ok, i know updates have been sparse lately. i've got lots of different things going on but mostly i'm just lazy. it's way more fun to eat the food than take pictures of it and write about it. i have been cooking up some awesome stuff lately though.

indian night

we're having guests over and it's my husband's birthday. for his special meal he requested indian food. i don't cook much indian so i dug around on the internet for some recipes.
indian style ice cream
if you've never had kulfi you are missing out. it's super rich and damn tasty. best of all it's stupidly simple to make. i poured mine into popsicle moulds. when it was time to serve the ice cream i plunged the moulds into boiling water for a few second and then used a fork to fish the ice cream out.
mods i made to the original recipe- skipped the nuts and used whole cardamom pods instead of powder. you can skip the pods too, they don't really add much.
pilau rice
the husband really likes pilau rice so i dug up a recipe and made him some. mods to the recipe: i used 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon because i couldn't be bothered to buy sticks. i didn't bother crushing the cumin seeds and i used 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme. tasted great.
samosas stupidly easy to make just very labor intensive. lots of rolling and folding and stuffing. i made these up the night before, deep fried them and kept them in the fridge. when it was time to eat i put them on a baking tray in the oven for 10min. mods to the recipe: i used frozen mixed veg instead of lamb. i cooked some onion and finely diced potato in a pan for about 10min, add 2 cups frozen mixed veg and followed the rest of the recipe. these turned out awesome.
i also did a couple dips for the apps.

sweet chili sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1 red chili
1 green chili

add the water and sugar to a sauce pan, stir and heat on medium. let the mixture boil away, it will gradually reduce and thicken. when the mixture coats a spoon and has the consistency of cough syrup, take off the heat to cool. deseed the peppers and thinly slice. add slices to the sauce just after you remove it from the heat.
ok notes about this sauce. it can be dangerous to make. boiling hot sugar water will burn the crap out of you if it gets on your skin. chili peppers are hot, use gloves or pay the price. make sure you wash your hands very well after touching them or you will be sorry. if you screw up and over cook the sauce like i did, don't worry. i let the sauce sit on the counter over night and it separated out. the chilies and some clear liquid floated to the top while the granulated sugar sunk to the bottom. i just poured off the chilies and liquid and it tasted fine.

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cucumber raita
1 cup of yogurt(i used greek)
1/2 small onion- as finely diced as you can
about 1.5 inches of cucumber finely diced like the onion
salt, pepper, mint, cumin, chili powder, lime juice
(i do all my seasoning my taste and sight.) mix the onion, cucumber with the yogurt. add the rest of the stuff until it tastes nice. start off with like  a tablespoon of mint and 1/4 teaspoon of the cumin and chili powder
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raita is good with samosas or as a veggie dip

stuffed chicken breast

ok, pretty easy stuff. i took a chicken breast and butterflied it. that's when you slice it in half but don't cut all the way through. the chicken breast looks like a book. i happened to have some left over sausage stuffing in the fridge so i piled that up on one side and then closed it up. i used a tooth pick to make sure the breast staid shut. i put a little oil, salt and pepper on the breast before i put it in a hot frying pan. i cooked the breast for a few minutes on each side just to get some color before putting it on a tray and sticking it in the oven for 15min to finish cooking. i cut it into slices before i served it to make sure the chicken was cooked.
the orange stuff in the middle is a mixture of sweet potato and regular white potato cooked up and mashed(butter, milk, salt/papper.)

spinach roll. i didn't take a picture of this dish, i just freaken inhailed it. soooo damn good. this thing is totally half assed. basically i needed to use up the spinach and couldn't be bothered to concentrate so i threw this together. you get two servings

1/4 bag of spinach cleaned(washed and i remove the stems)whatever you have leftover in the fridge looking sad and wilted
handful of feta cheese
phyllo dough( i use the premade stuff from the grocery store.)
sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, basil, garlic paste
chopped onion, chopped bell pepper
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saute the onions, garlic paste and bell pepper for about 10 min. add the spinach. spinach cooks quick
the phyllo dough comes rolled up, there are like 15 sheets. i unrolled the dough counted 5 sheets and then cut the 5 sheets in half. i rolled up the dough i wasn't using and stuck it in the freezer. so i had a square of dough 5 sheets thick. i brushed some oil on a baking tray and laid the dough down. in the center for the dough i placed my spinach mixture. i sprinkled some garlic powder and basil over top along with some sea salt and black pepper. i crumbled a bunch of feta on last. now for the tricky part. basically i rolled this thing up like a barrito. i folded up the top and bottom then i rolled it from left to right. with the roll coming to rest on the seam. since the tray was brushed with oil this got on the dough, saving me the trouble of having to brush it again before baking. i put this thing in the oven at 200degrees C and baked until the top got crispy and brown. 1/2hr or so? i wasn't paying attention.
note be careful with the sea salt. you just need a tiny bit if any. the feta is salty on it's own. i don't use salt much in my cooking so this was almost too salty for me.

oatmeal squares
2 3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup butter type substance
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 mashed banana
1 teaspoon cinnamon

grease an 8x12inch baking dish, preheat oven to 350

melt the butter in a sauce pan, mix in the brown sugar.
in a medium sized bowl mix the oats with the raisins, cinnamon. when the butter is melted pour the butter/sugar mixture over the oats. add the mashed banana and stir everything together. dump the mix into your greased baking dish. press everything down and bake for like 20min. take out from oven, cut into squares and eat. store in airtight container.
i made these this afternoon. pretty good. i'm going to see if i can get my toddler to eat them for breakfast since he no longer eats regular oatmeal.

yes, yes updates i know. right now i'm busy making and eating food.

all the stuff i made yesterday was a huge hit. the pulled pork in bbq sauce turned out awesome. the homemade coleslaw was excellent. today was more cooking, trying recipes off allrecipes.com
my son has turned 3 and become a picky eater, total nightmare. today i bought some quinoa to see if that would work for breakfast. i made a sweet version, looks a little like tapioca when done. he didn't like it so i ended up eating it. did a batch of my granola bars, he devoured a bunch of those so at least i have something i know he will eat. did a sausage and tomato sauce for husband's dinner and a batch of homemade granola cereal. will post up links tomorrow

slowly getting back into the swing of things here. restarting the $75 a week food budget on saturday. (this week i've been restocking supplies to normal levels. i haven't been keeping track but i'm probably at around $100.) my son got back from his vacation yesterday. i've been doing some cooking this week, trying out a few new things.
since my inlaws are here i decided to pull out the large chunk of pork i've had in my freezer for awhile. it kind of looks like an unsmoked piece of ham with a thick fat cap. i don't know what pig part it's supposed to be. anyway i'm doing pulled pork bbq sandwiches for dinner with coleslaw and i guess french fries. i've got my starter recipes off allrecipes.com and modified them.
pork: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southern-Pulled-Pork/Detail.aspx
bbq sauce: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Nanas-Barbeque-Sauce/Detail.aspx
now i guess the traditional way is to cook the pork separate and then add to the bbq sauce just before serving. we'll see how it goes. i have made the bbq sauce before- with my own additions and it turns out really nice and lasts ages in the fridge.
going to go with this slaw recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Moms-Coleslaw/Detail.aspx
i've got an ass load of cooking still to do and don't feel like bullshitting around with fancy slaw.
also doing a batch of granola bars today.

katsu curry from cook yourself thin

For the curry sauce:

• 1 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tbsp medium curry powder
• 600ml chicken stock
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tsp garam masala
• Salt and pepper

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1. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a small pan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes, then throw in the carrot pieces and cook slowly for 10 minutes, with the lid on, giving the odd stir occasionally. You want to sweat the vegetables until softened and starting to caramelise.
2. Stir in the flour and curry powder and cook them for a minute. Slowly pour in the chicken stock bit by bit until combined (do it slowly to avoid getting lumps). Add the honey, soy and bay leaf then bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes. The sauce will have thickened and taken on all of the flavours, although you still need it to have a pouring consistency. Add the garam masala, salt and pepper, then pass the sauce through a sieve. (if you like a chunky sauce so feel free not to strain it.)

lots going on. working on trying to make some money. reopened my etsy shop and started up a new one to sell vintage photo downloads. as soon as i get some drawing done i've got a 3rd shop lined up for those. it would be nice to get some cash to cover the trip i'm making in a few weeks. so food blog will take a back seat probably until after i get back from my trip.

just wanted to let everyone know the super talented beth over at hero design studio has launched her own cooking blog. she does a load of gluten free cooking. her food looks fantastic. so go check out tasty yummies

yes, yes, updates i know. i have been cooking and saving my receipts. lots of other stuff going on. in the past few days i have made: chicken finger, mozzarella sticks, BBQ pork chops, nachos and meat lasagna.

the inlaws are leaving this evening. i don't have to worry about cooking anything for them. i did make them a banana bread to take home with them, and a few others to give the rest of the family which live down the street: my brotherinlaw and aunty pat.(that's 3 banana breads) for my husband tonight i will make a chicken and veg stir fry served over noodles. quick and easy. not sure what i will have for dinner. i need to make a pot of veg soup but right now there is no room in our fridge or freezer to put anything.
went shopping today. i needed to get more walnuts for banana bread. i was very unhappy to see my local branch of julian graves is closing down to become a GNC. (gnc are their parent company, they also own the health food store holland and barret.) ugh. julian graves has the best prices on nuts, dried fruit and spices/seasoning. i am sooo annoyed. so i had to go to holland and barret to buy walnuts as graves was sold out of them. freaken £1 more expensive. i did stock up on a few things from graves since everything was 1/2 off and the guy gave me an additional 20% discount since he knows me. i bought a few things at tesco today too, baking stuff.
making a batch of granola bars later. first- nap.

no cooking today. we're having curry for dinner. we happen to live right across the street from one of the best curry restaurants in town. they make amazing food.

the guys are eating steaks at the pub. tonight i made a veggie lasagna for me and the motherinlaw. if you need instruction on how to do that check the tag labels that run down the side and click the lasagna one. it turned out awesome. i make good lasagna.

roast leg of lamb. i cooked this just like i cook every other big slab of roasting meat. i cranked the oven up to 210degreesC. i plopped the joint in my roasting tray and sprinkled montreal steak seasoning all over it. i then banged it in the oven for 20min. after 20min i took the roast out and put some water in the bottom of the pan. i turned the heat down to 150degreesC and put the thing back in the oven. i let it cook for 2 1/2hrs before taking it out. i cut the meat off the bone and let the meat sit covered in foil in the roasting pan until the men came home to eat it. by all accounts the lamb was delicious. there were no leftovers.
i checked the lamb once during cooking to make sure there was still water, it was looking a little dry so i added more water.

super busy day. my son is coming home from a 2 week break at my inlaws. that means my inlaws are coming for a visit. i've got about 3 loads of laundry to get done. on the plans for today: banana bread. roast leg of lamb with all the fixings(whatever they are) a pot of veg soup would be a good idea. to kick things off this morning i made a batch of homemade deodorant. quick and easy, so far i'm smelling pretty good and not sweaty. it appears to work.
make your own deodorant
busy busy. have i mentioned how much i hate cooking lamb. gah. banana bread first.

made apple fritters a few minutes ago. super easy and damn tasty. i used this recipe: apple fritters
i cut the recipe in half. i had two apples that i bought yesterday with big bruises. i used those. i cut them up in little cubes instead of slices. i then used the oil i had left over from yesterday's corn fritter project. i think i might strain the oil and save it for another project next week. i am thinking about making my own cheese sticks. yeah, that could be a good project.

dinner got a thumbs up from husband man. the BBQ sauce was voted tasty. corn fritters were a hit.

made this recipe:BBQ sauce
i did a little adding, it's still slightly sweet but has a kick at the end. i hope a few days in the fridge will really bring the flavors out. i'm going to use it later in the week to cook this huge hunk of ham i got for cheap last week. more about that when the time comes. i used a bit of the sauce for husband's dinner tonight- BBQ chicken breast. will let you know what he thinks.
i also made this:corn fritters

i actually didn't change the recipe at all. they turned out great. i ate a sneaky one. they're being served at dinner which is awhile off. i'll warm them in the oven when it's time to eat. i let the batter sit on the counter for like half an hour while i slowly heated up my frying oil. what a tasty way to use up the can of corn that's been sitting in my fridge for most of the week.