I absolutely accept that August is not the month to be doling out beef casserole, but, I've got nothing in the freezer by way of quick meals and today, with both little ones gainfully occupied, 'O' with crayons and a vast amount of paper, and 'H' being his beautifully normal routined self, I've embarked on re-stocking.  Normally with a pack of stewing beef I love to make Jamie's America (Jamie Oliver) Chilli-con-Jamie, which is just amazing if you've not tried it, packed with flavour and really robust, goes a long way too, which helps!  Anyway, with my littlest, 'H', having a tendency to rub his eyes whilst eating, I'm thinking that perhaps a chilli isn't the best way to go for a few months, and although I do love other Jamie casseroles, I thought I'd try an adaptation from Tamasin's Kitchen Bible.  I'm frugal, so my key change is to up the veg quantity so I can make more meals with the same amount of meat, and of course sneak those important veg's into my babies bellies!
Takes 11/2 hours, plus prep time, I've split mine between two tupperwares, so it will serve 4 adults and 4 toddler/babies.

1tbs olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped
2 large carrots, cut into fingers
1 celery stick, chopped finely
3 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
1tbs plain flour
1tbs tomato purée
500g beef, stewing steak, cut into bite-size pieces
1 can Guinness (440ml)
2 bay leaves
1tbs mixed fresh herbs, I used parsley, thyme and rosemary
1 strip orange peel
salt and pepper
2 large handfuls of frozen peas

  • Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic, fry till the onions are a little soft and get some colour.
  • Add the plain flour, continue to fry for a minute then add the tomato purée and the beef.
  • Slowly pour in the Guinness, add the bay leaves, herbs, orange peel and salt and pepper.
  • Bring to the boil then add the peas and transfer to an oven proof dish, cover and cook for 11/2 hours, or till the beef is all tender and falls apart.

I then transferred mine into two tupperwares to be popped into the freezer when cool, I hate having no frozen meals ready for those days when I really can't be bothered to cook any thing! 

I'd serve this casserole with mashed potato and probably some more veg, I quite fancy the idea of spinach with it.

 
I've had this half-a-packet of brown rice lurking in my cupboard for years, we rarely venture from white basmati or arborio, so tonight I thought I'd try and use it up.  As if to prove a point, the rice went out-of-date in November 2012, but who's looking?!  Anyway, Mum kindly gave me about 6 raw beetroot last week and I have a third of a block of feta to use so a quick google of beetroot and feta I settled on inventing a salad with the rice too.  Bear with me, I did not make a note of any quantities, I'll do a guestimate and make some completely uneducated suggestions...

The family verdict, I thought it was really tasty, Hubby was a bit put out by my sneaking in the celery but otherwise ate it without complaint, 'O' ate the rice, apple and cheese and 'H', as he does, shovelled in handfuls of whatever he could grasp (I left his feta in a large chunk).  So all in all, I cleared out some rice I would otherwise still be staring at, made a nutritious meal for the whole family!  Yay for families eating together.  It is also worth noting that I stripped both boys down to just nappies prior to eating... not worth risking the washing with beetroot!!
Takes 1hr (roasting the beetroot) though this can be done in advance, 25 mins for the rice and the salad veg can be prep'd whilst the rice is cooking.  Serves 2 adults, a fussy toddler and a baby.

4 raw beetroot
olive oil
1tsp fresh thyme and rosemary
salt
brown rice (I used enough for two generous adult portions)
1 stick celery
8 cherry tomatoes
1 apple
handful of fresh parsley and mint
juice of half a lemon
1/3 block of feta

  • To roast the beetroot, I washed them, left them whole, with stalks and all and put them in a small roasting tin, added about 1tsp olive oil, a teeny pinch of salt and the thyme and rosemary.  Popped these in the oven, heated to 180'c for about an hour.
  • When cooked, top and tail the beetroot, peel and cut into bite-size pieces.  Leave to cool.
  • Put the rice in a saucepan of water with another pinch of salt, bring to the boil and cook for 25mins.
  • Whilst the rice is cooking, finely chop the celery, apple, tomatoes parsley and mint, into a bowl.
  • When the rice is cooked, drain and add to the bowl of chopped veg.
  • Squeeze over half a lemon, stir well and divide between the serving bowls.
  • Add feta and beetroot to each bowl, and we're done!

Ridiculously easy, colourful and tasty.

 
For a few weeks now we've had 'O' waking in the middle of the night, sometimes a couple of times or more, crying and shouting for us.  When we've asked him what is wrong, he's clearly said that there are monsters under the bed.  Poor boy!  Poor us too!  I've had a good read in Jo Frost's - Confident Toddler Care, and she says to treat it seriously and take measures to get rid of the monster.  So we've tried clapping, saying goodbye to the monster, cuddles then back to bed and leaving the hall light on.  But it's not really working, well, it's definitely not working if we're still having to get up in the night to resolve it.  I don't mind the odd one, but a few nights a week and I'm starting to feel like a zombie again!  Has anyone got any tips?!

I've just bought a night light, I'm hoping that will help, fingers crossed for a quick delivery!  I'm also thinking of creating a drawing with 'O' to ward-off any would be monsters lurking...

Such a vivid imagination!
 
There is nothing quite like a rainy day to get me in the kitchen, I don't think I comfort eat as much as I boredom cook!  So today I made a rather exciting Chocolate Marble Cake. Delicious!  I'm honestly looking forward to eating this a little later with a cup of tea, and 'O' wants it for pudding.

Makes 1 loaf tin, and rises very well.  This can easily be frozen.

100g dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
120ml milk (I used whole)
110g butter or margarine (actually I used olive spread)
140g caster sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
55g crème fraiche

  • Preheat the oven to 150'c (I have a fan, so you may have to heat it a bit more if you don't), and line the loaf tin with greaseproof paper or Teflon.  My tip is to scrunch the greaseproof paper into a tiny ball, wet it and wring it out, it is now fully mould-able to fit your tin.
  • Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract together until pale and fluffy, beat in the eggs one at a time
  • Add the self-raising flour and baking powder, crème fraiche and 60mls milk, beat well.
  • Put half of the cake mixture into a separate bowl.
  • Melt the chocolate with the remaining 60mls milk, I did this in the microwave.  I heated for 30s on full, stirred, then another 20s.
  • Add the chocolate mixture to one half of the cake mixture, mix well.
  • Using one spoon for each bowl of cake mixture, blob alternating cake mixtures into the loaf tin, to create the marbled cake.
  • Cook for about an hour, or until a knife inserted through the middle comes out clean.  I had to put tin-foil on the top of my cake after 40mins to prevent it from burning on top.
  • Remove from the oven, leave to cool in the tin for about 10mins, then lift out of the tin using the greaseproof paper.  I found the paper peeled off easily, so the cake could finish cooling on the wire rack.