Saturday Day 18

Well I made it through the party without going too far from the pink path!  I drank G &T's without the G and I really didn't notice, I even felt a bit giggly with the excitement of the party so really didn't miss the alcohol part eitehr. 
It was also good that I was able to drive home at the end of it too, as the end arrived a little earlier than expected for us! Beccy suffered a migraine and we had to leave early :-(

Food was good though - we packed an in car picnic for the journey as we left straight after Jo had come in from school. While they snacked on pringles and munchies (*their choice as I don't choose to feed them such cr@p) I had chicken bites 7 kabanos. The party food couldn't have been any better, my sister had put a fab spread of different cheeses, crudites, cooked meats and crusty french bread (which I declined) so no cheats there!  The birthday boy was feeling no pain when we left last night, no idea how he's feeling this morning, still had no reply from my text. I do have the urge to ring him and sing (in a very loud voice) the HAPPY BIRTHDAY song, all 4 verses!!!!

On to today - Its another bright day, I have a clear head and a full tummy! 
For breakfast I had another Pampered Chef Stoneware cooked breakfast, complete with sausages, bacon, fried egg, mushrooms (have you tried baked mushrooms in the stoneware? Out of this world!!!) and roasted mini plum tomatoes.

Lunch - Can't even think about lunch yet as that breakfast will keep me going for ages yet. I do have salad stuff and cold meats in the fridge so something along those lines will probably play a big part should I need something.

Dinner - A vegetable curry is what I fancy at the moment, something light but flavoursome, with a bit of a kick, I also want to try that cauliflower technique again but using fresh cauli this time, I think it will turn out even better.

Pop back for recipes and photos once I've done them. 

I am getting a lot of readers from the IPD website, I hope its all going as well for you as it is for me, I'm losing weight and feeling much better and I don't feel as if I've compromised my diet either, in fact I am probably eating more vegetables and variety now than I was beforehand. Share your story, tell me how you are doing, I love reading your comments!

Day 15 is a Wednesday!

Breakfast: Prawns and Chorizo Frittata to make this dish IPD friendly I subbed the milk for a dash of cream and added, snipped mange tout*. French beans or asparagus would work when in season too. The recipe calls for a 20cm pan but I used the bigger one as it was already on the cooker top (How lazy is that?) My frittata wasn't as thick as it should have been but heck, it was a fab breakfast never the less!! Great cold served with a salad and some homemade mayo for Lunch

Snacks: For him not me as my breakie filled me up enough.  Roast beef wraps with a cream cheese, mustard and cucumber filling.

Dinner: Not sure, breakfast was so lovely and lunch is going to be lovely, I can't think past this, although the fridge has IPD food to cook so I'm not too worried. I'll pop back later and tell you!

* probs not a P1 veg?

Day 4 - Lazy Man's burden!!!

Day 3 and I'm feeling good, the bloated feeling of late has gone and I'm feeling lighter on my feet, no headache to speak of and I'm looking forward to the next couple of days cooking snacks and meal for the week ahead!

Breakfast - A full English in my rectangle baker. Today I  made it suitable for a lazy man and his wife to eat in bed!  I nipped downstairs, threw it all into the stoneware  set the timer for 20 minutes and went back to bed to read my book, when the buzzer went of, I left the book, went and added mushrooms and tomatoes and popped it back in the oven for a further 10 minutes. This gave me just enough time to sort out the coffee, breakfast tray and fry a couple of eggs. Once it had all cooked nicely, I chopped it up into bite size pieces so as to make it easy to eat with a fork and delivered it to the lazy boy who was sat up in bed waiting.
We've had a great morning, the sun was shinning through the window, breakfast was eaten one handed with a book in the other, what a way to start the weekend.

Lunch -  Antipasto - was on the cards but after a late big breakfast, I didn't want anything, I think I had a piece of cheese when I made the kids french bread and cheese!

Dinner - Prawn and Okra Curry with Cauliflower rice didn't happen, the family had spag bol and garlic bread and I had the sauce let down to a stew like consistency with a topping of Parmesan cheese!

Lots of water and feeling good!

40 days with the IPD.. come follow me!

Breakfast for one - cooked while I was in the shower,

First I preheated the oven while I got everything out of the fridge. I popped the sausages and bacon in my Pampered Chef medium bar first, then nipped upstairs for a shower, came back downstairs and they were nearly cooked, then added the tomato, put the kettle on, got my plate ready then dropped the egg in... 3 minutes later and the whole thing was done!

One IPD friendly breakfast cooked in no time at all,

No grill pan to watch, no eggs to fry no mess and only one pan to wash at the end

- that's what I call a fuss free breakfast!

Lunch - they said it would be easy to eat this way and still eat out... and as I was driving Bex up to Manchester for an interview, I stopped at a beefeater and had a lovely steak and salad with garlic mushroom... all IPD friendly and delicious! Simples!!!

Because lunch was big I only needed a snack in the evening, so because we were still on the road, we called into a service station and I picked up some Honduran Prawn Cocktail Sauce Dippers, an individual wendslydale cheese, a bag of nut and a bottle of water... again not difficult and I'm feeling a lot better for it.

Bring on day two!

I can't access the forum :-(   Can those luck enough to, let those powers that bee know that their password reset page ain't working!!!

Edited to say: Thank you... its sorted, I'm in... still want you to spread the word tho.... come follow me for 40 days, see who is the bigger loser!!!

Nice bit of Crumpet!

Have you been watching the Hairy Bikers - The Mum knows best series? I have, and have really enjoyed it! Nothing posh, no fancy pretentious recipes just homemade no nonsense cooking!
This recipe comes from the series and its something that really caught my eye. Homemade crumpets, now every time I cook something like this my kids ask the same question.... WHY? Why would you do this when you can just go to the shops and buy them???!

This is why... fresh tasty crumpets, straight from the skillet, slathered with cold butter and eaten at the kitchen counter because that where we were standing when they were ready to eat, thats why!!!

These little beauties will be made again and again.... and I'm sure with a bit more practice they'll have more bubbles on top too! In fact, I have a tent full of teenagers who I'm sure would love another batch of these for breakfast.... I'm off to make some more....

The morning after the night before...

"Goofy Gus"

The girls had a cowboy and Indian themed party last night. I served hot steak sandwiches with caramelised onions and mushrooms for the meat eaters and Mediterranean roast vegetables with goat’s cheese for the vegetarians. No pictures I’m afraid as I wasn’t quick enough with the camera!

I do have photos of our breakfast though...as the older ones got up and went off to work, the younger ones slept in, we got up and made this…. [That’s the royal ‘we’ he played taxi driver while I got to work in the kitchen!]

Inspired by Jamie O's Scrapple [Jamie's America]

I turned it into a great low carb breakfast, with strong flavours and an undercurrent of heat!

• Finely dice half a small onion, 2 slices of smoked bacon and 8 oz sausage meat,
• Crush a teaspoon of fennel seeds in pestle and mortar
• Add to mixture with a teaspoon of flaked chilli and a teaspoon of fresh rosemary
• Heat a little oil and fry, turning frequently.
• Once its browning nicely, make a space and crack 2 eggs into the pan.
• Pop under a hot grill to finish cooking the tops of the eggs!

Creamed Mushrooms on Wholemeal Toast

Breakfast!

Lightly sauteed button mushrooms in garlic butter then added a splash of double cream and smidgen of french mustard - serve it on wholemeal stone ground toast for a super satisfying breakfast!

Hot Cross Buns still making an appearance...

I know its not Easter and I'm usually such a stickler for eating seasonally but its an old photo and it was taken only a few weeks after Easter Sunday....and remember Easter is a season not just a day!

This is a family favourite recipe that I picked up from a supermarket magazine. I've saved the recipe here so it never gets lost. It is super quick to put together [apart from the rising time obviously!] and never fails.

They are great fresh but just as nice toasted the next day. This year I cook them in my pampered chef square baker  with amazing results, I really noticed the difference from last year which were cooked in an equivalent sized metal tin. They weren't as dry as last years, soft and fluffy on the inside and an even crispiness on the outside.

[Printable recipe here]

Another photo of...

My breakfast! We do eat things other than a full English...honest! But I can't get enough of my one pan breakfasts. Its so easy, the sausages go in first, in this case I used slices of sausage meat, then after 7 minutes I added the bacon, 5 minutes after that, in went the tomatoes and mushrooms which had been spritz with oil before cooking for another 5 minutes. Last to go in was the eggs, 3 minutes and all was done! 20 minutes is all it takes to have me tucking into my breakfast with no mess, no smoke alarm going off, no big timing issues or masses of washing up to be done.

I really can't get enough of this sort of cooking or eating for that matter! I promise, I'll cook something else soon!

Another Weekday Breakfast!

I just love fluffy scrambled eggs with a good quality bacon diced and sauteed and a few cherry tomatoes thrown in for good measure. With a breakfast like this you are never tempted to snack before lunch!

DuPont™ Autograph® 20-cm Sauté Pan - Sauté, brown and simmer. Great for omelette's, too!

• Best nonstick coating available for cookware, on inside and outside walls of pans
• Cook with little or no oil = healthier cooking!
• Soft-grip handle
• Oven-safe to 200°C
I love my pampered chef pans, cooking breakfast is never a chore!

A Weekday Breakfast

The perfect scrambled eggs were light creamy and fluffy all at the same time. The gammon had been cut small before frying off, once cooked two tablespoons of tinned chopped tomatoes were added and heated through. I love this breakfast!

Click on the link to see GR show you how to cook them, ignore his recomendation to serve sour dough toast with them....you don't need it...honest!!!

Look what I got today....

The title is a little bit misleading but this post took a long time coming...there was oodles of fruit and veg to consider!

On the 12th December I received an email from Victoria Simpson on behalf of Abel & Cole. They were offering a free box of delicious organic food to some of their favourite bloggers.
The box they are giving away was the “Medium Organic Fruit & Veg box” worth £15.95. I went on to their website and was impressed when I read about....what makes them different? They support British farmers, they work with the seasons, they look after the environment. They give a fair deal to farmers, fund raise with local schools and insist upon the highest levels of animal welfare...Of course I replied straight away, saying yes please!!!

It was delivered the Tuesday after Christmas....timing was perfect as I had run out of all my pre Christmas fruit and vegetables and it kept me going through to the new year! so thank you Abel & Cole.As a bonus they were going to be running a contest - I had to simply take a photo of one of the meals I produced with the food, post it on my blog by 31st January and the winner of the best dish gets a £50 Abel & Cole gift voucher. I used everything in the box, photographed lots of it and have decided to post them all. Not sure if they're good enough to win, but I've enjoyed taking part and loved the free produce and the family have been fed into the bargain!!!!

How exciting....free organic vegetables.

wow - they looked delicious and were fresh as a daisy...

Well as you can imagine, I could wait to get stuck in and use it. I had cooked vegetables, leftover from the Sunday roast but there is never any roast potatoes left in my house so I used the potatoes first to make up my bubble and squeak!

A real mish mash of leftovers...including leeks in a cheese sauce!

I left a few out of the B&S so I could pan fried them and then top with grated cheese for Joanne's supper (I know she shouldn't eat cheese before bed, but she likes the dreams!!!)

The next day I used the cherry tomatoes to make this tomato, mozzarella balls & basil salad to go with a pasta dish the family were having.

The leftovers went into my salad.

Then it was the mushrooms turn to make my cheese & mushroom omelette's for breakfast ...

...then some of the leeks...(look at how fresh they are!!!)

...to make my leek and Parmesan soup for lunch!

I can truly say that not an ounce of the box went to waste. The swede was grated and mixed with a finely sliced leek to make fritters. (No photos..they were eaten too quickly!!!) The Carrots were glazed and served as a side dish. The only thing left to use up was the oranges, not a fruit that goes down too well in my house, I can usually get the youngest to eat satsuma or clementines, but not big oranges, so not wanting them to be wasted I turned to the recipe that was printed on the back of the invoice that came with the box. Clementine upside down cake... Now anyone who has tasted my banana upside down cake will agree, its the best....but Oranges??? Not even the proper oranges it calls for...but big oranges....oh here goes...

Clementine Upside Down Cake

A very moist heavy sponge with a sticky orange-y top! Not nearly as good as the banana upside down cake but in fairness I did make it with big oranges, I'm sure the clementines would have been sweeter, and there was a discrepancy with the recipe...it said 10g of butter to 150g of sugar???? I took it as a typo but maybe it wasn't...who knows!!! Those who ate it said it was nice! I have never bothered with box schemes before as I always thought I'd be given lots of produce that I would simple waste...either too much of one thing the family didn't like and or not enough of the things we do! How wrong can you be?! I loved the challenge of finding recipes to use all the produce with. I tailored my weekly menu around the contents and adapted it to suit what was still left...I made banana cake with the two bananas that were left in the fruit bowl as they had started to go a little speckled in my warm kitchen...I nabbed a couple of apples before they got eaten to make an apple cake for dessert, which left the box empty!

Old photo of the same recipe...I again I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

Thank you Abel & Cole, I am seriously impressed, not just by your generous free offer but the quality, variety and freshness of the contents...at £15.95 it has fed 2 adults 2 children and numerous guests in the form of cakes and puddings. After this week I've seriously changed my view on these box schemes...if I'd have paid for it, it would have definitely been worth its money!!!

DIY Breakfast!

First 'we' unrolled the dough, then placed Cadbury's chocolate squares at the wide part of the triangle...

Then we rolled them up and lightly brushed them with milk (note the Pampered chef silicone pastry brush...no more bristles in my pastry...and its super easy to clean AND dry...which my old one wasn't!)

Result!!! Freshly baked chocolate croissants for breakfast. I couldn't get a snap of the croissants broken open to show the chocolate gooey-ness inside as they were snaffled up too quickly!

Since making these the kids have discovered that if they spread the inside with chocolate spread it is even easier too make as the spread covers a wider area and doesn't need long to melt!

Chilled Ready to Bake Crossiant Dough

This is an elusive product that when you can find it is very very versatile! It was called for in a recipe I was asked to do at a pampered chef party. The Turkey & Cranberry Ring, fortunately I found it in my local Sainsbury's Unfortunately I left it in my fridge and had to substitute ready rolled puff pastry so....

The girls unrolled them and cooked them for breakfast!!!

Not as nice as ready bought croissant was the kids verdict but as a cover for pie it is brilliant. The next time I make it into a pie I will take a photo and post it.

Breakfast!

Gammon & Cauliflower mash...yes at 6:15am. Cook the mash the night before then reheat in the microwave while the gammon is grilling!

Happy Birthday Mr Tulip!

Breakfast in Bed!

Fried eggs, bacon, garlic mushrooms, cauliflower mash

The morning after the night before!

Just what we needed, a cooked breakfast...hassle free in my large rectangular baker, no spitting no splashes, no grill, no smoke detectors going off...just bung in the sausages and go and slurp coffee till the timer goes off, bung in the bacon and return to the chair (you not the breckie)...last in are the eggs...2 minutes later you have a perfectly cooked breakfast.

My guests were very pleased...and so was I!

Cooked Breakfast in my stoneware

I love cooked breakfasts but what I don't like is the smoke detector going off when I have the grill on, I don't like the cooker top getting all splashed when I cook fried eggs...the amount of pots and pans it creates is horrendous...

...but the problem is now solved!

Cooked in a pampered chef medium bar pan

I use my stoneware to cook my breckies in now...first the sausages go in for 10 minutes then I throw the bacon in, then when that is nearly done I drop the eggs and the tin tomatoes in and in no less a minute later its all done! Sausages were moist, bacon was crispy (well where the tomato juice hadn't touched it, but thats how we like it) nothing was overcooked...not even the eggs, which I thought may turn out to be a bit rubbery, were fantastic, still soft in the middle and the whites cooked perfectly.
We like tin tomatoes with our breckie but you could add fresh tomatoes and mushrooms at the stage before putting the eggs in! Either way you will have a brilliant breakfast on the table in under 30 minutes and the best bit is, you don't have to be in the kitchen much while it is cooking....I was watching celebrity masterchef while I was cooking this...oh the strain of it all! LOL

Note to self...must order bigger stoneware pan so I can cook breakfast this way when we have company.

PS - Stoneware is dead easy to wash up too!

Ham & Asparagus Muffins

Followed Bee's recipe for breakfast muffins but added carved ham with steamed asparagus tips. Very nice for a grab on the go breakfast but also delicious as part of a salad with homemade mayonnaise for lunch. Served them hot and cold and both equally delicious.

Faux Pancakes (Page 62)

Looks like the real thing!

Looks and tastes like a healthier version of the originals, lovely spread with cold butter. I toasted them the next day and hit the spot again. I didn't use splenda, so they could have done with being a bit sweeter, but a great vehicle for favourite toppings. The batch made loads, which two of us could eat in a couple of days...should have checked to see if we could freezer them, but sadly we wasted half of them. Must check out Bee's frozen list!