My Genius New Plan!

Today I went to the cinema with Steve (have I mentioned him? I probably have, but if not, he's my Slightly Neater Half and Vienna's daddy) and i had.. An Epiphany. Well, I guess it was more of an LED nightlight than a full blown lightbulb moment but I still think it's a very good idea. I'm going to give food critic...ing...(?) a go!

It was kind of Steve's treat today so while we were killing time we went to Tapas Revolution and there were honestly a million and 24 babies in Bluewater today. Hordes of them. Baby queues. I was just wondering where all the mums and dads were going (because there didn't seem to be any in the nearby restaurants) when Steve said in between snaffles of chicken, "that must be the best job in the world... you know, food critics."

See where I'm going with this? I can't start with Tapas Revolution today because I forgot what we had to eat but every time we go out now I'm going to write a review of the restaurant from the perspective of someone who wants to actually eat in public with their children. It is, I think, a Very Good Idea. I'm going to call the food critic posts Empty Plates.

Think we may have to go back to Bluewater... several times...!

Freaky Friday Curry

I'll be honest, this one was a bit Oh Mama, hot hot. You can all blame Dinesh for that. He's my friend Hapi's friend and once made a comment on my deseeding a chilli for a recipe so I thought I'd try it with the seeds this time. Vienna didn't really appreciate it. I could see why.

I've since made it and adjusted the curry thermostat and she gave me a look as if to say "do you think I'm daft, mummy?" but she did eat it. I've kept the original pictures though because the updated one looked the same.

Ingredients

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander, ground
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 chilli (seeds in if you're mad, deseeded otherwise)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 large potato (as in, a normal potato)
• 1 large sweet potato (as in, a knobbly mutant potato)
• half a suede
• 3 salad tomatoes, chopped
• 1 parsnip
• 1 carrot

Method

1. Parboil the parsnip, carrot, potatoes and suede (a posh technical term I learnt from my mum which means partly boil... or for about 10-15 mins).
2. While that's doing, fry the spices, then the onion, garlic, chilli and mix in the tomato puree.
3. Gradually stir in the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes until the root veg is done parboiling away.
4. Add the parsnip, potatoes, suede, carrot and tomatoes, and leave to simmer for about 20 mins.

I gave Vienna an orange with hers and the juices did help ease the spice of the original version a bit (tip there!). Also, teaspoon of cheese spread. Works wonders.

Spiced Fruit Wedges

This recipe makes me wish I'd started my blog at Christmas! I've been saying for a while now I might branch into desserts and this is a really nice, quick recipe that would be really good with custard (not that I would advocate giving a baby normal custard!) and tastes really festive.

Ingredients

• 1 apple, sliced
• 1 spoon unsalted butter (about 50g)
• 1 handful sultanas/raisins (about 75g)
• 1tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsps vanilla essence

Method

1. Melt the butter in a pan and add the vanilla and nutmeg until it starts to smell lovely.
2. Add the dried fruit, stir, then add the apple.
3. Keep stirring until the apple is nice and soft. You don't have to stir constantly, but don't let it stick to the bottom of the pan.

I really like giving this to Vienna as a treat because she loves raisins/sultanas and it makes the apples nice and soft for her to chew through.

Mums of the World- Eat Cake!

I've taken a break voluntarily this time. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow because I've got a lot of updates and I'm going to spread them out over this week so it looks like I've been busier than I actually have (not that that is humanly possible...). First I want to say something that after 4 years of insecurity and having something the size of a cat force its way out of my previously solid innards (think about it, it's true) I have finally come to realise.


Dear Mums of the World (Or Indeed Any Other Person Who Needs It),

I'm not trying to sound like a cliche, and I know that no matter how much I tell you this, you need to realise it yourself.

There are people poorer than you.
Uglier than you.
Fatter than you.
With saggier boobs than you. And more cellulite.

They have worse jobs than you.
They have crappier houses than you.
And their cars always make irritating noises that cost far more than yours to fix.

But they still have husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends, children and parents that love them, and something to look forward to at the end of the day. Why?

Because they are lovely, wonderful people. So are you. And don't you dare ever forget it. If you want that extra piece of cake have it. If you want to lose 4 stone and become a lingerie model do it. It's your life. And that's ok- you will be ok.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to sit in my scruffs and eat my curry even though it is past my bedtime.
Care to join?

All my love,
Katherine.

Mexican-style Chicken Soup

Vienna's been feeling a bit sorry for herself this week. Her teeth are coming through and she's had a bad case of the sniffles so I thought I'd make her some chicken soup to feel better and put a bit of a YMHT spin on it.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• 400g chicken, diced and grilled
• 1 can sweetcorn, drained
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 800 ml stock (see below)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree

For the Stock

• 800 ml water
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp oregano
• a pinch of tarragon
• the chicken from the ingredients above

1. Put 800ml water into a saucepan and add the herbs. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes.
2. Add the chicken, cover, and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
3. Don't forget to take the bay leaf out before you use it!

Method

1. Put the onion, garlic and chilli in a large saucepan and cook until soft.
2. Add the tomatoes, sweetcorn and tomato puree. Stir well.
3. Mix in the stock with the chicken in and leave to simmer for 15 minutes.

 It's great with a nice bit of buttery toast. Vienna had hers with a jacket potato, broccoli and some kidney beans. I gave her some of the juice in a cup so she could have her own cuppa soup too!

Ratatouille

That's quite hard to spell but to be fair, I was planning on eating it not spelling it so apologies if it's wrong ;) I love ratatouille because it's a nice main meal with some pasta if you've forgotten to take some meat out of the freezer, but it also goes really nicely with fish and garlic bread (like we had it), chicken, baguettes- it's just really versatile and pretty easy to do.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 large aubergine, cut into chunks
• 1 large courgette, cut into chunks
• 1 red pepper, chopped into chunks
• 1 green pepper, chopped into chunks
• 5/6 large tomatoes, blended (feel free to substitute for a can of chopped tomatoes)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tsp oregano

Method

1. Fry the onion until lightly browned and add the garlic. Cook for about 3-5 minutes.
2. Add the aubergine and brown, followed by the courgette and then peppers.
3. Add the tomatoes then mix in the tomato puree and season with oregano to taste.
4. Leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes until soft.

You can get boneless, skinless fish fillets that can be microwaved from frozen and they're so handy for some healthy food in under 5 minutes. The amount of fish you actually end up eating makes these better value than buying from the fish counter and it's just as good for you. I don't eat cod so we always get either salmon or haddock but any white fish would be really tasty.

Aubergine Gratin

That's posh for Aubergine and Lentil Bake.

Ingredients

• 1 large aubergine, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 150g red lentils (dried)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 50g grated mild cheddar (mature has more salt in it)

Method

1. Give the lentils a rinse and put them in a pan with twice as much water. Bring to the boil and simmer until all the water has evaporated.
2. Stick the aubergine slices under a low heat grill until they're nice and browned.
3. Fry the onion  in a small saucepan until soft, then add the garlic and cook for about 3-5 minutes before mixing with the tomatoes and oregano. Add the lentils and simmer until they're really nice and soft.
4. Preheat the oven to 180C.
5. Take a casserole dish (ceramic/pyrex dish) and layer the aubergine on the bottom. Cover with the sauce, then repeat until you run out of both.
6. Cover with the grated cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

Tell you what, this was really nice on top of a toasted bagel. Vienna said so too.

(Well, actually what she said was "ning ning" but I'm assuming that means yum.)