Leftovers.

Whilst writing our food shopping list for the week, I noticed that there were two sorry looking bananas languishing in the fruit bowl. Oh no! So, I googled banana loaf, as I've never made it before, and set to work making something tasty from these:

These probably could have been eaten - but they were "past it" for both me and DH! 

All I needed to buy for this was some more butter and some eggs - both of which will be used in a variety of things, so no bother there. I quickly whipped up the batter:

and popped it in a loaf tin and then in the oven and then:

Tada! Banana loaf :) this is just cooling down on the side - DH really wants some but I've told him to wait for it to cool down a bit first, so that it's easier to cut into slices. 

Frugal living, using leftovers so that it's not thrown away. 

N xx

Therapy.

Whenever I've had a bad day (read: today) I come home and want to bake. Anything will do, so long as it's sweet and requires little effort in the making. I'm so fed up with many things right now, and today hasn't helped, so when I got home, I made cookies for the second time in my life.

Cinnamon and raisin cookies, to be precise. 

I love the chewy version you get from a well known supermarket, so I researched for a recipe and found one from here which very helpfully had measurements which I could use, so off I went! 

Here's the result:

The recipe said it would make 24, but I made 16 from the dough (7 not pictured). 

The pictures aren't great, I realise but it gives you a look! They were thicker than the supermarket version ones, but oh-so-yummy, and made with things I had in the cupboard. Bonus! My better half has already eaten two, so I think that he approves.

See, therapy, just in biscuit form. 

N xx

Let them eat cake.

Some weeks I try and use food stuffs that we've already got in for some meals, just so the food budget isn't stretched during the month. Tonight I made risotto (only my second time making this!) using risotto rice from the cupboard, peas and bacon from the freezer and a stock cube. The only thing I had to buy towards this meal was a small onion, which didn't cost too much. 

It was really really tasty! Straight forward, quick and fairly cheap too. A definite keeper for a swift midweek meal.

Remember I mentioned my friendship cake the other day? Well, today was D-day! It was the day to mix in all of the ingredients and wait for the results. To mine I put in some chopped cooking apples, cinnamon, raisins and chopped almonds in. The end result was this:

Nom nom nom. Of course, me and other half had to try it, just to check it tasted okay.... ;)

Verdit? Very yummy, and if we get another starter given to us, definitely one to make again! 

N xxx

A new trend?

I've been trying to eat from our store cupboard lately, and to make meals out of things we already have in. This week I have used 2 onions, some couscous, many spices and other bits and bobs to make lovely meals with. 

Today, for me at least, was no exception.

I found a couple of days ago, in the fridge, a half eaten broccoli tree. Oh no! I must have forgotten about it during last week and it has sat and languished in the corner of my fruit and veg tray in the fridge. So, last night I had Moroccan style chicken stew with a side of broccoli and tonight I had this:

May I introduce to you broccoli bolognese? It's the healthier cousin of spaghetti bolognese, designed to use up the broccoli in the fridge, but also making the whole dish much more healthy. This is what I had for my tea tonight. My other half did himself a massive portion of spaghetti to have with his sauce, and was much amused when I sat down with half my plate filled with green trees. 

I said I thought I'd start a new trend.... 

He was rather sweet today though, and got me some beautiful flowers:

He's not all bad.... ;)

N xxx

Lazy sundays and cake.

Me and DH have had a really lazy Sunday morning - we didn't get up til past 10am and even then we've just been sat around. I love weekends like this, where we can just be happy in each other's company and that's it. No rushing around to be somewhere. 

So, what goes really well on a lazy Sunday is an equally lazy breakfast (brunch?) when you get up. I'm not the biggest fan of bacon and eggs, plus we don't have any in, so this is what I had for breakfast/brunch this morning:

This is homemade banana loaf with strawberries and raspberries. Breakfast doesn't get better than this. If I thought that I could eat cake for breakfast every day of the week and not end up looking like a house, I totally would.

Speaking of cake, I've had a herman cake on the go for 7 days now. That's a german friendship cake, where you have to tend to it for 10 days before you bake a cake. It's quite a long time to be thinking of making a cake, so I hope it's worth it! Not had one before. This morning Herman looked like this:

This is before I stirred him, as per the instructions for day 7. The cake mix is just left on your kitchen side with a tea towel over, and it bubbles away quite happily. In fact, if there are no bubbles, them Herman has died :( but, mine seems to be very happy bubbling away. Once stirred the mixture goes back to looking like a regular cake mix, but tomorrow it will look like this again before stirring. I can make the cake on Wednesday, so I will let you know the results! 

Ahhh cake. Yum.

N xxx