Peach Melba Slice



The Recipe:

1 tin peaches
3 tbsp raspberry jam
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
10 tbsp 'Flora Cuisine' (or melted butter/marge)
4 tbsp creme fraiche or sour cream

Make it:

Slice the peaches, pat with kitchen towel to remove excess moisture and stir in the creme fraiche to coat. Meanwhile mix the flour sugar and flora/butter until it resembles claggy sand:

.....and press it firmly into a deep dish lined with baking paper. Bake at 160' for approx 20 mins (it does not need to brown!)
When baked allow to cool for about 10 mins, then spread with the jam. Tumble the peach mixture on top, level it out a bit and whack it back in the oven for about 25 mins. The creme fraiche will look a bit like a soft set custard when you get it out. Allow to cool for a bit before removing from the dish and slicing up. Eat warm or cold.

Lemony Coconut Biscuit Bars - no bake!

So, with a day full of rain yesterday what was I to do other than get my pinny on and try out some new recipes? This one is adapted from a recipe in The 4 Ingredients Cookbook, but I've altered ingredients to make it how I like it!

The Recipe:

200g of crushed up digestive biscuits (could also use Rich Tea biscuits)
130g melted butter
1/2 can condensed milk (i used 'light')
zest of 2 lemons
1 cup dessicated coconut

Make 'em:

Mix the melted butter and condensed milk, then add all other ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. line a square dish with some cling film and press the mixture in firmly. Allow to set in the fridge for about 2 hours, then cut into slices/bars of your choice. WARNING: These are bloody moreish when lazing around on a Sunday afternoon watching telly!!

Love my food, but hate to see waste!

A tweet on my timeline this week has really made me think. It was about some food that was past its use by date, and whether it would be ok to use or not. In this particular case, it happened to have been off after checking, but it got me thinking, people throw so much food away because it's 'out of date', when really it's fine to eat, in some way or another, eg some fruits and veggies that aren't at their freshest can be made into smoothies, relishes, chutneys, jams etc...  This then led me on to look for some tips online as to how to keep food to make it last longer, and thought I'd share some of my faves,plus some things I already do myself.

When I buy fruit/veg, I always take it out of the plastic packets before keeping it in the fridge, so I am relying on sight, touch, smell etc rather than dates anyway-best before and use-by dates haven't always been stamped on food you know!

Tips:

*Remove mushrooms from the plastic and cling wrapped boxes they come in and store in  paper bag or wrapped in kitchen paper. This way they do not 'sweat' and last much longer.

*Store your celery in a jug of water in the fridge, replace water every couple of days.

*Keep your nuts in the freezer (ooh-er Missus!) Things that contain oil can spoil, but freezing nuts keeps their freshness for yonks.

*Freeze small amounts of leftover cream, creme fraiche etc in an ice cube tray, and add them to sauces, mashed potatoes etc as needed.

*Remove packaged herbs from their plastic and put in a bowl of cold water for 10 mins. Then store in fridge wrapped in damp kitchen paper in a tupperware tub.

*If you are only going to use half a pepper, leave the stalk and seeds attached to the half you aren't using and store in a plastic bag in the fridge.This will give it a couple of extra days.

*Turn the unused ends of a loaf of bread into crumbs in a food processor and store in a zip-loc bag in the freezer. Add to the bag each time you have some more crumbs, and use straight from frozen.

*If you have a veg drawer in your fridge line it with kitchen paper, and change often. It will soak up any moisture and prevent it from spoiling your veg!

*Pesto spoils quickly in it's jar once opened. Either, freeze in ice cube tray and use from frozen, or, wipe round the top of the jar to clean, and then put a couple of tspsns of olive oil on top of the pesto, and store in the fridge, no more bad wasted pesto!

*Grate your whole wedge of parmesan cheese when you buy it, and store in a tub in the freezer, rather than leaving it to dry out in your fridge.

These are just a few, as I have run out of time and must dash off to meet a friend, but I'll share more as I discover them!

Homemade Face Masks

Don't get me wrong, I love my lotions and potions, and have shelves screaming under the pressure of all the products I spend all my hard earned cash on. BUT, sometimes, I like to use something a bit more natural, and these are all very easy on the purse too!

Honey and Milk face mask:

Mix 1 tbsp full fat milk with 1 tbsp honey. apply to face and neck, wipe off with a warm damp flannel after 10 mins. Great for dry skin.


Lemon and sugar face scrub:

Mix 1 tbsp granulated or caster sugar with 2 tbsp lemon juice. Apply to face in gentle, circular motions with a cotton wool ball, and rinse with water. Good for removing dry skin patches!

Honey and Aspirin Mask:

Dissolve 2 dissolvable aspirin in 1tsp water. Once dissolved mix with 1tsp honey. Apply to face for 5-10 mins, and rinse off with a flannel. Will be slightly grainy and therefore exfoliate gently, but also the acid in the aspirin is great for breakouts and clearing acne, and the honey soothes and moisturises.

Obviously I have used these all on MY SKIN, and they are all fine FOR ME. If you are irritated at all by any of these then rinse off and do not use again!! Try a small test area first!

Easy Herb Pots

Recently I've been on a bit of a mission, to re-cycle/re-use, and my latest effort is these cute little herb pots made from lidded pots that have had some kind of foodstuff in (which I've of course devoured first).

This particular one was for cream, but also yoghurt, sorbet etc come in similar pots with see-through lids.

You can spend quite a lot in Garden Centres on those mini propogator things, and these do the same thing!

First, just wash out the pot and lid, and dry. Fill about 3/4 with compost, sprinkle on desired seed, and cover with more compost. water and put lid on.

Write the name of whatever you have planted on the lid with marker, and put in a sunny place, to let nature do it's magic!

As a complete glutton, I hugely advocate growing things you can eat!!

Parma-Hammy Breadstick Munchies

These are a tasty little treatfest, GREAT with a nice lil cold drinky to hand, can be served as a starter, a canape type thing or as part of a little tapas spread (I'm v fond of a tapas spread!)
And the best thing is they are totes simple to make, but look really impressive! Ta-daa!

The 'Recipe':

Breadsticks (whichever variety you like,fancypants or plain)
Parma ham
blue cheese-spread, or Boursin, or plain old Philly

Make 'em:

Lay out a slice of ham, and spread thinly with desired creamy cheese. Place one breadstick onto one end of the ham, and then roll up. Repeat this with all the breadsticks and ham.
Lay them out on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake in the oven at 180' for 10-15 mins.
Remove from oven and serve immediately if you want them warm, or serve them at room temp if you prefer. Enjoy!
Oh, and if you do wanna look a bit fancypants about it, serve them on a platter lightly drizzled with a bit of bazamic glaze!

Donuts, for dunking

I discovered a recipe recently for donuts that are baked in the oven, rather than fried, and I'll admit I did a merry little dance of joy. I was slightly doubtful at first as normally these things that promise to be a low cal version of something yummy are normally a complete let down, but I have to say they are scrum, and have had great nods of approval from all who've tried them so far!

The original recipe I got from a vegan blog I follow on twitter @ohsheglows, www.ohsheglows.com but I'm not vegan so I substituted a few of her ingredients,as She suggests,  to come up with a very easy batter mix which makes a divine little munch.

You do need a doughnut pan to make these, but I picked up my 6 mini donut silicon pan for about £4 a few years ago so they are not pricey! Finally, I had found a use for this mould!!

ok, the recipe is:

1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk
1 medium egg
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp Flora Cuisine (or 3 tablespoons melted butter/marge)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl to make a batter, and rest for 5 minutes. Grease your donut tray (I use a light oil mister for this) and spoon batter into each ring until level with the little mound in the middle (see pic above).

Bake for approx 12 mins in an oven at 160'c until springy to touch but not browning, and tip out onto a cooling rack (carefully) to cool.Then you can ice and add sprinkles of your choice:

I have also made chocolate ones by adding 2 tbsp cocoa powder, and omitting the cinnamon, and then I iced them with Nutella and sprinkles! Also yum scrum!