Tag Archives: family favourite

Chicken and Smoked Sausage Alfredo Pasta

Posted in Parenting, Recipes, Useful by

It’s been quite a while my last post, and I thought it was about time I started blogging again.  I don’t think I could have chosen a better time than to post a new recipe!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

1 smoked pork sausage

1 courgette (for those who live in the USA, you would call this a zucchini)

1 small(ish) unsweetened double cream (Elmlea is perfect.  Again, if you’re in the US, you may call this heavy, or whipping cream)

A couple of handfuls of cheese – I used 1 handful of white Cheddar, and 1 handful of red Cheddar

1 small pot of garlic paste, or if unavailable, 2 garlic cloves – crushed / chopped…  Whatever your preference

A good shaking of smoked paprika

Pasta – I used five handfuls of fusilli

Tablespoon of olive oil – for frying

Method

  • Dice your chicken breasts, slice your sausage, and ‘stick’ your courgette.

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  • Add your pasta to a pan, and cover with water.  Put on the heat, on the hob.

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  • Warm your wok / frying pan up, and add the oil just as the pan begins to smoke.
  • Add the chicken, and fry until fully cooked, stirring occasionally.

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  • When the chicken has cooked, add a decent shaking of your smoked paprika, and add your garlic paste / cloves.

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  • Stir thoroughly, and allow the paprika & garlic to be absorbed just a little.
  • Add the sliced smoked sausage and sticked courgette, and allow to fry – stirring occasionally – until the courgette has started to soften slightly.

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  • Pour in the cream, and stir thoroughly.

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  • Ignore the look of it now…  It’s gone from “pretty” to a mess in less than 5 seconds.
  • Add the cheese – about half a handful at a time – and use the ‘lift & stir’ technique.  (If you don’t know what this is, it’s simple.  Push your wooden spoon / spatula under the mixture, then lift – as if you’re folding the mixture – then stir around, until all the cheese has melted.)

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  • Turn down the heat completely, and sort out your pasta…  I usually drain off the pasta, pour boiling water over it, then redrain.  Add a small amount of butter (small – ha ha!!) and stir until the butter has melted.

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  • Turn off the heat to the cheese sauce & meat mix, and add the pasta directly to the pan.

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  • Give it a good stir, then turn out in to a fancy (if you have one) serving dish.

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  • Help yourself, and enjoy 🙂  I served this with a couple of garlic baguettes, straight from the oven.  Yummy.

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Homemade Toad in the Hole

Posted in Britain, Frugal, Parenting, Recipes, Thoughts, UK, Useful by

Ooo, you’re in for a treat today, stalkers.  Today I’m making a ‘Toad in the Hole’ from scratch…  No cheating here!  I have even made the batter from scratch today 🙂

If you’re curious as to what a “Toad in the Hole” is, simply keep scrolling…  Or, you can always Google for pictures.  No, it’s not an actual frog in a hole…  It’s pork sausages baked inside a Yorkshire pudding.  And it’s so easy and cheap to make…  It’s also a family favourite.

Ingredients

8 pork link sausages

Oil (vegetable, olive, sunflower…  The choice is yours)

100g plain flour

1 egg

150ml water

150ml milk (full fat / whole milk is best)

Method

  • Preheat your oven to 220C (200C for fan assisted).
  • If required, separate your sausages, and line in the base of an oven proof dish, ensuring enough of a gap in between each sausage.
  • Drizzle about a tablespoon of oil over the sausages.

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  • Place in to the oven for about 20 minutes or so, until the sausages have started to brown.
  • Now it’s time to make the batter!  Sieve the flour in to a mixing bowl, and make a ‘well’ in the middle.
  • Crack the egg in to the well, and mix lightly.
  • Add the milk and water slowly to the flour mixture, stirring constantly.  I put the water and milk in to a jug, and poured in to the flour mix whilst using an electric whisk.  The mixture should be of a creamy texture when it’s all combined.

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  • When the sausages are cooked, quickly pour the flour mixture over the top of the sausages, and return to the oven for a further 30-40 minutes.

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  • The batter mix should be a lovely golden brown colour when done.

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  • Serve one its’ own or with a yummy gravy.  Enjoy x

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Golden Syrup Sponge

Posted in Frugal, Recipes, Thoughts, Useful by

After contemplating our finances, and wondering what we can do to keep our outgoings down, I decided that the cheapest way we can all have our cake and eat it too (literally) would be to make our own treats.

Here’s a gorgeously light and fluffy cake, that takes about 40 minutes from start to finish, and I worked out that it cost about 45p to make.

Ingredients

100g soft brown sugar

200g butter or marg, softened

2 eggs

2 tablespoons solden syrup

200g self-raising flour

Vanilla essence

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 170C (150C for fan assisted).
  2. Grease your cake tin and line the bottom with a sheet of baking paper, or line your cupcake tray with paper cases.
  3. Cream together the butter and sugar.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, golden syrup and a few drops of vanilla essence, then pour in to the butter-sugar mix.
  5. Using a large, metal spoon, fold in the flour, a small amount at a time.  To ensure a fluffy cake, sprinkle the flour from a height.
  6. Pour the mix in to your cake tin / paper cases.
  7. OPTIONAL – Sprinkle a little more soft, brown sugar or coloured sprinkles on the top of the cake(s).
  8. Place in the preheated oven for approximately half an hour, or until a skewer (or sharp knife) comes out clean.
  9. Allow the cake to cool slightly in the tin (approximately 10 minutes) before turning out on to a cooling rack (don’t forget to remove the baking paper from the base).

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Such a quick and easy recipe, and a major hit with the hubby and my Gning 🙂