simple bakes for crazy lives ... fat free apricot tea loaf

mmmm i must start with an apology ... again !! 2 months have practically gone by and i have given you one whole blog !! Wowza !! anyway ... life is fairly hectic ... and i have done loads of cooking and i've got photos for blogs coming out my ears ... but actually sitting down here to blog seems fairly rare ... 

This one is a hugely simple and easy to do recipe (I can remember the recipe in my head and am blogging from my desk at work its that easy). You just need to be in to have the oven time and soaking time, but the actual method is easy !! 

One absolutely gorgeous moist tea loaf ... making it your own as well is so simple, you can used spiced tea's or different fruit. Generally i use raisins or mixed ... my mum tried it not so long ago with a chai tea ...

See mums recipe 

but this is a long standing family recipe ... fat free but lets be honest with the amount of sugar thats in this bad boy we can't really claim it's a healthy bake !! lol The diet goes out the window again !!

heres what you do ...

use a mug to measure all your ingredients ...
preheat the oven to gas 4//180 degrees

Firstly take a mug of fruit (raisins, mixed dried fruit, apricots, dried cherries)
pour it into a mixing bowl
Then measure a mug full of sugar and stick it in the same bowl
(I actually found it a little sweet last time so next time i would use maybe 3/4 of a mug of sugar)
Then make black tea in the same mug (do not use milk), boil it up then let it brew for a few minutes and add to the bowl
leave to soak for at least 30 mins
rinse and leave the mug to dry at this point

pop off and do a bit of shopping or some ironing ... then ...

add to the bowl (using the same dry mug) 2 mugs full of self raising flour
and 1 egg ...
Mix ...

Stick into a greased loaf tin ... and bake for about an hour ... it really will depend on what you've put in there, so keep your eye on it and check with a skewer to check it is cooked through.
If not ... leave it in for a few more minutes ... it's so moist it won't dry out unless you bake it for ages ... so don't be worried about leaving it for a few more minutes ...

et voila ... one squishy fruity tea loaf ... ready for your family to scoff (Oh and did i mention - it's fat free !! LOL)

sugary strawbs and eggy bread !

I've started weight watchers (hence the lack of food blogs recently) and this was my delicious low points breakie that i thought i'd share with you !! For all you weight watchers fans it was only 4.5 points !!

all you need is two bits of bread
a teaspoon of icing sugar
150 g of strawbs
and an egg

- break your egg into a bowl and beat lightly
- dip your bread into the egg and coat each side with the egg
- drop into a hot frying pan and flip when it turns golden brown
- plate up by pouring your strawbs (chopped into bitesize pieces) and your icing sugar on the top

and enjoy !!!

A healthy breakie that feels and tastes naughty !!!

the fluffliest pancakes ...

It's shrove tuesday tomorrow and it seems that spring is arriving!

Here's a yummy pancake recipe that we enjoyed this evening!

Ingredients

    * 135g self-raising flour
    * 1 tsp baking powder
    * 130ml milk
    * a pinch of salt
    * 2 tbsp caster sugar
    * 1 large egg, beaten
    * 2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly), plus a little more for cooking
    * what ever you fancy to eat with you pancakes

Method

   1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl.
   2. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
   3. Pour the milk mixture into the flour and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any   lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing.
(your batter will look somewhat like cake mixture – don’t worry)

   4. Now for the important bit – Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
   5. Grease a non-stick frying pan with a little butter and place over a medium heat.
   6. When the pan gets up to temperature add a spoonful of batter. It will seem very thick but this is   how it should be.
   7. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over (or toss it, if you’re feeling brave!) and cook until both sides are a nice golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm thick.
   8. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven.

Serve to taste … I like dollops of golden syrup, berries and yoghurt ☺

Happy Pancake Day everyone!

the best brunch ...

Don't you just love lazy saturday mornings when you can just chill out and enjoy being in the kitchen. This morning, sat with my coffee at the kitchen table, I was wondering what I should do with the left over bacon and the fresh eggs from my brothers chickens. It was the perfect opportunity to try bacon and egg cups! they turned out to be the perfect lazy breakfast, easy to make, and perfect for two, or for all the family. The following recipe makes 6 cups.

Ingredients:
6 slices of bacon
6 slices of bread
a handful of grated cheese
3 eggs
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to: 200 degrees//gas mark six
Cook bacon for a few minutes on either side in a frying pan.
Whilst you are doing this grease 6 holes of a muffin tray with oil.
Cut out 6 rounds of bread with a cookie cutter (just larger than muffin holes)
Push a round of bread into each cookie hole.
Wrap bacon around the edge tuck it behind bread to keep it in place. (I keep the fattiest side up to get it all crispy)
Drop a small amount of cheese on top of bread.
Crack eggs into the holes. I shared one egg between two cups, as one was two much. Use the shell to break the yoke as you tip the egg in, to get yolk and white in each.

I cooked mine for about 15 mins in the end until the bacon was crispy, but it depends how you like your eggs cooked, (I like mine well done) so keep your eye on them.

There really easy to pop out of the tray, just stick a knife down the side and voila. Enjoy!