I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.
A while ago I mentioned that I fancied doing something to take up my time. In the end I ordered some patches of fabric (from here if anyone is interested) and they arrived the other weekend. So I have started sewing them together.
It was a selection of fabrics, but as they all had pink/ pale teal in them I thought they would look quite nice.
I had no idea how to do this so I started sewing them in pairs, then joining them together.
Anyway, since then I have read that it is better to sew them into strips and then join the strips together. Not quite sure how to turn it into a blanket once I have sewn them all together either! Really I don’t mind how it turns out because (to quote an early years teaching phrase) it is the process, not the product.
It is quite relaxing to sit with the radio on and sew, plus it keeps my hands busy so I can’t be tempted by chocolate the whole time.
I had a scrumptious breakfast yesterday:
Pancakes made with half spelt and half peanut flour, topped with DCD and sliced banana. Mmm.
I also tried some real (caffeinated) tea- Teapigs chocolate tea. I have them on my facebook page and the photos were tempting me! (I am not against caffeine, but the cyst I have is pressing on my bladder, and caffeine tends to make it a bit worse sometimes which is why I have been only having herbal/ rooibos teas lately).
Plus, the latest sourdough loaf was a success!
I made some carrot, sweet potato and butternut soup, and had the leftover-leftovers (well, me and Andy had one lot the other day- this wasn’t reheated that many times don’t worry) for Friday lunch with a slice and my fave hummus. Yum.
It was fab for dinner with bean and veggie bake.
It was also lovely toasted for Saturday lunch (topped with almond butter/ almond butter and apple/mango jam). Even though the top looked burnt, it was really tasty inside. Phew.
Saturday Andy was out and I needed to use up a lot of veggie from our fridge that were a little past their best. I decided to make a lentil chilli, and also roasted some extra veg (carrots and sweet potato) for more soup.
I cooked some lentils:
Then mixed it all up in a pot with some passatta and some chilli.
Nice and warming on a cold night. Plus two more portions in the freezer. Although we need a bigger freezer- it was a real squeeze fitting the pots in there.
We had the soup today for lunch- it was so easy I really should prep stuff like this more often. I put the carrot and sweet potato in the pan, with some water, stock and this time chilli flakes, simmered for maybe 20 mins, blended and served. Easy.
It is half term this week so I am going to have lots more visitors- hooray 🙂
I made the mistake of listening to an old Adam and Joe podcast on my walk on Saturday- cue me walking along laughing out loud like a crazy person. I think those ones are best listened to at home! I am running out of things to listen to. So which podcasts do you like to listen to?
Although I must have packed some stuff away before I took it. Silly me. Anyway, I got the usual stuff ;bananas, clementines and plums (which were 3 for 2), salad, peppers, courgettes, aubergine, sweet potatoes, tinned tomatoes and tinned beans (although I did look at the dried beans but they didn’t have dried cannelini which are my fave), orange juice, cheese, Pure spread, olive oil, paracetamol, rosemary, black pepper and some montezuma’s chocolate (I have quite a collection but it is on offer!). Anyway, the peanut butter was reduced and I have no idea why as the best before date is months away (which is why I got one smooth and one crunchy). And I got some nice looking rosemary foccacia rolls, and some yummy looking fruit and seed English muffins- straight to the freezer as they went off the same day. I love a bargain! 🙂 I also got Vegetarian Living mag for me and Private Eye for Andy.
I also popped into Julain Graves and saw these yummy looking cocoa dusted almonds. I got Andy some chai tea (shhh) as I am sure our tea supplies are running low. I mean now I can open the tea cupboard without something falling on me, so that must mean we need more, right?
And there are the thermals. I have white vest ones already so I went for black this time and also tried some leggings- 25% off is not to be sniffed at, especially when it is freezing. I got ankle length leggings and they are really drag-along-the-floor-and-trip-me-up length. But I am short. Anyway they are super warm which is what counts.
I had some butternut that I already cubed and roasted with some rosemary, but you could do it with raw stuff.
Then add a litre of hot water and some vegetable stock- I like this vecon stuff. Put the lid on and simmer for a while- maybe 30 mins? I do the fork test (eg poke a carrot with a fork, and if it is soft it is ready).
I added a bit more water here (I originally added only about 750ml I think) but it depends on how thick/ watery you like it really. Add in some rosemary and black pepper. Chilli would be nice too for a spicy soup- maybe I will try that next time
Then blend away until it turns into a lovely thick smooth soup. Of course you can leave some lumps if you like.
I had it with some sunflower ryvita with caramelised onion hummus- a tasty and veggie-packed lunch.
And as for the rest of the roasted butternut- it went into a chickpea stew. I am pretty sure it had red onion, red and yellow peppers, butternut squash, tomatoes, chickpeas, chilli and spinach. It was lovely anyway, plus it made 3 portions so I have 2 more in the freezer. My favourite kind of meal (and I even labelled them so no more mystery dinners).
Mint tea (I condensed most of my mint teabags into one box- I thought it was all I had (Twinnings and Aldi) but then found a whole box of Whittards ones too. Having one a day will use them up pretty quick).
Plus porridge- Gingerbread porridge plus a spoonful of dark choc dreams and a topping of cinnamon. Tastes like a chocolate coated gingerbread cookie. Yum.
Clementines.
I could not resist a taste of 
Some dark chocolate with some lemongrass and vanilla tea. I went on a little walk and I needed a hot drink when I got back inside!
Bean and veggie bake, topped with cheese, and some sourdough. This is my fave way to eat veggies- all cooked up together- in this is onions, red and green peppers, tomatoes, beans, but we will add courgettes/ aubergine/ spinach depending on what we have in.
When wandering in Waitrose I saw these rice puddings- mango and coconut, so I had one warmed with half of a 
Now don’t worry, I have not gone crazy, and yes I know these are biscuits. The recipe is from 
The topping is the prettiest part. It is meant to be chocolate melted with some butter substitute (as it is a vegan book) but I used Dark chocolate dreams instead, and let me tell you that is the most amazing topping for anything, ever. Ever!
As I was giving some away for friends who came to visit. It was very crumbly to cut, but it was really worth it. Although next time I think I would just buy biscuits for the base.
I made some sugar carrots for the topping- something I have always wanted to do! I had to use my gel colours (I keep them in the cute owl box) 🙂 I rolled the orange icing into balls, then rolled them into sort of sausage shapes making one end thin and one end fat. For the greens I rolled into very thin rolls, and used 2 for each carrot. I made a little hole in the end of the carrot with my little finger, and poked the greens in there. Then I used a knife to make nobbles on the carrots.
Hooray for my little carrots!
I baked the mixture in two tins, and then made some icing. Now my plan was to use coconut cream (the little tiny tins from Waitrose) to make a coconut icing. When you pour it out, it looks like loads! Anyway, I added in icing sugar and mixed until it was thick, and left it in the fridge to thicken further. I sandwiched the two cakes with some, and had the rest to put on top.
Now, the cakes were cool but I think the kitchen was warm because the icing really melted and kept pouring off the top of the cake. I shall call it a glaze. Andy’s Mum said she much preferred it to normal thick icing because it got in all the nooks and crannies. Anyway, it did taste really coconutty. More practise needed though!
I had some a day later and the icing had hardened more, so maybe that is the key.
From 
Alpro almond milk! I love the Provamel Almond milk but it is hard to find, and I like the unsweetened Ecomil but that is pretty expensive. I am excited that other companies are making almond milk anyway, especially as this is fortified with calcium and vitamins. 🙂 Plus it is cheaper than the Ecomil stuff.
Here you can see the bubbles that appeared, before I covered it in more flour and water.
Then I had to make the dough- 300ml of the starter mix (which was very gloopy so I had to ladle it out), 500g flour (I did half wholemeal and half white), 200ml warm water and a pinch of salt.
It looked a bit messy in the bowl, and it took a lot of kneading, but it did come together to make quite a sticky dough. From things I had read on the internet, the dough would be wetter than a normal bread dough- something I read said to keep it as wet as you could bare.
Then it went back in the same bowl (I don’t like extra washing up, sorry!) which I coated with a little rapeseed oil.
I actually took some photos to see if it had risen or not, because I was having trouble working it out! Anyway, after a good few hours I kneaded it gently and shaped it into the dough shape. I made a makeshift proving basket by lining a pasta bowl with a teatowel, and left it overnight.
Again, I was not sure if it had risen in the morning.
But a look on the camera confirmed it! Or rather, it had spread!
It rose so much in the oven, I was shocked- I honestly think it doubled in height! I did slash the top with a serrated knife, but not deep enough it turns out because it sort of burst out the bottom.
I could not resist slicing it while it was still warm.
And enjoyed an end piece with some hummus for lunch. It has turned out really well for a first go- nice and chewy and it does have a faint sourdough taste. I think as the starter mix gets more mature the flavour will develop too.
And seriously, what do you think it looks like? I am still saying ET!