Joy has had a beautiful baby girl called Isla.
Apologies to all readers for the lack of blogs at the moment but I’ve been on holiday and well Joy…
Mel
A beautiful baby girl called Isla
29 Friday Apr 2011
Posted in Uncategorized
Monthly Archives: April 2011
When Hugh Jackman met Helen
20 Wednesday Apr 2011
Posted in Live Below the Line
Hugh Jackman had the honour of meeting one of Christian Aid’s superstars Helen on Tuesday. He was lucky enough to meet Helen due to her being one of the top fundraisers for Live Below the Line.
Hugh with Helen:
Helen and Hugh Jackman
To find out more visit https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk-christianaid
Mel
My Live Below the Line shopping
18 Monday Apr 2011
Posted in Live Below the Line
So I’ve done my shopping for Live Below the Line! After months of discussing what to buy I finally came up with my list but sadly wasn’t able to get my tuna in oil (I was going to use the oil to cook) and frozen vegetables for 65p but it all came to less than I’d calculated so I’ve still got some money to spend and will hopefully come across my all important veg!
So here it is and all for £3.88!
I won’t Live Below the Line until the 3rd May but I’m on holiday and this was the only time I had to go shopping before then. So with £3.88 spent and hopefully 1kg of frozen vegetables at 65p I’ll have 47p to spend during the week. I’ll be blogging about my meals during the week and the experience of living on such a restricted amount of food and try to come up with soe interested recipes…
To find out more visit https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk-christianaid
Mel
Mini Roast Chicken
13 Wednesday Apr 2011
I’m cooking one of my favourites tonight, it’s easy, cheap and everyone likes it (well except for vegetarians) and I know that Claire will be happy to have the leftovers for lunch at work tomorrow!
What you will need:
4 chicken thighs
1 onion
1 lemon’s juice
Mushrooms (if you want and any other veg you fancy)
Potatoes (the timings are for new potatoes)
Rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
A large oven dish
This will feed 2-3 people
Before you do anything you want to turn your oven on to 200C so that it’s nice and hot. Slice up your onions and mushrooms and put them in your oven dish, add rosemary, salt, pepper and drizzle a little olive oil. Mix with hands so that everything is covered in oil (this will ensure that nothing burns).
Lay the chicken on top of the onions and mushrooms and add a bit of salt as this will help the skin go crispy. Drizzle just little of olive oil on top (you don’t need much as the thighs are already quite fatty) and make sure the whole surface is covered in oil. Then add the lemon juice and a bit of water – enough to cover the bottom of the whole dish. Put it in the oven.
Then you want to boil your potatoes for about 10 minutes, drain them and cover them all slightly with olive oil. I’d wait until the chicken’s been in the oven for 15 minutes before adding the potatoes.
Check the chicken every 10 minutes and add water when necessary, you want there to be enough liquid at the end to use as gravy. The chicken should take about 45 minutes to cook.
Either have a salad or some green beans with it.
Eat Greek in 5 minutes
12 Tuesday Apr 2011
Posted in The Lunch Club, Uncategorized
Most people who sit at a desk for their job acquire items in their drawer such as paper clips, pens or post it notes. I have those things too but always keep a whisk, olive oil and balsamic vinegar in my drawer. I like fresh salad dressing and I find it comes in handy. Today is a great example.
For lunch my co-worker brought in chicken she cooked at home and some pita pockets. I had brought some mixed greens, a handful of olives, a small tomato, 1/2 cucumber, about a quarter cup of feta cheese and a tablespoon of red onion.
We combined all of the ingredients (dicing up the cucumber and tomato), including the chicken. I whisked 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar with salt and pepper and slowly added 3/4 cup of olive oil. Then added a little honey. We tossed all of the ingredients in the dressing and stuffed it in the pita pockets.
It was flavorful and easy to make. We wrapped our pita pockets in napkins and sat outside to enjoy the sunshine.
-Joy
Here Comes the Sun
10 Sunday Apr 2011
Posted in Simple meals, The Lunch Club
I have to confess that this week I haven’t done a lot of cooking. I have hardly been home let alone near my kitchen. I did however have lovely lunches, one of which was shared with at least 5 of my colleagues. It was a perfect lunch club lunch where we all got to sit down and share our food.
It started off with my return from France and a suitcase full of smelly cheese, cornichons, saucissons, wine, mustard, paté and quite a few other yummy things. I brought so much cheese back that I halved it all and brought it into work along with some saucissons, paté and cornichons. I invited everyone from my team to join me for lunch and enjoy the French goodies, on one condition, that everyone was to bring something along. We ended up with a fantastic feast.
With the sun coming out and the weather being so beautiful I think it’s the perfect way to spend your lunch break. You don’t have to bring back cheese from France, all you need do is bring in a couple of things and share. Why not get a blanket and go find a park to sit in and I promise it’ll help your working day go by (you might even get to start working on that tan!).
Mel
PS:
Cornichons (French gherkins that I’ve never been able to find anywhere else but France)
Anyone Tired of Pasta?
08 Friday Apr 2011
Posted in Meals in one
Tags
melandjoylunch, olive oil, onion, pasta, pepper, quinoa, spaghetti, tomato, vegetables
Most people think I am nuts when I say that I really do not care for pasta, but it’s true. If I am going to mix a protein or vegetable with something, I prefer rice. However, if I’m cooking without meat but want more protein in my meal, I will use Quinoa instead. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to make and has 8 grams of protein per cup! It also has 5 grams of fiber. The thing with Quinoa is that once it is cooked, you have to add something to it or it can be dry. Below is my go-to recipe when I need to use up some vegetables or just want to cook something meat free.
What you will need:
Quinoa (Red or Traditional)
Olive oil
Your favorite spaghetti sauce
Onion
Garlic
Bell Pepper (any color)
Mushrooms
Tomato
Any fresh herb (I’ve used parsley, basil or even rosemary is nice)
Parmesan cheese
Once you have cooked your quinoa, add a little olive oil right away and give it a good stir. Then add your favorite spaghetti sauce. Add however much you want. If you add too little, the quinoa will seem dry.
Then, saute your veggies in the order listed above. The last thing you want to add is your fresh herb or herbs. Combine your veggies with your Quinoa and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
If you have time and want to to add another layer of flavor, you can saute your onion, add the garlic and then add your mushrooms. Let these veggies cook for a few minutes and then add a splash of red or white wine. You will need to let these cook down which will take about 5 minutes. Then you can add your bell pepper and tomato. You can substitute zucchini or asparagus for any of the veggies listed.
Joy
Frosted Violets
05 Tuesday Apr 2011
Posted in Desserts
Tags
decoration, dessert, food, sugar, violet
My parent’s garden in France was beautiful and full of springtime flowers this weekend. There were loads of violets and so I thought I would try making frosted violets. I had no idea how to make them and so asked my mum. She said that she thought they were made with egg whites and sugar. So there I went picking the purplest violets I could find. I have to say they all thought I was a little mad but were quite impressed with the end result.
So what you will need is one egg white, sugar and violets. I slightly beat the egg white and then made sure to cover each violet in egg. I then sprinkled the flower with sugar making sure that they were completely covered in sugar. Now you need to do each violet at a time, that is cover it in egg white and then sugar, have a plate ready to put the flowers on and leave them to dry.
My grandmother came over for lunch the next day and brought dessert (a cake and mini meringues) so we decorated the cake with the violets, a nice touch. It’s a fantastic home-made way of making pretty dessert decorations and gives it that little extra touch.
Mel
Morel Omelette
05 Tuesday Apr 2011
Posted in Salads, Simple meals
Morel mushrooms
Three days in the French countryside and I come back with at least 4 blog’s worth of material!
So I think I’ll start from the very beginning and that would be my father’s excitement at finding about 10 morels (crazy looking mushrooms) under one of his trees. It is the season for this kind of mushroom in France at the moment. Ok, they aren’t truffles but they are still quite a sort after kind. ‘Mushroom pickers’ go off to their secret spots in search of them and in no circumstance do they share their locations. Well that’s how it is in my village.
Mushrooms are a fantastic ingredient to adding flavour to the simplest of things, from sauces to omelettes. My parent’s neighbours have chickens and so we went and bought 12 eggs to make an omelette, to which we added the mushrooms. Now these eggs are nothing like supermarket eggs! The yolk is bright orange and so full of flavour; you really see the difference between a chicken running about the countryside and one that’s cooped up in a cage.
How to make an omelette
When making an omelette I’d say you need about 2/3 eggs per person, butter and anything you fancy adding to it. You also need a very good, non-stick pan. If it’s not non-stick your omelette will end up looking like scrambled eggs.
So, in a bowl crack your eggs and whisk (do not add any milk). Butter your pan, put on heat and add your ingredients (in this case mushrooms),once they are cooked add your eggs.
Now, there are two cooking techniques that I know of for the perfect omelette; the French way and the Spanish way. Your omelettes will look quite different depending on which technique you use but they will both give you a perfect omelette.
The French way: Once the side of the omelette on the pan starts to cook fold the omelette in half (so it becomes a half circle) and let it continue to cook for a while. The heat of the folded omelette will cook the inside.
The Spanish way: Once the side of the omelette on the pan is cooked take a plate, put it onto the pan and tip the pan so that the omelette is on the plate. Then slide the omelette from the plate back onto the pan so that the uncooked side is face down.
Serve with a side salad, and there you have it, a healthy and cheap meal.
Caution
Please do not go picking any mushrooms unless you are absolutely sure that they are edible.
Mel
A French Picnic…
01 Friday Apr 2011
Posted in Salads
Melanie is off to France for a long weekend…aahhhh!
Home picked cherries
I miss France so much right now that if I were allowed to fly, I would tag along!
A sunny day in France
Mel’s trip makes me think of a picnic we had in France when we were there, in the countryside, last May.
We had a delicious spread of wine, salad, pates, cheese and cherries – that were picked from her grandmother’s tree. It seems when most people think of food in France desserts, baguettes and champagne come to mind. But I think of the lettuce. The leaves are large but they have a soft texture and taste sweet. Boston/Bibb lettuce is the only kind of lettuce I can find in Chicago that reminds me of the lettuce in France.
Whenever Mel and I make a meal together, I know that we will have a salad with her famous mustard vinaigrette. The French always eat a salad with their meal because it helps digestion. Before meeting Mel, I had never heard of this but eat the same way now. When I make salad dressing I like to measure it all out, but not Melanie. The salad below is what I make to take me back to that lovely picnic. It has a tangy cheese, a tart fruit, buttery walnuts and the famous pungent mustard vinaigrette!
What you need:
Butter/Bibb lettuce
1 green apple (cored and cut)
1/2 cup of toasted walnuts
3 ounces of Roquefort cheese
Vinaigrette
1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of olive oil
Sea Salt & Black Pepper
Mel and Joy cook 