-
Slow Cooker Lamb Tagine
I get asked questions quite a bit about the slow cooker so I figured I’d pop my tips/answers below, with a slow cooker lamb tagine recipe at the end. As an added bonus, this recipe actually has a video to match. If this is the kind of thing you like to see please do let me know and I’ll do my best to film some more. Maybe I should have called this post “why I flipping love my slow cooker”!
-
Slow Cooker Beef Curry Recipe
I flipping love my slow cooker, and this beef curry recipe is the kind of thing that reminds me how easy it is to cook plenty of different meals for the family each week! The last thing I want to do is to spend a busy day slaving in the kitchen to cook up something healthy and tasty for the kids. That’s why I make the most of my slow cooker at least twice a week. A slow cooker is such a handy gadget to have in your kitchen, and they use up the same energy as a light bulb. It’s the ultimate money-saving, time-saving way to make a dinner…
-
Courgetti With Pesto
Some days amazing things happen. Like getting a phone call asking me to demonstrate healthy recipes as part of the Navan #MyHealthyTown initiative. I had to pinch myself! This was one of the most popular dishes I demonstrated in Navan for Morphy Richards last weekend. Everytime I heated the pan, it was like an advertisement for certain gravy granules and attracted a crowd. It seriously only takes about 7 minutes to put together. Thanks to popular request I’m sharing the recipe on the blog so it’s easy to find. I also shared it on my Instagram yesterday if you’re interested.
-
Swift Baked Crispy Potatoes #Ad
It’s National Potato Day in Ireland today and when I was asked to develop a new recipe especially for the celebration I found it hard to say no. If you ask me, everyday is a potato day! There’s a reason why I don’t grow potatoes at the allotment. I certainly could if I wanted to, it’s just that we have so many fantastic local potato producers close to home that I prefer to support them instead. In fact, the local potato growers are so supportive of what we do at the allotments, there is a particular farmer who supplies us with potatoes for the pigs! Every couple of weeks a…
-
Blueberry Muffins Recipe
As the elder lemon in the family (who is studying for her Leaving Cert this year) started back to school over a week ago, it doesn’t feel like the 1st of September at all. It feels like we are already hurtling through the school year towards Hallowe’en! Still today marked the start of term for many Irish students and I’m back with a recipe for blueberry muffins that all my family love. Wholemeal flour gives these blueberry muffins a lovely crunchy texture. The blueberries, paired with the crumbly oats on top make for snack perfection. Don’t be limited by blueberries though, use whatever fresh or frozen fruit you have to…
-
Simple Chicken Traybake
The beauty of this simple chicken traybake is that once it’s assembled you just bake it in the oven and wait while the delicious smells fill the house.
-
Quick and Easy Vegetarian Tart
This vegetarian tart is so easy to make thanks to the pre-rolled puff pastry. There really isn’t much to do apart from bake the pastry, then fill it a quarter of an hour before serving, then cooking for the final few minutes. It’s the ultimate make-ahead party food, and you’ll look like an absolute genius to produce something so pretty from your kitchen at the last minute. What makes it more incredible is that you only need 5 ingredients to make it!
-
Tuna Fish Cakes
While I love Fresh Fish Friday, I don’t always have the budget or time to get to the fishmongers to get some decent fresh fish. This recipe for tuna fish cakes uses a medium tin of tuna which is handy to have in the store cupboard for frugal weeks. If you have fresh vegetables to put with this meal, do as they will brighten up your plate. Alternatively a tin of sweetcorn and some frozen peas will go just as well. There’s nothing wrong with eating from the store cupboard every now and again, especially if it saves you money in the long run.
-
Apple Crumble
Pork and apples go so well together but I often find it’s a bit too much of a stretch to get the kids to eat apple sauce with their pork chops. Because apples contain so much citric acid and pectin, they cut through fatty meals very well so if you have a heavy dinner, apple crumble with a little low-fat yoghurt is a great way to finish a meal. I don’t know about you but having a nice pudding or “puddy” as it’s called in our house (thanks Dad) is handy for bribing kids to eat their meal. I love that this is fruit based. When I was 5 our…
-
Baked Spaghetti Omelette
My kids love how visually appealing this baked spaghetti omelette is. It’s low on ingredients, which means it’s easy to make, this also means that you can add any sort of side dish that you like. We prefer to eat ours with a fresh chunky salad. Perfect hot or cold, if you don’t finish it all at dinnertime, chill once at room temperature and eat the omelette for lunch with a dollop of mayonnaise on the side instead.
-
Pasta Meatball Bake – Recipe And Video
When it’s Winter I crave warming dishes for dinner. You know the ones that give you a hug from the inside out, and that are just rib-sticking good. It’s Summer however, not that we’d know it. Today has been about 14 degrees on average which is pretty dire for the end of July, we’ve also had thunder, lightening, and hailstones. So you’ll excuse me if I revisit some of my favourite comfort food for dinner this evening. This pasta meatball bake is a family favourite. It’s easy to assemble, and serves 8 people. It’s also a budget dish, costing approximately 80c per portion and as if all of this wasn’t…
-
Sweet Mac And Cheese
As a child I always believed that macaroni was a sweet pasta dish. I didn’t realise that the name of a past corresponds to a shape. My childhood macaroni was normally made with penne. Dad used to cook it in a double-boiler, it’s a type of bain marie. The pasta was slowly cooked in a custard sauce and it was rib-stickingly good. This kind of dish was never cooked in the Summer months, but I have great memories of many milk puddings when growing up. Rice, semolina (with a sinful spoon of jam in the middle), tapioca, and this mysterious macaroni. Now I know that macaroni is a type of…
