Forever Friends Gardener's Birthday Card

I haven't had time to do any card making for ages - getting on for a year I think! Since I had some time off between jobs I decided I would definitely make some time for this hobby. I made quite a few cards; some of them were pretty simple and quick such as this one.



I took a square white card blank and covered it with a piece of paper from a pack aimed at men - it included football print papers for instance but also some more generic patterns like this one. I had a pack of Forever Friends stickers on a gardening theme so I arranged some of these on the card, along with a few flower stickers from another pack as I felt it needed something to contrast. The banner is a die cut card that I bought in a pack of card making supplies from Ebay a long time ago, with a silver happy birthday outline sticker.

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Meal Planning 2014 - Week 9

I'm starting my new job this week and don't know exactly what time I will be home in the evenings, but I know it will be later than in my last job and probably later than my boyfriend most days (though I will still be the one cooking dinner!). So I need some quick and easy recipes this week while I figure out my new routine.



Monday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch will buy something out to explore the area near my new office


Dinner pork ragu with pasta




Tuesday

Breakfast yogurt or cereal


Lunch leftover pork ragu if there is a microwave in my new office, sandwich if not


Dinner out



Wednesday

Breakfast yogurt or cereal


Lunch sandwich


Dinner Fish in breadcrumbs/ chicken in breadcrumbs and chips



Thursday

Breakfast yogurt or cereal


Lunch sandwich


Dinner salmon and hollandaise sauce



Friday

Breakfast yogurt or cereal


Lunch sandwich


Dinner sausage and mash




Saturday

Breakfast yogurt or cereal


Lunch baked potatoes


Dinner homemade lasagne



Sunday

Breakfast yogurt or cereal


Lunch soup with fresh bread


Dinner roast chicken

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Valentine's card for my boyfriend

This is the Valentine's card I made for my boyfriend last year - I just realised I never actually posted it on my blog!

I took a square card blank and covered it with a red lovebird-patterned paper. I cut out a cardboard square from the same pack (which came with a cardmaking magazine) of two birds in cages and used a silver outline sticker around the edge. I mounted the square onto the card and added a 'For my Valentine' outline sticker - you can only just see it in this photo as it's red, but you can see it better on the actual card.

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Chicken Provencale in a Heart-Shaped Le Creuset Dish

This is a great recipe to make for Valentine's day and it looks even better in a Le Creuset heart-shaped dish!

The recipe is adapted from one in a free calendar that came with Slimming World magazine at the end of last year. I bought this casserole dish from the Le Creuset shop at Bicester Village, the designer outlet shopping village, when I went in January. I came home with quite a few shopping bags that day! I'd had my eye on this casserole for a while and when I saw it was reduced from £45 to £27, I couldn't resist. Now all I need to do is find space for it in my kitchen cupboard....

For this Provencale chicken casserole, to serve two you need:

2 chicken legs (here I've actually used one leg and two small breast portions)

400g tin tomatoes

1 courgette, thinly sliced - though as neither of us likes courgette, I pureed it so I could stir it in without it being noticed

1/2 red onion, sliced

1/2 red pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 tsp dried herbes de Provence

salt, pepper

2 tbsp tomato puree

100ml chicken stock



Preheat oven to 180C. Spray a frying pan with Fry Light, season the chicken and fry the chicken for a couple of minutes on each side. Then transfer to the casserole dish.

Scatter the pepper, courgette and onions over the chicken.

Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, chicken stock and garlic. Sprinkle the herbes de Provence over the top.

Put the lid on the casserole dish and bake in the oven for about an hour until the chicken is cooked.

The cooked dish....

Serve with a few spoonfuls of the liquid and the slow-cooked vegetables on top. And if your other half really loves you, they will do the washing up!

I'm sending this to Cooking with Herbs, hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage; she has a dual theme this month of Chinese new year and romantic recipes for Valentine's day.

I'm also sharing this with Four Seasons Food, hosted by Anneli at Delicieux and Louisa at Eat Your Veg. The theme this month is "food from the heart".

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Mini Treacle Tarts

These may not look like much, but according to my boyfriend they taste delicious!

I wanted a bite-sized dessert option that wouldn't take too long to make so these were ideal. I found the recipe on the internet but adapted it as rather than weigh out quantities I played it by ear. I used Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry though if you want you can make your own.

Roll out the pastry and cut out circles. Spray a baking tin with Cake Release - you can use a mini tart tin, or a shallow cupcake tin, but here I found another use for the whoopie pie tin I was given a couple of years ago.

Add about 1 tbsp of fresh white breadcrumbs onto the centre of each pastry case and spread out evenly.

Drizzle 1 heaped tsp of golden syrup over the top and allow to soak in.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes.

I have to admit it was a bit of a job getting these out of the pan (as you can see!) and it probably would have been easier to make a large treacle tart and cut it into slices, but I wanted these to be bite sized. They are best served warm, maybe with some cream - though they are very sweet, so you won't want too many!

I'm sending this to Dead Easy Desserts, a blog challenge hosted by Maison Cupcake, for desserts that take 30 minutes or less to make.

I'm also sending this to Cakeyboi's Treat Petite, as the theme is baking small treats for loved ones, and my boyfriend loved these!

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Meal Planning 2014 - Week 7

Monday

Breakfast yogurt

Lunch Buy lunch out

Dinner Out with my boyfriend



Tuesday

Breakfast cereal


Lunch Slimming World pasta quiche


Dinner Wine-glazed duck breasts with figs (chicken instead of duck for the other half) from this recipe




Wednesday

Breakfast cereal


Lunch leftover Slimming World pasta quiche


Dinner coconut-shrimp with mango dipping sauce from this recipe with chips; cajun spiced chicken for my boyfriend as he doesn't eat shrimp




Thursday

Breakfast cereal


Lunch macaroni cheese on toast (I know this is technically pasta twice in the same day but it's completely different... and I need a quick lunch after a driving lesson)


Dinner goat's cheese and bacon ravioli with meatballs based on this recipe




Friday

Breakfast cereal


Lunch jacket potato


Dinner Valentine's Day- we're staying in and I'm cooking steak and chips followed by chocolate fondant



Saturday

Breakfast yogurt


Lunch zuppa toscana soup for me from this recipe, tomato soup for him with bread - zatar twists


Dinner Out for a friend's birthday



Sunday

Breakfast cereal


Lunch Fry-up for the other half, sausage gravy for me

Dinner Duck with plums and star anise from this recipe for me, chicken for the other half

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Restaurant Review- Bar Remo, Princes Street, London

Restaurant name: Bar Remo

Location: Princes Street, London

Description: Low-key Italian restaurant in the heart of London near Oxford Circus; according to the website, it has been run by the same family for over 90 years.

Reason for visit: Dinner before a show at the nearby London Palladium - Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker and I went to see Rick Stein Live.

I ate: Lasagne al forno, £8.45, followed by tiramisu, £4

My companion ate: I can't remember the exact name but I think it was papardelle with mushrooms in a tomato sauce, followed by the same dessert.

The food was: Simple but very tasty with very large portions. The tiramisu tasted properly home made and the lasagne was piping hot and very filling.

The atmosphere/service was: It's a small restaurant with relatively basic seating but comfortable enough and it has a very down-to-earth, unpretentious atmosphere.

Price range/value for money: Very good, the portions were very large and reasonably priced - I would have expected to pay more.

Would I recommend it? Yes, it's near Oxford Circus but a little bit away from the main bustle of the shopping streets so it would be a great place to stop for lunch while you are shopping, or for a pre-theatre dinner.

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