Just looking at this beetroot Houmous makes me feel insanely happy. The colour is so vibrant, it’s hard not to break into a smile just looking at it. It also tastes as good it looks and is so easy to whiz up.
Ingredients:
Half a tin of cooked chick peas (plus half of the juice it’s in)
150g pre cooked beetroot
1tbsp Olive oil
1tbsp Tahini paste
Juice of half a lemon
2 cloves of garlic
Seasoning as required
Method:
Quite simply pop everything into the blender and pulse for a few seconds. Add a bit more lemon if required and season to taste.
So, during these worrying of times, we’re back with a lip-smacking bang to keep the kids thirst kept at bay. This really is a treat in our house, not for the every day but a recipe the children love to make on sunny days.
Inspired by Allegra McEvedy who has written a cookbook inspired by the stories of Enid Blyton, why not give the kids a lesson on the art of making Lemonade? It really is so simple and I can promise the results are totally worth it! My kids delight in reading out and copying down the ingredients and method, the measuring and weighing and the jolly good shaking!!! Most of all, they love the outcome and it certainly quenched our thirst during these warm days in the Uk. Let’s get going!
Ingredients;
3 lemons
2 limes
100g caster sugar
Method;
Start off by quartering the fruits and then let the kids squeeze out the juices into a jug. You should end up with about 150-200ml of juice. Place the skins to one side.
Next up, place the juice into a jar, add the sugar and 250ml water. Place the lid on top and get the kids to give it all a good old shake until the sugar dissolves.
Add 1 litre of cold water and the squeezed out lemon and lime skins. Give it all a jolly good stir!! Add ice and Enjoy!!!
You know that moment when you’re the designated driver, or you’re trying to ‘be good’ and you go to a bar and order a tonic water, and get a warm bottle of tonic chucked into a crappy glass (whilst your mate gets a stylishly oversized gin glass, with crushed ice, lime and juniper berries artfully scattered in for good measure). Or when you go to that bbq and find yourself a warm bottle of Diet Coke which is sitting on the side, whilst your other half sips chilled San Miguel from the icy bottle. You get the picture – non alcoholic drinks are an afterthought, which means that the non drinkers amongst us definitely get the short straw.
Well the sun is shining, Bank Holiday is approaching and you know we love a bit of glamour, so we’ve come up with a few ideas to spice up your non-alcoholic drinks. Say goodbye to the flat lemonade!
Summer Fruits Splash
Soda Water
Frozen Summer Fruits
Splash Blackcurrant Cordial (we like the Belvoir range)
Ice
Sprig of Mint
Add to a lovely jug, leave for a few minutes to infuse the fruit and pop into your favourite wine glass!
‘Faking it’ G&T
Fever Tree Elderflower Tonic Water
Cucumber
Ice
Seedlip ‘Gin’ to taste (Seedlip is the first distilled, non alcoholic Gin. It tastes remarkably similar and is instantly refreshing – give it a go!)
Pink Lemonade
We’re a bit obsessed with the Twinings Cold Infusions. Chuck them in your water bottle and you have a lovely, calorie-free flavoured water. You can keep topping up too! So, we thought what if you add fizzy water (aren’t we adventurous!!). Turns out it tastes amazing – add some ice and fruit and a swig of mint and you can fool yourself into thinking you’re sipping a cocktail.
Sparkling water
Twinings Pink Lemonade Cold Infuse (from the tea isle in your supermarket)
Ice
Handful of raspberries
Sprig of mint
Enjoy! We love it when you share your creations with us, so please tag us in your Insta pictures and use #mumsinreallife
It’s the mid-summer, the days are long – perfect weather for sitting outside with a nice refreshing Pimms cocktail enjoying a good book?
Yeah, so I’ve got young kids who go outside, and they always try to kill each other on the trampoline, or accuse each other of various misdemeanours. So it’s usually something to keep my throat lubricated while shouting at the kids! You know how it is…
The Ultimate Salter Family Pimms Jug
Ingredients
250ml Pimms no 1 cup
Lemonade
Ginger Ale
Fresh strawberries
Apple slices
Cucumber slices
Slice of Orange
Fresh Mint
Ice
The thing that shocks people about this recipe is the addition of ginger ale into the Pimms. I don’t know if it’s my family thing, but let me gift it to you, as it really makes this cocktail pop.
Method
Add halved strawberries to the jug with slices of cucumber and apple and pour the Pimms over the top. Let the fruit marinade for as long as possible (five minutes of so if you can). The fruit tastes amazing afterwards.
Next add a generous handful of ice and pour over slowly at an angle (so not to mix) one part lemonade to one part ginger ale.
Add the mint and orange wedges to the top.
It’s the kind of cocktail that you can just keep on topping the jug with ingredients as the afternoon progresses. Traditionally the herb used isn’t mint, but Borrage (grows wild everwhere), which goes better with lemon slices than orange.
Remember last weekend when it was summer? (temporarily) We had a lovely bbq over at our fab friends’ house – they were ‘doing’ the meat, so we said we’d bring something lovely for pudding.
What screams summer bbq more than pavlova? Loads of beautiful seasonal strawbs and raspberries loaded on a fluffy meringue base. Happy days!
My Middle Little loves a bit of baking, and so asked to make this for me. Why not? Love having a helper! It was so simple, the only job Middle needed help with was separating the egg whites from the yolks. Bonus was that measuring and weighing was also part of this week’s homework – serious mum points!!
We used this recipe from Jamie Oliver and as always made a few tweaks to suit the store cupboard. I’m a bit sloppy when it comes to presentation so it doesn’t look quite as polished!!
Ingredients
6 large free-range egg whites
300 g caster sugar
400 g fresh strawberries and raspberries
200 ml double cream
200 ml fat-free natural yoghurt
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
Method
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas 2. Clean your mixing bowl with lemon juice and wipe away the residue. (This helps your egg whites to fluff up!). Put your egg whites in your mixing bowl and whisk them at a medium speed until they start to form nice firm peaks. (Mines 6/7 on the Kitchenaid).
With your mixer still running, gradually add the sugar, spoon by spoon. Turn the mixer up to the highest setting and whisk for 7 to 8 minutes more until the meringue is white, glossy and smooth. If it feels grainy, whisk for a little bit longer, being careful not to let the meringue collapse.
Line two baking trays with baking paper. Plop most of the mixture on one sheet and smooth roughly to about 20cm in diameter. Use the other sheet and dollop tea spoons of the remaining mixture to create meringue drops for the top of the pavlova.
Put both trays into the oven and bake for about 1 hour until the meringues look slightly golden and are fluffy in the middle. When they’re ready, open the oven door and leave in the oven to cool for an hour or so.
Halve or quarter the large strawberries and leave the smaller ones whole. Mix them with the raspberries.
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.
Spoon the cream mixture on top of one of the meringue halves and roughly smooth it out. Place the other meringues on top and press down gently to stick them together.Sprinkle half of your berries evenly around the cream mixture.
Spread the remaining cream mixture over the top layer and sprinkle the remaining berries on top. Enjoy!
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