recipes

Recipe: Unbelievably Easy Sausage and Bean Stew (Tefal Cook 4 Me)

Recipe: a sausage and bean stew that's so easy the kids can make it

If you follow our social media accounts, it will not have escaped your notice that we have a new kitchen gadget. I have waxed lyrical about the Cook4Me by Tefal, to the extent that several of my online friends have gone straight down to Argos to buy one for themselves. Still others have added the intelligent multicooker to their Christmas list. I’m pretty confident that it will live up to expectation, and very excited to have one to give away today. I’ll be reviewing the Cook4Me fully next week, when you will find out how we got on handing the kitchen over …

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Shaking up Mealtimes: HelloFresh Recipe Box Review

Our Hello Fresh recipe box had instructions for quick and easy dishes like this prawn and serrano ham linguine

I have bemoaned many times on the blog quite how dull I find cooking now that I have kids. Not because I don’t enjoy food, or the thrill of creating something tasty that everyone loves. But because that doesn’t always happen, and the process of putting meals on the table day after day becomes more of a chore than a joy. Anything that makes that task easier, and more successful will always get my vote. So I was excited to try the HelloFresh recipe box. We had eight recipes for four people over the course of two weeks. Ample for …

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Zesty Lemon Meringue Ice Cream (recipe)

A zingy, crunchy, refreshingly sweet lemon meringue ice cream recipe you can easily make at home

This lemon meringue ice cream is refreshing and zingy – perfect for a summer treat. Scroll down for the recipe, or watch the video. As if you needed an excuse now the hot weather is here, it’s ice cream month. It’s an actual thing – July is national Ice Cream Month. There, it has capitals, so it must be true. In 1984, Ronald Reagan signed ice cream month into US law, and it’s been celebrated in America ever since. Must have been the cold war…   Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Recipe Joking aside, there’s nothing nicer than a scoop of …

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Mindful Chef Review: Healthy Recipe Box Meals

Mindful Chef recipe box review: a box zingy with fresh vegetables and seasonings

Mindful Chef: the Healthy Recipe Box I don’t often post about food on this blog, but when I do, it’s because I’ve found something that really makes life a little bit better. I’ve talked before about how my love of cooking has diminished since having children. It’s something to do with the endless nature of feeding a family. No sooner is one meal consumed, than another has to be prepared, and the cycle of menu-planning, shopping, prepping, and cleaning up seems to go round too fast for me to ever feel like food is not on my mind. Add to …

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Easter Baking: Moroccan Spiced Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Easter baking: Moroccan spiced hot cross buns recipe

  Easter Baking Ideas We have a bit of time on our hands for once this Easter break. I’ve longed for a holiday where we’re at home, just to spend time with the kids, doing simple things. And one thing they never tire of is baking. Schwartz got in touch to ask if I would get the kids involved in some cooking using some of their spices. Never one to turn down a challenge, and always a lover of a twist, I decided that we’d start our Easter baking preparations with traditional hot cross buns. Recipes for hot cross buns …

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Easy Family Food: Versatile Pizza Tart recipe

Easy family food - versatile 'pizza' tart for the whole family

When the Bug and I get home from school, chaos often sets in. Both of us have various places we need to be, and everyone needs to be fed. Pizza tart is one of our quick and easy staples. Simple to prepare, just chuck on any ingredients you have in the fridge and bake. It’s good hot or cold, and stands up well to being reheated for later if you’re the kind of family that sometimes needs to eat in shifts! In this version we decided to get a bit more exciting with our ingredients, and used OXO’s new Shake …

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Grown Up Tuna Pasta Bake Recipe that Kids will Love

How to feed the whole family with just one recipe All hell is breaking loose. You abandoned any attempt at creative play hours ago and the bickering upstairs would indicate that a full-scale atrocity is underway. Homework litters the kitchen table and a million Hama beads are skating under the fridge. To make matters worse, it is 5 o’clock and the freezer is offering you nothing but a bald fish finger and some chewy-looking ice-cream. Plus it was Friday food at school today, so pizza isn’t an option, and Actually Daddy will be home looking to be fed in half …

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A bit different: inspiration for more interesting BBQ recipes

By British standards, we’ve had an amazing summer. Our BBQ has seen a lot of action, and long lazy afternoons with friends as the kids dodge water guns on the lawn have been, if I’m honest, the main delight of the summer holidays. But for the first time ever I’ve become bored by BBQ food. I soon started to tire of even the Taste The Difference burgers (you know, with the added cheese, caramelised onions, or redcurrant jelly). Nice as they are, I craved more interesting BBQ recipes. Add to this that fact that I’m trying to be a bit …

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Warming Chickpea and Chorizo Casserole 8 ProPoints

"chickpea, chorizo and butternut squash casserole slow cooker"

When I lived in Spain as a student I was astonished at the awful food – until I moved in with some girls who had a cook. Yes, I know, students with a cook! But that’s how seriously these people take their food, and mealtimes. After their various lectures, they would all convene back at the flat at 2pm for a hearty lunch made by Loli (she also ironed and cleaned for them, for a pittance, I seem to remember). My absolute favourite creation from Loli was a chickpea and chorizo concoction; it was invariably laced with gorgeous olive oil, …

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Slow Food Fast

Italian cooking with kids

Which of these images is more appealing to you as a parent? Which would you prefer your child to eat? And which would your child choose? Yeah, us too, and though Mummy tries to make us cut out fast food, we do love the odd Happy Meal. As a family who eats out whenever we can afford it, we were shocked to discover that more than half of meals eaten out in Britain are at fast food restaurants . When we eat 0ut it is at Wagamama, where the Bug’s favourite dish is Chilli Squid, or at Sophie’s Steakhouse, where …

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Wot So Funee? The Bug

At what age do children really start to make sense, do you think? Recently I have uttered very little in the way of #funee verbal errors. My writing has been logical, with good spelling, and sensible dénouement. Hence I am forced to feature my 5-year-old brother today, and his best friend: Bug: England is the capital of London Bug’s Friend: Wales is in the Kingdom of the United Bug: Manchester United? Bug: I’m having my birthday for camping! BF: Oh, I really wanted to miss you… Bug: Why is your Grandad old? Isn’t that the most disjointed conversation you’ve ever heard?? I have no idea what …

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Slow Cooker Red Lentil Curry recipe: 7 WeightWatchers ProPoints

Super simple slow cooker Lentil Curry recipe

What Mummy loves about this red lentil curry, aside from the fact that it has only 7 WeightWatchers ProPoints per serving, is that it genuinely needs no effort at all. Simply chop up all the vegetables, rinse the lentils until the water runs clear, mince the garlic, grate the ginger and chuck everything in the slow cooker on a high setting for about 4 hours. Or you can cook it all on the hob, with some low calorie cooking spray, if you’re in a hurry – about 15 minutes simmering will do it. You will need: 250g red lentils 1 …

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Split Pea & Ham Soup Recipe with only 3 Weightwatchers ProPoints

Split pea and ham soup

  Filling and hearty split pea and ham soup In the winter time I’m always looking for a new soup recipe. There’s just something about a hot bowl of soup when you come in from the cold that makes me feel whole again – does that make sense? We have based this healthy and filling soup recipe on Delia Smith’s London Particular, giving it the ProPoints treatment to ensure it complies with WeightWatchers standards whilst retaining all the flavour and goodness. It doesn’t look much, but even my children love it. It has quite a high points value for a …

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12 Weightwatchers points: Sweet and spicy vegetable noodle stir-fry

This is yummy, cheap, and can be made with any vegetables you have hanging around. It serves 2 adults and contains 12 Weightwatchers points per person: You will need: 2 tbsps sesame oil 1 tbsp lime juice 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp honey 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2-inch piece of ginger, grated Few dried chilli flakes Green leafy vegetable, such as spring greens, cabbage or pak choi, shredded 1 carrot, cut into strips about 2 inches long 1 small courgette, cut like the carrot 100g dried noodles, cooked and drained Whisk together 1 tbsp sesame oil with the lime …

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Listography: Mummy’s Top 5 Cookbooks

Listography this week at Kate Takes 5 is Top 5 Cookbooks, and Mummy couldn’t resist. Here are the cookbooks in our house: We have lots. But funnily enough there are actually only 5 that she really uses. Good Housekeeping: it holds all the classic recipes from Sherry Trifle to Boeuf Bourgignon, from a Victoria Sponge to jointing and roasting a turkey. And the best ever orange and almond cake, containing a whole, boiled, puréed orange. It sounds odd, but it is lush! Full of rich casseroles, stodgy puds, and cosy soups – the best of which is Roasted Pumpkin with …

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Easy Chocolate Biscuit Cake Recipe Kids Can Make Themselves

"chocolate biscuit cake"

To be eaten under controlled circumstances only. The best chocolate biscuit recipe in the world, ever. According to me 😉   ♥ (With Marshmallows, Cherries, Nuts, Broken Meringues, Glitter, Exploding Candy, and anything else you can think of!) ♥ ** Update! This recipe has started something of a craze! Take a look at the Facebook post and comments on it. Feel free to add your own suggestions – we’re always looking for ridiculous delicious additions to try out! We adapted this recipe from one we found in Sainsbury’s magazine. I say, adapted; what I really mean is doctored, embellished, played …

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