crispy chicken strips!

Ive been seeing a lot of crispy chicken on pintrest lately and thought I would give it a go. Its really simple and tasty! You cut your skinless chicken breasts into strips. Have three bowls ready of grated cheese, milk and breadcrumbs. You dip the chicken in milk then the cheese then the breadcrumbs. Put on a baking tray lined with good ole greaseproof paper and bake them till the chicken has cooked. I served mine with sauteed asparagus, baby sweetcorn, sugar snap peas and mushrooms.

A few punk rock housewife failings

Well I have been putting up things that have worked well and I'm proud of but you have got to make mistakes somewhere right? Well, I have certainly learnt where I went wrong for when I try them next time.

Washing curtains... good god how women used wash and iron them regularly I don't have a clue. Its hard, like as they are so big you have to flip them over a few times to get the main creases out. Mine are still creased a wee bit but I have given up haha never again will I do my on curtains!.

Cheese making, now everything was going well until the final stages of stretching and heating but I soon realised when it says use 8 pints of milk use 8 pints of milk! It wont work properly!

The gingerbread mixture for my houses needs to be followed exactly, also reading the instructions for the rest would help. I was getting muddled up in my head. Next time I would portion out the dough into 4 to get an even thickness and not try to over use the small space in my kitchen.

my fail proof pastry!

I make my own shortcrust pastry and have done for a few years now after I realised how freaking easy it is!

All you need is: 
55g butter
125g plain flour
salt and pepper
water

Mix your butter, seasoning and flour together to resemble breadcrumbs. Slowly add water and mix till it comes together like a dough. You don't want it too dry or too we. Once you have your dough right wrap it in clingfilm and leave it in the fridge for at least an hour this makes it pliable.After the hour your ready to roll it out and use it for your pies or quiches.

 My first ever quiche, made loads since will post recipe later.

I add herbs or spices such as chilli flakes to my pastry but its really up to you. This is what's left of my corned beef and potato pie...never lasts.

perfect yorkshire puds!

Seeing as I'm yorkshire and very proud of this fact I thought I would share my recipe with all you lovely readers :)

yorkshire puddings
1/2 pint of milk
115g of plain flour
3 eggs
fat of your choice

Heres how you make them!
Turn the oven on high around 200C. Get your pudding tray and and your fat into the holes. I use beef dripping or lard, but you can use oil. The trick is to get your oil super hot. Put the tray in the oven. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. You can add wholegrain mustard, rosemary or hendersons relish. Mix well and let settle for about 10 mins or so then pour into the tray, put back in the oven for 30 mins. They must go in an empty oven to rise better too.

a pinterest favourite

As we all know I am a bit addicted to pinterest! 
My favourite food pin so far is a rice and chicken casserole. I have had to update it as we dont seem to sell wild rice where I live and we dont like celery!

But here it is my version!

Preheat oven to 180 C. Prepare your rice as per cooking instructions on the pack. We use boil in the bag rice which I whack in the microwave. Chop mushrooms, onions and carrots and fry them with a bit of hendersons relish. Cube some chicken and add to the frying pan with some tomato paste. Start making a cheese sauce, this isn't how I normally do cheese sauce but it works really well for this dish. Put some butter and equals amounts of flour into a pan and cook together, season well, I add some English mustard too. Once the mixture has melted and thickened again add some cold water  just a little at a time and whisk, keep going till its the amount and consistency you want. Start adding grated cheese into your mixture and stir till its melted. Now your rice should be done, add your rice to the frying pan and cook off until you feel your sauce is ready. Pour the sauce over the rice and make sure its evenly coated. Put in an oven proof dish and bake for 30 minutes. Then serve!

23/30 hobbies hobbies hobbies

My 5 favourite hobbies and why I love them.

1. Cooking - cooking helps me destress, takes my mind off all the daily crap that we all go through. It makes me feel more house wifey.

2. Knitting - I love knitting it makes me feel more creative and I like having something permanant as its something to keep. They also make fantastic presents.

3. Gardening - I enjoy knowing that I am growing my own food. I like knowing where my food comes from.

4. Baking - Im not fantastic at the decorating but I am a fan of the cakes I make!

5. My xbox - I am a fairly big gamer, I dont know why but I just love it. My favourite games are the fallout series.

16/30 accomplishments

5 greatest accomplishments

1. Actually passing my GCSEs when I had only been able attend about a year of two.

2. As of monday 17th being married a year.

3. Learning to cook, but not just cook, create and improvise meals. Very little of the meals I cook are jars or packet based.

4. Seeing the majority of my favourite bands. Still got a couple left but I WILL see them!

5. Branching out of my comfort zone and going on holiday by myself. When I was 22 I went to Edinburgh to see some mates I had made on the internet years ago. Darren has come down to see me on various occassions now and Steven and I go up to Edinburgh at least once a year.