Vegetarian Enchiladas

I love beans, not the green variety (though I do like them too), but legumes. They are incredibly versatile, nutritious, satisfying and tasty.
I use beans in salads, Indian and Mexican cooking. In Mexican dishes I generally use beans instead of meat.
For this meal I soaked some dried beans over night (kidney beans and another variety which I've forgotten) then boiled and processed some, I left some whole for the texture. I was using an Old El Paso Enchilada meal kit so I mixed through some Mexican spices and half of the tomato based sauce. I filled the tortillas with the bean mix, rolled them, placed them in an oven tray and covered them with the remaining tomato sauce and some cheese, as per the instructions. As a side to the enchiladas I made some guacamole and a salad.
I really enjoyed this meal, however eating lots of beans can tend to have a bad side effect....

Kangaroo and Salad

I recently needed some read meat, not because I like it, but because I need to look after my iron levels. I had some kangaroo meat in the freezer and cooked that up. Apparently kangaroo meat is very good for you, it's lean, low in fat, high in iron and it's quite cheap. That is all good and well, but I feel very strange about eating the national animal of Australia. I'm caught in a mental struggle; I know the meat is good for me but I feel some moral conflict when eating it. I don't think i'll be having any kangaroo meat again anytime soon but I will explain a bit about this meal.

I cooked the meat just enough because it has a tenancy to be chewy when even slightly overcooked. I then mixed it with some Worcestershire and tomato sauces and made a runny gravy with the pan juices and some Gravox.
The salad was really tasty. I recently bought a jar of gherkins and have been adding them to most of the salads I'm making. The are a tasty addition. Along with the gherkins, the salad had some tomato, capsicum, lettuce, olives, celery and cucumber.

Agnolotti and Ravioli Two Ways

I recently bought some Ricotta and Spinach Agnolotti and Chicken and Mushroom Ravioli on special. I don't eat a great deal of pasta (T does) but I consider this kind if pasta a real treat.
I decided to cook both pastas together, make a big batch and have enough for leftovers. I prepared two different 'sauces,' both of which were delicious!

The tomato based sauce was made up of onion, garlic, sun dried tomatoes, chopped tomatoes and some tomato paste. Simple but yummy.

The other 'sauce' was a new one I tried out. I visited taste.com.au and found a recipe for Avocado and Rocket Pasta. The flavours were fresh and delicious. I definitely recommend this recipe to anyone.

Tofu Stir-Fry

I've made a few tofu stir-fries lately and this one was a real winner.

 

The tofu was pre-marinated and the delicious selection of vegies were from a frozen packet. I also added some extra broccoli and sauces. It was served with Maggi 2-Minute noodles.

Smoked Trout Pita Wrap

Last night for dinner I made myself a tasty wrap. The pita bread was fresh (M-mmm!) and I filled it with smoked trout, sour cream, baby spinach leaves, green capsicum, tomato avocado and gherkins. Nice.

T's Birthday Lunch

Monday is T's birthday so we had some friends over for lunch today to celebrate. I had planned and cooked ahead so I had nothing to stress about today.
I tried a few new recipes, each of which were quite successful, as well as making some tried and tested favourites.

Here is the menu:

Nibbles
Savory celery sticks
Hommus with rice crackers and pita bread
Corn chips with salsa

Home made hommus

The Celery sticks were a winner. The mixture in the middle would make a nice dip, it consisted of cream cheese combined with finely chopped red onion and gherkins. I found the recipe in a 4 Ingredients cook book.

Savory celery sticks

Main

Thai Pumpkin Soup

Potato and Leek Soup

Tuscan Bean Soup

This was a new recipe. It was simple and delicious.

+ Vienna Loaf
+ Sweet chilli pull apart
+ French stick

Dessert
 Orange mini muffins with cream cheese icing

Gluten-free choc biscuits

Laurant Folie Cake

I was super happy with all the food. Everything was well received, there was plenty left over and I got a fair few compliments! Perfect for a birthday lunch!!

Happy Birthday hubby!

Rice Crusted Quiche

I wanted to try something a little new so I made a rice crusted quiche the other day. The crust was simply brown rice, an egg and a little cheese. I pressed this mixture into a round oven tray and browned it slightly in the oven.
To the egg mixture I added pumpkin, potato, capsicum and zucchini. Unfortunately I didn't add as much seasoning as I should have so the finished product was rather bland and unexciting. I will probably try this again sometime because it is an easy, budget meal for mid week, however next time I won't forget the salt!

Home Made Soup and Bread

Last weekend we had my parents over for lunch. It was a humble meal of soup and bread but was totally delicious. I made Potato and Leek Soup and asked mum to bring along her signature Pumpkin Soup.

To accompany the soups I made Beer Bread and Damper. My dad doesn't drink beer at all but he loved this bread. He especially liked the sweetness and the crust.

Beer Bread
(from 3 Ingredients)
1 can of beer (375ml)
1/3 cup sugar
3 cups Self Raising Flour

Mix ingredients together and transfer into loaf tin. Bake for 1 hour at 180 degrees. 50 minutes into cooking time drizzle loaf with a knob of melted butter (I forgot to do this but it still turned out nicely).

I couldn't get enough of the damper! The base recipe is the same as I used some months back and wrote about on a previous post, Monday Night Dinner. This time however, I stirred through some garlic and herbs It was absolutely scrumptious!!

Potato and Leek Soup

This soup is quick and easy and tastes great!
55g butter
1 onion
3 leeks
225g potatoes cut into cubes
850ml vegetable stock
salt and pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add onion, leek, potatoes and saute until soft. Pour in stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15mins. Blend in a food processor until smooth. Re heat and enjoy!!

Orange Cake

I went searching for an orange cake I could make without almond meal and found one written by a fellow blogger, Rhonda on Down to Earth. The recipe appeared to be quick and easy. It certainly was! I changed the recipe slightly and here it is:

2 small whole orange, washed well

3 eggs

180 g melted butter

~1 cup white sugar

1½ cups self raising flour, sifted

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Process oranges in food processor until there are no large chunks remaining. Transfer to a bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix through. Transfer to greased loaf tin and bake for about 40 minutes.

I kind of lost track how long the cake was in the oven for. I think it might have been closer to 50 minutes, rather than 40. It did brown on top very fast so I had to cover it with foil about 25 minutes in to the cooking time.

When it came out of the oven and was served up it was delicious, moist and very enjoyable. I plan on making this again very soon, before my abundant collection of oranges go off.

Healthy Nachos

I have fond memories of eating nachos when I was younger but they are not something I would happily eat these days. Corn chips, piles of cheese and lashings of sour cream aren't exactly friendly to a girls hips. So I made it my mission to create a low fat version of nachos. I knew they wouldn't be as delicious, but nor would I feel so guilty when eating them.
I toasted pita bread instead using corn chips, had low fat sour cream, a sprinkling of cheese, guacamole, chunky salsa and chilli beans. I used a little Mexican seasoning and a jar of salsa, which I added to, but pretty much the rest was from scratch. I am rather happy with my effort.

And there was just enough left over for lunch. Perfect! Although they were low fat, I have to say I was totally impressed (and so was T).

Honey Soy Tofu Stir-fry

Tonight's dinner was quick and easy, tasty and healthy, cheap and satisfying. Awesome!
The honey soy tofu was pre marinated (it cost $4 for 200g) and I bought the fresh stir-fry vegies at a reduced price ($2.70 for 600g). I added a few extra splashes of soy sauce and a little extra honey. The tasty bits were served on top of some 2 Minute noodles.

Chocolate Weet-Bix Slice

It was my turn to take morning tea to work on Tuesday so I decided to make a chocolate Weet-Bix slice. I stopped by the local milk-bar to pick up some icing sugar and cocoa but as my luck would have it, they didn't stock cocoa! Arrgh! I rushed home and turned to my trusty search engine for an alternative. Milo was a suggestion and thankfully I had a large tin of that in the cupboard. I knew the Milo would be a poor substitute but I had no other option. So, in the recipe below I used Milo instead of the cocoa and a greater quantity than suggested. While the slice wasn't a blow-your-mind delicious, it was nice (but would have been better with cocoa).

Chocolate Weet-Bix Slice 
Ingredients

• 12 Weet-Bix, finely crushed
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 200g butter, melted
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• chocolate icing sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 18cm x 28cm (base) slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing 3cm overhang on all sides.
2. Combine Weet-Bix, cocoa powder (Milo), sugar, butter, coconut and egg in a bowl. Press mixture over base of prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until firm to touch.
3. Meanwhile, make icing according to packet instructions. Using a hot knife, spread icing over base. Set aside for 2 hours or until firm. Cut into squares. Serve.

I also made my regular muesli slice (with a little more sugar than usual).

Delicious Gluten-free Biscuits

This is a favourite biscuit recipe of mine. I especially love the texture, because the recipe calls for rice flour rather than standard flour. The original recipe uses nuts but I add a variety of dried fruits too, or you could add choc chips. It is a pretty flexible recipe.

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 firmly packed cup (100g) brown sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbs natural yoghurt
• 1 cup (150g) rice flour
• 1 cup (150g) unsalted mixed nuts with sultanas, roughly chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
2. Using electric beaters, cream butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and thick. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat to combine. Fold in yoghurt, flour and nut mix. Roll slightly rounded tablespoons of the mixture, flatten and place on trays. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes or until golden. Cool on trays for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool. Keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Lentil Burgers

Mmmm mm! I love these Lentil Patties from Sanitarium. I always have them stored in the freezer as a standby quick, nutritious meal.

Sometimes I serve them in bread rolls, sometimes between lightly toasted pieces of bread. They are always a winner!

Quick Chicken Pie

Last night I made a quick and easy chicken pie. I found the recipe in one of my 4 Ingredients cook books and had been looking forward to giving it a go for some time.
The success of this recipe, I think, depends greatly on the quality of the chicken soup used. My pie was nice but I think it could have been more impressive if I used a different brand of soup.

Quick Chicken Pie

1 can of condensed chicken soup
1 cup cooked chicken pieces
~500g frozen vegies, defrosted
2 sheets of puff pastry

Mix soup, chicken and vegetables together in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Grease pie tin and line with one sheet of pastry. Pour in pie filling. Top pie with the other pastry sheet and seal the lid by pressing it down with a fork. Cut two slits in the lid and brush with butter. Cook in a 180 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Jacket Potatoes

Last night's dinner was a simple but satisfying meal of baked/jacket potatoes. The spuds were wrapped in foil and cooked in the oven until soft. I then topped them with what ever I could find in the fridge, that included:

• mozzarella cheese
• sour cream
• baked beans
• tomato
• onion
• red cabbage and green leaves
• spring onion
• salt and pepper

Fruit Bun with Cream Cheese, Sultana Mix and Carrot

For the most part of a week I have had no taste. None! For someone who loves her food this has been a major bummer!!
My taste is now starting to return so I made myself a light lunch that I have been waiting to make for a while.
I used a toasted a hot cross bun and then spread on some cream cheese. I then drizzled on honey, added a mixture of sultanas, broken up walnuts and sunflower seeds and topped it off with grated carrot.

While the flavour was muted (my sense of taste is yet to return completely), it was quite nice. The textures were great too, the only problem was that all the 'bits' kept falling off the hot cross buns. I will absolutely be making this again soon. Maybe on fruit toast next time.

Quick Dinner-Chicken Parma and Chips

Not too pretty, nor very interesting but dinner was tasty. Chicken parma, chips and a side of cheesy vegetables.

Lamb Shanks

Some time back I was in the supermarket and saw a deal I couldn't ignore. For about $12 (I can't remember the exact price) I bought 2 frozen, microwavable lamb shanks and a 1kg packet of mashed potato. T is not always a fan of lamb but he raved about this meal.
The lamb was cooked in the microwave for less than 20 minutes, the mashed potato was surprisingly delicious and the chick peas were the perfect accompaniment to lamb. Oh, and I can't forget the gravy!

I was very impressed.

Chicken Filo and Sides

It's been quite some time since I've blogged so I have a bit of a back log.
The star of this meal was the Leonards Black Cherry and Camembert Chicken Filo. I hadn't seen the filos in my local Leonards store for ages so I was so excited to buy some.
I served the filo with chips and a pre-packaged salad.

Brown Rice, Broccoli and Salmon

You can't get much healthier than my dinner tonight (ok, maybe you can but this was pretty good)!
It was a simple meal, with enough left over for lunch tomorrow.
I used a microwave packet of brown rice, garlic and ginger, some broccoli, green beans, an egg and a packet of chilli salmon. I topped it off with a little soy sauce.
Tasty stuff!

Bangers and Mash

I visited my local Lenard's store the other day in order to satisfy T's pleading for 'real chicken.' I came away with some lovely items (everything they stock is great!) including some sausages. It was definitely too cold for a barbecue last night so I cooked sausages in the frying pan instead.
I thought the weather called for mashed potato and of course no meal is complete without some greens; brussels sprouts and asparagus in this case. I also thought I'd add some baked beans to T's plate, I thought the combination of sausages, mashed potato and baked beans would be rather satisfying.

I was really pleased with dinner. I really enjoyed mine but unfortunately T was more than a little put off by the brussels sprouts (since last eating them he has decided he no longer likes them). Oh well, he can't be happy all the time.

Porridge

This morning I used the stove to make porridge. I cooked it with milk, served it on top of warmed peach pieces, stirred through a sprinkling on cinnamon, drizzled it with honey and sprinkled on some pepitas and sunflowers.

It was ok, but I think porridge is most delicious when it is sweeter and a little more indulgent.

Chicken and Corn Soup

Winter is definitely not my favourite time of the year but I do enjoy a hearty soup. I bought a barbequed chicken that needed to be finished off and that was my inspiration for this meal.

I began with a can of chicken and sweet corn soup to which I added the shredded chicken, half a can of corn, half a can of kidney beans and 1 cup of vegetable stock. I also added a big handful of precooked risoni. When the soup was hot I cracked in an egg and whisked it through. Once ladled into the bowl I sprinkled on some chopped spring onion.
It really was delicious!

Honey Mustard Chicken Stirfry

I was very busy this week so for dinner I cooked quick meals. This is one of them.

I simply cooked the pre-cut chicken breast and poured on the (free!) Honey Mustard sauce, stirfried the pre-prepared vegies, mixed them together and served them over rice. Voila!!

As well as some brown rice and a few parsley leaves, these are all the ingredients I used for dinner.

Cannelloni, Zucchini Fritter & Chips

Dinner last night was quick and easy. The cannelloni was pre-prepared in an oven tray and just needed cooking, as did the chips. I simply heated the fritter. Yum.

Simplicity Chocloate Cake (not so simple!)

My family recently got together for Grandma's birthday and it was my job to take afternoon tea and cake. I cheated a bit. Afternoon tea was store bought dips and biscuits as well as super simple tomato, cheese and kabana bites. I also made a beetroot dip using baby beets (from a can), 200g chickpeas, lemon juice and cottage cheese. It sure didn't look pretty but it was healthy and well received.

I put all my effort into the cake. Simplicity Chocolate Cake was the recipe name. Simple it was. Cake, not so much; it was more crumble. As the picture suggests, it didn't turn out so great!

It was Friday night and the last thing I wanted to do was bake, but I couldn't let Grandma down so I tried a different cake recipe. Nigella's Old Fashion Chocolate Cake was perfect because I needed to use some sour cream I had in the fridge. My luck was not so good this Friday night. Cake number two turned out quite flat. I cannot quite convey just how frustrated I was with my cooking but I chose to stick it out and do what I could with my two 'cakes.'
I covered Nigella's cake with Nutella and salvaged what I could of the Simple cake to make a top layer.

The layered cakes

Next I made the frosting. I didn't have quite enough icing sugar so the icing was runny. Atleast it tasted nice. I stuck a few TV Snack biscuits on top. I was so embarrassed by the cake but at least Grandma would know lots of love went into the preparation

My brother said it looked like a cow pat. He's not wrong!

Any way, I apologised to my family, we sung Happy Birthday and then served up the cake. I held my breath while waiting for a response and I guess the saying is true; don't judge a book by it's cover (or a cake by it's cow pat appearance).
This is what the layers looked like once cut into.

Simplicity Chocolate Cake

• 2 eggs
• 75g butter, melted
• 1 cup castor sugar
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 150g milk chocolate, melted
• 1/2 cup milk
• Nutella for icing

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees C. Thoroughly grease 20cm round cake tin.
2. Beat all ingredients together by hand for 3mins. Spread into tin.
3. Bake for about 45mins or until cooked. Allow to cool in tin before turning out.
4. When cold spread Nutella over cake. Serve with Cream.

Nigella's Old-fashioned Chocolate Cake

Follow this link for the cake recipe

Turkey Burgers

I love turkey mince. T hates it. I cook, so I win. We had home made turkey burgers the other night. I was super proud of my effort, I thought the burgers were delicious.
The mince was mixed with mustard, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, an egg, chopped parsley, salt and pepper (I think I might have added something else too but I can't remember what).
Once the patties were cooked I put them between pieces of bread with a little garlic, cheese, tomato, beetroot (I love beetroot), lettuce, avocado and cranberry sauce.

I even had a burger for lunch the next day. There are advantages when T doesn't enjoy his dinner!

Hoisin Chicken Stirfry

Dinner on Monday was nice and easy, just how I like to start the week. I bought some hoisin marinated chicken skewers, removed the chicken from the sticks and fried it. I then stir fried some frozen vegies, mixed through the chicken, a little extra hoisin and served it over basmati rice. Dinner in a flash!

Rocket & Walnut Penne

I've seen an ad on TV for a very simplistic pasta dish lately and I thought I'd give it a go (or something like it). I cooked up some penne and the other ingredients were just stirred through.
Lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, chilli sauce, salt and pepper were whisked together and poured over the pasta. Rocket, toasted walnuts and parmesan were mixed through too.
I think it was nice; fresh and light. Something different.

Stuffed Chicken Breast with Vegies (including brussel sprouts!)

I haven't eaten brussel sprouts in many, many years but considering their cheap price and high nutritional content I decided to give them a go. The sprouts were drizzled with butter and wholegrain mustard. I also fried some onion and tomato, boiled some corn on the cob and stuffed a chicken breast. The stuffing for the chicken was ricotta cheese, lemon zest, a tiny bit of yoghurt and some oregano. It was a really nice meal and the brussel sprouts were actually pretty enjoyable!