Candyfloss & Dreams

Tag: Food

Making Home Made Steamed Fluffy Bao Buns

Recently I found a kit from School of Wok in Sainsburys that taught you had to make Steamed Fluffy Bao Buns at home. If you don’t know what steamed buns are they are, from what I gather, an Asian bun, usually cooked in a bamboo steamer and filled with all kinds of deliciousness. I love them. My love for them began in 2019 with the Wagamama’s steamed fluffy buns and then lockdown hit and I couldn’t get them anymore. Now I know how to make them my life feels complete. It was probably one of the best things we’d ever made together at home actually. We were fully inspired by Wagamama’s menu and made a pork belly, apple, carrot and coriander filling with a siracha mayo.

How to make steamed bao buns at home with a school of wok recipe kit

The School of Wok Bao Bun kit comes with the bun mix and a BBQ mariande for the chosen meat. It also includes some rice wine for chosen pickeled vegetable. I chopped up a granny smith green apple into matchstick shapes and grated a carrot before mixing the wine vinegar with a little salt, sugar and water. I then gave the apple and carrot a mix up with the pickle liquid and kept stiring occasionally as I made up the rest of the dish. For the pork belly we smothered it in the BBQ sauce and baked in the oven, turning midway. The buns were not particularly hard to make however we have neither a wok nor a bamboo steaming basket. This lead to a pretty interesting set up. We basically had a big pan of boiling water, a heat resistant bowl with a plate on top covered in greaseproof paper. We then added a couple of buns to the plate and steamed with the lid on the pan for around 8 minutes. The School of Wok kit was really helpful and explained this as an ideal set up. As long as you have a deep lidded pan in the home then you can make these Steamed Fluffy Bao Buns!

Pork and Apple steamed Bao Buns with siracha mayo and coriander

We ended up making about 8 or so steamed buns on total, maybe a couple more, because we added too much water and then needed to add more flour to compensate. How the dough still managed to raise and steam as well as it did I do not know. I didn’t roll them out very thin either so we had a lot of different sized buns. I found the kit really easy to use and would absolutely do this again. I love trying to recreate meals at home and would love to try other fillings with the bao buns in the future. They are guarenteed to be a party pleaser, can have a variety of veggie fillings and actually don’t take too long when you know what you’re doing.

July 26, 2021
Autumn Slow Cooker Meals I Love

Autumn is the best time of year to get the slow cooker out and I wanted to share some autumn slow cooker meals I love. With the weather turning cooler I am looking to use my slow cooker for tasty, warming meals. There’s something about Autumn that just makes me want to use the slow cooker. It’s so nice coming back from the school run knowing I don’t have a dinner to prepare because I can just chuck what I need in the slow cooker in the morning and it will be tasty, tender and hot for dinner time. Having a baby in the house and not having to properly prepare meals but still have something filling and nutritious every night. This is going to be absolutely vital whilst breastfeeding too because I can make sure everyone, including myself, is fed. Here are my favourite slow cooker meals.

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Soup

I love soup and whilst some people may have a soup maker you can do delicious soup in a slow cooker easily. Any left over veggies are perfect for this so if you’re someone that loves a roast on a Sunday and has anything left over popping it into a slow cooker with some liquid broth or stock can make it into a really tasty soup. You can then leave it chunky or blend it up before serving. My favourite is tomato and red pepper with a sprinkle of chilli flakes as I feel the lovely vibrant colour makes it feel as warming as it tastes. I also really love leek and potato soup with a soft roll. Another great option is a thai style coconut chicken soup.

Stews

Stews are ideal slow cooker food because you can add in whatever ingredients you like. Beef and ale with seasonal vegetables is a firm favourite here and adding the ale early on you have the taste and the flavour but the alcohol is cooked off. Pork and apple can make another really lovely stew and for me there’s just something about pork and apples that make me think of Autumn. I’ve made this with Brothers Toffee Apple cider too which does make it quite sweet. Paired with some green vegetables and mash potato this is a delicious stew. If you fancy something a little different chicken and apricot with Moroccan spices can be something completely different too. I love this with a few herby dumplings too.

Pie Fillings

Slow cooked pie fillings are delicious for this time of year. If you want that pastry crust topping with a slow cooked pie filling you can get ready rolled puff pastry and cook off in the oven before serving. Or if you’re making a family sized pie in advance slow cooking the filling can bring out all the flavour and make the meat super tender.

Other Autumn Slow Cooker Meals

Chilli is a great one for a slow cooker as it’s super quick and easy and the longer chilli cooks the better it tastes. Curries also work really well in a slow cooker especially using sweet potato and butternut squash as it allows the vegetables to soften and take on the subtle spices of the curry. You can also make a delicious pulled pork by slow cooking it. I love pulled pork, it’s warming and makes a tasty midweek meal. Any left over can be added to rolls and sandwiches the next day too.

October 3, 2018
Our #HealthyRedMeat Challenge
This post is an entry for the BritMums #HealthyRedMeat, sponsored by the Meat Advisory Panel.

Our go to meat is usually chicken as it’s a firm family favourite however we do also enjoy red meat from time to time too. Working with Britmums and the Meat Advisory Panel I was provided with a £10 voucher to go and grab some read meat and get cooking. I felt quite inspired and wanted to make some really tasty meals for the family. I decided on our meat and purchased some lean diced casserole beef and a lovely big portion of lamb for a roast dinner. I very rarely make a roast dinner because I’m not really a fan but Evie absolutely loves them and Adam and I both enjoyed the change to our usual Sunday food.

Using the beef we made a big tasty beef stew with lots of vegetables, lentils and dumplings. I seared the beef first and then cooked up onions and garlic. I added the beef back into the onions and cooked for a few minutes before moving over to a big pan of beef stock that I had been simmering. I then roughly chopped our vegetables and added a portion of lentils. The dumplings were added fifteen minutes before I dished everything up.

Using the lamb we had a lovely big roast dinner with roast potatoes, stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, brocolli, cauliflower and a mint gravy. It was really lovely and filling and the lamb was nice and tender. I do really quite like lamb when it’s roasted and it’s not a meat we have very often. Evie wasn’t convinced but I was proud she did actually try some. The beef stew was much more to her taste. We really did go all out with our roast because all the trimmings really make it a tasty, filling and fun meal.

I’ve always enjoyed eating meat and don’t really remember a time without it. I love making chilli, burgers and burritos with mince but it was nice to try making something new this week. I am really trying to educate myself about nutrition and what we put into our bodies to act as fuel, what gives us a boost in vitamins and essential nutrients that we need to function optimally. I really believe that there should be a healthy balance of flavours, textures and colours on every plate and red meat is a good source for this. Some interesting points to consider when thinking about food and what we eat:
Red meat provides a range of important nutrients that are often low in toddlers and children – including iron, zinc, and B vitamins, selenium and potassium.

Red meat has been in the spotlight recently, and experts fear that the nutritional benefits have been overshadowed by misleading negative views. To cut through the confusion, the Meat Advisory Panel, an independent group of health and nutrition experts, is partnering with BritMums to promote red meat in the diets of children.

Dr Emma Derbyshire, a public health nutritionist and mother, says: “Including a small portion of red meat in the diet a few times a week after weaning can help to bridge nutrient gaps and so help to maintain good health through childhood and beyond.”
Do you eat a lot of red meat in your meals?
September 20, 2017
Pizza Express – Andover – Review

With my boyfriend turning 25 on Monday we started our celebrations last night at Pizza Express. It’s been open in our town for a couple of months now and it’s the second time I’ve been but the first time we’ve all been as a family. Adam was pretty keen to try it and Mini Kat just wanted dough balls. It seemed like a win-win for us all. It’s sort of felt like a ‘last meal’ for me as well as today I am healthy all the way. Well, except for a few things I’m sure but I’m making much more effort to be healthy from now on. Good thing about pizza express is they have plenty of light options on their menu so we can easily return! Adam loves pizza and so it was fitting that we had his favourite cuisine to begin celebrating his birthday weekend.

We booked a table for eight people which included the three of us, my dad and his fiance, my sister and her girlfriend and my younger sister who was going to be taking Mini Kat back to my mums after dinner for a sleepover. We booked for quite late in the afternoon but before the dinner rush so that Adam and I could head over to the cinema afterwards. The table we were given was in the middle of the left side of the entrance and it was a lovely long booth so we could all sit together comfortably and chat.

I loved that a menu for Mini Kat was already out which included some colouring pencils for her which really helped to keep her occupied whilst we were chatting and waiting for our food. As the three of us were the last to arrive I’m not sure if that’s because my dad asked for the child’s menu as I hadn’t told them a child would be coming myself but the fact that it was there before the three of us was great. After we were sat down and a few minutes of saying hellos our drinks order was taken. Adam and I had a bottle of red between us and adding a drink on to the child’s menu was very low cost. This included most of the soft drinks available but as it was a treat my daughter was allowed a coke. We did ask for a straw but unfortunately they were all out.

Our drinks came fairly quickly and then there was a bit of a wait for our food order to be taken but we were all pretty busy chatting away. The young man that took our order was very friendly and helpful however he did forget one of our parties starter and main course order which lead to a slight delay on her food. He did rectify it with some complimentary olives to nibble on however as he admitted and acknowledged that it was his error. Any new drinks ordered came pretty quickly too. We also brought in a cake which they kindly brought out for us and provided with plates for the order after our main meal plates had been taken away.

For our food Adam and I shared the Antipasti Platter as a starter which is just delicious. You can double up and share for just under £13 and you get a big platter of cold meats, dips, cheesy dough slices, olives and tomatoes. We really enjoyed that as a starter, it was really quite filling actually. Mini Kat had dough balls which is the only option on the child’s menu but as she loves them she was happy. It also came with a few salad bits which she could probably give or take. She did happily help herself to our mozzarella and olives though! Our starter did come on a sort of tower thing with the plates underneath so we could share easily. It was a little big but we kind of new what we were going to get as we’ve been to other Pizza Express restaurants before.

Our main meals came very quickly after our starters which I’m sure those of the party that didn’t have a starter were grateful for. I opted for the new Hawaiin pizza which was really delicious. It came with a pineapple chutney which was really sweet alongside the smokey bacon and the cheese. Each pizza came with an individual pizza slicer too which was great although it made them all very accessible to my daughter and one turn of my head saw her waving one around and we helped her cut up her small pizza which was ham, olives and mushroom – Mini Kat really loves her olives! Quite a few went for the American hot pizza which looked good. My dad had the American Hottest as one type of chilli clearly isn’t enough for him! All the pizzas looked great and tasted better.

We were there for around two hours chatting, eating and drinking and had a really great meal. Apart from the small hiccup with the food delay I have no other complaints. The setting inside is lovely and as it’s only been opened for a few months now the decor inside is still new and fresh. It’s comfortable and the service has been pleasant for me each time I’ve been there. As Pizza Express is a chain all the prices are pretty similar around the country and they have plenty of special offers and discounts if you sign up to email updates on their website. Pizza Express is also experimenting with delivery options however this isn’t available in our town yet. For the eight of us our bill totaled £156 which included a few starters, drinks, all main meals and the child’s menu which is priced at just under £7. We enjoyed our meal and it’s really nice to see more places open up in our town. I really hope it stays because we would happily become regulars.

May 1, 2016