Food glorious food!

6^th October 2014

Learn to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want.  E James Rohn

Dark, rainy, Monday morning, mmm I think autumn has finally arrived in force! The best thing about this time of year is cooking warming, comforting meals and that’s what I did yesterday.  I wanted to use up some of the ingredients in the fridge that were ready to go off, so I made a potato bake thing and it was delicious. 

400g potatoes (8pp)

200g leeks

75g chorizo (7pp)

4 slices of turkey rashers (2pp)

100g butternut squash (taken from the soup ingredients)

4 spring onions

Tin of Batchelors low fat condensed mushroom soup (4pp)

60g greated mature cheddar cheese 7pp

Boil potatoes & steam leeks.

Add leeks to a frying pan with chorizo, turkey rashers and spring onions and fry until cooked.

Warm through soup add water until it’s a sauce like consistency you like.

The butternut squash had been roasted to make soup and I just took a bit out.   I’d be tempted to make this again with half potato/half squash to bring ProPoints down.

Put potatoes, squash and frying pan ingredients in a oven tray, pour over sauce and sprinkle over grated cheese.  Cook in oven until cheese is browned.

Delicious!   28pp in total, split between 3 or 4 depending on appetite.  I had roasted peppers with mine too.

I also like the sound of this slow cooker recipe for pork, I’m not a great lover of pork if I’m honest but this sounds like a great F&H way to cook it. http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/01/crock-pot-balsamic-pork-roast.html use a lean pork joint and here I’ve simplified her instructions but her photos are worth a click on the link.

Crock Pot Balsamic Pork Roast

2 pound (900g) boneless pork shoulder roast (27pp)

salt, to taste

1/2 tsp garlic powder

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/3 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon honey (4pp)

Season the pork with salt, garlic powder and red pepper flakes and place it into the slow cooker. Mix together the broth and vinegar and pour it over the pork, then pour the honey over and set the timer for 4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low.

Once the pork is cooked and tender (it should shred easily with a fork), remove from slow cooker with tongs into a serving dish. Break apart lightly with two forks and put back into the slow cooker and ladle 1/2 cup sauce over the pork and keep warm until ready to eat.

I might go out and buy me some pork to try this today!  It does sound good, be lovely with fluffy mash potatoes, mmm.   

Monday’s is possibly my favourite day of the week.  I’m fully refreshed after my weekend and although I usually do some work, I do it from home at my own pace.  I’ve feeling like I’m in a ‘doing’ kind of mood, so yep a trip to the supermarket because I need bread and eggs too, my fridge is bare, my freezer is pretty full so other than the pork I need to resist all the meat counter.  I’ve defrosted beef mince overnight so I’ll need to use that, might buy the pork and cook it tomorrow for when I get back from work.  I could leave it marinating in the fridge overnight in the balsamic and honey mix, mmm.

Now, this recipe was adapted from another recipe which leads to a beef balsamic recipe that mmm sounds good too, the slow cooker is going to be getting used a lot this winter.  Here’s the recipe from http://addapinch.com/cooking/balsamic-roast-beef-recipe/ (Author: Robyn Stone | Add a Pinch)

Balsamic Roast Beef Recipe

Prep time 5 mins  Cook time 4 hours  Total time 4 hours 5 mins

This Balsamic Roast Beef Recipe is simple and delicious. You'll definitely want left overs of this roast beef recipe for all those scrumptious leftover meals!

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 3 pound boneless roast beef (chuck or round roast)
  (3lb joint of Brisket = 78pp) (3lb silverside = 44pp or F&H)
• 1 cup beef broth
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey (4pp)
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

Instructions

1. Place roast beef into the insert of your slow cooker. In a 2-cup measuring cup, mix together all remaining ingredients. Pour over roast beef and set the timer for your slow cooker. (4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low)
2. Once roast beef has cooked, remove from slow cooker with tongs into a serving dish. Break apart lightly with two forks and then ladle about ¼ - ½ cup of gravy over roast beef.
3. Store remaining gravy in an airtight container in the refrigerator for another use.

Notes

If you prefer a more pronounced flavour, once the roast beef has been removed, use a fat separator on the gravy and then pour the gravy into a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the gravy has reduced by half.

Right I need to go make a cuppa now because I could just eat all of that!  It’s a good job I’m aware of my weight and I care enough to keep it under control because how easy is it to just eat all these lovely foods!

Monday Motivation – You can’t spell CHAlleNGE without CHANGE.  Make some healthy & happy changes BeYOUtiful.