Pasta Salad for the Whole Family

Pasta salad is one of those things you can use any old stuff in.  Leftover cooked chicken?  Marvellous.  Tuna?  Equally at home.  Well I'd picked up an avocado which was actually ripe (unheard of so of course it was down to 20p and 'reduced for quick sale'!)  I would have loved some guacamole and maybe I'll use the other half for that but I had nothing to serve it with so a pasta salad it was.  It's a great way to squeeze in fruit and vegetables which your child might not ordinarily try.

I should have made this during my week of eating 7 fruits and vegetables a day!  A surprising hit with my youngster who's normally a bit of a salad dodger.  Substitute the dressing for mayonnaise or a mayo / yogurt mix if you prefer.

Pasta Salad - Serves 2-3

Ingredients

90g, 3oz Wholewheat pasta (use regular if you prefer)

90g, 3oz Frozen sweetcorn

100g, 3.5oz Smoked bacon, chopped

90g, 3oz Cucumber, chopped

A handful of cherry tomatoes or baby plum tomatoes

1/2 Ripe avocado

Dressing

1 tbsp Yogurt (I used low fat)

Juice of 1/2 Lemon

2 tsp Olive oil 

(Or alternatively use 2 tbsp mayonnaise mixed with 2 tbsp low fat yogurt)

Method

Cook the pasta following pack instructions, add the sweetcorn into the boiling water for the last 2 minutes.

Once cooked drain and refresh (rinse) under cold running water until cold.

Cook the bacon in a non stick pan without adding any fat until cooked and slightly browned.  Allow to cool.

Mix the pasta, sweetcorn and bacon together and add chopped cucumber and tomatoes.

Mix the yogurt and lemon juice then gradually whisk in the oil.  Peel and cube the avocado then toss in the dressing so it doesn't go brown.  Mix the avocado and dressing in with the pasta salad and serve.  Add seasoning if liked for adults.

Living below the line

Unfortunately due to personal circumstances (moving house for the 2nd time in 2 weeks) I won't get to take part in the 'live below the line' challenge this year but I thought I would tell you about it and tell you why it deserves your attention.

1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty in the world.  1.2 BILLION that's over 15% of the world population.  The live below the line challenge is to try and experience, and raise money for people who live in extreme poverty by only spending £1 a day on food and drink.

I appreciate that living in a comfortable home with access to equipment and ingredients is very different to not knowing where your next meal will come from but it is a step, it's an idea and an interesting one.

Why £1 a day?  In 2005 the world bank calculated that the extreme poverty line was $1.25 a day, that is, you would be considered to be in extreme poverty if you had the equivalent of $1.25 and what $1.25 can buy in the US.  With inflation this has now been raised to $1.50 which with some generous rounding gets to £1.

The 5 days of the challenge run from 28th April - 2nd May inclusive.  There are various ways to sign up if you want to get involved.

Certainly it's something I'm very much behind and would like to do next year.  Please comment and include a link to sponsorship sites if you are doing the challenge.  I'll allow links to posts or to fundraising pages for living below the line for this post!  If you don't know how to put a link in, add the URL and I'll comment and add in the link.

Good luck everyone taking part!

(I have not been requested or sponsored to write this post.)

Baked Onion Rings

Onion rings, love them but don't love the oiliness.  I'm not some health freak but I can feel my arteries hardening as I eat!  These are cunningly baked so much less fatty!

Baked Onion Rings

Ingredients

1 Small onion cut into 2mm rings
2 tbsp Mayo
1 tbsp Milk
20g, Just over 1/2oz Rice Krispies
15g, 1/2 oz Plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
Spray Oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200oC, 400F, Gas Mark 6.  Line a tray with non stick baking paper.

Crush the rice krispies and put in a bowl with the flour and garlic powder.

Mix the mayo and milk together.  Dip the rings in the mayo mix then into the dry mix.  Put on the tray.

Once you've done them all, wash off all the gunk from your hands then spray with spray oil.

Bake for approx 10-15 minutes (12 in my oven, keep an eye on them so they don't burn).

Make it Thrifty

Use the oven for other things to maximise the use of the power while you're cooking these.  Also keep your eyes peeled (excuse the pun) for value or smart price packs of onions.  Often they're much cheaper because they're slightly smaller onions than the premium packs but still make delicious onion rings.

Weetabix Cake

Weetabix cake?  Am I serious?  Well I'd been trying different ways of using cereals quite a bit recently what with rice krispies with mackerel but I'd never found a way of using them in cakes like I had with bran loaf.  Shreddies seemed promising but were a bit of a failure when I gave them a go.  Who knew Weetabix would work?

This tastes similar to my bran loaf, loads of fibre, sweet whilst being low in added sugar, dairy free fat free and lovely with a pot of tea!

Weetabix Cake

Ingredients

2 Weetabix (or own brand equivalent)
350ml, 12 fl oz Decaffeinated tea (just make with one decaf teabag)
110g, 4oz Muscovado or soft brown sugar
280g, 10oz Sultanas (golden raisins)
1 egg
225g, 8oz Self Raising Flour (or all purpose / plain flour plus 2 tsp baking powder)
1 tsp mixed spice

Method

Crush up the weetabix, mix with the sugar and dried fruit.  Soak in the tea for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 160oC.  Mix in the spice, flour and egg and pour into a greased silicone loaf tin or a greased and lined conventional loaf tin.

Bake for about 1hour 10 mins (in my oven anyway) or until a knife inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Eat warm or cool.  Keeps reasonably well despite being fat free.

Make it Thrifty

Keep an eye out for value or smart price packs of self raising flour, breakfast cereal and dried fruits.  They work just as well in this as the more expensive packs.