Easy yoghurt cake

 

Ok it's not the prettiest cake I've ever made but oh my goodness, it's delicious!  As you can see it's half eaten already!!

I had a lot of Greek yoghurt to use up so I googled 'yoghurt cake' and THIS RECIPE popped up.  It's ridiculously easy to make BUT I only had 1 egg.  I knew you can sub bananas for eggs so I used 2 very ripe bananas and 1 egg instead of the 3 eggs.

And obviously I baked mine in a loaf tin as I don't have a round cake tin.  I quite often make cakes in a loaf tin as they're easy to cut and freeze.

My version of Easy Yoghurt Cake:

• 1 egg
• 2 mashed bananas
• 120ml rapeseed oil
• 125g full fat Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 180g plain flour
• 180g sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

1. Mix the egg, bananas, oil, yoghurt and vanilla in a large bowl.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until well mixed.

3. Pour into a lined loaf tin and bake for 30 mins at 170C fan.

4. Check for doneness by testing the middle with a skewer and it comes out clean.

5.  Cool on a rack before cutting.

Obviously it tastes banana-y but it has a softer texture than banana bread.

I'll definitely be making this again!! 😋

Easy microwave sponge pudding

 

Even though the sun is shining brightly today, I felt the need for a comfort pudding.  And what's better than a sponge pudding made in the microwave in 5 minutes? 

I didn't have any jam so I opened a jar of mincemeat from the storecupboard I got reduced in January to 26p!!

Ingredients:

• 120g unsalted butter or spread
• 120g sugar (caster is best but granulated worked)
• 120g self raising flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• about 150g jam or mincemeat

Method:

Grease a 2 pint/1 litre pudding bowl with some butter.

Put jam/mincemeat in the base.

Beat butter and sugar together until fluffy in mixer.

Keep the mixer running and add beaten eggs and vanilla a bit at time with a spoonful of flour to prevent curdling.

Fold in remaining flour and mix well.

Pour mixture over jam/mincemeat and smooth the top.

Cook in microwave on full power for 5 mins. Leave to stand for 1 minute.  Check sponge is cooked in the middle.

Serve with cream, custard or ice cream.  It's that simple and very yummy!!

2025 Goals

 Happy New Year!  I wish you all good health and happiness! 

Every year I set myself some goals instead of resolutions.  I've reviewed last year's goals and was happy that I achieved 3 out of 4.  The 4th one didn't work out due to the timing of me moving house but I'm not beating myself up about it.

So, this is a year of using up all the resources I have saved and hoarded for decorating, DIYing and gardening in my new house.  When I need to buy something I'll try thrifting first, then my local recycle centre and even asking family/friends if they have what I'm looking for.  If I need to buy anything new I'll thoroughly research the best deal/prices!

2025 Goals: A year of using what I already have

1.  Create a permaculture garden from scratch

My garden is currently a patch of muddy/soggy grass and a decked area with some pots I brought from my previous house.  I'm aiming to create a space where I can grow food and flowers, where I can encourage beneficial insects and where Luna and I can relax.  I'm bringing as much as I can salvage from my allotment plot including my compost bins.  I have a ramshackle shed I'm hoping I can save and turn into a potting shed.

2.  Make/upcycle/thrift all my clothes (except underwear and footwear)

I've been slowly wearing out all old work clothes (mainly tunics and leggings) so will be needing to replace some items.  I'd like to start sewing clothes again and already have lots of patterns and fabric.  Other items can be thrifted and I know my Lovely Mum is hoping to do a clothes clear out this year so I might be able to upcycle some of her things.  

3.  Decorate my whole house

It's a small house, just 4 rooms plus a fully tiled bathroom (that I'm not touching) and hall/stairs.  I have a ton of white and cream paint, a few rolls of nice wallpaper I got on sale and loads of ideas!  I just need to motivate myself to get cracking!  I know I need to buy some electrical fittings and a curtain pole but I think I already have all I need.  If I can save enough money I might get my armchair professionally re upholstered.

I'm planning to video as much as I can and to keep a careful note of how much it costs.  I really want to see if it can be done!

Caramelised onion chutney

 

Today's Foodie Friday vlog is up.  I had a surplus of onions that I wanted to use up so I decided to make some chutney with them.  I found an amazing recipe that had a slowcooker method so I decided to have a go.  I started by slicing up the onions the night before.  It took me half an hour!!!  And the whole house stank of raw onions until the next morning!🧅

I added butter, oil and bay leaves and set the slowcooker to low.  They simmered gently for 3 and a half hours.

Then I added the sugar, vinegar, salt and chilli flakes and set it to High (with the lid wedged open a little) for 7 hours in the end!

It was nice and sticky after simmering all day!  And the house smelled a bit nicer 😋

This is what 2kg of onions looks like after all that!!  The labels are leftovers from my Etsy shop days.

Ingredients:

• 2kg of red or brown onions (before peeling)
• 50ml oil
• 50g butter
• 2 bay leaves
• 300g dark soft brown sugar
• 200ml apple cider vinegar
• 200ml Balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chilli flakes

Method:

See HERE for the original recipe.  It has fab detailed instructions for both methods.

Using up bits and bobs to make mincemeat

 

After recently making dumplings/doughballs and a steamed pudding, I still had about 25g of Atora suet (beef) left and I didn't want it to go to waste.  So I made a small batch of mincemeat based on this recipe HERE.  I just scaled it down by a tenth and added a bit of more of what I had.

I used up some of the frozen apples I got free from my mum's garden.  Plus some of the slightly candied lemon peel from making the lemon syrup.  And some orange juice I had frozen in ice cubes made with oranges I got in a Lidl box ages ago.  I didn't bother doing the whole sterilising jars etc as I'll be using it soon. It smells absolutely like Christmas!! 🎄

I quite often do small batches of preserves if I only have a small amount of something.  You don't always need to make 20 jars of it!!

And for some reason this week's sourdough loaf was rather holey!!  The next few slices had even bigger holes! But that's part of the fun adventure with sourdough 🍞

Lemon syrup and apple puree

 

I had 8 unwaxed lemons languishing in the fridge because my freezers are jam packed.  I had to do something with them soon or they'd go to waste.  So I made a simple lemon syrup.

I thinly peeled the zest and added them to a pan with 3 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar.  I simmered them until it had reduced by half.  Once it had cooled I removed the zest.

I juiced the lemons and added the juice to the sugar syrup.

I now have some slightly candied peel to use in my next whisky fruit cake or Christmas pudding and a jar of delicious lemon syrup to use in my iced tea 🫖

I still had the apples from my last Lidl box so they were cored and peeled and poached in a splash of water.

Once they were cooked, I pureed them so I now have 4 x half cup portions of simple applesauce to use in baking.  They're already in the freezer.

Also chopped up and in the freezer are the 3 red peppers (29p each at Lidl) and the remaining 3 free bananas.

Today's Foodie Friday vlog shows my last shopping 'haul' of the year.  My plan is to not visit a supermarket again until January.  I can only do that if I make sure I use up all my purchases and don't waste anything! 

Eating from the storecupboard: Sunday lunch

 

I'm still eating from the storecupboard/fridge/freezer and using up 'stuff' that's in there.  Today I made a Sunday lunch with a chopped up baked potato fried in the wok, some cooked chicken, cauliflower and cheese sauce from the freezer and the last of the gravy granules from the storecupboard.  Ok the gravy was lamb based but gravy is gravy!!  The cauliflower was the end of a bag of frozen cauliflower and broccoli so there were a few wee bits of the green stuff in there too.  I can't even remember when I made the cheese sauce, I didn't date it.  Pity I didn't have any Yorkshire puddings or it would have been the perfect meal.

I have to say it was absolutely delicious and made in 10 mins!! 😋

Eating from the storecupboard: lamb burger hash

 

In my continuing effort to feed myself from the storecupboard/fridge/freezer, today's meal was using up the lamb burgers I got free from the community waste shop ages ago and some cooked potatoes.  A hash seemed a good idea!  The above quantities made 2 main meals.

I broke up one of the burgers into rough pieces and put them in my wok.  I use my wok for just about everything, not just stir fries!  No oil needed as they produced their own fat!

Once they were nicely browned/carmelised I added the chopped potatoes.  I fried them until they were browned too.

I tossed in some steamed broccoli and the hash was done.  It was really good.  I'd never buy burgers but they were free to me.  And as they were M&S ones they were a good quality.  I'm not keen on a burger in a roll so this was a good way to use them up.

I believe a hash usually has a potato and onion base but I used my last onion to make a soup.  I eat a lot of these style of meals as it's all done in one pot, or wok in this case! 😋

Eating from the storecupboard: baked bean chilli

 

I had half a tin of Heinz baked beans in the fridge.  They had been there 2 days as I had the other half with my cheesy baked potatoes.  I pulled a portion of tomato and veg sauce from the freezer.  It has tomatoes, onions, 3 types of peppers and grated carrot so is packed with veggies.

I put a teaspoon of oil plus 2 teaspoons of my fajita spice mix in a hot pan and gently fried off the spices for 1 min (or until they smell amazing!)

I added the tomato sauce and let it all sizzle for 1 min then added some water to loosen it.

I let it simmer for 10 mins while I cooked some rice.

Then I added the baked beans and stirred it all together until piping hot.

I served it with plain boiled rice.  It was honestly the best bean chilli I've ever made!!  You could add more chilli flakes to the spice mixture if you like it hotter 🌶 but I find my fajita spice mix is spicy enough for me.  That's the beauty of mixing it yourself 😋

And there's a second portion in the fridge for tomorrow!

Eating from the storecupboard: flatbreads

 

Since Luna hasn't been well with the respiratory infection I've been avoiding giving her a frozen yoghurt treat (dairy isn't good for mucus!) so I had a lot of yoghurt that was a bit touch and go.  Tasted ok so I used it to make flatbreads with 300g yoghurt, 350g plain flour plus a bit extra and 2 tsp of baking powder.  You could just use SR flour without the baking powder.

I just mixed it and kneaded it lightly for about 2 mins.  I divided it into 6 balls and patted it out into a naan bread shape. I don't have a rolling pin atm!

I put a teeny bit of oil into a hot wok and cooked it for a few minutes on each side.

After cooling on the rack I froze them.  I can use them as a pizza base or serve with a curry or chilli.

After making them I watched a YouTube video by Chetna (of Bake Off fame) make naans in a similar way but she used much less yoghurt and added water until she got the right consistency of dough.  Def much more frugal than equal quantities but I just needed to use up all my yoghurt asap.

CLICK HERE for her easy naan recipe 😋