Thursdays doings

  DD has been more awake and alert today so I wanted to try and get back on track with our home school this week. We coloured in the letter B using green pens, pencils and crayons and the finished it off by sticking on green things we found in the craft box. It kept her attention for about half an hour which really impressed me seeing as she is still suffering. She seems to have picked up B and Green very well. It now has pride of place on our learning wall next to the letter A from last week.

 During DD's afternoon nap I whipped up our dinner ready for this evening. We are having a nice Shepard's pie with some mince I found hiding in the freezer. I've added a tins of baked beans with sausages, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a handful of porridge oats. I also added a handful of sliced frozen mushrooms from the freezer stash.

 I was feeling a little bit creative with the mash potato so I added a few drops of green food colouring so it keeps in with our theme. This huge dish will feed us all for two main meals with some veggies. I'm looking forward to OH coming home so I can pop in the oven to warm through and then devour..Om nom nom
x x x

Busy Morning.

  

It's been a busy morning at the Frugal Home. I've  managed to get a load of laundry organised, washed up, had a general tidy and whip up a tray of Banana and chocolate cakes for OH. It isn't even lunchtime so I'm quite impressed with myself.

 

DD loved helping with all the stirring and mashing up the bananas. Not sure there is as much banana as there should be in the final cakes, some of it mysteriously disappeared during baking.I have a suspect but I can't prove it as she is getting more and more sneaky every day lol.

  

Here are the goodies from my mums swap meet. A pair of dark trousers for OH, some lovely blue linen trousers for me, perfect for when we go on holiday soon. They are drawstring as well so I can adjust them during the day according to which way the baby has decided to lay. There is also a top to go with the trousers but DD has hidden it somewhere and I haven't had chance to go hunting. The socks are just so fun!!!

A finally a wonderful soft cardigan, perfect for the cooler evenings and sofa snuggles. DD loves to cuddle into it so I know it's met with her approval. Not sure why hippo and penguin had to be included in the photo but DD insisted they did.  

 My plans for the afternoon are to continue knitting a Christmas present and if possible catch a nap with DD in the afternoon. Tonight is date night so DD is going to spend a few hours with her grandparents while me and daddy have a pub meal and catch a movie. I can't wait.

x x x

Easter Cooking with DD

First take your DD, a large pile of rubbish chocolate they were giving away in IKEA on Valentines Day, a big bowl, spoon and microwave. Clear several miles of space around all of the above items in case of accidents because they will happen.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave gently, getting DD to stir furiously each time you take it out. Once it is a lovely gooey mess go onto step 2.

Stir in as many cornflakes as you can physically fit into the bowl. At this stage you may add any other nummy treats you happen to have to hand, like raisins or marshmallows ect. Beware that your little helper with probably pick them out during the rest of the process as a small cooking time snack.

Take great care to avoid chocolaty hugs at this stage.

Once stirred to death, spoon into cake cases and arrange artfully on a tray. Take a lovely photo of DD making a silly face and looking proudly over her handiwork as you weep for your poor kitchen.

And finally leave them randomly in the middle of the kitchen floor for Daddy to find when he comes home from work.

Happy cooking everyone
x x x

The Butcher's Better food Book

This file of carefully stashed recipe sheets belonged to my late grandma. Since her recent passing I keep finding myself sitting down and flicking through the pages, in some way it just makes me feel close to her.
Each week your friendly local butcher would give you a page with your meat order. My nana faithfully kept every sheet in a little blue file and collected from 1961 to 1964 with barely an issue missed (I assume these are due to her being on holiday)
Always up for a challenge I am planning to work my way through file page by page testing tips where I can, and attempting the recipe.
I am planning to buy the ingredients, and added accompaniments for the below recipe while I'm in town tomorrow. I will also be whipping up some candlelight for our meal following tip 2.
So get yourselves a nice cup of tea and lets read and learn together.

The Butcher's better food cook book.
The complete guide to meat cooking,
and good housekeeping, sparkling
with valuable hints and suggestions.

Recipe 1; Pork with Orange

Introduction; A few weeks ago I gave you a recipe for pork with Pineapple. Today I am suggesting another fruit to cook and eat with this rather splendid rich meat. Orange. I think you will find that it makes a refreshing change.
Serve new potatoes with the pork, and spriglets of cooked cauliflower, tossed in butter and breadcrumbs.
Creme Caramel would follow the pork very happily, or cheese and biscuits. Try to avoid serving a fruit sweet though, since the main course contains both apples and oranges.

Ingredients;

2 - 3lb boned loin of pork
2 Oranges
3 Large cooking apples
3 Onions
salt, pepper
1oz Flour
2oz Butter
sage
stock or water

Method;

Peel and chop the apples and onions. Heat butter in a frying pan and fry the chopped apple and onion in this for a few minutes. Transfer the mixture to the bottom of an ovenware casserole. Season the pork with salt, pepper and dried sage. Dust it liberally with flour and brown it all over in the frying pan. Place it on top of the fried onion and apple. Peel the oranges. Finely chop the peel of one orange and sprinkle this over the pork. Devide the oranges into segments, discarding any pith or pips. Add these orange segments to the pork. Cover level with boiling stock or water. Cover the casserole with a lid and allow to cook in a low oven for around 3 hours.

I will pop a tip or two from the back of this recipe each day until I am ready to attempt the next recipe.

Tip One; Wined Onions
Select some small onions. Take of the thin outer skins, but try not to damage the under layers. Parboil the onions for 10 minutes. Drain them well. Heat some oil in a frying pan. Add the onions. Toss them in the hot oil until almost cooked, then sprinkle in a little sugar and a little red wine. Stir well, reheat and serve with grilled meat, gammon or fish.

Tip Two; Candlelight
Nothing is more romantic, flattering or appetite-tickling than candlelight. If you do not have elegant candlesticks for your dining table, yet still want to provide the magic of candlelight, improvise with glass tumblers. Cut cardboard rings the same size as the base of the tumbler. Place one inside each tumbler. Stick a candle onto each cardboard base, using molten wax as an adhesive. Decorate the outside of each tumbler with streamers of ribbon or cut crepe paper, and gold foil stars or circles.