Christmas at ours

Christmas has arrived a little early here, but I worked out if I didn't get the Christmas decorations up this weekend it probably wouldn't happen this year...

...cannot wait to see my toddlers reaction when he sees it in the morning :)

Carrot & Sweet Potato Mash

I was planning on cooking sausage and mash for my family tonight but wanted to make it with a difference, so we had sausage, homemade potato wedges and vegetable mash with onion gravy. It was delicious.

Ingredients:

5 medium carrots, peeled & sliced

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled & chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin

25g butter

black pepper

Method:

1. Place the carrots, sweet potatoes and garlic cloves into a pan of water and bring to the boil.
2. Simmer until the vegetables are nice and tender (easy to mash).
3. Drain the vegetables and add the cumin, butter and other seasoning if required and mash.

Serve as an alternative vegetable side dish to many amazing meals or as I did an alternative to sausage and mash!

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Olive oil

1 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cubed

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 tsp turmeric

800ml vegetable stock (I made with 2 vegetable OXO cubes)

Method:

1. Heat the oil slightly in a large pan, adding the onions and garlic to gently saute until soft.
2. Add the butternut squash, sweet potato and turmeric heating for another few minutes.
3. Add the vegetable stock and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables cubes are tender.
4. Allow to cool a little to puree in a blender, before re-heating slightly to serve.

Serve with some fresh bread and butter, will warm up any winters day.

Sprouts with bacon

Ingredients:

2 slices of bacon, chopped into fine strips

450g sprouts, halved

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

half a chicken OXO cube, dissolved in 120ml of boiling water

salt

pepper

Method:

1. Pan fry the bacon on a medium-low heat, until crispy.
2. Remove the bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon.
3. Add the sprouts to the pan and saute for a few minutes, until browning.
4. Add the garlic and continue to saute for a few more minutes.
5. Add the chicken stock and cover for 5 minutes. Uncover and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated.
6. Add the crispy bacon and season as necessary.

Serve as a vegetable side dish alongside a roast or other meal.