Hoisin Shredded Lamb Pancakes

My Dad is my hero. I think I may have mentioned that before (a few million times) but, just in case you missed it, I'll say it again.

My Dad is my hero.

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10 Minute Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

Hands up if, like me, you've had more than one full Christmas dinner in the last few days? Keep your hand up if, as much as you really really enjoyed them at the time, you're still uncomfortably full and can't believe the sheer quantity you consumed. Yup, me too. I'm ready for some lighter food!

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Easy Aromatic Prawn Potstickers

For our first attempt at making potstickers, we thought it would be fun to make our own wonton wrappers. It was fun, and the recipe we followed was really easy, but for simplicity's sake we thought that for future attempts we might just use store bought wrappers. They're really cheap from our local Chinese supermarket, and it does make the whole process a bit quicker... which, when you're dealing with a very hungry husband, is a definite bonus! If you're looking for a fun new cooking skill to try out though, and really easy and clear instructions, please see the recipe over at Kitchen Simplicity.

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Soft Noodles with Beansprouts

Sometimes I just cannot be bothered to cook. No energy, no desire, no inspiration, no enthusiasm. Problem is, this usually comes on without much warning, so I won't have even planned ahead and thought to take one of our frozen meals out to thaw. This is an issue.

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Chinese Pork Lettuce Wraps

Some of my closest and dearest friends are those I met during the year I spent in America. One such dear friend even took me in with her family for Christmas, when I couldn't afford to fly home to be with my own. This recipe comes from a fun memory we have from that time...

We decided to go out for dinner to a well known chain of Chinese bistro restaurants, and I had fairly high expectations from the rave reviews I'd been hearing. I was excited to see the menu and pick out what I would have... but then my friend informed me that for my starter I simply had to have the lettuce wraps. No amount of explaining to her that I'm not a fan of lettuce had any effect, and soon enough I found lettuce wraps being served in front of me.

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Fast Fix Fried Rice

Some days I'm just running on empty. Do you ever feel like that? Like you're getting things done, but your sparkle has gone and you're just plodding along? I hope it's not just me.

On those days I tend to want comfort food to cheer me up... but I want it to be exciting comfort food that might help me get some of my sparkle back... and I don't want it to take too long... and because I'm lacking in energy it needs to be easy as pie (oooh, pie! I love pie...)... and I don't want to have to go to the shop to buy anything for it. Not too much to ask, is it?

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Honey and Cashew Nut Chicken

I love it when I hardly have to buy anything to make dinner... and I'm not talking about the kind of "cheese on toast" dinner (although that is a totally acceptable meal in my books... add a splash of Worcestershire sauce and it's positively fine dining!). This is one of those meals.

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Speedy Five-Spice Lamb Noodles

I don't know about yours, but dinner time can be a little rushed in our house! To try to help with this, I love trying out new recipes that I can have ready in half an hour.

This, for the girl who was always last in cooking class and had to do her washing up in her lunch break, can be quite a challenge!

Thank goodness for Asian cooking! Is it just me, or do they have the speedy dinner down to a fine art? I love that, with a wok in hand, even I can have a yummy meal packed with bright, bold flavours on the table in 30 minutes! It doesn't hurt that it also minimises the washing up...

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Gong Bao Chicken

The first time I had Kung Po Chicken was actually in China during my gap year... and I confess it was because it was one of the few things I recognised on the menu and I thought it would be safe! Before you judge me for being a wimp, let me point out that it was one of my first few days there and I was yet to get used to real Chinese food... I promise I became a lot more adventurous and fast learnt to prefer the real thing to our western interpretation! (I'll save the stories of the more adventurous meals for another post- perhaps with a warning only to read if you're of a strong disposition!)

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Hoisin Tart

As much as the title of this post might sound like an insult, it's not. It's an Ellwood favourite for a quick, simple, tasty, and budget friendly dinner. Winner all round!

One of my favourite things about this dish is that it's good for using up leftovers. I quite often have a few stray spring onions left in the salad drawer from another recipe that didn't call for a whole bunch. As for the meat, you really can use up whatever you've got! We had some slow cooked beef to hand that was shredded up, but we have used chicken, turkey, pork and lamb before and all worked beautifully!

A word to the wise- make sure when preparing this you only let people help if they are actually going to be helpful! Mr E thought he was oh so cute with his "One bit of cheese for me and.... one bit of cheese for me". After getting his hand slapped he really wasn't much more help because he likes a looooot of cheese (see photo evidence below). Please do not feel the need to overload it as much as we have!

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