Cajun prawn wraps

After another long day out we needed yet another quick and simple lunch. So these speedy wraps were ideal. I had defrosted some prawns in advance planning to make a curry or something but on finding that it would be just me and Joseph for dinner I scrapped that plan, picked up a packet of tortilla wraps and used up some leftovers from my fridge. Quite simply this is prawns, crumbled feta, some tinned beans cooked to packet instructions (I used pinto as they were leftover from another dinner but any beans would work here), diced cucumber and some Cajun marinade.
Chuck the marinade over the prawns while you get everything else ready, warm your wraps, chuck everything in, roll up and serve with a tasty salad. Hey presto, dinner in seconds. You're welcome.

Quick veggie curry

My maternity leave has started! Hurrah!! And in true me style instead of resting like I had planned I've been out on day trips with Jojo, trying to maximise the last weeks of 'jojo and mummy' time before the new baby comes along.
Today was a lovely but very tiring day trip to Hampton court on the boat from
Kingston with a tasty picnic in the gardens (humous, crudités, cheese sandwiches and fruit! Yum!) as a result dinner needed to be quick and easy. I also haven't been shopping this week (too lazy!) so it was a bit of an 'if it's night'. This quick, cheap veggie curry served with brown rice ticked all the boxes....

Boil the kettle and put on some rice.
Fry and onion and some garlic in a little oil. Add a couple spoons of curry paste of your choice (or curry powder works just as well), throw in a tin of chickpeas (drained), a tin of chopped tomatoes, and whatever leftover veg you might have hanging around in the fridge (today we had spring greens, some suspect looking carrots, a potato and some courgettes but spinach and broccoli are my faves for this one!). Simmer for 10mins or until veg is softened and chickpeas are cooked. Adding a spoonful of natural yoghurt or creme fraiche will make it creamier, or a spoon of chilli flakes and a bit of tomato purée will up the spice for more tomatoey curry.

Butternut mad

I had a butternut squash sitting in my fridge that was desperate to be used up so I've gone a little butternut mad this week. First I popped it in a quiche and then used the leftovers to make soup. Delicious! I have to say that the butternut squash is definitely my favourite vegetable without a doubt. You can do so much with it and it spruces up some otherwise boring meals!

So first of all the quiche...

Butternut squash, spinach and feta quiche

You can use a shop bought short crust pastry (the roll out ones are so handy!) or make your own from flour and butter. Blind bake your pastry case and in the meantime make your filling. Chuck the butternut into the oven at the bottom on a baking tray whole and let it roast for about an hour or until soft enough to slide it up without risking taking half a finger off!! In a frying pan, brown off an onion (red or brown, whichever you prefer) in a little oil and wilt some spinach.

When your casing is ready layer up with your spinach and onion and some tasty crumbled feta cheese  and arrange your diced squash evenly throughout. In a jug or bowl mix 1 egg with approx 200ml of Creme fraiche and 200ml milk and whisk well. Pour your milky mix over your filling and bake in the oven for 25-30mins or until filling is firm and cheese browned. Yum!


Now for the soup....

Throw your leftover squash into a large sauce pan with 4 good sized carrot, chopped and peeled and an onion, add in stock of your choice and bring to the boil, simmer until carrots are soft and then blitz in a blender. Add Creme fraiche to serve. Delicious for a speedy healthy lunch! :)

Mango salad

Today's lunch is a firm favourite in our house and has several varieties that I try to rotate whenever mangos are in season. Today's variety is served with prawns and a peanut butter dressing which I cannot take credit for ( I found it on Pinterest years ago but cannot remember who original credit goes to, sorry!).

Simple and quick to prepare this comes together in a few minutes.

Cook some quinoa to packet instructions and drain well. Arrange on plates. Dice a large mango, arrange your favourite salad leaves on plates (I like baby leaf spinach and rocket)  . Arrange mango on top. Add sliced pepper (I like red but yellow or green work equally well). Add cooked, peeled prawns and any other salad items of your choice (cucumber, spring onions etc).

In a saucepan stir together 1 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tsp sweet chilli sauce, 1 tsp olive oil, 2 tsps soy sauce. Optional addition of chilli flakes. If it's looking a bit thick/sticky add some water to deglaze the pan and thin it out.

Pour dressing over your salad. Serve and enjoy a tasty healthy meal mmmm.

Non seafood waters could swap the prawns for macadamia nuts and chopped avocado.
For those with nut allergies this salad is equally nice without the peanut sauce, sometimes if I'm in a hurry I will just drizzle over some olive oil and add a sprinkling of chilli yum.

I forgot to take a photo!!!!

I forgot to take a photo of our food this evening! And when I've just started this blog too! What a prized idiot hey? In my defence (or does this make it worse?) I had just got in from work and it wasn't a very exciting tea, more of a quick weeknight meal. Spring greens, mushrooms, lentils and wholewheat pasta covered with passata with a sprinkling of oregano and chilli flakes, topped with crumbled feta and baked in the oven for 20 mins. It's a personal favourite of mine, quick and easy to throw in when you're hungry and a pretty balanced meal. I'll take a picture next time. 

Joseph and I did some baking this afternoon. Mr Tumble was baking when he woke up from his nap so of course that meant that we had to bake too. Mr Tumble made biscuits but since I was short on time as I had to get ready for work we opted for a quick crumble instead. Joseph enjoyed himself and we got a yummy pudding out of it, so I count that as a success! Not a bad effort for an almost-two year old. 

 

Breakfast

Sometimes cereal just won't do but you're in a rush so no time for anything fancy. Enter eggs! Quick, filling, tasty and simple. For perfect poached eggs-boil a pan of water (my husband swears by adding a drop of white vinegar to the pan, I often skip this step) turn down to a simmer, crack eggs into individual bowls and pour in as quickly as possible. Put the lid on and turn the heat off. Cook off the heat in the water for approx 4 mins or to desired firmness. Serve on hot buttered toast for a yummy breakfast. Great additions to this include a crushed avocado spread onto the toast, smoked salmon on the side or some baby leaf spinach. Mmmm.

Can't you eat anything without photographing it?

My husband despairs of me. Almost everything I eat I have to photograph, it drives him crazy! "Can't you just eat one meal without putting it on Instagram first?" Is a phrase that is frequently heard in our house!

I love cooking! I'm no chef but making something from scratch that tastes delicious and feeds my family is a great pleasure for me. My Instagram posts often get requests for the recipes so I thought this would be a good place to document them, and more importantly find them again when I want them (My recipe binder is a mess, a long overdue project to sort it out is constantly being postponed for more urgent jobs!).

So here goes! But first I had better decide what we are having for tea today!