Two for the price of one

This week the challenge at CD Sundays is Through the Window. I  printed out a sheet of Jeremy Fisher toppers and two co-ordinating background papers from a freebie CD I got from Create and craft, a compilation of highlights from the Crafters companion Beatrix Potter series.

The topper sheet had two window-related pictures on it, one of Jeremy climbing out through his window and one of him basking on the windowsill reading his newspaper, and I couldn't decide which to use - so I used both!

The blue pearls I added to the blue card were actually natural ones that I coloured with peel off pens. I never seem to be able to find gems or pearls the right colour and my trusty peel off pens often save the day!

Meal Planning Monday April 11th

First a little look back at last week. Monday's Mozzarella and Pesto Stuffed mushrooms were a great hit - I'll be posting more about them later in the week but here's a photo to whet your appetite.

Tuesday's Mac'n'hock-aroni cheese was nice enough but not as nice as my own version of a classic macaroni cheese, so I'll probably not bother to make it again. The game casserole was, as usual, rich and unctuous and there was enough left for a weekend lunch which was a bonus. The star of the dishes I cooked last week was the Mexican Veg hash, which changed from the recipe in the magazine to one of my own, which you can read about here.

I have to thank everybody who has featured lasagne on their menu plans over the last few weeks - I'd not made it for months and months so it was a great treat to tuck in to.
Mark cooked on Saturday, two brilliant courses. I won't give away any secrets but the details will be on his blog on Wednesday and Friday - he usually posts late afternoon.
Finally last night's roast chicken. We usually buy a small free range organic bird but as I wanted to have meat left over for at least one meal, possibly two, I picked up a bargain large bird - a 2kg one for £6 - in the supermarket. It was a rather disappointing dry, tasteless bird. It's good to know that if were ever in straitened circumstanced we could  feed ourselves so cheaply, but I think we'd need to do a lot to improve the flavour if we had to buy chickens like that regularly. Plain roasting just doesn't bring out the best in them!

Now where was I? Oh yes, enough of last week, I'd better move on to THIS week.

Monday Chicken and mushroom pie with Brussels sprouts, carrots and new potatoes. I'll  make stock with the carcase and there should be enough meat left for one more meal.
Tuesday Chicken, ham and leek risotto using the last of the chicken and the home made stock
Wednesday Lamb Brochettes with apricot and pine nut couscous
Thursday tofu satay
Friday fresh beef burgers with home made onion bread rolls
Saturday/Sunday Mark cooking one day, the other day Nigel Slater's Pork and Beans

What are you eating this week? Come along and share your plans over at At Home With Mrs M

Lime and Black

This week's Less is More challenge is a colour challenge, using the colours Lime and Black.

My card today is so simple there really isn't anything to say about it, apart from one thing - sticking the delicate die cut down. I used tiny dots of tacky glue on the larger areas, but still ended up with some of it showing.

I've tried glue pens (they drag and tear the delicate areas and never seem to make a firm hold), spray adhesive (it gets everywhere, on the front of the die cut as well as the back, not to mention all over me!), Xyron (getting it off the backing strip means the delicate parts tear) and sticky dots (again, they drag and tear the delicate areas). The result is that I hardly ever use this beautiful die. If anyone can suggest an adhesive that actually WORKS on something this fragile, I'd be very grateful!

Mexican Veggie Hash - my version

If you read my Meal Planning Monday post last week,  you will see that Thursday night's dinner was to be Mexican Veggie Hash from the Good Food magazine.

However I got home tired and hungry, opened the cupboard and found that I didn't have the right ingredients after all. So I made up a dish of my own, partly inspired by the recipe, partly by the ingredients I had to hand and partly by a breakfast dish called Chasse which I first read about in The Pauper's Cookbook by Jocasta Innes.

This makes a main course for two hungry people or a light lunch for four.

Jane's Veggie Hash

1 medium onion, finely chopped
350g cooked, halved tiny new potatoes
1 small can sweetcorn
1 large can red kidney beans
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 large tomatoes, diced
4 medium eggs
1 ripe avocado, chopped
1 tbs light olive oil and a small knob of butter
½ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp dried oregano

Fry the onions in butter until soft  in a wide, shallow pan with a lid then add the potatoes and fry until browned.  Stir in the garlic and spices and cook for 1-2 minutes longer. Mix in the drained, rinsed beans and corn and heat through gently, then stir in the diced tomato. Make four hollows in the mixture and slide an egg into each, then cover and cook until the eggs are set to your preference- I like mine very hard which takes about 7 minutes. Sprinkle over the avocado and serve.

I'm joining in Mrs M's Recipe Link Party

A taste of orange

I don't often use sketches, but I couldn't resist this week's sketch at Random Acts of Creativity

This week's challenge at Ooh La La creations is Orange and Green, and I've used those colours  in the card I made from the skech

Meal Planning Monday April 1st

I've missed a couple of weeks because various comings and goings have made it hard to plan ahead. It felt rather strange to get up in the morning and not have a clue what we were going to eat that night, meal planning has quickly become a habit! So it's  great to get back into a routine again.

The first couple of meals have been inspired by the May (yes, already!) issue of Good Food magazine. Out of all the cookery mags I buy, this is always the one that makes me head straight for the kitchen.

Monday Crunchy pesto and mozzarella baked mushrooms I'm baking rye bread to serve with it and we'll add a tomato and avocado salad.

Tuesday  Mac'n'hock-a-roni cheese Mac and cheese with added ham hock and peas. Brussels sprouts and possibly baked tomatoes on the side.

Wednesday. Game casserole cooked in the slow cooker. Potato swede and carrot mash. Brussels sprouts if there are any left, otherwise runner beans from the freezer.

Thursday. I'm out babysitting all day so it needs to be something quick. If I get time to bake an Alsatian onion tart on Wednesday we'll be having that, and if not, Mexican veggie hash which is also from the Good Food magazine

Friday I keep reading lasagne mentioned in other meal plans and I've realised it's a long long time since we had it, so tonight's the night! I might make some tomato bread, from an ancient Keith Floyd recipe, to have with it.

Saturday/Sunday Mark will probably cook one of the days, on the other I will do a roast chicken and try to get a big enough one to make another meal from early next week. I have a longing for a chicken and mushroom pie!

I'm linking up to Meal Planning Monday with At Home with Mrs M

CD Sunday- Sugar and Spice

This week the theme at the CD Sunday Challenge is "Sugar and Spice". That made me think of girly things, as in the nursery rhyme, but also of baking. And  it was this lovely exhausted bear, worn out after a day of baking and no doubt sampling the results, from the Pickles and Podge section of The Best of La Pashe 2012 that caught my eye.

I made a shutter card - so very simple now I have a Hougie board (I could weep for the amount of card I wasted before I got that!). The blue cupcake  paper is part of the same printout as the image, and the pinky-red cupcake card is a Bazill one that has been lurking in my stash for several years.