chibiadpupcooktogether

[chibiadpupcooktogether]

The last few days have been oh so hectic but no one really got much done on Saturday - mostly because my fingers were too sore!

However Sunday was a family day of baking goodness and with Pup’s grandad we made some yummy 50/50 bread with a scoop of vanilla and with Pup’s Nan we made some sweeties!

We had a full day of making a proper cold teatime meal day and it was such good fun. The sweeties were jelly that we added gelatine to do that they would set and hold in the mould. Pup really enjoyed the pippette usage when we were letting the jelly mix in the moulds! And after an hour they finally set and came out super duper cute and amazingly tasty!

The bread also tasted lovely but not quite as vanillia -ry as I hoped but it was still a 50/50 loaf that could have done with just a tad more sugar perhaps but it certainly was nice and I think tasted all the better because of the family bonding it was made with.

Then today we Madeleine schedule for the rest of the week, we have some really good stuff coming up and Pup even made a compromise on menus choice. Of course, we will adapt each one to suit what we need but there are lots of new things to try this week!

Our first one this week was something we had tried before a few years back and so we knew it would be a hit! It’s a smoked haddock puff, and they’re super simple to make:

Creme fresh

Watercress

Smoked haddock

Puff pastry

Then as a side we added mixed veg.

Everything about this was simple and it tasted super good! It was something that Pup could really get into and participate in with the grownups while we made it apart from the cutting of the fish because sharp scissors and children don’t always mix!

I made did try not to burn it but we left it in a little too long and I forgot to check and so we had it slightly charred on the top but it was oh so good just the same!

[chibiadpupcooktogether]

Chicken Casserole p2

Hello, So incase you hadn’t thought of all the various things that it could be for the special ingredient then

*drum roll please...*

IT WAS LEEK!

This was something that Pup had only seen before but never tasted and I had intended to make it all mysterious, but I had accedently left the tab up about how to prep it and, being my little super detective, Pup found it right away and was telling me how he had seen one in gardening club at school once (a short lived after school activity).

So the turn out was actuallly really good! It looked spectacular and was totally scrummy. Unfortunatley I completely forgot to take a photo of it before I started serving it up... so here is the final view of the casserole on plates and in a depleted Crock Pot.

Now part of the reason it had depleted so much after my *Cough* first serving was because my dad had come over and we sent him home with a portion for his lunch. Being many hours before we would eat ours, Grandad (which is what Pup calls him) lovingly sent us a photo of himself enjoying it and told us it was very good.

Now completely stoked for ours I set to making some dumplings because - why not? As you can see I made sure they were small ones but I have not had dumplings since before lockdown and I have had a real hankering for them recently. To be honest I had no idea what I was doing, I knew the ingredients and I knew the rough method but I was mostly guestimating my amounts and was really strugling with working out it something was too doughy or not doughy enough but I managed it and next time they wont be quite as dougy. I also put some parsley in there but in a different dish I may decide to do some cheesey ones one day.

So as you can see the table STILL needs cleaning off but, what you going to do? I put both our portions in a bowl but as you can see, Pup (closest) has very little gravy in his portion and a very small dumpling with an extra plate underneath for the carrots that he wanted seperately.

Pup very hapily told me he liked swede and that he liked the chicken but he still didnt like carrots or dumpling but I dont mind that because he tried something! He did not make any mention of the leek but thats good, it tells me that actually either I wasted my money or it wasnt half as bad as his preconcieved notions.

Two portions later, well, alright almost three, and I am stuffed and would totally make this again! Thumbs up.

5/5

[chibiadpupcooktogether]

Chicken Casserole - slow cooker P1

Today for Tea time (5pm) we are having a Chicken Casserole!

Unfurtunatley Pup woke up a little later that planned so I got on with most of the cooking myself today.

I got the idea from BBC’s Good Food webpage and liked the look of both the easy slow cooker Chicken Casserole and the slightly more complex one... so I took the liberty to mix and match! I used yesterdays school time to go and get most of the ingredients that I need from the shop and come to the conclusion that I need a cheaper shop.

So Today we used :

Chicken thigh (boneless and skinless)

Onion

Garlic

Carrot

Swede

Potato

annnnnndd a special ingredient that will be revealed later.

First I chopped up all the veg and garlic (and peeled the potato). The onion actually got me this time and my eyes were running something chronic. None-the-less I got it all done, eventhough I had to look up how to prep our special ingredient. Then Pup woke up and came in to help! YAY PUP!

Pup here! I crushed the chicken stock into powder into a jug. It’s best to do it inside the jug it is best because I made a mistake...IT WENT EVREYWHERE!!!!

Yes, but Pup, it is best we learn form mistakes and that is exactly what you did! I am very proud!

So then while we got the chicken browning off in the frying pan we had a discussion about why I put the potatoes in the water...

Yes! Chibi put the potatoes in water so they wouldn’t brown from the air getting to them.

That’s very true, although I only really do this now because its what my parents and grandparents did. I just seem to copy a lot of what I have seen others do, even at the ripe old age of 25!

When the chicken was almost done I made the stock into gravy and poured some into the bottom of the warming crock pot and then added to it the potato, swede and carrots which were cubed. Once the chicken was cooked we added that to the pot too. FInally, we browned off the onion, garlic, and the special ingredient, which Pup deduced correctly -

Can I tell them, Mum? Can I? PWEASE!?

No, silly! That’s for part two and tasting! Come back later for our verdict on the dish and to find out what the special ingredient is.

#slow cooker #chicken #chicken casserole #crock pot #vegetables #mother and son #chibi&pup

[chibiadpupcooktogether]

Spag Bol - slow cooker

Hello everyone!

Chibi here telling readers about our meal yesterday evening. SO yesterday was a Big day because Pup went back to school for the afternoon to meet his new teacher and say his goodbyes to last year... it was a sad day but he enjoyed it.

I thought to help fill his tummy after a long day we could try some Spag Bol. So yesterday morning we woke up SUPER DUPER early and began to cook. We used:

Tomato sauce

mince beef

carrots

Garlic

Onion

baby sweetcorn

Snap Peas

spag

garlic bread for finishing

Pup and I woke up at the same time I while preping the onion and Garlic he helped, which was really fun  for both of us. However, not being used to the onions his eyes began stinging really badly so he just watched after a little while.

We browned off the mince and the onions and garlic (and even put the veg in a little bit too) and then threw everything in the pot.

Pup time! It smelled really good!

Yes, it did. Then we left it for the rest of the day and let it cook.

When we got back from being out for the afternoon though, I found that the sauce had not thickened up as I had hoped and so after a little research put in a cornflour and water mix and left the lid off for half hour on the ‘warm setting’

It started to look really good after that (excuse the state of my kitchen).

I popped some Spag onto the hob and let that boil and also cooked a stick of garlic baguette for a side (and incase Pup didn’t like it).

Finally we served it and it looked really really tasty to me.

Pup likes to have his food sepeate and so I did him some seperate carrots too, which hadnt quite plated up, incase he didnt like the sauce as he does not perticularly like tomato.

However, it was eaten, Pup did not like it very much but he did try everything which was a big bonus.

In conclusion if I made this again I would make it for myself only but there was lots left over so I have a pot in the fridge ready to heat and a pot in the freezer for if ever a dish does go wrong.

#spagbol #slow cooker #school day #lockdown #shopping #i cannot spell spag-u-etti #garlic bread #mince #bolognese #chibi&pup

[chibiadpupcooktogether]

Introductions to Chibi and Pup

Hello, we are chibi and pup and we would like to introduce ourselves.

I am chibi and I am mum to Pup. I did not try many new things as a youngster and so with the gentle push from someone else I have recently descovered that cooking is not so hard and actually can be kind of fun!

My aim is to get more adventurous as we get more confident in cooking, but I hope that through this I can teach Pup how to cook too so that he doesnt end up as hopeless as I was and stuck eating things we simply ‘bung in the oven’.

I am Pup and I am Chibi’s son and I am 7 years old. I have recently discovered I like onion (flavouring) and garlic (flavouring), this happened only because Chibi cooked a beef stroganoff and did not tell me what was in it until AFTER!

Ususally I would eat chicken nuggets, fish fingers and chicken kiev with chips or poptato. I am really excited to try new things and learn how to cook!

#cooking #slow cooker #mother and son #beef stroganoff #fish fingers #potatos #chicken kiev #chips #onion #garlic #oven #food #introduction #chibi&pup #mother and son bonding