Raspberry Cranberry Iced Tea

I'm not a tea drinker at all! I like drinks that say they are tea but taste NOTHING like tea, well unless its cold and the fake stuff.

I don't always want sodas. 

I do like fruit cold teas...well not actual teas. I just like when it has tea in the name.

So when they say oh we have a lovely blackberry tea that is made here...Im like hummm NOPE! 

I want the fake stuff! 

We do like Raspberry Ice flavoured drinks.

In fact when I'm in the US its always at the top of my list to make sure I get. 

Then this summer I was given a Yeti cup....I LOVE my Yeti cup. Really I do.

It's just awesome! 

For somebody like myself who doesn't drink hot drinks and who loves ice cold drinks...just perfect 

So you know E I blame you for my love of both Raspberry Ice and my Yeti! 

Well since I got my Yeti I have been visiting Starbucks and spending far too much money on a cold drink.
I would say I might have a little problem with how much I love these drinks (Hibiscus tea lemonade and it is actually tea I believe)
If  I added up what I've spent I'm on them sure I could have have booked a holiday for a family of 4 ... only joking but your getting my drift!
So I came up with this drink...tastes NOTHING like the original drink I'd mentioned

This drink is so much cheaper and tastes great

I make this up in the night and next morning nice cold drink.
Yeti filled with ice, great start to my day :)

So it costs me €4.65 for a venti sized Starbucks drink ~ 24 oz

making it at home less than €1 for 56 oz

No it doesnt taste ANYTHING like the Hibiscus tea Lemonade but I actually prefer my drink...Seriously I do ;)

What you'll need

Water ~ 4-5 cups

tea bags ~ 3 ( I used Raspberry white tea)

cranberry light ~ 2 cups

lemon juice ~ juice of one whole lemon

Boil the water

juice the lemons 

in a jug add the tea bags

pour the boiling water onto the teabags

add the lemon juice

when cooled slightly add the cranberry juice 

leave in the fridge 

serve over ice

Enjoy!

                    Thai Chicken Slurry 

This recipe is soooooo easy and can be changed into a soup.
it's quick and very easy and sooo tasty!
its not spicy! seriously not spicy at all...I wouldn't be eating it if it was
if you would like it spicy, just add more paste

It can be thrown together quickly and bonus that I always seem to have these ingredients.

I have tried making the paste myself, but I'll be honest I have never quite gotten it right. Always something not quite right. So know I buy the paste.

TH and I were talking about this for dinner and I said not sure what it is...this recipe is not a soup and not really a what we would call a curry consistency. So he said call it Thai slurry ;)
   You could make this into a soup by adding water or chicken.

I don't use oil in this dish nor dairy
My dish is gluten free, but it depends on the paste you use.

Normally I would serve this over rice noodles, TS prefers rice and I forgot to make the rice noodles for myself.
Today time just got away from me....

What you'll need

Chicken breast/thighs  ~ I used 8 thighs
mushrooms ~ 250g
green beans ~ 200g
coconut milk ~ 1 can
red Thai paste ~ 1 tablespoon
salt to taste

In a pan of water cook the green beans

cut the chicken into pieces

in a pan add the red paste and chicken.
mix well coating all the chicken.
cook until the chicken starts to turn colour
add the coconut milk and stir in
break up the mushrooms and add them also and mix in
simmer the chicken and sauce on a low heat until chicken and mushrooms cooked through

When the green beans are cooked, add the beans

serve over rice or rice noodles

Enjoy!

                  Chicken and wild rice 
                            Slow cooked GF

I might have mentioned before that I love soup.
There is nothing like a good hearty soup on a cold day!
Especially when your not feeling well, a nice hot bowl of soup is perfect in my book!

I wanted quick and easy...so it was a throw it all in the crockpot/slow-cooker type of day.

With so many things I needed to do today this was going to perfect...Shame I never got around to completing one job on my list...well apart from making the soup.

This is great because its Gluten free, I made it with lactose free milk (lactose free milk tastes exactly the same) No added butter or oils, so a win win really!

***
The lactose free milk is not soy milk or nut milk but actual lactose free
***

What you'll need

chicken ~ 500g/1/2 kg
long grain/wild rice mix ~ 1 cup (don't use the par cooked variety)
chopped onion ~ 1 cup
chopped carrot ~ 1 cup
chopped celery ~ 1/2 cup
garlic ~ 2 cloves (sliced)
Bayleaf
ground Coriander ~ 1 teaspoon
smoked paprika ~ 1 teaspoon
dried thyme ~ 1 teaspoon
dried parsley ~ 1 teaspoon
dried sage ~ 1 teaspoon
dried rosemary ~ 1 teaspoon
salt ~ 1/2 teaspoon
ground black pepper ~ 1/2 teaspoon
chicken stock ~ 8 cups
milk ~ 1 1/2 cups warmed (I used lactose free)

in the crockpot add the chicken, rice and all the veggies, bayleaf, sliced garlic and herbs and spices
pour in the chicken stock and mix.
cook for 3 hours on high


After 2 1/2 hours, remove the chicken and bayleaf, also remove some liquid form the pot
warm the milk, enough to just warm up
add the liquid to the warmed milk and mix
add the milk and liquid mix back to the crockpot/slow cooker and mix well

shred the chicken

stir the chicken back into the crockpot

Enjoy!

                 French Onion Baked Rice

I was looking for something different to make for our dinner one night.
Rice is a fave with TH and TS, not so much mine unless its a fried rice.

This recipes is easy to throw together if you have everything at hand.
I have not seen the cans of French onion soup here so I had to call to Friends the US and find out how much was in a can so I could make that amount of soup of French onion soup.

The soup is easy to make if you don't have any in a can. Its one of my faves

I'll post a quick version of it (not so quick, but easy to make and leave to simmer while your doing other stuff)

What you'll need

uncooked long grain/basmati rice ~ 1 cup
french onion soup ~ 600 ml or 2 10oz cans (see below for quick homemade)
butter  cubed ~ 1/3 cup
Worcestershire sauce ~ 1 1/2 teaspoons


Grease an oven proof dish
add the rice
pour in the french onion soup
add the Worcestershire sauce and mix well
Add the cubed butter and cover with foil

Bake at 220°C/425°F  for 20 minutes.
Then remove foil and give a stir and cook for a further 10 minutes

Enjoy!

*****
QUICK French Onion Soup

yellow onions, sliced 2 1/2 cups
beef stock (homemade, store, cubes, pots) ~ 2 cups
onion powder ~ 1 teaspoon
water ~ 3 cups
salt and pepper to season
oil ~ 1 teaspoon

in a pan add the butter/oil and onions and onion powder and cook until onions are soft
add the beef stock and water, salt and pepper
mix well
leave to simmer at the lowest heat for at least one hour.

This freezes very easy!
*****

Brookies

                                Brookies 

I was looking for something different form the usual desserts I make.
Most people know I'm NO BAKER!

TS loves all cookies, TH likes what he calls real cookies as in chocolate chip cookies.

I did think I'd make a huge batch of cookie mix and get some ready to freeze.

Going through my baking supplies and I had no milk or dark chocolate. I did have a load of white chocolate bars.
I do tend to use chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips. It's cheaper and only takes a minute to chop up a bar

I then thought I'd make some blondies, I mean I don't normally ruin them. Like I said I'm no baker.

Eventually I remembered Brookies.
A Brownie and a Cookie mixed
My oven makes the cookie crunchy. So as to not make it too crunchy I add a foil covering around 25/30 minutes into baking.

These are fantastic with a scoop of ice cream

What you'll need

for the cookie dough

1/2 cup of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of dark brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup + 4 tablespoons of all purpose/plain flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup/150grams of white chocolate chopped

for the brownie batter

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup/150 grams of white chocolate chopped
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 cup of coca powder
1 1/2 cups of all purpose/plain flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Make the cookie dough first

In a microwaveable dish melt the butter
Add the brown and white sugar to the melted butter and mix well
Add the egg and vanilla and keep mixing
sieve the flour, baking soda and the salt into the wet mixture and mix well.
Making sure all is mixed
Fold in the chocolate.

Prepare a dish or tray ready for the cookie dough

With two spoons, spoon the mixture into balls/blobs (Mine were blobs) on to the prepared tray
and put them into the freezer until needed

In a bowl add the butter and the chopped chocolate and microwave for 90 seconds or until melted
Give the mix a stir, add the sugar and keep mixing.
Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla making sure to stir the mixture well.

Sieve the coco powder into the mixture and stir well.
Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into the mix making sure all the flour is completely mixed

Prepare a 9 x13 pan. I lined my with baking paper.

Pour the brownie batter into the pan.
Remove the cookie from the freezer.

Place the cookie dough into the brownie mix.

Bake at 180°C/350°F for minimum of 50 minutes (with my oven, my Brookies took 60 minutes)

25/30 minutes into cooking cover your dish with foil as not to burn the top.

Enjoy!