Lovely Lasagne and Sweet and Sour Stir Fry

A couple of nights ago, I made lasagne for tea. Not just any lasagne though. It is from a vegetarian cookbook, so I used Quorn! I have never cooked with it before, and I was quite curious so I thought I'd give it a go. You can't really taste the difference when it has been simmering in the sauce for half an hour or so, but the texture is quite soft and not as chewy as actual meat would be. This may have been because it was simmering for so long though. I have some left over so I will definitely try cooking it different ways. I liked it though, it made a nice change and I would have it again. There aren't any pictures though... I ate it too quickly...

For tea last night (and tonight!) I had a sweet and sour stir fry, again from the vegetarian book. The recipe called for a red or green pepper, but I bought an orange one to be different! In hindsight, I wish I had got red, as the stir fry had orange carrot and green cucumber. So it wasn't as colourful as it might have been but it was still tasty. The other main ingredients were beansprouts and pineapple. I always love stir frys, and this was no exception. Healthy, filling, sweet, sour, crunchy, soft.... Something for everyone, how could you not love it.

The sauce ingredients bubbling fiercely away!

A small point. After stir frying, the cucumber skin looked like gherkin skin... insignificant, but thought you might like to know :-P

Final Freezer and Felafel

The last few weeks have been quite busy, what with work and moving and what have you. But I just have to tell you about the last meal I made with the things from my freezer.

I ended up with a couple of random bits, like you do, that I had saved because I don't like waste and/or because I thought they might be useful one day! I had five stuffing balls, an egg white, some diced smoked bacon and some frozen mixed vegetables. I had the idea of a of bubble and squeak hash type concoction which I would cook in the pan, and then grill. I cooked the bacon first, and partly cooked the veg, then just added everything to the bacon pan and mixed it all up. Once it was all in the pan, it was clear one egg white wouldn't be enough to bind it, but I added it anyway. As it wasn't really 'sticking together' I only grilled it for a few minutes, just for the hell of it, as I knew the top wouldn't really go crispy, and hey, I was hungry... Anyway, it was absolutely delicious! Stuffing is one of my favourite things ever, and the whole thing was almost like a roast dinner in a bowl. Which is no bad thing.

From this...

...to this!

 

 

 

And now for tonight's meal which is... Rough Felafel. I don't know whether smooth felafel exists, but that's what it's called! Quite simply, you just mash everything together, egg and flour it and fry. Chickpeas, spices, an onion. It is served with a pitta and veg, I was already buying cucumber so I just had it with that, also suggested were shredded lettuce and tomato. Next time I will try to try it with these as well! I personally feel that youneed the freshness of the accompaniments to cut through the carbs, but I'm sure it would be just as nice without any. The best way to describe it is as a kind of spicy chickpea burger in a pitta, but that really doesn't do it justice. I will definitely be having it again... although with what sort of accompaniment I don't yet know!

Extra felafel that wouldn't fit in the pitta (I destrpyed that but getting it out of the pan anyway!)

 

Holiday at Home

I don't have much of an actual summer holiday this year, but luckily I had some weeks free earlier so I was able to go home. My mum and I made a LOT of stuff, and here are two things I managed to capture in a photo.

1) Ravioli, with homemade pasta as well. It was a Jamie Oliver recipe, with mozzarella, prosciutto, basil, parmesan and sundried tomatoes. It was really nice, the pasta was a bit thick but as we didn't use our pasta machine we were never going to get it paper thin. We did use the the 'oo' flour though, so we were quite authentic... Anyway, it tasted good and was filling, which are the main things I look for in a meal!

2) A dress! My mum was going to make it for me, but she suggested I make it, and I thought, why not! I want to learn more dressmaking skills, so this was a good experience. I have made clothes before, but this is the first thing I really properly made, if you know what I mean! My mum did still help me, but I actually did everything myself, right from figuring out how much fabric I needed to picking out the tacking at the end. I have received lots of compliments on it, but most importantly, I love it! I am going to make the same dress in different fabrics, so you might be seeing it again at some point...

 

Simply Scrumptious Smoothie

My mum stayed over last night, and this morning when I went to the shop to get some bits for a nice breakfast (I would have got them before but it was a bit unplanned!) I went a little overboard... We couldn't decide what we wanted so I got... Everything! Meaning bacon, crumpets, oats, malt loaf and yoghurt! As I am eating freezer meals and consequently hardly buying anything, I thought I may as well! Our breakfast was two crumpets and two rashers of bacon each, then some yoghurt with the fruit loaf. It was delicious!

The yoghurt I got was Onken. mango, papaya and passionfruit. After eating a supermarket basic brand for so long it was so creamy and good! I do really like the basics one actually, but it made a nice change!

Then for lunch I made a smoothie with the yoghurt, a banana and milk. It was really nice, a light but filling lunch after a big breakfast! Plus I got to use my smoothie cup... which is just plain cool to be honest.

My next post will be about a few things I made whilst at home... check here tomorrow!

I'm Baaaaaack!

So, on my last trip home I remembered to take my camera so I could carry on posting... But I forgot the cable to connect it to the computer. And when I came back here... I forgot the camera. So home with camera and no cable, and then here with cable and no camera. But it's all back together now. I am on a placement at the moment, and I have enough meals in the freezer to last until I move (in ONE week!) so I won't be doing that much cooking, but I promise I will post what I do cook... Keep an eye!

Chicken Challenge #4

For day four of the challenge, I made Mary Berry's Greek Chicken Salad. I went to the cinema today to see The Great Gatsby, and it was quite nice to have a little potter round the kitchen putting it together when I got back. The salad itself was chicken mixed in a Greek-style dressing, served with a warm pitta. I really love warm pittas, the smell, the taste, the texture... they are just so good. A simple dish, but it was really good, nice and light for a warm and sunny afternoon.

The dressing: natural yoghurt, mint, parsley, lemon juice, spring onion, a pinch of sugar and seasoning.

 

 

Craft is Coming...

I know I said I would do a post about craft today... And I kind of am as this post is about craft... But anyway. I am not going to tell you about what I was going to today- yet! There is a good reason though. Without giving too much away, it is something I made very carefully, and something that I really want to showcase in the best light possible. I can't do that today, but all will be revealed by the end of this week, I promise! I'm sure those of you who have done craft projects before and that are very proud of them will understand what I'm saying. If you don't... Well, you'll just have to be as patient as the rest of them! :)