We have a problem!

I'm going to a friends wedding in a weeks time, and have this beautiful blue cocktail dress to wear. So last night thought I'd check what I''d be wearing etc... so put the dress on... and the RUDDY ZIP wouldn't do up!!!! :-O

PANIC STATIONS!!!!

So I sat down & had a good old think about what to do. What with summer just around the corner I've decided to make an effort to cook healthy recipes and healtier versions of other recipes all in a bid to get in that dress without having mechanical intevention!?!? However I realise that this is not going to happen in just a week (well I can always hope!) But all the same it is an aim.

My plan is to find recipes for brekkie, work lunch boxes, lunch at home & dinner. Well I'll have to do some snacks / treats too - healthy ones mind! So I'll test run them out and let you know how they go.

Oh I was also asked about where I got my soya beans from (Edamame beans out of the pods) - You'll find them in the freezer department in any big supermarket. Here's a pic of them:

Great for adding to those salads I'm planning on making & generally very tasty.

So I'll be back with some healthy recipes soon - watch this space....

Peanut goowey bars

Some people just aren't breakfast people and can't do early morning food. This I can't really relate to, when I wake up the first thing I think about is what I should have. Pete is one of those breakfast missers and could very easily skip it completely... until I made these that is!!

For his birthday his mum gave him Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall new cook book - "River Cottage Every Day", which is where I found the recipe.

RECIPE

125g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar
125g crunchy peanut butter
75g honey
Grated zest 1 lemon
Grated zest 1 orange
200g whole rolled porridge oats
150g dried fruit, such as sultanas, raisins, apricots
150g mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, linseed (I used pumkin, sesame, poppy seeds)

Grease and line a baking tin, about 20cm square.
Put the butter, sugar, peanut butter, honey and citrus zests into a deep saucepan over a very low heat. Leave until melted, stirring from time to time.
Stir the oats, dried fruit and most of the seeds into the melted mixture until thoroughly combined. Spread the mixture out evenly into the baking tin. Sprinkle the remaining seeds on top, plus a drizzle of honey.
Place in a preheated oven (160C/gas mark 3) for about 30 minutes, until golden in the centre and golden brown at the edges. Be careful not to leave it too long. Golden brown edges, not black.
Leave to cool completely in the tin. Be patient – it cuts much better when cold and easily falls apart when warm. Turn out and cut out into squares with a sharp knife.

Eat when an energy boost is required.

 

Pete's been eating them for his brekkie, not necessarily the healthiest option but not the worst either. They are full of healthy oats & seeds after all.

Ginger Cake that packs a punch!

Pete's birthday tomorrow so decided to bake him a b'day cake in advance. originally he's asked for the hard-core three teir choc beast of a cake, but at the last minute requested a ginger cake with ginger icing.

Taaa daaa.....

Have just had sneeky piece whilst writing up my blogs, really moist and gingery - yum!
I found the icing from one recipe and the cake recipe from BBC Good food website. Here it is:

• 225g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 115g butter , cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
• 115g dark muscovado sugar
• 115g black treacle
• 115g golden syrup
• 250ml whole milk
• 85g drained stem ginger , finely grated
• 1 egg 

Icing

• 4tbsp ginger syrup, drained from jar
• 300g icing sugar
• 140g unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to fan 160C. Butter and line an 18cm round, 7cm deep cake tin with greaseproof or parchment paper.
2. Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and all the spices into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Put the sugar, treacle, syrup and milk in a medium saucepan and heat, gently stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to just below boiling point.
4. Add the stem ginger to the flour mixture, then pour in the treacle mixture, stirring as you go with a wooden spoon. Break in the egg and beat until all the mixture is combined and it resembles a thick pancake batter. Pour this into prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes-1 hour, until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out fairly clean. Leave to cool completely in tin before turning cake out. (To freeze: wrap in greaseproof paper, then in cling film. Freeze for up to 1 month.)
5. To make the icing, mix together icing sugar and lemon zest, then gradually add lemon juice until you have a smooth, slightly runny icing, adding more juice, if needed. Drizzle icing in a zig-zag pattern over surface of cake, turn cake around and drizzle again to create the cross-hatched finish (see below). Cake keeps for up to 2 weeks stored in an airtight container. 
6. Beat together the ginger syrup icing sugar, butter & lemon juice until smooth and fluffy. Then spread over the cake.

Enjoy with a cup of peppermint tea or a cold lager in pete's case ;o)