Tortilla Mini Pizza

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

Squash And Vegetable Soup

It’s that time of year when everywhere you look, pumpkins and squashes adorned the shelves in shops.

If you’re looking for something to do with them other than carving out ghoulish faces or pumpkin pie, look no further!

This delicious soup is hands down the tastiest thing I make at this time of year, and to make matters even better, my kids eat it! Surely that’s worthy of a parent point?!

Ingredients (serves 4 with plenty for seconds);

1kg Squash or pumpkin

2 carrots, cubed

2 large potatoes, skin on cubed

2 small onions, sliced

2 cloves of Garlic (or more, depending on taste buds)

2 pints of Vegetable stock

Sprigs of Rosemary & Sage

Seasoning

3 slices of brown bread

1tbsp olive oil

Method;

Start off by quartering the squash and carefully cut off the skin. Cut into large chunks, deseed and chuck them into a large saucepan.

Next, add the remaining vegetables and crushed garlic. Remove the herb leaves from the stalks and roughly tear up and pop on top of the vegetables.

Cover the ingredients with 2 pints of vegetable stock and bring up to boil on a medium heat.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for about 35/40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The next part is up to you and depends on your preference. You can eat the soup nice and Chunky as it is, or you can pulse it with a handheld blender for a few seconds. I chose the latter as my kids like their soups nice and smooth.

While the soup is cooling down, roughly chop up 3 slices of bread (crusts off) to make some croutons and place a large frying pan onto a low heat to warm up. Add a splash of olive oil and add the cubed bread.

Gently fry until the croutons are nice and crisp on each side, it should only take a couple of minutes.

Now serve up the soup and pop some crispy croutons on top.

Chicken Lollipop Dippers

If you are looking for something a little bit different for the kids, look no further than this Jamie Oliver recipe. My children love these lollipops and the little dip that went with it. What’s more, it was super easy, quick and hassle free.

Ingredients;

2 skinless chicken fillets

Olive oil

Seasoning

4 tbsp natural yogurt

2 tsps tomatoes paste

4 Lollipop sticks, soaked in water

Method;

Start off by cutting the chicken fillets into chunks and use a sharp knife to make a deep slit into the bottom of each piece of chicken.

Rub oil into each chunk and season well. Insert a lollipop stick into each slit and gently warm up a frying pan on a low – medium heat.

Place the chicken lollipops into the frying pan for 7 minutes on each side, until golden.

Whilst the chicken is cooking, mix the yogurt and tomato paste together in a bowl, seasoning to taste.

When everything is ready, plate up with your sides of choice and enjoy!

Bon appetite!

The Scuffin Way – Healthy Packed Lunch Boxes

The summer holidays have come to an end and it’s back to making packed lunches for the little ones. It can often be challenging to think of different healthy foods to pack in their lunch boxes, this is therefore a great choice and it certainly ticks the boxes in terms of taste.

I hadn’t heard of Scuffins before, until I picked up a recipe book from a trendy young lady called Izy Hossack. They are the shape of a scone but with the texture of a muffin. They also taste pretty damn good and got a massive thumbs up from my kids, which is always a bonus.

I used Izy’s recipe as a guide, but made quite a few adaptations based on the quantity I needed and the fruit I had to hand. Let’s go!

Ingredients (makes 6);

30g Red Lentils

1 Egg

3tbsp Milk

40ml Olive Oil

1/2tsp Nutmeg

80g Plain Flour

30g Oats

1tsp Baking powder

150g Pears (Cooked) & Strawberries – cubed

30g Demerara Sugar

Method;

Kick off by preheating the oven to 180•C fan. Line a baking tray with baking paper, or use fairy cake cases.

Next up, put the lentils into a saucepan and cover with water. Boil for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and place back into the saucepan.

Stir in the egg, oil, milk, nutmeg and sugar and stir well. Add the remaining ingredients combine everything together.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out about 2tbsp worth onto either baking paper or into the cases (I tried both) until the mixture has been shared out evenly.

Bake in the oven for 17 – 20 minutes, until spring and golden. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

Bon appetite!

Quick Pesto Sauce

If like me, mealtimes at the moment are a bit of a rush, why not give this green pesto a try? Knocked up in less than 5 minutes, it’s the perfect solution for a quick tea time meal. Stir into some pasta or spread on top of chicken fillets, voila!!

Ingredients;

50g Fresh basil leaves

30g Parmesan (more or less, as required)

60g Pine nuts

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

Method;

Put everything (except for the Parmesan) into the blender and blitz for a few seconds.

Add the finely grated Parmesan, season to taste and add more olive oil or lemon juice to loosen, if required.

Healthy Breakfast Pots – The Grab & Go Way

Life gets busy, right? Here at MIRL we love these scrummy yummy breakfast pots. Made up the night before, they are the perfect ‘grab & go’ in the mornings.

Not only are they tasty, this breakfast pot is unbelievably healthy and very filling too.

Do you want to know more about the health benefits of berries? Check out this insightful link:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-reasons-to-eat-berries

Ingredients:

Handful of Frozen Summer berries

20g museli (sugar free)

1tbsp Fat Free Yogurt

Method:

Simply place your Muesli into an airtight pot, top with berries and then add the yogurt on top! Close the lid and pop into the fridge ready to grab in the morning!

Bring Morocco To Your Kitchen

Whilst travelling around parts of Morocco, I totally fell in love with the cuisine. It’s not hard to do. Vendors, nestled amongst Artisans, sell the most aromatic and visually tantalising displays of herbs and spices, every spirally turn you take through the labyrinths of the Souks.

We tasted many a memorable dish, the best of them being cooked and served straight out of a families home in Marrakesh. We dined in their living room on the tastiest of mez dishes and the triumph of the night was their roasted chicken, served piled high with Cous Cous. Unforgettable.

This is a nod to my time travelling and I can guarantee it’ll leave your kitchen smelling divine. Your taste buds will be begging for more! The heady smells of the herbs and spices take me directly back to my wonderful days wandering the world. I hope it takes you there too !

The most amazing thing is, it is so easy to cook! Let’s go!

Ingredients:

Medium to Large Chicken

1tsp Paprika

1tsp Ground Cumin

1tsp Ground Coriander

1/2tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 Onion, quartered

4 – 6 Cloves of Garlic (or more – Garlic usage should come from the heart)

1tbsp Butter or low fat butter spray

2 cups of water

Seasoning

Spoonful of cooked chickpeas to decorate

Fresh coriander (optional)

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180•C.

Put the herbs and spices together in a bowl, stir.

Put the chicken onto a baking dish and rub it with butter, or spray with a low fat option. Next up, work the herb and spice mixture into the chicken well.

Generously twist some pepper on top and sprinkle with salt.

Around the chicken add your crushed up garlic and onions. Add the water.

Pop into the oven for an hour, basting generously. After an hour, cover the chicken loosely in foil, turn your oven down to 160•C and cook for a further hour.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and drizzle with the juices. Add cooked chickpeas and fresh chopped Coriander.

Plate up and enjoy with some Raisin and Paprika Cous Cous, topped with coriander.

In addition, how about adding some braised Courgettes and Carrots to the dish?

This went down Mighty well at home. Seconds all round!! Bonus.

Here at Mums In Real Life, we’re always seeking out tips and love to hear your tales. Please comment or email us at:

hello@mumsinreallife.co.uk

When Life Throws You Lemons…Make Houmous 🍋

This beautiful Houmous is so easy to make & tastes delicious. It makes me smile. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

400g Tin of chick peas (rinsed and drained)

Juice of 2 lemons

5 tbsp of Olive oil

2 tbsp tahini paste

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Salt & pepper

Fresh coriander sprigs and Paprika to garnish (optional)

Method:

Tip all of the ingredients into a mixer and blitz. If necessary, add a few more glugs of olive oil to loosen it up.

Spoon into a bowl, add a splash of olive oil over the top and sprinkle with Paprika. Add a few sprigs of coriander to garnish. Enjoy!

No- Junk Lazy Tuesday Tea

Well it’s not exactly flaming June, is it? Having settled back in to the school routine, I found myself looking for something a bit different for tea. The brief was super fast, easy and nutritious but a crown pleaser (I almost always manage to cook the same as school dinners – note to self, read the bloody menus woman!!!)

Last time I was doing my trolley dash around Aldi I found a burger press. Love it that I go in to get shopping and come out with a tent, face cream, 400 toilet rolls and a burger press. Every. Time!!

Anyway, I’m still trying to cram the veggies in everywhere possible, so I had a go at these beauties but grated some cheeky courgette in to them without detection (now, that’s a mum win if I ever did see one).

They were delicious, and a pack of mince made enough for two dinners, so there are a bunch in the freezer for next time.

Ingredients

• Pack of lean (5%) steak mince
• Half a courgette (grated)
• One onion (finely blended)
• Paprika, salt and pepper (to taste)
• Sprinkle of Italian herbs
• Two eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Roughly cut up potato or sweet potato and parboil for a few mins until still firm but with a tiny bit of squidge around the edges.

Throw them in to a baking tray and spray generously with Fry Light (making sure you cover all the sides) and season.

Pop into the oven and bake for 20-30 mins.

In the meantime, chuck the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Once the ingredients are roughly incorporated then get in there with your hands and give it a good squish together.

Spoon them into a burger press, or if you’ve not bagged one from Aldi, then just spoon them into balls and shape and compact them with your hands. Then flatten them down.

Lay them on a baking tray and cook for approximately 10-12 minutes.

Serve with or without buns, tomato and a lovely slab of pickle. Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday lovely people!

Tahlia x

Apple & Berries Oat Breakfast Smoothie

Here’s another throw back to keep us all motivated this week 👍🏻

How’s the ‘shaking it off’ going for you? Here at Mums In Real Life, we’re feeling mighty fine!

These yummy Oat and fruit breakfast smoothies have really given us a spring in our step this week.

Did You Know….?

That Oats are stacked full of vitamins, Fibre and antioxidants and are among the healthiest grains on earth.

Check out this link for all of the benefits:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-benefits-oats-oatmeal

The breakfast smoothie for Day 5 is just delicious! Give it a go, it’s super easy…

Ingredients:

150ml Soya Milk

100ml Skimmed Milk

20g Oats

4 Strawberries

1 Apple (skin on, cored)

Handful of Blueberries

Method:

Pop everything (save a couple of blueberries to use as a dressing) into your blender and blitz. Pour and enjoy!