What to eat after a stomach bug

I've been feeling a little off these last few days. I've either had food poisoning or a stomach virus, either way - you still feel delicate and weak. Food is always a tricky thing to get right when you've had an upset tummy and after a whole day of Mr Mean trying to get me to eat dry toast (just put a bit of butter on it please!), I decided to get all the best foods together for those of you who have had an icky tummy.

Sometimes I think you know what your body needs when you're ill, so this is a rough guide for you. But be warned - if you are sick after eating anything on this list - it's not my fault! You still have an icky tummy! I'm not a medical professional or dietician or magician, just a Mean Mother!

The best advice is to eat bland foods. Leave caffeine and alcohol, fatty and spicy foods for those with a strong constitution. You are currently weak and fragile and want to avoid the bathroom.

1. TOAST, TOAST, TOAST
Okay, so dry toast is your friend when it comes to stomach bugs. You can digest toast easier than fresh bread, so start with one slice and take it slow. Now I'm not a huge fan of the dryness of dry toast and would prefer a bit of butter on it. Even better, a small spread of Marmite - but that might not be for everyone. If you haven't got any bread in the house, try some dry crackers instead.

If you've managed to keep down that yummy dry toast, you could try mashing some banana onto that dry piece of toast. You've then got a bit more flavour, not so much dryness and a whole dose of potassium! Good times! Which brings me onto....

2. BANANAS
You can't go wrong with a banana. Again, start slow, try mashing some if you can't manage a whole one. I felt a bit better this morning and had a sliced banana with bio yoghurt. A taste explosion after dry toast! Might add some honey to that combo tomorrow.

3. APPLE SAUCE
The Americans swear by the power of apple sauce, so I thought I try it out today. Of course I'm not going to buy a ready made sauce, so I sent Mr Mean off to the shops to buy some cooking apples. He came back with four huge Bramley apples. I peeled and sliced them into cold water with a whole squeezed lemon in there just to stop the apples from turning brown. Once I had prepared all the apples, they were drained and went into a large, heavy bottom pan with a big glass of the lemon water. I let them cook down and then added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a tablespoon of honey. I also added a sprinkle of cinnamon and two tablespoons of caster sugar. I let the whole lot cook down until really soft. I had to add a bit more water along the way to keep the texture nice and loose and also added another squeeze of lemon juice.

This made a huge batch, but the kids will be having it with custard and yoghurt for their pudding tonight and I have already had some and it does feel really soothing to the tummy.

4. CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
A clear broth is perfect for feeling better after a bout of illness. My favourite at the moment is Telma Chicken Noodle Soup Mix. It is super tasty and very quick and easy to make. Of course a freshly made chicken soup would be perfect, but you don't always feel up to it.

5. RICE
Plain boiled rice is great to sooth tummy aches. If you were making your own chicken soup, you could add the rice to it and have a super power soup!

6. POTATOES
I've heard mash is great for delicate tummies. I'm going to bake my spuds tonight and have it plain, everyone else can have a yummy filling and salad!

7. WATER
Water is the best drink when you've been poorly. If you are really dehydrated it's best to have electrolyte powder sachets to replace lost fluids and body salts. Sometimes it is difficult to get children to drink electrolyte drinks because they don't taste that great. I've found if you can't get the little ones to drink them, try flat lemonade. Take your sparkling lemonade and add a very small amount of sugar and give it a good stir.

I hope this has helped you on your road to recovery. I definitely feel better after the apple sauce! Good luck!

Madeleines filled with Nutella

There's nothing better than a Madeleine. Wait a second....there is! A Madeleine filled with Nutella! What joy on a Saturday afternoon! I changed the recipe slightly and replaced the lemon zest with orange zest. When the Madeleines have cooled slightly, pipe Nutella into each lovely little cake. Perfect!

Ingredients:
120g icing sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest/orange zest
100g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
115g butter
2 tablespoons of Nutella

HOW TO MAKE
You will need Madeleine moulds for this recipe. I use a silicone mould, which saves a lot of time when it comes to greasing and flouring - because you don't have to.

Preheat oven to 190ºC. In a bowl, beat the eggs, vanilla and lemon zest (try lime zest for an alternative) with a hand held whisk until they are pale. Gradually add the icing sugar to the mix, still whisking, until the mixture is thick and forming ribbons.

Now gradually fold in the sifted flour and baking powder. When all the flour is incorporated, fold in the melted and cooled butter. Spoon the mixture into the moulds, being careful not to fill over ¾ full.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are lovely and golden. Leave to cool in the moulds for a couple of minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack. Once slightly cool, pipe with Nutella. They are best eaten straight away. Enjoy!

Bill Granger's Banana & Butterscotch Pudding

I love Bill Granger. There's just something about his smile that can light up any dull and miserable British day. And this pudding will brighten up any cold and snowy day where ever you are.

I saw him doing this recipe last week on Daybreak and just had to try it. I'm always looking for recipes to use up old bananas and this is a cracker! From now on, if there's a banana on the turn it will be transformed into this yummy pudding. The kids love it too. Mr Mean was a little harder to convince, as he thought Butterscotch sauce would be just butter with some scotch in it. He was sure he would hate it. But like I thought - he also loved it!

This hot pudding must be served with vanilla ice cream. The contrast between hot and cold is fabulous! Bill Granger: I salute your pudding and sunny smile!

Ingredients:
125g plain flour
1 pinch of salt
120g caster sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 banana, mashed
200ml milk
1 lightly beaten egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
85g butter, melted

For the butterscotch sauce:
140g brown sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
250ml boiling water

HOW TO MAKE:
Per heat the oven to 180C.

Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a bowl. Add the mashed banana, milk, butter, egg and vanilla and whisk until well combined.

Pour into a greased 2.5ml ovenproof dish.

Heat all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is nearly boiling. Carefully pour this mixture over the pudding batter and bake for 30-40 minutes until it's firm to touch.

Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

I'm In Love With My New Ikea Kitchen!

Finally, I've got my new kitchen - and I love it! I designed it and fitted it with Mr Mean. The kitchen is from Ikea. I fell in love with the warmth of the wood and its rough sawn texture. I bought the tap, composite sink and oven from Ebay to save some cash.

The Rangemaster Classic is second hand. I have replaced a few of the nobs and buttons, as well as the fascia panel (all the information had rubbed off) and a few handles. It's like new now and I love it. We really needed a bigger oven and Christmas dinner was a breeze to make. I also use both ovens quite often and bake two loaves of bread at the same time!

I adore my tall larder units. It's still a bit of a novelty not having to dig at the back of a cupboard to find a rogue tin of tuna. Everything is at hand and organised - I love it!

I'm a person who likes a big kitchen, so when we bought our new house, it was very important to create a large kitchen/dining/living area. I have a lot of kitchen stuff, in fact, that was the main volume of boxes we had in storage! And even though all the cupboards have items in them, they're not full to the brim! I just need a lovely Kitchenaid to complete the look!

We've only got one problem now - we never use any other room!

Nearly Back in Business

Although it doesn't look like lit from this picture, we are nearly back in business! I might actually have a kitchen in a couple of weeks. We moved house back in July. Since then, I've been cooking on a camping stove - which has kind of lost its appeal now. We are three weeks away from Christmas and I'm desperate to get into the kitchen and start cooking and baking all those festive treats!

I'll keep you posted as things move along. I am so excited to be so close to having a proper oven again! I'm sure it will all be worth it.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Cake

My first attempt at baking in the slow cooker was a bit of a disaster! I found the recipe on some American website, so had to convert cups to grams and made a total hash of it.

The recipe states add one teaspoon of salt - and that was the dominating flavour. Horrible! Even my son didn't like it - and he'll eat most things! I won't even bother with the recipe as I wouldn't want you to waste time making it - and you do waste a lot of time, because it took four hours to cook! Back to the drawing board!

New Beginnings!

It's been a while Mean Mothers! A lot has changed since my last post. My foot has healed and it's working quite well! We also managed to move house - which took a long time to go through, but we are finally here enjoying our new beginnings!
With those new beginnings come massive new challenges. We love our new house, it feels like home already and we've only been here a week. Our old house is a distant memory! And even though our new house needs a whole load of work and love - we don't mind because it is going to be fab! But until our dream is realised, meals are being cooked on either a camping stove, BBQ or slow cooker - a challenge indeed! Yep, that's right, I don't have a cooker or hob until we build an extension, knock down some walls and install a brand-spanking-new kitchen! I've got a feeling I'm going to be leaning on those builders very soon!
It's only been a week and I really miss using an oven. Mainly for baking. I love baking bread, so this is proving to be quite a challenge!
So I will be searching high and low for ways of feeding a family without the aid of an oven! I'm not really a fan of the microwave, so will only be using it at a very last resort. And eating out or ordering in isn't an option as every penny is going on the house. So the challenge is set - we can do it!
And just when one foot was on the road to recovery, I've managed to break a toe on my other foot!

There's something missing....

At least the slow cooker made it!

The Beginning of the End!

This could well be my last post for Mean Mother Cooker. You see it all started on Tuesday (four days ago) when I had one of my troublesome bunions corrected. I'm now not allowed to walk for two whole weeks. I've got to have this foot elevated for 55 minutes out of every hour - so no cooking for me.

Mr Mean has taken over and to be honest, I might try this sitting on my bum more often. He's doing a pretty good job - and this comes from one mean critic. Nope, no complaints here, I've been catered for very well!

Mr Mean has cooked:
- pasta with proccuttio, lemon, olive oil, pine nuts and chilli;
- pasta with chorizo and mushrooms with creme fraiche;
- chicken taco soup;
- slow cooker beef stew with an excellent Yorkshire pudding;
- a very lovely duck and chips.

Why would I ever need to cook again?! And he's done all this whilst working from home, and looking after two children. Wow! He is knackered though! Well done Mr Mean! I salute you! And I'm a very lucky woman to have you!

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE-OFF'S EARL GREY CUP CAKES

I love a good cup cake, so when I came across these little Earl Grey beauties in The Great British Bake-Off book - I just had to give them a go. Just the cake to have with a morning cuppa - perfect! They have a very subtle flavour and with the addition of the sharp lemon butter icing makes for a glorious combination. They keep very well too and were as equally, if not more delicious the following day.

My son helped me knock this batch together, so they are perfect for making and eating with kids.

Ingredients:
For the cup cakes:
200ml semi-skimmed milk
2 Earl Grey tea bags
115g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
250g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the icing:
75g unsalted butter, softened
grated zest & juice of two unwaxed lemons
375g icing sugar, sifted

1 x 12-hole muffin tray, lined with paper cases; a piping bag fitted with star tube

HOW TO MAKE:
Preheat oven to 180C. Heat the milk in a pan until it is steaming hot. Remove from heat, add the tea bags and leave to infuse for 2 minutes. Squeeze the bags gently, then remove them. Measure 150ml milk and leave to cool to room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add in one-third of the flour to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one-third of the milk and beat again. Repeat until all the flour and milk have been added.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cup cases, dividing evenly so they are about two-thirds full. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove for the oven and leave the cakes in the tray for about 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the icing, beat the butter with 5 tablespoons of the lemon juice and half the icing sugar until smooth. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar, beating well until smooth and creamy. Taste and add a little more juice if needed. Pipe or spread swirls of the icing onto the cupcakes and decorate with the lemon zest.

Mini Date & Walnut Loaf/Cake

I bought these really cute mini loaf cases from Lakeland the other day, so I had to find the perfect recipe to match. I was thinking of some mini brioches or Panettones, but settled on this Date & Walnut Loaf. It's got dates and walnuts in it - so it's nearly health food in my book! 

I adapted the recipe from good old Delia Smith's Book of Cakes. I've just had a look at my book and it is as old as me! Only thirty five years old! But I would say most of the recipes are still as reliable as they always were - you can always trust Delia for a good recipe. I sometimes just substitute some of the more old fashioned ingredients for something a little more contemporary.

Makes 10 mini loaves
Ingredients:
225ml boiling water
175g dates, stoned and chopped
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
25g butter
1 large egg
150g soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
75g ground almonds
75g walnuts, chopped
225g sponge flour (self raising)
pinch salt
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
half teaspoon fresh nutmeg

For the apricot glaze:
2 tablespoons apricot jam
1 tablespoon boiling water

For the icing:
150g icing sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 180C

HOW TO MAKE:
In a small bowl pour the boiling water over the dates. Add the bicarb, then the butter and stir until the butter has melted. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, beat the egg in a large bowl, add the sugar and beat well again. Then add the cooled date mixture and the rest of the cake ingredients and stir until combined.

Have your mini loaf cases ready on a baking sheet. I weighed 100g of cake mixture into each case. Place the loaves into the preheated oven just below the middle shelf. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is nicely browned and the centre feels springy. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack and leave to cool.

Prepare the apricot glaze. Paint a very thin layer onto the loaves with a pastry brush and leave to set for a few minutes.

Mix all the icing ingredients together and drizzle over each cake. Leave to set for an hour before devouring!

Beef & Bean Burgers

These burgers are really tasty with the addition of red kidney beans - it also makes the beef go further, which is always good for your budget! I find the children prefer these burgers to all-meat varieties.

Ingredients:
300g beef mince
half tin of red kidney beans
1 red onion, finely chopped
beef stock cube
30g oatmeal
1 egg
herbs
flaked chilli
salt & pepper

HOW TO MAKE:
Fry the onion in a little butter until soft. Allow to cool. Take half the beans and whizz up in a food processor. Once the onion is cooled, place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your hands. Shape into burgers and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Brown burgers on both sides and finish off cooking in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

I serve my burgers in either a flat bread or bun with oven chips. Cut potatoes into chips and bake in the oven with a little olive oil and salt for 45 minutes.

Lentil & Cashew Nut Curry

This lentil & cashew nut curry is a great vegan dish with all the nutrition of any meat dish - and you certainly won't feel like you're missing out on anything. It's also a great budget dish - so you can feel good on all counts! I served the curry with cardamon infused rice and stir-fried greens.


Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 onion, sliced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon root ginger, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 chilli, chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin powder
75g green lentils
75g red lentils
1 pint cold water
half can of coconut milk
75g cashew nuts
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon juice to taste

HOW TO MAKE:
Firstly, put the lentils and cashews in the cold water and leave to soak.

In a hot pan, add the oil, cumin seeds and black mustard seeds. Once they start to pop add the sliced onion and fry until soft and slightly golden. Now add the ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for 2-3 minutes. Now add the cumin powder and turmeric and fry for another minute. Add the lentils and cashew nuts in the water and add the coconut milk. Once simmering, lower the heat and cook for a further 20 minutes until the lentils are nice and soft. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice - you may also need to add half a teaspoon of sugar.

I stir-fried shredded savoy cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli and dwarf beans in a teaspoon of cumin seeds and seasoned with lots of pepper, salt and lemon juice. You could also add chilli and ginger if you wish.

How To Make Perfect Rice

Rice. The easiest thing to cook. So why do so many people get it so wrong? I'll let you in to my secret of how to cook perfect rice.

Serves 4
1 and a half cups of basmati rice
1 and three quarter cups of boiling water
salt

Start by washing the rice in cold water (put the rice in a sieve and rinse with cold water). Make sure you have a non-stick pan that has a tight fitting lid. Put the pan on a high heat with a glug of oil. Put the washed rice in the pan and stir. Season with salt and add the boiling water. Put the lid on and when the pan is boiling turn the heat down to its lowest setting. Cook for 17 minutes. You will have beautifully steamed rice - all you have to do is fork it through gently to separate the grains.

Light Rye Bread

This Light Rye Bread is lovely and tasty without being overly strong in flavour. I made mine by making a sponge the night before.


Ingredients:
For the sponge:
200g strong white bread flour
50g rye flour
1 packet dried yeast
325ml warm water

To finish the bread:
200g strong white bread flour
50g rye flour
10g pouring salt

HOW TO MAKE:
To make the sponge, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and give a good stir. Leave for all least 8 hours.

When you're ready to make the bread, add 200g of strong white bread flour, 50g rye flour and the salt. Knead for at least 10 minutes on a lightly floured work surface taking care to stretch the dough. It could start quite sticky, but stay with it and try not to add anymore flour. Once you have an elastic silky dough, place in a large oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

The dough should have doubled in size after an hour. Knock back and shape into a big ball. At this point, you can either place the dough on a floured baking tray and cover with some lightly oiled cling film, or you can place the dough in a proving bowl to rise for at least another hour.

Whilst the dough has had it second rise, preheat your oven to 220C. Slash the dough with a baker's blade or a very sharp knife and bake for 10 minutes at 220C. After 10 minutes, turn the oven down to 190C and bake for a further 20-25 minutes. Leave to cool on a wire rack before you devouring!

Super Cereal Bars

After the big success of the Healthy Breakfast Muffins, I thought I'd make some sort of homemade cereal bar to keep those pesky kids fuller for longer! I already love a bit of flapjack, but when it's full of other nice bits too - all the better I say! So, these really are Super Cereal Bars and I must say they are very tasty - and yes, the children love them too!

Ingredients:
40g desiccated coconut
150g ready-to-eat dried apricots
30g dried cherries
30g dried cranberries
100g rolled oats
30g crispy rice
30g puffed rice
50g light brown sugar
30g sunflower seeds
60g salted peanuts
3 tablespoons clear honey
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoons light olive oil or sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

HOW TO MAKE:
Preheat oven to 170C. Spread the coconut on a baking tray and lightly toast for 5 mins.

Finely chop the apricots, cherries and cranberries. Now chop the peanuts in half (feel free to use unsalted) and add to the fruit with the rest of the dry ingredients.

Put the honey, oil, syrup and vanilla in a small pan and heat gently until they are mixed together. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix. Press into a lightly oiled baking tin (I used a 19cm square cake tin) and bake for 20 minutes and press the mixture down again after baking. Leave to cool in the tin and cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.