Using essential oils

Good morning from Brussels

I never cooked or tried a new recipe last night as Hubby was out for dinner and I drove to Brussels to pick up our son from a Basketball trip :)

So…..I love essential oils, I also love how so little goes so far.
I also love how a few drops of the right oils can smell like your in a soothing spa
with those lovely relaxing smells all around you )

Every time we move I can never find where they put the oils, then I go buy more…then you can guarantee I'll find the missing oils…that somebody else has lost!
Then I remember to do this :)


With this little trick/tip you can use any oils you like and you only need a couple of drops :)

You add a few drops of your chosen essential oil to the inside of the toilet roll

Then when the toilet is pulled it releases the smell of the oil.

Some of my favourite oils for this is lemon grass or a citrus oil such as tangerine or sweet orange

I also add a drop or two of oils to the hoover/vacuum. so when it's  switched on you get a nice smell and the cupboard it's kept in smells nice also

Seriously how easy is that?!?

Have a great great weekend

Jambalaya Pasta

Whenever we are in America, we always seem to end up in The Cheesecake factory.

There is a couple of things that is always a hit with me. Hubby 99% of the time orders the same dish and well our son just looks through this huge menu selection and then I think he just points at something.

The dish hubby always orders is their Pasta Jambalaya. He even mentioned it when we were out for dinner the other night.

 Well over the past month or so I have been looking at recipes to make Jambalaya and then I see all that rice I start to panic. Rice was never really my thing. (well until somebody told me how they made theirs and it was one way that actually worked for me) I even had problems with a rice cooker…seriously I did. When we lived in Japan people would say 'Use your rice cooker…this high on your fingers with water then add rice'  ~ come on people this high on your fingers with water….what sort of measurement is that. 

Anyway….all that rice, I know it will end up in a disaster….

1st, the rice will either be over cooked or undercooked

2nd, The saucepan will become a kind of drum where I throwing the spoon around so hard it will sound like Animal from the Muppets 

3rd, it will be hubby's fault because I wouldn't have made this if it wasn't for him!!!!!

4th, That pan will take some cleaning…..

Your getting drift here right :)

After looking at the recipe I was pretty confident I could make this. 

I think I might even eat it….You see green peppers aren't my thing …

I realized I didn't have the seasoning they were mentioning.

So I found a recipe to make my own ~ bonus I had all ingredients for the seasoning in the house :)

This recipe for this Jambalaya does call for fresh pasta…. I'm not using fresh for 2 reasons

1. I had packet pasta here ~ bonus

2. I DONT WANT TO USE FRESH!

Cajun Seasoning
You'll need

1 teaspoon  dried Thyme
1 teaspoon  dried oregano
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tea spoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 teaspoons smoked parika
2 teaspoons garlic powder

Add all into a a bowl 

Mix

Store in a jar
This will make enough for 2 meals

For the Jambalaya pasta 
you'll need

Chicken  ~ cut up into small bite size pieces
Prawns/Shrimp ( I only had cooked)
Roma tomatoes chopped up ~ about 1/2 cup
red, yellow and green peppers cut into thin stripes ~ about 1/2 cup
Red onion sliced ~ about 1/2 cup
clove of garlic grated
fresh parsley chopped
chicken stock 1 1/2 cups
Cajun spice mix
salt & pepper
oil
Pasta (I used linguini)

Heat some all in a pan
season the chicken with about 2 tablespoons of Cajun mix
making sure all the chicken is coated
place the chicken in the pan
Half cook the chicken
add the onions and peppers
add another 1 ~ 2 teaspoons of Cajun mix
season with salt and pepper (I used hardly any)
add the tomatoes and chicken stock
simmer for about 10 minutes
Add the shrimp just to warm through

serve over pasta

What you'll need

coat the chicken with the Cajun mix

heat the oil in a pan

Half cook the chicken

then add the onions

add the peppers
and mix

add the garlic
and mix well

add the tomatoes

add the stock

mix well and let simmer

chop the parsley 

add the shrimp

garnish with parsley
Enjoy!

Picture with text

I sometimes find myself reading quotes or sayings and  thinking 'Ahhhh, thats nice' or 'Oooooo I like that one'
Then when I'm going through my pictures, a quote I have read will spring to mind

Then I found I could add text to my pictures

I have only found out how to do it with an iPhone or iPad so far

So I'm going to show how to do it on a iPhone or iPad

These are two I made this week
In the one with the clouds if you look carefully you'll just see my iPhone reflection on the airplane window

The first one with the flower I thought of my Mum
she loves Sweet Williams flowers and when I seen the quote after I had taken the picture I had a light bulb moment :)

The apps I use are free (you might notice one or two of the pictures have advertising in, because it's free apps)

When you have followed the instructions
The image will be saved into your camera roll and your pictures
Then either attach/add to emails, Facebook or twitter :)

if you have taken pictures with your actual camera and they are on your computer
email the picture you want to use to yourself
open the email and save the image

Then follow the instructions as you would if you had taken the picture on the iPhone or Ipad

Go to either your photos or camera app
See which picture you'll want to use

I use these two app's
I mainly use Phonto
click the app

After selecting the Phonto app
This page will appear
press the camera icon

This page will appear
select
'PHOTO ALBUMS'

after selecting your picture from your album
press the screen
then ADD TEXT will appear

This page will appear
Start typing your message
then select
DONE

It will look like 

at the bottom of the page
press the icon that has a square with an arrow
pointing up 

then this page will appear
select
SAVE IMAGE icon

this will appear
It will then be saved in your pictures and camera roll
and you can attach to emails or add to Facebook or twitter

Homemade pasta sauce

I love tomatoes and I seem to always forget we have some in the fridge.
Then I'd end up buying more. Then needing to throw away so many blah blah blah!

One summer when I was emptying the fridge before going on holiday/vacation I noticed we had lots of tomatoes…There was no way I was going to be able to use all them in the next 24 hours
So I decided to roast them and then I thought I'd make a sauce.
Well I roasted them and took them out of the oven, put them in a dish to be blitzed later that day…only the day got away with me. So I put them in a container and threw them in the freezer
As this turns out it was a good idea.
When we returned I wanted to make a Sgetti/pasta dish of some kind and I never really had anything at hand.
(I always have a jar of something, a tin of soup, tin of beans you get my drift...…but NOTHING) then I remembered the roasted tomatoes thrown into the pit of the freezer.
After defrosting, blitzing and throwing it in the saucepan.
I served it waiting for the where did that come from or that was interesting (yes I have served some interesting meals and maybe they have not always been a hit with the family…passable but not on the keep that on the list for next time.) Well nothing negative….if anything positive…Not a 'That was lush'  or 'Thats the best meal I have ever had'
So I thought right…you'll be getting this again :)

I have made this and served it on the same day, but it's not as nice as when it's left longer.

Also I never buy tomatoes just for this.

I do find the sauce is VERY thick and needs watering down, which I do with either chicken or vegetable stock

You'll need

tomatoes (whatever you have in the fridge and won't be putting in a salad cause it's no longer a perfect little tomato!)
a onion
splash of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon  full of sugar
2 cloves of garlic
generous dash of italian seasoning
1 1/2 ~ 2 tablespoons of smoked paprika
salt and pepper
dash of oil ( I used pumpkin oil in this one today)

I  might have mentioned I don't really do  measurements…this recipe is what suits YOU

throw all ingredients into an oven proof dish
I just peel the onion…no point chopping it up …its extra work!
mix everything
Cook for about 30 minutes
It will be ready when the onion are garlic are cooked and soft right through.

Then when cooled you can blitz it straight away or you can wait until needed. Put in a freezer container throw it into the freezer. You will need to add liquid it does get very thick


This is good with ground beef, chicken breast,  meatballs, prawns/shrimp or veggies or just on it's own with grated cheese :)

put everything into an ovenproof dish
stir everything so everything is coated 

Bake until the onion and garlic is soft

I placed in a dish so I could blitz this up

Enjoy!

Folding a fitted sheet

I would to HATE, yes I HATE folding the fitted sheets. Well not that they would really look folded by the time I finished with it!!!!!
REALLY, I'd take the sheets out of the dryer or bring them in from the line. I'd actually be happy before I started trying to do the task….
Then I'd just give up! I might have even stamped my foot a time or two as well…...

I think they were invented to wind us up! seriously I do!


For the longest time I never really knew how to fold those horrible fitted sheets.
I'd try, then try again…then kind or roll it around my arms and throw it in to the cupboard.

I found using a flat surface REALLY helped me

Place on flat surface and fold the bottom corners in to the top corners
Flattern all out as much as possible
fold  of the top over ~ to the middle
the fold the bottom half up so you have a long rectangle
the fold about a 1/4 of the sheet from both sides
fold in again
the fold again

The dreaded fitted sheet

this is how they usually end up after trying to fold it!!!

On a flat surface
tuck the bottom corners into the top corners

smooth it out
fold the top over half way

fold the bottom half up so its a long
rectangle

fold in from both sides

fold in again
then fold over again
sorry forgot to take last picture

One dish dinner

I do like easy dinners….
This one is REALLY easy!

I have seen this for AGES on different sites and blogs.
I'd never seen anything bad posted it about…So this was our dinner

Also I had everything in the house for the seasoning and the one dish meal :) so bonus!

You don't have to really do much , throw some chicken breast in a oven proof dish, just chop a few spud's  throw them in the end, chuck a few green beans the other end, add some butter and some ranch seasoning and bake in the oven for an hour.

I didn't have an packets of ranch.
….so I made some……

The ranch seasoning is just the herbs, not the dairy.
I haven'y used it to make a dip yet…that I'll try another time :)

for the Ranch seasoning you'll need

7 tablespoons dried chopped parsley
5 tablespoons dried/mince chopped onions
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

(the original recipe called for 4 teaspoons of salt, that sounded like a lot of salt to me)
I also didn't add any extra salt to the one dish dinner :)

For the one dish dinner you'll need

chicken
potatoes
green beans
butter
the Ranch mix (you can use a packet)


In an ovenproof dish add the chicken breast to the middle of the dish
chop some potatoes (leaving the skin on) then put the potatoes one end of the dish
add the green beans to the other end of the dish
cut the butter into small cubes, and spread over the beans, chicken and spud's
then add the ranch seasoning. I used about 8~10 teaspoons
I then baked for around 1 hour ~ ish @ 180 degrees/350

I forgot to cover the dish in foil.
Would I add foil next time? NO!
The potatoes where lovely, the chicken moist, some of the beans looked a bit blah…but they tasted great!

What you'll need for the Ranch seasoning

add all to a bowl/jar

mix

Then make the one dish dinner :)

What you'll need
( I never used all that butter it was for the picture)

Put all in the dish with the chicken in the middle

cube the butter and spread it out over the dish

add the ranch seasoning
I then stirred the potatoes and beans
Then I baked at 180/350 degrees

Enjoy!

Baked eggs for breakfast

I do like a full English breakfast

I don't have the time to make that or I just can't always get the stuff I need.

Have a warm breakfast is just a great start to the day.

This is one of my favourite and easy peezy breakfasts

Baked eggs in mushrooms

This is almost to easy!

What you'll need

Large field mushrooms/portabella

eggs

grated cheese

I remove the outer skin of the mushrooms and the stalk

crack an egg into the center of the mushroom

sprinkle with grated cheese

I bake at about 180 Degrees for about 18 minutes :)