Showing posts from January, 2016

Fruit and Nut Breakfast Cups with Degustabox

I make sure the kids and I ALWAYS eat Breakfast no matter how much of a rush we're in. Their absolute favourite is Maple and Raisin Slow Cooker Porridge , especially during the Winter months... with toast and marmite coming a close second. Hubby on the other hand rushes out of the door every morning without eating anything. Somewhat inevitably he ends up eating his packed lunch at 10am and spends the rest of the day sat at his desk starving hungry.  So, in an effort to encourage him to eat something in the mornings as he hops in his car, I made these yummy Fruit and Nut Breakfast Cups using a couple of products from this month's Degustabox. The cups are a little bit like flapjacks but only take 10 minutes to bake. You can try different types of dried fruit and nuts - I used raisins this time but dried apricots would be nice I think. These little cups are also handy for popping into lunchboxes for snack time at school. A little bit on Degustabox: Degustabox is a m


Double Lemon Drizzle Loaf

I love the zesty sugary crust on this Double Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake. Pouring the drizzle mixture onto the cake when it's just out of the oven ramps up it's zingy lemon flavour and ensures the cake stays lovely and moist. It's a forgiving cake in many ways and will happily sit in a cake tin for up to 5 days and it also freezes well too (just wrap it in clingfilm and then foil). I think it has to be one of my all time favourites, especially when I serve it sliced and spread with homemade lemon curd and a dollop of clotted cream. I've even made french toast with the stale ends before for a little weekend breakfast treat. Make it today - I promise you wont be disappointed. DOUBLE LEMON DRIZZLE LOAF Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake Baking, Cake Yield: 8 slices Author: Beth Sachs Print Recipe Pin it With Image Without Image Double Lemon Drizzle Loaf A zesty and zingy Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake. The cake keeps for up to 5 days in a tin but also freezes well t


Nice and Spicy Chicken Curry

It's a bit on the chilly side isn't it? I know Cornwall usually gets away with the worse of the cold weather but it's pretty darn freezing here at the moment. Hubby and I are playing the thermostat game on a fairly regular basis. I turn them up, hubby turns them down, I turn them up again....and so it goes on. It's not just us is it? Anyway, this cold weather definitely calls for hot and spicy food to warm you up and my spicy chicken curry is just about perfect. It's a bit on the hot side for small kids though so this one's probably best reserved for the adults. For this recipe you need to make the curry sauce the night before so the flavours have 24 hours to develop - it really does make a difference to the finished dish. You can also make the curry sauce and freeze it until needed. Feel free to try different meats too, leftover roast beef would work well I think. SPICY CHICKEN CURRY Spicy Chicken Curry Curry Yield: 4 Author: Beth Sach


Vanilla Raspberry Cupcakes

It's my birthday today - booooo! I think I'm quite unique in that the birthday blues started early for me....when I turned 20 to be exact. I remember being an utterly miserable sod at my birthday meal, which was being held in a lovely little seafood restaurant with close family and friends. My Mum sensed there was something up (she always knows when there is something up) and when I told her the reason for my rather odd behaviour she laughed and told me to 'enjoy the journey and have a glass of wine'. I pondered what she said that night and that little conversation has stuck with me over the years. Although I'm still not keen on big 'do's', I do try and make more of an effort now for the sake of the kids. I'm generally not a miserable introverted sod any other day of the year, just in case you're wondering...and by the way I'm still quite a few years off 40 so I really shouldn't have this mindset at all. Onwards and upwards as they say


Creamy Pork and Dill Meatballs

I haven't called these Köttbullar (or Swedish meatballs) because I'm sure they're far from authentic. They are REALLY tasty though, which I hope makes up for their lack of authenticity. Lowen, Rory and even 10 month old Heidi gobbled these down and seemed to really enjoy them, apart from the extra dill I'd scattered on top (oh well...one day they'll appreciate it). The meatballs are quite a lot lighter than my usual beef ones but if you wanted something a bit more 'meaty' replace half the pork mince with beef mince. The kids also seemed to prefer the gravy 'sauce' to my usual tomato based one. So it was a definite thumbs up from them. If you've come to this page trying to find out how to make the famous Swedish Furniture Store's meatballs, my nearest branch is in Bristol over 2 hours away so I've never had the pleasure! If you do make them, let me know how they compare in the comments section below. CREAMY PORK AND DILL MEAT


Easy Mediterranean Pasta Bake with Degustabox

Degustabox is a monthly subscription food box service, where every month you're sent a brand new box of between 9 and 14 goodies to try. I find it's a great way for discovering new brands and products and my children this month have been converted to the Happy Monkey Kids Smoothies! Rory declaring them 'the best ever'. I however, was drawn to the Barilla Wholewheat Pasta and Barilla Vegetable Pasta Sauce and decided to make a filling and hearty pasta bake with them. There's no need to precook the pasta for this either so it's literally mix everything in a bowl, pour into a dish and bung it in the oven kind of meal. I love easy food like this, especially on a busy weeknight. MEDITERRANEAN PASTA BAKE Mediterranean Pasta Bake Pasta Yield: 4 Author: Beth Sachs Print Recipe Pin it With Image Without Image Mediterranean Pasta Bake Mediterranean Pasta Bake with Chorizo prep time: 10 mins cook time: 1 hour total time: 1 hours and 10 m


Sticky Glazed Salmon

Everyone will love this tasty baked salmon recipe packed with the punchy flavours of chilli, garlic and soy sauce. It's nice and healthy for those of you on January diets, especially when served with stir fried vegetables..... and if you're not low carbing, rice too. It kept us all nice and full until breakfast, and helps stop that pesky evening snacking. To make sure the kids would eat it, I just left the red chilli garnish off their portions. They are still a bit dubious about stir fried veg though and in hindsight I should have cooked a portion of peas for them. I'll know for next time. STICKY GLAZED SALMON Sticky Glazed Salmon Salmon Yield: 4 Author: Beth Sachs Print Recipe Pin it With Image Without Image Sticky Glazed Salmon A healthy oven baked sticky glazed salmon recipe with chilli, garlic and soy sauce. prep time: 10 mins cook time: 15 mins total time: 25 mins ingredients: 4 Boneless Salmon Fillets 2 TBSP Sweet Chilli Sauc