Take one little courgette..

And you'll probably end up with thousands! I have grown far too many again...nothing new there! But I have a new use for them...
Courgette balls!
1 cup of courgettes...shredded and moisture squeezed out (I used more than a cup)
1/4 cup poptato, shredded and squeezed.
small onion...shredded
1/4 cup cheese (I used cheddar and parmesan)
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp flour
Flour wash (flour and water paste!)
Breadcrumbs
Oil for deep frying

Mix it all together. take rounded teaspoons and roll in flour wash then breadcrumbs.

 Deep fry @ 190 degrees till they are golden brown. We had ours with sweet chilli sauce and mango chutney, and DS is gonna try them with chipshop curry sauce!

Not the healthiest way of eating one of your five a day! But very tasty!

MMMM green!!
BBS x

Where did the cookies go?

I made cookies didn't I? I'm sure i did! Well the tin was empty again and as it was a rainy day i thought I'd do a serious batch! But before I'd even managed to get them into the tin 3 had dissappeared!
Ok..cookie recipe.
These are soft cakey cookies, not crunchy biscuits.

4oz marg creamed with 4 oz sugar
Add an egg, a few drops of vannilla essence, mix then fold in 6oz plain flour with a tsp of bicarb mixed in. 

You're supposed to add choccy chips at this point,

(I use chopped up 30p chocolate to make chunks instead, about 1/3 bar to a batch) but I have learnt that they burn on the bottom so its much better to drop them on the top of the cookies before baking at 160 degrees for 12-15 minutes. In my oven they take 13 minutes exactly. They don't get really brown but i think thats my oven. 

I made 50 cookies!!! Then I decided to cost them! 
With Aldi ingredients it cost £1.71 for 50! Not including gas. 
3 1/2p a cookie :) DS says they taste like big supermarket ones which cost £1 for 5!!! So a treat at a bargain cost if you ask me and everyone loves them. Jones the steam has had 4 already! OH has had 6 so far..They don't last long do they!

The little box is nearly empty!!

It doesn't look like this now! I like to make my menfolk happy...whats that quote..."Its like they're eating a part of me"..creepy but true :)
BBS x

Chocolate covered fairy

Celery and chocolate, and rain. I'm glad its friday.
So, chocolate mug cake....I needed chocolate and this hits the spot!
1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp cheap choccy drink
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp milk
2 tbsp oil
a good tsp cheap choccy spread
In a mug, everything but the choccy spread and mix well...

MMMM chocolatey..drop tsp of cheap choccy spread in the middle..plop. Microwave for 90-120 seconds..

OK, so it looks like a mudslide. But it tastes lovely! Remember chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce we had for school dinners? Like that, yum:)

All gone!! Happy now:D
And today I pricked out celery...

And yes, my pricking out tool is an old pen :)
It really brought back memories for me, sitting in the greenhouse with my mommy and Mary our neighbour, listening to radio 1. Pushing celery plants into soil!

So I got my mp3 player and had a little wiggle while I worked! theres alot of holes in one of these trays..

216 little holes I believe!

Lay, poke and squidge!
Dad wouldn't let me grow celery as it can have diseases. I shall grow it in a little corner and watch out for diseases and eat as much as I can!
Tonights tea was delias bolognaise bake. They loved it and didn't notice the veg hidden in the bolognaise sauce :D
BBS x I think I need a drink after that mug cake!

Best ever amish rhubarb pie

 One of my favourite Amish cookbooks has a recipe for rhubarb pie that we LOVE! It has been tweaked for british oven. But it is like rhubarb and custard in a pie!!  

start with 6oz pastry (6oz flour 3 oz fat)

And chill it :)

Next we need to go pick sone rhubarb...3 cups to be precise.

Yum! Now, heat the oven to 220 degrees. Then line a pie plate with the pastry.

Next I make the crumb topping or I forget to!
3tbsp flour, 3 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp butter, smushed together...don't melt the butter, trust me..just smush.

Cut the rhubarb into bits and place in pie shell..

Combine 1 1/4 cup sugar,
pinch salt,
2tbsp water
3tbsp flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
and 2 eggs to make a smooth paste and pour over rhubarb.

Top with the crumbs and bake for ten minutes at the high temperature. Lower heat to 170 degrees and continue to bake for another 30 mins.

PIE!!!! This is one of the best recipes I've found so far for rhubarb...and I've tried a few as we have 2 big clumps and 2 new ones!  And as its custardy you don't need to make custard to go with it!!
BBS x

Thurs 3rd..grow my little foodstuff

The radishes I planted have germinated :) There should be salad leaves and radishes by May (she says hopefully!)
Today I earnt zero...and spent...zero!
I was hopeing this challenge would help me clear out one of the freezers, so I can use less electric for a while..but..

Well..the big freezer is still this full so no hope! The challenge may have to run for 2 months!! Although the first wek of may is Live Below the Line week :)
I'm still not sure if OH and DS will join in! I hope so as it triples my budget! And £15 a week for the 3 of us is better than £5 for just little old me!
(please feel free to donate, I chose the sally army as our local one helps alot of people:))
Tea tonight was Rice-a-roni copycat :)

And yes, I got moaned at for taking a picture of my tea again! Yay!
Anyway..it is cheap, and filling DS loves it and these are the ingredients..

1 lonely chicken breast! Cup of rice, half cup of orzo pasta, then the flavouring...
1tsp parsley(dried)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garl;ic powder
4 tsp buillon powder
6tsp parmesan
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp dried PSB!!
Just Saute the rice and pasta in 2 tbsp butter,when golden add cooked chicken, flavorings and 4 cups of water. Cook with lid on for 15-20 mins...hey presto!!
OH had a strop on and was like a small child and wouldn't eat much of his but the dog didn't mind:)
He has been told I won't cook it for him again! I won't have fussy eaters..especially 48 year old ones!!
Whiles rummaging in the freezer I found blackberries...

I decided as I haven't used any so far to make pies, its unlikely that I will. So I cooked them up and they will become blackberry cordial tomorrow and get canned!! Already straining!

Thats about enough from me today!!!
BBS x

Herman rolls..fairy stylee

The next thrilling installment...
Ok, so to make a dozen rolls, I start at 4pm the day before I wanna bake. And make the sponge...
Sponge:2 cups warm fluid..sometimes i use 2 water, sometimes 1 water 1 milk. Sometimes i use mushed up tinned tomatoes and water! It just depends :)1 cup herman,
2 cups bread flour. I only ever feed him with plain flour but use the more expensive bread flour when its time to bake!1 teaspoon yeast. i told you, he's not a proper sourdough. But he has the flavour and a good texture:) Mix in a non-metalic bowl and cover with clingfilm and leave to go mad for about 6 hours, till its good and bubbly (for me about 10pm).
Then add
2 cups bread flour,
1 tbsp oil,
and a good pinch of salt.At this point I add other things if I want different flavours. Dried tomatoes, cheese, whatever takes the fancy!
Knead for ten mins till smooth and elastic. I get another cup of flour to knead in, dust and knead.
Then in an oiled bowl, covered with a teatowel, he sits somewhere not too warm, I leave him in our kitchen which has no heating!
In the morning, knock him back and shape!
I normally make 8 or 16 rolls, depending on what I fancy!
Slash or snip the tops before allowing to rise somewhere warmish for a couple of hours.
Just before baking, I like to top mine with cheese and tomato, or cheese and ham, and I always leave some just flour dusted as they're great with soup.
Make sure your oven is well pre-heated. They go into a HOT 230 degree oven for 10 mins, then down to 200 degrees for another 15 mins. Till the bottoms sound hollow when tapped.
I must admit I always make rolls as bread in our house gets cut very thick and never lasts!
There's alot of recipes I use herman for...I'll post the apple and cinnamon one soon:) He's very versatile and adds his own flavour!
I've used it to make cinnamon buns, garlic monkey bread, loads of cakes!
He doesn't like it too cold, he slows down. And he hates it hot..I've never yet managed to keep one going all summer! I think my longest is 8 months! But...
My mommy was given a herman when I was a little girl, I can vividly remember making the cakes with her. And the smell of cinnamon:) It took me years to find the recipe again!!
BBS x
　

Herman, fairy style

Herman -
I'll tell you what I do...not what the recipe says, as it works for me!!
2 cups lukewarm water,
2 cups flour (plain)
a good teaspoon of dried yeast.
Mix it all up, stir every day.
Its supposed to be feed every 5th day with 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar.
Its not a true sourdough, but it is an everlasting yeast. And if you keep it going it tastes like sourdough :) and acts like it.
I tend to start it off, then a couple of days later I feed it..next day use it...then feed it after I've taken any. I rarely feed it the right amount! And its very forgiving!!
I was told to keep it in anything but metal, and not to use metal utensils. And keep it loosly covered so it can breathe.
I'll post the actual roll recipe tomorrow as I'm supposed to be working!!
BBS x

The fairies had the oven on

I found an interesting recipe in my interesting WW2 recipe book.
Raspberry buns...except i only had strawberry jam, so these are strawberry buns!
1/2 lb sr flour
pinch salt
3oz margarine
2oz sugar
tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp jam
Milk
Mix everything apart from a tbsp of the sugar and the jam to make a dough. use enough milk to make a stiff dough.
Break into 12 equal pieces, form into buns and make a hole in the middle. In goes a little jam, then pull over the dough to cover it. Place on a greased baking sheet (I used parchment so no greasing) I brushed them with milk then sprinkled on the remaining ugar. Bake in a hot oven (about 210 degrees) for about 10 mins

Interesting doughballs to...

Strawberry buns...OI!! Who ate the rest of them???

Jammy!!! DS loved them!! And my best friend said could they have currants in instead...oh yes...the recipe can be varied to make Rock buns!! I think the last time I made those I was at school:)

Rocking!! And while I was at it I made MORE strawberry buns!

And...Chocolate fudge brownies!!!

I don't think I've ever made anything quite so chocolatey! And thick..and sticky and YUM!
These have gotta be seriously bad for you, I can only manage 1 piece a day!!
BBS x

The fairy has sprung a leek

Last night in the bath I was reading my lovely WW2 cookbook by Marguerite Patten looking for inspiration for 'Live below the line'. And there were some interesting recipes involving leeks. Well, as we have leeks left I wandered off and filled my basket.

Too many leeks, so I decided to dehydrate some...but the smell after I'd chopped them up ready was overpowering, so they were sent outside for being such stinky leeks!

Poor things got lonely in the shed, so when they were less stinky I brought them back in the house!

Anyhoo..

First I thought I'd try Oat pastry..

12 oz plain flour,

2 tsp baking powder,

4 oz oats

3oz fat (lard in my case!)

Interesting consistency when rubbing in...kinda gritty! Yum..

Fillling next, with too many L's it would seem.

As these are supposed to be bacon turnovers I decided they would have to be ham turnovers as that what was in the freezer near the top.

So, 8oz mashed potato (no butter)

2 large leeks chopped finely,

2 tbsp chopped parsley

and 4oz ham (that should have been bacon)

and pepper..

Roll out the pastry, fairly thick, keeping in mind its supposed to make 4...

Pretty!!! Then turnover the top and seal with water!
25 mins in a hot, 210 degree oven and...

They didn't exactly brown alot..but...they were cooked just fine...and...



They were very nice...especially with a little googlygag relish!
And leeks are very good for you, prebiotic don't you know :) So these turnovers were healthy, low fat as not much in the pastry, more veg than anything else! And OH ate them and LIKED them!
BBS x