Cooking – The Funky Thrifter

Slow Days and Homemade Lemonade

March 21, 2020 by Keelan LaForge, posted in Budgeting, Cooking, Creativity, Self-Isolation

Today was a slow-moving day, centred around the house. I received a lovely surprise basket of chocolate from “the girls” (my parents) for Mother’s Day. It cheered me up because I’d thought it was a package with a returned dress I had sold in it 😀 I went for a quick walk with the girls early this morning to buy lemons from the fruit shop. My daughter had been requesting my homemade lemonade, so I decided the extra vitamins wouldn’t do them any harm at the moment 🙂 I got a moment of peace to make it, which is rare in our house. But it feels like the girls are slowing the pace they live at (sometimes) to match the world at the minute.

I found a glass bottle I’d got from IKEA to store the lemonade in. I added the juice of 2 1/2 large lemons and the zest to about 700ml of boiled water in a measuring jug. While it was hot, I stirred in a generous amount of honey to taste (it was at least 1/4 of a squeezy tube) and stirred it well. After it had cooled, I transferred it to a bottle and put it in the fridge to chill. In the hours it spent sitting, reaching the right temperature, I was asked tens of times if it was ready yet 🙂

We tuned in on Facebook to Wee Bookworms to watch a live video of a reading of Peter Rabbit by a lady who works in the bookshop. They are on every Saturday morning at 11.30am for kids. I also ordered one of their activity packs each for the girls. They’ll be so excited when they see them arriving in the post 🙂

I changed the beds and aired out the house, which always uplifts me and continued to move the piles of clutter to different positions in my kitchen 🙂

For lunch, I made some hummus to go with the flatbreads I had made last night. It was a simple recipe and tasted really good. My kids didn’t agree, but they devoured the flatbreads anyway 🙂 I’ve been looking out for flour when we’ve been in the shops and haven’t seen any in a while. Luckily, I had some left because I tend to bake bread every week anyway. But I was thinking of options for when we run out and remembered you can blend porridge oats and use them instead of flour – Just a tip I remembered if anyone is in the same boat. You can also use polenta to make American cornbread if you have any. My hummus – it tastes better than it looks 😀

After lunch, we had some quiet time, playing dominos and I made myself a caramel latte 🙂 I’m not missing my takeaway coffee as much as I thought I would. I tend to get it when I’m writing, but I’ve realised there are cheaper alternatives and the one I made today tasted the same 🙂

We put on some yoga music and the girls did some kids’ yoga, whilst climbing on me as I attempted to do it! It’s cute actually – my daughter taught me all the poses she uses in nursery, like happy baby, ice skater, tree, happy and sad dog and kitty, etc. I made them an after-yoga snack of fruit and water. Then they headed out to the garden to burn off some excess energy. I hung out the laundry, which has, weirdly, become one of my favourite things to do. They played in the dirt and made food out of soil and water 🙂

We finished the day with some bolognese, stories and playing restaurants. I’m exhausted now, but simultaneously, looking forward to tomorrow. I say that in the spirit of finding the good in a difficult situation, rather than discounting the severity of it.

Quick Chocolate and Candy Cane Fudge

December 23, 2019 by Keelan LaForge, posted in Baking, Christmas, Cooking

I have had so many fudge setting disasters it feels laughable I have a fudge recipe to share that actually worked out 🙂 But this is so quick and tastes pretty good 🙂 It is quite soft and should be kept in the fridge, or add more chocolate if you want it to be more solid in the centre.

Ingredients

1 can of condensed milk

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

2 Candy Canes
Method

Grease a baking tray and line with baking parchment. I used quite a small, deep tin. If you’re using a larger one, you might want to double the quantities.
Empty the tin of condensed milk and all the chocolate chips into a microwaveable bowl. Heat for one minute. Stir well and heat for another 20 seconds until melted. Heat in 10-20 second increments if it needs extra time, so it doesn’t burn.
Whip the mixture with a metal spoon. Apparently using a metallic one helps it solidify.. I have no idea why.

Put candy canes in a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin. You can keep the pieces chunky or beat into tiny shards. I chose to leave the pieces a bit larger. If I had been in a bad mood, I probably would have opted for the latter.
Pour fudge mixture into tin and sprinkle candle canes on top. Allow to set on counter and when cooled keep in fridge. Cut into squares and serve. Give as presents to other people, or to yourself 🙂

No Yeast Easy Pizza

November 21, 2019 by Keelan LaForge, posted in Budgeting, Cooking, Recipes

I’m having one of those weeks where I’m stalling when it comes to doing the food shopping. Once everything turns “merry” and the countdown to Christmas starts, the thought of battling my way through crowds, trying to complete a mental shopping list, fills me with dread. So I’ve been trying to survive on what we already have in the cupboards and I came up with this. It’s weird how creative you become through avoidance of shops.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 tsp of salt

2 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tbsp of oil

160ml water

1/2 jar of tomato sauce

2 handfuls of grated cheese

Method

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add the oil and water. Form into a ball and gently knead for a couple of minutes. Add more flour if the mixture is too wet/more water if too dry. Flatten it out. I find it’s easier to stretch this pizza base with your hands – that’s why mine looks so misshapen 🙂 Dont forget to grease the tray first so it doesn’t stick! I usually pour some oil on kitchen roll as a quick way to do it/ you can also use the paper cover off a tub of butter. Spread tomato sauce with a spoon and sprinkle cheese on top. I used cheddar because it was all we had but any would work – apart from maybe cream cheese. That would be weird 🙂 Add any toppings you like. Cook at 180c for 10-15 minutes. It is ready when the cheese has browned.

Easy Slow Cooker Chinese Chicken

November 18, 2019November 18, 2019 by Keelan LaForge, posted in Budgeting, Cooking, Recipes

512A5C49-6923-4D06-BFF4-A1A1CC726BD7 This recipe probably isn’t authentic Chinese cooking, or authentic anything. I just made it up on the spur of the moment and it tasted surprisingly good. It’s easy to make and I’ve been making more use of my slow cooker now the Winter nights are announcing their arrival at 4pm. It’s cheap and easy to make and goes well with rice or noodles for an effortless dinner.

Ingredients

Pack of chicken legs/drumsticks/thighs

1/2 cup of soy sauce

1/4 cup of sweet chilli sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of chicken stock

Scattering of sesame seeds

Method

In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, rice vinegar, crushed garlic, chicken stock and sesame seeds. Mix well. Add the raw chicken legs and cover completely with the sauce. Lay in slow cooker and pour remaining sauce from the bowl over the top. Cook on high for 5 hours/low for 8 hours.

Best Cottage Pie Recipe

September 12, 2019 by Keelan LaForge, posted in Budgeting, Cooking, Food, Recipes

I love this cottage pie but I’d forgotten to make it for a while. I seem to forget about comfort food over the summer (unless chocolate counts as a comfort food, in which case I have plenty of it.) This meal is easy to make and my kids eat it.. well, they eat the mince and mashed potatoes and set the rest on my plate The measurements for this are so rough because I tend to just throw stuff in a pan and hope for the best and with this it worked 🙂

Serves 2 adults, 2 kids or 2 hungry people

Ingredients

For the meat:

250g beef mince
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 small carrots
2 sticks of celery
Beef stock to cover
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Shake of salt and pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp ketchup
1 tbsp red wine

For the potatoes:

8 potatoes
1 tbsp butter
A splash of milk
A shake of salt

For the topping – grated cheddar cheese

Method
Fry the mince on its own in a pan. Chop an onion, garlic, celery sticks and peel and chop carrots. (Cut the vegetables up small so they cook quicker.) Add to the pan and continue to cook on a medium heat.
When the onions are clear and the veg looks like it is softening, cover the meat with boiling water. I crumble in 1/2 a beef stock cup after doing this and mix it in. Add the wine, Worcester sauce, ketchup, salt, pepper and thyme. Reduce heat and let simmer until carrots and celery are soft. At the end, add in a couple of tbsps of cornflour mixed well with COLD water. (Do this in a cup first.) Stir continuously until sauce has thickened. Turn heat off.

In the meantime, peel potatoes and chop into chunks (so they cook more evenly and quickly.) Put in boiled water with salt and cook on medium heat for about 20 mins. Take potatoes off heat when they are just starting to break apart. Drain and mash with butter and milk. (Sometimes I use an electric mixer to make them extra smooth and creamy.)

Fill an oven dish with the meat mixture. Use a spatula to spread the mashed potatoes on top. Cover generously with grated cheddar. Put in the oven at 180c for 15 minutes to crisp up the cheese. Let it cook until it is browned on top and the sauce is visibly bubbling underneath.

Raspberry, Pineapple and Kale Smoothies

August 22, 2019 by Keelan LaForge, posted in Budgeting, Cooking, Recipes

I should preface this by saying, in this smoothie, you can’t taste the kale. I can confirm based on the fact my children will drink it and one of them doesn’t like green vegetables; the other doesn’t like any vegetables. When my kids are asking for ice lollies constantly, it’s a good, healthy replacement. If you use lots of frozen fruit, it makes a slushy type of consistency that they can eat with a spoon. This recipe is more the consistency of juice. You can also freeze it in lolly moulds to make ice lollies.

Ingredients

1 frozen banana
handful of frozen raspberries
small handful of pineapple
handful of kale
apple/pineapple juice to just cover the fruit and veg.

Method

Add a frozen banana broken in two and a handful of frozen raspberries or other berries to the bottom of a blender. Place pineapple and kale on top and fill with juice until it just covers the ingredients. Blend until smooth.

Courgette Cake/ Zucchini Bread Recipe

August 22, 2019 by Keelan LaForge, posted in Baking, Budgeting, Cooking, Recipes

Today I was in the mood for some baking and I recently remembered I used to make zucchini bread and how addictive it is. It sounds strange but the courgettes cook down into a treacly consistency, so it just tastes like a sweet, caramel-type cake. I decided to make two loaves since this always goes down well in our house.

(Makes two cakes.)

Ingredients

3 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oil
3 tsps. vanilla extract
2 cups of grated courgettes

Method

Sift the flour, salt, cinnamon, backing powder and bicarb of soda together. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla extract. Combine the wet and dry ingredients well. Add the grated courgettes and mix well. Put in two greased loaf tins. Cook at 160c for 45 minutes, covering with tin foil halfway through to stop the top getting too crispy.