Egg in a bacon cup

Ingredients (serves 1)
2 rashers bacon
2 eggs

* heat oven to 200C
* put the bacon under the grill, or fry, for a couple of minutes until part cooked
* lightly oil 2 muffin tins and wrap the bacon around the inside
* crack an egg carefully into the centre of each bacon cup, and season
* bake for around 15 minutes, or until the egg is cooked through.

Homemade Pop Tarts

Got this recipe from the website of the wonderful Jack Monroe. If you've not come across her yet I really urge you to check out her website. This recipe is from her series recreating ready meals on a budget and is fab!

I'd never made pastry before. For some reason I was under the impression that it's really hard to get right, but this took under 5 minutes and turned out really well. I plan to make some more - this time with nutella filling and cocoa powder in the icing.

Leek and Potato Soup

I always said that I hated soup, but lately I've realised that what I hate is 'cream of ...' soup, or any soup which has been blitzed completely smooth. Homemade soup with lots of chunky veg in it is actually pretty good and has the advantage of being cheap to make. I forsee a lot of soup in my immediate future.

Ingredients (serves 3-4)
2 leeks, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
450g potatoes, peeled and chopped
100g pearl barley
1 litre vegetable stock
Herbs, pepper etc to season

* heat 1tsp oil in a large pan and saute the leek, onion and garlic for a couple of minutes
* add the stock, potato and barley and season
* bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour

Mushroom and chicken stroganoff

I had intended to make a mushroom stroganoff, but I had a load of cooked chicken left from Sunday roast so I threw that in too.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Small onion
150g mushrooms
165g cooked chicken
120ml half fat sour cream
300ml vegetable stock
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
Salt/pepper

* chop the onion and mushroom and fry in a little oil for a couple of minutes
* add the sour cream and stock, paprika and garlic, and season well
* add the cooked chicken
* simmer for 20 minutes then serve with rice

Spicy butternut Squash and pumpkin soup

Ingredients

300g butternut squash, peeled and chopped
150g pumpkin, peeled and chopped
2 carrot, peeled and chopped
Onion, sliced
1 litre vegetable stock 
40g pearl barley
1/2 tsp lazy chilli
1/2 tsp paprika
Herbs
Salt/pepper
Sunflower oil

* mix the squash, pumpkin and carrot with 1 tsp oil in a roasting tin with some herbs eg rosemary and thyme
* roast at 180C for around 25 minutes
* Meanwhile heat 1tsp oil in a large pan and fry the onion for a few minutes until softened
* add the stock and pearl barley, plus chilli and paprika
* when the veg have roasted add them to the soup and simmer for a further 30 minutes.
* season with salt and pepper to taste

Chicken with rice and peas

Ingredients (serves 2)
4 chicken drumsticks
1/2 bottle reggae reggae sauce
150g rice
Tin of coconut milk
1/2 tin kidney beans
Small onion, chopped
Salt/pepper

* marinade the chicken in the reggae reggae sauce for a couple of hours
* heat the oven to 200C and bake the chicken for 30 minutes, turning regularly
* tip the coconut milk into a large pan and top up with water
* Add the onion and season well
* bring to the boil then add the rice, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
* Add the kidney beans and continue to simmer until the rice is cooked
* Drain, and serve with the chicken