With our kitchen being ripped out this week and a couple of weeks wait before we get the new one we decided to try the Aldi Mini Oven which was on sale last week. Priced at only £19.99 I thought it was worth a try.
We tried it out last night for the first time and it worked really well. The initial smell was rather off putting, as it smelt like burning plastic, but once we'd left it to run for 15 minutes with the oven door open, as the instructions suggested, it cooked dinner perfectly.
Advertised as big enough for 4 slices of bread or a 9 inch pizza it isnt huge, but as it comes with a baking tray the correct size it means you can make maximum use of the space. It was plenty big enough to fit chicken & potatoes for two.
Having spoken to a friend who had a similar mini oven when their regular oven broke, I was worried that the food in the middle of the oven would cook much faster than the rest. However, the food cooked evenly throughout.
Once the kitchen is fitted we will have a hob but we wont have a cooker until the house has been rewired. I can see this little oven coming in really handy.
This weekend we started to remove our current kitchen.
The woodchip is a nightmare! Once removed it became clear that the walls aren't in great condition. Im going to plough on and strip the rest of the kitchen before deciding what to do. Our thinking at the moment is to paint it as planned without worrying too much about the condition of the plaster, as only a minimal amount will be on display once the kitchen units are fitted and the walls tiled.
Looking at the state of these walls, I almost prefer the green!
We havnt done much with the office, as we had to get it set up and running as soon as we moved in. Its probably one of the least offensive of the rooms in the house if you dont look at the carpet.
The walls are very pale green and the carpet is pillarbox red.
The union jack cushions were a house warming gift, purchased in Homebase.
We've got as far as putting a picture up on the wall. This canvas is of a photo Neil took on a road trip in America. Its the front of the Mustang Convertible we'd hired for the drive, taken in the desert.
Our garden is empty, apart from some blackberries. The bush is fairly well established, so produced enough for us to make some jam. As we only have half a kitchen at the moment I followed a recipe to make it in the microwave and it worked really well. As well as the blackberries in the garden we picked some locally and ended up making 11 jars!
- Briefly blend the fruit and place in a large microwave-proof bowl with the sugar. Microwave on High for 3 mins, then stir well. Microwave for a further 3 mins on High, stirring after. Finish with a further 2 mins, then pour into warm sterilised jars. Once bottled and cool the jam is ready to eat. Will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 6 months. Keep in the fridge once opened.
.jpeg)
.JPG)
.jpeg)
.JPG)
.jpeg)
.JPG)