SUMMER SUN PORRIDGE FUN DREAMS

6 Porridges for Summer

Time Taken: Ten minutes max

Ingredients: Half a mug of oats, a glug of milk, 2 tablespoons of flaxseed (optional) & then exciting summer toppings SEE BELOW.

Hi readers,

What is it right now? It’s Monday evening. And so, if you’re reading this, you’ve survived Monday oncemore! Whoooooo! Take a hearty pat on the back. Good job! Well done, indeed. I think, every week, that it’s a minor miracle when so many people battle through Monday with any kind of gusto. On Monday, it’s not the weekend anymore. You miss the weekend just gone, really a lot, and the next weekend seems so distant. Despair’s a regular feature of Mondays. But high five, readers, for your continuing survival! Today, you have achieved.

And today, readers, I’m feeling in between. On the one hand, we’re almost done with March and summer doesn’t seem all that far away. But AT THE SAME TIME it’s still not Easter. Still. Not. Lent continues and the weather’s cold and shit. Spring feels tired today. Or maybe that’s just me. For sure though, Sheffield’s not looking it’s best. The city has a strong tendency towards miserable drizzle and today the drizzle is just RAINING DOWN.

Readers, I hope hope hope that the sun is shining where you are. That you’re wearing shorts and flipslops and shades. That it’s warm enough for a Cornetto without risking hypothermia. That your life today has been a vision of summer. I hope! However, as this really isn’t the case for anyone in England at least, my blog today is going to CHEER. PEOPLE. UP.

Readers STEP ONE… I want you to think of 5 things that have been good today, which you’re grateful for.

Mine

(1)

Brands.

At home today there’s been Alpen…. Nescafe… Quorn… treats galore!

(2)

Headphones.

Mine are new and with them I can HEAR music again. Life is good.

(3)

Shut-in.

I didn’t have to go anywhere today or spend time with people.

(4)

Shower.

The water at home is consistently warm and I don’t pay for it.

And (5)

Family.

I’m at home and spending time with the fam is making me very happy.

And only after you have a proper 5 (give it a think!) STEP TWO is to play a song that reminds you of summer. I think we all have one! Am I right? C’mon now! There has to be a song that followed you last summer? One your foot tapped to from your deck chair? Soundtrack to last year’s barbecues? Your festival highlight?? Stick it on!

Finally, readers, STEP THREE is to check out the following recipe. Here I’m to share with you once more, readers, my ultimate recipe for a bear-sized bowl of porridge BUT this time with suggestions on how you can carry porridge through to summer. It isn’t just for winter! Oh no no. Porridge, for me, is to be enjoyed all year round. ERRRRRRR damn month.

And the key to enjoying porridge even when it’s summer, readers? IS FRUIT. Here’s how you make fruity porridge in summer, readers, in just ten easy steps…

1. Shuffle about and gather together your milk, your porridge oats, a bowl, a tablespoon and a mug.

2. Half fill your mug with oats.

3. Tip the oats into your bowl.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: If you have any flaxseed, add a couple of tablespoons now. This is a power ingredients which helps with digestion! Also, it makes porridge super thick.

4. Pour milk into your bowl until the bowl is two thirds full and your oats are swimming.

5. Stir your oats and milk together. Stay awake.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: When you aren't using it, rest your spoon in your mug so that you don’t get milk on the kitchen side.

6. Pop your bowl into the microwave and heat for 2 minutes.

PLAN 1: Raisin

7. When the microwave pings, take out your bowl and spoon 1 tablespoon of brown sugar over your porridge.

8. Next, spoon 2 tablespoons of raisins over your porridge.

9. Stir it up! Pop your porridge back in the microwave for 1 minute. Pour yourself an OJ and keep an eye on the porridge in the microwave.

10. When either the microwave pings or you see your porridge expanding to the top of the bowl, take out your porridge. Stir it up! Get your porridge and your juice. Shuffle towards a comfy seat.

PLAN 2: Strawberry

7. Sit a few strawberries on a square of kitchen towel. Chop their tops off and then cut into quarters.

8. When the microwave pings, take out your bowl and spoon a few blobs of strawberry jam on top of your porridge.

9. Stir it up! Pop your porridge back in the microwave for 1 minute. Pour yourself an OJ and keep an eye on the porridge in the microwave.

10. When either the microwave pings or you see your porridge expanding to the top of the bowl, take out your porridge. Stir it up! Top with your bits of strawberry. Get your porridge and your juice. Shuffle towards a comfy seat.

PLAN 3: Apricot

7. Sit a few dried apricots on a square of kitchen towel. Cut them into quarters.

8. When the microwave pings, take out your bowl and spoon a few blobs of apricot jam on top of your porridge. Tip your pieces of dried apricot into the bowl.

9. Stir it up! Pop your porridge back in the microwave for 1 minute. Pour yourself an OJ and keep an eye on the porridge in the microwave.

10. When either the microwave pings or you see your porridge expanding to the top of the bowl, take out your porridge. Get your porridge and your juice. Shuffle towards a comfy seat.

PLAN 4: Raspberry

7. When the microwave pings, take out your bowl and spoon a few blobs of raspberry jam on top of your porridge.

8. Stir it up! Pop your porridge back in the microwave for 1 minute. Pour yourself an OJ and keep an eye on the porridge in the microwave.

9. When either the microwave pings or you see your porridge expanding to the top of the bowl, take out your porridge. Stir it up!

10. Take a handful of raspberries and dot them about on top of your porridge. Get your porridge and your juice. Shuffle towards a comfy seat.

PLAN 5: Banana

7. Peel a banana and sit it on a square of kitchen towel. Slice your banana up.

8. When the microwave pings, take out your bowl and spoon a tablespoon of honey over your porridge.

9. Stir it up! Pop your porridge back in the microwave for 1 minute. Pour yourself an OJ and keep an eye on the porridge in the microwave.

10. When either the microwave pings or you see your porridge expanding to the top of the bowl, take out your porridge. Chuck your banana into the bowl. Stir it up! Get your porridge and your juice. Shuffle towards a comfy seat.

AND PLAN 6: Chocolate Orange

7. Sit an orange on a square of kitchen towel and slice it in half.

8. When the microwave pings, take out your bowl and spoon a few blobs of chocolate spread on top of your porridge. Squeeze both halves of your orange so that the juice goes into the bowl.

9. Stir it up! Pop your porridge back in the microwave for 1 minute. Pour yourself an OJ and keep an eye on the porridge in the microwave.

10. When either the microwave pings or you see your porridge expanding to the top of the bowl, take out your porridge. Stir it up! Get your porridge and your juice. Shuffle towards a comfy seat.

And readers… that’s it. Porridge. With fruit. For summer.

Here’s some strawberry porridge of mine (SEE PLAN 2) …

And I think, even if it’s sub zero and raining sideways outside, that adding a little colour and fruit to your bowl at breakfast… makes the day feel just a little bit summery. Do you, readers? What do you think? I hope that you’re inspired by my recipes and that you have a go at jazzing up your bowls of porridge. Remember, to always start the day right! And then the sun will be shining inside you, at least.

Readers, share your thoughts with me about these summer recipes. Please do. And send your recipes my way, too! What should I try next with my porridge?? Exciting times.

 

Breakfast safely,

Hayley

THE POWER OF PITTAS

Mushroom Pitta Pizzas

Time taken: 45 mins

Ingredients: 2 wholemeal pitta breads, 100ml soft cheese, 4 tablespoons of tomato puree, ½ a pack of button mushrooms, a tablespoon of oil, salt & pepper.

Readers,

This is the week that the world lost Lil’ Chris, the BBC sacked Jeremy Clarkson and the boyband One Direction finally broke apart. Capturing the news this week though, is the story of the Germanwings flight which has fallen from the sky in the French Alps, sadly killing everyone aboard.

This tragedy happened on Tuesday and I’ve been thinking a lot since about those who lost their lives. At work at the airport on Tuesday, I got a news update on my phone reporting that the disaster had happened. I got this update along with, I imagine, most of the passengers in the departure lounge with me, waiting to board planes. And so the afternoon passed in a very subdued and quiet way, with worried passengers not keen to fly.

Yesterday, I headed off again to the airport, and everything was back to normal. Sky Sports was on the TV screens reporting the midweek footy scores and a cricket result. If they’d shown Sky News, it would have been reporting that a British mother and baby are among the dead in the Alps. But, rather wisely, we kept up with the sports instead. And there was no mention of the air crash.

But I spent the day thinking… ‘Christ, work’s shit, but at least I woke up today and I’m living to see this day!’ Because one hundred and fifty people didn’t wake up yesterday. They didn’t land safely in Germany on Tuesday, collect their cases and their cars, drive home to turn off their burglar alarms. Buy fresh milk, collect pets from family, and stick the kettle on. They didn’t. And I think this is a terrible sadness.

I’ve read that these poor people plummeted for eight whole minutes before they lost their lives. Can you imagine this?? That being how your life ends?? With eight terrifying minutes spent falling from the sky, among a boxful of panicked strangers, not knowing what was happening. Without your loved ones there.

Eight minutes is nothing, no time at all! We live through eight minutes all the time without doing anything memorable or special with our time. We waste away our eight minutes. And then another eight. And we don’t even remember them! Eight minutes lost.

But, also, in eight minutes you can take a shower. Walk for the bus. You can eat a bowl of cereal. Read a blog post. And, readers, think of all the many, many thoughts that you might have in this time! So many thoughts! Is eight minutes enough time with which to comprehend your own death?? To think about your life and your loved ones? The things you’ve done? The times you’ve had?

Is it enough, readers, to think about the things that you’ll miss? The times you won’t live the see? The future without you? Have you the time to wonder where you might be heading after the plane crashes into the ground? Where you’ll find yourself in nine minutes time?

Eight minutes is so little. But also so long. I suppose that many people don’t see their death approach and so don’t have the chance to take eight minutes for final thoughts. But is a sudden and immediate death a mercy, compared with the terror of plunging to your doom??
Who knows.

I hope that, in the end, those aboard the plane found some peace. And came together to support each other and share their final moments of life. I hope that everything happens for a reason. And that each plane in the sky right now lands safely. I hope I hope I hope.

So. It’s a thoughtful week here in Newcastle, readers. There have been shifts to work and there’s work experience to gain, before I can head home for Easter. I get by. And I’m on a drive to use up foods before I leave. Which is how the following recipe came about. Readers, this was total improv in the kitchen. I had random ingredients and a will to eat pizza. And came up with an alright new recipe. Pretty good, in fact.

Here’s how to rustle up Mushroom Pitta Pizzas, in just ten easy steps…

1. Heat your oven to 200˚C.

2. Take out your pitta breads.

3. Spread evenly with tomato puree.

4. Then, spread with soft cheese.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: You can use an original cheese spread or you can mix things up. I used a reduced fat cheese here with onions & chives in it. Very moreish.

5. Chop your mushrooms into small pieces.

6. Heat some oil in a frying pan, and then fry your mushrooms for a few minutes until they begin to colour.

8. Sit your pitta breads on a baking tray. Top with your pieces of fried mushroom, and then season with salt & pepper.

9. Safely transport your tray into the oven and leave your pizzas to cook for 15-20 mins.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: I left mine just as long as I would a regular pizza. This varies oven-to-oven so just do what you normally do.

10. When your pizzas are hot and your cheese n mushrooms turn golden, serve up your pizzas!

Here are my pizzas from earlier this week…

And, I have to say, I was VERY chuffed with how these came out. They were a stroke of genius. Readers, my expectations of Mushroom Pitta Pizzas were rock bottom. It’s not a proper pizza base or actual cheese, so how could these ingredients make pizza?? The answer is… I don’t know. But somehow this works.

Mushroom Pitta Pizzas are a great healthy alternative to real pizza. They’re also a quick (cheat) way to hash together DIY pizzas, without the hassle of making dough. These pizzas are cheap, easy and fun to throw together, and they don’t taste bad! If you closed your eyes while you were eating one, without first knowing what it was that you were eating, I think there’s a chance you might say it was pizza. Win!

Readers, if you ever find yourself with little food in but with JUST THESE INGREDIENTS then I leave you with no choice but to give these babies a go. Mushroom Pitta Pizzas are really tasty! Let me know if you try them out. I’d love to hear what you think and if you have any tips on how you might change this recipe, or involve different ingredients that you have in?? Send your thoughts my way.

And fly safely,

Hayley

A BAKING BLEND

Carrot Cake Tea Loaf

Time Taken: An hour & 20 mins (including the bake)

Ingredients: 230g caster sugar, 280g plain flour, 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder, a big shake of cinnamon, ½ a teaspoon of salt, 120g butter, 100ml milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 230g carrots (that’s about 3 carrots), & 180g chopped walnuts or sultanas.

Hi readers,

So… Monday is done. Readers, you’ve done it again. You have officially made it to the end of the day! A Monday! Three cheers to EVERYONE for your wonderful efforts today, battling against the evil forces of Monday. You. Heroes.

So, has it been a day to remember? At all? If you think about today, and then think about what you might come to remember this day for in the future, what do you think it will be? Will today be remembered? Readers, I hope you’ll be remembering today for all the right reasons, and not for any of the wrong ones. I hope that today’s been a Thumbs Up kind of day.

MY DAY I think I’ll remember for being the day I took a National Express coach instead of a Megabus. This, readers, was a Really Big Deal for me. So big! Basically, due to the incredibly and unbelievably cheap prices of Megabuses, I’m allllllways taking them to get between Newcastle (uni home) and Sheffield (home home). Rarely do I spend more than a tenner on a Megabus which is WAY lower than the trains cost. And if you’re the first person to book onto the bus then you get your journey for the princely sum of one quid (!!!) which was me this December when I journeyed home for Xmas Break.

BUT Megabuses are the worst. You spend ages waiting for them on the pavement and never know when one will arrive. Often, Megabus drivers and marshals are really rude to you. They squash loads of people onto a bus and you never have any legroom. It’s stuffy. Too hot or too cold. The plugs don’t work. The Wi-Fi doesn’t work. The toilet is terrible. A baby is crying. Someone opens a pack of sushi and the smell hits you. And you have hours of survival ahead!

So, for today’s trip, I did my research and found that I could get a National Express coach instead, for only £1 more! Readers, I didn’t look back! So, at 9am my coach set off from Sheffield. The driver was a chatty fellow and he was very concerned with getting his passengers belted up. Safety first. Today, there were only a few people on the coach including me and we each had decent space for legroom. Along with window seats. And no need to sit anywhere near to each other on the bus! Result!

We spent an hour driving to Leeds and then took an hour’s break. I stretched my legs and grabbed a coffee. Back on the bus at 11 and we headed north. After that, it took just over 3 hours and we were rolling into Newcastle. Such an enjoyable trip! The sun was shining through the windows warming everyone up and we got to see the sights of lots of lovely towns along the way to Newcastle. Today, I’ve been through Harrogate and Darlington and Durham… and who knows where else!

When I wasn’t watching the world go by I was having a read at my book ‘In The Darkness’ by Karin Fossum. A proper Norwegian crime thriller! A book which I’ve now gone and finished. And all was good. Today, the journey up to Newcastle has been good. I give National Express a cheerful ten out of ten for today’s trip. It was fun! And so, if I remember today, I think it will be as the day that I finally escaped the Megabus.

OR as the day that they arrested the murderer of Claudia Lawrence. Which I think is the best news ever! Hopefully, this means that the case can be solved and there will be justice at last for Claudia’s family. And perhaps the discovery of her body. So that her family can say good bye and Claudia can rest in peace, as everyone should.

So, readers, you’ve survived Monday. Hopefully you’ll be remembering today for good reasons. And the whole rest of the week lies ahead for you! What will you do with your week?? How will you spend your time? MAYBE you’ll have time for some Spring baking?? I hope you do because I have just the recipe! For a lovely Carrot Cake Tea Loaf. :) This I baked on Friday evening before I headed home to Sheffield,  as a treat for my Father Bear! And a sly way, readers, to get him eating vegetables.

Have you tried carrot cake before? Or  tea loaf, readers?? Whether you have or you haven’t, all you need to know is that this recipe takes the best of both of those cakes MASHES THEM TOGETHER and creates something wonderful for you to bake.

So as you may know, readers, carrot cake is traditionally made with chopped walnuts, in the same way that coffee cake is. Butttt, instead, this recipe uses sultanas. Now, putting sultanas in coffee cake in place of walnuts, definitely seems a weird idea. And maybe putting sultanas in carrot cake seems a weird idea, too? Like, when I set about baking this cake and discovered that I didn’t have any walnuts in to use, I was fairly unsure about subbing nuts for sultanas. And when he sliced this cake this weekend and discovered the sultanas hidden inside, my Father Bear was keen to point out that (for him) sultanas seemed out of place.

BUT the online recipe I was using said that this was an ok thing to do (Click HERE to see the original). And, having eaten a big wedge of this cake, I definitely feel that sultanas work ok. More than ok! ALSO… I was in Caffe Nero this weekend and saw that they sell this very cake. The same one. So, there you have it, this cake ISN’T a weird throwing together of things… it’s a real deal recipe. Which you have to try.

Upon my dad’s recommendation, I’m going to call this recipe a Carrot Cake Tea Loaf JUST SO THAT PEOPLE KNOW this isn’t an original Carrot Cake recipe that they’re signing themselves up for. Nor is it a traditional Tea Loaf. It’s a blend. Zero confusion.

Here’s how you can rustle up your very own Tea Loaf of Carrot Cake, in just ten easy steps…

1. Heat your oven to 190˚C.

2. Measure your butter into a small pan and melt it, then set aside for now.

3. Finely grate your carrots.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: I won’t lie… grating this amount of carrot is bloody hard graft. Your arm will PROBABLY feel like it’s dropping off. And it probably won’t, but this isn’t going to be a fun ten minutes of your life. I recommend regularly switching the arm that you hold the grater with. And distracting yourself with the radio! And not giving in.

4. Measure your sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Stir it up!

5. Add your milk, vanilla extract and melted butter to the bowl. Stir everything together until you have a smooth cake mix.

6. Add your grated carrot to the bowl, along with the sultanas/walnuts. Stir it up!

7. Grease either a deep cake tin or a large loaf tin with butter.

8. Spoon your mix into the tin and safely transport this into the oven to bake for 50 minutes.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: My cake seemed to bake very quickly on top but was still wobbly within, so I covered my cake with foil in the oven and this way the middle could finish baking without the top burning! You may need to do this if your oven is anything like mine.

9. Do your dishes and dance around. Then, when your cake is risen and golden brown (and when a knife jabbed into its centre comes out clean) remove your cake from the oven and leave to cool for ten minutes in its tin.

10. Run a knife around the edge of your cake to loosen it from the tin, and then transfer your cake onto a wire cooling rack. Either slice your cake now and eat warm or leave to cool fully on the rack.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: If you decide to leave your cake to cool, you then have the option to decorate it! While I have zero patience for such pursuits, I know that some people beautifully decorate their carrot cakes with cream cheese frostings and chopped walnuts. Maybe you could even ice a carrot design on the top of your cake? Be creative!

Here’s my beautiful tea loaf of carrot cake…

And, readers, this cake tasted SO MOIST. Like, incredibly so. The moistest cake ever, and then some. SO MOIST. I feel like if you left this cake on your plate for a while (though I don’t know why ANYONE would do this) there’s a strong chance it might melt. So. So. Moist.

Gah. And, for me, the moistness was a really good thing. This cake tasted cinammony and carroty, and it was sticky and sweet. Not even 1% dry. And this cake was fine without any decoration, I felt. This cake wasn’t at a loss without icing. It was fine all by itself! Its very fine self. I like this cake and so does my dad. So will you! Get your Spring bake on this week, readers, and let me know what you think of Carrot Cake Tea Loaf. Go on now.

Travel safely,

Hayley