Baby Food! Butternut squash soup.

So this time has come. My baby girl weaning time!!! Say no to baby jars, cook and freeze your own soups, pastas and others.  I will help you with some ideas! Lets start with Butternut Squash Soup:

Thinly dice/slice:
1/3 leak
1/2 courgette  (yellow one)
1 large sweet potatoe
1/2 parsnip
3 carrots
Put them into a pan with tea spoon of unsalted  butter. And cover with boiling water (just cover the vegatables)

Half butternut squash, get rid of seeds, put into ovenproof dish, add a bit of good olive oil and bake for about 30minuts, 180C, until soft.  We will use just half for this soup.

When vegetables are cooked, add baked Butternut squash  (just spoon it out), ad handfull of freshly chopped dill and blend everything together. 
You can make it into mash, or leave some lumps for texture.

This can be given as one of very first baby food just after 6 months old. Its tasty, filling, have all the goodness of vitamins!

This amount will make about 8 baby portions.  You can freeze them and keep for approximately 3months in -18C.

Cream Of Broccoli And Pea

Today is hot and sunny day. Myself and lityle lady fancy something light and fresh for lunch.
Pea a broccoli soup sounded briliant. Its vibrant and so summery colour is very tempting that I just had to make it.

Ingredients :
-1liter of home made chicken stock
-About 2 handfulls of fresh broccoli flowers and same amount of peas

Pouched eggs and toast to serve

How to make:

To boiling stock add vegetables, bring to boil and simmer for 3minutes. Do not cover and overcook greens! Or soup insteaf of vibrant green will be muddy brown.
Blend and its ready!!

You can add a little bit od freshly chopped mint to top up freshness in red hot day.

Serve with pouched egg and toast.

It just couldn't be easier and more perfect for summer days!!

New Beetroot Soup, With Boiled Egg

Its spring time, I just love the freshness all around me! All new vegetables, makes all my senses to wake up after winter!!
One of my favourite taste od Spring and Summer is New Beetroot. Not the big ones, but this little, the ones that are sold together with leaves. This leaves are the best what this beetroot has!

Here is very Polish and very different soup, that you have ever tried. Its worth to be adventures with this, just because it is delicious.

Ingredients:

2liters of home made chicken/ vegetable stock
2 big bunches of New Beetroots, together with its leaves!!
1 lemon
Big bunch of fresh dill
New potatoes
One hard boiled egg per person
Large onion
Smoked bacon
Single cream


How To Make:

Boil the stock.
Peel beetroots*, wash and dice them into small cubes. Wash properly leaves and chop not to thinly.
Add beetroots to boiling stock, turn heat down and bring back to boil, but on low heat. When this will be boiling again add the leaves and juice from whole lemon. Simmer on very low heat until beetroot is nicely cooked. Season, add small cream and freshly chopped dill.
Separately cook new potatoes. Fry sliced into small chunks bacon and chopped onion.

Serving:

Into large serving bowl add potatoes together with fried bacon and onion. Pour over soup. slice egg into quarters and place on the top.

*Hint: when handling any part of beetroots use kitchen gloves, and slice everything on the plate rather than chopping board, as the juices are very hard to wash off.

Leftover Chicken Pie

How many times we have some leftover baked/cooked chicken. In my house always after Clear Chicken Soup/making chicken stock/roasting whole chicken or even just chicken tights we have leftovers. Not always a lot, but always something. 
As u all know already I really hate wasting the food.
Here is some little tip, what to do with leftover chicken meat.
Take small food container, that can be use for freezing, put the leftover cooked, peeled, chopped and cooled meat inside. Label the date on the lid and freeze. U can add to this more and more chicken, as long as its cold and cooked thru.  It doesn't matter if it's from completely different diners.  Its even better!! Just make sure you use within 3 months from the label date.

When coitaner is full/3 months anniversary is fast approaching make a beautiful pie!!

The Leftover Chicken Pie

Ingredients:
Chicken meat (about 2 to 3 mugs of Chopped mixed cooked chicken meat)
500g of muchshrooms
2 large leaks
3 large carrots
Half of mug of frozen peas
Half of mug of frozen sweetcorn (u can use peas and sweetcorn form the tin)
Large single cream (or more)
3 tablespoons of white flour
Ready rolled puff pastry
Splash of oil and few knobs of butter
Salt, pepper, nutmeg, chopped parsley
Egg (for egg wash)

How to make it:

To preaheted large frying pan add splash of oil and butter. Sweat chpped leeks, add chopped mushrooms seazon with pinch of salt and cook them, they will half the size.
When the water form mushrooms will disappear add meat and grated carrots, fry for a while. Add sweetcorn and peas. When there will be no water of the pan, add flour and stir well. Now its time for cream.
Cook for a while and seazon well with salt, pepper, few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg and handfull of chopped parsley.
It should be thick but still a bit runny. 

Transfer it all to ovenproof dish.

Beat one egg for egg wash.  Cover the dish edges with it and place pastry on top. Make sure it stick to the dish.
Put egg wash on top of pastry. Pirce with knife in few places so the steam can come out.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until pastry is nicely golden brown in preheated oven. Gas mark 6 (190/200C).

Nice midweek family dinner.

Brekfast Pancakes with Blueberry and Maple Syrup

Quite a while ago I was watching Nigella Lawson making pancakes with Blueberry and Maple Syrup, and told myself that I have to try it!!

Today I woke up with craving, for something sweet and comforting for breakfast!! I looked at my sweet little girl, ad I new!! Her name is Blueberry and I instantly new what I want!!
Decided to try Nigella syrup.

It came up delicious!! I am not a huge fan of Maple Syrup, but this combination, of hot, running Syrup, boiled with blueberries was so tempting!! And came up just delicious!

The portion is for breakfast for family of 3(well 3 and a half) : 1adult+ 1pregnant adult+1 toddler.

Pancakes:
3 eggs
1 mug of flour
1/4 of melted butter
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
some milk
and splash of oil for frying

Syrup:
1 mug of maple syrup
125g of blueberries

How to make:
Separate egg whites and yolks. Bit white stiff, add slowly biting all the time: yolks, sugar, flour, baking powder, and few splashes of milk, then butter,  and again some milk if its to stiff. The batter has to be runny, but not as for crepes.
Fry butter (we like hand sized pancakes, but you can make big ones) on moderate heat, on very hot pan with splash of oil, on both sides until golden.

In mean time boil maple syrup together with blueberries.

Serve all hot!!

 

 

Not So Baked Beans

Baked Beans are in English cuisine like rice in Asian, you just cant miss it.

Normally is a side dish.

Today I want to show you haw to prepare it differently. That much different that is the main dish on its own. Filling and delicious.

You have to put some effort and time, but believe me, its worth it!! Once made, you can freeze it for later. Because it take some time to prepare, I always make a big pot at once.

Ingredients:

1kg Dehydrated Butter Beans (you can find them on organic isles in supermarkets, or in shops with organic food. As well as in all polish shops "Fasola Jas")
1kg of good quality smoked sausage
250g of smoked bacon
(if you have, but not necessarily skin from smoked ham, that part that you do not eat, but is brilliant for cooking and giving a lot of flavour)
1large onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 tube of tomatoes pure
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
salt, pepper, sugar and dried marjoram (marjoram in Polish cooking is like thyme in English)

How to prepare:
Put Butter Beans into large bowl and cover them with cold water for at least 12 hours.
Before putting into large saucepan, you have to drain the leftover water and wash them in cold running water.
In large saucepan cover Beans with water, add the smoked skin in you have one, and a spoonful of salt. Cover and simmer for about 2 hour on low heat, until beans are tender. You have to stir it once in a while or it will burn at the bottom!!
In mean time slice bacon and fry it, till crispy. Put bacon away and on the same pan, fry sliced sausage, when its golden ad chopper onion and let it "sweat".
When beans are tender add all the friend meat with onion. Together with tin of tomatoes and tomato pure and simmer for another half an hour/hour. Do not forget to stir it once in a while.
Now its time for tasting. Press garlic in garlic press, add handful of dried marjoram and spoon of sugar. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.

This tastes the best "next day" when reheated.

Serve with fresh bread.

Loin Of Pork with Apples and Cheese

Different view on Sunday Roast? Fancy something easy, quicker than Sunday Roast, but still nice and suitable for all family?

Why not try Pork Loin baked with grated apples and cheese??

Ingredients
1 kg of fine pork Loin, no bone!!
4 big apples (peeled and grated)
greater cheese
salt and pepper

Slice pork loin into about 2centimeter slices and tender the meat with mallet. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Put meat into glass ovenproof dish, "like sardines in a tin". One on the other but still as spread as possible, so every single peace can be cover as much as possible with apples. Put grated apples over the meat. meat has to be cover with about 1cm layer.
Put grated cheese over the apples. Again all apples has to be cover, we like it quite thick, but you can put as much or as little as you like.

Cover the dish with kitchen foil and bake in pre heated oven (gas mark 6) for 35 minutes. Then take foil off and bake for further 15 minutes until cheese is golden brown.

Serve with roasted vegetables and mash potatoes.

Lasagne

Lasagne is very easy to make, takes some time to prepare everything form scratch, but tastes 10 times better than the one that you will buy ready made or use jars.

For tomato sauce layers I use the same sauce as for my Spaghetti Bolognese.
As for White Sauce, I use very basic recipe for béchamel sauce.
Then is just building layers :)
I always use dry lasagne sheets, and there is no need to cook them first.

How to Make:

Tomato Sauce

If you are using frozen one, heat it before making béchamel sauce.
Always make tomato sauce first, as it needs more time to prepare.

1/2 kg on mince meat (the best is beef, but pork or turkey will be good as well)
1 large onion
4 large cloves of garlic
about 300g of mushrooms (optional!!!)
4 tins of chopped and peeled tomatoes
splash of oil
salt, pepper, Provence herb mix and fresh basil (handful)

Heat oil on a large frying pan, bronze the mince meat and add onion and garlic with some salt. When onion will be golden add mushrooms, fry for a little while and add tinned tomatoes. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 45minutes (especially when its beef). Sauce will thicker, meat will be tender, it will bring out all the beautiful flavours. Now season to your taste with salt, pepper and lots of herb mix. When you turn off the heat, add freshly chopped basil leaves.


Béchamel Sauce:

1/4 of salted butter
2 glasses of milk
2  heap table spoons of white flour
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt and white pepper

In medium sauce pan, heat butter. Add flour and cook stirring all the time. Make sure it is well combined. When butter and flour will become nice and golden, add milk stirring all the time(!!). I am using whisk to combine those two together, sauce will thicker when it will boil, if its to thick, add more milk, if not enough, boil little bit longer.
When its cooked, turn the heat off, add nutmeg and parmesan, season to taste.
Use ASAP!!

Now it time to build layers: in rectangle ovenproof glass dish.
Put just a little bit of tomato sauce on bottom, then dry lasagne sheets + tomato sauce+ a little bit of white sauce + lasagne sheets + tomato sauce + grated cheese+ lasagne sheets + tomato sauce + white sauce+ lasagne sheets........up to the top!! on very top use just all the rest of white sauce and cover with grated cheese/mozzarella cheese.
Layers must be quite thin, then you will use all the pack of lasagne sheets.

Bake in pre-heated oven (gas  mark 5 or 6 /180/190C), first cover with chicken foil and bake for about 20 minutes, then uncover and bake for further 20 minutes, until golden brown.

After taking out form oven, leave to settle for about 10/15 minutes. Then it will be easy to cut and you will have nice layers.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti, everyone got their own recipe, some of you have your favourite shop jars sauces.

The base tomato sauce I always do in large portions, use some and freeze rest for later, not a big fan of jar, ready made ones, and this way I always have quick meal or sauce for lasagne. You will find that I use the same sauce for spaghetti Bolognese and for lasagne. Its easy to make, and its delicious!!

Tomato Sauce

1/2 kg on mince meat (the best is beef, but pork or turkey will be good as well)
1 large onion
4 large cloves of garlic
about 300g of mushrooms (optional!!!)
4 tins of chopped and peeled tomatoes
splash of oil
salt, pepper, Provence herb mix and fresh basil (handful)

Heat oil on a large frying pan, bronze the mince meat and add onion and garlic with some salt. When onion will be golden add mushrooms, fry for a little while and add tinned tomatoes. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 45minutes (especially when its beef). Sauce will thicker, meat will be tender, it will bring out all the beautiful flavours. Now season to your taste with salt, pepper and lots of herb mix. When you turn off the heat, add freshly chopped basil leaves.

Serve with spaghetti pasta and freshly grated parmesan cheese.  

Banana Muffins

This is "before shopping" treat.
Treat easy to make, quick and to use ripe bananas that no one like to eat raw. My lil lady some weeks will it 20 bananas per week and the other just 2. I have come up with quite a few recipes, what to do with very ripe bananas so the will not be thrown away. This is one of them:

 Ingredients:

3 very ripe bananas
1/2 mug of vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/5 mug of white flour
1/2 mug of caster sugar
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of backing powder
 (this time I have also added handful of white and milk chocolate chips)
Pre heat oven to gas mark 6 (190/200C)

Pure bananas with fork on the separate plate. In big mug whisk together eggs and oil (with fork will do). Sieve flour into big mixing bowl, mix with sugar, soda and baking powder. Add oil and egg mix and bananas. Mix it, just until you will not see flour, don't over mix it!! Add chocolate chips and stir them in.

Divide mix into muffin cases. If you have silicone one, there is no need of papper cups, just cover every cup with little bit of oil. Fill it to about 3/4 full. This will make about 12 big ones and 18 medium muffins.
Bake for about 20minutes

Muffins are very moist and everyone loves them!!!

Friday Macaroni Bake

Friday is normally my shopping day, that's why, on Thursday and Friday I am trying to use all the leftovers, from last shopping. I really hate wasting food!!

That's how this recipe came to life :) You can add and take whatever you fill like, mine will never be the same.

Todays version:

Ingredients:

-2 kinds of smoked sausage (Mine was homemade, not by me, back in Poland. But nowadays  you will find good smoked sausage in all supermarkets, Polish and German will taste similar)
/or you can use any leftover bacon, ham and meat that you have in your fridge.
-2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- some mushrooms
- 2 carrots
-large onion
-2 cloves of garlic
- grated cheese (if you have different kinds of cheese left, use it. I have used two types of grated cheese, it looks nicer. But you can also use some feta cheese/blue cheese/mozzarella etc.)
-pasta (I always have some opened packs of different kind, and this is perfect time to mix them and use)
-splash of oil
-salt, pepper and Provence herb mix (my favourite herb mix)

How to make:

Cook your pasta in salted water.
Fry sausages (other meat), when they will get nice colour add chopped onion and garlic fry for a while, until onion is golden. Add grated carrots and sliced mushrooms. Sweat them for a while, then add tinned tomatoes and a splash of water. Bring it to boil and season to taste.
In ovenproof dish mix sauce with pasta and sprinkle as much or as little cheese on the top as you like.

Bake in pre heated oven (gas mark 6; about 190/200C) for about 20 minutes, or until cheese will melt and become golden on the top.

Serve with side salad :)
Hope you will enjoy and change to your liking :)

Frozen Vegetable Soup With Lazy Noodles

Vegetables can be boring sometimes, but not in this soup!!
You will prepare it with no time, you can always have the ingredients ready in freezer.
Its healthy, its nice. My 2,5 years old lil lady loves it!!
Perfect for lunch, you can serve it with t-cake :)


Ingredients:
(for a big pot)
about 2 litres of chicken stock (perfect is the one form clear chicken soup)
1 bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables (peas, sweetcorn, carrots etc.)
bunch of chopped dill (can be frozen)
1/2 cup of double cream
salt and chilli flakes for seasoning

For "Lazy Noodles"
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of white flour
pinch of salt

How to make:
To boiling stock add frozen vegetables (both packs), let it cook.
In mean time prepare "lazy noodles" mix: combine eggs ad flour with inch of salt in a mug. The mix has to thick, but still a little bit runny, like very thick pancakes pastry.
When vegetables will be cooked, add cream. Pour Lazy Noodles mix on to the boiling soup. Thicker pasty will be, bigger noodles will form, mix well when pouring.
Allow to cook for a while.
Add dill and season at the end.

This is it!! As simple as that!!

You can also add tin of sweetcorn as well, if your child loves sweetcorn like my lil lady :)

Clear Chicken Soup With Noodles

The weather outside is awful. Cold and flu season on.
Below I will give you one recipe for mother of all soups. Soup that all polish grandmothers thinks has a magical power of healing. This is the soup that would be served as a starter for Sunday Dinner in its clearest way, or when you will be ill with all the "adds on", to build up your health.
Prepared on Sunday will be turned to soup of your choice for quick and healthy Monday lunch, as its perfect as a base.

You have to be patient with this soup, it might take about 3 hours to cook.

Its so important and well known in polish cuisine that it has its own name, never to be called "Chicken Soup" is called ROSOL.

ROSOL:
Ingredients for about 10l pot
1 medium chicken
1 large onion
2kg of carrots
1 bunch of celery or (as originally would be added) 1/2 of celeriac
1 large leek
2 medium parsnip
4 bay leafs
4 old spice
4 dehydrated wild mushrooms
salt and pepper for seasoning

to serve:
flat leaf parsley
dill
Fideo kind pasta (Short thin strands of pasta that are slightly curved. Fideo pasta is commonly partners with veggies and lean proteins to be used in various soup recipes).
/But the best would be home made pasta

How to make:

Place chicken in large 10 litre pan, cover with cold!! water, together with 5tsp of salt, bay leafs, old spice od dehydrated mushrooms. Bring to boil on low heat and simmer, uncover for another 30 to 45 minutes. There will be foam like appearing on the surface, take it off gently with a spoon.
In mean time: Peel the onion, slice in half and burn (yes burn) the surface on the hob or in the oven, just the surface, has to be black burnt in places. Peel and wash all the rest of vegetables.
Add them all (with burnt onion)to the simmering chicken after this 45minutes. Add more water if needed, everything has to be cover, but just. Simmer, uncover on very low heat until the carrots will be cooked thru.

Soup should be yellow in colour, rich in taste and clear with consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve always with pasta, garnished with chopped dill and parsley leafs and red hot  (as boiling hot, not peppery). Served like that is a very light starter, great before big Sunday roast.
You can also add cooked chicken, vegetables and have it as full meal.

This soup is great as a base for tomato/mushroom/cucumber/broccoli or whatever you like soup.

You can freeze the stock for later, as a base soup or later.

Use chicken for a nice pie.

Vegetables can be used as a adds on to your Sunday Dinner.

This soup always warms me up and remind me of Sundays back home.

Tagliatelle With Broccoli and Prawns

Another quick recipe. Ideal for lunch, or nice dinner for two. Although it has quite strong taste my Lil Lady loved it :)

Ingredients:
Tagliatelle pasta
500g of frozen king prawns
500g of frozen broccoli
1 triangle of blue cheese
1 large handful (or more) of grated parmesan cheese
2 cups of single cream
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper and some dried chilli flakes

How to make:

In large pan boil some water and season well with salt, add frozen broccoli, cook until they will be tender, put them to ice cold water. Do not drain boiling water. Add to the pan with water little bit of olive oil and add pasta. Cook and drain, leaving some of the water.

In mean time, chop onion and garlic. Fry them on large frying pan with some salt and chilli flakes until shinny, do not burn the garlic!! It will become bitter. Add to the pan frozen prawns. When they will defrost, pour cream and keep on the low heat. Cream must become to boil, then add blue cheese and parmesan. Blue Cheese must melt, for it to melt quicker you can divide it with fork while adding to the pan. Season to taste, add broccoli. If the sauce is to thick, add some water saved form boiling pasta.
At the end add pasta to the pan, mix and serve.

hope You will enjoy it as we did :)

Tuna Pasta Salad

Easy, takes no time to make it, delicious.

Pasta (about two large handfuls)
Tin of tuna (I prefer one in sunflower oil)
Tin of sweetcorn (I really like Green Giant one)
Few sundried tomatoes in oil
Half a bunch of spring onion
about two tbls of good majo

Cook pasta as it states on the package.
In large salad bowl add tuna (with oil), drained sweetcorn, chopped sundried tomatoes and spring onions.
Add cooked pasta mix well with mayo, season with salt and pepper if it needs.

You can serve it with jacked potato, garlic bred, t-cake or have it on its own.

Perfect for evening snack or  lunch box to work :)

About Me

I am a working mum, I know how sometimes it can be hard to find time to cook filling, healthy and delicious meal for your family. One day You have no time, the other day much more.

In here I will give You some easy meal ideas as well as festive, more complicated ones. Meals for all the family. As I am coking for my family, which is: Husband, Daughter 2.5 years old and Me: Pregnant and foodie :) Hope You will find something yummy for Yourself as well.