Seriously Easy Meatballs and Sauce.

Today was a meatball kind of day. However I didn't have breadcrumbs or the patience to make breadcrumbs. This could have been an issue. However I figured Digestive biscuits could work just  as well as breadcrumbs (I don't really know where this logic came from!!), so to the kitchen I went to smash up Digestives and whip together meatballs and sauce. And I'm so glad I did! Digestives are a genius (If I say so myself) addition to meatballs! They're a tiny bit sweet and bring out the yummy flavours of the meat! The Kids loved them and ate huge amounts!! Eldest Child said that this recipe needded to be shared so everyone could have meatballs that were this good.


So, here's the recipe :)


Meatballs
You need:
a packet of minced beef (I think my pack was about 500g)
4 digestive biscuits, smashed within an inch of their life
a glug of Worcester Sauce
a good sprinkle of sage and oregano and dried garlic
1 egg


What you do:
Get the oven to 200 degrees celicius.
It's the easiest, but slightly messy, method! You throw all the ingredients into a bowl and mix it together with your hands, really make sure it's all binding together. Then roll the mixture into little balls, about the size of a walnut, or a big marble. 
 Pop the meatballs onto a baking tray and put it on the middle shelf of the oven for about 10 mins. 


Whilst the meatballs are in the oven prepare the sauce. 


The sauce is a tomato sauce with whatever veggies you have lying around. My sauce had mushrooms (cut into tiny pieces cos the kids don't really like them), broccoli and a yellow pepper . You could add anything to the sauce, or you could keep it a basic tomato sauce made with a can of chopped toms, a carton of pasatta and a glug of milk (I don't know the science behind it, but milk in a tomato sauce just makes it taste so much better!!!).
So mix the sauce together in a bowl then spoon it around the meatballs after they've been cooking for 10mins. You then leave the whole thing in the oven for another 5 to 10 mins so the sauce is nicely warmed through and the veggies are cooked. 


 Serve with spaghetti or pasta. Or even on its own with nice bread. 

Not the best picture, but it was a quick snap before the kids wolfed down their dinner! 

Confirmation

Today I got Confirmed. It was a truly moving experience and I'm so glad my Mum, Dad and Aunty Jan came over for the service. I also had my lovely host family at the service as well. It was a truly special day. 
 I can't eloquently explain how wonderful and moving it was, or how hard it was to drop my family at the airport, but this weekend has been perfect. 


 My Mum gave me the crucifix she was given by Aunty Jan and Grandma for her confirmation. I remember playing with it when I was little as she never took it off. I received such thoughtful gifts, 


 A card from my Aunty had a quote from the Song of Solomon 'Many waters cannot quench love, Nor will rivers overflow it.'. To quote Ben Cantelon 'I've found a love, greater than life itself. I've found a love stronger and nothing compares, I once was lost, now I'm alive in You.' 


 I'm afraid today's post is really quite rambling, but my brain feels a bit jumbled up!

Amazing Eggless Cookie Recipe

Yesterday the kids and I needed a bit of a boost, so while I was making dinner I whipped these cookies up as well. They're quite a cakey biscuit which was a nice surprise! But the outside's perfectly crispy as well. I didn't manage to take a picture as they were all scoffed before I got the chance!


You need: 
 1/2 cup of butter
 1/2 cup of sunflower oil
 3/4 cup of sugar
 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 1 teaspoon baking powder (I think mine tasted too much of baking powder, so make it a level teaspoon not a                    heaped teaspoon)
 2 1/4 cups of  plain flour
 2 tablespoons of water (I ended up using about 2 and a half, but have 2 as your starting point)
 1/2 a bar of good dark chocolate. 


1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.


2) Cream together the butter, oil, sugar and vanilla extract


3) Mix in the flour, water and baking powder then add the chocolate once you have the right consistancy for your dough. 


4) Bake for 10-15 mins. Serve warm, or serve them the next day when they've been out all night and they're a tiny bit soggy (that's how I had mine this afternoon and it was good!!!) 

I have a plan!

I finally have a sort of plan for May half term!!


Saturday and Sunday: It starts with Luxembourg's Food for your Senses music festival, which lovely HM will be accompanying me!! So that'll be fun! 


Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: Cycling down the Moselle from Echternach area all the way down to Schengan (or possible going the other way! Who knows!!) Just waiting to hear about bike hire for that part of the trip! So three days of cycling through vineyards along the Moselle river, probably having to stop to sample some wines, the Bernard Mansard Crement factory is there! How exciting! 

The Moselle Valley

Thursday: Get a stupidly early train to Strasbourg and spend the day wandering around the city, then I shall hopefully have my first couchsurfing experience! (Keep your fingers crossed this couch is available!) Which i'm very much looking forward to! 

If Strasbourg looks like that when I go I'll be one happy bunny.

Friday: Another early train journey to the lovely city of Colmar, the pictures of this place look incredible! Then get an evening train to Nancy for my second couchsurfing experience! 

I can't wait to wander round these beautiful streets in Colmar!

Saturday: Explore Nancy a bit, I'll hopefully be able to get some locals tips from my couchsurfing host!

Sunday: Yet another early train to Metz, explore the city and then get a train back to Luxembourg that evening! 

Not the most restful week off but it'll be wonderful all the same!!! And by the end of it I'll be able to put my own pictures up, not google's! 

One of those days.

I don't remember where I found this beauty, but I love it! It's been a day for drinking a lot of tea. It made me miss my beautiful teacup, teapot, antique milk jug and lovely tray I used to take into my room and curl up with a good book.
 I love tea drinking rituals. 

Planning

I like making plans. I like deciding what adventure to sort out next (or at least that's what I've enjoyed doing since about August last year). So I'm currently planning a lovely trip around the north east of France. I have a week off in May and since my family will all be at work I'm going to stay on the Mainland. Now train travel in France/Luxembourg is amazingly cheap! My trains work out at £64 for the whole week! Incredible seeing as it can be that much to get from London to Newark!! But hotels are the issue, so I'm looking into CouchSurfing! LE suggested I had a look after I was moaning about the single traveller supplements you have to pay for hotel rooms.

I remember, in Uni, my friend having some CouchSurfers stay in her house, and they were the coolest people ever. They were chilled out and were there because they wanted to see the Lakes so much that they'd stay on someone's sofa to be able to do it! I find this sort of attitude to travelling so inspiring! So last night I signed up to CouchSurfing and sent a few requests to a bunch of fun sounding people and I have everything crossed that someone will have some space for me!

The CouchSurfing website also has events and groups through which I found this wonderful musician , who happens to be coming to Luxembourg next week! Which is hugely exciting!

I'll keep you all updated on holiday/CouchSurfing plans :)

Hello Long Lost Blog!

Sorry I've been so rubbish at keeping the blog for the past few months!

Here's what's been going on with me since I've been gone!

I went home in Feb and played in the snow with Dad and Ellie.

Then went up to the Lakes to play in the snow with Jess and Kitty.

Then 2 weeks after ended up in the French Alps with the family I work for! Excellent little village/resort called Aussiois. Very beautiful!

Here I discovered beer tastes best in the sun after a massive ....

... walk with snowshoes!

Also doing a walk in snowshoes up the mountain at sunrise is pretty amazing as well!

The views were fabulous and I fell in love with apres ski life!

Then after that I've been to see hippos

And smiling tigers in the zoo in France.

And I made soup with stars in it!

And enjoyed watching spring begin to bloom in Lux.

Then went back to snowy conditions in the UK for a week.

But I did get to catch up with my wonderful family! And finally meet my cousin's beautiful third son!

Then last weekend ended up at a football match in Germany! It's been all go!

It's been busy busy busy! But lot's of exciting things have happened, as well as a couple of sad things. But as my lovely K says....