Citrusy Mince Pies

Hello lovelies! Today is a beautiful, clear, cold December day here in Cheshire. I'm trying very hard to ignore the political debacle that has been raging in Westminster over the past 24 hours. Honestly, I'm so sick of hearing about Brexit and all that goes with it. I feel like fleeing to some tiny cottage in the Welsh hills that has very little contact with the outside world and is free from the irritating press, the over-zealous Christmas marketers and those jostling politicians 😄 . But seeing as though I cannot do that, I'll escape to my country kitchen instead and get lost in the heady scent of orange zest and citrusy mincemeat.

Once December rolls in, mince pie season is officially open. I bake at least a dozen mince pies a week. This year I decided to something a bit different with my pastry, I added some orange zest. Oh my goodness! This simple addition takes an ordinary mince pie and turns it into a luxury mince pie!

My kitchen smelled so Christmassy as I was zesting the orange, and don't you think that those beautiful golden flecks look so pretty? I know that you can buy mince pies for very little but after a taste test of sorts, my family agree that homemade, especially with this luxurious addition to my pastry, tops what can be bought in store. The added bonus is that homely feel that comes from freshly baking festive treats that drifts from the kitchen through the rest of the home.

I've created a recipe card for you to print off if you fancy giving this orange sweet shortcrust pastry a go. I've doubled my normal recipe which means that you should be able to get about 24 mince pies out of it. I usually only bake a dozen at a time to ensure that we always have fresh mince pies to nibble on. I wrap the excess dough in cling wrap and pop it into the fridge as needed. If you don't go through mince pies as quickly as we do then you can wrap the excess dough in cling wrap and pop it into the freezer instead. Just take it out to thaw a few hours before you want to bake up a batch of mince pies.

Of course, you could double the recipe and divide your dough into 4, wrap each ball individually and freeze. That way you can just whip out the dough, thaw, roll and get cracking with your mince pies rather than have to make dough every week. It's a great time-saver.

linking up with:

A Wise Woman
Raising Homemakers

Yield: 24 Mince PiesAuthor: Shirley-Ann Vels

Citrus Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

prep time: 15 minscook time: total time: 15 mins

ingredients:

• 450g flour
• 4ml salt
• 200g butter
• 50g castor sugar
• 3 extra-large egg yolks
• 60 ml water
• Zest from one orange

instructions:

1. Place the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into 1.5cm cubes and distribute evenly over the flour. 
2. Rub the fat lightly into the flour with your fingertips, lifting up the mixture while rubbing to keep as cool as possible. 
3. Add the sugar and orange zest and mix in well.
4. Beat the egg yolks together and mix in the cold water, then make a well in the centre of the flour and stir in the egg and water mixture with a knife to produce a soft dough.
5. Turn out the dough onto a floured board and knead gently until it is pliable and free from cracks. Roll out to the required thickness.
   * Halve the ingredients if you will just be needing a base for a pie.

   * It is usually baked at 180 degrees C

Handy Tip

1. I place all the ingredients in a food processor and using the blade fitting, pulse the dry ingredients and the butter together. I then add the water and run the food processor until all the ingredients are just combined. Makes for a quick, no-fuss pastry

Created using The Recipes Generator

Frugal Friday :: Cooking From Scratch

So I'm a day late in posting this post, my apologies for that. This week I started my new part-time job and on the same day, I had an interview for a voluntary role I hope to take on next year after my contract ends. More on that another time but needless to say I was a little preoccupied. Today I want to talk about cooking from scratch.

I grew up in a home where my mum cooked everything from scratch so it's the way I have done things in my own home. There is something quite satisfying about cooking and providing wholesome meals and delicious bakes for your family. 

Interestingly, I have found that a lot of people don't cook from scratch either because they don't know how or their lives are just so busy it's easier to by prepared meals. However, convenience food can prove to be costly both financially and possibly in the long term with regards to health.

By cooking from scratch I know exactly what is in our food. It's not laden with sugars, salts or preservatives. 

I like to take advantage of food that is in season. I try to put aside some time each week to do a bit of batch cooking. I spend a few hours baking and cooking simple meals like soup for the freezer. That way there is always a quick lunch or supper option for busy days. Fakeaway if you like...making your own fakeaways saves money spent on fast foods. 

I try to make use of what may be considered waste. After a roast, I pop the bones, leftover vegetables, add some onions, celery, root vegetables and a handful of herbs from the garden into my crockpot. I cover the whole lot with water and set it on low for about 8 hours. This makes the perfect stock to use as a base for hearty soups.

Another thing I like to do is prepare crockpot meals in advance. I put all the ingredients I need for a meal in a freezer bag then pop them in the freezer. Easy to pull out the night before to thaw then into the crockpot to cook on the day. No fuss, all the prep is already done leaves you free to get on with other things whilst still providing your family with a hearty and healthy meal come dinner time.

This week I prepared 5 crockpot bags and it took me all of 45 minutes. We had Apricot Lamb Hot{crock}pot, Chicken Curry, Hearty Beef Stew, Chicken Fajitas and Cranberry Honey Roast Pork. 

Check out my Freezer Meal and Slow Cooked Goodness Pinterest Boards for loads of good ideas. 

I thought I would finish off this post with my favourite go-to pizza dough recipe. It makes enough dough to feed 5 or 6 people and we love making our own pizza over buying ready-made. We can be as creative as we want and each person can customise their own pizza according to taste. In our home, Friday nights are always burger and pizza nights. One week we do homemade burgers and the following week Homemade pizza. Needless to say, everyone looks forward to Friday dinners 😄

Homemade Pizza Dough

1.5 kg flour
1 sachet yeast (7g or 2 ¹/₄ teaspoons)
15ml sunflower oil
10ml salt
10ml sugar
Warm water

Tomato Base

Tomato Passata
Raw Garlic
Oregano
Herbs and Spices of choice - mix all together in a bowl

*Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Add warm water, enough to make a dough. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is shiny and elastic. Allow to rest a few hours or until double in size.
*If making individual pizza's portion out dough per person, roll out, prick dough base with a fork a couple of times and pre-bake in a 200 degree C oven for about 5 minutes. You want to cook the base just enough so that you don't end up with a raw base.
*Spread tomato sauce on your pizza base, add toppings of your choice, top with Mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven until cheese has melted and slightly golden.

Blessings to you all and may you have a lovely weekend. 

Monthly Meal Planning

I mentioned in my rather long multi-faceted planning post that I did my meal planning on a monthly basis. I also promised that I would be back with a detailed post on how and why I do this, so here it is.

I've been meal planning for years and it serves two purposes, the first being that it helps me keep to a budget. I know exactly what I need to buy in my grocery shop and therefore don't go putting things into my shopping trolly that are not needed.

Secondly, I know exactly what we are going to be eating each day, I don't have to think about it at 5 o'clock after a long day. I guess it saves on brain power and gives me peace of mind in this area. As mom's we are always thinking of what to feed our family so by meal planning I am cutting out a lot of needless thinking 😁.

I do my meal planning the day before my husband's salary get's paid into our account so that's usually around the 29th or 30th of each month. I'm going to lay out my planning process so here goes:

I use a calendar to plan out my monthly meals and this calendar hangs in my kitchen. The first thing I do is gather my calendar, favourite recipe books, recipes I've printed off in the past and I have my Pinterest board up with stacks of recipes that I have pinned and want to try out at some point.

I then fill out our 'regulars' for example, Fridays are homemade pizza or burger evenings. We alternate, one Friday it's burgers the next it's pizza. Every Sunday it's a roast dinner. So that's already 9 days out of 30 (in the case of September) planned for.

Next, I open my planner to the month @ a glance and see if there is anything I need to be aware of. This month we have friends coming over for dinner a few times so using a brightly coloured pen so that it stands out I write that into my meal planning calendar. I, therefore, know that I need to sit down and plan out a menu for that evening.

Still using my planner I check to see which are our busy days and therefore require an easy crockpot meal. I take into account activities that might have us out of the house in the afternoon. We have some favourite crockpot meals which I have shared the recipes for in my Crockpot Chronicles series of posts if you are interested to see what sort of things I cook.

Once that's done I plug in some family favourites. I try to keep Saturdays as a pasta night because it is easy to throw together if we have been out enjoying the day. It's also one day in the week where I choose something easy and quick to reduce time spent in the kitchen. My 'day off' so to speak. 

That brings me up to needing to find 4 more meals. So far every meal except the roast dinners and pizza/burger nights have not been repeated. So we have a varied and exciting menu that no one should get tired of.

With only 4 more meals to plan for, I refer to my Pinterest board and find some new things to try. This month I'm going to try 'Low Syn Chicken Korma', 'Beef and Potato Pasties', 'Grilled Apple Cider, orange and thyme Glazed Pork Chops', and 'Meatball Bombs'. I mark all the recipes that I use from Pinterest with a 'P' on my calendar so I know where to find the recipes.

Finally, I use some of the other columns on my calendar to note down things I want to bake in the month, freezer meals I want to make so that I have something to pull out should the wheels fall off my day and a list of lunch options that I can draw on for those of us who are home during the day.

I then pin up my calendar onto the inside door of my grocery cupboard so that I can easily refer to it each day. It's as simple as that. That whole planning session took me about 30 to 45 minutes and is going to save me hours of 'wondering-what-to-cook' time. 

Last note on my meal planning. There is flexibility in this plan. I will swap and change meals from within the same week if, for example, a day has turned out to be a bit busier than expected and we need something quick and simple to cook. Because I shop weekly and my shopping lists are drawn up from my meal plan I know that I have all the ingredients for each meal that I have planned for that week so swapping out meals is no problem for me.

Wishing you every blessing today...

Joining in Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth for the Art of Homemaking Mondays Link-up

Homemade Bagels'

Bagels have recently become a firm favourite in our home. Everyone loves them for lunch and easily get through a few packets of them a week. So I decided that I would try my hand at making them myself - just for fun. 

For some reason I thought that they would be far more difficult to do than they actually were. The dough was easy - popped everything into my Kenwood and did the whole mixing, proving, mixing again process in it. 

Then I divided the dough into 12 equal portions, rolled them out into 'sausages' and pinched the ends together.

Next you pop them into rapidly boiling water for a few minutes which causes them to double in size.

Then into the oven for 20 minutes - so easy.

Best of all they tasted delicious and I have enough bagels to see my family through the week without having to pop to the store ;)

Crock-pot Chronicles ~ Chicken Curry

We do like a warming curry on a cold winters night! Today I am going to share another of my own 'throw-it-together' recipes. What I love about the crock pot is that you can pretty much take any recipe and add what you have on hand, it does not have to be precise to equal success.

These are the ingredients you will need for a chicken curry:

De-boned Chicken Thighs - enough for your family

1 can Coconut Milk

2 medium potatoes or 1 large potato

1 large onion

garlic

2 Tbls Flour

2 tsp mild curry powder

2 tsp Roasted Garam Masala (If you like a hotter curry add chillies)

1tsp ground ginger

1tsp cumin

1tsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp Tarragon

1/2 tsp Oregano

1/4 tsp garlic powder

pinch cayenne pepper

1 cup (250ml) chicken stock

1/2 tin chopped tomatoes

Fresh or frozen veg - remember, I always add veg to my crock pot meals

Method:

1. In the bottom of the crock pot mix the flour, curry powders, herbs, sugar and other seasonings.

2.  Brown your chicken thighs in a pan, I added my onion in as well just to soften it and add flavour to the chicken.

3. Add your chicken and onion to the crock pot and toss in the flour ensuring that it is well coated.

4. Add your potatoes and frozen veg.

5. Pour your chicken stock and your can of coconut cream and chopped tomatoes over the chicken and veg and mix until well combined.

6. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. If you need to thicken your curry mix a few teaspoons of cornflour with cold water and add to your curry. Allow to simmer to thicken.

Serve over yellow rice (rice cooked in water that has 1 tsp turmeric added to it) and poppadoms on the side.

Just a note here - we are not a family who loves hot curries, we like the flavour but not the burning heat. My version suites our tastes but if your tastes need a bit more 'flame' then add chillies 

Enjoy :)

Crock-pot Chronicles :: Beef Stroganoff

This has to be our all time favorite Crock-pot meal. When I am asked the usually daily question, 'Whats for supper mum?' and reply, 'Crock-pot Beef Stroganoff'. My answer is always met with an enthusiastic response.

Here's what you will need:

Ingredients

1 3/4 lbs boneless beef strips (I just use one package from Tesco)

1 Tbls Canola Oil

1/2 cup red wine OR beef broth

2 Tbls All-purpose flour

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp paprika (I used smoked paprika)

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried basil

1  can cream of mushroom soup

1 packet beef stroganoff mix (originally the recipe called for a packet of onion/mushroom soup mix but we can't get that in the UK)

125 g mushrooms - sliced

1/2 cup sour cream

Cooked pasta for the number people in your family (I use Tagliatelle but you could use egg noodles or any pasta you have in the grocery cupboard)

Method:

1. Brown the beef in oil over a medium-high heat for around 8 minutes. Add the wine or broth to the pan, stirring to loosen bits from the bottom of the pan.

2. Combine the flour and seasonings in the bottom of your crock-pot.

3. Place the browned beef strips and mixture from the pan on top the flour mix and toss until well coated

4. Add the mushroom soup, the stroganoff mix and stir until blended.

5. Add the mushrooms. Cover and cook on a high setting for 3 to 31/2 hours or on a low setting for 6 hours until the beef is tender.

5. Stir in the sour cream, cover and cook until thoroughly heated. Serve over noodles/pasta.

Now as you know from experience, the more you cook something the braver and more experimental you become. Here are my own personal top tips for this dish...

* Remember to always keep an eye on the cooking process towards the end of the time. I find that often, I need to add more liquid or give it a stir to prevent sticking and burning.

* I always add lots of vegetables to my dishes. So at the point when I am adding the mushrooms I will add baby corn, carrots and some peas perhaps. This way we get all the nutrients we need in one meal - the more colour you have on your plate the healthier the dish.

* I'm never to fussed about following the 'prescribed' recipe to a T. If I don't have a certain pasta and only have lets say macaroni or rice - then that is what I will use. I won't go out specially and buy it. Use what you have - it's frugal :)

* Don't leave out the sour cream - it really adds that extra something that the dish needs. I left it out once as I had forgotten to buy it and although it was still tasty is was not as good as it is when the sour cream has been added.

Enjoy :)

Crock-pot Chronicles ~ Beef Stew

I'm back with another addition to the Crock-pot Chronicles and this time it's a wholesome beef stew. I made this dish last night and it was delicious and got the all-round family stamp of approval :). What's more it is truly my own recipe because I just bunged what I had in the crock-pot and it worked out beautifully! 

So here's what you will need:

Ingredients:

500g / 1 pound beef cubes

Salt, Pepper, Lamb seasoning and a little flour (for coating the meat)

1 medium onion - chopped

2 medium potatoes - peeled and cut into cubes

3 large carrots - roughly chopped

peas (I use the frozen kind)

Corn (fresh if in season or canned will work too)

2 TBLS olive oil for browning the beef

1 Bay Leave

Sprig of fresh Thyme or 2 teaspoons dried Thyme

For the sauce:

2 cups beef stock

1 cup red wine

a dash of Worcestershire sauce (about a tablespoon)

1 TBLS tomato paste

2 TBLS chutney

Method:

1. Pat the beef cubes dry with some kitchen towel. Season with the salt, pepper and lamb seasoning. Roll and coat in the flour, shaking off the excess.

2. Brown the beef cubes in a pan, you don't have to cook it all the way through, just seal the meat.

3. Place all the other vegetables and the meat into the crock-pot.

4. Dissolve the beef stock-cube into 2 cups of boiling water. Add the chutney, tomato past and Worcestershire sauce to the mix. Pour this mixture and the wine over the beef and vegetables. Add your bay leaf and thyme. Give it a good stir and leave to cook on low for 6 - 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

5. If (like mine) your stew needs thickening, mix 3 heaped teaspoons of cornflour with a little cold water and a little cream (to avoid lumps in your cornflour mix add the liquid to the flour, not the other way round). Pour into the bubbling crock-pot and allow to thicken. The cream adds a little richness to this hearty dish. Serve over rice or couscous.

Have a lovely Thursday everyone - the weekend is nearly here! :)

Crock-pot Chronicles :: Spinach and Feta Lasagna

Crock-pot Chronicles Series:: Under An English Sky

I wanted to start this post by saying that winter is simply the BEST time to use your Crock-pot. But the truth is that I use my crock-pot all year round. There are so many reasons why I love using my crock-pot:

* it's an economical way to cook as they use less electricity

*it's a great way to make use of budget ingredients

*prep time is quick, and I spend less time over the stove than when I cook stove-top meals

*It's a low-fat way of cooking meals

*You can cook just about anything in a crock-pot

**Bonus - crock-pots are fairly cheap to buy!

So it's economical in both time and money and your health if you take in the low-fat factor :)

I love my crock-pot so much that I actually have two! It might seem ridiculous but hear me out. I have two different sizes, a small one for when I'm cooking for just my family of four, and a larger one if I'm cooking for guests too, or if I am cooking bulk batches of soup.

I thought I would put together a little series of posts over the next few weeks sharing my families favourite crock-pot meals - The Crock-pot Chronicles :) These recipes make it into my menu plan at least once a month. Today I'm sharing our favourite lasagna recipe of all time, and it happens to be vegetarian! Yip - this recipe tops any meaty lasagna I've tried.

Under An English Sky:: Ingredients for Spinach and Feta Crock-pot Lasagna

Spinach and Feta Crockpot Lasagna

Ingredients:

*2 jars tomato sauce (sometimes I buy pasta sauce, sometimes I combine passata and pasta sauce)

*No-boil lasagna noodle sheets

*1 container Ricotta Cheese

*1 packed crumbled feta cheese

*salt, pepper, oregano

*2 eggs lightly beaten

* half a teaspoon of garlic or 3 to 4 cloves chopped

*1 bag baby spinach leaves (today I used some baby spinach which I had in the fridge and topped it up with Cornish Greens (70p at Tesco)

* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

*Mozzarella Cheese - I used 1 round which I slice thinly.

Instructions:

1.  Lightly coat the inside of the crock-pot with a cooking spray.

2.  Spread enough tomato sauce on the bottom of the pot 

Be sure to cover with the lasagna noodles, even if you have to break them up.

3.  Arrange a layer of the no-boil lasagna sheets over the sauce. Set aside.

4.  In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, feta cheese, salt, pepper, chopped garlic, oregano and eggs. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Under An English Sky::Crock-pot Chronicles, Spinach and Cheese mix

5.  Add spinach and mix well until incorporated.

6.  Spread 1/3 of the ricotta/spinach mixture over the pasta

7.  Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese over the top

8.  Top with more tomato sauce.

9.  Repeat these layers until all the ingredients have been used up finishing with a layer of lasagna noodles covered with tomato sauce and sprinkled with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

10. cover and cook on HIGH for  3 1/2 hours. (see my tips below on cooking times)

11. NB! turn off the crock-pot and let it stand for 45 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. 

12. Cut and serve.

Crock-pot Chronicles Series :: Under An English Sky

My Tips:

1.  Keep an eye on your lasagna towards the end of the cooking time. I often find that it is cooked in less time than what the recipe states. If you leave it too long you risk burning the bottom.

2.  You really want to allow for standing time after cooking otherwise you will have a wet and soggy mess.

3.  If veggie really isn't your thing then fry up some bacon before hand and mix it in when you add the spinach to the cheese mixture.

4. The original recipe called for 4 cups of tomato sauce, basically a cup per layer. I found this way too much so am more sparing with the tomato sauce - it tastes just as good!

5. Don't be afraid to experiment with this recipe, add things if you want to make it more interesting. In the past I've added grated carrot, mushrooms, baby corn - all sorts of things will make this basic lasagna recipe different every time you cook it.

Enjoy :)

Crock Pot Recommendations

I am really enjoying cooking with my Crock Pot. It's wonderful to pop everything together around lunch time, set it on it's way and not have to think about food again until it's time to feed the family! I'm able to get on and do other things - things that appeal to my creative side ;) 

With all this Crock Pot cooking we are eating the most delicious new-to-us meals using recipes that I have pinned from Pinterest. I thought I would share two of my families 'hits' from this past week.

Slow Cooker Meatballs.

So tasty and the meatballs so lovely and tender. This recipe does not call for you to brown the meatballs before hand but I chose to do so anyway. With all the tomato that the recipe called for I was sure it was going to be very tart, but it wasn't. Instead this dish had an authentic Italian taste.

On Sunday I did a slow cooked Pork Loin Roast.

Oh my goodness! Was this ever tasty! So tender and so delicious! I used the liquid which was left to make a gravy by adding a little red wine and cornflour to thicken. I had so much gravy that we were able to use what was left on Monday night to go with our Bangers and Mash.

On the menu tonight...

Slow Cooker Chicken and Sweet Potato Korma - except I'm going to use ordinary potatoes as I don't have and sweet potato's in the house - adapt and change :) I'll serve it with yellow rice, vegetables and poppadoms.

I'll be sure to let you know the verdict on the last recipe, I'm pretty sure it's going to be yummy :)