Day 14: Blog Everyday in May.......... Food Glorious Food

Hey by wonderful beauties How are you all doing today :) 

Well todays topic is none other that Food Glorious Food :) :) 

"Share your favourite recipe. Talk about the best cocktail you've ever tasted. Or maybe share you fave restaurant experience. Lets talking about food!"

Well let me tell you growing up we didnt exactly have the most luxurious of foods :) 

or breakfasts consisted of either egg and toast and cereals 

lunches were always sandwiches 

and dinners were simple Stews, chicken curries or sausages beans and potatoes simply things like that 

Even though They were delish at the time and still to this day I would eat them as I loved them 

But me I like trying out different foods I Like trying anything new having a big family of my own I like to give my kiddies all different dishes to try out and I still need to learn more about cooking myself 

Sometimes its easy to just put stuff in the oven or chip pan to cook quickly especially for hungry kids but I do try to make dishes on a regular basis that my kids will feed their kids or my kids will come back in years to come and say mum can i have the recipe of this and that :) ;) 

I love when my kids come after school and get excited with the smell of the kitchen and say "Mammy did you cook your curry today" it feels amazing and its special too :) I am not a cook in any way and i am not a professional under no circumstances I have alot to learn but I will share with you some recipes I have up already on my blog and Some of my favourite dishes I like to eat and make for my kiddies :) 

First of all the most popular dish in my house is

Lasange 

Kids find it very hard to eat vegetables when you ask them too they make such a great big deal out of eating them as we all probably did when we were kids but been a parent its very frustrating if your kids dont get their daily dose

So Why not add them to their favourite dish 

I have already got the recipe up to this check it out I do make more than what i should so I can put some in the freezer and take it out on days I know im going to be too busy to prepare a dinner :) 

Spaghetti and Meatballs

This is not my own recipe but I got this recipe for the sauce from Someone else a long time ago and stick to it ever since its delish :) 

1 onion, chopped

about 4 cloves of garlic, minced

4 small cans tomato paste

4 cans water

2 tall cans (15 oz) tomato sauce

garlic powder

basil

oregano

thyme

bay leaves

salt and pepper

sugar(optional) 

parmesan cheese

Add all the veg you want which I normally do 

Saute the onion and garlic in a bit of olive oil. Combine all the ingredients in the crockpot or large cooking pot on the stove. I didn’t measure any of the spices, but used about 2 tsp of each, less for the garlic powder. I use 2 bay leaves. Salt and pepper are to taste. I used about 2 tsp of sugar and about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese. 

Chicken Casserole 

4 to 5 chicken fillets 

4 to 5 carrots chopped 

2 onions 

2 sticks of celery (option)

You can add what ever vegetables you like :) 

25g butter

500ml of chicken stock 

25 g of flour

Salt and pepper

fresh thyme  

parsley 

200mls of fresh milk 

Cooked the chicken and butter for about 5 minutes in a pot on a low heat.  all all the rest of the ingredients aka vegetables, parsley, salt pepper and thyme cook for a further 5 minutes Add the flour Add the stock and the milk and stir continously until the mixture thickens up slightly 

Transfer all into a casserole dish and cook in the oven at 180 for 50 minutes 

Desserts and treat are a favourite too in our house here is some recipes and desserts I have for you 

Lemon Meringue Pie (favourite) 

Awwwww This is one of my long time favourites and always will be :) :) 

Here is the recipe to my lovely pie

Strawberry Swiss roll 

Another favourite in the house and its even been asked for as a birthday cake :) :) 

here is the recipe 

Chocolate Pavalova 

This is another favourite and I get asked all the time if im making it in my house.  Once anyone gets wind im making it I get alot of visitors lol 

Here is the recipe if you want to try it out and its very very easy :) 

Ok I hungry now and want to go bake that chocolate pavalova hahaha.  As i said we have lots of favourites in this house like my homemade curry, shepards Pie, stir fries the lot.  I hope you enjoyed this blog post and let me know what your favourite food is.

Until Next Time 

Lots of Love Luck and Laughter 

Pear Upside Down Cake Recipe

Hey my beauties How are you all :) 

Well today was another dull wet boring day 

I had all intentions in making videos but then the rain came pelting down and never stopped and with 5 kiddies running around the house burning off their energy, there was no way i was going to get 1 minute of quiet time :) ah well hopefully tomorrow will be nice :) 

So while my kiddies were upstairs playing in their rooms I suddenly thought of "Pear Upside Down Cake and Ice-cream" mmmmmmmmmmmm (you know when your stuck at home all day you sudden want some comfort food) 

Well i decided RIGHT THATS IT IM A GONNA BAKE so I did!!!!!!! :) This cake is a favourite in my house and when the kiddies realised i was making it they were eager to be as good a gold until it was ready awwww bless their little cotton socks 

So i thought i would share my recipe with you and maybe you could try it out and let me know what you think :) 

So if you want to know how to make this scroll ahead down i promise you and your family will love it !!!!!

First of all you will need 

For the topping :

25g/1oz Margarine

25g/1oz Brown Sugar 

rind of lemon (optional)

Tin  of Pear halves 

Icing sugar to decorate 
Some people like to sprinkle a little cinnamon too which is optional 

For Cake:

175g/6oz Self Raising Flour

125g/4oz Sugar

125g/4oz Margarine 

2 eggs

2 tablespoons cold water

Lets start with the topping 

• Preheat your oven to 190 degrees 
• Cover the bottom of your cake tin with greaseproof paper
• Then grease with 25g Margarine 
• Sprinkle the 25g of brown sugar to cover the bottom 

• Arrange the Pear halves on the brown sugar
• If prefared you can cut these down even more but its totally up to you 

For the sponge

• Using all in one method.  Put the flour, sugar, margarine, eggs and water into a mixing bowl

• beat the ingredients together until the mixture is creamy and smooth 
• Pout the mixture into the prepared dish 

• It should look like this :) 
• All you have to do is place it in the oven and let it bake for 25-30 minutes :) or until golden brown.  The best way to test that it is cooked through is stick a cocktail stick into it and if it comes out clear your cake is cooked.  

The cake just out of the oven 

Cake turned over 

• Your cake should look like this :) :) 
• Turn your cake over and smell the beautiful sweetness of your pears mmmmmmmmmm

• I like to sprinkle my mine with Icing sugar it looks nice :) :) 
• Then all you have to do is serve :) you can serve Hot or Cold with custard, cream or Ice-cream or just have it on its own :) 

So thats it everyone thats my recipe for a delicious Pear Upside Down Cake 

I hope you liked this 

Let me know if you have tried this recipe and what you think 

Until next time 

Lots of Love Luck and of course Laughter

Nina C

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Strawberry Roulade/Swiss Roll Recipe

Hey my beautifuls how are you all doing?

Now i know this is a long over due recipe i promised to post for you all 

But i didnt have my detailed photos until just the other day my little boy turned 5 and i 

asked him what type cake he wanted me to bake for him and he wanted this one but with icing on top :) Bless his little cotton socks and puppy dog eyes i just couldnt refuse :) 

The thought of Strawberry swissroll with icing all over didnt seem too attractive in my eyes but my baby boy got what my baby boy wanted and to be honest it actually worked out to be a hit !!! I will post pictures of his Iced covered Strawberry Roulade/Swiss roll at the end :) 

Anyways here i will give you the recipe of this lovely cake in the picture above.  Its actually quite easy and once you bake it the 1st time you will surely know how to without instructions.  

Starting off with Ingredients :) 

6 eggs seperated 

115g Icing Sugar

65g Cake/Self Raising Flour 

300g Strawberry Jam

250mls Heavy cream

30g Icing Sugar (for cream & Dusting) 

Vegetable Oil 

Flour for Dusting 

12x15 inch baking tray

(you can go for low fat options of the cream and jam if you wish) 

So now for the baking part :) :) :) 

• Ok start off by  preheat the oven to 356 F (180 C)
• Then seperate your 6 eggs 
• Starting with the egg yolks whisk them a little and then slowly add the 115g Icing Sugar while whisking :) dont over whisk as they will get too thick :)

•  Add in the flour and mix again (dont forget not to thick)

• In a separate bowl whisk you egg whites until you get firm soft peaks

• Now all you gotta do is add them to the egg yolk mixture but be careful dont mix them in.  Use a Spatula to fold them in and the mixture should look something like below 

• The lighter and fluffier the mix is the better sponge you will get 

• Line your baking pan with parchment paper, and (to stay on the safe side) spray it with some vegetable oil and flour it lightly

• Pour the mix onto the tray and spread it out evenly :) Then place into your heated oven and bake until golden brown 


• While your lovely sponge is baking prepare the work surface to place your sponge. Get a clean towel and place it on your work surface 

•  Place a sheet of parchment paper on top of the towel 

•  Then sprinkle the parchment paper with a little Icing sugar to prevent the sponge from sticking to it. 

• Ding Ding Ding your sponge is ready!!!!!!!!! 

• Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven, invert it onto the towel and the paper you have prepared.  So now you have the dish towel and the paper underneath the cake and there’s also a piece of paper on top of the cake the one it was on first.
• My Sponge came out alot thicker than a normal Swiss roll but if you want it thinner simply use a bigger baking tray 

• While the cake is still hot remove the parchment paper on top and roll the rest together towel included if you try to roll it when its cool down it will break
• Leave it to cool completely which will take less than 2 hours not even 
• Then when cool roll it out and spread your favourite strawberry jam (you dont have to use strawberry BTW you can use any of your favourite jams if you want) 

• Then whip up that lovely cream in which you can sweeten with the 35g Icing sugar as listed in the ingredients or you can leave that out and have plan cream i have a seet tooth so i like the icing sugar in it 
• Then spread the cream over the jam 

• Then roll you swiss roll up again

• Now as i stated above this is a much thicker swiss roll than normal but if you wanted a skinnier one simple use a bigger baking tray my kiddies love it this way in fact so do i :)  :) 
• You will notice you will have cream left over and i will post a picture on what i done with my left overs below 
• After rolling up your cake simply dust it with Icing sugar and if you want to get even more creative you could drizzle it with chocolate in a zig zag design :) :) 
• As instructed by my beloved son he wanted icing so here is his little birthday cake

• I just made up a little icing with a drop of blue food colouring and drop of strawberry flavouring into it :) 
• With the left over cream I just topped Madeira buns with it and sprinkled them with Chocolate  :) :) 

I really hope you enjoyed this post :) 

Let me know if you have tried it :) 

Until next time 

Lots of love luck and laughter 

Nina C

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

My Simple Lasagne Recipe

Hey everyone 

Hope you are all well 

As you know i have a nice big family in my home to feed and i love nothing more than to make them nice home cooked food.  The best thing about home cooked food is you have control of what goes into it.  Like all little kiddies there is one thing that i find hard to get into them and thats more vegetables.

Yes they eat vegetable but i feel they could do with more so whats the best way to do that????

Make dinners meals thats nice and taste with hidden vegetable hehehehehe 

shhhhhhh dont tell :) 

So i asked my kiddies what they would like for their dinner and the first word that came out of each of their mouths was yes you guessed it LASAGNE they just cant get enough of it :) :) and neither can anyone else who decides to visit when i have it made lol.  

So today i made my lasagna and decided i would take pictures and share with you all how i make it.  I know there is plenty of recipes out there but i feel been Irish that you can never have enough beef and veg in it.

So i hope you like this recipe and if you give it a go please let me know what you thought of it :) :)

Here is my Finished Results :) 

Lasanga 1 

Lasanga 2 

So Here is MY list of ingredients (you can half this down as i have got a big family both kiddies and brothers and sisters lol) but my recipe made 2 big lasagna's 

I used:

3lb minced beef 

680g jar of crushed tomatoes 

480g jar of white sauce 

approx 8 sheets of wavy or normal lasange sheets 

3 mixed peppers 

3 small onions 

1 oxo cube 

150g small mushrooms

250g chedder cheese grated (you can choose any option of cheese be if low fat etc)

1/2 teaspoon of coriander leaf (herbs)

1/2 teaspoon Basil 

1/2 teaspoon Italian Style Seasoning

some salt if pre fared (even though i never use it)

and some 4 season peppercorn mill pepper 

Method : 

• Put the mince and chopped onions into a pot and fry until golden brown alot of recipes say add a little oil.  To be honest i dont add anything as the mince itself holds enough fat in it to fry in itself.  Why add fat when there is enough in the meat itself 

• While the mince is cooking add a cube of oxo this is simply my idea for flavour while the mince is cooking Then add 100mls of water then add your herbs :) pepper and salt if pre fared let me add there is no need for salt as there is enough in the food but someone people do like to add it.  Let that cook on medium heat for 10minutes

• While your mince is cooking prepared your lovely colourful vegetables.  You dont have to stop at just peppers, mushrooms and onions you can add more like sweetcorn etc.  If cooking for fussy kiddies make sure to chop nice and small as they wont notice as much ;)

• When the mince is nice and brown.  Add your Veg and cook on a low heat for a further 15 mins or until your veg is nice and soft :)

• Next simply add your chopped tomatoes to the mince and veg and allow to simmer for 5 minutes and it should look like this :)

• Thats your mince ready all you have to do is prepare the lasange :) :) mmmmm im hungry again for more writing this plus its lunch time right now i want some 
• Anyway im babbling again next you just find a dish that you want to make your lasange in and get making it. 
• First you put a layer of mince on the bottom 
• Then a layer of lasange sheets on top to cover the mince break the lasange sheets to fit as i have in the photo below and NO IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE PERFECT MINES NOT LOL 
• Then add a layer of white sauce

• When you have that done just repeat with another layer of each :) 

• When you cant fill your dish anymore then simply set your oven at 200 degrees and bake for 20 minutes 

 

• After 20 minutes take your lasange out and sprinkle cheese on top you can put as little or as much as you like and place it back in the oven for a further 5 minutes or until cheese is golden brown 

• And vwaalaaaa your Lasange is finished :) :) :) 

I really hope you enjoyed this
And let me know if you have tried the recipe and what you think
Until next time
Take care
Lots of Love Luck and Laughter
Nina C
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox