Lamb and feta burger with salad and wedges

25 August, 2012 By 1 Comment

It smells like a kebab shop, only nice – me

In a departure from my staple of veggie recipes, I decided to try out this lamb burger for Mark and JD – it’s a lovely summer meal, made from lean mince so it would probably cook well on the BBQ too.

This recipe feeds four.

Ingredients

  • 500g lean lamb mince
  • 100g Feta cheese
  • ¼ tsp ground paprika
  • 3-4 tbsp flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 1 garlic clove
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • ¼ tsp cumin powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 bread rolls
  • 1 pack of potato wedges (we used McCain Slightly Spicy Wedges with ours, or you could make your own)
  • Mixed salad

Instructions

  1. Put the mince, feta (crumbled), paprika, parsley (chopped), allspice, garlic (finely chopped), lemon zest, cumin and seasoning into a large bowl
  2. Mix well until it all comes together
  3. Split the mixture into four balls, place on a non-stick baking tray and press each one down slightly
  4. Cook under a medium grill for 8 minutes, turning once
  5. Serve hot on crusty rolls, topped with a little salad, with a side of potato wedges or even this wedge salad

This recipe is from McCain’s Summer of Sharing website, which contains lots of recipes, party tips and games.

Disclosure: No payment was received for this post. McCain sent me some ingredients and recipes to test and adapt. All posts are 100% honest and all food posts are (hopefully) very tasty.

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Shortcut-lover’s lemon drizzle cake

15 August, 2012 By 2 Comments


It’s really lemony! – JD, 4

As part of my challenge to cook yummy, frugal food with the Morrison’s M Saver’s range, I tried out their “cheat’s lemon drizzle loaf”, which takes moments to prefer, tastes yummy and feeds 10 for just 90p!

Ingredients

  • 2 packets of M Savers Sponge Mix
  • 2 free-range eggs
  • 150ml Water
  • 4 tbsp of M Savers Lemon Curd
  • 1 M Savers Lemon
  • Some icing sugar

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C (175C fan oven)
  2. Line a one litre loaf tin with grease proof paper.
  3. Whisk the eggs and water together in a large bowl
  4. Add the cake mix and beat with an electric whisk for 3 minutes until light and frothy
  5. Add two tablespoons of lemon curd and whisk a little more until mixed
  6. Pour the cake mix into the tin and bake for 35 to 40 minutes
  7. Remove from the oven and stab all over with a skewer to about 2 inches deep
  8. Mix together the juice and zest of the lemon with 2 tbsp lemon curd
  9. Spoon slowly over the cake while it’s still in the tin
  10. When completely cool, lift out the tin and peel off the paper
  11. Sprinkle liberally with icing sugar to taste – we prefer it sweet!

This recipe is surprisingly tasty. We prefer to make our own batter from scratch but this is a great alternative if you’re short on time and pennies.

I’ll be posting one more recipe this month using the Morrisons M Savers range to make the family budget go further. Meanwhile, check out the M Savers Summer website for low cost and free entertainment ideas, an interactive play area map, plus quick and low-cost family favourite recipe ideas from as little as 19p per portion.

Disclosure: Morrisons are currently sponsoring me to get creative with their M Savers range and recipes. All posts are 100% honest.

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32/52: Everyone should have a sandpit

10 August, 2012 By 12 Comments

I think it might be the best sandpit in the whole world – JD, 4

Summer’s here, sort of. Some days it’s raining, some days it’s like this – ridiculously sunny. Sunny enough to get out that staple of the British childhood summer: the sandpit.

Idealo sent us this Plum Products Large Octagonal Sand Pit – it’s very, very large (149cm x 149cm) but priced as low as £60 including delivery, which I think is great value.

The base is material, which lets excess water out. The only down side is the lid, which is plastic and not elasticated, so it doesn’t really stay on. When it rained it got weighed down in the middle and failed in its purpose, but Mark has taken on the challenge of improving on it this weekend with some cleverly (and carefully) placed eyelets.

Anyway, we grabbed six bags of sand and a cheap bucket and spade from the supermarket and set to work. Instagram is now playing host to some of our best sand castle creations.

Disclosure: We were sent a Plum Products Large Octagonal Sand Pit for review purposes. No payment was received for this post. All posts are 100% honest.

TheBoyandMe's 366 Linky Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall
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Roast vegetable pesto pasta salad

6 August, 2012 By 5 Comments

I love pepper – JD, 4

The lovely folk at Morrisons set me a challenge this week: could I make enough delicious pasta salad to feed a family of 4-6, using only M Savers products?

The answer? Yes, yes I could. Actually, the whole lot only cost £1.32. Here’s what we did…

Ingredients

  • 300g M Savers Pasta Twists
  • 1 M Savers Courgette
  • 1 large M Savers Red Pepper
  • Dash of olive oil
  • 2 tbsp of M Savers Green Pesto
  • Juice of 1/2 M Savers Lemon

Instructions

  1. Cut the courgette lengthways into quarters, then chop in 1cm pieces
  2. Roughly chop the pepper into similar size pieces
  3. Put the courgette and pepper into roasting tray, toss in the oil and bake at 200C (180C fan oven) for 10 minutes
  4. Meanwhile, cool the pasta until al dente
  5. Drain the pasta and mix with the pesto, lemon juice and roast vegetable
  6. Allow to cool before storing in the fridge until ready to serve

Disclosure: Morrisons sent me a £10 voucher to buy the ingredients for their recipe. No payment was otherwise received and all posts are 100% honest.

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Little Miss J gets smart in the Smart Trike Recliner (review)

2 June, 2012 By 2 Comments

Ooooooooooooh! – Little Miss J

A girl can never have too many shoes, handbags or tubes of lip gloss (apparently). And a baby girl can never have to many modes of transport, right?

The Smart Trike Recliner isn’t a pushchair, it’s more of a play vehicle that converts into four different modes to suit your child at 6, 10, 15 and 24 months and then lasts them right up to 3 years.

At 7.5 months, Little Miss J is using the trike at stage two (I think!), which means she’s upright, but we do the steering while she sits back, although she can reach and hold on to the handle bars, which she seems to find exciting.  When she’s a little taller, she’ll be able to peddle as we push, and when she’s taller still, we’ll remove the push-handle and she’ll cycle along all by herself.

It’s not something Miss J would be able to sleep in, I don’t think, and it’s not really suitable for off-road, but for walks around the village or over to the park in the glorious sunshine, it’s a lot of fun.

It’s a funky little vehicle that I think Miss J will enjoy each summer for a few years to come, which makes the £149.99 RRP pretty reasonable, especially as it’s sold considerably cheaper on several major retail websites.

Disclosure: We were sent the Smart Trike Recliner free of charge for review. No payment was received. All reviews are 100% honest.

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