Saturday 9 May 2015

Bit Of 'Chuck It All In' Cooking .. Garden .. And General Stuff...


Hello there ... 
well after dreadful rain last night and early morning (rain stopped play .. no trading today).. the sun came out this afternoon ..
 and it was lovely.
I spent the day getting vintage clothes ready for sale .. washing ironing .. and mending
 (the odd missing button .. hems that need attention .. that sort of thing).
Look at this pretty little 60's number having an airing in the apple tree.

  I got a whole stack of aprons last week ..
 I picked out these two .. 
they are so bright and cheerful I thought I would try them on eBay.

  Hubby P .. busy as ever ..
He is making a worktop .. 
from Victorian pitch pine .. for a customer.. client? .. Client ..does that sound a bit pretentious?
Anyway this lady has a beach hut 
(down south somewhere) 
and would like something nice to finish the top of a cupboard or unit or something. 
She gave Hubby P a sketch and dimensions .. 
and he set to with his trusty tools.

It should look nice ... do hope she likes it.

 The garden is looking very lush after all the rain ... and the flowers are coming into their own.


 His and Hers bluebells .. so pretty .. almost magical.

 And the herbs are positively zinging with freshness..

And for the cooking thing ...

I know  .. like me ..
 you like to see the cooking stuff ..

 I love getting ideas for quick easy meals .. 
cooking is not my favourite pastime ..
 sometimes I resent the time I have to spend in the kitchen when I could be amongst my flowers.


So today ... 
I had defrosted a portion of mince (ground beef).. but what to do with it?
I turned it into a bowl and forked it through ... 
I opened the fridge door and added..
 (to the mince) a bit of what came to hand ..
a squeeze of garlic puree, squeeze of tomato puree ... half a grated carrot.. half a grated red pepper ..
then a dash of pepper .. an oxo ..
 oxo's are a must for me .. when it doubt add an oxo!
I added a couple of handfuls of porridge oats and stirred it all up.

  The oats soak up all the juices and bind things together ..
 I always have a large jar of porridge oats handy.

As you can see here .. 
I have all kinds of dried stuffs .. 
just handy .. so I can add a handful to any dish .. or scoop a bit of rice into a pan.

 It keeps things easy .. I'm all for easy!


 Anyway back to the mince stuff.. 
I scooped it out in handfuls and using more oats ..I fashioned them into little patties and slipped them into a lightly oiled frying pan.

I have grilled these before .. 
and I imagine if you used very lean meat .. 
maybe turkey mince .. and grilled them they would be very healthy and low fat.


 Hubby P opted for his on buns .. he says he's a bun sorta guy.
I hid the salad underneath the patties ...


I opted for a little rice and salad with mine .. 
and very tasty it was too.
And quick ..
 I think I literally threw it together in ten minutes .. my kinda cooking.

Don't you just love summer ... 
salad is so quick and easy!

Enough of me .. early to bed tonight .. hopefully we can trade tomorrow!

Bye for now x