Eggy ideas..

Well, have you all been dutifully blowing out your eggs for easter crafts? I hope so! If so, what have you been doing with the eggy insides? I love eggs, they're so versatile. We go through about 18 eggs a week, they're a real staple food in this house! I always buy free range, I like my animal welfare! Anyway, here are a few things I like to do with eggs... * fried/poached/boiled/scrambled eggs on toast * use them in a cake * fritatta * french toast/eggy bread * hard boiled eggs, smooshed up with butter and eaten on toast with cress on top * omlette * egg fried rice. I did a couple of these this week, so here are some super simple recipes if you're wondering what to do with your eggs... OMLETTE - beat 2 or 3 eggs per person and pour into a medium hot frying pan. Add grated cheddar and shredded ham on top, and cook until the bottom is set. Put the pan under the grill and allow to bubble until the top is set and the cheese is golden brown.

Yum! A super easy meal, good for breakfast with baked beans and toast, a lovely lunch or light supper when served with a salad and some crusty bread, or a substantial dinner served with potatoes and steamed veg.

There are endless combinations of things you can add to an omlette, it can be as simple as just a plain egg omlette or you could add any number of meats, cheeses and veg! One of my favourites is mushroom, cheese and chilli.

EGG FRIED RICE - another extremely versatile recipe with endless combinations! First of all, cook some rice, or use leftover cooked rice. If you don't have a rice cooker, I highly recommend them. makes cooking rice so easy, just chuck in a couple of cups of raw rice, add the water, switch on and forget it! It automatically switches off when the rice is ready and even keeps it hot for up to 12 hours.

Get your wok really hot, with a little splash or oil, preferably sesame oil. Add a couple of handfuls of frozen peas and stir until they are cooked, then add your cooked rice and stir quickly. Move your rice and peas over to one side of the pan, and add 2 eggs, beaten with 1tsp sesame oil. Leave this to cook for a minute or so, stirring gently to scramble them, without mixing into the rice yet.

When the eggs are set, break up and mix into the rice and peas. Add a splash or soy sauce, and you're good to go!

Perfect egg fried rice, delicious! This is an absolute favourite in my house, and I love experimenting with different things to add to it. It's a great way to use up leftover cooked meat

such as chicken or ham, and you can also add chopped vegatables like peppers or tomatoes.

Today, I did a pick n mix style dinner - lots of bowls on the table with stir fried peppers, mushrooms, chillies and garlic, onions and chopped gammon steak. The kids love helping themselves and "making" their own dinner.

Hope you're making the most of your eggs!

A day of simple pleasures

I've had a busy day today. Hell, who am I kidding - every day is busy! The kids are on Easter holidays, which is great because the weather so far has been lovely, and we've made the most of it with lots of fresh air and exercise. We're also pretty skint at the moment, I've just started my new job and don't get my first pay until next month, so holiday entertainment has to be either free or really cheap! Here's what we did today... I have a big induction workbook to complete for my new job, so while the kids played on the computer this morning, I got going on that: We had lunch, then went off to meet some friends at a lovely local rare breeds farm. The kids had a ball feeding all the animals from the big bag of apples and carrots we brought;

We got home and had a yummy dinner (Jools' pasta), then the kids ran outside to play football while we tidied up;

The library was open until 7.30pm, so Daisy and I sneaked off at 7pm to choose some new books;

The kids got into jammies and settled down to watch a DVD, so I decided to make a yummy pudding for the grown ups to eat while watching TV. I used up some cooking apples and made an apple sponge;

Which was very good served hot with ice cream!

It's been a really lovely day, and the kids are loving the fresh air and freedom of the school holidays. I'm working tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully we can get out and do some running around before I start work!

Daisy and I started to plant a few seeds yesterday - lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and strawberries. Tomorrow, we plan to plant 3 kinds of peppers and some sunflowers. I'd love to spend some time next week clearing out the garden and preparing to plant some summer veg. I've never been able to grow anything successfully before, so wish us luck that this year we'll get a bumper crop and cure my fear of gardening!