Soda bread

I used to make soda bread quite often but have got out of the habit.  I don’t know why as it is so easy and you can get from flour to baked bread in under an hour!  Here's how. Ingredients 500 g plain flour 1 tsp bicarbonate soda 1 tsp salt 400 ml buttermilk or …

Chocolate orange ice-cream

I love ice-cream and we quite often have it for dessert at the weekends.  I buy ice-cream but I also like making it especially since I was bought an ice-cream maker which takes away alot of the hard work!  This came about as I have something of a weakness for Terry's chocolate orange and I …

Summer vegetable and goats cheese lasagna

This is a really good lasagna and it would be easy to vary the vegetables to what you have got or to do exactly the same in the winter with winter root vegetables.  The great thing is it is best if you don't cook the vegetables before you start to layer the lasagna up so …

Chocolate muffins

This is what I cooked with the children this week.  It was almost a case of too many cooks spoil the broth as there were nearly not enough jobs for three children which meant that the mixture was definitely over stirred which is not a good thing for muffins.  They still worked out but not …

Salmon and pepper skewer

These are really easy and a great recipe to get your children involved in helping.  They look really colourful and are a good thing to make if your children are reluctant to eat fish as things on a stick seem to be almost universally more popular!  I served mine with a very simple boiled couscous …

Moroccan bean burger

This is a really filling burger which is pretty quick to put together and was enjoyed by everyone.  Chermoula is an ingredient that you might not have come across, it's a spice mix of preserved lemons, onions, capers, coriander, parsley, cumin, peppers and chilli's.  You can readily buy it in supermarkets. Ingredients 1 onion grated …

Menu 17 July

This weeks menu starts with Moroccan bean burgers which are super tasty and easy to make, you just have to be a bit careful when you turn them as they are quite soft and you don't want them to fall apart. Tuesday sees salmon skewers which are a great thing to get children to help …

Tamarind and lemongrass beef stir fry

As a family cook I love stir frys.  They are so quick to prepare and so varied.  I know that I always have the ingredients for a stirfry as you can pretty much add whatever you have got to hand.  That said some of my stir frys are more successful than others and this one …

Greek salad

Feta is such a great cheese.  I love it's salty taste and its crumbliness.  I use it in a few pasta dishes but I enjoy it most in Greek salad perhaps because it reminds me of lovely summer holidays in Cyprus. Ingredients 1 red onion sliced as finely as you can 1 tsp dried oregano …

Cheese and herb scones

Scones are a great thing to make with children as they don't have many ingredients, are comparatively quick  and simple to make, so they can do a large part of it independently.  The biggest disadvantage is really that they contain flour and you would be amazed at how far it can travel in the hands …