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