Pinoy Hubby

I haven't had time to do any card making for ages - getting on for a year I think! Since I had some time off between jobs I decided I would definitely make some time for this hobby. I made quite a few cards; some of them were pretty simple and quick such as this one. I took a square white card blank and covered it with a piece of paper from a pack aimed at men - it included football print papers for instance but also some more generic patterns like this one. I had a pack of Forever Friends stickers on a gardening theme so I arranged some of these on the card, along with a few flower stickers from another pack as I felt it needed something to contrast. The banner is a die cut card that I bought in a pack of card making supplies from Ebay a long time ago, with a silver happy birthday outline sticker.

I'm starting my new job this week and don't know exactly what time I will be home in the evenings, but I know it will be later than in my last job and probably later than my boyfriend most days (though I will still be the one cooking dinner!). So I need some quick and easy recipes this week while I figure out my new routine. Monday Breakfast yogurt Lunch will buy something out to explore the area near my new office Dinner pork ragu with pasta Tuesday Breakfast yogurt or cereal Lunch leftover pork ragu if there is a microwave in my new office, sandwich if not Dinner out Wednesday Breakfast yogurt or cereal Lunch sandwich Dinner Fish in breadcrumbs/ chicken in breadcrumbs and chips Thursday Breakfast yogurt or cereal Lunch sandwich Dinner salmon and hollandaise sauce Friday Breakfast yogurt or cereal Lunch sandwich Dinner sausage and mash Saturday Breakfast yogurt or cereal Lunch baked potatoes Dinner homemade lasagne Sunday Breakfast yog

This is the Valentine's card I made for my boyfriend last year - I just realised I never actually posted it on my blog! I took a square card blank and covered it with a red lovebird-patterned paper. I cut out a cardboard square from the same pack (which came with a cardmaking magazine) of two birds in cages and used a silver outline sticker around the edge. I mounted the square onto the card and added a 'For my Valentine' outline sticker - you can only just see it in this photo as it's red, but you can see it better on the actual card.

This is a great recipe to make for Valentine's day and it looks even better in a Le Creuset heart-shaped dish! The recipe is adapted from one in a free calendar that came with Slimming World magazine at the end of last year. I bought this casserole dish from the Le Creuset shop at Bicester Village, the designer outlet shopping village, when I went in January. I came home with quite a few shopping bags that day! I'd had my eye on this casserole for a while and when I saw it was reduced from £45 to £27, I couldn't resist. Now all I need to do is find space for it in my kitchen cupboard.... For this Provencale chicken casserole, to serve two you need: 2 chicken legs (here I've actually used one leg and two small breast portions) 400g tin tomatoes 1 courgette, thinly sliced - though as neither of us likes courgette, I pureed it so I could stir it in without it being noticed 1/2 red onion, sliced 1/2 red pepper, diced 1 clove garlic, crushed 2 tsp dried herbes de Pr

These may not look like much, but according to my boyfriend they taste delicious! I wanted a bite-sized dessert option that wouldn't take too long to make so these were ideal. I found the recipe on the internet but adapted it as rather than weigh out quantities I played it by ear. I used Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry though if you want you can make your own. Roll out the pastry and cut out circles. Spray a baking tin with Cake Release - you can use a mini tart tin, or a shallow cupcake tin, but here I found another use for the whoopie pie tin I was given a couple of years ago. Add about 1 tbsp of fresh white breadcrumbs onto the centre of each pastry case and spread out evenly. Drizzle 1 heaped tsp of golden syrup over the top and allow to soak in. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes. I have to admit it was a bit of a job getting these out of the pan (as you can see!) and it probably would have been easier to make a large treacle tart and cut it into sl

Monday Breakfast yogurt Lunch Buy lunch out Dinner Out with my boyfriend Tuesday Breakfast cereal Lunch Slimming World pasta quiche Dinner Wine-glazed duck breasts with figs (chicken instead of duck for the other half) from this recipe Wednesday Breakfast cereal Lunch leftover Slimming World pasta quiche Dinner coconut-shrimp with mango dipping sauce from this recipe with chips; cajun spiced chicken for my boyfriend as he doesn't eat shrimp Thursday Breakfast cereal Lunch macaroni cheese on toast (I know this is technically pasta twice in the same day but it's completely different... and I need a quick lunch after a driving lesson) Dinner goat's cheese and bacon ravioli with meatballs based on this recipe Friday Breakfast cereal Lunch jacket potato Dinner Valentine's Day- we're staying in and I'm cooking steak and chips followed by chocolate fondant Saturday Breakfast yogurt Lunch zuppa toscana soup for me from this recipe ,

Restaurant name : Bar Remo Location : Princes Street, London Description : Low-key Italian restaurant in the heart of London near Oxford Circus; according to the website, it has been run by the same family for over 90 years. Reason for visit: Dinner before a show at the nearby London Palladium - Ros from The More Than Occasional Baker and I went to see Rick Stein Live . I ate: Lasagne al forno, £8.45, followed by tiramisu, £4 My companion ate : I can't remember the exact name but I think it was papardelle with mushrooms in a tomato sauce, followed by the same dessert. The food was : Simple but very tasty with very large portions. The tiramisu tasted properly home made and the lasagne was piping hot and very filling. The atmosphere/service was : It's a small restaurant with relatively basic seating but comfortable enough and it has a very down-to-earth, unpretentious atmosphere. Price range/value for money: Very good, the portions were very large and reasonably priced

These rosewater cakes were made in a mini bundt tin but you could also make them as cupcakes with rosewater buttercream frosting. The cakes have a surprise on the inside - they are bright pink! I made them for a colleague's birthday as I knew she wouldn't want a big cake and a lot of fuss but I wanted to make something. I received the Nordicware mini rose bundt tin for Christmas and wanted to try it out as well! I thought rosewater would be the perfect flavour to go with the rose cake tin. When I want to find a recipe using a specific ingredient I am more likely to turn to the internet than a recipe book- books are great for browsing but it can take a long time to find a specific recipe if you don't know where to look! I found this recipe on the Australian website Taste.com.au but did not include the frosting, and I used vegetable oil instead of canola oil. You need: 1 cup vegetable oil (250ml) 1 and 1/2 cups caster sugar (330g) 2 eggs 1 cup plain yogurt (280g) 2 cup

Restaurant name : Bill's Location : Salisbury, Wiltshire Description : Bill's started out in Lewes; the owner ran a fruit and veg stall which was destroyed by flooding in 2000 and he wanted to offer locals somewhere to sit down and eat, so the restaurant was born. It's now a small chain; I've already been to the one in Wimbledon. Reason for visit: I met up with my old school friends over Christmas - we grew up in Salisbury and were all visiting our families there over the holiday period. When we were teenagers (18, of course!!) we used to go to a pub called the Chough; it remained under the same name (though I think different ownership) for many years but had just changed into Bill's restaurant. The layout inside was much the same and it was nice to be somewhere familiar, but at the same time good to try out a new restaurant. An additional reason for our visit was that the local paper was running a promotion for a free bottle of wine when two people ordered a main

There's no denying that KitchenAid mixers are expensive, and take up a lot of space in the kitchen, but I absolutely adore mine. It's baby pink and was a present from my boyfriend :-) One reason I love it is how versatile it is - you can get all sorts of attachments for it. I've already got the pasta attachment and for Christmas my boyfriend's dad gave me the mincer attachment. It's very easy to use - you just screw it on to the end of the KitchenAid and it's ready to go. I usually shop in supermarkets for the convenience but I get to our local butcher when I can - a great place called Scott's . They have a catering service which my boyfriend's family uses for parties, particularly on Boxing Day, and they also have a deli and meat counter. I asked for some steak that was suitable to mince, and was given some chuck steak. I'm not sure how much it was by weight; I asked for enough to make a couple of burgers for two people and ended up making t