Caramelised Sprouts

I love my green veg, but was bored with just steamed or boiled brussel sprouts. This recipe brings out their amazing flavours and jazzes up a simple roast chicken dinner. I could eat these every day! The secret is the slow cooking of the sprouts.Fresh thyme is best, but you could use dried instead. Use the best quality stock and let it simmer right down into a sticky sauce.

Olive oil
Knob of butter
Sprig of fresh thyme, leaves chopped
2 shallots, finely diced
400g sprouts
150 ml chicken or veg stock

Heat up a frying pan to a medium heat and add the sprouts. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil & stir the sprouts until all coated. Let them cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When they are soft and starting to turn brown, add the shallots, thyme & butter. Stir through. When the shallots have softened, add the stock and allow to simmer gently. When the stock has reduced down to a sticky gravy, serve immediately.

Tuna Patties

I invented this recipe whilst thinking of ways to use up tins of tuna in my cupboard. These are full of protein, so perfect after a morning of Zumba! I love my Zumba classes, but I come out of them ravenous. I have 2 patties with some salad for lunch, and they are very filling. My kids love them too, which is a bonus. You could swap the tuna for tinned salmon, you could also add finely diced peppers or sweetcorn to the mix as well. Delicious hot or cold.

1 180g tin of tuna, drained very well
2 spring onions, chopped
40g grated cheese
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 beaten egg
Salt & pepper to season

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Form into 2 patties. Heat some olive oil in a frying pan to a medium heat. Add the patties, and leave for 6/7 minutes. Do not move the patties during this time! They need to form a crispy crust on the underside so that they keep their shape. Flip over and fry the other side for 5/6 minutes. They should be golden on both sides. Remove to a plate and serve.

Superhero Party!

As you may know, I love to throw themed parties! Last year I threw a Mad Hatters Tea Party for my girls birthday, which you can see here. I also love to throw great Halloween parties, and even had an 80s party for my own birthday which was a lot of fun. This year, my wee boy turned 5, so I wanted to host a great party for him & his friends. I started looking on Pinterest for ideas and asked on Mumsnet, where I got some great advice. . There are some amazingly talented people out there! We had a lot of fun, and I think my son will remember his Superhero party for a long time.

My sister made these fab biscuits as party favours.

 I made a set for the superheroes to play with and pose in front of. We had inflatables for them to play with too.

 The kids looked awesome in their outfits!

 My friend agreed to be my tattoo artist - we had great grape smelling tattoos for the kids!

 The amazing cake!

 We also had face painting.

 Batman & Robin dropped by, with a present for the birthday boy!

 The party food. I love the spotty plates!