Noche Mexicana

Last weekend Mum and Dad came over for Mexican night. The pork had been marinated in a selection of herbs and spices, it was then tenderly rubbed and massaged in a way Champney's would've been proud of! It merrily sat cooking in the slow cooker for approx 10 hours until it passed Dale's inspection and was finally served with The Cool Chile Company's GF tortillas! Mexican pulled pork tortillas with salsa and home made avocado hummus!

As we all became slowly stuffed (and still with enough pulled pork to feed the entire street) my moment finally arrived! Oh yes, Dale may have slaved away, attending to the main course for approx 24 hours but here comes my all important, Masterchef standard, crowning glory....yep, I was in charge of pudding and here it comes.....

Oh come on, you're pretty impressed right?! Homemade frozen yogurt lollies with blueberries....you got the HOMEMADE bit yeah?! I mixed the GF plain yogurt, with a splash of milk and a shed load of frozen blueberries all my myself woop woop! I actually followed the recipe from A Girl Called Jack's cookbook (@MsJackMonroe). All joking aside they actually slipped down quite well and helped to extinguish the mild burning in our mouths after the Mexican pork!

The other week Dale came home with Feel Free's choc chip cookie mix. Knowing that a packet mix was just about within my culinary limits I claimed the kitchen as my own and set about work. Easy peasey to follow instructions. You've got to wait an hour to chill before baking which nearly led to me having a toddler style strop, cos when I want warm cookies I WANT THEM NOW!! Nevertheless, I managed to contain my excitement and waited patiently for the cookies to be ready!

Guess which cookie Dale meddled with?! Ok, that man can cook but his presentation sucks at times! The cookies were fab! Very chocolately, good crunch and loved the chunks of chocolate! Need to investigate this company a bit more to see what else they do! Watch this space......

A few months back I felt quite smug. I had fully stocked my "Ilumi Cupboard" making the most of all the offers they had been emailing (http://www.ilumiworld.com). I was set up for my nights home alone with the microwave when Dale had to work. However, the smug smile was wiped off my face when Ilumi began introducing a new dish every week! Suddenly, I was no longer satisfied with my cupboard full of old favourites, I wanted to be in on the act, enjoying all of the new dishes! Anyway, I finally made a dent in my stash and quickly ordered a shed load of new dishes! Expect a lot of "Ilumi Love" themed blogs over the next few weeks! Here's two dishes to kick off the luuuuurve..

Geng Gari Curry with Butternut Squash and Basil served with Tilda Coconut Basmati rice. This was doubly delicious as I don't often get to eat veggie due to Dale's carnivorous ways. Really tasty, loved the mild coconutty flavour in the background. Big fan of anything with butternut squash, only thing was it has gone a bit mushy in the sauce and I would have liked it a bit more chunky! To be fair, I probably overdid it in the micro!

Beef in Black Bean Sauce with Roasted Vegetable Wholegrain Tilda rice. Nice, enjoyed it but not one of my faves. Not a huge water chestnut fan and had a bit more of a kick than I bargained for! Nothing terribly wrong, just down to personal taste I guess!

I'm also wading my way through the selection of King Soba noodles that they were kind enough to send me to review. This week we gave these a go

I always enjoy King Soba noodles amd these were no exception. Cooked well, good taste and held together without being gloopy!

(Remember what I said about Dale's presentation?! Lol!) Guess who doesn't like baby corn in our house!!

Well, that's all from me this week. Have a good week everyone and enjoy that sunshine x (@lizprice79)