Cheese Muffins

Ingredients
175g/6oz plain flour
10ml/2tsp baking powder
30ml/2tbsp caster sugar
5ml/1tsp paprika
2 eggs
120ml/4 fl oz milk
50g/2oz butter, melted
5ml/1tsp dried thyme
50g/2oz mature cheddar cheese, diced

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5/ 170C fan. Line a muffin pan with paper cases.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, caster sugar and paprika into a large bowl.
3. In another bowl combine the eggs, milk, melted butter and dried thyme. Beat lightly with a whisk until thoroughly mixed.
4. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir together until smooth.
5. Place a spoonful of the mixture into each of the paper cases.
6. Divide the cheese equally into each paper case then top each with another spoonful of the batter.
7. Bake in the centre of the oven for about 25 minutes until risen and golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

These were nice, but next time I'll add more cheese and perhaps stir some grated cheese into the batter mix too as they weren't quite cheesy enough for my tastes.

Recipe from The Perfect Afternoon Tea Recipe Book by Anthony Wild & Carol Pastor.

Making a kitchen handbook - Part 1

For a while now I have kept a handwritten book of my favourite recipes in the kitchen. This has worked quite well, but there is more to the kitchen than just recipes. I wanted somewhere to record not just recipes but also shopping lists, cleaning schedules and more.
There are numerous blog posts online about home management binders and this is sort of the same thing, only I'm concentrating on just the kitchen for now.

The first step was to find a suitable place to keep everything. I decided to use an ordinary ring binder with plastic wallets. This keeps everything in one place and I can shuffle the contents about as needed (unlike my handwritten recipe book!).

For today, all I'm putting in there is information about the electrical equipment I use in my kitchen. I've put all of the instruction booklets in there and have also drawn up a cleaning schedule for the equipment.

The cleaning schedule is very straight forward, it is simply a table with a list of the equipment, how often it should be cleaned and how it should be cleaned.

You can download my cleaning schedule from Google Drive and edit it to suit your own purpose if you wish.

Ready for Christmas?

www.christmas-graphics-plus.com

With less than three weeks to go until the big day, many people are panicking about Christmas. I know a lot of people who really enjoy the festive season and love picking out presents for people, decorating their homes and really getting into the spirit of things.
Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people! Maybe it comes from working in retail over the Christmas period or maybe it's the fact that I'm not religious at all. But I really do not see the big deal about Christmas. People waste money they don't have on things they don't need. People work themselves up into a frenzy and panic about which mass-produced tacky gift to buy their aunt who they only see once a year.
Of course, a lot of people say that they don't want an extravagant Christmas, they just want to spend time with their loved ones and enjoy the holiday season. But how often does that actually happen in reality? This year I'm working everyday except Christmas day, and I know many people have to work on Christmas Day too.

My boyfriend has bought presents for all of his family, but I haven't bought any presents and won't be pressured into doing so. My family will understand my views when I explain that I don't wish to waste money on a gift for them that they'd probably never use anyway. I might give them a token gift such as some homemade cakes or a book that I know they want. But I refuse to buy gifts for someone just for the sake of it.

I also think that the amount of food that goes to waste is absolutely shocking! I work in a supermarket and I see people leaving with two trolley-loads of food. Of course, they might well have a huge family who they are having over for dinner. But do they really need all of that food? Nobody wants to be still eating Christmas food halfway through February so have a bit of common sense. If you are cooking for family, plan your menu and only buy what you need.

I didn't mean for this post to turn into a rant, so I will try to end on a positive note. This is the ideal time of year to do something charitable. Donate some of your unwanted gifts to a charity shop, give some food to the food bank or volunteer at a charity. Christmas can be a difficult time for many people and anything you can do to help would be a benefit.

Merry Christmas and enjoy those mince pies!

Meat Feast Pasta Bake

Meat Feast Pasta Bake

This delicious pasta bake is easy to make and tastes just like pepperoni pizza. You can eat it hot or cold. Makes enough for 4 people, with some left over. You can adjust the recipe to suit your tastes by adding more or less of the meats and cheese. You could also add vegetables such as mushrooms or peppers.

350g pasta
1 can condensed cream of tomato soup
125ml milk
100g grated cheese
75g sliced pepperoni
100g sliced chorizo
3-4 chopped rashers of bacon or lardons

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Put the pasta in a pan of boiling water and cook according to the directions on the packet.
2. Meanwhile, heat the chorizo, bacon and half of the pepperoni in a saucepan for about 3 minutes. You don't need any oil, just keep stirring to make sure the meat doesn't stick to the pan.
3. Add the tomato soup and the milk to the same pan as the meat.
4. Bring to the boil and stir in a handful of the grated cheese. Leave to simmer gently while the pasta finishes cooking in the other pan.
5. Drain the pasta and mix together with the sauce. Place the mixture in an oven-proof dish and top with the rest of the cheese and pepperoni.
6. Place in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until cheese is bubbling and golden.

Leave to cool for a couple of minutes before serving. You can serve it on it's own, or with a side salad and garlic bread.

Tips for maintaining a healthy weight

I'm very lucky and have never been in a position where I need to lose weight. I've maintained an average weight of 9 stone for the past 6 years. Here are some of of the things I do or have done that may be useful to anyone else trying to maintain their healthy weight.

1. Walk wherever and whenever you can. Walking is free and can be great fun too. Make sure you wear suitable shoes for walking in.
2. Always take the stairs. It might not sound like much, but if you always take the escalator or lift think of the extra exercise you could be getting just by running up an extra flight of stairs.
3. Take one less sugar in your hot drinks. If you take two sugars in your tea, cut down gradually to one and a half and then down to one. Eventually you could even go without any sugar in your drink.
4. Eat smaller portions or fill up on vegetables. For example if you're having sausage and mash and you usually have three sausages, try only having one sausage and give yourself extra mash if you're still hungry.
5. Take a packed lunch to work. If I don't take lunch with me I end up buying junk food out of the vending machine. It's much better to take a sandwich and some healthy snacks from home. This also saves you money!
6. Snacks are fine in moderation. I try to keep lots of healthy snacks in my cupboard. Dried fruit is a good alternative to sweet treats and crackers are a good alternative to crisps. Everybody is entitled to a naughty treat now and then, just try and limit yourself to one or two a day. Don't beat yourself up if you binge on chocolate once in a while!
7. Go for the low-fat options wherever you can. For example, today I had a reduced fat blueberry muffin instead of the full-fat version. I didn't notice any difference in taste. Do check the ingredients though as some low-fat foods contain other hidden nasties instead.
8. Know your size. Measure your waist and chest to make sure you are wearing the right size clothes. There's no shame in having to buy a bigger size, the important thing is that your clothes fit correctly and make you feel good about yourself.
9. Weigh yourself. You might not like the look of that number on the scales, but you need to know it, otherwise how will you know if you've lost or gained anything?
10. Enjoy life and love yourself. If you are happy and confident then it won't matter what size you are. Also if you're busy having fun you won't be sat on the sofa comfort eating that junk food!

Please note: These are advice only and may or may not work for you. Seek medical advice before making any drastic changes to your diet or lifestyle.

Online Shopping

I did a cheeky bit of online shopping today. I realized that because I've been trying to save money recently I haven't bought myself any new clothes in several months. Also, after decluttering my wardrobe and sorting through my underwear drawer I now have some space for new stuff!

I bought myself some pretty new underwear, a denim blouse and a new pair of trousers. I'll be posting a photo once they arrive (although not of the underwear! lol).

I enjoy shopping online. Not only is it easy to find a bargain without having to fight through crowds and wait in queues, it's also double the fun of high street shopping. First you get the initial buzz that retail therapy normally gives you, then secondly when your purchases arrive at your door it's like getting a present from yourself!

Just another day...

I've had a super busy day today. Firstly, this morning I had to go to work (yawn, right?). After I got home I had some Amazon sales to mail out, I'm selling things quite fast over there, although not really making much money yet! I then did a bit more decluttering, today I followed FlyLady's mission to clear out my underwear drawer.

I also had to do some college work. It's IT and I'm not struggling because it's hard, I'm struggling because it's too easy! My tasks for this week are to write instructions on how to create a new save folder and how to insert a picture and labels into a Word document. I used to help teach an over 50's computer class, so these tasks are a breeze, the problem is getting the motivation to do it.

I'm planning on making pepperoni pizza for dinner and then I'm going to sit down and have a read through my new issue of Mollie Makes magazine and maybe have a go at the cute fox brooch kit that came with it.