Family and Food - our Five Family Favourite Foods

Hello readers, it's really warm in the North of England today, not that I'm complaining lol.  I was actually pleased for a bit of heat.  Hope the weather is fine where you are.

I promised recipes today and I am going to tell you some of our family favourite meals, however I will link up to recipes on a website that I have used as I tend to adapt my recipes and change, and to be honest I usually don't measure the amounts used I just guess.

1.  Vegetable and three cheese Lasagne
I love this recipe and it's certainly a favourite amongst the family - except from my son.  Everyone else loves it - it's my favourite ever served with garlic bread and salad.  Sometimes I replace the cheese with Bechamel sauce if I can't be bothered to make a white sauce.  To flavour the tomato sauce up I usually add a stock cube if it tastes bland.

2.  Goey Chocolate Fudge Cake
I love chocolate fudge cake served with ice cream or cream.  This one is so easy to make!

3.  Burger (and Chips)
I use oven chips but the burgers are home made.  I often use crackers crushed in my pestle and mortar rather than bread crumbs.  I don't eat beef so turkey burgers suit us all!  Sometimes a touch of the spice cumin adds a lot of flavour too and the very same recipe can be used for meatballs.

4.  Spaghetti Carbonara
For this recipe you need dried spaghetti, creme fraiche, an onion, six slices of bacon, two mushrooms and spray oil.  You also may want some grated cheese to sprinkle over the top when serving.  This one is my personal recipe and it's so simple to do.  First of all put the spaghetti in the pan to boil (I usually use half a packet for four).  Then chop one white onion, six slices of bacon (trimming the fat), two mushrooms finely, and put into a frying pan with spray oil, for around 3-4 minutes.  You then need to add your spaghetti, and stir in two tablespoons of creme fraiche.  Serve and top with a sprinkle of cheese.

5.  Chicken Stroganoff
Again, this is my own recipe.  I use 200g chicken breast pieces, 2 cloves of garlic, an onion, 2 mushrooms, soured cream (half fat), chicken stock cube, cornflour (1 tablespoon) butter, spray oil, and tomato puree.  First of all I chop that garlic, onion and mushrooms and fry off in a little butter (possibly around 10g).  After they are cooked I set them to one side.  I then spray a frying pan with spray oil and I coat the chicken breast pieces in the cornflour before frying.  Once the chicken is cooked, I add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and I put in around a tablespoon of tomato puree and mix.  I sprinkle in the stock cube - breaking it up and then I add around 100ml of water boiled from the kettle.  Stir well and simmer for around 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat (be certain your chicken is cooked) and add the soured cream.  Start with around 150ml but add a little more if you think you need it.  It should be a browny/orangey colour.  I usually taste test to make sure I have added enough.  If you think you have added too much you can add a little more water and a touch more of tomato puree.  I always serve this with rice, but it can also be served with chips or veg too.

I hope you enjoy reading out family favourite recipes.  Apart from the lasagne which is disliked by my son, I know that I can feed my family these meals and expect clean plates as they truly are our family favourites.  I had to stick the fudge cake in there for good measure!

What are your favourite recipes?  Is there anything that guarantees clean plates in your house?

Come on, share, don't be shy!

If you have a go at any of these, I hope you enjoy!

Laters, Janet :)