Today is the last day of my long weekend - Apart from washing, ironing and feeding Cara, I plan to do some baking - with some hidden ingredients ..
I'm going to try making Chocolate Zucchini Muffins - if they are any good I'll post the recipe I found on the Best Recipes website.. along with some pics too.
I have a very fussy eater (textures were sometimes an area of concern, this worked hand in hand with him having Aspergers and an a speech delay).. getting him to eat vegetables is still sometimes an issue.
I was inpsired to hide more fruit & veg in my cooking by a book called Deceptively Delicious. It's written by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife!). She purees a number of fruit/veg and adds it to her cooking. I still have not actually made any of the recipes from the book but it gave me a place to start. She is uber organised and freezes heaps of purees.. too much work for this busy little bee... I've found a happier medium for now - using my food processor.
As a start I whizzed carrot, zucchini and onion together until it was almost minced and added it to my spaghetti bolognaise sauce. At tea time I sat and watched Master D and his Dad eat it up without any issue. Hubby saw me cooking with it, unfortunately, but he still ate it without fanfare - yay! Next time I will include capsicum in the mix! I'm pretty sure Jamie Oliver makes a pasta sauce with five veges, I have been meaning to look it up for ages.. I did have plans to do so when I had a bumper tomato crop to make my own pasta sauce, alas, it was not to be.. next crop I hope!
This recipe serves about four, more if you bulk it out with pasta... I cook my pasta in the microwave - it takes about 12-15 minutes and I put it on when the sauce starts the simmer stage.
Spaghetti Bolognaise
1 brown onion
1 carrot
1 zucchini
2 heaped teaspoons minced garlic
500g beef mince
1 tin of condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup red wine or beef stock
tablespoon of brown sugar
sprinkle of mixed herbs
4-5 cups cooked pasta shapes (spirals or penne are my favourites)
1. Heat some olive oil in a large frypan to a med-high heat.
2. Whizz carrot, zucchini and onion in food processor (alternatively you can grate it).
3. Add garlic and veges to frypan and cook to your own preference.
4. Add mince, brown and stir to mix veges through.
5. Add tomato soup, red wine, brown sugar and herbs.
6. Allow sauce to boil then reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes or so.
7. Mix cooked pasta and sauce together, serve in pasta bowls and top with grated parmesan.
Spag Bol is one of my all time faves, I also hide this vege mix in meatloaf too. I am still perfecting the meatloaf recipe, will post when it's right.
TGBTG
Anje xx
Monday, June 13, 2011
One potato, two potato, sweet potato bake!
This is a photo of my efforts slicing potato and sweet potato for my yummy potato bake. This gadget is called a mandolin - another one of my favourites in the kitchen (time saving objects are automatically my favourite items in the whole wide world!) I will include my recipe but it's a bit dash of this, splash of that with quantities, and it's very cheesy!
Oh - you can leave the sweet potato out if you prefer, I put it in there to try and get my vege-hating child to ingest something healthy-ish. You can slice the spuds scallop style or you can dice them roughly - either works. For speed I quite often dice them.
Anje's Yummy Potato Bake
potatoes, peeled & sliced (allow 1 per person)
1 medium sized sweet potato, peeled and sliced
300ml cream
1-2 cups bacon (sliced or diced)
grated tasty cheese
grated parmesan cheese
1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees fan forced)
2. Pre-cook the potatoes (both types) in a microwave safe dish- approx 4.5 mins on high (check to see they are keeping shape but not raw)
(I was using a 1200W microwave, btw!)
3. Pour a little cream on the bottom of an oven proof dish.
4. Layer and repeat as follows: potatoes, cheeses, sprinkle of bacon and drizzle cream on top.
5. Once the potato is used up, sprinkle cheese and bacon on top.
6. Place into oven, bake for 20-30mins, check on it at about 15 mins and see how it's going.
Enjoy 8-)
TGBTG
Anje xx
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Homegrown :)
These were the fruits
of my first Vege garden
in many years-
quite tasty too. They are
"Beefsteak Tomatoes". I
also planted a variety called
"Black Russian"
but they didn't take off,
I harvested one, I shall
salvage the seeds and try again..
I've also managed to get basil to grow -
it's gone feral!
Pity bout the celery though..
It's alive but somewhat stunted..
Maybe it needs seasol ??
Because we are living in a rental house, and couldn't really dig up the existing gardens, I grew these babies in a pre-loved hessian potato sack. Picked some up for only $2 each at a local produce store.
I did want to grow some pumpkins as well, but I faced quite a bit of opposition there, darn it!
I shall keep trying :) persistence pays ..
TGBTG
Anje xx
Dreaming of a simple life ..
I want to live a simple and uncomplicated life.
I would love to be on some acreage with our own chooks, maybe a few sheep, cows, goats and horses.. As well as growing our own veges- I'd even love to go as far as going without power and cooking with firewood, using candles for light. If that proves to be a 'too hard' option then I'd love for our power to be sourced purely from wind or solar means. That's something that may never actually happen, but I can take steps towards a simpler life now.
I've been a fan of Jamie Oliver for ages and I've been hooked on his latest tv exploits "Jamie's food revolution" I've been watching the second series where he takes on school cafeterias in Los Angeles- it's been pretty good viewing I think! One thing that hit home for me was the amount of artificial additives go into the food we buy off the shelf.. He taught a highschool science class about the chemicals and true origin of ice cream additives, topping and lollies.. It was too scary! The preservatives in bread are scary too.. Do I really want to ingest chemicals that keep bread from going stale indefinitely.. Even if it's cheaper??
I'm now more motivated to MOO! (make our own..)Hubby has been at me for ages to bake more, mainly to save money on morning tea items.. (Muesli bars, dip it's etc can get expensive and aren't the most nutritious..) So with new motivation I did so. Made some yummy cupcakes and then my little electric hand mixer died.. It's older than Master T!! My dreams of baking were in tatters.. Ye olde faithful Kenwood mixer had also died many moons ago (it was a garage sale purchase made by Hubby's parents for when he left home)... My newfound zeal did not extend to hand beating, sorry!!
So, with the need for a new stick mixer as well (another aging appliance) we found ourselves standing in Good Guys looking at a fantastic deal on a Kenwood stick mixer and a Kenwood chef! (Mixmaster). What sealed the deal for me was the bonus mincer/sausage maker attachment!! There are also stacks of other attachments.. All able to make us more self sufficient in the kitchen.
We bought some whole rump on special at $5.99 per kg.. Cut it into pieces for roasts and also into smaller chunks for mincing.. We actually MOO'd beef mince! No added preservatives! It was v. Satisfying! Even more so while watching hubby do it! Lol (I was busy feeding Miss C so I got to spectate :))
I'm rather excited about buying other types of meat and mincing it.. Especially chicken when fillets come on special! Over the years we have had to be budget conscious.. A major challenge for me let me say!
Hubby is keen to try making our own sausages too.. Just have to check out where we can source sausage casings! Oh the possible combinations are endless! No rubbish filler either :)
My next plan is to make use of the dough hook to have a crack at breadmaking..! I plan to ensure our whizbang new machine earns it's keep, it will be worth the amount if money spent .. Even if it was on a fantastic special ;)
I shall endeavor to update and regale you of future exploits with our new kitchen appliance.. Oh.. I forgot to mention, the stick mixer came with heaps of attachments too... Hubby's FAVE (!!) was the potato masher, I can confirm its effectiveness too :) My fave stick mixer part is the
chopping bowl. It allows me to whiz up veges to hide in my cooking so fuss pots in the family don't object!! I have used the food processor to do it before but it's time consuming to drag it out just for one meal's worth of Vege blitzing.. I'm not that organised to do a big batch at once, although it is on my list of things to do when on holiday ! It may very well sound lazy but if it's not fast and easy I'm afraid my business with work and household duty gets in the way...
Lol, I think I've turned into a bit of a kitchen appliance tart!! All is well though in my quest to simplify!
TGBTG
Anje xx
I would love to be on some acreage with our own chooks, maybe a few sheep, cows, goats and horses.. As well as growing our own veges- I'd even love to go as far as going without power and cooking with firewood, using candles for light. If that proves to be a 'too hard' option then I'd love for our power to be sourced purely from wind or solar means. That's something that may never actually happen, but I can take steps towards a simpler life now.
I've been a fan of Jamie Oliver for ages and I've been hooked on his latest tv exploits "Jamie's food revolution" I've been watching the second series where he takes on school cafeterias in Los Angeles- it's been pretty good viewing I think! One thing that hit home for me was the amount of artificial additives go into the food we buy off the shelf.. He taught a highschool science class about the chemicals and true origin of ice cream additives, topping and lollies.. It was too scary! The preservatives in bread are scary too.. Do I really want to ingest chemicals that keep bread from going stale indefinitely.. Even if it's cheaper??
I'm now more motivated to MOO! (make our own..)Hubby has been at me for ages to bake more, mainly to save money on morning tea items.. (Muesli bars, dip it's etc can get expensive and aren't the most nutritious..) So with new motivation I did so. Made some yummy cupcakes and then my little electric hand mixer died.. It's older than Master T!! My dreams of baking were in tatters.. Ye olde faithful Kenwood mixer had also died many moons ago (it was a garage sale purchase made by Hubby's parents for when he left home)... My newfound zeal did not extend to hand beating, sorry!!
So, with the need for a new stick mixer as well (another aging appliance) we found ourselves standing in Good Guys looking at a fantastic deal on a Kenwood stick mixer and a Kenwood chef! (Mixmaster). What sealed the deal for me was the bonus mincer/sausage maker attachment!! There are also stacks of other attachments.. All able to make us more self sufficient in the kitchen.
We bought some whole rump on special at $5.99 per kg.. Cut it into pieces for roasts and also into smaller chunks for mincing.. We actually MOO'd beef mince! No added preservatives! It was v. Satisfying! Even more so while watching hubby do it! Lol (I was busy feeding Miss C so I got to spectate :))
I'm rather excited about buying other types of meat and mincing it.. Especially chicken when fillets come on special! Over the years we have had to be budget conscious.. A major challenge for me let me say!
Hubby is keen to try making our own sausages too.. Just have to check out where we can source sausage casings! Oh the possible combinations are endless! No rubbish filler either :)
My next plan is to make use of the dough hook to have a crack at breadmaking..! I plan to ensure our whizbang new machine earns it's keep, it will be worth the amount if money spent .. Even if it was on a fantastic special ;)
I shall endeavor to update and regale you of future exploits with our new kitchen appliance.. Oh.. I forgot to mention, the stick mixer came with heaps of attachments too... Hubby's FAVE (!!) was the potato masher, I can confirm its effectiveness too :) My fave stick mixer part is the
chopping bowl. It allows me to whiz up veges to hide in my cooking so fuss pots in the family don't object!! I have used the food processor to do it before but it's time consuming to drag it out just for one meal's worth of Vege blitzing.. I'm not that organised to do a big batch at once, although it is on my list of things to do when on holiday ! It may very well sound lazy but if it's not fast and easy I'm afraid my business with work and household duty gets in the way...
Lol, I think I've turned into a bit of a kitchen appliance tart!! All is well though in my quest to simplify!
TGBTG
Anje xx
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Reflections of a travelling circus
We've just returned from a trip to Brisbane with four children in tow- I have survived to tell the tale! I must admit I was rather worried to see how Miss C would go- she doesn't always enjoy car rides.. Out of the four children, she was the best behaved! Master T was also up there, he was a champion at helping out... Seasoned with some boofheaded teen attitude!
We decided to take the opportunity to visit Dreamworld one last time before the $69 season passes ran out- this makes it the third visit for the boys.
This time it was much easier for me to negotiate the endless walking- I was able to push Mids C in the pram! I was going to go on a few rides but that didn't happen, the one I wanted to go on (the river rapids) was closed for maintenance ..I could have gone on the log ride but I didn't fancy getting soaked that late in the afternoon.. Sook, I know. I certainly have no desire to go on the daredevil rides either- I get sick too easily- as does Master T! LoL, we found that out when he went on a breakdance type cup/saucer ride at Aussieworld a few years back!
The best part of this visit for hubby and I was the Sheep Shearing show - rather funny to watch the presenters show off the Aussie larrikin style.. picking on the overseas tourists ;-) The kids got to hold some native animals at a wildlife presentation- Master T got to hold an owl, Master D, a snake and Miss H got to make a Bilby appear and then give it a pat. Photos will be posted eventually :)
The other treat was to drop into our fave place- Ikea :)Hubby lives to get his fix of what we call a calzone- it's known as a pizza at the ikea cafe downstairs. We dropped Miss H off at playland (much needed break!) and raced through the store grabbing the few things that caught our eye and couldn't resist! Most of it was spent in the kids section- will take piccies when it's all unpacked..We got to catch up with hubby's Uncle and Wife and then we stayed at friends place on the north side of Bris.. We are very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives! If we had more time there are still heaps of other wonderful people we want to see- it will have to wait until next visit!
Must go, dinner needs to be cooked!
I shall return with other tales to tell- there are sooo many, but soo little time!
Til next time
TGBTG
Xx
We decided to take the opportunity to visit Dreamworld one last time before the $69 season passes ran out- this makes it the third visit for the boys.
This time it was much easier for me to negotiate the endless walking- I was able to push Mids C in the pram! I was going to go on a few rides but that didn't happen, the one I wanted to go on (the river rapids) was closed for maintenance ..I could have gone on the log ride but I didn't fancy getting soaked that late in the afternoon.. Sook, I know. I certainly have no desire to go on the daredevil rides either- I get sick too easily- as does Master T! LoL, we found that out when he went on a breakdance type cup/saucer ride at Aussieworld a few years back!
The best part of this visit for hubby and I was the Sheep Shearing show - rather funny to watch the presenters show off the Aussie larrikin style.. picking on the overseas tourists ;-) The kids got to hold some native animals at a wildlife presentation- Master T got to hold an owl, Master D, a snake and Miss H got to make a Bilby appear and then give it a pat. Photos will be posted eventually :)
The other treat was to drop into our fave place- Ikea :)Hubby lives to get his fix of what we call a calzone- it's known as a pizza at the ikea cafe downstairs. We dropped Miss H off at playland (much needed break!) and raced through the store grabbing the few things that caught our eye and couldn't resist! Most of it was spent in the kids section- will take piccies when it's all unpacked..We got to catch up with hubby's Uncle and Wife and then we stayed at friends place on the north side of Bris.. We are very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives! If we had more time there are still heaps of other wonderful people we want to see- it will have to wait until next visit!
Must go, dinner needs to be cooked!
I shall return with other tales to tell- there are sooo many, but soo little time!
Til next time
TGBTG
Xx
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