Weekends were made for...

Exploring with friends...

Running through gardens...

Swimming in rivers...

Lounging in the porch...

Starting a new project...

Bonding with family...

Enjoying a 'double-yolker'...

Scoffing cake...

Pulling funny faces.

This weekend has been the best.

'It will not always be Summer; Build Barns'

 {Title quote by Hesoid... Who also wrote 'Do not let a flattering woman coax and wheedle and decieve you... she is after your barn.' He needs to calm down REF: Barns}

We've been fanning the flames of DIY here at Derbyshire Towers recently, from Chicken Palaces to Glitter Jars. We've been thrifty, handy and cunning; producing some pretty nice bits of furniture and ornaments and fully taking advantage of the brilliant weather we've been having!

My top favourite has to be the beautiful rustic farmhouse table and benches my husband made at the weekend.

It's high up, sturdy, and has that homely rustic country feeling that sits so well on a warm Summer's evening. We had friend's over for an evening last week and the extra space for food and drink was well received. 

 Not to mention the extra room for well-fed stomachs to expand.

Initially I wanted to decorate the entire inside of the gazebo with these tissue paper garlands... but then I remembered that I'm a Mother who barely has the patience to put my pants on, let alone sit for hours twisting and tearing paper, life's too short.

These looked so pretty fluttering in the breeze though.

I made my handy-hubby {ew to the word 'hubby' but for alliteration's sake I'm sticking with it} a really special dinner to sit on his table, home-made pasta using eggs laid that morning from our three girls. You can't get fresher than that... except for the fresh watercress and parsley I used to make the simple sauce.

Gone are the days of Ikea and Argos, we've taken it upon ourselves to build new furniture and refurbish the old stuff worth saving, flat pack is out, individual custom-made pieces are in!

Lazy Baking

I am not, and never will be, a good baker.

I am not a domestic goddess who can whip up cakes and biscuits and muffins that look like they belong in a shop, I'm a good cooker of meals, but not sweet treats!

If I ever get a sudden crazy urge (and the time) to make cakes I usually reach for the old packaged pre-made stuff... you're always guaranteed a good, moist, sponge and pronto!

Betty Crocker is always a reliable old gal to go for, simply follow her instructions of

'add water, oil and eggs'

and you've got yourself some cakes.

 Decorating, however, takes longer... especially if you eat half of your decorations whilst waiting for the sponge mix to cook and cool.

This is what you will need!

I went for an Easter-style theme, lots of brightly coloured eggs and lovely spring wafer Daisies give the cakes a very seasonal look!

I love the new design for Betty Crocker's packaging! It looks so much better than the plain red they were sporting before. I think they're embracing the retro throw-back sort of look, which goes well with my kitchen, so no complaints from me there...

After following what Betty says to do in her instructions (I'm not going to tell you how to read instructions) you're left with a beautiful, spongey cupcake that is as light as air!

The next, and more fun part, is to decorate them! 

Decorating them took FOREVER.

I think I'll only make one type of cake rather than two next time, decorating that many became boring and monotonous after the first four cakes.

I did see quite a lot of my Husband at this point though, who 'helped' by eating half of the Popping Candy.

After roughly about THREE HOURS from start to finish I've concluded that I neither have the time, nor the patience for baking.

Yes, the cakes came out lovely, and I shall enjoy putting on the 5lbs from eating them all, but I much prefer cooking dinners, where measurements are not certain and you can throw caution to the wind.

I shall leave the fancy cakes to the professionals and part with my money that way instead!

Love, 

Laura xxx

Accidental Discovery!

So this is actually a post about laziness and accidents.

I firstly wanted to make mini-quiches... but couldn't be bothered to make pastry.

So I then decided to make 'No-Pastry-Quiches' and try to fob it off as being healthy and calorie-conscious rather than me being a LAZYBONES.

Then they actually turned into delicious fluffy souffles. All's well that end well I suppose, but here's how I achieved it, without the all the cheating and failing it took to get there!

I'm getting quite good at using up my leftovers, you could chuck anything into this mix as long as it contained eggs. I had Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Pesto leftover from dinner with a friend the night before, and the two eggs from the night before that, so everything pretty much needed using up fast!

Firstly, I beat two eggs into a bowl, added salt and pepper then chopped my chives and tomatoes into the gloopy mix. So simple, so quick. Two minutes = Done!

Next, I grated the leftover Mozzarella into the mix, which was surprisingly difficult, I would have saved more time and washing up if I'd just torn it into little strips with my hand. 

Good to know for next time though!

Once your ingredients are all combined, grease your little individual pots with butter, or margarine and fill with the mixture.

Bake in a tray, in an oven pre-heated at 200 degrees for (roughly) 20mins.

I don't know why I was so surprised to see that these had risen to such a great height (the photo doesn't do them justice) and why, for all of the yolk they contained, they had ended up so fluffy and light... but I wasn't going to complain!

Not a gourmet-looking souffle but a damn tasty and simple supper that kept me full for ages! I struggled to finish one.

(I managed to eat the second one in the morning though!)

Light but filling, delicious with any ingredients plonked in it and only half an hour to make and cook; this is such a lovely supper, especially with salad, chips and a dollop of coleslaw!

Enjoy!

Love,

Laura xxx

App of the Month!

I was Vegan for a year before I fell pregnant with my daughter, for personal reasons (I vomited up everything I ate) I reverted to Vegetarianism, but now I feel myself edging toward Veganism again. 

I miss the way it made me feel, yes a big bar of milky chocolate makes me feel good... whilst I'm eating it, but it's nothing compared to the feelings I got ALL the time from eating fresh and healthy foods...

Especially food that is cruelty-free, but that's a discussion for another day and another blog post.

I spied this app whilst flicking through recipe recommendations on the app store, the hot pink avatar did well to attract my attention, as did the cheery chirpy face of Sarah Kramer holding a bowl of my favourite fruit of all time!

Whats more, it was free, and I do enjoy free things!

The first thing I loved about this app is how neat and well designed it is. 

The bar across the bottom helps you to navigate from the meal you fancied, to specific recipes, videos and any files you wanted to save as your favourites.

There's even a handy little button you can click to add all of the ingredients from a particular recipe into a little shopping list for you that you can take to your supermarket, rather than having to write down and lug around a huge separate list.

The recipes themselves are laid out in such a way that makes reading the a delight. 

Bright, captivating pictures of the dish immediately make me want to lick the screen. This soup looks amazing!

Sarah adds little recorded notes into each recipe, to give extra tips, the lists are clear and even link to separate recipes on how to make your own flavorings, butters etc.

Even if you're not a Vegan, or even a Vegetarian, I encourage you to download this lovely app. It's full of such delicious healthy recipes, that would suit the budget and waist-line of any health conscious soul, or penny-pinching dieter.

I wish I had more time to cook all of these recipes, but I will be slowly making my way through this app, throughout my transition back to Veganism!

Love,

Laura xxx

Pudding!

Whether through choice or through allergies, dairy-free and egg-free puddings can still be delicious! This is one of my favorite quick and easy puddings that uses up a lot of leftovers.

Rich, sweet, soft and crunchy at the same time, this is such a homely and comforting dish for this time of year.

(For those of you who read my 'Veggie Pie' recipe, you'll know that I'm not big on measurements and specific instructions, so it's all done by eye and taste!)

The ingredients are either readily available in most people's cupboards or can easily be attained, the bread pictured here was stale but not quite off and the strawberries were beginning to soften. A great way to use up old fruit!

I didn't have enough almond milk to soak my bread in so I added in some soya cream... oh my goodness, I don't know why I didn't do that sooner!

Butter both sides of your bread, cut in half and arrange so that the fill an oven-proof dish (grease the sides so the edges don't burn or stick). Sprinkle through some raisins or currants and squish down.

Half-fill a bowl with Almond milk, Soya cream, some Strawberries and a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar and whisk together... this mixture tastes like heaven!

Pour the mixture over the bread and squidge (real word) it all together so the bread soaks up all of the milk, it should be lightly swimming in a sweet almondy bath.

Sprinkle a handful of the brown sugar over the top to form a sweet crust then pop into an oven (about 190 degrees C) for 10-20 minutes, until the edges are golden.

This is the easiest and cheapest pudding and so delicious! It's also delicious cold, but better hot and steamy!

The strawberries are a sneaky reminder that Summer is only a few months away and that the cold nights will soon end, so enjoy hot comforting meals when you can!

Love,

Laura xxx

Mmmm Pie!

It may not be the fanciest looking thing in the world but I love this recipe! My Mama made this pie for me when she stayed at mine to help with my new baby, so the pie embodies everything that is homely and loving in my life, so I thought I would share this SUPER simple and cheap recipe.

It feeds four people... or my Husband in one sitting. 

(Disclaimer: There is no actual recipe for this pie, so there are no measurements or any accuracies like that, it's all done by eye, but it's really easy!)

As well as what is written in the picture above, you will need; Some sort of milky drink (I use Almond milk) and butter for the white sauce, salt and pepper, a vegetable stock cube, garlic oil and ready-roll puff pastry.

Chop up your veggies and extras!

Fry off your onions, mushrooms and extras in a heavy-based pan until they're lovely and brown, then remove from the pan and fill it with boiling water from the kettle (saves time!)

Boil all of your veg in one happy little veggie-Jacuzzi and leave to simmer until the contents are nice and soft.

(Excuse the state of the milk pan, apparently 'dishwasher-safe' does not mean 'dishwasher-safe' these days.)

Next, make a Rue. Add a couple of tablespoons of butter into a pan and melt, then add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it forms a sort of tacky plasticine. This is when you add your milk, little by little, until the butter and flour has dissolved to make a deliciously creamy thick sauce. Add your stock cube to the sauce and stir in.

Mix your sauce and veggies together then transfer into an oven-proof dish, roll your ready-made puff pastry onto the top of the dish and put into a moderately hot oven (190 degrees) for 20-30 minutes!

Like I said before, it's not gourmet and you won't be seeing me on Masterchef in this lifetime but it's delicious and comforting and so so SO simple and quick to make.

Enjoy!

Love, 

Laura xxx