Initially, the children were a bit sceptical about it – Grace was worried that she couldn’t eat ham sandwiches! Faith isn’t a big meat eater so I’m hoping this week will encourage us to cook some meals she’ll really love. Asda also sent us a gift card to buy some delicious fruit and veg to help us on our way. So the girls and I sat down and planned our menu.

This week the children are having school lunches for most of the week and have the option of a vegetarian meal. They have both said they will choose that. For the days that they have lunch boxes, I am going to make them cheese wraps instead of their usual ham sandwiches and some pizza swirls (replacing the meat with red onion and peppers!).

Planning our evening meals was actually quite fun! Here’s what we came up with:

Monday – Asparagus, mozzarella and pesto tart

Tuesday – Creamy courgette lasagne

Wednesday – Stir fry vegetables with cashews

Thursday – Tomato, garlic and basil pasta

Friday – Vegetable curry

We are heading off on holiday for a week on Saturday so we will do our best to stick to our veggie meals while we’re away!

I love asparagus and as it’s in season at the moment, I knew I had to buy some. So tonight’s meal was a super speedy asparagus, mozzarella and pesto tart. As I’m pushed for time this week, I used a jar of ready made pesto but it would be even better with home-made.  I always buy puff pastry – life’s too short to make your own! In this recipe, the ready rolled sheets are just perfect.

Ingredients

1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry

1/2 jar pesto

1 bunch asparagus (approx 20 spears)

1 ball mozzarella

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (my new oven needs to be on a much higher temperature than my previous ones so watch you don’t burn it!)

2. Unroll the pastry sheet onto a baking sheet and spread the pesto over it, leaving a border around the edge to allow the pastry to rise.

3. Wash and dry the asparagus and snap the ends off.

4. Arrange the asparagus spears on top of the pesto and pastry then tear the mozzarella and add to the tart.

5. Bake for approx 20 – 25 minutes until the pastry edge is risen, the cheese is bubbling and the asparagus is cooked through.

Enjoy!

What are your favourite vegetarian meals?

Disclosure: Asda sent me a £50 gift card to buy a selection of their fresh fruit and vegetables.

]]> http://www.cookingcakesandchildren.com/2013/05/national-vegetarian-week-and-an-asparagus-mozzarella-and-pesto-tart/feed/ 0 http://www.cookingcakesandchildren.com/2013/05/lemon-and-ginger-loaf-cake/ http://www.cookingcakesandchildren.com/2013/05/lemon-and-ginger-loaf-cake/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 19:10:17 +0000 amylane http://www.cookingcakesandchildren.com/?p=2205 Having taken a little blog holiday, I’m back and raring to go! Did you miss me? I’ll pretend you all chorused ‘Yes!’ – it’s good for the ego! I’m also excited to report that I have a new oven. A shiny new, oven that actually works! I don’t want to jinx myself here, but so far it’s been pretty amazing. After a little ordering mishap, which was quickly sorted out by the excellent people at Appliances Online (even though it was my fault!), the new oven has been put through its paces. I *think*, after 2 rubbish ones, I’ve finally picked a winner.

So, how about we have a cake to celebrate? It may look like a Plain Jane, but this lemon and ginger loaf cake is packed full of flavour.

Online grocery shopping and I don’t always get on well together – I always end up ordering giant vat-sized amounts of things! It was no exception when it came to ordering fresh ginger, so be prepared for a lot of ginger-based recipes over the next few days. I’ve suggested how much fresh ginger to add to this cake but really it depends on your taste. I like to taste the warmth from the ginger but didn’t want to make it too strong as the children aren’t so keen on it being too spicy. The lemony gingery syrup, which you spoon over as the cake cools, makes it lovely and moist, and there will be some syrup left over – why not make an extra cake or save it to use on some cupcakes?

Lemon and ginger loaf cake

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Prep time	1 hour
Cook time	45 minutes
Total time	1 hour, 45 minutes

A delicious lemon and ginger cake, drizzled with a tangy syrup.

Ingredients

• 175g butter (I use Stork)
• 175g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 175g self raising flour
• 1 lemon (zest grated, save juice for the syrup)
• 1/2 " piece fresh ginger (finely grated)
• 100ml water
• 125g caster sugar
• 1/2 " piece fresh ginger (finely sliced)

Directions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 170°C and line a 2lb loaf tin (I'm lazy and buy packs of loaf tin liners!)

Step 2

Cream together the butter and sugar until it is well combined using a food mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon.

Step 3

Mix in the eggs and flour and beat until the mixture is pale in colour.

Step 4

Stir in the grated lemon zest and finely grated ginger.

Step 5

Pour the cake mix into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes or until the cake is golden and cooked through. You can test by inserting a skewer into the centre of the cake and checking if it comes out clean.

Step 6

While the cake is cooking, make the lemon and ginger syrup. Put the water, sugar, sliced ginger and juice of a lemon into a small saucepan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes until it begins to thicken.

Step 7

Remove the pan from the heat and sieve to remove the ginger.

Step 8

Once the cake is cooked, prick the surface all over with a skewer then spoon over the syrup. You probably won't need to use it all. Leave to cool before serving.

The cake will keep well for a few days in a cake tin – if it lasts that long!

I wrote this post in drafts at the start of the year and, typically, just as I get round to posting it, my oven breaks! We turned it on to preheat a few days ago but after a couple of minutes there was a flash of light, a loud pop and then nothing. It may be something simple to fix but to be honest, I’d be glad to see the back of this rubbish oven, so I am on the hunt for a new one… again!

I adore baking but recently I’ve become increasingly aware that I end up baking the same things over and over again. It’s getting rather dull and I’m itching to expand my repertoire and try some new things. So I have decided to make myself a list of things that I would like to try baking in 2013. I am setting myself the target of trying a couple of new recipes every month and these are a few of the things I’d like to bake:

Macarons

I have tried these a couple of times before with mixed success. Sometimes the mixture has been too runny, sometimes it seems too grainy and nearly every time the colours have been dull – not at all like the pretty ones you see in the shops. 2013 will be the year I succeed with these little blighters!

Croissants

I’ve never tried making croissants and automatically assume they are tricky. Well, even if they are, I am a fairly accomplished baker now so I will embrace the challenge. Watch this space for yummy breakfast treats…

Focaccia

Again, I’m sure it isn’t as scary to make this as I think it is. There are so many wonderful flavours and ingredients you can use in focaccia, it’s definitely something I must try.

Pithivier

I saw these delicious-looking pies baked on the Great British Bake Off last year and have been really keen to try making one ever since. They just look so pretty! I just need to decide which filling to try out first – I’m thinking it will involve spinach and garlic…

Kransekake

I bought a kransekake pan in the Lakeland sale – I do love things that are a bit different (and it was a great price too!). All I need is an opportunity to use it now, or maybe I’ll just make one for the hell of it! The dough looks like it takes a bit of time and effort but I’m sure it will be worth it.

Pork pies

I’m not sure if they’re worth the hassle as the process looks quite time consuming, but I think there must be an enormous satisfaction to making something like a pork pie. And surely home made will taste better than shop bought?

I think that will do for starters but perhaps I’ll be back with the next list of things to try in a couple of months – oven permitting! So, what’s on your list of things to bake this year?

Have you been busy baking ready for Christmas or are you still looking for some recipe inspiration? Either way, you should definitely join me over on twitter at 1pm tomorrow (Wednesday 19th Dec) as I will be hosting a twitter chat along with Tots100 and Stork.

We are really looking forward to hearing all your favourite baking recipes, handy hints and top tips for baking with children. I am excited to be chatting alongside the team from Stork, who have more than 90 years of baking expertise -so I’m sure they’ll be sharing some great ideas too.

And if that’s not enough to convince you to join in, then how about if I tell you there are prizes for the top tips too! Some of the tweeps with the best tips will win vouchers for Lakeland! How exciting is that?!

All you need to do is pop over to twitter Wednesday 19 December from 1pm to 2pm and use the hashtag #StorkBaking to join in. Make sure you are also following @Tots100, @bakewithstork and, of course, @amylane.

You can find out more details here. Look forward to chatting tomorrow!

Sponsored post

This year I was really excited to take part in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. I read about it last year after sign ups had closed so this year I didn’t want to miss out and I signed up straight away to take part. The idea is that food bloggers from all over the world try out a new cookie recipe and send a dozen to 3 different bloggers. You are matched with other bloggers in your country so you don’t end up sending them half way across the world!

Obviously, you will then receive 3 different types of cookies from other bloggers – what a treat! It’s a fabulous way to try out something new and receive something yummy too. All the cookies I received were thoroughly tested by my children who declared that they were delicious!

I decided to make white chocolate and cranberry cookies to send out – a favourite flavour combination of mine but I’d never tried them in a cookie recipe before. I sent my cookies to Pat’s Kitchen, Fanny’s Foods and Little Black Heart – I hope they enjoyed them!

Here’s how to make the white chocolate and cranberry cookies:

Ingredients (makes 18-20)

125g unsalted butter, softened

50g soft dark brown sugar

150g golden caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

50g white chocolate, chopped into chunks

50g dried cranberries

What to do

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Cream together the butter sugars and vanilla extract in a large bowl – I use a food mixer to make this easier.

3. Mix in the egg, flour and baking powder until it forms a dough – don’t worry if it is a little sticky!

4. Add the white chocolate and cranberries and mix into the dough until they are evenly distributed.

5. Divide the mixture into 18-20 equal sized balls and place on baking tray (leave room for the cookies to spread as they bake). I use an ice cream scoop to do this.

6. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until they are golden and just looking crispy around the edges.

7. Leave to cool on the trays for a couple of minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

A huge thank you to those bloggers who sent cookies to me. They were all wonderful!

This week, Booths put us in pairs and set us a challenge. I love a good challenge and, even though we only had one day to get something ready, I immediately switched my oven on to get baking, because my challenge was to brighten up the dull winter days with a chocolate log! Yippee, I love a chocolate log and this was the perfect excuse to practise ready for Christmas.

And here it is in all its glory (yes, there is a chocolate under there somewhere!).

I’m not one for reinventing the wheel so if there’s a perfectly good recipe out there then I’ll use it! So I tried this one on the BBC Good Food website, which turned out just fine, and made my own chocolate buttercream using 250g unsalted butter, 400g icing sugar and 125g melted dark chocolate. It made loads of buttercream so you’ll have plenty left over for another cake.

The elf, Christmas tree and snowflakes are made out of sugarpaste and the little pond is royal icing.

I loved making the little elf and I think he’ll be featuring on my Christmas cake this year.

If you’re on twitter tonight at 7pm, then do come and join in with the #BoothsCheers party – there are some prizes being given away, including a hamper (which will be given away in the last party on the 19th December and will arrive in time for Christmas).

See you there!

When you sign up to enter, Gourmet Garden will send a selection of the products for you to use in your everyday cooking. Share your yummy recipes on your blog  and you could find yourself  on your way to a live cook-off in London with one of Britain’s best loved chefs. Not only that, but the overall winner will win a trip to Australia’s Sunshine Coast for the Gourmet Garden International Bloggers Conference, as well as £3000 prize and a 12 month ambassadorship position with Gourmet Garden! What a fantastic prize!

So, what are your favourite everyday recipes? Our current favourite is a chorizo and broad bean risotto – my children would eat it every day if I let them!

You will need:

1 small onion, finely diced

3 cooking chorizo sausages, cut into small chunks

200g arborio rice

750ml vegetable stock

200g frozen baby broad beans

1 tbsp oil

What to do:

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a gentle heat, add the onion and fry until it is softened, but not coloured.
2. Add the chopped chorizo and fry until it is cooked through and browned.
3. Add the arborio rice to the pan and stir. Cook for 1 minute, stirring every so often.
4. Add half the stock and turn the heat down so the risotto is just bubbling gently.
5. Keep an eye on the pan and add more stock as it is absorbed. Add more or less stock until the risotto is the consistency you like.
6. As you add the last bit of stock, stir in the broad beans.
7. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with a salad or just as it is. This recipe will serve 4 smaller appetites (or 1 adult, 1 small child with a large appetite and 1 small child with a small appetite but loves this recipe!)

This is a sponsored post. Recipe and views are my own.

I was asked if I could make some animal themed cupcakes as a thank you for a local gentleman who had travelled all the way down to Wales for the day to look after his daughter-in-law’s small holding so she and her family could go out for the day. The cakes were to include chickens, ducks, sheep and goats. I have to say, I did struggle with ideas for making a goat cupcake, but hopefully I managed in the end. See what you think…

I loved making this order – it was such fun to do something a bit different. And I was only ever so slightly gutted when Grace told me she liked the dog and the snowman best! I’m sure it must be her eyesight and not my creative abilities!

Thanks for your order, Julie! I’m glad they went down well

However, the positive side to this is that my crafting mojo has definitely returned. I finished a rag doll for my niece – who fell in love with it instantly, and turned an old pair of leggings and a charity shop dress into a skirt for Faith. I will post pics when I can get her to stand still long enough!

I’ve also been practising my crochet skills and although I’m still not brilliant, I did manage to make some little Christmas decorations.

I found the pattern for this little wreath on ravelry and it only took me about 15 minutes to make. I think I will make a few more to hang on the tree or above the fire place. There are also lots of snowflake, Christmas stocking, snowmen etc. patterns on there so we will have a very well dressed tree this year!

The children have also been doing some crafting ready for Christmas with some goodies that Yellow Moon sent to them.

The girls love these scratch art kits. They have tried lots of different ones and these Christmassy pictures will look fab hanging in the window. Faith spent hours getting hers just right!  They also make some pretty snowflake wands. The kit contains everything you need, apart from glue, and a picture with a suggested layout – although there’s no reason why they can’t let their creative streak run wild and decorate them however they want.

We’ve ordered a load more stuff from Yellow Moon for the lead up to Christmas, so the children will be able to craft and make lots of lovely things to decorate the house.

Disclosure: The children were sent a box of crafting kits from Yellow Moon to try out.

When the weather turned chilly, I realised the girls needed winter hats and so I got out the craft books and found myself a cute little hat pattern for Faith in ‘Crochet In No Time’.

I’m only a novice when it comes to crochet – am I the only one who thinks the patterns are written in gibberish and can’t work out where the top of the chain is each round?! But, this hat was really quick and easy to crochet (if you ignore the fact that my first attempt came out so small it fits Faith’s doll). I made it in one night and Faith has worn it to school every day since. She’s had so many lovely comments too.

As you can imagine, Grace was a bit put out that she didn’t have a hat so I set about finding a pattern for her and came across this slouch hat on ravelry.

I loved making this hat, which used a puff stitch, and it crochets up really quickly once you get into the rhythm. It can be worn forwards when really chilly and pushed backwards when you just want to look cool. Grace absolutely loves it and it has hardly been off her head for the past week! I’m really tempted to make myself a similar one. I’ve been knitting her a scarf in the same yarn – it’s taking forever but hopefully will be ready soon.

I think it’s safe to say my crafting mojo has returned and it is exciting! I’ve made a start on some Christmas decorations and am going to get the sewing machine out and finish off a few other projects. Top of my list is the blind for Faith’s room, which is long overdue. Watch this space…

What have you been making recently?