Homemade Archives - Happy eats

Chicken, chorizo and seafood paella (low salt – toddler friendly)

Not a traditional paella of course, but the modified paella recipe is a very versatile vehicle for adding whatever it is that you have to hand. The origin of it is similar to the fried rice in Asian cuisine, or risotto in Italian cuisine – a rice dish with whatever you have or is in season.

Usually I make it with just chicken and chorizo, or just seafood. But I both meat and seafood to hand so decided to do a bit of a ‘surf and turf’ paella. As I have been doing recently, this recipe has no added salt so is toddler and children friendly. If someone is allergic to seafood or you simply don’t like some of the ingredients, just don’t add it. It is unlikely to make the recipe less tasty as long as you’ve got the paella rice in there!

This is a one pot recipe for the busy family. Making enough for leftovers and freezer friendly into portions or ice cube trays ready for your little ones. I’ve added pimenton (Spanish paprika) for taste and colour but feel free to miss it out if you don’t have any or don’t want to use it. Even though this recipe uses no stock or added salt, you’ll be surprised how flavourful it is, purely from the ingredients that you use.

Go to recipe

Happy eating!

19/07/2219/07/22

Homemade Bubble Tea

With the heatwave that’s happening right now. We need the ultimate Summer drink to keep cool. Bubble Tea, or Boba Tea, is a staple in our household! Going out to get one is great, making it at home is more cost-effective, and, if it’s too hot to go outside.

I took a lot of inspiration from the recipe over at honest food talks, but opted to use ingredients that I had around the house. It’s quick, easy & you can control the sweetness, type of milk used, etc.

You will need:
– Quick-cook tapioca pearls
– Sweetener of your choice
– Tea bags x2-4, depending on strength of caffeine you’d like
– Milk of your choice

I use these fast cook tapioca pearls, which you can find at your local asian supermarket or online. The most common sweeteners to use are syrup, or brown sugar. In this case, I used brown sugar. For the milk, I used Bio Soy Milk. But you can choose your own milk that you like best 🙂

Picture of Quick cook tapioca pearls and brown sugar packets

Cooking instructions. You will need:
Quick-cook tapioca pearls
Brown Sugar
Tea bags x2-4, depending on strength of caffeine you'd like

I use these fast cook tapioca pearls, which you can find at your local asian supermarket.

The brown sugar is optional, and can be substitued for honey

Picture of Tapioca pearls boiling

1. Put yer kettle on & brew your tea, add your sweetener here to dissolve properly. set aside and let cool

2. Boil your tapioca pearls according to package instructions. Drain the pearls after it is cooked and set aside to cool

1. Put yer kettle on & brew your tea, add your sweetener here to dissolve properly. set aside & let cool

2. Boil your tapioca pearls according to package instructions. Drain the pearls after it is cooked & set aside to cool

3. Layer as follows into cup! (from the bottom most ingredient to top):
Ice
Tapioca Pearls
Tea (with/without sweetener of choice*)
Milk of choice**

GIF of how to layer bubble tea. Ice, tapioca pearls, tea, milk.

3. Layer as follows into cup! (Bottom to top)

Ice
Tapioca Pearls
Tea with or without sweetener of choice
Milk of choice

Mix mix mix mix mix

I use either brown sugar or honey and i use bio soy milk — In order, from first ingredient to last: Ice, Tapioca pearls, Tea, Milk

Then mix mix mix mix mix ✨

That’s it! Enjoy. And stay cool 😎

Picture of bubble tea

I am reusing a cup from previous bubble teas . It is best to use reusable ones if you have them

Done. Enjoy

stay hydrated and stay cool

06/06/2225/06/23

Beef lasagne (low salt, low fat)

My cooking lately has been dominated by what I can make that the little one can enjoy too. I am also one for batch cooking to make the middle of week dinners a bit easier.

Lasagne is a great dish to freeze as it can be portioned easily. I usually make it with more beef stock (usually use Bovril) and seasoning, including a dash of Worcestershire sauce in the beef but this time I have only used 1 beef stock for making 2 large trays of lasagne, so negligible really. As a consequence, the beef filling will not be as dark as you would normally expect and will be redder from the tomatoes. The first step of sauteeing the onions and garlic is crucial to allow caramelisation which gives a lot of the flavour. Browning the beef is also very important here. The beef browning process also evaporates some of the water that is in the beef as you don’t want the resulting beef mixture to be too wet.

A simple bit of pureeing to your desired consistency will be perfect for your little one. It certainly went down well in our household!

Go to recipe

Happy eating!

22/05/2222/05/22

‘Cottage’ Pie

Hi all! This is my first post as contributor, thanks for the invitation 🙂

A little about me: I’m an experimental cook that likes to try different cuisines & flavours using whatever I find in my cupboard, and often like to bring in flavours from East & South Asian recipes in particular for the taste of home. I also like to get inspired by British classics which I grew up with, which brings me to today’s dish – a simple yet delish ‘Cottage’ Pie.

Traditionally with beef, I didn’t have any at home, so went for a flexitarian version, where the main ingredient is lentils – the only non-vegetarian ingredient I used was Bovril beef stock, which for the full veggie experience, can be substituted with Marmite, both for flavour & colour.

Be sure to follow here, or @happy_eats_coldbacon for more upcoming recipes!

Go to Recipe

19/05/2205/05/22

Roast leg of lamb with garlic, anchovies and rosemary

Great cut of meat for a roast if you are hosting family and friends in Spring or just want a lot of leftovers! Don’t be intimidated by haunch of lamb leg, it’s actually very easy to cook with – you just have to allow the extra time in the oven compared to eg. a rolled joint of lamb because of the thigh bone. If you have a deboned leg then it won’t need as long in the oven so adjust your cooking time appropriately.

I made this recently for Mothering Sunday and the feedback (although somewhat biased of course!) was very positive. As per all my recipes, I try and use as few pans as possible to minimise the washing up and this is a one roasting tray recipe that also makes its own gravy! The water that you add to the roasting tray actually creates steam within the oven making sure the leg remains as succulent as ever.

Like all roasts, one of the most important steps is to allow time at the end for the meat to rest before you carve it. The meat continues cooking and the moisture is redistributed throughout resulting in moist meat. So it’s the same for this lamb.

Whilst the lamb is resting on a pre-heated tray tucked up under foil, you can finish off your gravy and the other trimmings to go with your roast. The usual trimmings will do – crispy roasted potatoes, veggies etc. as the lamb itself is already quite flavourful.

Go to recipe

Nice and easy.

Happy eating! 🤤🤤🤤🤤