Faux Fun

So I had big plans for cooking and was going to teach the hubby how to make Bread and we were going to paint the front of the house be busy productive members of society...

The little man had other plans. He was a bit ill and when I say a bit ill if you've ever seen the "Exocist" you'll know what I mean.

Wasn't so bad when we were at home lots of cleaning up lots of hugs as you always worry so much when they are not well,. but his temperature was fine so obviously something just upset his stomach.

Or major error came when we thought he was doing better and took him out to the local hardware store "B&Q" to look at getting supplies for the house painting, and was subsequently very ill down one of the isles and all over his dad. To be fair the staff were wonderful and really helpful and didn't get upset even when I showed them the mess.

Just think that great for a store as there are times when you are a bit mortified but they handled it like it wasn't any trouble at all and I did even offer to do the mopping myself but they said to take care of the little one and they would take care of it.

So as for cooking, this week to make thing easier I stuck with quick simple dishes in between handing out a shed load of TLC.

I made a Faux Carbonara .

cooked up some leeks and Mangetout while frying some bacon..

After the leeks and Mangetout were cooked I thew them into the frying pan too for a couple of minutes.

Before mixing them all with some pasta and low fat fromage frais for very quick very easy and if you've cut the fat of the bacon low in fat healthy scrummy meal.

I even made another Lasange (See previous week's post for recipe) but instead of pasta sheets on top I used potatoes which gave it an added kick.

Don't worry the little one did get better and even managed to have some fun on the swings.

I am  a big kid at heart and the swing are one of my absolute favorite things to do and I am  so glad my son is like me and loves them.  I know when he upgrades to the big kid swings we'll be on them together from morning to night  :) 

As he was doing so well went out for a lovely brunch  at The Fancy Goat. I had a Bucks Fizz (mimosa) to celebrate his recovery

And enjoyed a wonderful Tortilla De Patatas.

Oh and when the waitress said the pan was hot I should have paid more attention as I burnt a finger on it ouchie, ouch.. Although being so yummy made up for the pain.

The little one got some tasty scramble egg very rich and creamy.

Another highlight of the week was another trip to Thomas Cookie Co to get some more of there fab cookies can see them become a staple in my life (but shh don't tell the diet)...

Right this weekend I am having no excuse (well a sick infant isn't really an excuse it a all encompassing situation) I will be making bread and will post it up step by step...

And as it's a Bank Holiday over here I've also got a few other interesting things planned so will be a far more exciting post, well they can't all be mad weekend in Amsterdam (even though I wish they were lol) :)

Lasagne, Lasagna "I've Heard it both ways"

Sorry about the title but I do love "Psych" the TV Show.

So cooking again yay, well my blog is call dyslexic cooking so after a few weeks of doing none, well apart from the bog standard family meal that rule my life. But hey I do work full time have a toddler and a husband and trying to have a life so whipping up culinary masterpiece everyday is not feasible, when I win the lottery and have my dream kitchen I promise to cook every day lol.

This week I have been busy I cooked up another Prawn Pasta (see the 9th June blog for full recipe details)

Love this dish as it quick and easy and you can make loads so it last a few night.

Much the same with my next recipe as you know I'm trying, and not very successfully I might add (see the buns and the bacon sarnies post for proof) to do Slimming World. I have lost 10lb which I suppose is better than putting it on,  but considering I being doing since January not great. Although one of my New Year resolution was to loose weight (Luckily I didn't put how much) so if I can just not put it all back on by Dec 31st for the first times I would have achieved a resolution lol.

Any who I made a Slimming World Lasagne as we say here in the UK.

Ingredients for this:

500g of 5% fat lean mince
1 chopped onion (I was lasy and bought pre-chopped)
500g of veg for roasting (this can be anything you fancy I like bell peppers and courgettes/Zucchini)
100g of Mushrooms
Carton of Passata
Can or Carton of chopped tomatos
300g of Fat free Greek Yogurt (For the white Sauce)
Lasagne Sheets (Dried)
and not featured in the pic but any herbs and spices you might want to add.

Firstly I put on the oven and cooked the roasted vegetable, I used 1% spray oil to keep it nice and healthy.

they go on at 200c oven for 25 minutes.

Then when they were firmly underway cooking, I started to brown the meat and the onions.

I then added in the mushrooms

cooked them off for a minute or two before adding the Passata and the chopped tomatoes.

Then once the vegetables were nice and roasted I added them too.

Which made a lovely pasta bolognese sauce, but we are making Lasagne so on-wards.

After grabbing a deep dish

I added a layer of the meat to the bottom.

Then layered on some pasta sheets.

Then covered the sheet in a layer of the Greek yogurt.

I then repeated this process and just for me (if you don't want the calories and what it to be syn free don't add it) a bit of low fat mature cheddar on top (40g)

baking in a 200+ degree oven for 35 minutes

You then end up with was a delicious, filling, tasty and very very low in fat dinner for two nights.

Add it with a bit of salad and you got a meal that will leave you full but without the guilt.

So I hope you give it a go :)


My one last thing before signing off this week is how exciting was the news about the Disney World expansion at Disney Hollywood Studios?? if you haven't heard about it, what have you been living in a little box? you can read about it here

As you know I am a huge Disney fan and a bit of a Star Wars geek so to be able to geek out with the Star Wars in the same place I can geek out with the mouse I think I'm going to have some sort of fit lol.

Although am a bit bummed that they are not starting work till 2017 and with how long it took them to do the Fantasy Land expansion I can see it being another 3 years on top. The only thing that is a plus side is my little one will be around 8/9 when it is completed so I would say Optimum age for Star War Madness yay.

So with Disney being so prevalent in the news I have decided to start a holiday fun to fund a trip for me and the family (think I mention that I wanted to start one a while back,but hey I'm dyslexic so we have idea and then another one takes over that why if it not on my to do list is ain't happening lol) but this time I have started it.

I have costed up a total for my trip and it's not going to be cheap and currently as it stands the fund is just getting to about the 1% mark of the total amount. So a long way to go (Think Star Wars land will be open before I hit the total lol)

I have decided I will achieve the total by getting some stuff that has been sitting around on ebay, cutting back on excessive spending, more batch cooking and going to use the train problems I have to my advantage and every time I get a delay repay compensation I will stick it in the fun so come on delays and cancellation lol

My Disney Dream is currently 99% away from target, but hey at least it's not a 100%

Back to Baking

So after previous weekends filled with of fun and frolics I finally managed to get my Bake on this week.

well after I enjoyed a rather nice cider 

Corner Stone Cider Blush - very refreshing taste and not sharp like some other ciders. Haven't seen them in any local shops yet (Parents brought it back from the CLA Fair) so a rare treat. Although I will keep an eye out for them as it a perfect accompaniment to a Summer BBQ. 

Right back to the cooking:

I decided to make some Slimming World crust-less quiche - but as I was inspired by Great British Bake Off - My Favorite show I decide add a bit of flare. So Made Crust-Less Cupcake Quiches... 

I took a pack of dried Mac n Cheese, Frozen Veg, Fat free Cottage Cheese (300g) 4 Medium eggs, some Mushroom and some cherry tomatoes to make my taste low fat (Syn Free) snack.

Firstly I cooked the Macaroni cheese as per instruction I just replaced the milk required to water to make it extra healthy.

While that was cooking I took two handfuls of frozen veg and cooked as per instructions.

I then chopped up between 8 - 10 mushrooms 

They need to be quite small as they will be going in the quiche.

I then took the 4 egg and the fat free cottage Cheese 

Placed them all together in a big bowl 

Then proceeded to mix. I would recommend using a mixer to do this you can do it by hand but you want to break up most of the cottage cheese lumps and an electronic mixer will make this easier.

Then once everything was cooked I added the Macaroni Cheese to the egg and cheese mix.

Followed by the mushrooms

Then added the veg 

Mixing them all together they were ready too spoon out.

I put the mix into Muffin cases (Make sure you spray some 1 calorie spray oil into the case to make them easier to removed when cooked) and added a whole cherry tomato on top.

I put them in a 200 degree oven for 30 minutes, if they are not golden brown you can always but them in for an extra 5 more mins if needed.

Then Viola some tasty looking quiche cupcakes with a cherry (well Tomato) on top.

They are really fun and yummy to eat and you can always add a bit of spice to it or change with veg you added.

I would say just have a go an experiment with the flavors you like. Also if you want to make a gluten free version you can just omit the Mac and Cheese and just add 40g of low fat cheese (Although this will add a syn value if you are on Slimming world).

A Tale of Two Buns

Or Scone (as in Cone) Vs Scone (as in Gone)

Personally I prefer scone as in gone.. As when you put them in front of me they tend to be gone lol.. 

So not much going on in the dyslexic cooking household this week. Well considering the madness of last weekend it's nice to take it a bit easy.

I'm glad for the quiet weeks as it help me keep up, as even though I write this blog weekly, being Dyslexic and a mum I find sometimes hard to keep up. Other Dyslexic will know what I mean, organisation and writing are two thing we find difficult so to combine the 2 in a blog is no mean feat. So feeling proud that I managed 46 post so far. When I hit a year I'm going to be super proud so let hope I keep it up.

Any way so the weekend was filled with baby cold, I had a slight sniffle and the husband was knocked down by the dreaded man flu dun dun dar.. Aw bless as he did have to do a couple of late night with the little lad. As I've said before the struggle of having a young child is not being able to get to rest when you want or in case of being ill need. When they're up you are up and you need to be on it you can't just plop them in an corner and ignore.

Although we did manage to have some fun, as the folks were away at the Country Landowners Association (CLA) Game Fair  we used there house for a impromptu BBQ. Just the usual fare of burgers and Sausages nothing earth shattering. Although I did manage to break out my new Drinks Holder.

It held my Gordon Gin and Schweppes tonic very well :)

Not sure if I've mention this before but I am a huge fan of Flamingos they remind me of the sun and holidays a bit like my favorite flower the Bird of Paradise.  I sure the main reason I like them is that they are not Native to the UK so have always had a air of the exotic.

When my folk did arrive back my mum brought back a tasty treat a Yorkshire Fat Rascal from Bettys a famous Tea Room in Harrogate.

I loved the little face it had on the front and as the Husband is allergic to nuts it was left to me and my mum tucked in.

It was so yum, filled to bursting with currants and mixed peel. It traveled really well considering it been in the car for the 3 hour trip back. So now Bettys is definitely on my list of places I need to visit.

so that was the first Scone of the week.

The second one came again courtesy of my folks. As for their 40th Wedding anniversary my brother and I bought them a Fortnum and Mason Picnic at the top of The Shard. They gushed about having an amazing time which was great. Also from the photos it did look lovely.

They were lucky in having it on a really clear day which helped; as London is such a beautiful city a perfect eclectic mix of the Really Old and the Really new and all the other building in between.

Not to prattle on too much, but London is a fantastic city and if you've never been you should visit. Yes it is expensive I won't lie, although you can have a fab time and see so much just having a walk about discovering all the treats this sprawling city has to offer.

So after their great day I picked them up from the station to hear about their good time. They brought me back a mini treat a couple of Fortnum and Mason scones with jar of Strawberry Jam.

This was nommy too, it was so light and fluffy and in the same bite rich and creamy.


Not sure which one I liked best though??!?!? hmm I've decided as one was a fruit Scone and was was a plain scone it was unfair to rate one above the other. I have come to a conclusion they were both the best scone I've had in a long time.

Only problem is the diet has gone right out the window as I also managed to slip in a Starbucks Chocolate Cream Frappuccino so I think my trip to Slimming World will be a disaster this week.

Oh well it just means I will be spending the weekend cooking lots of healthy recipes so my post will be filled with lots of nice home cooked things next week...

Seaside Shenanigans

I'm Draft So this weekend I attend the wonderful Whitstable Oyster Festival with the train gang.

Actually not all of the gang as you know from previous post there are the four of us but one of the gang due to other things could attend which was really a shame as I know a weekend away drinking and mayhem would do her the world of good.

But Hey Ho cant have everything :)

So me and my partner in Crime traveled down on the Train from central London Late afternoon of course we had supplies on the way.

Don't worry this was strictly a girl trip for the first 2 days the little man was safe at home with his dad and was kept well away from anything that could result in years worth of therapy lol

As we were staying at our other friends folks lovely house we had hoped the weather would be nice and we could spend the evening sitting out in their fab Garden no such luck it was tipping it down. The heavens opened so after an hour and a half of nice warm dryness of the train we were out at the station. Then I had the bright idea as it's not far to her house to Walk.  I blame the booze as it was hideous. We got to the house like drowned rats didn't help that Hannah then took forever to open the door.

so we dripped our way in my suitcase was so wet it had seeped into my clothes luckily I had wine in my bag so discovered this as it gave me a great opportunity to hang them out for then next day.

Our hostess made up for her lack of door opening by having a lovely spread laid on.. mmm Bread and Cheese with some nice bottles of wine what could be better for drying out.

It wasn't a too late night, I'd been up since 5am with the little one he does like to wake up with the dawn..

but it was so much fun sitting around chatting and catching up on everything and hearing everyone's news. Definitely if you've got a small child you need just the odd night like this to re-charge and replenish (oh and get a tiny bit tipsy lol).

We finally made it to bed at a reasonable time.

Work up the next day not feeling totally my best I grant you but after an amazing service of Orange Juice and Toast followed by  a nice shower I felt human enough to get dressed.

So glad I hung everything out as poor Sue clothes were still damp (even the undergarments lol :) )

But once we were all up and dressed we ventured out to see what the day had to offer. Thankfully the weather had done a complete u turn and was actually shaping up to be a really pleasant day.

We headed up the wonderful quaint High Street looking for adventure. First stop was this great little sweet come Nic-Nac Shop Sundae Sundae where I needed to pick up a diet coke to get some caffeine into me to even me out.

So cool not only did they serve it in a glass bottle they did an amazing twisty thing with the straw which added to the coolness of it all. I was uber impressed over such a simple thing. It true what they say the little touches do count.

so with a drink clasped in my hands we headed on visiting a lot of the boutique niche shops that makes Whitstable High Street such a rare gem.

We ended up in the Community Center and where like last time they were having a Art fair. All of it was lovely. I really like the TotalPap who made scene out of papier-rmache.

It also included scenes that move.

As well They do prints on card and had someone on hand demonstrating the process. It nice to see local artist at their work.