Chekhov Chats: On Dinners

It has come to my conclusion (with Daddy’s constant grumbling as support to my theory) that I am spolit when it comes to my dinners. I can also say that when I have asked other woofs on walks, they have come to the same conclusion.

The humans aren’t sure what my feeding arrangements were before I was rescued, but I was pretty skinny when I got here…like models banned from the catwalk skinny… so as you can imagine,  I now like to devour everything given to me at record speed.

Despite being a rescue woof, or even just a woof for that matter, I do not eat dog food from a can….there is no Pedigree Bum in our house.  Dog food is actually quite expensive and Mum, as you know, is always on the hunt for a bargain, but she didn’t want me to just eat rubbish.

Mum also decided that I should get something a little different for each meal. She knows she would be bored out of her mind just eating pasta for the rest of her life…even if it did come with a different sauce every now and then. So she scoured the internet looking for the best way to feed me.

After what felt like a woof week, but Mum reckons was only a few hours, of forum and testimonal reading, and after considering feeding me raw (but realising that Daddy would go MENTAL if I got more fresh meat than him…) she stumbled onto CSJ. A lovely company who make woof food….at really reasonable prices. A 15kg sack of my food is £12.30…..that is sack that actually weighs only 3 kg less than I do right now! And it is full of good stuff, no rubbish….like E numbers and additives….

Now Mum just cooks a little extra of whatever she is cooking for their dinner and mixes it in with a bit of my kibble….my favourite so far has to be a mix of kibble, pasta, mushrooms and chicken…that was lip-smacking good.

My favourite foods are peanut butter, pasta, peas, mushrooms, all meat, and CSJ That’ll Do! 

I also enjoy drinking water from Daddy’s glass….but he is not so keen.

I don’t like celery and peppers….they are NOT nice…but Mum keeps hiding them in my food and mixing them with other yummy stuff, so I eat them anyway.

Ooooo…Dad is in the kitchen….I’m off to go sniff stuff….

Toodles!

C

Lasting Till Payday #2: Make Packed Lunches

I love food in boxes….especially those in lunchboxes….

Fancy hearing me talk about it?

How I Spend My Christmas Vacation

Today was the last day of term (I’m in tomorrow to do a care shift…but lets glaze over that shall we?), so work for me is finished! HUZZAH!

So from finishing one job, to starting another. Time to crack on with my christmas hampers.

My jams are already done, and my relishes are relishing. What I wait for ages to do are my sweet things as I’m always afraid my biscuits will go soggy and my truffles will get….well…. scoffed.

The first thing I’ll start making are my homemade chocolates. These are possibly the easiest of all my goodies to make, but this year I’m adding a little flavouring to make mint and orange delights.

Brrrrrrrilliant

 Last year, P had bought a penguin shaped ice cube silicone mould for making…you guessed it…penguin shaped ice cubes.

Due to being totally amazeballs and full of great ideas (check out MY SELF-ESTEEM!) I pinched it to make Choccy Penguins for my friends children and my younger brothers as seen last christmas here. Since last year, we have bought LOADS of different silicone moulds (IKEA you legend!) for my christmas chocolates and I’m most excited about using the heart shapes.

1: Take 200g of chocolate (any flavour, how about chilli chocolate for the menfolk? – I’ve done plain white & milk shapes as they are for children) – 200g does one ice cube tray. Keep the empty ice cube tray in the freezer till you are just ready to put the chocolate in it.

2: Break it up into squares and nuke in the microwave until completley melted. You can do it the traditional way over a pan of hot water, but I feel it takes too long when I’m in this festive rush! (At this point, stir in a few drops to taste, of peppermint or orange essence, if you fancy some flavoured chocs)

3: Using a teaspoon, scoop and dribble molten chocolate – it has to be runny or it will make silly blobs too quickly, into the mould…halfway you can add a nut, or a sweetie if you wish, dependent if you want them to have a centre. You could also do half white and half milk…etc etc, just stopping halfway through before adding the different layer.

4: Ensure you are as neat as possible as this will save you neatening them up after they come out the freezer. Clean up the edges with a flat butter knife. Give the mould a little wibble to make all the chocolate fall into the cracks.

5: Whack in the freezer for about an hour.

6: Pop out of the mould (you may have to be a bit rougher than you think) and place in bought or homemade bags or boxes lined with greaseproof paper.

Do try not to scoff them before you finish….mine get stored in our drinks fridge (that doubles as an end table) ready to go in their cute cellophane bags. I have to wrap them pretty quick else P thinks they are fair game and scoffs them all!

Midweek Munchies: Chickpeas as a Snack Food?

I stumbled on this fahhhhhbulous recipe for Sweet & Salty Roasted Chickpeas by Stef over at The Cupcake Project and I cannot wait to get home after our trip to Disney (I leave tomorrow morning! Eeeee!) to have a go at these as an alternative to popcorn.

Stef’s blog is wonderful and I urge you to head over there and get lost for an hour or two.

Midweek Munchies: Tomato & Mozarella Spaghetti Bake

Now, this may not look that appealing – that is partly due to my poor photography – but it tastes DIVINE.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves
• 400g chopped toms
• A good pinch of chilli powder or a chopped chilli
• 400g of Spaghetti, snapped down into little bits
• 250g of mozzarella, sliced
• a handful of basil leaves
• Other grated cheese (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC/Gas Mark 6,  and put water on to boil in a pan.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and then fry the garlic for about a minute.
3. Chuck in the toms and chilli, bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Whack your broken up spaghetti into the now boiling water and let cook according to the packet instructions.
5. Drain the spaghetti and mix with the tomato sauce and the basil.
6. Add half of the tomato spaghetti to an ovenproof dish, layer half of the sliced mozzarella on top, and then repeat the layers, finishing with some optional grated cheese.
7. Bake for 15/20 minutes. Scatter with extra basil leaves and serve.

YUMMY

Midweek Munchies: The Best Dinner in the World

We’ve all had those days where everything goes wrong and the last thing you want to do is cook in the evenings. That is totally the story of my life this week – what with staff off sick, my time on unit has doubled and I’m beginning to wear out, wear thin and wear down.

Last night, we concocted a dinner so absolutely fabulous I felt it needed posting about and repeating every time I feel a little blue. It was hassle free, full of everything I was craving and I barely have to use any cutlery.

Baked Camembert, Chicken Dippers, Onion rings, Sliced French Bread, Cucumber and Brussels Pate. All those things are amazing…put them together…AMAZING SQUARED!

Baked Camembert is possibly one of my favourite things, and it is so ridiculously easy to do. You just remove all the packaging and bang it in an ovenproof dish, and bake for 15 mins at 200ºC.

I mean melted cheese for dinner? WIN!

Midweek Munchies: Bara Brith

After my week in Wales, I felt the need to cook some Welsh Tea Cake, also known as Bara Brith. This is perfect with a cuppa, slathered in butter. The cake…don’t ruin a good cup of tea this way…

This recipe takes some time…some overnight time….so be prepared!

Bara Brith

Ingredients

• 80z Sugar
• 12oz Dried Fruit
• 1/2 pint of Tea (I find English Breakfast works best…but PG Tips would work just as well!)
• 10oz Flour
• 1 Egg

Method

1. Brew up 1/2 a pint of tea. Let it cool.
2. Pour the tea into a bowl, add the sugar and dried fruit, stir and leave stood (covered) overnight.
3. The next day, set your oven to 170ºc (or Gas Mark 3 if you are that way inclined) and allow to preheat. Grease, and line a loaf tin. (I use my silicone one…BAM!)
4. Mix your tea/fruit mix (the fruit should have sucked up most of the tea, making it all plump and squishy) with the flour and egg.
5. Pour into your loaf tin and then bake for 1 1/2 hours.
6. Always check your cakes by skewering them (I use a fondue pick – Classy eh?) and ensuring the skewer comes out of the cake clean.

I’m about to go shove some more of this in my face! YUMMY!