Tuna Bake Tuesday

This recipe is a firm favourite in our house, even with my very fussy daughter. It’s not what you’d call diet conscious, with plenty of tasty cheese and a tub of creme fraiche among the ingredients, but it doesn’t hurt once in a while fortnight.

Tuna Pasta Bake

• 300g pasta*
• 200g frozen sweetcorn
• 200g tub of half fat creme fraiche**
• one tin of tuna
• 125g mature cheddar, grated
• 200g frozen spinach
• 1/2tsp ground nutmeg
• black pepper

 

Cook the pasta for 2-3 minutes less than usual as it will continue to cook in the oven and I don’t like it to be soggy.

Cook the frozen sweetcorn. You can do this by adding it to the pasta pan towards the end or cook separately.

Drain the pasta and sweetcorn (it doesn’t matter if there is a little of the cooking water left in the pan) and stir in the creme fraiche, along with the nutmeg and a good grind of black pepper.

Meanwhile cook the spinach. I buy the one that’s chopped…..

….and cook in the microwave without any water for  3 minutes.

Drain and flake the tuna and add to the mixture.

Add the grated cheese and stir well.

At this point I remove a portion for the fussy daughter and then stir the drained spinach into the remainder.

Put into a lidded oven dish and bake at 180 for about 20 minutes.

You could top with grated cheese and bake in an open dish, but I think it’s fairly calorific already so I cook it in a casserole dish, to stop it drying out too much.

Remove the lid for the last few minutes for added crunch.

*I like to use penne when I make this, but any pasta shape would do. I boil the kettle, to fill the pasta pan, to speed things up a bit. The whole thing takes a little over 30 minutes, including the time in the oven.

It can also be mixed up in advance and kept in the fridge ready to bake when you come in from work. Just keep it in the oven a little longer.

**I sometimes buy the slightly larger 250g tub of creme fraiche and reserve a bit to make this other favourite for lunch the next day.

There’s never any left around here and it’s always a race to see who can get to those crisped up bits around the edge of the dish first.

 

Hello Monday, Hello Blogtoberfest

Hello laptop. I’m so glad to have you back.

Hello blog friends. How I’ve missed visiting you all.

Hello Blogland. It feels good to be back.

Hello Blogtoberfest. I’m looking forward to joining in again.

Hello new blogging schedule. I hope I can keep up.

The plan for this week is to:

• say Hello Monday
• share a recipe on Tuesday
• show my workspace on Wednesday
• be random on Thursday
• share my favourite finds on Friday
• Stamp Up on Saturday
• tell a story on Sunday

We’ll see how it goes!

ETA I've been using Live Writer for so long now that I've completely forgotten how to work in HTML. Having spent, what feels like, the whole day trying to get this post to look right I'm just going to publish as is.

Stampin’ Up Saturday ~ Scentsational Season #2

Despite the title there is no need to run and hide this week. I have used one of the Scentsational Season stamps to make a non festive card.

I’ve kept the same basic design, switched the sentiment and mounted the whole thing on an embossed background. Proving that a gingerbread man is for life and not just for Christmas. I love this combination of Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake cardstock and the new Lacy Brocade embossing folder is so pretty.

All the other product details can be found in last week’s post and as always I can be contacted at angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com If you are interested in joining the next Virtual Hostess/Workshop Club, beginning in October, I’d be very happy to have you along. Just get in touch for more details.

If you happen to live in the North Dorset area and are interested in learning more about stamping techniques and card making, I will be running a series of workshops starting on September 19th. Again, for more information contact me as above.

Short and sweet this week while my charger is playing nicely. Lots more to show you next time. Have a lovely weekend.

Friday Find…..Of a Different Kind ~ Part 3

A few more of my shots for Rinda’s Summertime Photo Scavenger Hunt.

An historical landmark…..

…..a library…..

…..and a church.

I couldn’t quite get the top of the tower in shot from my vantage point. I would have needed to stand in the middle of the road and I didn’t fancy getting knocked down for my art today.

My laptop issues are ongoing it would seem. If I don’t blog for a few days you’ll know why. However, I hope to be back with Stampin’ Up Saturday tomorrow and to share my Month in Numbers very soon.

What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday? #170

It’s the last WOYWW? of the school holidays and in the interests of full disclosure this photo was actually taken yesterday afternoon.

I was busy coming up with ways to use seasonal stamps in a non seasonal way. The gingerbread man and the mug were easy, but no bright ideas for the candy cane yet. If you’re not horrified by the idea of Christmas cards in September then my previous efforts can be seen here.

A rare thing happened yesterday. I got the whole kitchen table to myself. This is what the other half looks like when that small miracle occurs. So much easier than running back and forth to the lounge to use the big tools.

So that’s it from me for today. Short and sweet as Julia, our lovely host, likes it.

Storytelling Sunday ~ Getting Kitted Out

On the first Sunday of the month we all get together at Sian’s place to share our stories. In a few words or many, with pictures or without. Everyone is welcome.

We were sorting out the garage at the start of the Summer holidays and I came across a box with an odd assortment of things inside. Among them my old school scarf, but the thing which excited me most was this slip of paper folded inside. Details of a school uniform purchase, made one summer, over 30 years ago.

It brought back memories of going into Corderys with my Mum and her outrage at the price of a science overall. Something she felt we shouldn’t have to provide, as only one class would ever be in the lab at a time. There could be a set for general use. It was too expensive an item to be languishing in a locker for most of its life.

I was struck by the price of the PE blouse, which was essentially a cotton polo shirt. These days they can be bought in almost any supermarket, in a pack of two, for around £3. Crazy that they should be less than half the price 30 years on.This was just the first of several trips to buy my uniform. We did it in installments.

The blazer warranted a visit all of its own, as it was the most expensive thing on the list. I remember the sleeves being far too long and my Gran taking them up for me, then letting them down again for my second year. There was nothing to be done during the third year, when they were just too short!

The knickers were awful thick things known as ‘navy blues’. We had to wear them over our own underwear, during PE, to cover our modesty under the very short skirts. The hat was a knitted beanie and I don’t remember ever wearing it, although I’m sure I would have done on cold days, at least while I was in my Mum’s view.

I don’t have any of the other invoices, but between them they would have shown 3 blouses, 2 skirts, a jumper, scarf and tie. The shoes? Now that’s a story for another day. What are your memories of shopping for school uniform? I’d love to hear them.

Stampin’ Up Saturday ~ Scentsational Season

If you are the kind of person who runs screaming at the very mention of the ‘C’ word in September, then it might be best to look away now. However if, like me, you are the kind of person who likes to start mulling over your Christmas card designs well in advance, then come on in and have a look.

The new Autumn/Winter catalogue is out today and I’m very excited to share some of the products with you. There is a lovely new collection of papers, which comes in all the traditional colours you’d expect….

….plus a few you might not.

I’ve pictured them here with the six main coordinating cardstock colours. They come in a pad of 48 sheets with 12 different double sided designs. At 6.5” x 4.5” they are perfectly sized for card makers and would make ideal photo mats for scrapbookers, or could be used to put together a Christmas mini book. Great value at £6.25.

I’ve used a few small strips to make some simple cards with a Crumb Cake base. The stamps are from the Scentsational Season set, which also includes a candy cane and a star for the top of the tree. The sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

The best thing though is that there is a matching set of Framelits available. No need for painstaking hand cutting, just run through your die cutting machine. Perfect when you are mass producing a design for Christmas cards. The stamps are £13.95 in the clear mount version (pictured) or £28.95 bundled with the matching Framelits

I used Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede and brand new colour, Gumball Green. These would make great Christmas gift card holders. The mug design would be perfect for a gift card from the recipient’s favourite coffee shop. .

The new catalogue can be viewed online here, but if you’d like a paper copy then get in touch (angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com) and I’ll be happy to send you one.

I’m having a few issues with my laptop, hence the lateness of today’s post. All being well, I’m hoping to take part in Storytelling Sunday tomorrow. I found a little gem of ephemera a couple of weeks ago, that has sparked off a whole host of memories. Maybe I’ll see you there.