No T Words mentioned at all - a fresh start

Morning all

Where do you find muslin for cooking purposes? In a kitchen shop? Hobby craft?

DS has gone back to school after a last minute "where's my tie?" Crisis (it was hanging out of his blazer pocket ). He is now in year 11 - final year of school and GCSE year :eek: I asked if he was ok about going back and he said he just wants to get it over and done with. He wants to work on the railways, ultimately as a train driver, so it is a question of how best to get him to that point. He should achieve a clutch of GCSEs but isn't the most academic boy though, frustratingly, he is rather intelligent. He is a natural leader and I can see him rising through the management ranks, though he isn't acknowledging that yet.

We have had Great Debate about his school lunches. As I am trying to move the household towards low sugar / no carp food, it is difficult to know what to put in the lunch box. He says sandwiches and wraps just look so unappetising by the time he get to eat them and he won't let me put in salad, tomatoes etc to liven them up. We are trying some French stick sandwiches. I cooked a part baked 12" stick first thing and filled it when it was cool. He also has a slab of home made no sugar fruit loaf. Any suggestions would be most welcome - though he is rather fussy about packed lunch and I am sick of him throwing them away and coming home to raid the fridge. He is 15, I can't force him to eat it if he doesn't want to. At least even he agrees that food bought at school is carp.

I am "working from home" today - though at least part of my day will be spent getting the house in some kind of order, especially DS clothes. I have a feeling that a "quick but expensive" shopping trip will be about to happen -we go to one corner of our local retail park and work anti clockwise round Blacks, Next, Top Man, and finish at Sports Direct for trainers and footie boots. We can't do it the other way round as if he gets trainers and footie boots first then he won't cooperate in the other shops :cool: he is a good lad really, you just have to know how he works.

We have a couple of weeks till our students are back, so my time will be made up then and it's all go till Christmas. Should be easier this year though as I have taught everything once - last year nearly everything was new. Famous last words

Don't know if I said but I am also going to try to persuade the boss to let me do a PhD :eek: I have always resisted, but now in the Higher Education game, if you want a new job, they won't even consider anyone without a doctorate. Which is ridiculous as we have some fantastic teachers without one but some fairly dire teachers with. But unfortunately researchers attract funding and the teaching becomes secondary. Just one of the issues that has arisen with the rise in student fees - universities actually get less money now as government funding has all but been withdrawn. <<climbs down off soap box>>

So a morning of washing, tidying, sugar free baking. A walk into town with my Wally trolley for a visit to the bank and home bargains for the cheap shampoo.

Have a great day all

Ooh thanks, that looks yummy. I will call in poundland when me and Wally pop to town.

Quiches are a good idea, not sure if he'll go for it. Depends what his friends would think of them.

Oh wow, Mrs LW your raw cake bar thingy is sublime :T

I changed recipe slightly to make with what I have so instead of cashews I used 3 oz almonds and 1 oz desiccated coconut. Everything else was the same

Absolutely delish.

Do you mind if I put on my blog? I will credit you and direct people here.

(If anyone looks. Blog is a work in progress but I hope to update 3 or 4 times a week and am learning re presentation. There are a cuople of recipes on Already though).

I have also made some apple and cinnamon bars, thus

Ingredients

8 ounces pecans (2 cups)
5 3/4 ounces rolled oats (2 cups)*
8 1/4 ounces pitted and halved dates (1 1/2 cups)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces chopped granny smith apples (or similar) (2 cups)
Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and spread the pecans and oats out on it in a single flat layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, until toasted and fragrant.
Keep the oven preheated to 350°F. Line an 8" square pan or a 12" x 5 1/2" biscotti pan with parchment paper, leaving enough parchment on the sides to use as "handles" for pulling out the finished bars.
Place the toasted nuts and oats in a food processor along with the dates, cinnamon, and salt. Process until the mixture is coarse and crumbly, with no large pieces remaining. Add the chopped apple and pulse in until there are no longer any large chunks left. Continue to process until everything starts to clump together, using a spatula if necessary to help move things around. This process may move slowly, but eventually everything should come together.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan, using a wide, flat spatula to pat it down into a flat and compact layer that takes up the entire space of the pan. It helps to fold the extra parchment on the sides over the bars, and flatten with the spatula on top of the parchment (to prevent sticking). Be patient with this; the bars will look the exact same once they're done baking, so try to make them really flat and even.
Bake the bars in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes, and then slice into bars. Once completely cool, lift out of the pan. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Except I used walnuts instead of pecans (really must update my stocks) and I soaked the dates for a short time as last time I made it , it was rather dry.

I will put photos and recipes on blog later

I also made chocolate crispy cakes

1oz sugar - I used 3/4 oz xylitol
1 tbsp syrup (I used agave syrup)
2 oz butter
1 oz cocoa or vey dark chocolate

Melt all together in a pan or microwave and then add

4 oz rice crispies

Spoon into cake cases and chill

VJsMum you have a blog, how exciting, I shall be stopping by during the week. The apple and cinnamon bars sound delish, and you know Lyn's recipes are usually gorgeous.

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