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.