Life Through Rose-Tinted Glasses

Are you sick of reading horrible stories in the news? Have you had enough of hearing about negative things that happen? Fed up with seeing nasty images or videos on-line? If the answer is yes, then maybe you need some rose-tinted glasses. My dad always jokes to me that I wear them all the time. I can help you get yours! Okay, I understand it’s easy sitting here in the sunshine with the birds tweeting to see things from a happier perspective, but that’s not always the case. In present times where we are having such doom and gloom rained down on us by the media how can we avoid it? There’s a well-known saying I love and it’s that a ship can’t sink unless it lets the water in. We have to let the negativity in before it can affect us. I’m not saying turn your back on things you wish to change because they are negative, because helping the cause that concerns you will help you feel accomplished and therefore make you happier. I find having a good clear out on social media sites helps, we all have those friends who moan about their lives when in reality their biggest problem is what to do for tea. Cutting out toxic people is a big step forward, people that make you unhappy or hold you back in any way are best out of your life. Refrain from commenting or reacting to horrible videos on-line, as all this does is pass it on like a disease, spreading around the internet for everyone else to see. Life’s much better when you focus on the positives, and believe you me I’ve had a lot of negativity to block out, however I have managed to focus on the good and life is rosy.

Simply Corned-beef Hash

This a versatile dish you can use at just about any mealtime. Serve with beans for a hearty brunch, on it's own as a filling lunch or topped with an oozy, poached egg for supper. It is definitely a dish to help you out if the purse has decided to go on a diet! My dad argues with me that this is not true corned beef hash as it isn't mashed potato and corned beef mixed together, I get the feeling it's like the 'panhag' and everyone has their own take on it. This is mine. 

Tin of corned beef roughly chopped

2 large potatoes cubed

200g black pudding chopped

Large onion sliced

Splash of Worcester sauce 

In a frying pan on a medium heat with some oil fry the onions.

In another pan boil the cubed potato pieces for roughly 5 minutes or until soft.

Put the black pudding and corned beef into the pan with the onion and fry off while the potato cooks add a dash of Worcester sauce.

Drain the potatoes add to the frying pan and cook while your beans heat up or you poach an egg.

Serve and enjoy.

Pasta Cheat

During the hellish ordeal that is weekend shopping, I came up with my next dish. As I sat in Frankie and Benny's watching the rush of people enter, eat and leave the restaurant, I wondered how many of us actually wanted to be there. Who was there by choice, or because it's the weekend thing to do or actually felt they just had to be there. I don't mean just eating out, but shopping. I really hate it, pushing through crowds of people all racing around trying to complete their missions. Sitting in queues of traffic getting angrier and angrier waiting to get to our destination as quickly as we can so we can get home again. I still can't get my head around the fact that people do this for pleasure. Give me the woods or the beach and I'm in heaven. That's not to say I didn't enjoy myself, we had a lovely family day out and it's all about compromise and doing things that everybody enjoys. Watching my youngest two children's faces light up because they are getting treated to a dessert and a balloon, they really are that easily pleased, is a lovely thing even if it isn't my cup of tea. Considering I got my inspiration for this next dish while I was there it wasn't all bad. So here's my recipe for bacon and mushroom tagliatelle. Combat the 'carb coma' by serving with a large fresh salad instead of garlic bread like I did!

Bacon (I used Asda smartprice smoked back bacon for £1.20 312gm)

250g mushrooms (mine were 25p from the Spar bargain!)

Tin of cream of chicken/= or mushroom soup

2 tsp dried thyme 

2 tsp garlic powder

400g tagliatelle

Finely grated cheddar to sprinkle on top

Slice the mushrooms and bacon

On a high heat fry them for 15 minutes or until golden

Add the thyme

Cover the tagliatelle with boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes

Heat the soup

Drain the cooked pasta, add the soup, bacon and mushrooms and serve with a sprinkle of cheese on top. 

Lettuce Pray For Tomatoes

If the words lettuce and tomato strike the fear of God into you, then you might be like my husband and class yourself as a 'salad dodger'. I will give you two of the simplest methods of throwing together a quick, delicious and dare I say healthy meal, that do indeed involve the normally sneered at couple of salad items. It's been a long time since we had a takeaway in our house other than fish and chips-well you have to take advantage of the amenities on your doorstep, right?-The one thing we do love,especially the teenager, is a char-grilled chicken kebab with all the trimmings. She's going through that phase, where a delicious and nutritious meal means a pot noodle. The lower half of her face is sponsored by Walkers and Cadbury, as she can be seen most days with one of their products hanging out of her mouth. So imagine the sheer look of joy on her face when I presented her with a chicken kebab, okay she grunted something and didn't look suicidal, for a second there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes. So if you want to trick your family into eating something healthy here are a couple of ways, just make sure to hide the lettuce and tomatoes in the salad drawer under the chocolate....

B.L.T 

I love a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich but mine has to be on seeded bread. I love Aldi's seeded loaf it goes perfectly with this!

2 slices of bread

2 slices streaky bacon 

Sliced tomato

Shredded iceburg lettuce

Mayonnaise

Grill the bacon until crispy

Spread the bread generously with mayonnaise

Line the bottom slice with lettuce and tomato

Top with the bacon and the top slice of bread

Eat it somewhere where nobody can look at you, like my son does, with those eyes that say feed me please mummy I'm starving-even though he's had a five course breakfast, still has half a banana hanging out of his face and chocolate round his mouth!

Chicken kebab

Chicken cubed

Pitta bread

Lettuce shredded

Tomato thickly sliced

Pickled cabbage

Chilli sauce

Garlic sauce

On a really high heat in a griddle pan, barbecue or grill cook the chicken until almost blackened on the outside

Heat up the pitta bread and slice open

Plate up the salad and sauces

Fill the pitta with chicken and serve. I also managed to get extra healthy points serving it with corn cobs.

Betty's Bakewell Tart

Everyone in the world needs a Betty. If you could bottle her spirit it would be the best tonic in the world! I'm talking about my friend Betty Wilson. When trying to think of how to describe what she does I'm at a loss to find the words. Yes, she used to do tarot readings, yes, she speaks with spirit and yes over the years of her life she has helped many people dead and alive but to me she is so much more than a clairvoyant, medium or psychic. She has been a rock, a guide and a guardian angel! My life has had many ups and downs and I've often felt very different to everyone I meet, that was up untiI I met Betty. She gave me a reading years ago and it was full of lovely things that were coming my way, low and behold it all turned out to be true. I'm happily married now with 3 children and 2 step-children. Thanks to the wisdom, guidance and a general shoulder to cry on that Betty offered over the last few years, I truly believe I have grown more as a person than I had in my life before she was in it. I do things now, that I wouldn't have dared or even imagined I could do, all because she tells me I can. She has been such a rock to me and never asks anything in return, as all she tells me is she gets all the happiness from seeing how I grow. The one thing she loves is a bakewell tart and I promised her I would make her one, it's the least I can do. She is a true friend, a real life angel and my guiding star so Betty's tart is my tribute to her.

For the pastry:

200g plain flour

100g unsalted cold cubed butter

100g icing sugar

30ml milk

Place all the ingredients in a bowl.

Run your hands under the cold tap for a minute as this helps with the rubbing process.

When you have dried your hands rub the butter into the flour until there are no lumps left and the mixture resembles crumbs.

At this point pour in the milk and stir with a blunt knife for roughly a couple of minutes until the dough forms a ball.

Knead the dough on a floured surface and make a smooth ball.

Clingfilm and pop into the freezer while you make the filling.

For the filling:

100g unsalted softened butter

100g sugar

100g ground almonds

Tsp almond essence

2 egg yolk

2 tbsp jam mixed until runny

Flaked almonds to top.

Beat the butter until it is soft and add the sugar.

Mix until fluffy and add the ground almonds, almond essence and egg yolks and combine.

Roll out your firm pastry ball until nice and thin.            

                                       

Carefully draping the pastry over your rolling pin place your dish underneath and trim the edges.

Spread your runny jam over the base.

Spoon in your filling and spread evenly and preheat the oven to 200.

As I had enough pastry left I rolled a long rectangle and cut out some lengths to make a lattice topping for the tart. Before assembling the top sprinkle on the flaked almonds.

Bake for 15 minutes at 200 then turn the oven down to 150 for a further 10-15 minutes.

Dust with icing sugar, serve with a fresh cup of coffee and say a little thank you to Betty Wilson for this fine treat!

Cheap Chicken Fajitas

We love a Mexican night in our house. It certainly helps with the decision of what to have for tea. As with my Banging Bargain Burritos, I wanted to show you with the same few spices you can make the fajitas without buying the kits. Don't forget to buy the wraps from the bread aisle, not the section near the Mexican food kits they do cost more. These are so tasty and can be altered to almost anybody's liking. Like B.B.Q fajitas? Use half B.B.Q sauce and half passata. Like them hot? Throw in some jalapenos or up the heat of the chilli powder. Play around with food and make it your own, experiment with flavours and involve the family. Have a themed night each week to help with tea ideas, we tried Mexican Monday, Meat free Wednesday and Fish Friday!

For the fajitas:

3 chicken fillets cut into strips

3 peppers sliced

2 red onions sliced

300ml passata 

3 tsp cumin

3 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp paprika

3 tsp mild chilli powder

Tbsp oil

Wraps

After you cut the chicken shake all the spices onto the meat to marinate for 30 minutes or more covered in the fridge.

In a frying pan with the oil fry off the chicken for 15 minutes.

Add the peppers, onions and passata and cook for a further 15 minutes until the sauce reduces.

Spoon the mixture into a warm serving dish and take to the table with the wraps, salad and trimmings for everyone to make their own.

Summer Survival Tips

As parents stock up on headache tablets, sugary bribes and copious amounts of alcohol, this can only mean one thing, it’s the summer holidays. I know this strikes the fear of dread into a lot of parents, as they wonder how they can possibly keep their children entertained without going bankrupt and keeping their sanity at the same time. It’s not impossible to do with a little imagination and a bit of effort….and some wine. Just remember to keep to a budget of what you can afford, don’t be spending money you haven’t got on days out that cost a fortune, just because you know that everybody else will be taking their children. Watch out for offers and coupons for money off family days out. The main thing is don't be afraid to let them get bored, in fact I encourage it, it’s when they are bored that they will show how creative they can be. Sticks become guns, daisies become chains and that blanket becomes a fort. Stretch things out as much as you can. I refer back to my Easter Holiday post How to Fill Three Days With One Picnic

Have a family sleepover one night in the living room, build a den and enjoy some old movies together, the children will love it and most likely remember it forever. Enjoy a 'no media day' where you and the family are forced to actually interact! Interview each other, you might find out a few things you didn't already know about one another. It could also come in handy for present buying in the future. Set a loose plot line and characters for a story and give everyone a part to write. Either the beginning, middle or ending and at the end of the day read it together and see who has the wackiest imagination.  Tune in to BBC TEES breakfast show with Neil Green and Amy Oakden for more tips on how to have fun with your family for free, or very cheap...It doesn’t cost money to create memories.

How to deliver a cheap and tasty meal

Another tasty, cheap and filling recipe courtesy of my lovely dad, you will be famous soon dad! He's always told me how he fancies a plate full of liver and onions-the very thought always made me want to be sick-but as he's been such a great dad, I put my queasiness aside for a day and made him the treat he's been wanting. I read that if you were to get liver to avoid pigs liver as it could be quite bitter, I have since realised this is all just personal preference. Pigs liver is cheaper and if you don't like the taste if you soak it in milk for 30 minutes it's supposed to combat the bitterness. I used lambs liver, it cost £1.34 and there was enough for two big plates full. As well as being cheap, it's actually quite good for you, it contains a large amount of high-quality protein, an easily absorbed form of iron and all of the B vitamins-including B12 and folic acid in significant amounts. I have to say I didn't like it myself however, the gravy was delicious and my dad said it was the best he had tasted so that's good enough for me!

Lambs liver

Onion sliced

2 rashers streaky bacon

300ml beef stock

Tbsp flour

Worcester sauce

Tbsp tomato ketchup

Tbsp oil

 In a frying pan on a medium-high heat with the oil, fry the onions and chopped bacon until the onions are soft and the bacon is crispy.

Slice the liver into cm thick strips and fry for 2-4 minutes until cooked and remove from the pan and keep warm while you make your gravy.

  Add the flour to the onions and bacon and stir, gradually add the beef stock stirring constantly so you don't get lumps until it's all added. You may need to keep adding more water depending on how thick you like your gravy. Add a dash of Worcester sauce and the ketcup and stir in. Return the liver to the pan and let bubble away for a couple of minutes.

Serve on its own or with a pile of mashed potatoes and peas. Enjoy!