Quick Egg Noodle Chicken Stir – Fry

I Care 4  You

I made this meal for a person I had not seen since November.  We had been arguing a lot but had always been there for each other.  He cared for me as much as he could and still continues to pray for me.  Those who do pray for me I am happy to help nourish.  I have been having these dreams lately in which I am expressing how much I want to be cared for.  Knowing how important it is to feel loved and cared about guided me to making this meal real tasty.  Treat others how you would like to be treated and that is exactly what I did.  I seasoned the noodles with oriental flavours and it actually turned out to be so nice I think I prefer it to a greasy Chow Mein.  My friend was well fed and enjoyed the food.  I made the meal spicy, but tried another version without the hot sauce and it tasted just as good.  After a month of struggle and pain I ended my cooking caring for another, maybe someone will do the same for me.

This recipe was inspired by ‘Asda Fit For Life’ Recipe Cards (2012).

Ingredients:

100ml vegetable stock, 1 red onion (chopped), 2 cloves of garlic (chopped), pre – prepared mushroom stir – fry mix, shredded chicken breast pieces, 1 small packet of egg noodles, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, black pepper, hot pepper sauce.

Method:

1.  Make the stock using hot water and pour into a wok.
2. Heat up the wok to a medium heat and add the onion and garlic until the ingredients have softened.
3. Add the vegetables and the chicken.
4. After 3 minutes add the egg noodles.
5. After 5 minutes season with a few drops of teriyaki sauce.
6. Stir continuously for 2 minutes.
7. Add a few drops of soy sauce.
8. Sprinkle 2 tsps black pepper.
9. Drip a few drops of hot pepper sauce over the noodles.
10. Divide onto plates and serve hot.

Saffy’s Top Tips:

1. Keep tasting this dish when you start adding the teriyaki sauce.
2. Keep stirring so nothing sticks to the pan.

Finale Banana Porridge

The End Bits

People always throw away the leftover pieces of cereal.  You know the bits I’m talking about, the broken rejected pieces at the end.  I love good cereal and I’ve always thought of it as just wastage when people chuck away the end of their cereal when there are still perfectly edible pieces still in the box.  Not naming no names……..BABY!  So I made up this simple concoction so you can use up the leftover bits of your cereal.  Also if you are an adult and on a diet but can’t eat the cereal your kids eat then this is also a great way to add some sweetness into your healthy breakfast.  I basically got a bowl of porridge and added the bits that my partner did not want from his cereal, so the end of Golden Syrup Wheetabix and Crunchy Nut Clusters.  I had a few trials and errors but I managed to create something simple and tasty.  You would need to be a real idiot to get this breakfast recipe wrong.  So here you go, a breakfast recipe to use up the end bits of the cereal.

Ingredients:

1 banana, 10 ml milk, porridge, honey, left over cereal bits, hot water.

Method:

1. Mix the banana in the blender with milk.
2. In a cereal bowl pour in the amount of cereal that you want.  The bowl should be mainly porridge.  If using the whole bowl fill with half of the porridge.
3. Add the banana and milk.
4. Add the honey and mix together.
5. Pour in the cereal bits.
6. Add the hot water until desired consistency is reached.
7. Add some honey to sweeten.  This does depend on what cereal you use because some are obviously much sweeter than others.

Saffy’s Top Tip:

You can always add but you cannot take away, so add all of the ingredients a little bit at a time and keep tasting.  It may seem a little ott tasting cereal but a bad breakfast can really mess up your whole day.  A great deal of my time focuses on making sure I eat the right foods so for me I would happily spend an extra 10 minutes in the morning making sure my breakfast is delicious.  So if you are one of those non breakfast caring people, stop those bad habits now and stop disrespecting the cereal.

Eggless Banana Sultana Simple Cake

Onion Pasty and 1 pathetic slice of toast

The rule is when I visit I either bring food or I cook.  Simple.  It’s what I do.  It’s the Birdspeed way.  However, on this occasion I was sick so I could not make my partner a decadent afternoon snack, but had I known he was going to eat a onion pasty or pathetic slice of bread for his snacks I would have forced myself to create something more interesting.  I was horrified.  It was torture.  I had to sit and watch my sugarmuffinfairycake eat a cheese and onion pasty whilst drinking his tea and a damn slice of white toast which wasn’t even the best type of white bread! Shocking! The next day I made sure during my best hours when the meds hadn’t yet kicked in I baked him a cake to snack on.  With lots of fruit,  easy on the sugar and more appetising than bread!  My heart is currently super stressed and this foolishness does not help it at all.  Shocking!

Ingredients:

125g butter, 90g sugar, 1 large banana, 10ml whole milk, 100g sultanas, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp mixed spice, 10ml sunflower oil, 125g self raising flour.

Method:

1. Prepare a small cake tin.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl.
3. Blend the banana with the milk and add to the butter and sugar.
4. Add the sultanas and lemon juice.
5. Whisk in the mixed spice and the oil.
6. Fold in the flour.
7. When everything has mixed pour into the prepared cake tin.
8. Bake at 160 degrees C for 35 minutes.
9. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Saffy’s Healthy Serving Tips:

1. Fat Free Greek Yoghurt
2. Mashed bananas and lemon juice
3. Lime Coulis
4. Mango Slices

Mixed Spice Banana Bakes

Puffy 

I wanted to make my partner pancakes for breakfast before he went to work.  There were no eggs.  After 3 seconds of thought I invented a new variation of Bajan Bakes or Ghanaian Puff Puffs.  Flour, water, banana, sugar and spice.  Simple.  A cute breakfast made by a cute woman with a puffy face.  I present Saffy Daffy’s Puffy Puff Puffs tehehehehehehehehehehehe.

Ingredients:

125g plain flour, 40ml water, 30g sugar 1 large banana (mashed up or blended with a little water), 2 tsps mixed spice.

Method:

1. Mix all of the ingredients together until they turn into a thick gloopy mixture.  Start with 40ml water and keep adding water slowly until desired consistency is reached.
2. Fry in batches until golden brown all the way round or on other sides if cooking like pancakes.
3. They should be hard and crispy and brown on the outside and fluffy and done on the inside. Serve hot.

You May…

Serve with fresh fruit and sprinkle with sugar.

Cheesy Saucy Pea and Ham Pasta Bows

Made with Love 

My operation had left me feeling down, drowsy and weak.  I could not cook my partner the special meal I had planned and I was distraught.  I show my love through my food and I really wanted to demonstrate to my partner how far I had come in my cooking journey.  He told me that he knew everything I did for him was out of love even though I was still frustrated I felt deep down he was right.  So I made him a much more humble dish than the feast I had originally planned.  I made him a poor man’s pasta dish with the food which was available to me.  (Too sick to venture to the market.)  The first meal I ever made my partner 3 years ago was probably the worst dish ever made in the history of student kitchens.  I made him over cooked pasta with chopped tomatoes and roughly chopped cheese.  That’s it! I didn’t even season the pasta or the sauce.  I just plonked the sauce on top of the pasta! It was so humiliating! Especially when he cooked his first dish for me a week later which was this incredible chicken stew with perfectly seasoned and cooked basmati rice.  This pasta meal was my way of saying “3 years my darling and together we can achieve great things.”…  To this day we still laugh about that meal.  Thank God he didn’t judge me  from that.  I used my special occasion pasta and used kept it healthy by adding lots of vegetables.  The melted mozzarella complimented the sauce and provided a bit more body to the meal.  A really easy tasty Italian inspired meal.

Ingredients:

250g Farfalle pasta, salt, 1 tbsp sunflower oil,  1 large red onion (chopped), 1 garlic clove, 10g unsalted butter, 1 cup frozen peas, 1 cup tinned sweetcorn (drained), 50g ham slices (chopped), 10g tomato sauce with roasted vegetables, 1 tsp chipotle paste, black pepper, 2 handfuls grated mozzarella.

Method:

1. Boil the pasta in salted water.
2. Drain when cooked.
3. In the meantime heat the sunflower oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
4. Fry the onion and garlic until soft.
5. Add the butter and melt.
6. Add the peas and sweetcorn.
7. After 5 minutes add the ham slices.
6. Stir in the tomato sauce and chipotle paste.
7. Season to taste with the black pepper.
8. After 5 minutes stirring occasionally add the mozzarella and the drained pasta.
9. Stir until the mozzarella has melted into the sauce.
10. When the pasta has been heated through divide onto plates and serve.

Spicy Carrot and Spinach Soup

Staying Positive for my operation

I made this soup in preparation for an operation I was going to have on my stomach.  I was really scared and cooking usually settles my nerves.  I needed to make something in advance because I knew I would not be up to cooking after the operation and I needed to prepare something that I could digest easily.  Also my criteria included “not boring”,  usually when one become sick the food tends to lack in quality and flavour.  Cheap dry biscuits and watery soup was not going to do it for me so I made this ultra green exciting soup.  Green is a symbol for power, wealth, health and good fortune so my philosophy as I was making this was “the greener the better”.  I spiced my soup with cumin and chilli flakes.  I like the fact that you cannot see any trace of carrots because it is such a lovely surprise when you first taste the soup.  It was delicious!

This recipe was adapted from Sainsbury’s Recipe Cards (Sainsbury’s 2012).

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil, 1 large onion (chopped), 1 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsps chilli flakes, 5 large carrots (peeled and chopped), 1 1/4 litres vegetable stock, 400g chopped spinach, salt and pepper.

Method:

1. In a large pan heat up the oil on a medium heat.
2. Fry the chopped onion until soft.
3. Add the cumin and chilli flakes and carrots.
4. After 3 -4 minutes add the vegetable stock.
5. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
6. After 5 minutes add the spinach.
7. After 5 minutes remove from the heat and blend.
8. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.  Add some more chilli flakes or hot pepper sauc

Double Cheese Spinach Pie

“I feel like spinach pie”

When I come home from university I encourage my mother to take full advantage of having a cook at home.  I really want to make sure she eats lovely meals so I try my best to make sure she gets the best  meals and lovely surprises.  Usually mummy gives me free use of the kitchen, which is such a blessing but on the odd occasion she does actually make a request.  And when she does, her requests are usually challenging.  Not that I am complaining.  She requested a spinach pie, so like the good daughter I am I worked  my hardest to please her.  She loved her dinner and even asked for the recipe.  I made it up as I went along  but luckily I had a pen and paper beside me.  I felt this would be a winner.  I used cranberry cheese and fresh spinach to make this delightful delicate pastry dish.  I even made my own cool pastry using unsweetened soya milk.  The flavour was unique and interesting.  Mummy said she would even order the pie in a restaurant.  Yay! This was enough to make me smile all day, best painkiller  of them all.

Ingredients:

125g plain flour, salt, 55g butter (chilled and cubed), 30ml soya milk, 300g fresh spinach (chopped), 20g mild mature cheddar, 20g Wensleydale cheese with cranberries, 1 egg, ground black pepper, potatoes and good quality chutney (to serve).

Method:

1. Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the salt and the butter.
3. Rub with your fingers until the flour looks like really fine breadcrumbs.
4. Pour in the milk and work into a dough.
5. When the dough has an elastic texture wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes.
6. In the meantime prepare the filling for the pie by wilting the spinach in hot water.
7. Drain the spinach.
8. In another bowl crumble in the Wensleydale cheese.
9. Grate in the cheddar.
10. Add the drained spinach.
11. Whisk the egg with the ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
12. When the pastry has chilled prepare a small pastry case or flan dish and roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.
13. Create the pie case and pour the filling on  top of it.
14. Foll out the left over pasty and place on top of the filling.
15. Bake at 180 degrees C for 25 – 30 minutes.
16. When the pie is golden brown and the centre has set leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Saffy’s vegetable additions:

1. Boiled asparagus.
2. Fried broccoli with sesame seeds.
3. Steamed carrot and parsnip batons.

Saffy’s additions for meat eaters:

1. Add some piece of ham.
2. Slice up some smoky sausages or layer in chorizo.

Apple & Raisin Pancakes

“Prince Ali”

I was having a Disney song dance along day and I thought about Aladdin and the moment he turns into royalty.   As I listened to Robin Williams singing about the magical turn of events I thought about the busy day my partner had ahead of him and decided he deserved to feel like a prince at least just for that morning.  So I made him so lovely pancakes fit for prince.  He really enjoyed them,  I am hoping the breakfast kept him in a good mood for as long as possible.

This recipe was adapted from Asda Magazine (February 2013).

Ingredients:

1 large apple, 125g plain flour, 2 medium eggs, 350ml skimmed milk, 2 handfuls of raisins, 1 tbsp soft brown sugar, 1 tsp mixed spice, oil for frying,  raisins and maple syrup (to serve).

Method:

1. Peel the apple and chop into wedges.
2. Chop into smaller pieces and then place in a small saucepan with water just rising above the apple.
3. Heat the apples over a medium heat and cook until tender.
4. In a large mixing bowl sift in the plain flour.
5. Make a well in the centre and break the eggs into it.
6. Beat in the eggs.
7. Pour in the milk, raisins, sugar and spice.
8. Mix everything well before folding in the apples.  (Make sure the water is drained from the apples first.)
9. Heat  a tbsp of oil in a frying pan to start with then start making the pancakes in batches.
10. To make the pancakes fry over a medium heat for 2 – 3 minutes on each side.
11. When serving the pancakes make sure they are hot and sprinkle some raisins over the top and drizzle some maple syrup.

Kiwi Ginger Blast

Pull back the blinds 

I had a very long day ahead of me and I was not ready to get out of bed.  It was one of those days when your body is still sleeping although you are doing your morning routine, everything seems like a daze and you’re not in the mood to talk.  I had to make something to wake me up … so I made this slap in the face.

Inspired by a recipe from Morrisons Magazine (January/ February 2013).

Ingredients:

2 kiwi fruit (peeled and chopped), 1 cm ginger (chopped), 20ml water.

Method:

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until completely liquefied.

Pancake Canapés

“Roll It Gyal”

I created this dish after trying out this new dance move which involved rolling my waist.   The whine didn’t look the same as the girl who taught it to me for I had injured my ankle.  And so I did what all great choreographers do, adapted the movement to my needs and re invented it to be extra special.   A jazzed up my whine by performing a comical leg movement with the ankle that was injured, therefore I took pressure off my ankle and as I balanced exaggerated the hip movement along with Birdspeed style facial expressions.  I carried out the same choreographic process with some pancakes I made for my partner.  Rolled up a Saffafied!

Ingredients:

125g plain flour, 2 medium eggs, 350ml skimmed milk, 2 large bananas mashed, 1 tsp mixed spice, 25g caster sugar,  oil for frying, 2 handfuls chopped hazelnuts, 2 tbsps chocolate spread, a handful of raisins.

Method:

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
2. Make a well in the centre.
3. Break the eggs into the well.
4. Beat the mixture.
5. Gradually pour in the milk and keep mixing to a good consistency.
6. Fold in the bananas.
7. Add the mixed spice and sugar then stir into the pancake batter.
8. Heat up a tbsp of oil in a frying pan to begin with over a medium heat.
9. Fry the pancakes flipping after 2 – 3 minutes on each side.
10. After each pancake is done place on a paper towel on a plate.
11. When the batter has been used make the canapé filling.  Mix up the nuts chocolate spread and raisins in a small bowl.
12. Place some of the mixture into each pancake before rolling it.
13. Chop into smaller pieces and use toothpick to hold together if necessary.

Saffy’s Number One Tip:

Use what is in your kitchen and be creative, I had bananas and hazelnuts so I did my thing.