Banana and Honey Flapjacks

Always end up with a few over ripe bananas? This flapjack is an easy little way to use them up! They're also great sources of energy for lunchboxes or after school. I've added chocolate chips here too, but that's not at all necessary...

50g butter
60g brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp honey (or golden syrup)
2oog porridge oats
2 small bananas, peeled

small handful of milk chocolate chips (optional)

In a pan, melt butter, add sugar and golden syrup and stir well - or simply melt together in a bowl in the microwave.
Mash the bananas with a fork (if you have a little helper they'll enjoy this) and mix into butter mixture with the oats. Spread into a greased and lined baking tray, roughly 15cmx20cm in size. Flatten with the back of a spoon, and bake at 200C/Gas 6 for 15-20 mins until slightly brown.
Leave to cool, then cut into squares - I cut mine into 12.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Ok not the best photo I'm afraid, but I had to take it from my iPhone as my camera was out of battery! But ignore that. These muffins are delish and make a perfect Autumnal treat, especially warm straight from the oven.
I adapted a recipe which you can find here and made a few tweaks. For example, the Americans are huge fans are canned pumpkin pureé but I used fresh. Mostly because it tastes better, but also because canned pumpkin is hard to get hold of over here so is therefore stupidly expensive! Having said that, pumpkins can be a pain in the ass to prepare so feel free to use canned. Two other little changes: I swapped 1/3 of the flour for wholemeal, just to make them a bit healthier, and she uses "pumpkin pie spice mix", but I just used a rough combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
You could also add dried fruits such raisins, sultanas or apricots to these. Or maybe even some chopped preserved ginger. Whoooo you can go crazy with these muffins! Yeah, live on the edge!

Spinach Soup aka Dinosaur Swamp

Ok so Dinosaur Swamp might put you off this soup...but if you've got a little one it will make them really into it. And who doesn't want to watch their kid eat a whole load of spinach? Exactly. Luckily it's delicious too. I cooked this with Toby so he could put the spinach in himself-I'm a firm believer in involving kids with the cooking process so that they're familiar with ingredients and not "scared" of them. He loved seeing how the huge handfuls of spinach he threw into the pan shrunk so quickly. If, however, you have a delicate eater who will not not knowingly eat a leaf, then just serve this up to them when it's ready. They will never know how much goodness is in it! In the past I have also served this with little dinosaur shaped bread or sandwiches, using a cookie cutter. Raaaar!

2 tsp olive oil

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 small onion

1 medium potato, peeled and chopped

250ml low sodium organic vegetable stock (from a cube)

200ml semi-skimmed milk

approx 200g baby spinach leaves

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and potato and saute for 5 minutes.

Add the vegetable stock and milk, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the potato is starting to soften,.

Add half the spinach, season, and simmer for 5 minutes more.

Cool slightly. Stir in the remaining spinach and blend with a hand held electric blender.

Easy!

Teriyaki Chicken and Black Bean Fried Rice

Cooked this for a night in with my brother at the weekend. I fully intended to write down what I was doing as I went along so I could give you a full recipe, but after a couple of beers it became far more relaxed.
I can tell you that I chopped 2 chicken breasts into chunks and left to marinade in about 3 tbsp of teritakyi marinade for an hour before cooking. Then I cooked some white basmati rice. Then heat 1tbsp sesame oil in a wok and add the chicken. Toss to prevent sticking. After 4-5 minutes add some veg-I used a handful of chopped spring onion, half a red pepper, chopped, some chopped shitake mushrooms and 1 clove of chopped garlic. Crack in 2 eggs and scramble into the mixture. Tip in the rice and half a tin of drained black beans, and mix it all together. Add a few splashes of soy sauce and perhaps some more teriyaki. Taste. If it tastes good and the veg is still crunchy, you're good to go!

Bertinet Kitchen and Bakery

The ever-charming French chef and baker, Richard Bertinet, runs a successful cookery school in Bath. They have a bakery attached to the school which is open Saturday mornings, and when I worked nearby a Saturday morning almond croissant became almost complusory! Having thought I'd escaped temptation (as I no longer work Saturdays so am usually still in my pyjamas by the time the almond beauties sell out) what do I discover? They go and open a bakery right in the centre of town! So on an innocent trip to the library I ended up being very distracted indeed, and walked away with a-rather expensive but totally delicious-rustic loaf. Better not let this become a habit..

http://www.thebertinetkitchen.com

Roast Beef with Homemade Yorkshires

Yesterday's lunch is still on my mind...


...haven't had roast beef in ages, so though I'd treat my sister and her fiancé. I always make my own yorkshire puddings when I cook beef as they come out ENORMOUS. If you're still using Aunt Bessie's then try this super easy recipe. There's really no excuse not to!

makes 12

3 eggs

1 cup plain flour

1 cup milk

vegetable or sunflower oil

Preheat the oven to 190°C. In a medium bowl beat the eggs with the milk. Stir in the flour until the mixture is combined and as lump free as you can get it. Now pour oil into the twelve cups of a muffin tray (about 1/3 of the way up). Put the tray in the oven for 5-8 minutes. You want the oil to be really hot, so that is sizzles when you add the batter. This is what causes them to rise! Remove the tray and, using a ladle, distribute the batter evenly among the cups. Place back in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Try not to open the door early on in the cooking or they may deflate!

Give it a go!

heehee