Tasty Tuesdays - Pizza on Toast

Pizza on Toast

Quick and easy simple dinner/snack.

Ingredients:

Bread
Tomato puree
Mixed Herbs (I used herbs de provence)
Cheese
Salami
Pepperoni

Method:

We bought a soft tiger bread uncut loaf from Aldi, which gives you the option to put it in the oven to crisp of the top or eat it soft and squidgey.

First I cut the tiger bread into slices to create a lovely thick base.

I squeezed a dollop of tomato puree (or you could use a sauce such as tomato or BBQ) onto one bread slice and sprinkle some herbs on top. Use as much or as little to taste. Then use a knife spread it on like butter.

I sliced the cheese, put it on to cover the slice of bread then added a slice of salami and pepperoni for the topping.

Repeat for all slices.

These I then put on a baking tray and cooked them for about 20mins on 180c, which meant I could put the oven chips in at the same time.

And in no time at all a tasty and simple dinner.

You can add any other toppings like ham, pineapple, chicken, beef, vegetables etc. The same as you would a pizza and the cooking method is like having a varying version of cheese on toast.

This dish was so quick and easy, it took literally no time at all and created very little washing up. Great for a lazy evening.

It's a dish that could definitely be made by kids and that they could do as a food making activity.

The results are so yummy, similar to an actual pizza in taste but lighter in density.

Thumbs up to this quick dish. 

Makers Monday - Spring is on it's way...

After being asked to do my first 'How to make...' piece in our local magazine, I couldn't help but play around with the theme of Spring. To finalize what item I would use to create this piece, I needed to play around with ideas.

I have now finished the article piece but won't be able to put it up until after the mag is published. 

One idea I did consider (see above) was a word based Spring Wall hanging on either wood or canvas using the mod podge transfer technique. Finding various free fonts, PNG images (these are best, so you can overlay them and not block out any background as they are transparent) and a few other images. I started to put them together. Normally I would draw and create my own image but the drawing program on my computer is not working at present so I borrowed an image I found during an image search (see Below).

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CollectiveCreation

Bird on Wire Image found via Collective Creation. Beautiful images on here. Click link to have a look at more of their images.

These PNG flowers I found via clip art during an image internet searching stating 'Flowers PNG'

I did not carry out this project at this time due to the fact I need to practice the mod podge technique and that it didn't quite fill my criteria needed for the mag. I needed things to do for parent and child. But I will certainly play around more with these ideas and create some more designs.

Makers Monday - Simple T-Shirt Amendment

This video always gets me so I just had to buy the t-shirt.

Only problem with it was though, that it had a crew neck and personally I'm not to keen on these. So amended the t-shirt to suit by cutting on the crew neck. See diagram

.

If you cut about 2inches away from the sleeve stitch line, carefully with a sharp pair of scissors across the top of the t-shirt near to the neck line. You should end up with something like this.

And on it should look like this. Off both shoulders like in the image or you could wear if off just the one shoulder.

Please Note:

Do try this out on an old t-shirt first as you really don't want to ruin the lovely new top you've just bought. 

Remember practice makes perfect.

Product Review - Make your own Knitted Chick

On a day out to Malvern we stopped at the retail park to get a bite to eat. Seeing that Poundland was one of the many shops there, I quickly ran in before we went home to pick up some wooden kebab sticks to use as the holder for my make shift weaving loom. Unfortunately, it's not BBQ season yet so they had none in stock.

I had a wonder around regardless to see if they had any other bits and bobs, as crafters do and I found in their easter section this 'Make You Own Knitted Chick', so I bought it to try it out, can't go wrong for a £1.

It reminded me a little of the toys my grandmother used to make and sell at local village hall sales. 

So once we got home, I decided to test it out.

What you get:

1 x large round knitting loom
1 x small round knitting loom
1 x hook
1 x large sewing needle
2 x googley eyes
Yellow wool
Orange Wool
Stuffing
Instructions


First off, the instructions for this are so detailed with images and words. Very easy to follow and on the back they are in Spanish. Excellent start.

Both the knitting looms were so easy to use. Producing quite fast results. Only issue: don't use the hook to harshly as it is liable to snap, try to keep the wool tension to light.

First Steps - Creating the wings and body of the chick

I made the wings first then the body.

I found if you wove the excess wool around the outside of the loom and held it with you thumb underneath, as you moved the loom around your hand, the wool was less likely to unwrap itself from around the loom pegs.

The body here is not the full 15cm recommended in the instruction (more like 10cm) as there wasn't enough wool to do the whole body. Lucky I did the wings first or else it would have been a wingless chick.

Second Steps - Stuffing body and wings then sewing it all together

I stuffed the body then sewed the ends together. I did thread the wool from one end to the other with the needle to round of the bottom edges a little more then in the instructions.

Even though there wasn't enough wool to complete the body, I prefer the look of this body as it is short and chubby like that of a chick anyway. 

Final Step - Feet, Beak and Eyes

Next I made the feet and sewed them on as instructed.

To finish off though, I couldn't bring myself to sew the chicks beak on as the instructions told you too. I shorten the recommended length by 1cm to 3cm. Stuffed the beak and sewed around the edges of the tube to create a beak that stuck out. Much better in my opinion.

The eyes just stuck on but for a more permanent solution I would recommend using PVA or a glue gun to fix them, as the adhesive is not strong enough to last.

The overall product gets an 8/10 and a must do. So simple and easy to use. Project can take between 2-4 hours, possibly longer depending on who's doing it. The only thing I feel that let it down, was not the fact there wasn't enough wool supplied, as this created a pleasing error due to the chubbier body but it was the actual overall design of the finished product which didn't do this product justice. I know it's cheap and cheerful but the beak was just so wrong. 

But it was amended gracefully and I actually ended up with quite a cute looking teddy, which my foster sister now wants to steals. ;)

Once the project has ended, the tools can be used to make other toys. So overall bargain buy, resulting in many other simple and cute teddies. Here's a photo collage of the rabbit I made after finishing this project. A BIG Thumbs up and please don't be put off by the Easter Chicks design.

Alphabet Thursdays - A is for Aardvark

Image found: deviantart.com

In the countryside we are not amongst the hubbub of busy shopping life. In fact, if you need to have a good old shopping session you have to travel 20-40 minutes to get anywhere where the population density of shoppers increases.

In the sticks, we don't have much but what we do have near is fantastic. Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire, where, as a young girl I grew up and what a place to grow up. With wide expanses of fields, rivers to swim in, trees to climb, nature at it's best. An absolute dream for a wild child such as myself.

From the top of the hill in Brampton Bryan Park.

Leo loving the snow in Brampton Bryan Park (2013)

This tiny village (found on route, in between Ludlow to Knighton and when I say in the sticks, I mean that unless you are on EE, phone signal in this area is poor to non existent, as we are so technologically advanced out here-so be prepared), is now home to a number of craft businesses, artists, cafe and bookshop with Brampton Bryan Hall and Castle right in the heart of the village. 

Brampton Bryan Castle

As the image says A is for Aardvark and Aardvark is certainly what they have in Brampton Bryan. The wonderful, friendly bookshop Aardvark Books. 

Check out their website: aardvark-books

A true gem of a bookshop which is a must see if you visit this glorious part of Herefordshire (and yes we are in Herefordshire not Shropshire here, we are on the border on Herefordshire, Shropshire and Powys and it's to do with where our post gets sorted, in Craven Arms in Shropshire, hence the Shropshire address but we are definitely Herefordshire, after much debating with college bus passes etc). 

You can sit down and have coffee and cake, even read a book in their cafe or outside in the warm summer months. There are comfy chairs scattered all around, so you could hide away and immerse yourself in a book too. They even have an area set up for kids to read and play in, with events and activities often put on for them. 

There are thousands of books to behold. The smell is wonderful, old and new books fill your senses and if you love books this is heaven. 

I have spent many hours here wandering up and down the aisles of books shelves, unable to contain my excitement of having so many books to choose from and more often then not I go home with a huge armful of books, to add to the already mountainous collection containing no space for more.

Other activities are held in the car park such as flea markets, art exhibits, food festivals, music events, book signings and the infamous Scarecrow weekend. So lots to do all year round.  

Aardvark Books

The Bookery

Manor Farm

Brampton Bryan

Bucknell

Shropshire

SY7 0DH

Find them on facebook: AardvarkBooks

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesdays - Cake in a cup

Five Minute Cake in a Cup

You've run out of chocolate, nothing in the house is sweet enough to fulfil your naughty sweet tooth craving. What can you do? In most peoples cupboards there are the ingredients for a cake but baking a cake can take a lot of time if you need a quick fix in your busy schedule.

This recipe is quick and easy and the washing up created is minimal.

Chocolate Microwave Cake in a Cup 

(I used these lovely vintage soup bowls I bought from a charity shop)

Ingredients

makes on large ish cup cake (half ingredients for smaller cup)

4 tbsp self raising flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
handful of chocolate chips (if you have them)

Method

Add Flour and Sugar to bowl/cup and mix together

Add cocoa powder and mix.

Add Egg, Milk and Vanilla Essence then mix throughly until light and fluffy. Add Chocolate chips, mix those in.

Then your mix is ready for 3 mins on high in the microwave (If it doesn't look quite ready give it another 30 seconds to 1 min blast to finish off).

The cake will rise out of the cup/bowl during and after cooking but will slip back down after cooling.

I made two cakes but honestly one would have been enough to share. 

Sharing is Caring.

Tip: To make this dish even more naughty, tip it out onto a plate and cover in double cream or custard. Could even add a few strawberries (all part of your 5 a day) ;)