Chocolate Easter Bread and Butter Pudding

by 4 Comments

This has been sat in my drafts for a week and a half and I forgot about it! I could kick myself.

About a month ago I had some left over croissants that could have been used for missiles as opposed to anything edible. I decided to use them for a bread and butter pudding instead of throwing them out, especially good as I needed to use up two eggs before they went off and couldn't be bothered to make a cake.

When we came back from our Easter weekend away, I discovered that we seemed to have a plethora of hot cross buns that were more akin to rock cakes. Is it just me that finds they go stale really quickly? I hate throwing good food out, and so faced with six stale hot cross buns and too much Easter chocolate, I decided to make an Easter bread and butter pudding.

I used the trusty BBC Good Food Guide recipe which the kind @caroljs had pointed out to me and adapted it accordingly.

  • butter for greasing
  • chocolate spread (I used chocolate Philadelphia)
  • 4-6 Hot Cross Buns, sliced into quarters
  • 50g/2oz chocolate drops/chunks/bashed-up Easter egg
  • 2 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 250ml whole milk
  • 150ml single cream
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 25g granulated sugar
  • 3tbsp of chocolate powder
  1. Grease a 1 litre/2 pint pie dish with butter.
  2. Cut the Hot Cross Buns into quarters. Spread each slice with on one side with chocolate spread.
  3. Arrange a layer of buns, buttered-side up, in the bottom of the dish, then add a layer of chocolate broken bits. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon, then repeat the layers of bread and chocolate, sprinkling with cinnamon, until you have used up all of the buns.
  4. Gently warm the milk and cream in a pan over a low heat to scalding point, but not boiling and bubbling point. Whisk in the chocolate powder.
  5. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add three quarters of the sugar and lightly whisk until pale.
  6. Add the warm milk and cream mixture and stir well, then strain the custard into a bowl.
  7. Pour the custard over the prepared bread layers and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
  8. Preheat the oven to 180C/355F/Gas 4.
  9. Place the dish into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the custard has set and the top is golden-brown.
  10. Serve warm with a dollop of dairy ice-cream or clotted cream.

Easter pudding

How To Use Camera+: Photo Editing App

by 5 Comments

One of my Photography Resolutions this year was to learn how to use apps on mobile devices, i.e. my phone and the iPod Touch. I found out about Instagram and pretty much fell in love with it pretty quickly. But the one thing I don't love about Instagram is the limited filters and editing options.

One of the fabulous bloggers taking part in #Project366 is HPMcQ and she does some pretty fabulous things with her photos. I especially love this photo of hers, and she was kind enough to share her favourite photo editing app with me. It's called Camera+ and I love it.

I thought I'd share with you one way I've used it recently:

I ended up tranforming a below-average photo into something a lot more attractive with a few easy steps.

Still hate the camera on the iPod Touch though, which is why I take photos on my camera, e-mail them across and then edit them that way.

I bought this app and therefore I wasn't asked to blog about it, I wanted to show you how cool it is. Oh and if you fancy voting for me in the BritMums Snap Award, press the button below. Thanks!

Snap Shortlist

Meal Planning Monday #6

by 7 Comments

I'm slacking off, I abandoned the stir-fry last week (because I realised fajitas and Chinese combined with that were too similar), and we had Pizza Hut instead. But I figure that for the most part I'm sticking to the plan, and I'm wasting less food and saving money so that's always a good thing. Our diet is more nutritious and balanced, and we're getting great use out of the slow cooker.

With the weather improving somewhat, the mood of our meals has lightened to take account of that; a few more Spring like meals on the menu this week. Plus I've been sent some Rachel's Organic yoghurts to try out some of their recipes, so I've planned a few meals based on that.

  • Sunday: Spring Sausage Stew (done in the slow cooker) and Fruit Cobbler
  • Monday: Fajitas (wraps that need using up from the end of last week)
  • Tuesday: Halloumi Salad with Herby Yoghurt Dressing
  • Wednesday: Pizza Hut pizza and chips (when Mr. TBaM went and bought pizza last week on our cop-out night, they had 2 for 1, so he came home with a spare one which we froze)
  • Thursday: Dauphinoise potatoes, blue cheese and leek tartlets (based on this recipe)
  • Friday: Lasagne (leftovers from the freezer, either with quorn or butternut squash and spinach)
  • Saturday: Chinese (I made deep fried tofu last week and it was gorgeous).

Next week, I think I'm going to have to do some batch-cooking on the Monday and Tuesday for the forthcoming weeks.  With the new term starting, I'm bound to be exhausted at first.

—

I'm linking this up to Meal Planning Monday at Mrs. M's

Slow Cooker Sunday: Fruit Cobbler (Dessert)

by 9 Comments

Now I know I've already posted one Slow Cooker Sunday recipe today, and I also know that I've also posted this recipe several months ago, but this is the first time I've tried doing the fruit (in fact any dessert) in the slow cooker. Plus it's my blog and I want to post it again, so there you go. I've used the slow cooker for the first part of the recipe as I have no idea if the cobbler bit would cook in it, another time I'll test that out.

Fruit Cobbler

Ingredients:
Serves 4-6

  • 800g of mixed fruit, I went for apples, plums, pears and nectarines
  • 160g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 300g self raising flour, sifted
  • 85g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 150g Rachel’s Low Fat Natural Bio Live Yogurt

Method:

  1. In the slow cooker take the fruit, 100g of the caster sugar and add the water, cook until the fruit softens. Tip: leave the fruit to cool before adding the cobbler pieces this will stop some of the fruit bubbling out over the dish.
  2. To make the cobbler, add the sifted flour, butter, baking powder and the remainder of the sugar (60g) and using a food processor or mixer whiz together for a few seconds on pulse speed until fine crumbs form.
  3. Add the milk and yogurt and whiz again until a soft dough forms . You can either spoon the mixture in scattered clumps over the fruit or add a little more flour and roll out the dough using a cutter. Leave some gaps for the cobble effect.
  4. Bake the cobbler for 30-35 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit is visibly bubbling beneath.
  5. Serve with vanilla ice-cream, custard or clotted cream.

—

Pop yourself over to Slow Cooker Sunday on Mediocre Mum to see other entries

Slow Cooker Sunday: Spring Sausage Stew (Vegetarian)

by 6 Comments

I am not an expert at slow cookers, but I'm getting there. About six months ago, the enthusiasm of The Moiderer (who is a big fan of them) made me go and buy one; a good brand that was reduced to clear. I tried a vegetable stew in it. After seven hours of cooking on high, I had to transfer everything over to a saucepan and blast it for 30 minutes as the vegetables were still basically raw. I returned the slow cooker to the store, brandishing raw carrots and threatening the manager with it if I didn't have my money back. Luckily, he relented in the face of root vegetables and I gave up on them, declaring slow cookers stupid.

That was until I was recently sent on to review. My husband and mum, both had been subjected to the non-slow-cooked vegetable stew, wondered if I was off my trolley but I gave it a go as it was for review. I am a convert! This is mainly due to the fact that I now have a slow cooker which actually cooks the food, it's kind of a plus point. The first thing I cooked in it was gammon (bah!) for my dad and husband, it was a true success. Since then I've also cooked chicken, beef and risotto in it, not at the same time I hasten to add. I adore it and am very enthusiastic about it.

The rather fabulous Mediocre Mum is a bit of an expert when it comes to slow cookers, and she has a plethora of recipes on her blog which I am in awe at. She has realised that there is a bit of a fanbase for them and is therefore starting up a weekly linky for slow cooker recipes which I am joining in with, as eagerly as possible.

Spring Sausage Stew

This recipe has come about because I also take part in Meal Planning Monday and last week everyone seemed to have sausage stew on their planner. I thought I'd give it a go this week, I don't like to miss out on things!

  • six mushrooms
  • one leek
  • one courgette
  • three carrots
  • four vegetarian sausages
  • a big chunk of butter
  • stock cube
  • 200g of Rachel's Organic Greek-Style Natural yoghurt (obviously there are other brands available but I'm trialling this for cooking with)
  • two tablespoons of parmesan cheese
  1. Chop the leek, courgette and mushrooms and place them with the butter and stock cube in the slow cooker pot directly on the gas (our slow cooker allows this, some don't). Sweat them down 'til the leek is translucent.
  2. Chop the carrots and sausages into chunks, add to the pot with 30ml of water and transfer the pot to the slow cooker base. Cook for two hours on high (or three on medium).
  3. Spoon in 200 g of natural yoghurt and two tablespoons of parmesan cheese, and leave to cook through for another thirty minutes on medium.
  4. Serve with herby potatoes (I bought a pack of these from Aldi the other day; 99p and three minutes in the microwave = perfect!)

—

I'm linking this up to Slow Cooker Sunday at Mediocre Mum and to the recipe bank at The Moiderer

The Gallery: Easter

by 9 Comments

It's been a few weeks since I've entered Tara's Gallery, unintentional but life has a habit of passing you by sometimes, to use the wise words of Mr. Bueller. However, when I saw that this week's theme was Easter, I couldn't very well ignore it much longer.

We went away for the weekend and so I needed to make sure that we had everything ready so that the Easter Bunny could find us and leave the necessary confectionary for The Boy. After a fraught Friday morning packing up various bits and pieces, we popped down to our local country park for my toddler group's Easter Egg hunt. The weather was perfect for wandering through the woodlands, finding shiny red eggs and avoiding bunny poop, and it refreshed us wonderfully for the drive down to west Wales.

The weekend saw us searching for numbers, as well as Easter chicks on a treasure hunt through the woodland. We went swimming in one of the best waterparks I've seen in a while, even if The Boy was 10cm too short for the waterslides. The Easter Bunny managed to find us, and then have a cuddle with Oliver Monkey in The Boy's bed. We discovered that The Boy had a penchant for vintage motorcars, saw pigs and newborn lambs, dug for buried treasure and ate more chocolate. And then we thanked the Lord for Charley Bear and Jaffa cakes when we got stuck in traffic in the pouring rain on the M4.

[slickr-flickr tag='Easter2012']

All in all, a fairly decent Easter weekend.

—

For more Easter weekends, click on the widgets below:

Sponsored Video: Baking With Rice Krispies

by Leave a Comment

One of the activities that The Boy and I like doing the most is cooking. A few months ago we were sent a box of one of the best cereals on this planet: Rice Krispies.

Mr. TheBoyandMe was incredibly amused when he found out we'd been sent a box of the snap, crackle and pop stuff, but he was of course more than happy to chow down on the delictable puffs of rice and what we did with them.

Snow Mountain Krispie Cakes

We mixed them together with golden syrup, white chocolate and melted marshmallows, then sprayed them with silver spray and finally drizzled melted white chocolate all over. Absolutely scrummilicious!

And they were gorgeous!

Now, did you know that the cereal that's been providing countless children and adults with a cheerful breakfast since 1928 is getting a little makeover? As with most other Kellogg's cereals vitamin D is being added to them. I can hear two questions whirring through your brains right at this point in time: 'why?' and 'surely we get that from sunlight?'

Vitamin D can be derived in our bodies from sunlight. However, as we all know, children aren't playing outside in the sunlight as much as they used to, and of course when they do they slather on the sunscreen to protect themselves from skin cancer. And without vitamin D? Well that would be why there has been an increase in Rickets. It's a little bit of a catch 22 situation isn't it?

Rickets. That disease that we all thought had died out in the 1930s, is on the increase again due to deficiencies in vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency impairs the absorption of dietary calcium and phosphorus, which increase the chance of bone deformities in children, and bone pain and tenderness as a result of osteomalacia in adults. And that is why, by the end of 2012, the marvellous folk at Kellogg's are adding vitamin D to most of their cereals, particularly those aimed at children.

As we come up to the warmer (ha!) months with (theoretically) more sunshine, we need to be more aware of the need to ensure we are keeping ourselves safe from the harmful sun rays and getting enough vitamin D. As we are pale and pasty in this household, and burn too easily, I'm going to be supplementing our diets to ensure we're getting enough of this important vitamin throughout the year. The most fun way for us?

Baking with Rice Krispies and I'm going to be adapting some of these recipes:

This is a sponsored post.

Holiday Activities

by 1 Comment

I had such high hopes for this Easter holidays; we were going to play in the garden, plant seeds, garden, water and sand play, walk to the beach through the parks and generally enjoy the glorious sunshine that has been typical during April for the past few years.

And it's raining. A lot.

I don't know why I'm so surprised, the well known term is April showers after all. Sat on the M4 for several hours more than was necessary on bank holiday Monday, with the windscreen wipers on full and the demister creating a mini-sauna, I started to come up with some ideas for the next week and a half.

  • Indoor dens: I've waited a long time for The Boy to be old enough to appreciate a good solid den. I used to make them with the dining table, chairs in a long line for crawling through as a tunnel, create another tent between the sofa and the radiator and I'd be set 'til tea-time when the family of six suddenly needed to eat. Damn rude that they needed the table cloth and chairs I think. Unfortunately our dining table has cross over legs at the base (Swedish designers didn't think that one through!) and so I might have to rig up something using a clothes horse and the piano.
  • Craft: We're still working our way through the bargains that I bought in the Baker Ross Christmas sale, and the main things we have left are human body sponges for painting. Mix and match arms, legs, heads and bodies, plus facial features. I think I might tape down a big roll of paper on the kitchen floor and The Boy can go mad with some paint.
  • Soft-play: When hell freezes over. Forget it until April 23rd.
  • Taking the children to the cinema: Yes I have one child, I know this. However, this happens every holiday when my mum ends up looking after my niece and nephew too, she gets a little tired and I usually step forward to help out in some way. After all three children and two adults is far more friendly than the alternative. I reckon The Boy could sit through an animated movie, especially if we picked one of those screenings that was family friendly (not so dark, chatter allowed, etc).
  • Doing a rain-dance: We might just don wellies and raincoats and go splashing in puddles. Because at the end of the day, when you have a two year old, you can let your inner child out every so often!

What activities are you up to this holiday?

Meal Planning Monday #5

by 13 Comments

I only had one blip last week, on Thursday evening after a long day at work at the end of a long half-term I sent Mr. TBaM to the chippy, my heart was not in making something from scratch!

This week's meal planner is obviously reduced due to the Easter weekend.

  • Sunday: free for Easter festivities.
  • Monday: travelling back from west Wales so I'll be needing something easy.
  • Tuesday: fajitas, an easy way to get the veggies in to our diet. It can be a healthy option if I don't cover everything in dips and cheese!
  • Wednesday: vegetable and cheese pasties, and salad. When I was off on maternity leave, I made pasties all the time, they were such a frugal and relatively healthy (low-fat butter and thin pastry) option for dinner. I'm trying to pinch the pennies for various reasons and need to make a big batch of these.
  • Thursday: vegetable stirfry. Can you try I'm trying to get more veggies into our diet?
  • Friday: pasta and salad.
  • Saturday: Chinese. I made a batch of deep-fried tofu the other week and it lasted for a few meals. I'll be making some more. I've just learnt some nonsense that crispy seaweed is not seaweed? I refuse to believe it, I felt I was getting in touch with my Welsh side and appreciating laverbread.

I need to use the next fortnight off work to batch cook some meals for the freezer, money-saving and far healthier.

—

I'm linking this up to Meal Planning Monday at Mrs. M's

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...