Away From The Madding Crowd

BrilliantButScary

Savvy_Sue said:

BrilliantButScary said:

I am trying to come up with recipes for a glut of home grown courgettes at the moment. I am going to make some courgette fritters and another recipe that involves pasta and boursin. If you have any inspiration for me, I would be grateful. I have gifted some to a neighbour and will probably take some to give to friends at the gym.

I have had courgette cake - similar to carrot cake. Google has turned up many options, including one with raspberries!

The big advantage of that might be being able to cook in bulk and freeze it ...

Now that sounds a plan!
I've also found a soda bread recipe with courgette and cheese in it.
Thanks

Savvy_Sue

BrilliantButScary said:

Savvy_Sue said:

BrilliantButScary said:

I am trying to come up with recipes for a glut of home grown courgettes at the moment. I am going to make some courgette fritters and another recipe that involves pasta and boursin. If you have any inspiration for me, I would be grateful. I have gifted some to a neighbour and will probably take some to give to friends at the gym.

I have had courgette cake - similar to carrot cake. Google has turned up many options, including one with raspberries!

The big advantage of that might be being able to cook in bulk and freeze it ...

Now that sounds a plan!
I've also found a soda bread recipe with courgette and cheese in it.
Thanks

Yes, it did say there were some savoury options. Whether you call that 'cake' is another matter! 

I've had precisely two courgettes, both finger sized. I'd have left the second one but something was clearly nibbling. 

QrizB

We have a recipe we know as "courgette thing" for a savoury courgette dish, pan-cooked with lentils and curry spices.

I don't have access to the recipe right now but it's popular in our household!

Alnat1

Doesn't use a whole lot of courgette but Mary Berry's sunshine cake is delicious! Hubby classes it as 3 of his "5 a day" 

Humboldt

BrilliantButScary said:

Humboldt said:

BrilliantButScary said:

I hope the weather is kind to you this week, so that you can enjoy the time you spend with your family outdoors. How are you getting on with your air fryer ?

Hi @BrilliantButScary, hope that you are enjoying the weekend.  We had only one rainy day this week, and fortunately it didn't impact on our plans too much because we visited a local museum.  The museum catered for all ages, was really interesting and also interactive, so a great day was had by all.  Sunny days were spent at the seaside, visiting new places, paddling in a beck followed by a picnic, BBQ's in the garden and cream teas in a café.  We then had a quick turnaround on Saturday morning, before new family members arrived in the afternoon. 

Early days with the air fryer, but I'm impressed so far.  On Monday I used it to roast the vegetables and was pleased with the short cooking time and overall result.  On Friday I used it to cook the frozen chips that the family had with homemade pizza's. The oven was full, so it was handy to be able to cook the chips separately. Someone who already owns an air fryer offered to supervise the cooking of the bacon for butties this morning, so that was an added bonus ;0)

Sounds like a busy, but enjoyable time for you with family visitors. It sounds like you live near the seaside, whereas we are about the furthest you can be from the sea! My husband always says that I don't think I have been on holiday unless I have seen the sea.

I am trying to come up with recipes for a glut of home grown courgettes at the moment. I am going to make some courgette fritters and another recipe that involves pasta and boursin. If you have any inspiration for me, I would be grateful. I have gifted some to a neighbour and will probably take some to give to friends at the gym.

I should be following your lead and doing some decorating, but have not felt very motivated. It's been a bit too hot for me at times.

We had a very local walk this week, to watch the sand martins, still appreciating being retired and dancing to my own tune. 

Hi @BrilliantButScary, we had a fabulous time with family thank you. 

My main menu for this week includes lots of courgettes kindly gifted to us by a friend that has an allotment.  Courgette fritters are delicious, as is bacon, courgette and cream cheese stirred through pasta.

Our decorating is now on hold whilst we enjoy time with family during July and August. We will pick it up again in September.

Lovely to see sand martins.  When out walking, I'm enjoying watching the swallows and swifts dart over the wild flower meadows.  Retirement is a blessing for sure.

Humboldt

Savvy_Sue said:

BrilliantButScary said:

I am trying to come up with recipes for a glut of home grown courgettes at the moment. I am going to make some courgette fritters and another recipe that involves pasta and boursin. If you have any inspiration for me, I would be grateful. I have gifted some to a neighbour and will probably take some to give to friends at the gym.

I have had courgette cake - similar to carrot cake. Google has turned up many options, including one with raspberries!

The big advantage of that might be being able to cook in bulk and freeze it ...

Hi @Savvy_Sue, courgette cake is delicious, especially lemon courgette cake.

Humboldt

QrizB said:

We have a recipe we know as "courgette thing" for a savoury courgette dish, pan-cooked with lentils and curry spices.

I don't have access to the recipe right now but it's popular in our household!

Hello and welcome @QrizB, thank you for taking the time to comment.  I'm intrigued by your recipe, will have to see if I can find something similar.

Humboldt

Alnat1 said:

Doesn't use a whole lot of courgette but Mary Berry's sunshine cake is delicious! Hubby classes it as 3 of his "5 a day" 

Hello and welcome @Alnat1, another recipe for me to G0ogle.  Thanks lots.

Humboldt

Hello and welcome.

This week’s motivational quote.

To multiply your joy, count your blessings – JB Priestley.

Money saving.

Our monthly grocery budget for me and my DH is £250.  Week 4 spend for July was £55.53.  Total spend to date for July is £243.86. July will have 5 weeks, so I will be overbudget this month. I am ok with that; we have had family visiting and wanted to make the most of our time together.  I am grateful that I can draw upon extra funds and empathise with those who do not have the choice.  

Fully utilised the 2-hour free electric via our energy provider.

I was gifted more surplus vegetables from a friend’s allotment.

DH and I visited a local museum with family.  We only had to pay for a family ticket because we bought our annual passes earlier in the year for only £10.50 each.

Late in the afternoon, after a day out, we called into a local café that was offering a cuppa along with a freshly baked fruit scone, jam, and clotted cream for only £6.50.  The vintage crockery, loose leaf tea and lovely surroundings, added a sense of occasion for what I thought was a very reasonable price.

We took picnics on some of days out with family this week, reducing costs tremendously.

This week’s main menu.

Monday – Spiced bean stew (H@iry Dieters’ recipe).  The courgette was gifted by a friend. I will use Greek yogurt rather than buying crème fraiche.

Tuesday – Stuffed marrow (I am just going to use a mince bolognaise type mix and top with sourdough breadcrumbs and grated cheese), served with an orange and almond couscous salad (He@rt UK recipe).  To fully utilise the oven, I will also bake a wholemeal sourdough.

Wednesday – Ping meal (as above) – cook once, eat twice (saves on time and energy costs).

Thursday – A version of summer minestrone soup (The Gu@rdian recipe), with a hunk of homemade sourdough. The chicken stock is homemade and from the freezer.  I will use whatever vegetables I have, and swap the borlotti beans for cannellini beans (because that is what I have). Rather than add risotto rice, I will use whole-wheat spaghetti broken into small lengths. Courgettes were gifted by a friend. 

Friday – Chicken Provençal (H@iry Dieter’s recipe).  Still using those gifted vegetables, including more courgette. I will reduce the liquid content and cook this in the slow cooker.

Saturday – Salmon with chilli ginger sauce (H@iry Dieter’s recipe), with noodles and vegetable stir-fry. Salmon was reduced in price and frozen until required.  I will cook the salmon in the air fryer. I will add homegrown mangetout and more gifted courgettes to the stir-fry.

Sunday – Chicken Korma (H@iry Dieter’s recipe) and rice – DH is cooking and it's officially a none courgette day!

Healthier lifestyle.

Last weeks step count was 46,438.

Completed 3 free meditations last week.

Completed 0 free online workouts last week.

Simple pleasures.

My immediate family do not live close to me, so it is extra special when they visit.  We have done so much this week and it has been an absolute joy.

A delicious meal out with family.

A trip to the seaside, which included ice creams, paddling in the sea, building sandcastles and chips.  Perfect.

The male folk enjoying time together at a local charity beer festival.

Numerous sets of bedding and towels have been washed and dried outside on the line.

The last of the family left after lunch today. The house is back to normal and we have time  to reflect on the happy memories made during their stay.  

Thank you for dropping by and taking the time to read my diary.

QrizB

Humboldt said:

QrizB said:

We have a recipe we know as "courgette thing" for a savoury courgette dish, pan-cooked with lentils and curry spices.

I don't have access to the recipe right now but it's popular in our household!

Hello and welcome @QrizB, thank you for taking the time to comment.  I'm intrigued by your recipe, will have to see if I can find something similar.

There are quite a few recipes for courgette dhal that turn up if you Google them. Ive not found one that looks quite like the one I remember, but that's the sort of thing that "courgette thing" is.

The picture here looks about right, although I think ours contains onion but not ginger:

https://fussfreeflavours.com/courgette-and-red-lentil-daal/