Madhouse recipe : Glass noodles with chicken & veg

Rummaging through the kitchen cupboards to see what I could use up, I came across the end of a pack of glass noodles - "soft, light and springy glass noodles made from sweet potato starch". 

 I had some chicken and vegetables in the fridge - what about sauce? Time to clear out the ends of bottles - I found sweet chilli sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, kicap manis and sweet soy sauce. That'll do nicely !

During my rummaging through the cupboards, I also found a box of prawn crackers. We had the makings of a Chinese feast coming together ! Here's the recipe that we used but just use up whatever is lurking in your cupboards.

Glass noodles with chicken & veg

ingredients :

end of a pack of glass noodles

1tbsp olive oil

some chicken breasts

1 onion, sliced

2 carrots, cut into strips with a potato peeler

a pack of mange tout

a pack of baby corn

a squeeze of sweet chilli sauce

1tsp sesame oil

1tsp fish sauce

a squeeze of kicap manis/sweet soy sauce

Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and fry in the olive oil. Meanwhile boil the glass noodles for 5 minutes and drain.

Put the chicken in the colander with the drained noodles and use the same pan (with a bit more oil) to fry the onions and carrots.

After a few minutes, when the onions have gone translucent and the carrots are soft, add the remaining veggies.

Add the sauces and taste to adjust the balance of flavours. Stir through the noodles and chicken and serve.

Meanwhile Juliette was on prawn cracker duty, dropping the discs into hot oil then fishing them out with tongs as soon as they'd popped.

Some of them went slightly brown on the edges but they were still very tasty.

Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky.

#KitchenClearout : Fat balls for the birds

Whenever I'm on holiday, I always like to empty my baking cupboard completely and see what's lurking at the back. This time, I found the end of a bag of seeds with a best before date of July 2013 ! Probably not fit for human consumption but good enough for the birds.

Having made loco moco earlier in the week (click through for the recipe - it's a simple Hawaiian dish of homemade beefburgers topped with gravy and a fried egg and served over rice), I had some congealed fat in the frying pan.

I scooped the fat into a bowl and mixed in the seeds, then checked the cupboards to see what else I could get rid of. I found a pack of chia seeds and some stale muesli so in they went too.

At this point, Madhouse Daddy got home from work and nervously peered in the bowl, thinking I was making dinner. He looked relieved when I said it was for the birds !

I cut the two mesh panels off a bag of potatoes and used a chunk of washing line to "sew" it all together.

Look at the size of our fat ball, compared to the one that we bought in the shops ! We haven't put it outside yet because it was too windy but we're looking forward to seeing what kinds of birds come for a nibble - we usually get robins, magpies, blackbirds and sparrows.

Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky.

Madhouse diaries : Last few days of holiday fun

It's the last few days of the school holidays so we've been packing in the fun activities and trips out, starting off with another session at the free skating rink in the middle of the Christmas market.

Pierre started off being pushed around again, then got brave and tried being pushed around standing up, hanging on to the back.

Before long, he was whizzing around all by himself, which was pretty good going, as he was too scared to even try standing up last time.

They stayed on the ice for over an hour, so we worked out that it would have cost us about £50 for the same thing when we were visiting the Madhouse grandparents last week in Hastings - I love living in a town where most attractions are free !

Juliette came off slightly before the others so we went and bought some steaming hot churros to warm up. There were supposed to be nine of them but the lady shoved in all the small pieces that had collected in the bottom of the tray, so we ended up with too many. Rather than put the remaining ones in the bin, we handed them over to a homeless man sitting in the cold. He was happy but I think the Madhouse kids were even more excited about doing their "good deed for the day" than he was !

Next, we headed to the winter fair, which comes to town for Christmas every year. Sophie tried and failed to convince someone to go on this huge white knuckle ride but nobody was game - she went back the next day with her friend and did it though. She's such a thrill-seeker ! Pierre was much more excited about going on the cranes.

I'd given each of them a few coins and said that they could choose what to spend it on. Pierre opted for the hook a duck.

 

He had the choice between some cheap plastic tat or a goldfish - so guess what, welcome to the newest member of the Madhouse Family !

 I can't believe how excited Pierre is - he keeps sitting there gazing into the tank and he's set up a little specially decorated area on his bedroom shelf with shells and pebbles for the goldfish to look at !

Last but not least, SLIME ! Pierre and Juliette have been obsessed with trying to make slime for months, but we didn't have borax or Cleopatra glue, so their attempts with shaving foam, shaving gel, washing up liquid  and white glue never really worked. I bought two bottles of Cleopatra glue on amazon as a surprise present for Pierre at Christmas and they've been having great fun ever since ! 

This just about sums up their slime-making experience !

It's sad for the holidays to be drawing to a close - the kids go back to school on Monday and I'm heading to Norway for a week-long school observation trip tomorrow morning - but we've definitely packed lots in so we can't complain !

Globecooking recipe : Loco Moco (Hawaii)

Loco Moco is a simple dish, popular in Hawaii as a breakfast food, but we ate it for lunch. It's usually made with sticky rice but I used regular basmati (in fact, as a shortcut, I used a pouch of microwavable mushroom rice). Just top with a beefburger, fried egg and gravy and there you have it - it barely even needs a recipe !

 Loco Moco

ingredients :

750g minced beef

1 onion, minced

a handful of dried bread crumbs

1 egg + 1 egg per person

salt, pepper, garlic granules

gravy

 rice

Using your hands, mix together the mince, onion, 1 egg, dried breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and garlic granules.

Shape into hamburger patties and grill or fry them. At the same time, in another pan, fry the eggs until the white is set but the yolk remains runny.

Boil the rice (or zap it in the microwave if using a pouch) and serve, topped with a hamburger patty, some gravy and a fried egg on top.

I was intrigued about how runny egg yolk would combine with gravy but it's actually very nice - who'd have thought it ?!

*** Don't miss my country-by-country globecooking recipe index ! ***

Book review : Outcasts United - Warren St John

Outcasts United is a non-fiction book that tells the story of The Fugees, short for The Refugees, a raggle-taggle bunch of new arrivals from widely diverse cultures and corners of the world, who are brought together by a fellow "outcast", a passionate, huge-hearted and unrelenting Jordanian woman called Luma Mufleh, who decides to make them into a soccer team and coach them, improving both their football and life skills along the way.

The Fugees' new home is Clarkston, a small town on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia, which has no desire to welcome the steady flow of refugees with open arms. Coach Luma will have to overcome a series of spanners thrown in the works by town officials who could be called at best uncooperative and at worst downright racist, .

Another huge hurdle is trying to form some kind of cohesion and team spirit in a group of often disillusioned and unhappy teens who have very little in common - many of them speak little or no English when they arrive, they have no common language and few common cultural references, neither amongst themselves nor with their new homeland. After escaping all sorts of things that no adult let alone child should have to experience or witness, their new home life remains chaotic as they end up packed into housing estates that are rife with drug dealers, gangs and shootings. Football practice gives them a chance to escape and feel like they really belong for a few hours.

It's not all plain sailing though. Coach Luma isn't a miracle worker and she has a few failures along the way, on and off the pitch, even disbanding one of the teams in the middle of the season when she thinks the players aren't adhering to her rules and showing respect to her and the other players.

A few years ago, I was involved in a teacher exchange project with Gdynia in Poland, based on sport as a vector of social change. Coach Luma's mission to help improve the lives of the newcomers is the perfect example of what we were trying to achieve.

When I picked up the book, I was expecting a work of fiction, but the real life stories of most of the players are more poignant and complicated than anything that could have been made up.

To find out more about The Fugees and Luma, head over to www.fugeesfamily.org/

star rating : 4/5

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Fourth Estate (4 Mar. 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007330790
• ISBN-13: 978-0007330799
• Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2 x 19.8 cm

What's Cooking at The Madhouse? menu plan 2018 week #1 & #2

Right, the festive food-fest is over, time to get back into some sort of routine ... well, relatively speaking anyway. After visiting both sets of parents for Christmas and New Year, we've headed for home, but on Saturday, I'm heading off to Norway for a week on a work trip, leaving the Madhouse kids and Madhouse Daddy to fend for themselves. I said I'd make them a basic menu plan, as I know what's in the freezer and the cupboard, but it will be very simple, kid-friendly food as some days, the girls will be in charge of cooking. Eeek ! For the first few days before I head off and the kids go back to school, I'll be using up what's in the fridge and freezer before we go for a big shop. But I also got a couple of new cookery books for Christmas so I'll be dipping into those too - where to begin ?!

Tuesday 

 lunch - pigs in blankets, Yorkshire puds, a bag of frozen veg, roast potatoes and gravy (so basically, Christmas dinner without the turkey - hee hee hee !)

dinner - cottage pie (one end with root veg mash (for me !) but one end with normal mash so the kids don't complain - it'll still have a bag of mixed veg in the meat part though, so they won't get away with no veggies !!)

Wednesday 

lunch - chicken & veg stir fry with rice or noodles

dinner - cockaleekie soup for the grown-ups, leftover cottage pie for the kids

Thursday 

 lunch - loco moco (which is a Hawaiian dish of burger and egg on rice)

dinner - sausage and bean casserole

Friday  

 lunch - pasta bake

 dinner - American style goulash

Saturday

lunch - Time for the traditional Burger King visit no doubt, once they've dropped me off at the station

dinner - leftovers (goulash and/or pasta bake - I'll make plenty on purpose)

Sunday

lunch - I'm guessing Madhouse Daddy will sort out a roast

dinner - fridge grazing, if anyone's hungry - or there are some cans of soup

Monday 

dinner - leftovers from yesterday's roast

Tuesday 

dinner - potato waffles, spam and beans

Wednesday 

lunch - chicken cordon bleu & a pouch of microwavable rice

dinner - spaghetti carbonara

Thursday 

dinner - pizza

Friday  

 dinner - meatballs and spaghetti

***Click on my Menu Plans tag to see all my other weekly menu plan blogposts.***

Join in with the weekly meal plan bloghop !

#KitchenClearout December roundup & January linky

I hope you've had a lovely Christmas. We were busy visiting both sets of grandparents so we didn't do any festive cooking at home, which is why there is a distinct lack of turkey recipes in this month's roundup. Feel free to add any creations from festive leftovers to next month's linky though - I know lots of people have been taking time off blogging over Christmas !

Cheesy Broccoli & Rice Bake was a tasty way of using up the last few slices of raclette cheese.

I found some out-of-date baharat spice on the spice rack which was great paired with pomegranate molasses on some duck breasts.

Galina from Chez Maximka shared an intriguing recipe for Jack's Peach & Chickpea Curry which used up various tins, including peaches and tomatoes.

Jane over at Onions & Paper was next with a recipe for Carrot & Lentil Soup with Sourdough Croutons that used up some limp carrots, stale bread and chicken stock that fell out of the freezer and needed using up when the container smashed - I always love Jane's anecdotes as much as her recipes !

Apple Cake With Toffee Sauce used up some wrinkly apples, black treacle, dates and odds and ends of packets from the cupboard.

Galina made a lovely butternut squash and feta salad using up pine nuts and olives, which sounds as tasty as it looks.

Pumpkin & chicken curry was the first way we used up our Halloween pumpkin.

The second was beef and pumpkin stew, which also used up spices and a bottle of passata from the back of the cupboard.

Festive cooking is always a great way of clearing out the baking cupboard and these Mint Choc Chip Oat Balls used up peppermint essence, mint choc chips and chocolate Ready Brek, as well as some coconut oil.

Finally, Salmon Kedgeree was an interesting way of using up some leftover grilled salmon while clearing out the spice rack.

Fancy joining in? Have a rummage through your kitchen cupboards, spice rack, freezer or fridge and see if there's anything that needs using up then come and share your creations with us. Or if it's way past its sell-by date, throw it in the bin and come and tell us what you found ! It would be great if you could add my badge and a link to this post for anyone else who wants to get involved.

Happy New Year !

A big thank you to all of you who have read my blogposts, entered my competitions and left me lovely comments during 2017. 

Wishing you all a fabulous 2018.

xxx