Perfect Buttered Popcorn

This weather is enough to depress the heartiest of souls. With the torrential rain, howling winds and icy temps, I suspect there is many a "duvet day" going on around the country.   I know personally we've found ourselves curled up with Netflix, a fire and a big fat bowl of buttered popcorn much more often than would be normal.

Popcorn in Ireland is one of the reasons I rarely go to the cinema. Because well, quite frankly the popcorn sucks and considering you have to take out a second mortgage to even get enough for the whole family, that's just not on.  Not to say that the popcorn in America is any better.  I mean, it is, it's delicious - they ask if you want butter. The most ridiculous question ever. OF COURSE I want butter, LOTS of butter.  And then they go pump hot butter all over your popcorn.  Sometimes you get an especially good popcorn server, who'll fill it half way, butter then repeat.  BLISS!  Now I'm under no delusions that this is real butter and not some butter flavoured soybean oil derivative, but whatever, it's delicious and it makes the movie experience for me.  Here the popcorn is dry and over salted. Blergh.  

Maybe you buy microwave popcorn?  Well, it's slightly more flavourful than it's Irish cinema cousin, but have you read the ingredients!?  And the price of the stuff is insane. A year or two into our Irish adventure I knew I had to figure out the popcorn situation.  I seemed to always burn the microwave stuff (I never get along with microwaves) so I experimented for awhile with air poppers and pots and pans and woks and butters and salts and oils and combinations thereof until I finally managed to figure out the perfect formula! 

So here you go... I recommend eating it with a two litre of diet coke to cancel out the copious amounts of saturated fat.  Ok not really, but we can pretend right!? 

You will need:

• 1 large stock pot with a lid
• 1.5 tsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup popcorn kernels*
• 8oz butter
• Table salt
• Tongs
• A big bowl or three!
• Napkins or paper towels!!!

First things first, get your stock pot on the highest stove setting. If you have a gas stove, do the butter first, if electric, get your pot on.

While it starts to heat up, put your butter in a microwavable container and melt it on a low to medium heat. Do not let it bubble. Once it's fully melted, immediately remove and pop in freezer.  Yes, you heard me right. Don't ask questions, just do it! We're working on a tight schedule here peeps!!

When the pot is pretty hot add the oil and four kernels of popcorn.  No I haven't lost it, there's a method to my madness.  Put the lid on and wait until you hear four pops.  When all four kernels pop you know it is hot enough to pop the rest. 

Toss in the popcorn and put the lid on. Using a tea towel if the pot handles are hot, swirl it around gently every ten seconds or so, to ensure all the kernels keep moving and are coated in oil. Continue swirling as it pops. When the pops slow down to where there's more than 4-5 seconds between pops, remove from heat. Do not remove lid. 

Get butter out of the freezer. You will notice it's separated, congratulations you have just made clarified butter! Cold clarified butter gives the popcorn all of the flavour with none of the sogginess! At this point you can pour off the liquid gold and leave the solids in the bottom, or if you're lazy like me you just be careful not to get any of the solids on your popcorn.

Pour half the popcorn into your bowl and drizzle butter all over it. Toss with tongs as you pour to ensure even coating.  Sprinkle with salt and toss again.  Repeat with remaining half. 

Serve with plenty of napkins to go around! 

*I like the Kelkin brand. Do not buy the cheap stuff at the Asian shops, I made that mistake once and it's awful, doesn't pop right at all!

Ginger Mango Detox Smoothie

Confession time... I don't like fruit very much. I'll reluctantly eat a banana or apple when I feel like I should be healthy but it would not be my preferred choice. Luckily I love veggies, so hopefully I'm covered. This year I am hoping to get some more fruit into my diet and smoothies are a great way to do that!

After all the indulgence of the holidays I thought a nice detox smoothie would be a good way to start the morning. I'm also dying of the flu and ginger is a great bug fighter, so it seemed to make sense. I doubled the ginger in the original recipe.

I was pleasantly surprised with this smoothie, it's zingy and delicious and not too fruity at all. Definitely a great start to the morning!



Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 4-5 slices frozen mango
• 1 inch knob of ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 oz orange juice
• 2 oz water
• 5-6 ice cubes

Blend all ingredients in a blender and drink! <3

Adapted from here.

Now I'm going to sip my smoothie and sit down with my 2014 Create an Amazing Year workbook and get a start on 2014! 

Money Monday: Keeping Hens

Three of our girls getting adjusted.

Well I've finally lost it. I got chickens!  It's something I've always wanted to do, but didn't think the neighbours in our previous estate would appreciate it.  Since moving to the country it just kept niggling at me and when the landlord gave us the all clear I just had to go for it.  Assurances by neighbours around here that they are easy to keep helped assuage himself's misgivings and here we are.  

What does this have to do with money you ask?  Well, as an avid cook and baker I would easily go through 2.5 dozen eggs a week.  This works out to almost ten euro a week, as I would not negotiate on eggs, free-range is the only way to go in my book, both by taste and ethical standards.  So that's over 520 euro a year. The chickens cost me 50 euro and the coop cost 200. I got it as part of a starter kit from Farm Fowl in Wicklow. The feed is cheap and lasts for a long time and they munch on scraps from the kitchen as well. If they all lay daily they have paid for themselves in six months and will live for about four years.  Granted there will be times when the laying tapers off, but overall I think it's a sound investment that has many added benefits!

Lawn fertiliser for one!  We move the coop every couple of days and it's a bit of a mess when we move it, but within a few days it has turned a lush green and is quite distinctive from the rest of the grass. Himself has a grid pattern going now and is determined to get the lawn looking great with the chickens!

The eggs are FABULOUS!  You notice the difference as soon as you crack them.  The yellow of the yolk is so vibrant and the white just sticks around the yellow, it doesn't run out and this results in the most perfect poached eggs (stay tuned for eggs benedict recipe!) 

Ella finds the first egg!

The joy the kids get from the chickens is wonderful. They think they are so fun and love watching them and the little man loves chasing them around and giggles hysterically at them.  Not to mention the learning experiences involved. The girls have been very helpful with feeding and watering them and are learning some important lessons in animal husbandry. 

I find that personally it means I am outside a lot more during the day which is always a good thing and has prompted me to do some gardening and yard work that I would normally avoid. All in all it's been a fabulous experience and should pay for itself at the end of the year.  They are really no trouble and a wonderful addition to the garden. I would highly recommend it, if it's feasible for your family, no regrets!

Do you raise hens or ducks or some other animals for food purposes? I'd love to hear about it!  Any tips for the newbie hen keeper? I'm all ears!

Happy Monday! x

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers

The mere mention of turkey burgers just turns me off. It gives me flashbacks of horrible low fat diets and cardboard flavoured meals. Yet I saw ground turkey on offer at the butchers the other day and figured the price was worth me playing around with it.  I made these burgers for lunch and surprised everyone including myself with the wonderful flavours and texture. These are super healthy and incredibly delicious; moist, colourful and tender. We've been avoiding white flour and sugar of late so I used maple syrup in the teriyaki sauce and to be honest it was actually better than a sauce made with brown sugar, it was light and zingy and the perfect accompaniment to the burgers.  You could easily make these into meatballs as well.  The apple is the secret to keeping them moist.  All in all a big hit with young and old alike.

Ingredients:

For the patties:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and finely chopped (white and green parts)
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• 1" piece of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1/2 sweet red pepper, finely diced
• 1 apple, peeled and grated
• 1 tsp sriracha sauce
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup oats*
• salt and pepper to taste
• coconut oil for grilling

For the sauce:

• 1/4 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• clove of garlic, crushed
• A few thin slices of ginger

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and grease your hands with a little coconut oil. Form into patties and chill while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, add all ingredients to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and cook until slightly syrupy. 

To grill the patties, brush a grill pan with a little coconut oil and grill over a medium heat for about ten minutes a side.  If you're grilling on a barbecue be sure to grease the grill well as there is very little fat in this recipe and it will stick otherwise.

Serve with wedges of pineapple and the teriyaki sauce. 

* Can use breadcrumbs here as well, but the oats are better for you and keep you fuller longer!

Linking up to: Recipe Sharing Monday,

Homemade Power Bars

Proud Daddy with his girl!

Apologies for being so MIA of late, it's been a busy few weeks. My eldest made her First Holy Communion last weekend and my baby was baptised the next day.  There was a big party on the Saturday followed by a smaller more intimate lunch after the Christening.

It was a wonderful weekend but very exhausting and I swear I'm still recovering.  Baby loved all the attention. I was worried as he was being passed around like snuff at a wake, but he soaked up every minute and was an absolute charmer!  I think he's getting used to just me again.  Ella had a wonderful day and cites the best part of the day being when she took her dress off.  That's my tomboy for you! ;)

Family Picture on Mark's Baptism Day

The week before that we had Ella's eighth birthday party.  That birthday also marked eight years since we became parents, scary to think, especially considering it seems like we've just started all over again.  Having a six year gap really makes you seem like brand new parents and I have to say it's a whole different ballgame in your early thirties than in your early twenties.  I'll actually have to write a post about that, because I find the differences fascinating.  But I digress...

Power bars...where to start.  Well, himself works crazy hours, sometimes 18 hour days with a good amount of physical work thrown in.  He's the most conscientious worker (he's worked for this company for 7 years and has yet to call in sick) and gets so involved that he often forgets to eat or if he does eat, it's a packet of biscuits or similar junk.  He cycles too and from work which helps to counteract his horrible eating habits, but I felt like he needed something to get him through the day so I started experimenting with recipes.  Below is a power-packed whole foods granola bar which really packs a healthy punch and keeps you full for quite some time.  The quinoa and oats form the basic recipe with the binding of honey and peanut butter, but everything else is easily adapted to your taste.  I would also recommend adding some dried fruit, the bars pictured are fruit-free for the kids as they can't stand dried fruit, bt adding some tart dried cherries or sweet apricots would add a lot.  These are also good for those of us who are breastfeeding, as both quinoa and oats are known lactogenic foods. Double win!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 1 cup milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup greek yoghurt
• 1 cup chopped/ground nuts*
• 1/2 cup dried fruit
• 2 tbsp linseed
• 1/2 cup raw honey
• 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
• 1/2 cup seeds**
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt

Soak the quinoa in water with a dash of lemon juice overnight.  The next morning, drain and add to the milk. Slice the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds, add to the milk with the remaining pod.  Bring milk to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer until all liquid is absorbed.

Soak oats in yoghurt overnight. Once quinoa is cooked, mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Line a 9x13" pan with parchment paper and spread the mixture inside.  Bake at 200C/400F for 30-45 minutes until browned around the edges and cooked through.  

Allow to cool and slice into bars.  Enjoy as a power snack, kids brain food, breakfast on the go or with a cup of coffee!

* I used almonds and hazelnuts. 

** I used a mix of sunflower and pumpkin

A sneak peek (and horrible photo) of my eight year old's birthday cake. Recipe to follow!