M.I.A

Currently we are decorating the kitchen,YIPPEE!

It was last decorated just before our wedding back in 2013,it was a dreadful yellow which wasn't a decent shade and we have double arches which were painted a hideous orange colour what I mixed myself as I couldn't find anything I liked.It sucks when you have shitty eyes what don't see colours the way others do as you tend to get some disasters with things clashing or just are simply horrendous.

Anyhow we are roughly about a 1/6 of the way through it now, when I say "we" I actually mean Leigh as he's been doing it, all I've done it paint 4 doors basically.Oh nearly forgot that I painted all the cupboards, we went from that shitty light brown wood colour to Duck Egg Blue on the bottom cupboards and Crushed Almond for the wall cupboards.I used Wilkinsons cupboard paint which was a dream to use and went on very well with a little gloss roller, highly recommend the stuff.


So Leigh is currently doing the wallpapering which is a start/stop affair as he works full time and the little kids torture him on a weekend.We are hoping it'll be finished in the next couple of weeks.

Posts on here will be scattered about as they basically are now but I will post when I have time/remember!

Bargain of the week!

This weeks bargain is 7 bottles of this lovely shampoo for £1.40! Thats right your maths is correct they work out at 20p each. I have seen them in Asda selling for £4 and home bargains for £3.49,I got these off the reduced items end of aisle shelf in Asda.There was only these 7 bottles so yeah I was greedy and took them all, no fucks given!

It's a really good shampoo and smells lovely, it is for blonde hair which I don't have but I have two blondes and two gingers what will use it.It has those illuminating thingies in it what make your blonde hairs more vibrant, cant say I've noticed any difference in the kids hair after two washes with it.My hair is dyed due to the dreaded Grey hairs so I reckon this would fade and strip the dye out much quicker than just my regular shampoo.I only use 28 wash out hair dyes, so I'll only have to buy shampoo for my usage over the next few months.Hurrah!




It's always worth checking out the sin bin/bargain basement/reduced shelf for a good bargain, its not all dented tins and taped up washing powder boxes.

Hazel

Sweetcorn Harvest!

Wow! I was totally amazed by how well the sweetcorn turn out,I was expecting maybe two full cobs and not a great deal of anything else.They were planted out late in the planting season so that was the biggest mistake I made,I'm positive that if they had been started off and planted out a month earlier I would of have even more success but what I did harvest was fantastic.

So next year I shall be doubling the amount of seeds started and a lot earlier, will also need to prep the area of the garden where I will be planting. I can use the same space I used this year and just extend it as sweetcorn is a crop where you don't have to be so concerned about crop rotation. I have already bought my sweetcorn seeds from Wilkinsons in the sale, there is 3 varieties which I cannot remember and I'm too lazy to get off the sofa and have a look.I'm not concerned about cross pollination so there will be no need to mess about covering the individual tassels with a paper bag.



Harvested cobs fresh from the plant, complete with a few spiders and earwigs!

Husks removed,those are some delicious yummy kernels!

S and N ate a couple of cobs raw which were only partly pollinated and didn't have many kernels on them, they couldn't wait to chop on them.Didn't even rinse them under the tap,soon as the husks were peeled off they devoured them.They are super sweet and fresh completely different to what I've had from the supermarkets.All the cobs have now been washed, bagged and in the freezer ready for use.

Roll on next year for hopefully a bumper crop.

Hazel.

Busy Busy Busy

Haven't looked at the blog for a while now as I am forever distracted, suppose thats what happens when you have a home to manage and kids to look after.
At the moment we are slowly decorating the kitchen,I've been on painting whitework duty which I hate I might add!
We need to get some more tiles around the cooker to extend them up to the coving, then theres the ceiling to paint a couple of times,the boiler to tidy up as some of the white paint has chipped off and rusted.It basically looks a mess the whole kitchen and I cannot stand the crappy yellow and orange painted walls, why I decided on those colours I'll never know? I know why because I wanted to cover the shitty brown colour what was here when we moved in.It was the colour of poo,hideous! At least I know someone has worst taste in decor than me.

It will be all done shortly, its just finding the time and the energy to do it.


Gunna finally harvest the sweetcorn we've been growing tomorrow so hopefully I'll add photos to the draft post I've already done and get that published by the end of the week.

My oven is fixed!

Thankfully Leigh had a tinker with the back of the oven and messed about with some wires and clips and hey presto my oven now works!
I'm so pleased,I've been lost without it as its a huge oven and I can do some great batch cooking in there without waiting around for one little tray of stuff to cook before I pop the next one in.I had been using the oven program on my microwave so you can imagine the size of space I had.Most of my baking trays didn't even fit so it wasn't suitable for the long term but I managed for those few weeks when needed.

Hopefully this time the oven continues to work like a dream.

Leigh made homemade Samosa

 Last week Leigh made some keema samosa's which were delicious and pretty easy to make.He used a simple keema recipe with added peas and boiled potatoes,Google is great for recipes but I've found Facebook groups are also very good for authentic recipes.Just search for Indian cooking/recipes and there is lots of groups what love to share and encourage others to cook in a more traditional way.


                                                         Keema recipe
                                                         
                                                  2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
                                                  1 pound of onions, sliced
                                                  2 teaspoons of salt
                                                  2 teaspoons of pepper
                                                  1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
                                                  2 teaspoons of garam masala
                                                  pinch of ground cinnamon
                                                  1 1/2 teaspoons of hot chilli powder
                             1 pound of minced lamb (any minced meat can be subbed)
                           2 medium potatoes chopped into small squares, boiled till tender
                                                  1 large handfuls of frozen peas



Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, add the onions and fry till golden brown and tender, add salt, pepper,cumin,garam masala, cinnamon and the chilli powder for 2 minutes.Add the mince and gently fry for 20 minutes on a low heated not drain and stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.Add the cooked potatoes and frozen peas and carefully stir into the mince mix and cook for 1 minute.Remove from heat and let it cool down before assembling the pastry cones.
       

The Samoas dough is a very simple pastry

250g Plain Flour

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

1 egg, separated 

9 tablespoons of warm water

Mix the flour with the salt in a bowl, work in the oil and egg yolk with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs.(egg white needed later so don't ditch it) 

Mix the warm water gradually into the flour for a stiff unsticky dough, you may need a dip more water depending on your flour.Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.

                                                   

 Pastry should be rolled out thinly to about 3-4mm,take a side plate and place onto rolled out pastry and cut round it to for an even circle, cut this in half.Take one half and make a cone, make sure the edges are closed well, we used the egg white as a glue as well as pressing the edges together to seal.Spoon the filling into the cone but don't over fill you need about a 1/4 space.Brush the top edge again with the egg white glue and firmly press to seal.It is important to have a good seal on all the open edges so they don't break apart when deep frying.

Sealed Samosa's can now be deep fried on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until golden brown, drain on some kitchen roll for rid of excess grease and then enjoy!

These are good in the fridge for about 3 days but they never last that long here, we like them hot but also they are ideal for picnics/packed lunch. You can choose many different fillings, could even do a sweet fruity version.

    nom nom

Sweetcorn!

First time growing Sweetcorn this year and WOW its amazing! Food from a little seed with just some dirt,water,sun and a little love.

I planted 30 seeds which 25 germinated,Leigh accidentally chopped one down when he was trimming the grass so we now have 24 really healthy looking plants.
I have spent time each dry morning pollenating them once they grew the tassels and silks, so hopefully they will be full of kernels with no large gaps.
Each slik thread is a little corn kernel so its important to help with the pollination rather than totally rely on the wind.Sweetcorn is wind pollenated so no benefit to the bees sadly but it has amused me to get out there and pollenate.The spiders love hiding in there, those funny looking ones with the large ball shaped bodies and massive long legs.Luckily spiders don't bother me but I do hate it when I find an Earwig,cant stand those things and will happily stamp on them,Ewwww


A few photos at different stages, sadly I didn't take any photos when they were really small.
  

Growing stronger by the day

Complete with tassels and silks

Silks waiting to be pollenated 

Close up of the silks

                                                             
                                                       Ripening ear of corn


Hoping to harvest a couple in the next few weeks,I'm glad they have grown at different rates as I can lengthen the harvest time without having to freeze a load in one go.
This is something we will definitely be doing again and possibly twice the amount.

Must Remember!

I keep forgetting about the blog and I need to get my finger out and upload some photos to add to some posts I have in draft.
I just get side tracked and when I do finally remember about it the kids usually want something so the laptop gets closed. Just like its going to happen now!

I will be more reliable at Blogging,I will be more reliable at Blogging,trying to convince myself here 😁

Homemade chicken curry, rice and nann.

Made my usual Chicken Korma curry for tea the other night, really simple recipe which takes roughly half an hour cooking time and about 10 minutes prep time.I used to buy the ready made Korma's from Asda as none of the kids like the curries Leigh or I make as they are too spicy for them but this is much better than Asda and the kids wolf it down.
Recipe below.

                                                        Chicken Korma simmering

                                                    Finished Korma with boiled Basmati Rice

                                                      Nann Bread proving

Finished Nann Bread

Recipe for Chicken Korma

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts,cubed

200ml fresh double cream

1/2 pint of chicken stock

2 medium tomatoes, peeled 

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

4 teaspoons of sugar

5 tablespoons of Korma curry spice

4 tablespoons of butter or oil

Method

Take the cream out the fridge and leave on the worktop to come up to room temperature.

Make the chicken stock, can either be homemade or by using 1/2 stock cube.

Heat wok or suitable pan on a medium heat, add oil or butter, once heated add the peeled and chopped tomatoes including the seeds.Stir well, then add the tomato puree, cook for 3 minutes.Add the Korma curry spice and the sugar and mix well, cook for a further 3 minutes.Add the chicken and stir well, cook for 2 minutes then slowly add the cream bit by bit continuously.Add the chicken stock and bring heat up to a boil.Once boiling reduce heat down to a simmer and place lid on pan,cook until it starts to thicken, this usually takes about 20 minutes. If curry is not thick enough then remove lid and simmer for a bit longer.

Nann Bread Recipe

Ingredients

250g Strong white bread flour

sachet of yeast (7g)

5g of salt

160ml warm milk

tablespoon of olive oil

Method

Warm milk to blood temperature,pour into a large bowl or mixer, add the yeast, flour,salt in that order and kneed for 5 minutes.Place a damp tea towel over the bowl and leave to prove for at least 1&1/2 hours.

Pour olive oil onto the worktop and empty the bowl of dough onto the oil to stop it sticking, cut into 4 pieces, roll into balls then flatten to about 1/4 inch.Heat the skillet or large frying pan to a medium/high heat, place one nann in the skillet and cook until coloured on that side then flip over,cook until both sides are a nice deep colour.This takes a couple of minutes each side.Serve warm.

Hope you try this,all those ingredients were bought from Lidl.

Hazel.

                                                                                                   

Homemade weedkiller update.

Well the weedkiller did work but I don't think I used enough to totally eradicate all the weeds as a couple of them are still alive, mainly grassy bits.
So I will be making some again probably next week and redoing it.I didn't have enough to do the neighbours driveway either so that'll be done next week too.

Was it worth the effort? I say yes as it wasn't really hardworking or time consuming at all,I had the water, cheap salt and vinegar in away so it was also cost effective.

Sadly there is no photos of the before and after the first treatment but hopefully there will be with the second treatment.

Quick update of the update!

I never got round to doing the drive or the neighbours drive, other things got in the way and I kinda forgot all about it.What I will say is you must remove the weedy bits or they will miraculously grow back,I obviously didn't use enough salt to permanently kill off the roots but I know for next year now.



 Hazel.

Homemade Weedkiller

Today I have made a natural weedkiller for those pesky weeds on the drive,Leigh occasionally scrapped them up when he could be arsed when cutting the front lawn, which wasn't often.

So I got my largest pan out and filled it about 3/4 the way up with water,I imagine it would be roughly 4 litres perhaps? I put it on the gas hob to heat,I do this as I don't have an electric kettle so all water heating is done on the hob. I added a full bottle of White Vinegar and two large containers of cheap table salt.Gave it a good mixing while it was heating up, once at boiling point I turned the heat off and let it naturally cool off enough to be able to transfer into a spray bottle.
I just use an old cleaning product spray bottle washed out because I'm too tight to buy a spray bottle.


I gave all the weeds a good squirt of the salt mix,hopefully enough to get down to the roots to kill them off permanently. I did this while it was sunny this morning but it has become a little overcast now so I'm praying it doesn't rain.
Later on this afternoon after I do the school run I'm also going to give the weeds a vinegar spray,as a secondary hit on those pesky weeds,They will DIE!

I shall update the progress soon, fingers crossed it has worked.I was suppose to also do my Neighbours drive but I ran out of the mix,I will make some more next week and do hers.

Hazel.

Photos?

I seem to be having problems getting photos on here,I'm not great with technology but I do try.I have tried to upload photos from my phone into photo bucket which shows them fine but I can't copy and paste any links for some reason? Or when I put my phone on the laptop it shows that the photos are uploaded into iCloud but when I click the "photo"icon on here the new photos are not showing?
I'll work it out at some point,photos do make blogs that much more enjoyable.

Hazel.

Yummy Bargain!

Went to Asda yesterday and a bargain caught my eye on the extremely small reduced section, chocolate!

I usually just buy the Asda own brand whole nut chocolate, which is nice but not as nice as Cadburys chocky.I won't eat Nestle or Galaxy chocolate,both taste like crap to me. Anyway my usual whole nut chocky bars costs £1.20 each,I found some bars with a good few months date left on them for 59p!
I assume there is going to be a change in packaging (with the usual price rise) or they are going to be discontinued as there was non in the usual place and the SEL was missing.

My yummy chocky

I love this Chocolate,until I start my health eating regime that is as I'm a fat bloater.lol.   I love food! I mean who doesn't? I love cooking from scratch and do admit my kids sometimes eat Yellow/beige food! Oh the shame, nah balls to it, they are fussy buggers and I'd rather they eat crap food the odd one or two days a week than starve.They have a cooked school dinner so I'm not worried like some of the snowflakes Ive come across on the internet of kids not having a hot meal every day.      

Tonights tea/dinner/evening meal,whatever you call it? I call it Tea,so tonights Tea is Homemade Chicken Dinner Leftover pie, with Broccoli and Jersey New Potatoes

   Not too bad considering I only have a Microwave combo oven and its tiny! My poor range oven has died a death and only the gas hob now works.So we are slowly saving for a new one.When I say slowly I mean a snail would zoom past, that sort of slowly.

Hazel.x