Am I a Morrisons Mum?

I was chuffed recently to be asked to try Morrisons this May Day weekend, by the BritMums team. I set off, armed with my vouchers ready to do our bank holiday weekend shop. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I managed to get for £80 - but was unable to photograph it as my camera phoned seemed to be broken - catastrophe! Turns out I had it on a wrong setting, but not until after my shop & first meal had been demolished. I came home with 8 bags of shopping - wowee! I got a great variety of fruit & veg, including pineapples (which was part of their 3 fruit/veg for £1.50 deal), avocados, celeriac (my fave vegetable! search for recipes in the search bar of the blog) amongst many others. Another 2 bags contained our meat, the best bargain was 2 packs of mince for £3.50. My kids all love a plate of mince & tatties!

The first meal I prepared was after a nice long walk we had along the clifftops near our home. Friends of ours have recently got a new dog, so we had a lovely afternoon playing in the park & a long walk home. Everyone was tired, so the kids lounged in front of the TV while I put a quick tea together - pizza pinwheels, sweet potato wedges & sweetcorn. This fed 3 children, including a strapping teenager, at a cost of around £3 for the meal.

Pizza Pinwheels (prices are for Morrisons stores) £1 per person

1 sheet ready to use puff pastry £1
Half a jar of chunky veg pizza topping 50p (Morrisons own, £1 per jar, the other half can be used for another meal)
Grated cheese 40p  (less than half a pack, £1 for the Market Place grated cheese pack)
1 large sweet potato 40p
1 tin sweetcorn & peppers 49p (Morrisons own)

Preheat the oven to 200c. Peel & chop the sweet potato into wedges, toss in olive oil & arrange on a baking tray. Pop into the oven for 25 minutes. Next, roll out the puff pastry and spread half a jar of  pizza sauce over the pastry. Sprinkle all over with cheese. Carefully, roll the pastry up, like a swiss roll! Cut carefully into 1 inch thick slices, and place onto a lightly oiled baking tray. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes, then remove & allow to cool slightly. These are yummy warm or cold. Serve with the sweetcorn & sweet potato wedges.

We finished this off with some cooling Limeade floats! 50p for a 2 litre bottle of limeade, and 80p for a large tub of vanilla ice cream = a lot of floats. The kids enjoyed these very much.

So far, I am very impressed with my Morrisons shop. More recipes to come in the next few days with more of the lovely ingredients I was able to buy.

Cheesey bacon potato bake

This recipe came about on one of those days where you need to go shopping, but haven't been yet! I am quite busy with college these days, and it's hard fitting it all in. This was surprisingly tasty, and went down a treat with husband & kids alike. It really does need some veg on the side, as it is quite rich on its own. If you are feeling decadent, you can add a swish of white wine to the cream & garlic mix!

Serves 4

4 large baking potatoes (or equivalent in small potatoes) cut into half cm thick slices
4 rashers of bacon, diced
1 large onion, cut into thin slices
2 garlic cloves, crushed
300 ml double cream
250g grated cheese
Steamed veg, to serve

Heat the oven to 180c. Mix the crushed garlic with the cream and set aside. Fry the bacon on onion over a medium/low heat, until the bacon is cooked & the onion soft. Layer the potato slices in a large oven proof dish, and add the bacon/onion. Pour over the cream mixture, then scatter the grated cheese on top. Pop in the oven for 45 minutes, then serve with steamed vegetables.

Chocolate Caramel Muffins

It's a wet miserable day up here in Scotland (typical of the summer holidays!) so deiced to do some baking with the kids. My daughter picked this delicious summer recipe from the bakingmad website. It was a really easy recipe to follow, my 11 year old daughter did most of it herself. They also tasted amazing! I will make these again, for picnics or packed lunch boxes. It would be easy to swap the chocolate caramel drops for other ingredients too.

Makes 10 large muffins

110g butter or marg, softened
100g golden caster sugar
150 ml milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
100g pack of chocolate caramel drops (silver spoon brand)

Preheat your oven to 180c. Line a muffin tray with muffin cases.

Cream the sugar & butter together. Add the eggs, mix again. Add the milk a drop at a time & combine. Add the flour & baking powder & mix again. Gently stir through the chocolate drops & then add a large dollop of mixture to each muffin case.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until firm to the touch & golden in colour.

Eggs in Clouds

This is a really fun & cute idea for cooking eggs that kids will love! It is almost like a savoury breakfast meringue. You can chuck in all sorts to flavour it - spring onion, cooked chorizo, grated cheese, etc. In this version I just use some parmesan and served them with bacon & mushrooms for a hearty brunch. Use an electric hand whisk, if you have one, to save time. Beat the eggs until white & fluffy.

Allow 1 or 2 eggs per person.

Eggs
Parmesan (or any other ingredient you would like to add, such as spring onion, grated cheese etc)
Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 200c.

Start by carefully separating the egg whites & yolks. Keep the yolks intact! Whisk the egg whites until they are thick, white & fluffy. Add a teaspoon of permesan per egg and carefully fold in into the mixture. Season & spoon onto a baking sheet. Divide the mixture into equal parts totalling the amount of eggs you used. Make a small well in the top of each mound, and carefully add back the yolk. Place into the oven on the middle shelf for 5 minutes. If you like runnier yolk, cook the whites for 3 minutes before adding the yolks & returning to the oven.

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.

Egg & Bacon cups

These delicious little things are what my children and I shared for Mothers day brunch! So simple to make, and lovely to eat. I will need to make more next time, these disappeared too quickly. Be careful not to over-mix your eggs when whisking, be gentle. You could add any extras you fancy, such as mushrooms or cherry tomatoes. I have many ideas for some tasty variations.

Makes 6 cups

6 rashers of streaky bacon
6 eggs
Handful of grated cheese
Salt & pepper to season

Preheat the oven to 200c.
Line a muffin tray with a piece of bacon in each cup. Gently mix the eggs with the cheese, and season to taste. Pour the mixture equally between the 6 bacon cups. Pop into the oven for around 20/25 minutes, until all the egg mixture is cooked. Serve with toast & a dollop of ketchup!

Red Nose Day Cookies - Cheese & Tomato!

Red Nose Day is 25 years old this year! In celebration of that, Sainsburys Family Bloggers network challenged me to make a Red Nose Day cookie. As I have given up sugar for lent (go me!), I decided to make a more interesting savoury cookie, using tomatoes for red noses. They turned out looking great and tasting amazing! They are so easy for kids to make too, my 4 year old had great fun helping me mix & flatten the cookies. He also devoured 2 for his lunch, with a big glass of milk. Yum!

Ingredients -

75g plain flour
Pinch of paprika or chives
20g soft butter
20g grated mature cheddar
1 spring onion, chopped
2 tablespoon passatta
3 cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat the oven to 190c. Rub the flour, herbs or spices and butter together in a bowl, until all combined. Add the cheese, chopped onion & the passatta and mix until you have a dough like consistency. Add a drop more passatta if it is too dry. Shape into 6 equal sized balls, then flatten on greaseproof paper on a baking sheet. Place a slice of cherry tomato on top & gently squeeze in.
Pop in the oven for 15 minutes. remove & allow to cool & harden.

Scotch Pancakes

It was Pancake day a few days ago, so of course we made pancakes! My 4 year old son helped me to make these, and asked for golden syrup ones. These were so easy to whip up, and the Wee Man had a lot of fun mixing the batter. The trick is to use a dry but hot (not too hot though!) frying pan. Spoon the batter into the pan, then flip when lots of bubbles appear in the batter.

½ teaspoon white wine vinegar 
150 ml milk 
110 g Plain flour 
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 
1 medium egg 
1 tablespoon Vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon Golden syrup

 Mix the oil, milk, vinegar and golden syrup in a bowl. Add the egg & mix. Tip in the flour & bicarb. soda and combine thoroughly. Its ok if very small lumps remain.

Heat a large frying pan, and spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into the pan. Repeat 3 more times until you have 4 pancakes in the pan. Flip over when bubbles appear on top. Cook for another minute on the other side then remove to a warm plate. repeat until there is no remaining batter.

Can be eaten warm or cold.

Kids Can Cook - Sticky Chicken Noodles

Tonight it was the turn of my 10 year old daughter to cook tea for her & her sister & brother. I thought a simple stir-fry would be a good start, so she could learn some knife skills and to help her balance flavours when making the sauce. She did really well, with minimal input from me. Dinner was eaten in record time, so I think it was a huge success! This is a good recipe for a beginner, as it has just a few simple ingredients and its hard to get it wrong. It's also great for a quick lunch if you are stuck for ideas. You could use any veg, we talked about how next time we would maybe add mushrooms and baby corn to the stir-fry.

Serves 3 children

2 chicken breasts, diced
Half a red pepper, chopped into bite size pieces
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Pinch Chinese 5-spice
200g egg noodles (cooked by an adult if you are a beginner)

Olive oil to fry

Heat up the olive oil in a large wok or frying pan on a medium heat. Stir fry the onions & peppers until they are soft. Add the chicken & stir fry until it is all golden in colour. Put your egg noodles on to boil for 3 minutes (or get an adult to help). Drain & put aside. Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil. honey & Chinese 5-spice in a small bowl, and mix it up with a spoon until it is all combined. Pour over your chicken stir fry and toss everything in the sauce. Add the drained noodles, and toss again. Serve quickly to warm bowls & serve.

Kids Can Cook - Mince & Dumplings

My 12 year old daughter has always shown an interest in cooking (just like her mum), but I feel she is now old enough to start to use cookbooks & prepare a proper meal for the family. I bought this great wee cookbook for her, called Maw Broons Cooking For Bairns. As anyone Scottish person would know, The Broons are a cartoon family who are typically Scottish. I love getting my Broons book every Christmas! There have been a few cookery books released, and this one caught my eye. What better way for my daughter to cook than to learn the old-fashioned Scots way!

The meal she decided on was mince & doughballs (dumplings). It had just a few ingredients, and just one pot (minimal mess, I was thinking). She managed very well, and produced a meal for herself & her siblings - who all enjoyed it. I will definitely be letting her loose in the kitchen more often!

500g beef mince
2 carrots, diced
2 onions diced
Salt & pepper to season
500ml beef stock
2 tablespoons oil

150g self raising flour
50g suet
salt & pepper
3.5 tablespoons water

Heat up a large saucepan with the 2 tablespoons of oil on a medium heat. Fry the onion for about 7 minutes, until soft & golden. Add the mince, and stir in with the onions. Cook until all the mince has browned. Add the carrots & stock and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.

To make the dumplings, mix the suet, flour & water with your hands and make into 8 balls. Add to the top of the mince after you have added he stock.

Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

These look a bit messy, but taste fantastic! I know where I went wrong, I am an impatient baker & I didn't allow the caramel to cool slightly before topping the cakes. I then made the same mistake with the chocolate! Luckily this does not impact on the taste at all. The kids called these "Twix cupcakes" as the topping resembled the top layers of a Twix bar. This is the first time I have made caramel, so it wasn't bad for a first attempt. Kids can help with the cupcakes & chocolate, but it would need an adult to make the caramel as it gets very hot.


Cake mixture -

125g butter (softened)
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
150g self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons orange juice

Topping -

125g caster sugar
50ml water
100ml double cream
40g butter
100g dark chocolate


Preheat the oven to 180c. Get a 12 hole cake tray ready with 12 cupcake cases.
Cream the butter & sugar together in a bowl then drop in the eggs & beat. Add the flour & cocoa powder then mix until combined. Tip in the juice & mix thoroughly.
Spoon the mixture into the 12 cake cases then put into your oven for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Tip the sugar  into a heavy bottomed pan and add the water. Allow to simmer until it turns golden, them remove from the heat. Add the cream & mix until combined and has stopped bubbling, then return to the heat for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat completely, allow to cool slightly then add the butter & mix through. Allow to cool some more before topping the cakes.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a simmering pan of water. Stir until smooth. Allow to cool slightly before adding a dollop to the top of each cake.

Cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Peanut Butter Squares

Another Lorraine Pascale treat! I was sad to see the end of her TV show last night, I have really enjoyed it. She makes cooking seem so easy & effortless. Last night we saw her make these peanut butter squares, which looked amazing! The Wee man had a friend round this afternoon, so thought we would get stuck in & make these. They are very tasty, if a little sweet for my taste. The kids wolfed them down though! These would be nice to share at a coffee morning or school bake sale.

150g butter
200g dark or milk chocolate,(I used a mix of both)
250g digestive biscuits
200g light brown sugar
300g peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line a deep baking tray with greaseproof paper, allowing some overhang to make it easy to remove later.

Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat. Crush/whizz up the digestive biscuits until you have fine crumbs. Add the sugar. Melt the chocolate in either a banne marie or in the microwave. Mix the melted butter to the digestive/sugar mix, then add the vanilla extract. Mix in the peanut butter and then spoon into your baking tray. Smooth over and then pour the melted chocolate over the top. Allow to set in the fridge for at least an hour. remove & chop into squares.

Bramley Apple Puffs

Again, another idea pinched from Lorraine Pascale! These are small, delicious apple puff pastry pies with a lovely cinnamon flavour. It was soup & pudding night in our house, and had French onion soup to start, but I needed a simple & easy pudding. These are made with shop-bought apple sauce, but you can make your own if you like. I also used ready rolled puff pastry for extra time saving. You can serve them with custard, whipped cream or ice cream.

Makes 8 pies

800g Bramley apple sauce (I used Tescos own, it was perfect)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger

500g puff pastry
Brown sugar or icing sugar to dust
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Add the lemon zest, cinnamon and ginger to the apple sauce and mix thoroughly. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface, and roll it quite thin.  Cut into quarters, then each of the quarters into halves so that you have 8 rectangular pieces. Brush beaten egg round the edges.Divide the apple mixture between all 8 squares, dolloping it on just one half of the pastry. Fold the pastry over the sauce, and crimp the edges with your fingers. Brush the top with the beaten egg, sprinkle with brown sugar and pop ont a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Cook for 25 minutes, until all golden & puffed up.

M&M's Cake

I offered to make a cake for my friends son. I warned her that it wouldn't be anything fancy, but that this M&Ms cake was perfect. It was easy to make & decorate, and I really hope he enjoys it!

I made a victoria sponge using this recipe here at Good Food. I then coated all of it in buttercream, arranged chocolate finger biscuits arounf the outside, pressed into teh butter cream and topped with a large bag of M&M's. Voila, easy peasy birthday cake!

Gingerbread Pancakes

Surprise surprise, another Lorraine Pascal recipe from the TV show Fast, Fresh & Easy food! I am loving her recipes just now, they all taste fabulous. This was no exception! I drizzled mine in maple syrup, though Lorraine adds crisp parma ham to hers too. The recipes makes loads, you can feed at least 5 people with them. I will probably halve the recipe next time, as there will definitely be a next time very soon!

225g/8oz self-raising flour

3 tbsp soft light brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

pinch salt

couple of drops of vanilla extract (optional)

300ml/½ pint semi-skimmed milk

1 medium egg

4 tbsp sunflower oil

 Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt into a large bowl, give them a quick mix and make a well in the centre. Add the vanilla extract.Then gradually pour the milk in bit by bit, stirring all the time to give a smooth mixture. Then beat the egg in well and set aside. 

 Heat the oil in a frying pan, on a medium heat. Then spoon in four dollops of the pancake mix (to spread to about 10cm/3¼in wide). Leave to cook for about 1-2 minutes until golden, then flip them over and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Slide them onto a baking tray and put in the oven to keep warm. 

To serve, drizzle with maple syrup.

Tuna Melt Baguette Pizzas

A very quick & easy lunch for the whole family. I had a very busy day, with BT coming out & rewiring our phone line! That meant I couldn't spend the afternoon in the kitchen as I had planned. A quick meal was needed, so this was perfect. The kids can muck in & help too. Change the toppings to your own favourites if you like.

Serves 4

1 long baguette (or 2 small ones)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
Small tin of sweetcorn
Tin of tuna
Half a red pepper, diced small
150g cheese (i used mozzarella but any will do)

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Cut a long baguette in to 2 halves. Cut each of those lengthways, so you have 4 open baguettes.  Spread the tomato puree on each open slice, spreading to the edges. Mix the tuna, sweetcorn, pepper and half the cheese in a bowl then divide between the baguette slices. Top with the remaining cheese.
Pop into the oven for 12 minutes, then serve with a side salad.

Tuna Fried Rice

The kids had some friends over for dinner, so I wanted something easy, cheap and tasty to feed them all. The good thing about this recipe is that it is made from storecupboard & freezer items. Its a great stand-by meal for children. Make sure to completely cool the rice before frying it, otherwise it will clump and go gooey! If I have just cooked the rice, I rinse it in a sieve under cold water then let it dry. Serves 4.

250g  rice
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Large handful frozen peas, thawed
Large handful sweetcorn
200g tin tuna in brine drained
2 ripe tomato, deseeded and cut into thin wedges
2 tbsp soy sauce
A small handful roughly chopped parsley

Cook the rice according to packet instructions, cool completely and then set aside.Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok and stir-fry the rice on a high heat for 1-2 mins. Add the peas, sweetcorn, tuna and tomato and stir-fry for a further 2 mins. Stir in the soy sauce and parsley and heat through. Serve in bowls.

Tuna Pasta Bake

One of the classics that my kids love! This is my store-cupboard meal than I can always rely on. Simple, quick & tasty - perfect for the kids tea on a busy evening! I served it with a green salad. Clean bowls all round!

Serves 4

400g pasta
Tablespoon cornflour
600ml milk
200g strong cheddar , grated plus an extra handful to scatter on top
2 x 160g cans tuna drained
Large handful frozen sweetcorn
Large handful frozen peas

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Boil the pasta, but remove from the heat 2 minutes before the cooking time and drain.

In a saucepan, warm the milk & season. Mix the cheese with the cornflour & mix to coat. Add to the warming milk a bit at a time, letting it melt before adding more.

Pour the drained pasta into a baking dish. Add the tuna and then the sweetcorn & peas.  Pour over the sauce, and mix. Scatter the extra cheese on top before putting into the oven for about 15 minutes.

Smoked Sausage Stroganoff

A friend shared a recipe with me for a dish called "Fancy Hotdogs". I didn't have any hotdogs in, but I did have a smoked sausage in, which I thought would add more flavour anyway. I also added mushrooms for extra flavour (and because I love mushrooms!). The recipe suggests you serve it with pasta, but we ate it as it was. Quite tasty, considering it was made with store cupboard items!

Serves 1 adult, 2 children

1 smoked sausage ring, sliced 1 cm thick
1 onion, chopped
10 button mushrooms, sliced
Oil or butter for frying
150ml soured cream
Fresh parsley to garnish

Heat the oil/butter and fry the onion, mushrooms & sausage together until softened and golden. Add the soured cream and let simmer for 3 minutes. Add a little bit of water if it is too thick or not saucy enough. Serve with rice or pasta, and garnish with parsley.

Tuna balls with pea & sweetcorn pasta

This is a lovely yet simple kid's dinner! I like it especially as it uses mostly store cupboard items. All my children love tuna, and this was something a bit different using it. A nice change from fish fingers.

Serves 4 children

200g can tuna in oil
85g fresh breadcrumbs
50g cheddar , finely grated
1 large egg , lightly beaten
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
2 tbsp sunflower or olive oil , for frying
100g small pasta shapes
a handful of frozen peas& sweetcorn
2 tablespoons creme fraiche

To make the tuna balls, tip the tuna and its oil into a large bowl and stir in the breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Add the beaten egg and chives, then season with a pinch of salt and stir again until everything is well mixed.
 Form into 12 balls the size of ping-pong balls, then chill until you're ready to cook. 
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, dropping in the peas & sweetcorn for the last couple of minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and fry the balls for 8-10 minutes, turning often, until they're golden brown. Drain them on kitchen paper and keep warm. 
Drain the pasta, return to the pan and add the creme fraiche. Heat gently for a minute, stirring occasionally, until heated through.