tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88975948689672486542024-03-05T22:26:56.754+00:00Little FoodiesAmateur Cooks - Adventurous Taste Buds!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-37840716352469529542014-05-04T15:21:00.002+01:002014-05-04T15:25:44.689+01:00Completing Live Below the Line 2014 and the day afterI can't explain how charged the house felt on Friday evening as we neared our completion of living below the line. We danced round the kitchen, we chatted, we talked, really talked about big important issues. I felt enormously proud of the boys for being compassionate children who really care about others and seem to grasp the bigger picture.
Earlier in the day a heated discussion had broken outUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-64615680281583714402014-05-02T23:09:00.000+01:002014-05-03T09:01:04.465+01:00Live Below the Line 2014 - Day FiveWe're essentially there. It's 10 to 11 in the evening and I've popped round to my friend's for a cup of hot water. It's been emotional! :) So happy we've trebled our original target. We're at £600.00 and there are a couple more donations still to go on. People are kind! We've had great support from friends and family with really lovely messages spurring us on. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-91947458267821379972014-05-01T20:28:00.001+01:002014-05-01T20:28:19.587+01:00Live Below the Line 2014 - Day FourTable talk this evening was a bit crazy... Foods we want to eat. Fish and meat were high up the list. Youngest wants ice cream for breakfast on Saturday and maybe pancakes. Bacon was mentioned, a full English, something simple with a salad. Oddly I would actually like a green smoothie with fresh ginger in it. I never thought I'd say anything like that... EVER! I also want some fresh chillies and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-40222235259931897422014-04-30T20:19:00.000+01:002014-04-30T20:51:14.507+01:00Live Below the Line 2014 - Day ThreeToday I am tired and I don't want the boys to make lots of noise. It might have something to do with getting up before 6am to make flatbreads for packed lunches. I can't think straight and yet I have had enough to eat. Lack of protein maybe? The others have all had chorizo and cheese in their lunch today and they're all positively bouncing around. My husband felt the way I do now yesterday.
How Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-29191501477703761632014-04-29T17:34:00.001+01:002014-04-30T13:47:36.550+01:00Live Below the Line 2014 - Day Two - Action Against HungerThank you so much - with cash donations we're almost at £300.00!!! I woke up today feeling like I had a hangover. It definitely wasn't, I think I just didn't eat enough or drink enough water yesterday. I was worried we would run out of food later in the week and didn't want the boys to go hungry. It's going well so far. Apart from a small meltdown from youngest straight after school because he Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-1422708864663898442014-04-28T21:20:00.000+01:002014-04-28T21:20:23.662+01:00Live Below the Line 2014 - Day OneWOW! I've just spent two hours working out a per gram/ml unit costs of everything we've eaten today and the total came to. £2.97 and a half pence.
Breakfast:
Husband had cornflakes and a coffee
Youngest son had cornflakes and water
Eldest son had porridge and water
I had a savoury muffin and water. I needed to taste them... and I don't usually eat breakfast. I thought they needed seasoning and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-33605455173139492912014-04-28T11:28:00.002+01:002014-04-28T23:05:43.745+01:00Live Below the Line 2014 - planning and preparation
Right then, enough of the :( stuff, moving swiftly on.... Here's our shopping list. Oops! Sorry. It's been a long time since I blogged and I can't get the pic to come up. I'll sort it and have it up for later. (Mon evening now... Still can't load pic. Will add the list when I can.)
On Saturday, eldest son and I went shopping for our live below the line supplies. I've spent many hours planning Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-58903602399467280812014-04-27T17:04:00.001+01:002014-04-27T17:04:23.347+01:00Live Below The Line 2014 - why we're doing itI didn't mean to give up blogging, it just happened. We're re-instating the blog while we do Live Below the Line 2014. I love cooking for my family and friends. I love food full stop, which probably explains the size
of my ample bottom... Sigh! I started this food blog years ago, it was mainly
about the food we ate and also a little project we started to learn about other cultures around
the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-92147885157210157192010-06-16T11:38:00.005+01:002010-06-16T12:04:02.854+01:00Meat Free Monday, one year old alreadyWell done the McCartney's... We're not a meat free household, just making small changes where we can.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-1593153723179610772009-08-31T18:57:00.004+01:002009-08-31T19:29:07.769+01:00Spelt flour makes a pretty good chocolate brownieHello...! I know it's been a while.... :) Sharpham Park produce really fantastic things. I know this because my friend has been using spelt flour and other things for a good few years. Now produced by Sharpham Park and fairly easy to get hold of. Until this weekend I'd been a bit scared of using it myself but mid way through making brownies yesterday I realised we didn't have any normal white Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-36193806452945406582009-07-11T19:16:00.004+01:002009-07-11T19:25:25.990+01:00The elusive perfect life...Whilst I might sometimes feel that our life is far from perfect, wading through the quagmire of crappola. I should stop, smell the flowers and realise, remind myself even, that our life is indeed perfect.The boys ate leftover chorizo and wild mushroom risotto, added to which I cooked them a beautiful sirloin steak to share, 2 mins each side and then cut into strips...I'm now making bunting out ofUnknownnoreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-14743714973282671362009-05-31T22:00:00.006+01:002009-05-31T22:37:41.523+01:00Up - Disney Pixar style - a preview screening.It's weird. I have another blog, by another name that I've never written anything on... There are times when I want to write but I don't want to write about food so then I'm torn do I just write it all here or do I start writing on the other blog... Just a thought..................In the meantime this isn't food but for those in the South East of England, today was glorious. And (sorry I know Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-23501863694833920332009-04-30T08:06:00.002+01:002009-04-30T08:14:11.701+01:00Duck is not frugal foodNormally a medium size chicken can feed all of us and with a little stretching any last minute stragglers that turn up at feeding time... Plus the usual extra meals, possibly a sandwich or two, chicken stock or soup the following day. Duck just doesn't cut it and whilst very tasty I don't think we'll buy another whole duck. It barely fed the 4 of us, maybe it was just a weedy duck.... It also Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-58892297704714906472009-04-26T10:38:00.003+01:002009-04-26T10:59:54.737+01:00Cheese and Chive OmeletteLong ago I had to be in the mood for an omelette but now I quite like them for lunch and experiment with various different flavours. The household favourite is definitely cheese and chive. We always cook each omelette per person separately, then there's no arguing about doneness or who has the bigger portion.Cheese & Chive Omelette (for 1)2 eggssplodge of milk2 oz grated cheddarhandful of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-4665447861971867742009-04-15T23:09:00.006+01:002009-04-15T23:18:05.707+01:00Tinks the frog DOG that has totally captured my heart.I LOVE OUR LITTLE PUPSTER! The PupMeister, the Puppaluppy, she's one of a kind and has very much captured our hearts. Well, at least she's captured the hearts of Little, Small and myself. Hubs is yet to be captured, gumpy git! She had her little lady op yesterday, on the day I chose to take my God-daughter to see Marley and Me. If I ever had any street cred with that girl, I certainly don't have Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-12915313523729623132009-04-12T18:37:00.006+01:002009-04-15T10:10:32.020+01:00Soon there will be a DIET in the meantime, Lemon and Vanilla CheesecakeThis is the first time I've made cheesecake and I think it was a resounding success! It's always been one of those things that I was a bit afraid to make, something about the water bath I guess.Lemon and Vanilla Cheesecake from Olive Magazine via the BBC GoodFood Website.I did a couple of things differently, used vanilla extract instead of a seeds as we didn't have any vanilla pods, made a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-27841120390961517012009-04-12T10:40:00.006+01:002009-04-12T11:07:14.725+01:00Smoked Salmon Mousse - low (er) fatSmoked Salmon Mousse1 1/2 x 200g packs of light Philadelphia or other cream cheese250ml half fat creme fraiche250g smoked salmon3 spring onions washed and choppedHandful of fresh dill washed and choppedJuice of 1 lemonSalt and PepperPut everything in a processor and blitz until smooth, scoop into whatever you're serving it in then cut up thin strips of smoked salmon and place on top with a tiny Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-70047136785977426172009-04-11T10:29:00.007+01:002009-04-11T11:55:29.991+01:00I'm not sure we make good guests at a dinner partyRecently we went for dinner with friends from the village. It was quite simply the best meal I have ever eaten at a dinner party. Our hostess I now know is an amazing cook, her husband very attentive, especially when it comes to ensuring your glass is never empty. To top this they were great fun, and didn't seem to mind when some of us got rather loud and silly.To start we had a choice ofHot Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-33695938343349609462009-04-08T14:55:00.004+01:002009-04-08T15:26:18.441+01:00Kids Easter Tea Party MenuSomehow, and I think I may have even suggested it myself I've agreed to throw an impromptu childrens' tea party tomorrow. I guess it will be Maundy Thursday... Little and Small have put their requests in and we'll be having the following:Sandwichescucumber (of course)egg mayonnaisetuna mayonnaisemarmiteCakesSuper Simple Sort of Simnel Cupcakes (recipe below)Chocolate NestsEaster Biscuits which Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-53837490302342461592009-04-06T11:02:00.002+01:002009-04-06T11:18:22.832+01:00Mars Milkshake - Little Foodies versionBefore I begin it is the Easter holidays lest you get straight on the phone to the Children's Food Campaign or worse Childline.For breakfast we had crumpets and our version of a mars milkshake. Though Small often needing to do the opposite wanted porridge (and a rocket ice lolly)! Bad mother! Bad mother! Anyway, here's our version of a mars milkshake.You will need2 standard size mars6 generous Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-39055351732766118192009-04-01T16:15:00.000+01:002009-04-01T16:16:07.882+01:0038 years later and my Dad is still wetting the babies head!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-71792075793070980112009-04-01T00:01:00.003+01:002009-04-01T00:01:20.659+01:00It's no joke - I was born on April Fools DayIt would be lovely to share cake for real but in the meantime please take a virtual bite! Scroll down to the bottom if you're here for the April Fools joke...Here's coffee sponge with dark chocolate icing and white chocolate buttons and just chocolate to the right.Simple vanilla sponge with custard filling (creme anglais if you're posh), covered in melted chocolate and decorated with white Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-43069187302949799432009-03-29T17:57:00.003+01:002009-03-29T18:12:54.880+01:00The Best Yorkshire Puddings I've Ever MadeI was proud as punch when I opened the oven door to see the resplendent hugeness that was 12 yorkshire puddings. I was even prouder when for the first time ever they didn't sink. My mum had driven over 300 miles to eat them, even she was proud. We're all nicely full after lots of roast beef and all the trimmings.How did I make these great yorkshire puddings? Funnily enough using the American Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-56731369374720411542009-03-24T10:06:00.003+00:002009-03-24T10:09:02.114+00:00"Can I have moo turd on it please?"I love the funny stuff my kids say....Moo TURD on hotdogs - what an interesting thought!They've got adventurous palates but I think even they would stop at cow sh**!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897594868967248654.post-18966129255444711792009-03-15T16:37:00.005+00:002009-03-15T16:45:46.389+00:00Let sleeping dogs lie, while you drink tea and eat cake...Our very lovely puppy who is now 7 months. A beautiful warm day for snoozing on the patio.The cake : Nigella's mother-in-law's madeira cake, with the addition of poppy seeds. From the book - How to be a Domestic Goddess. The recipe can be found here on the Nigella website. While this cake was baking I said that I thought it was a bit laborious to make but how wrong I was, every mix with the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12