Today has needed cake, I have spent in all in a sleep deprived fog looking after a toddler who is full of cold. I am so exhausted that I tried to open our front door by pressing the unlock button on our car key, and I tried to put a box of cereal in the fridge. You know those days where your brain never wakes up so needs a constant supply of sugar & caffeine to get through the day without walking into a wall?! Yeah that!
Anyway I wanted cake.....actually I
needed cake, but had zero energy or motivation to make one! Luckily about 6 months ago thanks to the wonders of
Pinterest I discovered that there is such a thing as a microwave brownie in a mug! The original recipe I used was from
here, but I found it to be too dry. So after a bit of tinkering I have come up with my perfect Brownie....and it literally takes 2 minutes from start to finish! It's pretty life changing for a cake lover!
If you want the recipe to be vegan just omit the chocolate chips.
This is perfect for days when you fancy something sweet but are running low on supplies & I personally think it's as yummy as any shop bought desert & costs about 20p to make! This serves 2 people really, but don't feel bad if you eat a whole one to yourself.....we've all done it before!
Enjoy!
**I have used proper measuring cups for the ingredients not the mug just in case people think it's a 1/4 of the mug. That would be a massive cake though! :)
Microwave Brownie Recipe:
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of golden caster sugar
1/4 cup of self raising flour
3 heaped tsp of coco powder
2 tbsp of sunflower oil
1/4 cup of warm water
Pinch of salt.
To mix it up a bit I add one of the following to the mixture, depending on my mood:
1tsp cinnamon ( for a more wintery feel!)
A handful of white chocolate chips (for those days when you want it really sweet!)
1 tbsp of sour cherry jam (for a black forrest brownie)
Method:
1: Get a large microwavable mug. Add all of the dry ingredients & mix well.
2: Add the oil & water and mix until you have a smooth cake mixture.
3. Add any of the additional choc chips, jam or spices now & mix in.
4. Pop in the microwave on high for 1.5 minutes.
5. Serve with cream or ice-cream if you fancy or eat it straight from the mug.
Enjoy!
As I have mentioned before, I am totally in love with using my slow cooker. Time is limited in our house, especially in the evenings so I really like to have dinner ready with as minimal fuss as possible. Especially lately as I have been teaching a lot in the evenings so I need sometime that can be ready for the Mr (who can cook toast & oven chips......nothing else!) to have with Henry for dinner. Also when I am tired after trying to get stuff done around the house, running after Henry & sorting out Homemade mama stuff the temptation to get takeaway is strong.....but our bank account can't afford such a luxury! If dinner is already cooked in the slow cooker this problem doesn't arise, meaning we save money & still get a delicious dinner...win, win!
Anyway I love mexican food, burritos especially, but always find the process of cooking black beans a bit laborious! However I decided to see if I could make a 'cheats' burrito in the slow cooker.......and it worked!! It was delicious! I have frozen a big pot of it as well as it was quite a hefty serving.
Because the whole point of this is for it to be quick & easy I served it with 'microwaved' rice, but next time I may try adding rice to the beans for the last hour of cooking to see how that works out.
So here's the recipe.
Enjoy!
Preparation time: 5 minutesCooking time: 5-7 hours.
Serves 4-6 people
Ingredients:1 large onion1 red pepper1 orange or yellow pepper1 green pepper2 cloves of garlic crushed250g of black beans (soaked over night)1 pint of boiling water1 teaspoon of chilli powder1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper1 teaspoon of smoked paprikaLarge handful of fresh thyme stalks1 tablespoon of Soy Sauce1 heaped tablespoon of Smokey Chipotle paste. (optional)
1 small tin of sweetcorn (drained)
Method:
1: Chop the onion & peppers & add them to the slow cooker pot along with the balck beans and crushed garlic. Stir all the ingredients together.
2: Add the chilli Powder, paprika, cayenne pepper & thyme to the pot & Mix
3: Stir in the boiling water & Soy Sauce.
4: Cover & cook on low for 5-7 hours depending on your slow cooker.
5: Just before you serve the beans add the chipotle paste, sweetcorn & season to taste.
6: Serve in tortillas with rice, salsa, guacamole, salad cheese & Sour Cream
I feel like I haven't really been on the internet in weeks! I haven't blogged, and I've barely tweeted or used Instagram which if you follow me on either you'll know is quite out of character. The brief times that i have been online, especially on Twitter i have been overwhelmed with the support and caring messages that people have sent! I haven't managed to reply to many of them but every single one was greatly appreciated and has been a boost to my very low spirits! So Thank you to my lovely followers you are all amazing!! However apart from catching a few minutes to tweet on my phone I haven't had time to have any real online presence lately, in fact I'm at the point where I cannot remember the last time that I just sat back and relaxed.......Me time just doesn't exist anymore! Don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning about it, and I know it will pass soon enough but I have struggled to keep up with the demands of life lately. In between looking after a very poorly toddler, trips to hospital & the doctors, sleepless nights, feeling poorly myself and then running knitting lessons I have fallen behind with everything! Emails have gone unanswered, blog post remain unwritten & I've done next to no promotion for my upcoming knitting classes and don't even get me started on housework!
I was only just starting to find my feet and get in to a good routine as a self employed Mama when Henry got ill and I feel a little bit like all of my hard work has been undone. There have been several times over the last few weeks where it's all got a bit much and I've questioned whether it is possible to balance being a stay at home Mama and trying to start your own business......there are no sick days, no parental leave to look after children & there is no nursery to drop Henry off to when I need to get stuff done. I have wanted to cancel all my lessons and just tell people that I can't do it anymore! I can't keep up with trying to promote the lessons, doing admin, and teaching while looking after a very clingy poorly 17 month old. Add this is the stress and worry of seeing your child suddenly get really ill and not knowing how to fix it & what you get is a Mama who has cried ALOT lately!
I also get quite scared when I get this tired & run down because tiredness has always been one of my major epilepsy triggers. Whenever I have been run down in the past it has had a direct effect on the number and severity of seizures that I have had. So I have to remind myself that even though things are tough i need to look after myself especially so even though I'm tired and can't be bothered to cook I know I have to carry on eating (especially as I'm breastfeeding so much to make up for the lack of food in Henry's diet!). I thought i would share with you the recipe for one of the few meals that Henry & I have enjoyed over the last weeks! They were vegan banana pancakes......if i'm being honest the only reason they were vegan was because I had run out of eggs & couldn't be bothered to go out & buy some more!
Vegan Banana Pancakes:
Ingredients:
175g Self Raising Flour
50g Cornflour
220ml Soya Milk
1 large or 2 small ripe bananas
1 tpsp Vegetable oil
1 tbsp Maple syrup
pinch of salt (optional)
1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together
2. Mash up the banana with a fork then add the soya milk & oil.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients & stir well until fully combined.
4. Add 2 heaped tablespoons worth of the mixture (per pancake) to a hot oiled frying pan frying on one side until air bubbles start to form in the pancake & underside appears golden in colour.
5. Flip pancake & cook until golden on other side.
6. Serve with lots of maple syrup!!
Anyway I hope you enjoy the pancakes & I hope to be blogging a bit more over the coming week as I'm sure things will improve for Henry health wise very soon! xxx
Hello Again!
I've been a bit quiet on the blog this week as it's just been really busy, but at the same time nothing really blog worthy has happened. I've spent the majority of my time fighting off a cold whilst trying to appease a very grumpy teething toddler and trying to sort out everything for my knitting lessons. I'm a pretty tired Mama at the moment if I'm honest. All of this has meant that I have been having some serious cake cravings lately......sometimes only cake will do!
As you all know I have been trying to cut dairy out of my diet as much as possible to help with my PCOS, and as a result I have been experimenting with Vegan cake recipes to try and find make one that tastes as good as non-vegan cake. And I'm feeling quite chuffed with myself as I think this Lemon Cake recipe that I threw together really is the best vegan cake I've tasted! It's 100% vegan, 100% easy and 100% delicious! If you fancy a low fat cake option you can't go wrong with this lemon cake, it really is worth a try!
Vegan Lemon Drizzle Cake:
Ingredients:
275g Self-Raising Flour
200g Golden Caster Sugar
1 tbsp Baking Poweder
zest & juice of 2 lemons
100ml Sunflower Oil
150ml water
150g Icing sugar
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160℃/ Gasmark 5
2. Put the flour, baking powder, sugar and Lemon zest in a bowl & mix well.
3. Mix the water & Oil together in a jug, and then slowly add to the dry mixture, stirring the mixture well until fully combined.
4. Place into a lined loaf tin & Bake for 30 minutes, until golden & cooked in the centre.
5. Once the cake is cooked, take it out of the oven & stab it with a cake tester/ chopstick/ fork all over the top of the cake.
6. Mix the icing sugar & lemon juice together well & pour over the top of the cake while it is still hot. Leave the cake in the tin to cool.
7. After about 20 minutes take the cake out of the tin to finish cooling. Then eat it when ever you're ready!
We have been feeling a little under the weather in our household over the last few days. I was too poorly yesterday to make it in to the city centre to visit the food Market which is on as part of Bristol'd Big Green Week. I love that Bristol is so environmentally friendly and that there are so many fantastic ethical restaurants here such as The Ethicurean & The Thali Cafes. In our household we aside from being vegetarians we also make every effort to shop locally and to eat with the seasons, because not only is it better for the environment, it is cheaper & the food tastes so much better!
I started to feel a little better last night & really fancied some clean fresh tasting food & this is what i came up with for our dinner: A warm green veg & new potato salad with Mint pesto. Everything in this dish is in season now and if you are anything like me you'll have plenty of mint in your garden right now........it's loving this wet & occasionally sunny weather we are having & growing like mad! As i'm still being quite strict with my PCOS diet this is another dairy free, low GI recipe so it's pretty damn good for you. Enjoy!
Warm Green Veg & New Potato Salad with Mint Pesto:
Ingredients:- For the Salad:
- 600g New potatoes
- 1 large bunch of Asparagus
- 2 Courgettes
- 100g Sugar snap peas
- Lettuce leaves of your choice
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- a handful of pine nut kernels
- For the pesto:
- 2 generous handfuls of fresh mint
- 50g of unsalted Cashew nuts & pine nut kernels
- 75ml Olive Oil
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- Salt & Black Pepper
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves 3-4 adults.
The Warm Green Salad:- Preheat oven to 200℃.
- Halve the new potatoes, place on a baking tray & drizzle with olive oil. cook in the oven for 30minutes.
- Wash all of the green veg.
- Chop the courgette into long chunky strips & cut the thick ends off of the asparagus.
- Drizzle a little olive oil in a pan & fry off the greens until tender.
- Add the pine nuts to toast. When browned, turn off the heat & squeeze lemon juice over the veg.
- Place a lid over the pan while you prepare the pesto.
The Pesto:- Remove all of the mint leaves from the hard stems & wash under cold water.
- Put the mint, nuts, olive oil, lemon juice in a food processor & blend until smooth. Season to taste.
- Take the potatoes out of the oven & serve in the centre of the plates. Place salad leaves & green veg mixture around the edge.
- Drizzle with pesto & enjoy!
