Change one thing....

With the first of January looming, it's the time for New Year's Resolutions! For many people (me included!), we make a great start and then we're lucky if by the 31st of January, we're still on track!

Image via http://bit.ly/16jAEUr

Well, this year, I'm taking a different approach. Change, improve or add one thing to your life every couple of days throughout January and you *should* find it easier to stick to your resolution as the change has been a gradual one. Again, for many people 'to lead a healthier lifestyle' is a common resolution to make so for the first two weeks of January, I'll be posting each day with something that I have promised to do. Sometimes it will be really easy to achieve, sometimes a bit more will-power will be needed, but none (I hope) will be an impossibility!

So, here goes and I hope you will join me!  Don't forget to share with your friends and keep me updated with your progress as I keep you updated with mine!

Advent Post #3: Christmas Recipe - Mushroom Bourguignon

Mushroom Bourguignon - serves 4, takes 30 mins, vegetarian, suitable for freezing

Ingredients
2 tbsp. olive oil
15g (1/2 oz) butter
125g (4 oz) shallots or pearl onions, halved
1 carrot, thickly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp. tomato puree
2 tsp. plain flour
125ml (4fl oz) fruity red wine
150ml (5fl oz) vegetarian stock
2 sprigs thyme
625g (1 1/4 lb) mixture of mushrooms, halved if large

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and butter in a heavy-based pan. Add the shallots and cook for 5 minutes, then add the carrot and cook for 5 minutes more until soft. Stir in the garlic, tomato puree and flour and cook for 1 minute until the vegetables are well coated.
2. Pour over the wine, stirring well to ensure the sauce is smooth. Leave to simmer for a couple of minutes until the wine had reduced by half. Add the stock and sprig of thyme and cook for another 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tbsp. oil in a frying pan. Cook the mushrooms for a couple of minutes, add to the pan, along with any juices and simmer for 5 minutes. Scatter over some thyme leaves and serve.

Each serving contains 159 calories, 4g sugar, 10g fat, 2.9g saturated fat, 0.2g salt.

This recipe is ideal to double up as a delicious mid-week evening meal and then freeze the leftovers for a quick and tasty meal for Christmas week. Just don't forget to label it correctly and reheat thoroughly once defrosted (defrost overnight in the fridge is best)!

Recipe source: Tesco instore magazine, December 2013.

Eden Project Competition!

Sorry for the delay but being laid up in bed with tonsilitis put a huge dampener on my weekend!  Off to the doctor's in half an hour so will publish this as promised before I go!

Win a voucher for a free entry ticket to Eden Project, Cornwall (when purchasing a full price adult's ticket) - saving upto £23!!!

I went to Eden project in the summer when it first opened back in 2001 and I am looking forward to when I can now take my children to see the fantstic sights there are in store.

Visit the 3 fantastic biomes - experience the rainforest, the Mediterranean and the outdoor world.  First and foremost, Eden Project is a giant garden but is combined with architecture, art, food and is a living example of regeneration and sustainable living.

From the Eden Project website you can see the top 10 reasons to visit the Eden Project...

Here's some of what you'll find when you visit:

1. the world's largest rainforest in captivity with steamy jungles and waterfalls
2. cutting-edge architecture and buildings
3. stunning garden displays all year round
4. world-class sculpture and art
5. evening gigs, concerts and an ice rink in the winter
6. educational centre and demonstrations to inspire all ages
7. brilliant local, fairly traded food in the restaurants and cafes
8. a rainforest lookout that takes you above the treetops
9. living example of regeneration and sustainable living
10. free land train pulled by a tractor.

I can confirm that it is just as good - even better than the website shows!

So enter the Rafflecopter competition below for your chance to win a 2 for 1 ticket offer!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Silent Sunday 27th May 2012

Horrid Henry Monstrous Midnight Feast Kit... Gross!

Horrid Henry Monstrous Mignight Feast Kit... Gross!  Who's Henry you might ask?  Well, he's a delightful character on CITV.  To be honest, at first I thought I would detest the programme - a child called Horrid Henry who definitely lives up to his name... no thank you!  But, having sat through an episode, there is always a morale to the story and the the good guy always wins!

My son received this present for his birthday from one of our friends and was thoroughly excited when he unwrapped the paper.  It has a variety of different child-friendly and practical but equally gruesome kitchen moulds and cutters.  A Brilliant Brain jelly mould, Ghoulish Ghost cutter, Wormy Worm cheese stamper and a Bonkers Bat stencil/cutter.  Along with a Monstrous Morphing mug and Spooky Spider spoon, this is a great set for any fan of Horrid Henry.  The set is well made and safe to use for children, with no very sharp edges to the cutters. 

No prizes for guessing what we ate for dinner today... the main features were cheesy worms on toast (ghost shaped of course) and jellied brain for dessert! 

As all the component's are reusable, it's a great gift for anyone to keep and use time and time again.  My son can't wait for his first sleepover, where I'm sure this will make an appearance along with lots of gruesome things to eat!

You can read about re:creation toys here - a great brand of toys to suit all pockets, from 99p to £29.99.

Favourite Italian dish - Spag Carb!

Whenever I eat out at an Italian restaurant, I always choose the same meal for my main couse - Spaghetti Carbonara.  This is my all-time favourite Italian dish; even second to a good tiramisu!

The abbreviated form of Spaghetti Carbonara comes from a past job working for a blue-chip company who produced a large range of ready meals for the supermarket sector.  Hence, Spaghetti Carbonara becomes Spag Carb, Ham & Mushroom Tagliatelle become Ham Mush Tag and Beef Lasagne becomes Meat Las.  And of course, the old favourite which everyone knows Spag Bol!

Living where I do, there's not much choice for eating out - but whenever we go to a "big town" we can never decide where or what to eat becuase there's too much choice!

Whilst doing my weekly shop, I spotted a Colman's Carbonara Pasta Recipe Mix.  I have used Colman's sauce mixes before but never tried this one - so tonight I did!  I have tried to make a carbonara at home before with various other sauce mixes and also from scratch but I have never got it quite right.  This one however, was very easy to follow and is the best tasting that I have tried from the sauce mix ranges that are out there in the consumer world.  The fresh ingredients are all things that most of us would have in our cupboards anyway and so this really is a quick and easy tea.

My son loved it and asked for seconds; which the pack generously allowed.  It serves 4 and quite rightly it served 2 adults and 2 children with a bit left over for anyone who is extra hungry!

To add a cake to the menu today, I made some banana muffins - super simple to make and quick to cook.  They are best eaten warm as a breakfast muffin but I think they fit into any part of your day when you need a quick energy boost with a healthy(ish) cake!

You can find the recipe here - it's a recipe from "BBC Saturday Kitchen" which I love to watch whenever I have a spare Saturday morning!  It's a really simple recipe - mix all the wet ingredients together in one bowl, sift all the dry ingredients into another bowl; add the wet ingredients to a well in the centre of the "dry" bowl.  Mix gently and bake in muffin cases for about 20-25 mins at Gas Mark 5.  Job done!  The only comment to add is that I got 12 muffins instead of the stated 10 muffins - but this can only be a good thing!  My neighbour thought so anyway as she had the spare 2 to sample!

Anyway, here's a picture for you - they don't look very spectacular but taste lovely!

Day One...

Well, here goes!  I've been interested in blogging for a while but was undecided about what to write about.  Then, over the weekend whilst chatting to my friend - it struck me!  Food, glorious food!  I love to cook but sometimes see it is a necessity - after all, we all need to eat.  I try to make it fun and engage my children in the "safe" side of the preparation and cooking whilst teaching them about a healthy balanced diet.

I love to experiment with flavours.  Sometimes the outcome isn't quite what I expected but so long as I learn by my experimental "mistakes" that's fine!

I enjoy cooking in general but my passion is for baking; especially cupcakes.  I have my Mum to thank for this as my most frequent childhood memory is baking cakes on a Sunday with my Mum!  (The second memory that sticks in my mind is wasting a full tray of eggs trying to make meringues - but that's another story!)

I'm planning on blogging about once or twice a week as my home-life schedule is pretty hectic at times!  You'll get to see what I've been baking and/or cooking that week and learn a little about me and my family along the way.  There will be some competitions from time to time too, so spread the word and join in my virtual tea party!

The first picture that I want to share with you though, is the beautiful town where I live.... I wouldn't change this for the world!