Fakeaway Friday: Sweet and Sour Chicken with Boiled Rice

The recipe I will share with you today is sweet and sour chicken with boiled rice.  Quite easy to make and very tasty.
I served it with boiled rice but I tried it with noodles before and it's just as nice :-)

INGREDIENTS: serves 4 about 1 syn per serving on Extra Easy

• 4 chicken breasts diced
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 large red pepper chopped
• 3 carrots finely sliced
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice
• 4 tbsp tomato puree 
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar 
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce 
• 150ml chicken stock
• 400g fresh pineapple flesh, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 spring onions to decorate

METHOD:

• Spray a pan or a wok with Frylight (cooking spray). Place the diced chicken breast and fry till brown. Remove and put on a plate.
• Spray some more cooking spray to the pan and add the garlic, onion, pepper, and carrots.  Fry for about 5 minutes.
• Add the chicken to the vegetables and fry for a couple of minutes.
• In a separate bowl mix 2 tbsp of water with cornflour, wine vinegar, soy sauce, tomato puree and stock.  Add it to the pan and cook it for a few minutes till the sauce thickens.
• Remove from the heat and add the pineapple.
• Serve with boiled rice or noodles and decorate with finely slices spring onion.
• Enjoy your meal.

My family loved this recipe.  I added some hot chilly pepper to mine as I loooove spicy food!!

Please, do send me pictures if you make this recipe.  I will definitely be making this again, next time with noodles :-)

xoxo

Fakeaway Friday: Chilli Con Carne with Boiled Rice

My 10-year old always asks for this recipe and I am also glad he is starting to develop a taste for spicy foods (provided it's not too spicy or he gulps down litres of water :-/)

Today I will share the recipe for the Chilli con Carne with Boiled Rice: a beautiful Mexican recipe made from scratch the healthy way :-)

INGREDIENTS: serves 4 syn free on Extra Easy

• 500 gr extra lean mince meat
• 1 large red onion chopped
• 2 large red peppers chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• pinch of chilli pepper
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 300 ml beef stock
• 400 gr tin kidney beans

METHOD:

• Spray a pan with Frylight (cooking spray). Add the garlic, red onion, and peppers and fry for a few minutes.
• Add the mince and cook till brown.
• Add the cumin, paprika and coriander and mix well to season the meat and vegetables.
• Mix the stock, chopped tomatoes and kidney beans and simmer till thickened. Add some chilli pepper to taste if you like it spicy.
• Serve with fried rice or if you are in the mood of real comfort food, serve with Slimming World chips. 
• Follow with a naughty glass of wine :-)

Yummy comfort food without the guilt ;-)

xoxo

Liebster Blog Award Nomination

First of all I want to thank the lovely Rachel from rachforthestars blog for nominating me for the Liebster Blog Award.  

For those of you who are not aware, the Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German words that means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:

• Post 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to do the same.
• Let the bloggers you have nominated know they have been nominated.

Thanks again Rachel for the nomination!

You can check out Rachel's blog at http://www.rachforthestars.com/

Let's start!

11 FACTS ABOUT ME

1. I was born in Rome.
2. I have been living in Ireland since 1994.
3. I have a degree as a Translator.
4. I love shopping for clothes but often end up coming home with new clothes for the kids and nothing for me. I'm sure some of the mammies out there can relate to that.
5. I never ever leave the house without make up on.
6. I hate spiders.  In fact, I have panic attacks if I see one bigger than half an inch.
7. I lived in NY for a while before I got married.
8. I don't like heights.
9. I need a cup of coffee as soon as I wake up.  
10. I absolutely love rainy Friday nites when the whole family is at home and cozy by the fire watching a good movie.
11. I love Chinese food.

ANSWERS TO RACHEL'S QUESTIONS:

1.  What is your favourite movie?

There are actually a few movies I like but one that I enjoy watching are Mamma Mia! and How to loose a guy in ten Days. I'm a hopeless romantic...

2.  Who is the last person you spoke to on the phone?

My mum.

3.  Where did you go on your first holiday and who did you go with?

Venice with my parents. I was about 10.

4.  Your house is on fire and you are only allowed to take 3 items what do you take? (all family and pets are out of the house)

My mobile phone, a box where I keep baby pictures of my children and my wedding dress.

5.  What was the first concert you ever went to?

U2

6.  If you only could eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?

Steak.

7.  Who is your favourite singer/band?

I don't really have a favourite singer. I enjoy most pop music.  I couldn't live without the radio.

8.  Skiing holiday or sun holiday?

Definitely sun holiday. Love the sun!!

9.  Do you have any animals? If so, what do you have?

I don't have any pets.

10.  Who is your celebrity crush?

Matthew McConaughey.

11.  What is your dream car?

A jeep

MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

1. Coffee or tea?
2. What is your favourite colour?
3. If you could move to a different country for one year, where would that be?
4. Favourite season?
5. What's your dream holiday destination?
6. What do you love most about blogging?
7. What's the last book you read?
8. What do you do to relax?
9. Name one thing you can't live without.
10. What's your favourite food?
11. What's your favourite blog?

Now I nominate:

alongmommyroad.blogspot.com

agirlfromglasgow.blogspot.co.uk

kelseybeauty.blogspot.com

Theoutlandgourmet.wordpress.com

cupcakesandcandyflossblog.blogspot.co.uk

dancingacrossthekitchentiles.blogspot.ie

itsjustlipstick.wordpress.com

jembubble.blogspot.com

margheritafresilli.blogspot.it

lovesandloathes.wordpress.com

loveonceuponadream.blogspot.com


Have fun girls! Don't forget to send me the link!

Claudia xoxo

Girly Scrapbook Layouts

Hello lovelies.

These are a couple of girly scrapbook layouts I have been working on.  The background papers are from the Simple Stories Collection Kit and they are 12" x 12".  The papers and decorations used are from my stash, and the flower chain on the second layout is made with a Martha Stewart punch I picked up in New York a couple of years ago.

Do you like scrapbooking?  If not, would you like to have a try?

xoxo

Autumn is here...Hot Breakfast

Autumn is in the air. The cold and frosty mornings are just around the corner.  

This year I'm actually looking forward to winter; in fact I always look forward to the changing of the seasons.  Time to pack up all those summer dresses to make space for cozy jumpers and heavy coats :-)

I went for an hour walk this morning after the school run and when I got home I was really looking forward to something hot. What a better way than starting your week with a bowl of hot porridge topped with beautiful fresh berries and a nice cup of tea? Right what I needed to get this brand new week to a great start!! :-) Happy Monday everybody! 

What do usually have for breakfast?  Let me know, I'm always on the lookout for new ideas...

 xoxo

Altered Wooden Items/Decorations

Hi all and Happy Saturday!

Today I wanted to share with you some wooden items I altered in the last few days.  

I usually take part in a couple of Christmas Craft Fairs and I'm starting to build up some stock.

There you go

Heart hanging decorations. 

I'm planning on making a few Christmassy ones or maybe even custom make them with names. Lovely keepsake for a new baby.

The next one is an example of a wooden plaque.  Always my bestseller at craft fairs.  

Last year I had about 30 with me at one of the markets with various quotes and I was not only sold out but also got a few orders to custom make a few :-)

Name plaques, any colour, any name:

Cute for a child bedroom

A couple of wooden bookmarks:

What do you think?
Do you go to Christmas Craft Markets?

Claudia xoxo