Farmers market munchies

Hello Everyone!

How are you doing? Hope you are all well, yes? good!

Well I'm feeling better now was feeling a bit poorly ("Aww", thank you for the concern lol). So I went to the only cure for sickness - Honestly I think Doctors should recommend it - Heinz Cream of Chicken Soup. I have been having this when I'm sick ever since I was a kid makes me feel all warm and toasty inside.

This week I would like to dedicate my blog to my local Farmers Market in the little Town of West Malling.

So for those of you who don't know or didn't read my Bio (Fores-shame) I currently live in Kent which is known as the garden of England - and why yes it is very green a pretty and there are a lot of farms and fresh produce producers around.

So once a Month, the last Sunday of every month, the close down the High Street and we have a market.

It was a bit grey and rain but as a family we ventured out. 

For a small market they do sell a lot of stuff of different varieties. I do normally love McCarthy's bread but by the time I got there they had already sold out of the roasted pepper focaccias bread (Super sad faces in our household I can tell you)

And my favourite cookie stall "Thomas Cookies" was there, I even have a loyalty card saving up to get a free cookie which will probably be on my next trip!

And stall selling meat, fish, cakes, Indian food, drink and even a knife sharping dude - But as I don't normally carry my kitchen Knifes out with me I couldn't really use the service lol :)

Total side bar issue, as my blog wouldn't be my blog without me go off on a tangent! But the West Malling Tesco have totally upped their America Food Game - Reminds me of holidays and fun Although it is mostly verging on the sweet side could really do with a couple of savories like Mac-n-Cheese that orange kind you only get state side yummy.

Back to the market, we had a great time looking at all the stalls and having a chit chat with the producers think I might have to periscope it next time.

I got some lovely treats to enjoy at home.

the first was an onion bhaji - I was so useless and didn't get the name of the stall I promise if they are there next time I will get a snap and the name and they where doing curry also, so will need to try that.

Oh and of course got cookies - 3 to be exact, 2 chocolate chip ones for the Hubby and I had the oat and raisian one, I pretend as there's oat and Fruit technically it a health food lol - Well all I know is they are so tasty, very moist and chewy - Glad I only see him once a month as the diet is already awful so the last thing I need is ready access to more cookies. 

Sorry for the gratuitous shot of my bitten into cookie, but my god it was scrummy!!! mmmm cookies

We picked up some precious porkers sausages, they had some out for people to try. I thought they were great, the Husband thought they were great, but the total seal of approval came from the little one we gave him a try and he wolfed it down, he even wanted a second bite.

So with that resounding success of a tasting we had to get a pack, also the good thing is the pig are hand raised and really looked after which is good and is reflected in the taste.

We even got some Scotch Pies form Sussex Pies

Now I've never had a Scotch Pie that wasn't in Scotland, but I'm alway up to try new things.

So we have it the way the Hubby family who are Scottish have them with beans on top. 

And I can say it taste exactly the same (might even be a bit better) as the pies I have had north of the boarder. 

The Hubby gave his scottish side seal of approval too :) 

Picked up some fab meringues too, didn't get the name of this stall either but in my defence I was going to but at that point the heavens opened so need to get to cover to get the little one out of the hail - yep the spring weather in the UK has been utter crap. 

have to say it was a nice meringue crunch on the outside and a bit chewy on the inside the only issue I had was it was supposed to be chocolate but didn't taste chocolaty at all.

And the last item on my list was some lovely Rasberry Gin (Had to get the small one as they sold out of the bigger) although the lovely suppliers Wild Spirits of Kent will definitely have some more in at the next market yay.

had it with some soda water and it was lovely Although glad I got the small one as it went down far to easily lol 

So a great trip to a great little market, and its always good to buy local and you're helping a small business and your also helping the environment,  as you not getting the food miles you get from some products you pick up in the supermarket.

so if you have a farmers market near you please go have a great time exploring and you might even end up with a few lovely little treats like me :) 

Lamb-ie and Stuffed

So yay I'm back.

The trials and tribulation that have happened over the last few weeks seem to have calmed down and life is back to normal (Well normal for me lol).

I've had a busy, busy, busy week. First big event went to the Hippodrome in Leicester Square for my friends 40th Birthday! She'd hire out the Heliot lounge for fun an frolics.

It was a really nice venue, staff was lovely and it was great to get out into town (Hubby had the little one)

As I was having a night off  I had a cheeky glass of Fizz:

Which was noms, I then tried their Margaritas, and regular readers will know I do like my Margaritas. Not to toot my own horn (toot toot) but I do make a mean Margarita (V. Strong)but  have to say it wasn't the best which was a shame.

So I went back to the fizz for the rest of the night my poor head lol.

As due to the Easter holiday we had some family time we decided to have a  meal out at the Farmhouse in West Malling

I had their lovely Steak Panini which was very tasty and the steak was cooked really well and no chewy at all. You can tell it was good a the little one wolfed it down.

My Husband had the burger which looked lovely,

But we decided couldn't have been as nice as the steak as the little one didn't like the bite, he was given, and went back to the steak.

We even had some amazing Crisps "Corkers" yummy really need them to start doing them in big bags in my local supermarket as these would go great with dips and a cheeky glass of wine while having a comfy night in, in front of the TV.

I did some of my own cooking too, well I though I might as it is supposed to be a cooking blog lol.

I did a Roast Dinner for my mum as she's well on her road to recovery. Also Asda had super duper bargains the lamb was £4 per KG and the bags of veg were £0.29p each OMG whole dinner didn't cost that much over a £10 and that was with dessert.

For such a good price it was a huge leg of lamb as my glamorous assistant demonstrated, and remember he's 6"4"

Roast dinners are really simple to do but appear complicated so you get lots of praise which is nice. The only thing you really need a handle on, to have a great roast, is timing. If you get that right everything else fits into place.

So for the meat I heated up some olive oil in a roasting dish (in a pre-heated 180 Degrees) for about 5 minutes

I then gave it a baste and quickly scored the top before liberally adding Rosemary.

I then covered it in foil and put in the oven for half the cooking time 25min per 500g (17 oz) with an extra 25min on top

So after half way I whipped off the foil basted again and then I added some par boiled new potatoes and Parsnips to the roasting dish then back in the oven for the rest of the time.

What you end up with is golden lamb-ie goodness which is so so so flavorful.

Add some veg and a couple of Yorkshire puddings (I know they are supposed to go with beef but I love them with all roasts and it my blog so there).

What you are left with is a fantastic roast dinner for all the family (The little one ate all of his and he is my gold seal of approval for all my cooking now lol).

Also in the week we went out for a lovely brunch at Bills I opted for the Vegetarian option which was toast one topped with hummus and the other with guacamole. It also came with two poached eggs, mushroom and tomatoes.

Great combination of flavors especially with the sweet chilli sauce applied all over the dish. There was nothing left just one satisfied me.

I have had a lot of food this week but I have been burning it off too we been doing so DIY to the new house have a lovely new spare room.

and a beautiful new floor, oh well I can't really take any credit for the floor as we got that from the wonderful people at Carpet4less I like to give credit when it's due and these guys were great.

Really good prices and really professional fitting, couldn't be more impressed with the service.

Last cooking dish I want to share with you is a lower fat one than the roast dinner.

I baked a potato

Once it was a bit cooler I scooped out the inside.

and place the that into a bowl.

I filled the bottom of the empty potato skins with low fat cream cheese

I then grilled some bacon (with the fat trimmed off) and some Mushrooms

chopped them up and added them to the potato mix.

I then put this mix back into the potato shells and grilled for about 6 minutes.

Then add some low fat cheese and place back under the grill till it melted and serve with a lovely salad and Voila a lovely and not overly fattening snack.

So glad to be back and glad to be cooking and hopefully over the coming week we can have some fab food and some fab times. 

Moving madness and vegetable

So we moving tomorrow, arrrghhh!! Okay I am calm.

So haven't been doing much cooking - anything I can throw in the oven between packing boxes has been the order of the day. 

The only thing I really did was try to make some vegetables fun as I am, in vain, still trying to diet.

So I took a potato, a sweet potato , carrots and swede.

Chopped the up and cooked them for about 20/25 minutes till they were really soft.

Then I pureed them all together.

Took a pre-spray oil baking tray (with baking parchment) and scoped out balls of the vegetable mix.

Put them in the oven for 15 minutes. 

I then took them out and added a small sprinkling of low fat cheese and put them back in for another 10 minutes.

What you end up with is some lovely veggie cheesy yumminess.

Which are tasty and healthy at the same time and I think make veggie a bit more interesting.

Although now thinking about it you could add the cheese into the middle of the veg balls so when you cut in you got melty cheese. Hmmm interesting think I might need to do that next time.

North of the Boarder so Food is in Order :)

I'm back from Scotland and it was an amazing week.

It did start out with a bit of a long car journey of 8 hours - I know if you're reading this in America that nothing but in the UK we covered nearly the whole country.

But the little one was amazing through out the trip 

The foodie part of the trip started early we stopped at Westmorelands service station which is an independent service station serving local produce. It's so yum, much better than the chain stuff you get by the side of the road.

We got to Scotland around 9pm. So put the little one to bed and got ready for the next day.

We awoke to a bit of a chilly morning but raring to go. As we were staying at the in-law house right near Loch Lomond we decided to take a jaunt to the shore.

In the afternoon we went to visit with my husband nana, she was actually in fine form she'a nearly 90 and isn't very well

but she was laughing and joking and got a kick out of meeting the little lad. So We have 4 generations of one family having a nice afternoon tea.

Well I had Irn Bru which is a truly Scottish drink and it is really if a slightly acquired tasted

We Got back to the house and started to plan for the next day as the main reason for being up there it was our Son's 2nd birthday, we have reached the terrible twos lol..

We had a great day started in the morning with a room full of gifts as usual we all went (especially the Nana) over board

As at that age sometimes they prefer playing with the box rather than the toys.  

He did like all his gift but I think he liked the balloon best (thanks nana). 

His Nan also got him his amazing car cake. 

It was a lovely sponge filled with butter cream and jam 

Only had a couple of slices, the sponge was so light and fluffy and the filling was so rich.. I would tag the bakery but the Mother in Law arranged it all so I don't have the details which is a shame as I would highly recommend it.

So for his birthday we spent the morning in Pirate soft play on Loch Lomond shores.

Then we went to Lunch we stopped at The Queen of the Loch for a small lunch lol - the portion sizes were amazing I had a medium the other half had a large.

A fantastic, generous portions and very filling Carvary.

 To wash it down the MIL and I had a glass of fizz, well it was a celebration.

Then in the afternoon a return trip to the Loch 

To take him to the Sealife Centre it's not a very big aquarium but it is fun.

We saw Otters 

We saw Sharks 

We touched Star Fish 

And saw loads of weird and wonderful creatures.

So after all that fun when we got home we had one very happy but a tired little solider. Even though last year we were at Disney I think this was a fantastic birthday perfect for him he got to do all hid favourite things. Running about like a crazy at soft play then an afternoon of discovery. Hope my next birthday is a fun :)

With all the important things out of the way visiting great Nana and the birthday we wanted to get out into the countryside so the following morning we headed further north to explore.

We drove up to Glen Coe a stunning part of Scotland if you ever visit you need to add this to your list of places to stop off and have a look and just breath it in. with working in London being out in Nature is very good for your soul sometimes.

After the "Coe" we drove up to Fort William 

where we stopped for Lunch at  a love restuarant called Cobbs it had a lovely working fire place as even though it was very Sunny (which is a bit strange for Scotland - honestly if you visit pack a mac) there was a chill in the air.

I ordered Haggis Lasange well I was in Scotland.

I actually like Haggis and tend not to really think what in it but it proper traditional food which I think is all was great in the country of origin.


The little one even enjoyed a few fork fulls - must be the Scottish blood coming out lol.

On the way back to the car even though it was cold we stopped for Ice-Cream at a lovely little store called Henry's,  I had "Fruit Salad", They had loads of weird and wonderful flavours, mine was so sweet but so yummy.

after we had been replenished by the stop - also have a cheeky Vodka and coke bought for me. I think it was more a way to make sure I could drive as the roads were very twisty and I kept offering.

We took a trip up to the Glenfinnan Viaduct  it the train bridge that they used in the Harry Potter movies - Especially the "Chamber of Secrets".

I could just imagine the Hogwart's Express thundering by taking the kids back to School. Probably a very popular sight on the 1st September.

Also if you look behind you from the viaduct is a beautiful Loch - Loch Shiel. With the sun dancing on the water and the tree all changing colour to their autumn hews it was a magical place to be.

So quiet so peaceful well until my Son wanted to find the biggest rocks he could pick up and throw them into the loch and looking very pleased with himself when he did :).

As it was a bit of a trip back when we got in we feed the little man and decided to grab a take away for the rest of us a lovely Kebab and chips - might not seem a great food choice but after a long day getting something a bit naught but filling and with the little one in bed accompanying it with a beer help to wind-down

The next morning after the little one's poor Nana had to climb over the garden fence retirive his ball, ah the joys of children. Not only did make her immaculate house like a bomb site with the toys everywhere, his favouite thing to do would be to tip up the ball pit, he make the poor woman clime into brambles as well. I of course was in a supervisory  position and was taken the photo for H&S reasons lol

My husband and I while the little one played with his nan took a walk out to get some Fritters.

You get these from most Fish and Chip shops in Scotland and a must try if you go to Scotland looking for Food.

They are huge slices of potato deep fried in batter, okay not the healthiest but put on some salt and vinegar leave for a few minutes to let it soak in and honestly you are in for a really nice treat.

To work of that treat we took to the pool at the local hotel Cameron House we go there every time we visit as that where we had our Wedding Rececption after being married in Lush (which is also on the Shores of Loch Lomond) it such a nice hotel and if you want a great place to stay with fantastic Loch views and very comfy beds and beautiful decor it the place to be.

The pool and spa is wonderful too and I've been informed they have a great Golf course but as that not my thing can't really give an opinion.

We had fun though and the little one was a bit of a daredevil and insisted on going on the slide at least 10 times (with his daddy of course).

The next day our final day (Sad Face) we took a trip down to the Loch Lomond Farmers Market - As you know from previous post I am a sucker for a farmers market as I love fresh local produce and I also like process stuff to, who am I kidding I just like food ;).

It wasn't a massive market but in a great location and did have a couple of interesting stalls.

I got some lovely Scones from Erincroft Bakery 4 fruit and 2 chocolate and banana.

Some stuffed peppers

and even a Aberdeen Angus beef burger which was scrummy

On the way home we took a detour to the loch to get another bit of Loch Lomond greatness it was such a beautiful day and the loch was almost glass still

The little one and my other half enjoyed throwing rocks again into the stillness and laughing at every splash.

We dropped the stuff off and head out to go and see an Highland Cow.

I love these cows, they are so big and fluffy and their hair is exactly like mine when I get up in the morning.

The little one as they are a bit big and imposing was a bit unsure to start up with but soon warmed to their cute faces.

When we got back i dived into one of the scones i bought it was Banana and Chocolate - 30 seconds in the microwave and it was utterly delicious so need to get the recipe and make them with a bit of butter smeared on top you are in for a delectable dining experience.

The last thing on my Culinary trip which is a must for Scotland is a Scots Pie

Just a mince pie from the looks but with the pasty being a bit crunch around the pie but softer on top it a really luscious tasty again back to good traditional food but if it cold and you've been out in the element it a perfect thing to get your strength back up.

So all in all a great trip, it was so nice to get away and have some family time and was nice for the little one to spend time with his Scottish Nana. With all the open space and outdoor things to do with him can tell it going to be a firm favourite for him over the coming years and next time I go I want to make it all the way up to Loch Ness and see if I can find a monster.