Food Minia

Pasta salad is one of those things you can use any old stuff in.  Leftover cooked chicken?  Marvellous.  Tuna?  Equally at home.  Well I'd picked up an avocado which was actually ripe (unheard of so of course it was down to 20p and 'reduced for quick sale'!)  I would have loved some guacamole and maybe I'll use the other half for that but I had nothing to serve it with so a pasta salad it was.  It's a great way to squeeze in fruit and vegetables which your child might not ordinarily try. I should have made this during my week of eating 7 fruits and vegetables a day !  A surprising hit with my youngster who's normally a bit of a salad dodger.  Substitute the dressing for mayonnaise or a mayo / yogurt mix if you prefer. Pasta Salad - Serves 2-3 Ingredients 90g, 3oz Wholewheat pasta (use regular if you prefer) 90g, 3oz Frozen sweetcorn 100g, 3.5oz Smoked bacon, chopped 90g, 3oz Cucumber, chopped A handful of cherry tomatoes or baby plum tomatoes 1/2 Ripe avocado D

Unfortunately due to personal circumstances (moving house for the 2nd time in 2 weeks) I won't get to take part in the ' live below the line ' challenge this year but I thought I would tell you about it and tell you why it deserves your attention. 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty in the world.  1.2 BILLION that's over 15% of the world population.  The live below the line challenge is to try and experience, and raise money for people who live in extreme poverty by only spending £1 a day on food and drink. I appreciate that living in a comfortable home with access to equipment and ingredients is very different to not knowing where your next meal will come from but it is a step, it's an idea and an interesting one. Why £1 a day?  In 2005 the world bank calculated that the extreme poverty line was $1.25 a day, that is, you would be considered to be in extreme poverty if you had the equivalent of $1.25 and what $1.25 can buy in the US.  With inflation this has

Onion rings, love them but don't love the oiliness.  I'm not some health freak but I can feel my arteries hardening as I eat!  These are cunningly baked so much less fatty! Baked Onion Rings Ingredients 1 Small onion cut into 2mm rings 2 tbsp Mayo 1 tbsp Milk 20g, Just over 1/2oz Rice Krispies 15g, 1/2 oz Plain (all purpose) flour 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder Spray Oil Method Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.  Line a tray with non stick baking paper. Crush the rice krispies and put in a bowl with the flour and garlic powder. Mix the mayo and milk together.  Dip the rings in the mayo mix then into the dry mix.  Put on the tray. Once you've done them all, wash off all the gunk from your hands then spray with spray oil. Bake for approx 10-15 minutes (12 in my oven, keep an eye on them so they don't burn). Make it Thrifty Use the oven for other things to maximise the use of the power while you're cooking these.  Also keep your eyes peeled (excuse the pun) for value

Weetabix cake?  Am I serious?  Well I'd been trying different ways of using cereals quite a bit recently what with rice krispies with mackerel but I'd never found a way of using them in cakes like I had with bran loaf .  Shreddies seemed promising but were a bit of a failure when I gave them a go.  Who knew Weetabix would work? This tastes similar to my bran loaf , loads of fibre, sweet whilst being low in added sugar, dairy free fat free and lovely with a pot of tea! Weetabix Cake Ingredients 2 Weetabix (or own brand equivalent) 350ml, 12 fl oz Decaffeinated tea (just make with one decaf teabag) 110g, 4oz Muscovado or soft brown sugar 280g, 10oz Sultanas (golden raisins) 1 egg 225g, 8oz Self Raising Flour (or all purpose / plain flour plus 2 tsp baking powder) 1 tsp mixed spice Method Crush up the weetabix, mix with the sugar and dried fruit.  Soak in the tea for about an hour. Preheat the oven to 160oC.  Mix in the spice, flour and egg and pour into a greased silicone loaf t

Bored of fish pie?  Want something interesting with fish and kid friendly?  This is a way to introduce a different flavour to white fish and great if your kids are less keen on fish without some kind of disguise.  Very quick and thrifty to prepare too. Pesto Crumbed Fish Ingredients 2 White Fish fillets, e.g. Pollock, cod, coley.  I use fairly thin fillets around 100-150g each 1 tbsp Mayonnaise 2 tsp Pesto 30g, 1oz Breadcrumbs 15g, 1/2oz Grated extra mature (extra sharp) cheddar Spray oil or olive oil Method Preheat the oven to 200oC / 400F / Gas Mark 6. Mix the mayo with the pesto.  Put the fish on a baking dish or tray lined with non stick baking paper.  Spread the mayo mix on the fish. Mix the breadcrumbs and cheese together and sprinkle on the top.  Spray with oil or drizzle with oil. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until browned and cooked through.  The thicker the fish, the longer it will take. Mine was only about a cm thick so cooked reasonably quickly. Make it Thrifty Using pollock m

There is a recipe for Panang curry on my blog here (the link) that one is simply served the curry with steamed rice and for this one I want the same curry have a different look in a nice style and also the texture is different too because of noodles. The process is pretty easy even people who don’t know how to cook Thai food or think that cooking Thai food is so complicated, and also I have a video to show you how to make this dish (please see the video link below). Hope that also help to see a whole process. Ingredients 4                  Large chicken breasts, cut into chunks 1 can            Thick coconut milk (560ml.) 3 cloves       Garlic, finely chopped 1tsp             Sugar 1 tbsp          Vegetable oil 1 tsp            Soy sauce 1                 Cucumber, cut into small pieces (see video) 10                Kaffir lime leaves, cut into very thin and narrow strips 320-375g.    Vermicelli rice noodles 1 – 1 ¼ tbsp Salt 3 litre           Water Instructions from video  Instruction

Tommy Tang's Modern Thai Cuisine , by Tommy Tang. A colorfully illustrated collection of more than ninety original recipes adapting traditional Thai flavors to American kitchens and cooking techniques, by the innovative chef-owner of the most popular Thai restaurants in L.A. and New York. Full-color photographs and B & W illustrations throughout. Though Tang himself came here from Bangkok in 1972, his restaurants--the first opened in L.A. in 1982, a twin in N.Y.C.'s Tribeca four years later--have as much to do with American enterprise and California style as with Thai cuisine. The food, commonly referred to as "California Thai," is represented here by the ultratraditional Pad Thai, known as Thailand's national dish; by the restaurant's own chicken sat‚ with peanut sauce and its special sauced duck; and by such hybrids as Bangkok Jambalaya, Thai Wonton, eggplant made with olive oil and pine nuts, a roasted pepper sauce well represented in recent Italian coo

Custard.  I never make it from scratch but I do make it from custard powder.  It occurred to me when making some custard from custard powder the other day that custard powder is simply cornflour (cornstarch) natural flavouring (vanilla) and colour (normally a natural colour like annatto).  I don't have much annatto floating around the house and there feels like something wrong about making white custard even though that's the colour it would be if not made with eggs, so my idea was to make chocolate custard. This would be great hot with chocolate cake, poured over banana (if you want to keep on my 7 a day routine), on it's own or allowed to cool in small pots and eaten cold like blancmange.  It's pretty low sugar too with only 1 tsp added sugar per portion.  There's more sugar in a fromage frais! Chocolate custard - Makes 2 small bowls Ingredients 280ml, Half Pint milk 1 rounded tbsp cornflour (cornstarch) 1 tsp Cocoa powder (unsweetened) 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract 2

Today was the last day of my challenge to eat 7 portions of fruit and vegetables in 7 days. Breakfast I started the day with my fruity toast (like I had on day 5).  Delicious. Lunch I was with a visitor at work today so I had a buffet from the canteen.  For all my criticism earlier in the week, they didn't let me down, the fruit platter saved the day.  It was served with orange juice as well on the side and every sandwich had a salad garnish and coleslaw inside.  I easily racked up three portions with the juice (even if that always feels like a cheat.) Tea What the cool kids are eating (maybe) haggis, peas, broccoli and sweetcorn.  I do love haggis!  It is the ultimate rebellion food as well after a week of vegetables! 7 a Day?  Achieved.   Mixed berries (cherries, blackberries, raspberries, black currants, red currants and strawberries), lettuce, cucumber, carrot, cabbage, peppers, pineapple, melon, strawberries, orange juice, peas, broccoli and sweetcorn.   A massive 17 differen

On the home run now...  A few days ago I set myself the challenge to eat 7 portions of different fruits and vegetables over 7 days and see how it impacted me and my wallet. Breakfast I'd had enough of trying to squeeze fruit and vegetables into breakfast for one day.  So it was toast with marmalade and proper butter. Lunch As I said yesterday , I was on a soup drive so as well as my 'eat your greens' soup , I also made a batch of lentil and bacon , only reducing the quantity of lentils and water slightly and including carrots.  That way, I could make it two different servings of vegetables in 1 portion.  (Pulses can count as 1 of your 7 a day but only once per day.)   I also took some watermelon, banana, two satsumas and an apple with me making my lunch 6 portions of fruit and vegetables. It does prove you can get back on track if you start the day with a less than healthy breakfast but it does mean you feel a little bit like a rabbit later! It is making me wonder though

I'm trying to eat 7 portions of 7 different fruits and vegetables in 7 days to see how easy or hard it is, how it affects me and how it affects my wallet.  If you want to read more, see my first post on my 7 a Day challenge. Breakfast I started the day today with toast... ha ha ha... no, I didn't miss out the fruits and vegetables!  I remembered I had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer so I took a portion out of there, defrosted it then topped the piece of thick toast I had with butter, jam, then the defrosted berries.  It rocked and was good for the soul. There were cherries, blackberries, strawberries, red currants, black currants and raspberries in there but obviously only one portion in terms of quantity. My son had some reheated banana pancakes for his breakfast from the freezer.  Probably about a third of a banana in the portion he ate (he had 8, yes, he does eat a lot) but a third of a banana is probably about a handful for a 3 year old so I'm taking that as a po

Last week I set myself a challenge to have 7 days of eating 7 fruits or vegetables a day in the recommended portion sizes. So I woke up at 4am this morning.  This isn't a massively unusual occurrence for me, especially when I'm busy or stressed and 2am has been known.  I don't think I can put that down to the vegetables. Breakfast As I woke so early and was intending to run, my body was saying to me "GIVE ME FOOD".  Pre running you don't exactly want a fry up in your belly, so going for watermelon (as I did), which is high GI can actually be a great idea. After my run I opted for a simple bowl of cereal.  I was going to have scrambled eggs with mushrooms but I decided against it because after running nearly 6 miles, you don't really feel like whipping up a storm. Lunch I made an adaptation of my mushroom pasta bake recipe  for lunch except adding an extra vegetable in the form of defrosted chopped spinach into the mix.  To up the fruit and vegetable conte