A bit more bland….

If you don’t know what bland is you need to check here. If you’re willing to risk it here comes the next recipe……. salute to NM who used this one in one of our cook-ins and we’ve been making it ever since!

Lentil Stew

oil,
1 carrot,
2 leeks,
1 onion,
2 sticks celery,
1 can tomatoes
1 1/4 pints stock
S & P
1 teaspoon parsley
8oz red lentils

Heat some oil in saucepan and fry carrot, leeks, onion and celery until soft.
Add tomatoes, stock,, seasoning, parsley and lentils and simmer gently for 1-1.5 hours stirring occasionally.

Serves 4. I double this (at least)

I made this to-day to give to a friend in need, I now realise that if I was a professional blogger I would have remembered to take a photo, but hey I’m not the only one!!!!

Biographies

The ladies over at titus2talk have compiled a list of their readers favourite biographies. No doubt it’s not exhaustive but there are some great books listed there, I can vouch for a few of them.

Biographies are a useful tool for learning much through the experience of others and the very style of many of them make them easier reading for periods when you have less time or no concentration span to read. I always found when I am struggling in life for example in the post-natal periods it is not advisable to be wrestling with the theologians books, but much wiser to allow God to teach you to rely on Him by showing you others experiences.

The Bible is full of biographies, it’s good to also read how others (who lived not just so long ago) used Biblical principles in their lives to overcome their struggles.

If you’re at a low ebb with your reading or if you just need a change head on over to titus2talk and check out their list.

Mummymac.

Bland British Food

I have recently finished reading a book by an American Housewife. The book (a New York Times Best-Seller) being nothing to do with food, at one point refers to British food as being “bland” in the opinion of the writers family. (Let it be said here that I love Americans but I’m just making a point!)

As I mulled over this comment and considered the food I cook I couldn’t help but agree with this lady to a certain extent. I mean in our home we tend to cook many dishes which are traditionally from other countries and I’m sure this could be the reason why.

Bland means (according to my computer’s dictionary) “lacking strong features or characteristics”. Now don’t get me wrong I’m all for my Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding but I don’t think it can be described as a having “strong feature” when compared to a vindaloo or a chilli con carne.

So to get my much requested recipe section up and running I am sticking with the home fayre and you can’t get much closer to home than,

IRISH FARMHOUSE BAKE

2oz butter

8 rashers smoked back bacon, cut in strips

1 large onion, finely chopped

4oz mushrooms, sliced

6 potatoes boiled

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1/4 pint double cream

4oz Cheddar cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper

Melt half the butter in a pan and fry the bacon until cooked and beginning to brown. Remove from the pan and fry the onion and mushrooms until cooked and beginning to colour. Cut the potatoes into wedges and arrange with the fried bacon mushrooms and onions in an oval ovenproof dish. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley. Pour over the cream and cover with the grated cheese. Bake in the preheated oven (180) for 20-30 minutes until crisp and golden on top and very hot.

Other vegetables can be used such as courgettes, broccoli, cauliflower or our favourite leeks.

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Enjoy and watch out for more “Bland” recipes to come….

Mummymac.

The problem with books…

2 highlights of our “book” year are when we attend a library sale and when Daddymac returns from a pastors conference laden down with new books.

The former is a great opportunity to give the kids a varied library of their own books (and also for Mummymac and Daddymac to pick up a few bargains), the later is an opportune occasion to purchase Biblical aids on the recommendation of others.

The problem with books is storage, many people ask me where do you put them all? At the minute things aren’t so bad but I do acknowledge that if things keep going the way they are something is going to have to give. Remembering that the kids are 6, 4 and 2 the potential for many more books in this house is vast.

I’ve just realised recently that we have 5 full size bookcases in our house and many other purpose built shelves.

This is a plea from the heart……..

What’s your ideas for storing books? Have you any novel ways to keep them neat and tidy? Let me know your ideas and if I use them I’ll post pictures of the finished results!

 

 

Mummymac.