October's for beb'OSA

Yesterday, someone posted a request on my facebook wall - 'Bring back Beb'OSA'.

So here I am! A lot has been going on in Womble world but all in all, still surviving! :D

What have I been up to? Well, I spent July attending 3 weddings *phew - in Birmingham, Bolton and Essex. And a 4th wedding in September. The last one was in London which was good! Less travel! I have to say that before this year, I had only attended 3 weddings - a neigbour's, my sister's and a colleague's. That's it! And in one year I managed to beat that record! #Epic!

I've also done loads of cooking and volunteering. I completed a sponsored walk from Heathrow to Islington, helped organise a charity football tournament, volunteered for Cancer Research UK's Shine Night Walk and I am currently working on 2 events in support of Breast Cancer Campaign.My mentee also graduated this summer (mega proud) so I have another one.

On cooking, I surprised my brother on his birthday plus I stocked his fridge and freezer with his favourite meals. Also hosted a few people to lunch last month which I think went down a storm - am I allowed to say that? Lol.

And of course, the highlight - it was my birthday a few days ago. I went to see John Legend live at the Apollo on his 'All of me' tour. If you ever get the chance to see him live, do it! Lol! Then I went to see a movie and dinner the next day - I should do a review on the place! It was amazing! I also went shopping at Oxford Street. Basically, it was a week long celebration which is yet to be over......

Guess that's all folks. The highlights since I last came here. I'll leave you with one of my fave tunes at the moment from my girl Simi.......
 
                             

Loving you always,

LW

Lentil, Coconut, Aubergine & Zuchini Curry

My darlings! I think I am doing quite well as per my resolve to eat more. It is therefore with great pleasure and a rotund belly that I scribble this post.

First up! My recipe! Yes! Lol. I measured for you all today. It's not that bad, just wierd. I worked with ingredients I have never used before and to be honest, it was fun. I believe the secret of good cooking is - Let your imagination lead the way........and if everything goes horribly wrong, do what I do - don't tell anyone about it *hehehe

You will need

200g of Lentils

 2 decent sized Zuchinis or Courgettes (Medium to Large)

1 decent sized Aubergine (Medium to Large)

4 large tomatoes or 8 small ones, diced

1 tablespoon of Vegetable oil

3 onions (1 red and 2 white) - sliced, diced or both

2 cloves of fresh garlic

20g of grated ginger if fresh. If frozen, 2 blocks

150g dessicated or grated coconut

2 litres of hot water or stock

2 teaspoons of Soy sauce

Fresh chilli or dried chilli flakes (optional)

Rice to serve (optional)

 This recipe is for 4 portions if eaten alone and 8 if served with rice.

Measure out your lentils, rinse and boil in water till soft. I cooked at high heat for 10 mins and left to simmer for 35mins whilst i got up to other things

 

I can'r get over the beauty of this veg! Lol.

Heat your oil in a pot. I don't have my large pots here so used a pan

Pour in your onions

Add your ginger and garlic. I am using frozen ginger. Leave to fry for 5 mins

Pour in your Lentils

Add your coconut and pour in your stock or hot water. Stir

Leave to boil for 5minutes

Pour in your diced Aubergine. I diced this just before I put it in as they tend to discolour quickly once exposed to air

Stir and leave to boil for 10minutes. At this point, I had to change my pan as my dish outgrew the first. Lol

Add your tomatoes

Add your diced Zuchini (Courgette)

Add your Soy sauce

Sprinkle in your chilli if using

Stir and add salt to taste. Leave to simmer for 10 mins

 served mine with rice although on hindsight, I shouldn't have. Lol. the dish is filling on it's own and I am stuffed!

Serve after plating.......like a boss :-D



 

Prawn 'n' Vegetable stew

I did not know what to call this dish so I gave it that name - Prawn 'n' Vegetable stew. *hehehe

I love traditional dishes but since they take forever to cook, I have been devising ways to save time while still churning healthy meals.

Wash and Chop 1 onion, 1 yellow pepper, 1 green pepper and a small bunch of spinach. You can use any vegetable you like

If using spinach, put in a bowl

Squeeze out the excess water from your leaves

Put 4 tbspns of oil in a pot. I am using Palm oil.

Measure out 1tbspn of chopped onions

Put that in your heated oil and sizzle for 3 minutes

Put in your prawns

These are the spices I will be using

Add your stock cube, thyme, curry and paprika (optional). Leave your prawns to fry till they turn pink

Add in all your chopped vegetables

I like chilli so I sprinkled some crushed chilli - 1 teaspoon

Stir and leave to cook for 5 minutes

This is the ultimate timesaver. You can make this at home as it is just sieved tomatoes

Pour in 125ml of Passata. You can blend fresh tomatoes and use that instead

Leave to cook for 5 minutes

Add your vegetables and stir. Your meal is ready.

Bon Appetite. I served this with rice which I cooked whilst preparing the stew

Total Preparation time - 15minutes.
Ease of preparation - Ultra simple :)
Serving guide - Four portions.

Feel free to recreate this dish using any meat or fish of your choice. If you are a vegetarian/vegan then you can skip the prawns.

Lotsa Womble love xx

Meatpie - Lazy Remix

Lately, I haven't been doing much cooking :-( ....actually, that's not entirely true. I have been cooking. Just not making anything elaborate.

When I cook I like to go all out! Shop for fresh ingredients, stay in the kitchen for hours on end and make sure everything is picture perfect when served.


Sadly, I can't seem to find the time these days. Plus everywhere is still unfamiliar as I haven't explored my new city. I have no idea where to get certain food items, the supermarkets are quite far from my house and they are pricey compared to what I am used to.

Today I went visiting and I decided to go bearing gifts. Lol. Problem was - what to take with me. My fridge was full of cold air and I didn't have much time to spare.

I am a firm believer in buying staples - you know, those important things you must have: in your kitchen, bathroom, wardrobe.....the list is endless.

I decided on this recipe using staples I had in the freezer. All I did was a lazy twist on a traditional snack I loved growing up because I knew it was my friend's favourite (and I would get to eat some as well)

I started with Olive oil, 1 small onion, 1 stock cube, Thyme, Curry, Paprika and Peas.

Put 1 tbsp of any oil of choice into your heated pot/pan.

Once your oil starts to sizzle, add your onion (chopped)

After 3minutes, Add your beef mince and leave to brown. I am using 400g of mince

Add curry, thyme, paprika and your stock cube

Put in a handful of peas. I used just peas because that was all I had. I would usually add carrots and potatoes at this stage

Cook for 5 minutes and turn off your heat. Leave to cool.

Now for the timesaver - I like this brand of pastry because it is well flavoured and easy to work with

30 minutes before use, take your pastry out of the fridge and remove all packaging - carton and outer plastic wrap

Unroll pastry sheet out of blue plastic wrap

Cut up pastry into 6 squares of similar dimensions

Start stuffing each square with your cooled mince

Fold in the edges to make parcels like this. Brush with beaten egg (optional)

Arrange on a tray and bake for 20 minutes at 200 degrees/Gas mark 6. Leave on a rack to cool....

The entire process took me just under an hour and the smell of home baking was thrilling - without the hard work.

One thing I must add is - wait till your filling cools down completely. You can prepare it the night before and bake the next day.

I will say this dish was a success and worth trying, especially if you have kids and want to introduce them to cooking. Watch out when it comes to handling the knife! :-)

Womble Love xx