Cake!

Having posted previously that I am not great at cakes (I don't have a particularly sweet tooth and I enjoy the variability of creating stuff to taste, not a set formula) when giving a virtually foolproof citrus loaf cake I have been a bit more experimental in this area lately.

My favourite recipes so far are here:

Mint Aero Bubble Slow Cooker Cake

(This is also a nice recipe for a chocolate loaf just in the oven without the aero bubbles)

Ginger Nuts

Vegan Ginger Cake

(I don't usually have self-raising flour and add half a teaspoon of baking powder per 2oz/50g plain. For the apple puree, a couple of chopped-up eating apples simmered in a couple of tablespoons of water and mushed up with a fork seems to work)

Jamaican Ginger Cake

(This is a lot less messy if you have scales you can zero if you weigh the treacle straight into the pan)

Cinnamon and Apple Loaf

(I peel the apple though)


Golden Syrup Cake

Second recipe is amazingly light and tasty. I melt the butter and syrup in a bowl over a pan of water (not sure if that is right, it is probably clear to people who often bake cakes). Light brown sugar seems to work okay as well if you haven't enough/any dark. Not sure why two different oven temperatures in recipe; I do it at 160 and check after 45 mins)

Left over frozen pastry for quick apple tarts

Roast Red Pepper Sauce

Great as a dip, as an alternative to pesto, with pasta, with chicken, with kebabs, with potato wedges. Best made a few hours or a day in advance.

Roast three whole red peppers on an oven tray for about 40 mins at 200c.

Skin them by putting them in a plastic bag for a couple of minutes so the skin goes loose and can be easily peeled off. (Make sure any juice from them goes in the pan, throw away the seeds and stalks)

Blend the pepper flesh with about 5 fl oz of water (enough so you can blend them - if you need to add more then you can just simmer for longer to reduce)

Add about a teaspoon of olive oil, some black pepper and about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and simmer with the lid half on gently for 10-15 mins, until it is the thickness you want. Taste and add a pinch of salt and sugar as required (the sauce will get a bit sweeter anyway as flavours develop) and maybe a bit more balsamic vinegar.

Then crush and rip into small pieces a handful of basil leaves (about 6-8 big ones) and leave to cool.


(You can also roast some garlic or a red chilli with the peppers)


You might also like:

Salsa Salad

Rib Marinade

Barbecue Sauce

Stuffed Peppers

Devilled Sauce

Potato Wedges

Sticky Onions

Loaded Skins

Tomato Sauce

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Smoked Mackerel

Two quick and tasty things to do with smoked mackerel


Use a fork to pull the fish from the bones and skin

Smoked Mackerel Pate

Mash up with some butter/spread (I usually use about an ounce for three fillets), some black pepper, lemon juice (and some parsley). Lovely on crusty bread or crackers with some salad.

(If you get a pack of mackerel that is already coated with pepper, lemon or parsley then adjust accordingly!)


Smoked Mackerel Rice Salad

Mix flaky chunks into cold rice with plain yoghurt and some black pepper. Add in salady bits for extra taste and crunch - chopped peppers and/or sweetcorn and/or spring onions can be added in advance. Chopped cucumber and/or tomatoes are lovely in it too, but unless you add them just before serving or scoop out all the seeds, it will go watery.

You might also like

Rice with chorizo, prawns/chicken

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Salsa Salad

Spicy Prawn Salad

Chilli Prawn Curry

Things to have with Poppadoms

Smoked fish and prawns in lemony white sauce

Spicy Golden Rice with Chicken


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Spicy Golden Rice and Chicken

Quick and tasty. Serves 4 (probably with leftovers)

This mildly spicy rice can make a small amount of chicken go a long way - one or two breasts or two or three thighs will seem like loads


Chop the chicken into small pieces and gently cook in small amount of oil or butter/spread in a pan for a few minutes until all white on the outside. (As it will continue cooking, you don't need worry about whether it is still pink in the middle.)

Add one or two finely chopped onions, some crushed garlic (up to about half a bulb according to how garlicy you like things) and some chopped peppers (I usually add a red and a green one to contrast the colours a bit) and cook gently until they are softened.

Then add the spices:

3 tsps ground coriander

2.5 tsps ground cumin

1.5 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika 

1tsp cayenne pepper 


(you can vary the amount of paprika and cayenne if you prefer it milder or spicier, eg 1.5 paprika and just half cayenne will be milder) 

Stir the spices through on a gentle heat for a couple of minutes and then add 8 oz of rice (I usually use basmati), stir to coat the rice and then add 15 fl oz of boiling water and one or two tablespoons of lemon juice. (You can also add half or a whole chicken stock cube if you like, especially if you are using less chicken).

(If I want to make sure of leftovers for lunch the next day I usually add 10 oz of rice and just under a pint of boiling water)

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down and leave with a lid on for 5 minutes. Stir well and put the lid back on for another 2-3 mins, and check and stir again and repeat. When the rice is soft and the liquid all absorbed it is ready (Usually about 10-15 mins total cooking time for the rice)

It tastes great as is, but serving with some yoghurt (plain or greek) really enhances it.

1tsp = 5ml

1tbsp = 15ml

15 fl oz is about 425 mls

You might also like

Rice with chorizo, prawns/chicken

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Salsa Salad

Spicy Prawn Salad

Chilli Prawn Curry

Things to have with Poppadoms
For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Pork Rib Marinade

This will comfortably do 1.5kgs of ribs.

(It is not a particularly hot marinade despite the quantities of spices)

Mix together

6 tsps of paprika (half plain and half smoked paprika is also nice)
0.5-1tsp of cayenne pepper
0.5-1tsp of black pepper
big pinch of thyme
small pinch of salt
5 fl oz honey (a half cup)
2.5 fl oz red wine vinegar (a quarter cup)
4-5 cloves of garlic (finely crushed)

I usually leave ribs marinading for a couple of hours, then take off any excess marinade and put them in the oven for 30-40 mins. About half-way through cooking I pour off the meat juices, mix with the marinade, and simmer gently in a pan to reduce down a bit. I then thicken it (mix about a teaspoon of cornflour with a little water, add a bit of the sauce to this, mix together then return to the pan and give it a whisk) as a sauce for the ribs, which I serve with potato wedges

You might also like

Mushroom Rice

Barbecue Marinade

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Loaded Skins

Devilled Sauce

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Stuffed Peppers

Put the oven on to about 200 c/GM 6

Cut the peppers in half (lengthways) and remove the stalk and seeds. It's nice to have a good mix of colours and each person will probably eat three or four halves. 

A pound of mince (450-500g) will stuff up to about ten peppers (I usually don't stuff this many, typically five or six and then either put the remaining mince out for people to help themselves to some more or have it with a baked potato or some bread for a lunch later in the week.)

Put the peppers in an oven dish (the best size is so they all fit in one layer next to each other without gaps) and put in the oven while you make the filling. (Peek into the oven from time to time though as you want them to soften but not char!)

Brown about 1lb of mince and then drain off the fat (but leaving the meat juices). Add one or two finely chopped onions and about half a bulb of crushed garlic and cook for three or four mins until soft.

Add about a teaspoon of paprika (half and half smoked is nice) and about half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper (adjust if you like it more or less spicy!) and stir through for a minute or two. Then add two or three teaspoons of vinegar (balsamic is nice and rich, but malt will be fine too) and give it a good stir getting the spices off the bottom of the pan. 

Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a big pinch of oregano and some black pepper and bring gently to the boil. (You can add half or a whole beef stock cube if you like.) Add a good squeeze of tomato puree (about a tablespoon) and leave to simmer for a few minutes to thicken a bit while you slice/grate cheese to go on top.

I usually use mozzarella but anything melty (eg mild cheddar) would be fine. How much cheese you use is up to you. I can usually get eight to ten reasonable slices (ie four to five peppers worth) out of a 125g mozzarella ball.

Spoon mince into each pepper-half, pushing it flat then top with cheese.

Put back in the oven until the cheese is as melty and bubbly as you like it (usually about ten minutes)

Serve with crusty bread or garlic bread

(In a hurry? Chop the peppers and cook with the onions, serve the mince with rice, or baked potato and grated cheese)

You might also like

Loaded Skins

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Beef in Beer

Kofta Curry

Chilli Beef Stew

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Something for Nothing

Some easy ways to make a few bob or receive free things!

Paid surveys

There are plenty of sites offering money or entries into prize draws, however in my opinion some are quite frustrating as they ask loads of screening questions before deciding too often that you don't quite match the profile for who they are wanting info from on this occasion.

My favourite is YouGov as they only seem to invite you to take surveys they do actually want you to take, you typically get 50p - £1 per survey and usually get invited to a couple a week so it quickly adds up (you do need to remember to click at the end of each survey to say you want to be credited with the cash and not convert it to a prize draw entry though). Once you get to £50 you can get the cash transferred to your bank . The surveys are usually to do with current affairs/news/politics and usually take 5-15 minutes, and are easy to do when travelling or half watching tv.

You can join YouGov here

Panelbase seems quite reasonable too


Free Things
There are lots of websites which notify you of offers for free samples. Personally I only register for things I am genuinely interested in, like toiletries (I do quite well for little tubes of toothpaste particularly, which are handy for travelling), food things and cosmetics (because I don't think it's fair to either take something I'm not that bothered for the sake of it, particularly if it is costing a small company, a not-for profit organisation or something limited availability where it will deny the opportunity to someone else).

My favourites are Money Saving Expert and Free Stuff

Blogging

If you have something to share that other people might be interested in, you can do worse than have a blog! There are plenty of free to use blogging sites (like Blogger) and on many you can add things like Adsense which will display adverts determined from the reader's own internet use and if they click on any that interest them to find out more it will earn the blogger pennies.

Loyalty Cards

Even if you don't shop at a particular store often or at all, it can still be worth having their loyalty card.

For example with Nectar, you can get points for ebay purchases, supporting Oxfam, using their internet search engine (up to £1's worth a month), then spend them at places like Argos without ever having set foot in Sainsbury's!

I also use Qmee which sits quietly in the background and occasionally when I am searching for things (either through the usual search engine or on sites like ebay or Amazon) will politely offer via a sidebar some pennies if I am interested in looking at their suggested alternatives. You can get the money paid whenever you like (no minimum) to a paypal account.

Free Postcode Lottery

Free daily competition - register your postcode, check the site and if it is drawn you can claim a prize. Free to enter with winnings paid from ad revenue generated - good luck!

Free Daily Draw

Register, check daily, you may win £50 : )

Street Lottery

Register, check daily, good luck

GeoLotto

There is a free version of this treasure hunt game. Register and you get 50 free digs a day. Choose where you dig and the pennies add up. (Update - free game does not always run)



None of these are going to bring you life-changing riches, but it all adds up : )


You might also be interested in Easy Ways to Support Good Causes


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )