Quick Chickpea Curry.

Or Chana Masala.
We all have those days when we want something really tasty, but we just can't be bothered, right? Now I love curry, but most of the time I really can't be bothered marinating the meat, then Mr Badger decides he wants raita, naan, chips, the works! This meal is so quick and easy it's usually nearly ready by the time he asks what we're having. If you wanted to you could make it really special and do the works with it, but for me I like to keep it simple and serve it with brown rice and a big dollop of greek yoghurt.

Ingredients:
400g tin of Chickpeas

400g Chopped tomatoes

Onions

Mushrooms

1Tbsp of Curry Power
1Tsp Coriander

1/2Tsp Cumin

1. Chop your onions and mushrooms into bitesize pieces, fry gently for 5 minutes or until they're soft.

2. Add a splash of water and add your spices, stir until your veg is coated.

3. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas and simmer for 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve with boiled rice and a big dollop of yoghurt, it really is that simple.
Enjoy x

Wholewheat Pitta Bread.

I've always fancied having a go at making some pitta breads but always thought it was going to be a bit of a faff. How wrong was I! These are so easy to make and ridiculously cheap, 22p for six! I will definitely be adding these to our regular menu as they are just so lovely and simple to make.

You'll need:
9oz Wholemeal Flour
7g Sachet of Dried Yeast
6floz Lukewarm Water

Method:
Mix the flour and yeast together in a bowl and make a well in the middle.
Add the water until it starts to form a dough (you may not need it all)
Kneed for 5-10 minutes and divide into 6 balls.
Roll out the balls to a thin pitta shape and place on an oiled baking tray. Remember your dough will rise so you need to roll it thinner than you think.
Pre heat oven too 250C/230Cfan/Gas 9
Leave in a warm place until the pittas have doubled in size.
Bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes or until they are just starting to colour.
Place them on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup.

I love soup, especially when it's cold, it's a great way to use up those odds and ends that are kicking about taking up space. Soup is so quick and easy and a great way of packing lots of different veg into one dish.


You'll need:
1 Butternut Squash
1 Sweet Potato
2 Med Carrots
3 Sticks Celery
1 Onion
1 Garlic Clove
2 Veg Stock Cubes
Ground Coriander, Black Pepper & Nutmeg to taste.
Serves 4. 40p per serving


Method:
Preheat the oven to 190C, cut the squash in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds, place skin side up on a baking tray and roast till the skin begins to shine and the flesh is soft. This makes the skin just peel off and roasting it adds flavour.

Finely chop the garlic, onion and celery and fry off gently in a large pan. Meanwhile peel the skin from the squash and chop into large chunks, peel and chop the sweet potato and carrots and add to the pan, cook for 5 minutes then add the squash.

Crumble the stock cubes onto the veg and pour over enough water to nearly cover, put on the lid and leave to simmer until everything is nice and soft.

Once everything is soft, turn off the heat and leave to cool slightly before blending, once blended stir in the spices to taste.

Serve with some crusty bread.

New Years Resolutions.

Happy New Year!

I've never really been one for new years resolutions, I kind of just go with the flow and don't give much thought ahead to the coming year, but now I'm a grown up with my own house and child, I don't think that would be the brightest idea to just wait and see.

#1. Plan ahead.
Especially meals, I started to meal plan at the end of last year when money was tight, I sat here, cupboards bare with £12 in my pocket, 3 mouths to feed and 2 weeks until pay day, I pulled everything out of the cupboard and listed everything I had, to my surprise I managed to make 16 separate dinners and was able to easily make my £12 stretch for lunches too, I won't lie we ate a lot of pasta that week, but we ate.

#2. Cut the crap.
Food wise, sometimes when you're skint it can be all to tempting to buy crap, over processed, packet mix, tinned everything, I cook mainly from scratch so we don't have many dinners that come out of a packet, but when it comes to chocolate, breads or refined carbs, we do eat a lot, which is something I'd like to get away from. So we'll be swapping regular pasta for wholewheat versions, baking our own breads, replacing regular treats with a small treat once in a while, cut down on refined sugars and try to completely cut out anything highly processed and eat much less meat.

#3. Move more.
I won't lie, I'm a lazy Badger, I'm a fan of staying in where it's snug and warm and like to save adventures for when it's nice and dry, so I'm going to buy myself a mac and some wellies and brave the storm whilst reducing my carbon footprint.

#4. Be a gentler person.
Sometimes in life I find myself being a little harsh or a little thoughtless, whether that be to others, the earth or even myself. I often catch myself after a using a harsh tone, throwing out something that could of been recycled, criticizing myself and think to myself  "why did I do that?" It doesn't take much just to me that little but more mindful.

So these are mine, now what are yours?

My Kid Won't Eat Vegetables!

Arrrgh, do you know the frustration when you've lovingly prepared a tasty and nutritious meal only for your toddler to turn up their nose and catapult it from their highchair?
Yep I do!
Baby Badger has always been great at eating anything you put in front of him, but ever since around 18 months vegetables are met with a fight, now there is some theory knocking about that when a babe reaches around 18 months their taste buds change causing them to taste the bitterness that we as adults don't taste, but that doesn't explain why Baby Badger will eat them if they're hidden. I will openly hold my hands up and say that the other night he had cheerios and fruit for dinner after he refused 3 different things because they had a smattering of green in them, so today I've been a sneaky sneaky badger and made a "Tomato" sauce, packed full of hidden veggies and vitamins. It went down a treat and he ate all his dinner without fuss, I do still offer veg at meal times as I'd like him to at least have the chance to eat them whole, but this is a great way to sneak some extra goodness into his diet.

This recipe makes A LOT, about 6-8 toddler portions but freezes really well.

Sneaky "Tomato" Sauce

I used;
tsp olive oil
1/2 a leek
2 ripe tomatoes
1 red onion
1/2 a red pepper
1/2 a small aubergine
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1/2 a tube of tomato purée
dried herbs and garlic to taste,
1 tbsp of sugar.

In hindsight the aubergine did make it quite bitter so next time I would omit the aubergine and go for something sweet like carrot using less sugar. Although I don't really like to use a lot of sugar when you realise how much this makes, divided into portions there isn't actually that much.


Step one
Chop up all the veg and fry them gently until soft.

 Step two
Add the tinned tomatoes, purée, garlic and herbs and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step Three
Whizz it until smooth and add sugar a bit at a time to taste.

Voila!!!

Serve with pasta and cheese for a quick and easy lunch, add it to mince, lentils, for a spaghetti bolognese or throw in some kidney beans and chilli to make a tasty con carne!