another knob of butter and worcester sauce (as much as you like) mix and serve

You can make as much or as little as you like depending on how many brussels and rashers of bacon you use. You can even save some and reheat it the next day, even better flavour!!

xxxx

Ella's Kitchen "Big Meals" Review

I am a mum who tries to cook things from scratch majority of the time, I think food tastes better when freshly made. However there are times when I am busy and  I need something quick and easy to make.

I was very kindly asked by Ella's Kitchen to review their new Big Meals range. This range is 100% organic and is suitable for little ones from the age of 12 months onwards, so who better to test this range than little Layla.

There are 6 dishes to choose from : chicken curry, pork stew, chicken paella, beef stew, veggie moussaka and bolognese bake.

Each meal contains at least 5 different fruits and vegetables which means they are jam packed with lots of vitamins making them nice and healthy. We were sent the Pork Stew and the Bolognese Bake to try.

Each meal comes in a 200g pot, it is a great size as it is small enough to fit in a changing bag if you need to feed your little one when out and about. 

I was impressed that each pot only takes 50 seconds to heat up in the microwave and it comes out at an almost ideal temperature to eat straight away,  this is great as normally ready meals come out of the microwave burning hot and you have to wait around for what seems like hours until the food finally cools down.

You can see from the picture above that there are lots of chunky pieces of vegetables, beans etc, it looks like a good hearty meal and it means that there are lots of different textures for little ones to discover.

Layla is little miss independent these days and spent most of the time trying to feed herself which resulted in a fair bit of mess but she really enjoyed the food, infact she loved it that much she was trying to feed herself with two spoons lol.

I admit to trying it myself and I was surprised at just how lovely it tasted. A lot of baby food that I have tried in the past has been very bland, there was never any real flavour to it. These Big Meals are scrummy, plenty of different flavours to be tasted, just like it had been cooked at home, even my 5 year old had a mouthful and she would have quite happily eaten all of Layla's dinner!!

Costing £2.19 per meal, I think this is fairly reasonable in comparison to other children's ready meals. The fact that they use simple ingredients with absolutely nothing added, I wouldn't hesistate in recommending these to other parents.

xxxx

Disclaimer : These meals were sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Schwartz Grill Mates and Perfect Shake Review

A little while ago I took part in the Britmums challenge testing Schwartz 2 in 1 range. Well I was recently contacted to see whether I would like to review Scwartz newest ranges, Grill Mates and Perfect Shake. I'm always on the look out for new ideas on what to make dinner so I was more than happy to oblige.

I couldn't believe just how many sachets and shakes I was sent in the post.

The Grill Mates feature delicious US flavour combinations which are ideal to bring your food to life, whether you decide to make a BBQ in the glorious Summer weather we have been having or even if you decide to just put cook your meat under the grill for a delicious family meal. 

The Perfect Shake range are made up of tantalising herbs and spices which can be used in many things such as marinades, sauces, or even sprinkling over things like chicken, beef and fish.

Both these ranges are great for making the most of the Summer season. 

Perfect Shake

I was sent the Perfect Shake range in the following flavourings : 

Season All : This is a great alternative to salt and pepper

Piri Piri : For anyone that loves Nandos, this is the one for you

Chargrilled Chicken : Great to marinade your chicken in whether you favour breast, drumsticks or thighs

Fish : Use on any fish from prawns to tuna, adds a little zing to your meal.

So far I have used the Chargrilled Chicken and the Fish Perfect Shakes. I sprinkled the Chargrilled Chicken one over one of caesar salads, it was lovely, not an overpowering taste but definitely added a little kick. I used the fish one when making Daddy Hazelden king prawns, this mixed with some chillis and lime made for a refreshing meal. 

Grill Mates

I was sent the Grill Mates in : Deep South Brown Sugar, Mojito Lime, Cajun and Smoky Texan. So far I have only put the Cajun to the test but the whole family was really impressed.

Simply mix the packet mix with 75ml water and 50ml oil

Put the chicken and the mixture into the bowl and marinade for 15 minutes or if you want stronger flavour you can leave it over night in the fridge.

Then simply pop into the oven for however long you need to cook it for and...

You have some delicious chicken to accompany whatever else you decide to make, in our case chips and peas :) The marinade made the chicken really moist and the flavour was wonderful, not too spicy, even Layla enjoyed eating it.

Both ranges are quick and easy to use and with prices starting from £1 you really can't go wrong. It makes any dinner or salad that little bit more exciting. I'm looking forward to trying out the Mojito Lime next mmmm.

Which flavours would you like to try?

xxxx

Disclaimer : These items were sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

What's For Dinner Tonight??

Being a family of six, the shopping bill normally ends up far more expensive than I want it to be, we tend to stick to the same type of meals to keep the cost down, this means dinner times can become quite boring.

So when I got the chance to review Schwartz new 2 in 1 range, I was more than happy to accept. There are 5 different varities of this new range and I didn't know which ones I would be getting. I received two different recipe mix sachets, Mediterranean Chicken Pasta and Cheesy Crumb topping and Garlic and Thyme Roast Chicken and Crispy Roast Potatoes. 

I chose to make the Mediterranean Chicken Pasta first, mainly because we always have pasta in the cupboard and is a firm favourite in our house.

The idea of the 2 in 1 range is that you have one sachet that flavours the main dish and one sachet that either contains seasoning for a complementary side dish or a topping for the main dish.

I love how it is two sachets in one, you open one up at the top of the packet and open the other up at the bottom of the packet.

On the back of the packet it clearly states what ingredients will be needed to make the dish and there is a simple recipe to follow too, so even if you think you can't cook, I think you would struggle to go wrong with this!!

So let's start with the list of ingredients needed :

* the sachet of Schwartz 2 in 1 mediterranean pasta

* 1 tbs of oil

* 450g boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced 

* 1 pepper

* 150ml of water

* 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

* 200g pasta

* 75g grated cheddar cheese

I like that there aren't too many ingredients to buy, I must admit I cheated and bought frozen chicken strips as this was cheaper than buying the chicken breasts.

Before I could begin cooking, I needed to prepare the food, this meant chopping up the pepper, cooking the pasta, mixing the chicken pasta mix with water and browning the chicken pieces.

Once everything was prepared, the cooking of the dish was quick and straight forward, this would be an ideal meal if you don't have a lot of time on your hands. Simply add the diced pepper to the already cooked chicken, cook for 2 minutes then stir in the sauce and the chopped tomatoes, bring to the boil then simmer, add the pasta and heat through for another couple of minutes. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and sprinkle with the cheesy crumb topping and then cover in the grated cheese. Place under the grill for 4-5 minutes until golden, what did I say, oh that's right, easy!!

Once cooked, it was time to dish up, the children by this point were already sitting at the table, some would think I don't feed them enough!! 

I was really impressed with just how much food this recipe made!! It not only fed the whole family, we had left overs too. Everyone gave it a big thumbs up, plenty of flavours and textures and very filling.

I will be making the Thyme Roast Chicken meal on Sunday, roast dinners are Daddy Hazelden's favourite, you never know I might even manage to get him to cook it instead of me, a girl can dream :)

xxxx

*This post is an entry for Britmums "What's For Dinner Tonight?" sponsored by Schwartz*