Posted in Recipes

Refried Lentils – 10 MINUTES to Delicious!

Yes, this does exactly what it claims. A deliciously filling meal is available to you in under 10 minutes. To my mind it’s well balanced. It has the ‘good’ fats of avocado, the protein of lentils & cheese and the carb of the wrap. This will satisfy your hunger.

Delicious spicy lentils on a crisped wrap with mashed avocado & grated cheese

Mexican food is one of my favourites and I took inspiration here from refried beans.

Spiced lentils
Spiced Lentils

Refried Lentils

Serves 2:
You will need:
A little oil
1 tin lentils
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp chilli flakes
Splash water
1 avocado mashed with juice of one lime
2 wraps
Small amount of cheddar cheese grated (or any cheese) – think small handful

Method:
Heat a little olive oil and fry up a drained tin of lentils in a small frying pan for a couple of minutes
Add 1 tbsp tomato puree, 2 tsp garlic granules, 1 tsp chilli flakes & a splash of water and then cook for a couple of minutes more giving it the odd stir.
Heat two wraps in a hot oven until beginning to crisp up (keep an eye on them, you want to pull them out just when their turning from soft to crisp, firm enough to hold content and soft enough to fold without completely cracking)
Heat the grill.
Pile on a portion of avocado mash to one half of each wrap and spread on one half only, top this with the fried lentils and a small scattering of grated cheese. Flash the filled side of the wrap under the grill to melt the cheese.
Once cheese has melted fold over the other half to close the wrap and tuck in.

Enjoy!

x Sheila

Posted in Recipes

Pickle It! A recipe for quick pickled red onion.

Have you sometimes bought a bag/net of onions when you really only needed a couple? The remainder sit there in the vegetable rack as you walk past them, day after day, ignoring their existence. You wanted them in your life yet you just let them sit there. Ghosted! …or is it Gaslit? Who knows!

Red onion pickle in a kilner jar

Why not dress them up and show them some love? A dash of something sassy and sharp combined with sweetness will lift the spirits and tantalise your tastebuds. In the process of pickling red onions you will transform their appearance rendering them a vibrant pink.

Red onion pickle on top of beef burger served with coleslaw, paprika seasoned sweet potato fries and a garlic mayo.

Pickled Red Onions Recipe
You will need:
Red Onions
Apple Cider Vinegar or White/Red Wine Vinegar
Honey or Golden Syrup
Method:
Peel & slice the onions
Place them in a bowl and splash with some vinegar and pour over some honey/syrup – Use your judgement on quantities as this will depend on how much onion you have. You don’t need to drown them.
Ensure the onions are mixed through and thoroughly moistened – using two forks can help to ensure you’ve separated the onion strands and doused them well.
Store in sterilised jars in the fridge.

Great on burgers.

Enjoy!

x Sheila

Posted in Recipes

Fast Food : Beetroot & Feta

What’s not to love here. Simple, easy, delicious recipe with video for the people who are screaming at the bloggers to ‘JUST GIMME THE RECIPE’. Enjoy!

Crumbled feta & beetroot salad.

Mixed Salad Leaves
(Dunnes Stores Ireland Bistro salad actually has beetroot in it)
-Chopped Cooked Beetroot
-Red Onion
-olive oil
-balsamic vinegar
-crumbled feta

x Sheila

Posted in Recipes

Clocks Forward for Salad Season! Baby Potato Salad. (Recipe Video)

Well now! This is new!! (but not quite)

An Irish classic potato salad is made with salad cream, no BBQ is complete without it! ⬇️

Baby Potato Salad

– Boiled baby potatoes, chopped bite size
– Chopped spring onion & chives
-salad cream
-salt & pepper

If you’ve never tried salad cream this is a throw back to 70s / 80s Ireland. Heinz or Chef are generally the salad creams we choose!

This recipe was posted before but I thought you might like it with the video too – click to play.

x Sheila

Posted in Recipes

How to Slow down in 2023 and get things done. Plus a recipe for Moroccan Beef Stew (Slow Cooker Version).

LAST day of the first month of the year already! How did that happen so quickly and what have you achieved? Or are you waiting for February to get going on that ambitious list of yours? Here’s a tip – get OFF the f*n phone. Easier said than done I know.

The Plan

For various personal reasons (one of which was being called ‘fake’) I’ve taken a step back from social media and reclaimed an awful lot of time. The ambitions are as follows:

  • Blog post once a month
    • With a catch up and a recipe, where would I be without food?!
    • This month’s recipe is Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef Stew
  • Edit of my romance novel ‘Good Enough’
    • This is well underway, basically there are some minor errors that shouldn’t be there so these are being fixed
  • Promotion of my podcast of ‘Good Enough’ novel
    • This starts today 31 Jan. Basically the podcast is complete and you can listen to the entire Romance Novel ‘Good Enough’ being read (by me!) for FREE. I just need to promote it and get the word out.
  • Continue work on the sequel to ‘Good Enough’
    • This is underway with plans to complete writing by end of 2023 and edit in 2024.
    • I am very excited about this project but as I work full time this will be slow and I will enjoy the process with intent
  • Instagram once a month
    • It used to be twitter that made my time disappear but there is no navigating that in any sensible fashion these days so I find that grand to just dip in and out of for news etc without going down a rabbit hole. Basically it’s a bit of a jumbled mess and I don’t stay there for long
    • Instagram on the other hand is just far too beautiful for her own good and a pond into which I could continually gaze.
    • What have I learned from my time off instagram? I am missing NOTHING. I am looking forward to dipping in later on this evening, perhaps creating a reel. I really like instagram but there is no need for me to visit every day. I am very interested in the accounts that I follow and looking forward to seeing what they’ve been up to. Like catching up with an old friend.

Good Enough Novel Podcast Promotion

  • My first novel ‘Good Enough’ is a feel-good romance and the recorded chapters on the podcast vary in length but on average are approximately 30 minutes. This could be an ideal listen if you’re getting out there walking or could be a good listen on a long drive.
  • You will find it everywhere you choose to listen . (PLEASE begin with CHAPTER ONE ! )
  • If you can’t find it where you want to listen let me know and I’ll see what I can do to rectify that

Moroccan Beef Stew (Slow Cooker Version)

  • Ingredients – serves 6–8
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1kg stewing beef pieces, e.g. shin
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3 cm thumbwidth piece of ginger (or 1 tbsp ginger paste)
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • Method:
  • Peel and finely chop the onion and place in base of slow cooker
  • Peel and crush the garlic and finely chop or grate the ginger and then add along with all the spices and honey and mix well
  • Stir in the beef pieces
  • Add the tomato puree, canned tomatoes and mix well.
  • Cook in Slow Cooker on Low for 8 hours

(Good with buttery mashed potatoes or boiled rice, with a side of green beans.)

Looking forward to catching up at the end of February. In the meantime take it slow and get some time back.

xx Sheila