Are you looking for a dinner time hack this weekend? If so, you’re in the right place!
These Tortilla mini Pizzas are yummy and perfect as a quick meal time solution – for both kids and adults.
Ingredients:
Pack of mini Tortillas
Tin of tomatoes – blitzed in the mixture
Cheese
Toppings of choice (I used Spinach, chorizo and Parma ham)
Dried mixed herbs
Pepper
Olive oil or low fat cooking spray
Method:
Quite simple grill one side of the tortillas and spread over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with cheese, add your topping of choice. Season well and add the herbs. Drizzle over some oil and grill for a couple of minutes! Serve with a side salad and enjoy X
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.
Do you have Prosecco left in the fridge? Give this easy Teriyaki sauce a go! It marries beautifully with Salmon.
Ingredients;
350ml Water
75ml Soy sauce
2tbsp Prosecco
4cm piece of Ginger, peeled and grated
80g Light brown sugar
2 cloves of garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1tbsp plain flour, mixed with a small amount of water into a paste
Method;
Measure out and prepare all of your ingredients, then grab yourself a small saucepan. Place onto a low heat and add the sugar, water, ginger and garlic. Bring up to a simmer and leave to gently cook for about 5 minutes. Add the flour paste and bring to the boil, continuously whisking. Once you have a silky sauce, give it a quick blend with a hand held mixer (optional) and then mix in the Prosecco. Remove from the heat. If not using straightaway, once cold this can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week.
So, we are 4 sleeps away until the big man arrives. We are all quite chilled here, the kids have been helping me out in the kitchen this afternoon. We’re having so much fun. Today we’ve made Cranberry sauce – it’s so easy, the kids actually did most of it. Of course, pick up a jar if you don’t have time to make up fresh. We don’t judge, whatever works for you! However, if you do have 8-10 mins then give it a go.
Ingredients;
350g Fresh Cranberries
200ml Fresh Orange hioce
150g Light Muscovado sugar
Method;
Place the sugar and orange juice into a saucepan and gently bring up to boiling point, stirring occasionally. Add the cranberries and reduce to a simmer.
Cook for 8 – 10 minutes until most of the cranberries have split. Remove from the heat. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
Merry Christmas everyone, we hope your preparations are going well xxx
Ho Ho Ho….we had some neighbours round recently for Cheese and Mulled wine & the kids made these festive mini pizzas for their friends. They used cookie cutters for the bases. How cute do they look? Check out the link below for the quick no proving required pizza base:
Bread sauce really seems to divide opinion so love it or loathe it, here is a tasty recipe which can be made well ahead of Christmas Day and frozen until needed. As youngsters, my Mum always made Bread sauce from a packet mix, just adding milk. It became my little job to make on Christmas Day, I loved it! As an adult, I’ve learnt that it is so super easy & quick to make and the smells it creates are wonderful in the kitchen.
Give it a go! To serve eight, you’ll need the following.
Ingredients:
2 onions, halved
8 cloves
2 bay leaves
650ml milk
4 slices of fresh white bread, blitzed into breadcrumbs
8 peppercorns
Grated nutmeg to dress
Method;
Start off by preparing the onions and bread crumbs.
Stud each half of onion with 2 cloves.
Place the onions into a saucepan. Add the milk, peppercorns and bay leaves and slowly poach on a low heat for about 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat, drain the sauce through a sieve. Return the milk to the pan and add the breadcrumbs, stirring gently. Add a splash more milk to loosen, if necessary.
Transfer to a bowl, and grate over Nutmeg if using within the next 5 days. If you want to freeze it (it keeps for 1 month) leave to cool and place into the freezer. When required, defrost in the fridge for 24 hours, warm up in a pan and if required, loosen the sauce up with a splash of milk or cream (it is Christmas, after all!). Transfer the sauce to a serving bowl and grate over the nutmeg. Perfect with Turkey. Bon appetite!
Looking for something quick and easy to knock up this evening? Look no further than these Pork & Egg burgers. It’s been a busy week here at Mums In Real and as a result, I resorted to trying a food delivery company called Gousto. I wasn’t convinced as I like to make everything from scratch when possible, but a friend convinced me of the benefits. I’ve been very impressed! My order arrived in a big box, all of the produce was super fresh and from an environmental perspective, there was very little plastic. Big plus from me already!
The meal still needs preparing from scratch, Gousto (others are available) provide you with almost all ingredients and a step by step recipe card on how to prepare and cook the food. It’s also really easy to replicate (if you already have the provisions to hand) so I can use these recipes in the future. Also, my children had a great time looking at the recipes and helping me pick out 4 days worth of dinner. It’s a thumbs up from them! It really is a great alternative for busy parents and whilst I can’t see myself ordering on a weekly basis, I certainly recommend it. Plus I received a really nice wooden spoon, which I wasn’t expecting!
Let’s get cooking!
Ingredients;
500g Pork mince
2tsp dried sage
2tsp dried oregano
30ml soy sauce
50g panko breadcrumbs
20g fried onions (I used shop bought but these are easy enough to make from fresh)
Mustard ketchup
Salt & pepper to season
Method;
Mix the mince, herbs, soy sauce and breadcrumbs together and season well. Separate the burger mixture into 4 generous patties and place on a baking tray. Refrigerate for until needed (place in the fridge for at least 10 minutes as this helps them hold together when cooking).
When ready, place a non stick frying pan onto a moderate heat and drizzle with oil. Pop in your burgers and cook on each side for 5-6 minutes. Once cooked, place into a plate and cover. Meanwhile, add a bit more oil to the frying pan and cook the eggs.
Whilst the eggs are cooking, lightly grill the burger buns. Now plate up! Spread some sauce of choice onto the buns (I used mustard ketchup), pop in the burger and place an egg on top. Sprinkle the fried onions over the top and enjoy!
Our Christmas preparations are in full swing and we are loving it. Next up is Sloe Gin – we’re a few weeks behind in the Gin department but it should just be ready in time for Christmas Day, if not then definitely for the New Year. Fingers crossed.
Ingredients;
100ml Caster Sugar
700ml Gin
450g Sloes
Method;
Wash the sloes and remove the stalks. Prick each sloe a couple of times & freeze the batch over night.
Once frozen, place the sloes into a sterile container. Add the sugar and gin and store in a cool, dark place. Every couple of weeks, gently turn the containers to mix it all up.
Once ready (normally 3 months), use a Muslin to strain the drink and store in sterile bottles. You could also decant into smaller sterile vessels and give out as Christmas presents.
With Christmas just around the corner, it’s never too early to start preparing for feasts that are coming our way. This week we’ve started with Yorkshire Puddings – my family go crazy over these – I’ve made a few batches and they are now in the freezer. On Christmas Day, I’ll pop them onto a tray and they’ll go straight into a hot oven for 4 minutes. This is such a time hack and removes unnecessary stress when preparing your Christmas meal.
I have tried numerous Yorkshire recipes over the years and this is my tried and tested, fail safe method.
Ingredients:
4oz plain flour
2 medium eggs
300ml milk
1/2 tsp salt
Oil
Method:
Preheat the oven to 220°C (200°C Fan) has Mark 7 and pour enough oil into the Yorkshire pudding tins to cover the bottoms. When the oven is ready, pop the Yorkshire tin in to heat up the oil (usually takes about 7-8 minutes).
Measure out the flour and place into a large mixing bowl. Mix in 150ml milk and beat in the 2 eggs until smooth. Season well and add the remaining milk. Transfer to a large jug.
Remove the tray from the oven and place over a medium heat on the stove. Evenly pour the batter mix into the tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes until well risen, golden and crisp. Leave in tins for a couple of minutes and then place on a wire rack. If freezing, leave to completely cool before bagging up and placing into the freezer.
As the chilly air creeps in & the evenings become darker earlier, we are thinking of mouth watering stews to warm our tummies.
This gorgeous beef and Guineas stew does just that.
Let’s get started!!
Ingredients;
500g diced beef
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 celery sticks, cubed
3 large carrots, cut diagonally
1/2 a bunch of fresh rosemary & thyme
500g swede, cubed
500g squash, skin on and cut into chunks
4 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 litre beef stock
1/2 x can of Guiness
Start off by preheating the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Place a large casserole pan onto a medium heat & add 1tbsp of oil. Add the onions to pan and allow to soften for a few minutes. Stir the carrots & celery into the pan, then add the rosemary & thyme.
Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the beef, swede and squash. After a few minutes, add the stock and Guinness, stirring gently.
Bring up to a be gentle simmer and cover with a wet scrunched up sheet of greaseproof paper and pop into the oven for an hour.
After an hour, remove the paper and cook the stew for another hour (ish) until the meat is tender.
Next up, it’s time to make the dumplings. Mix 2oz of suet and 4oz of self raising flour together with 4tbsp of cold water. Mix in well and form into a ball. Divide into 8 dumplings (or if you prefer big dumplings, divide into 4) and roll into balls.
Place the dumplings on top of the stew and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before plating up. Serve with chunky bread and enjoy!
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