Category: Food/ Recipes

Home made

Posted on by Libby Withnall

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Well, this recipe is about as home made as I can make. Cherry tomatoes from the garden and eggs from our chickens…comprising about 90% of the meal.

Tomato & Fetta Frittata

Cherry Tomato & Feta Frittata

Ingredients (serves 4)

  • 6 eggs
  • 125g feta, crumbled
  • 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
  • 4 shallots, trimmed and sliced thickly
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 250g cherry tomatoes,quartered
  • Mixed salad leaves, to serve

Method

  1. Whisk the eggs.  Stir in the feta.

  2. Heat the oil in a 20cm non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes. Pour over the egg mixture and shake pan gently to disperse the egg. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until almost set but still a little runny on top.

  3. Preheat grill to high. Place the frying pan under the grill for 1-2 minutes or until set and golden on top. Cool or serve it warm with salad leaves

Source : Fresh Living – 19 April 2004, Page 61
Recipe by Louise Pickford

Chocolate delights

Posted on by Libby Withnall

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Yes, we braved the shops (with not such a happy outcome) and saw The Princess and the Frog (much happier). To try and easy my stress levels we decided to try out the Lindt Cafe for the first time. One word – YUMMY!!!! We asked the waitress how many strawberries per serve. She said 5 so we ordered 2 to share. Oops, turns out there were 9 per serve. Which would have been okay if hadn’t ordeedr iced chocolates (hot choc for Amy) as well. We certainly waddled away from the cafe (and Kevin hardly touched his drink). Oh, well, live and learn. We will certainly be back.

Look at how cute Amy’s hot chocolate was – came with a serve of chocolate sauce and a jug of foaming hot milk. She said it was delicious.

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The iced chocolates didn’t disappoint either.

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Christy had a glass of water and a cheese roll from Bakers Delight :-).

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Recipe : Gingerbread Muffins

Posted on by Libby Withnall

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Gingerbread Muffins (Feast by Nigella Lawson)

  • 1 2/3 (250gms) cups plain flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves                                 (I obmitted this)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup (50gms) packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup (50gms) packed light brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup (150ml) whole milk                                (I used low fat organic)
  • 1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
  • 6 tablespoons vegetable or corn oil                    (I used olive oil, but will try macadamia nut oil next time)
  • 4 tablespoons golden syrup
  • 4 tablespoons molasses                                        (I used extra golden syrup)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper muffin cups.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk the egg in another bowl, then add the brown sugars, making sure to break up any lumps.

Add the milk and vinegar to the egg-brown sugar mixture then measure in the oil with a tablespoon. Use the same oily spoon to add the corn syrup and molasses so they don’t stick to it. Whisk the mixture to combine and add to the flour and spices.

Stir until mixed but still fairly lumpy-the mixture may be more runny than you expect for muffins- but you need the dense stickiness of gingerbread, rather than a cakey crumb. Spoon or pour the mixture into the muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes until the tops are dry. Cool on a rack.

Yield: 12 muffins

WARNING : These will NOT last  long – as you can one has already been devoured!

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Menu Planning

Posted on by Libby Withnall

After being religious about menu planning for quite some time I recently took a break. It was fun. I didn’t resort to takeaway. We still ate very well. But it wasn’t until I decided I wanted to empty out freezer that I realized what menu planning does.

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So about 1.5 weeks ago I went through the fridge and freezer and made a list of everything it contained, taking special notice of anything that would expire when we’re away (leaving for a 10 night cruise on Saturday). I then went through and made out a menu plan for the 2 weeks before we left. I mainly do dinners but I had a few breakfast and lunch ideas so I put them on some days.

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Menu plan done! Now the revelation. Firstly, it was so much easier just checking the fridge (where the menu plan lives) to see what was for  dinner each day. I didn’t have to think – brilliant. Secondly, we are eating a better variety of meals. I hadn’t realized we were eating the same dinners week in week out. Thirdly, as hoped we made a good dent in the fridge & freezer. And forth, we saved a bunch on groceries by eating the food we’d already paid for :-). So am I converting back to regular menu planning. If you’ve never done it before give it a go. There are plenty of free printables on the internet but all you need is pen and paper (and maybe gloves for diving into your freezer 🙂 ).