Number 18

Morning all :) 

As promised I am back and am very pleased to announce that I have weighed and lost a further 3.5lb this week - so that gives me a total of 22lbs lost altogether - yey!! I am very close to having lost 10% of my total weight and I hope to have got there before I go back to the doctors in the next couple of weeks.

In blog post Number 6 I ranted on about how disgusting people are for throwing their litter onto our beautiful countryside - well yesterday we all took the first step to cleaning up where we live and embarked with litter grabber, poo bags and a black bag to see what we would find. Unfortunately we didn't manage to complete one of the circuits I mapped out as once we got a third of the way our black bag was full so we returned home to try again tomorrow. How awful is that! about half a mile walked and a black bad filled to the top with bottles, beer cans, crisp packets, cigarette ends and all sorts of other rubbish that people couldn't be bothered to throw in a bin. It made us all very cross but there was a wonderful silver lining to our outing...

Stanley the slow worm. Yes, I know we already have two dogs, two fish, and a guinea pig but my children completely fell hook, line and sinker for him. He is a male slow worm (which we were very pleased about as the boys had already named him Stanley before we checked), he is about 12" long, silver/brown in colour with blue specks on his tummy, he has eaten a worm and a slug since yesterday and is very happy in the vivarium I created for him. 

Don't worry folks, we came home and googled for around an hour to make sure it was ok to keep him, how to look after him and make sure he was happy and comfortable - we are responsible owners for all our pets! The boys are besotted and spent around 4 hours cuddling him yesterday afternoon - even Mathew my squeamish son!

So yesterday I blogged about food and recipe's and it had a really good response so I thought I would give you a couple more of the menu item's recipes to change up your BBQ menu's.

The first is the marinated Chicken kebab recipe...
To make 4 Mango Chicken Kebab's:


1/4 cup (60ml) of olive oil
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 pinch of white sugar
1 skinless chicken breasts, fat removed and cut into bite-sized pieces
Pinch of salt
2 mango's, peeled de-seeded and diced
4 kebab skewers

In a plastic container or a food bag mix the olive oil, orange and lemon juice, brown and white sugar. 

Add the diced chicken breast pieces and ensure they are thoroughly coated, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight if you have the time to spare.

Heat your BBQ or grill to a high heat.

Season the chicken with the salt and then thread onto the skewers, alternating between chicken and mango.

Discard the marinade!

Lightly oil the BBQ grate/grill rack to avoid sticking and cook the kebabs for around 15 minutes or until cooked through on all sides (you'll have to turn the kebabs often).

MMM I am super hungry just thinking about those kebabs! Only a few days to go... So the next recipe I shall share is my stuffed mushrooms. These are so yummy, and as I use small ones they are perfectly bite-sized and very more-ish!

For 8-12 cheese and bacon stuffed mushrooms:


3 slices of streaky bacon cut into lardons
8 - 12 mushrooms with the stalks removed and kept to one side
1 tbls of butter
1 finely chopped red onion
90g of grated mature cheese

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees or 180 if fan assisted.

In a frying pan add the streaky bacon and cook through.

Remove the hard end of the stalks and discard, then finely chop the stems

In a saucepan over a medium heat add the butter mushrooms and onion and cook until the onion is soft and not too coloured.

Remove it from the heat and add in the cooked bacon and 2/3 of the grated cheese.

Mix well then spoon evenly into the mushroom caps.

Place the mushroom caps onto a tray and bake for around 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbling.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle the remaining cheese onto them.

Don't they sound good? So pudding wise I'm not doing too much as I don't want to be over tempted but I do use a lovely recipe for hot cross buns that I will be making so thought I should share with you too. I can't take credit for it however as it is not my own but in fact Delia Smith's :) hehe - so here is a link to her site with the hot cross buns recipe:

Delia Online - Hot cross buns with a sweet glaze


Right off I go again :)
Hope you have enjoyed once more.
xxx

Number 17

So to begin a little update on the healthy eating...

I have now come to the realisation that there is not much I don't actually like, as an example yesterday I tried coleslaw for the first time and it was LOVELY! Having always thought that I didn't like raw onion or cabbage, then thinking well I actually quite like raw onion now and coked cabbage is nice too so yeah I'll try it, and what do you know I really liked it!

The biggest obstacle I have however is even though I like these things my head still say's no. So I am constantly fighting against it which get's to be a bit annoying! On the better side though I now have more things to try and I have been assured that my home-made coleslaw is the best so I am to try that next time I make it.

Yes I am aware that I am a little weird!

Ok... a lot weird :D

So to today's post and I am pleased to announce that I have finally come up with a concept for the story book - I won't say any more as yet but it looks cute in my head!! hehehe.

I have also decided (in the hope that the weather is nice) to have a BBQ next Saturday with all the family - Mum, my step dad and my Nanna, Robs sister and my best friend Elin, her lovely boyfriend tricky and our nephews Sion and Owain and of course my hubby and gorgeous boys! If I can too, although logistically it might be a pain, I would like to get Stephen and Christopher - Robs younger brothers - down too. I thought I would share with you some of the food I am going to make and their recipe's so maybe you can BBQ along with me, or use them for your next.

Menu

Red pepper beef burgers

Normal beef burgers

Minted lamb burgers

Marinated chicken kebabs

Pull apart cheese and bacon bread

Moroccan couscous

Mushroom rice

Jacket potatoes

Cheese and bacon stuffed mushrooms

Potato Salad
Quiche

Coleslaw

Chicken goujons

Sausages and fried onions

Tortillas

Honey and mustard Dip

Sour cream Dip

Salsa

Mixed leaf salad

Hot cross buns

Easter themed cupcakes

Easter nest chocolate rice krispie cakes

Fruit salad
Fruit Punch

I don't buy my own burgers any more as I find the home-made ones so much better, healthier and tastier. So to start here is a recipe for my red pepper beef burger - they are so yummy, one won't be enough!

To make 4 quarter pound beef burgers:  (can also be used to make 8 smaller burgers)                        

1 lbs of fresh lean minced beef 

2 pinches of salt 

2 pinches of black pepper

1 tablespoon of dried parsley                                         

1 tablespoon Smoked paprika

1 finely diced red pepper                      

1 finely diced red onion

1/2 a teaspoon of Chilli powder

A good squirt of tomato ketchup

Combine everything together in a bowl, mixing well.

Divide in half and then half again.

Using cling film underneath, roll into balls then flatten with the palm of your hand (if you have a burger press use it now).

Cook in a medium heat pan or grill turning once until cooked to desired pinkness - rare, medium, well done.

Serve on a fresh roll with mayonnaise and mixed salad leaves.

I will also share with you the pull apart cheese and bacon bread recipe - which is something new but oh so good!


1 un-sliced loaf - a bloomer would be best
220g of thinly sliced cheddar cheese
100g of bacon lardons
115g of butter - melted
2 tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried rosemary


Using a bread knife, cut diagonally across the top of the loaf but not completely to the base, then again in the opposite diagonal direction.
Place the slices of cheese in-between the cuts and sprinkle the bread with the bacon lardons (then push them into the cuts).
Mix together the melted butter and dried herbs then pour over the bread.
Wrap the entire loaf in tinfoil and place on a baking sheet.
Bake in the oven at 180deg or 160deg in a fan assisted oven for 15 minutes.
Unwrap and then continue to bake for a further 10 minutes.
Serve whole and invite guests to rip off chunks.

Finally for today I thought I would share with you my fruit drink/punch/smoothie recipe's - I have two and both are sure to be hits with the family! The first is a strawberry based one an the second is peach based.

To make 3/4 servings of strawberry surprise (for the kiddies or the drivers)

2 Cups filtered water

1 Tablespoon of coconut Oil (this doesn't add flavour but simply added for it's nutritional values - it can be omitted if you would rather)

1 tbls of maple syrup

2 tbls of freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 Cup Kale (large handful)

225g of frozen strawberries

A handful of blueberries

Simply put all the ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth - sever over ice with a slice of strawberry on the edge of the glass, oh and a curly straw!

To Make 3/4 servings of Peach Fizz (for the adults that aren't driving!)


4 fresh, ripe, halved and pitted peaches or 2 tins of peaches in juice
1 cup of diet lemonade
4 shots of vodka
Lots of crushed ice!


In a blender add the peaches and lemonade and blend until smooth - try it and if you find it's not sweet enough - add a little honey.
Fill 4 glasses with crushed ice. 
Pour a vodka shot in each glass and then fill up with the blended peaches/lemonade.
Serve with a slice of peach on the rim of the glass and maybe a cocktail umbrella!


So these are my recipes - and an insight into how I like to do BBQ's in the our little house. I would love to know if you have tried any and liked them so feel free to comment in the box at the bottom of this or any of my other blog posts.


I will be back tomorrow with some decorated table and house ideas for BBQ's and also it is weigh day so fingers crossed for a good loss this week. I have been good, promise!


Right a morning of cleaning has passed and now I am off to write some scribbles down for the story books...


Bye lovely readers!! 
xxx