Making Meals in my Kitchen

I grew up eating my mother's homemade food. It was rarely anything fancy but it was good and filling and nourishing and there on the table every day. Now I cook for my own family. The food I make isn't that fancy either but it's fresh and wholesome and there on the table every day. 

This past week there was one roast dinner and lots of salads among other homemade deliciousness. I planned out our meals for the week, substituted what I did have for what I didn't have, shopped for what I needed and made the most of the ingredients I bought. Nothing was wasted; the compost bin got the peelings and my enthusiastic Labrador "supervisor" got the tidbits with roast chicken and leftover gravy being one of his favourites ... among his many favourites!

A lovely roast dinner.

On the one cooler evening we had this past week, I roasted a whole chicken (I had one left in the freezer that I did not cook up for Christmas lunch) with lots of roasted vegetables and made pan gravy from all the goodness stuck to the bottom of the roasting tray. We had leftover chicken wraps for lunch the next day too. Yum!

An oven baked frittata filled with roast veg.

From the leftover roast vegetables, I made an oven-baked frittata for dinner the next night. It stretched to lunch, accompanied by a summer salad, the following day.

Mmm ...  Macadamia & Mango Rice Salad

Salads are on our plates often during these Summer days. They are quick to make, full of revitalising colour and healthy goodness, taste amazing and there's always leftovers if you make a big enough bowlful to begin with. 

This Macadamia and Mango Brown Rice Salad is full of flavour and crunch! I bought the mangoes and raw macadamia nuts from Aldi and I have enough of both to make another big bowlful of this over the coming weekend. Besides roasting the macadamias and cooking the rice, there's very little else other than chopping up some fresh veg, throwing in a handful of currants and whisking up a two-ingredient dressing. So simple and so good!

Macadamia nuts roasted in my oven.

I roasted beautiful macadamia nuts for the salad while I was toasting a batch of homemade granola. Granola, or toasted muesli is so simple to make and so versatile. I added dried cranberries and chopped almonds and shaved coconut to this one. My husband loves coconut-everything (me, not so much) but you can add in your own favourites be it coconut or dates or dried apricots or pecans or sunflower seeds. That was breakfast taken care of!

Toasty homemade granola.

While the oven was on, I baked a lovely lemon slice using more of the rolled oats I bought for the granola, a tin of condensed milk I had in my pantry and some lemon juice I had in the freezer. I should have photographed that slice before putting it out for afternoon tea because it was gone before I remembered ... and I don't think the aforementioned Labrador had anything to do with that!

Meg

Wholesome Brown Rice Salad

Our Christmas Day lunch is a cold meats and salads affair; it's too hot for a roast dinner when it's 40C in the shade in our down-under Summery Australia. (The weather was actually milder this year (at our place) but I had already roasted the chickens on Christmas Eve so no last-minute switch to a hot roast dinner was entertained.

A big bowl of Brown Rice Salad. 

Yum!

Amongst the array of salads I made for our family feast was this delicious and wholesome brown rice salad. It's made with healthy brown rice, lots of colourful vegetables, crunchy nuts, fresh herbs and my-favourite feta. The lemon and honey dressing is so very simple. My kind of food! 

My version of this salad combines the basis of this recipe, from Katie Workman of The Mom 100 with the currants, nuts and feta from this recipe by Nicola of Eat Well NZ. I reduced the olive oil from 1/3cup to 1/4cup for the dressing and used pecan nuts, instead of cashew nuts, because I had pecans in the pantry. It all mixed together deliciously!

🤎 Wholesome Brown Rice Salad 🤎

*** Omit the nuts if you have a nut allergy.***

Salad Ingredients:

4 cups cooked brown basmati rice

1 cup coarsely grated carrot

1 cup diced cucumber

1/2 cup diced red capsicum 

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup chopped spring onion

1/2 cup toasted and roughly chopped pecan nuts

handful (or two) of currants

1 block of your favourite feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

Dressing Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil 

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon white white vinegar

1 Tablespoon mustard

salt & pepper

1.  Mix all the vegetables, nuts and herbs through the cooked brown rice. 

2. Crumble in the feta cheese and sprinkle over the currants.

3. Whisk up the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the top of the salad. 

4. Toss to combine. Refrigerate in an air-tight container.

I doubled the recipe and made a huge bowl of this rice salad so there was plenty leftover; some to send home with family and some for us to enjoy bowlfuls of for lunch and dinner the next day. Lazy leftovers have to be one of the best things about Christmas Day lunch!

What did you cook for Christmas at your place that you have leftovers of?

Meg

Meat-Free Shepherd's Pie

Although balmy Springtime days are here, our evenings are still quite chilly so the wonderful warmth of a delicious Shepherd's Pie, topped with buttery mashed potatoes, is still most welcome on a colder night. 

Delicious and nourishing Cottage Pie.

Unlike a traditional Irish Shepherd's Pie, made with a lamb, this delicious pie filling is made with lentils and vegetables and herbs. Of course, it's topped with creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. It's a meat-free meal that is so tasty and nourishing and filling. 

I came across the recipe in the book, Grown & Gathered, by Matt & Lentil which I borrowed from my local library. It's also available here. I tweaked it a little to match what I had to use. I used a tin of organic puy lentils I had in the pantry instead of preparing and soaking lentils overnight. (Lazy??) Also, as suggested in the recipe, I used vegetable stock rather than making the filling with a lamb or beef bone and water. This makes the filling a vegetarian version. I also chose not to make the pastry and so topped it with just simple mashed potatoes rather than the mash, made with potatoes, sweet potato, carrots and turnips, suggested in the original recipe. It's a lovely recipe however you make it!

 Lentil & vegetable filling full of goodness.

Creamy mashed potato topping. 

Ready for the oven.  

Piping-hot pie!

This version of shepherd's pie is a 'keeper' that I know I'll make many times over because it's so versatile. You can soak those lentils or use tinned lentils. You can throw in whatever herbs you've got growing in the garden. You can make your mash however you like! It's great when you find a recipe you can put on repeat!

What's your favourite recipe-on-repeat at your place?

Meg

p.s. Did you know that a meat-less Shepherd's Pie is sometimes called a "Shepherdless Pie". I found that out, among other things, at this link to Jamie Oliver's 10 Things You Didn't Know About Shepherd's Pie. 

Stuffed Sweet Potato Boats

On a quiet night, where it was just me for dinner, I made myself some scrumptious stuffed sweet potatoes. Piping hot, cheesy and full of nutritious veg, they were so delicious!

 Simple and scrumptious!

I 💗 the flavour of roasted sweet potato and it is the roasted skins of this very versatile veg that form the hull of these scrumptious "boats". I just tossed a few in the oven and baked them until they were cooked through. Once they were cool enough, I halved them, split them lengthwise and scooped out the tender orange sweet potato inside. 

Bake and halve sweet potatoes. 

After that, I deviated from the original recipe a bit. Feeling lazy, I voted (there was only me so it was unanimous) not to saute onion and broccoli for the filling but to instead use up the leftover steamed veg from the night before. So, into the mashed sweet potato from the hollowed out "boats" went leftover cauliflower, peas and beans, a big blob of sour cream and a grind of pepper. All mixed together and it was ready to go back into the roasted sweet potato skins.

Refill the hollowed out sweet potato skins with generous scoops of filling.

Generous scoops of this lovely creamy vegetable mix filled up the hollowed out skins. All that was needed then was some grated mozzarella cheese. Then, back into the oven long enough for mozzarella to become all melt-y and stretchy. Yum!

Top with grated mozzarella cheese.

So simple and yummy! Not only are they full of healthy veg, they are quick to make once the sweet potatoes are baked. You could very easily bake a few sweet potatoes, if your oven is on earlier in the day cooking other things, ready for a quick dinner that evening. Served just as they are, or with a side salad, these stuffed sweet potato boats are a great meat-free Monday (or any other day) meal, a yummy way to use up leftovers and a pretty healthy option too.

Of course, because I was the only one for dinner, I got to eat them all up but you might have to make extras though if you have to share. I think they'd disappear quickly from the dinner table. They are so scrumptious!

Meg

p.s. I used sweet potatoes I grew in the garden here. No sprays! 

Home Food

Our kitchen is often a hive of activity! There seems to be always something being chopped, grated, mixed, stirred, fried, blended or baked in what is the heart of our home. Up at the island bench I love, which looks out to a distant horizon, I make the food we love to eat. Home food! There are so many benefits to cooking and eating this way. Benefits way beyond the deliciousness and naughtiness of a big bowl to lick ... 

A very lick-able bowl.

(That's chocolate pudding mixture in there!)

Each morning, starts with a nourishing breakfast. Perhaps an omelette or toast with egg and bacon or mushrooms. Perhaps warmed slices of a nutty, breakfast-y bread made days before and frozen for those busier mornings when someone has to be out the door a bit earlier than usual. Granola in the warmer months and porridge, with warmed blueberries, when it's colder. Always a fulfilling start to the day no matter what's on the table.

A slice of  nutty banana bread for breakfast.

An omelette with spinach and leftover roasted veg.

Weekday lunches are prepared and packed in a mini production line upon the kitchen bench (I have never quite mastered the night before packing of lunches). Leftovers from dinner the night before or fresh salads and always a sandwich or two! Weekend lunches are more leisurely, rounds of toasted sandwiches or fresh Turkish bread, if I've been to the little local shop that sells it, spread with each of our favourites. Weekend lunches are made whenever we are hungry and eaten with noses in our local paper or a good book.

Leftover roasted chicken and salads for lunch.

Snacks for morning and afternoon teas are mixed and baked on the weekends for the work and school days ahead. This week, it was Anzac Biscuits and a simple cereal slice. Often it's muffins, pear or banana, studded with little chocolate chips. 

A batch of little muffins ready for the oven.

Each night, at our little wooden dining table, we sit and share a home cooked meal. Nothing fancy, just simple food we enjoy. Over these meals, the highlights of our days are shared and the things we are thankful for are voiced. If we are cooking for a crowd, we still keep it simple and just increase the quantity!

 A quick macaroni & cheese bake.

A stir fry with lots of healthy vegetables.

A nourishing salad with lots of greens.

Many homemade pizzas!

Home food is real food! It's the way we eat most of the time. Cooking and eating this way doesn't mean that we never have takeaway or that I've never resorted to opening a packet of very convenient biscuits. Of course we do and I have! These are rarities though and not our normal, everyday way of preparing and eating food. 

Home cooking not only fills our tummies, it nourishes our bodies and our hearts. Beginning with the breakfasts that provide sustained fuel for the day ahead through to the homemade meals around our table at night, that bring us together and over which we talk and laugh, I know what's in this food. I know what ingredients I've used and how it's been cooked. I know those lunches made with leftovers prevent waste and save us money. While there's more washing up involved (Let's be realistic!), I also know there's a lot less food packaging and plastic too. I know that the birthday cakes I make my boy and the cheesecakes I make my husband are  baked with all of my love. I know the meals we cook and contribute to share with friends are made with a fondness for those we hold dear. In so many ways, home food is good for our family, our bodies, our wallets and our planet. 

Chocolate pudding to share.

(Imagine generous scoops with dollops of cream!)

Now, back to that big bowl in which I mixed this chocolate pudding. I absolutely did lick that bowl! I was home all by myself so there was no-one to see me really...except Sir Steve dog who knows that chocolate is no good for dogs:D

Have a lovely weekend. What will you be eating at your place?

Meg

Fried Cauliflower Rice with Chicken

Different versions of cauliflower rice appear on blogs, in health-conscious recipe books and in lifestyle magazines.  Touted as having many nutritional benefits in comparison to white rice, and with a cauliflower in the crisper to use up, I thought I would give it a try. I made  a fried cauliflower "rice" with it and this is how it turned out:

Fried cauliflower rice...with chicken!

All you need to turn a creamy white cauliflower into an alternative "rice" is a food processor. I put florets of fresh cauliflower into my processor and blitzed it for a few seconds at a time until I had a rice-like texture. A great base for a fried "rice"!

A great alternative to rice!

I added this blitzed cauliflower to a large frypan where I had some chopped vegies & spring onion already stir-fried in a little olive oil. I put in some frozen green peas and leftover chicken from the night before too. Tossed together with a good glug of tamari sauce and cooked until the cauliflower was tender, but not soggy, it made for a delicious meal. 

So,  is it my new favourite way to eat cauliflower? No! That title shall forever be held by the creamy, cheesy and decidedly not-as-healthy cauliflower gratin that my Mum used to cook for us as girls. Would anyone mistake the cauliflower for rice? No! But it was a different way to enjoy cauliflower and was relatively quick to cook too because blitzing the cauliflower took me less time than it would to prepare the brown rice I usually use for fried rice. Nutritious and easy! 

I used this online recipe as a bit of a guide while I was cooking. These are plenty of other recipes out there for everything from a plain cauliflower rice that you can serve with curries to this version of fried rice with all the trimmings. 

The humble cauliflower waiting to be turned into cauliflower rice.

If you have a creamy, fresh cauliflower and want to try something new, you might enjoy this easy and delicious fried "rice" too.

What's your favourite way to cook cauliflower?

Meg

Friday Frittata

A simple frittata, made with the vegetables languishing in the crisper of your fridge just before shopping day, is a healthy, delicious and economical meal. Using up those veggies, before they go way past their best, is not only frugal but it stops the contents of your crisper adding to the shameful piles of food waste thrown away by many households every year. It's a great dish for using up leftover roasted veg too!

The recipe, for Roast Vegetable Free-Up the Fridge Frittata, comes from Melissa Goodwin of the blog, Frugal and Thriving.  All you need to do is: 

Liberate any languishing veggies from your crisper. Cut them into chunks & roast them.

Gather some simple ingredients for your frittata.

Add your roasted veggies to the whisked eggs & cream.

Put in some cubes of ham or bacon if you want to.

Top with some grated tasty cheese.

 Bake your frittata until cheese is melted & golden.

This tasty frittata makes a delicious lunch or dinner. Leftovers are great for a veggie-laden breakfast or to take to work or school in the lunchbox. (It makes a nice change to sandwiches or rolls.) Best of all, it's a dish that's good for you and, if you use up veggies you might otherwise have thrown away, it's good for our Earth too!

Have a very happy weekend everyone.

Meg

Mini Quiches

Filled with the goodness of fresh eggs, grated or leftover veggies, tasty bacon or ham and a little flavoursome cheese, mini quiches are a great bite-sized lunchbox, picnic or weekend-at-home snack. I make them often!

A batch of mini quiches ... bacon and zucchini OR leftover roasted pumpkin. Yum!

These little quiches are quick, easy and versatile.  To the eggy filling you can add, in any combination you like, some grated zucchini, kernels of corn, diced capsicum, chunks of leftover roasted vegetables, thin slices of tangy tomato, some cubes of bacon or a little ham and/or a scattering of chives or some spring onion. A sharp, tasty cheese like Parmesan, grated and sprinkled on top, gives them an inviting golden topping too.

Just out of the oven ... 

Little Mini Quiches

2 sheets ready-made Puff Pasty 

4 large eggs

2-3 Tablespoons pouring cream

a selection of some fresh or leftover veggies, as suggested above, grated or diced/chopped 

2 rashers bacon or 2 slices ham, chopped to small size

a twist or two of black pepper

grated tasty or Parmesan cheese 

1.  Preheat oven to temperature recommended on puff pastry packaging.

2.  Defrost puff pastry sheets and cut each one into 9 smaller squares.

3.  Line each muffin hole, in non-stick silicone muffin pans, with a square of pastry.  

     (Alternately, you can place each pastry square on a slightly larger square of non-stick

     baking paper, and then line each muffin hole.)

     

4.  Beat eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in the cream until combined.

5.  Mixed in your choice of grated, chopped fillings except for the cheese.

6.  Transfer eggy mixture to a large pouring jug and 3/4 fill each pastry-lined muffin hole.

7.  Sprinkle grated cheese on top of each little unbaked quiche.

8.  Carry carefully to the oven (I place my silicone muffin pans on baking trays before I fill
     them otherwise I find I can't move the pans without the eggy mixture spilling over.)

9.   Bake until the egg is cooked through and the cheese is golden on top.

10. Allow to cool a little before devouring! 

A homemade and scrumptious snack.

These scrumptious little snacks quickly become lunch or dinner with the addition of a simple salad and some fresh bread. Enjoy!

Meg

A Simple Sunday Supper

A simple supper makes for a relaxing change to the roast dinner I quite often bake on a Sunday evening. Every now and then, I simply don't feel like the full production so I make something much easier and with a lot less washing up! On the Sunday just passed, I made these quick and delicious parcels filled with different cheeses and grated zucchini. Mmm...

Scrumptious Cheesy Parcels

These parcels are filled with delicious ingredients, baked in the oven until golden and brown and can be served up with salad or baked beans or soup. They are easy to make and even easier to eat. You don't even need cutlery if you serve them up with just a little pot of sauce or chutney for company. (You will need a napkin though!)

Loosely following Susan Austin's recipe, from her fantastic cookbook, Frost Bite: Freezer Recipes for Toddlers to Teenagers, I made them like this:

 Mix together 180g fresh ricotta, 1 grated large zucchini, 1 egg, 60g parmesan and 60g tasty cheese.

(I grate zucchini onto an old tea towel first, fold it up and squeeze out all excess moisture.)

Defrost 3 sheets ready-made puff pastry. Cut each sheet into 9 little squares.

Place spoonfuls of cheesy ricotta mixture in centres of half of these pastry squares.

 

Lay the remaining pastry squares over the tops of those with filling on them.

Press around four sides of each parcel to enclose filling and seal.

 

 Cut a slit in top of each pastry parcel. 

You can then brush with egg/milk wash if you wish (but I don't bother).

 

 Bake in a hot oven until puffed and golden.  Yum!

 

You can make your cheesy parcels a bit fancier by adding extra ingredients to the filling if you wish. You could add fresh herbs, finely chopped spring onion or little pieces of semi-dried tomato. And, if there are any leftover (which invariably there are not at our place), you can enjoy them for lunch the next day.

What do you make when you just want a simple Sunday supper?

Meg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken and Leek Pie

Piping hot! Flaky and creamy! Irresistible and nourishing! Warming and comforting! All these words describe a Winter pie; a pie that fills a home with that enticing "just-baked" aroma and one's heart (and stomach) with a warm contentment on a cold night. 

 Delicious!

Made with leeks, broccoli and thyme from my garden and the leftovers of an earlier roasted chicken, this pie was everything a Winter pie is meant to be. 

 Golden pastry and a creamy filling. YUM!

Chicken and Leek Pie

Filling:
knob of butter
2 leeks, washed and sliced
2 sticks celery, washed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves
3 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup of small broccoli florets 
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 handfuls of diced leftover roasted chicken
3 ready-made puff pastry sheets

Sauce:
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons plain flour
1/2 cup milk
1 cup cream
1-2 teaspoons mustard
salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to temperature recommended on your pack of puff pastry. (Mine was 220C.)
2.  Defrost 3 sheets pastry while you make the filling and the creamy mustard sauce.
3.   Gently cook garlic, leeks and celery in melted butter in a large saucepan over a low heat, with lid on, until soft. Stir regularly.
4.   Add in carrots, broccoli, frozen peas and thyme, replace lid, and continue to cook until carrots and broccoli have softened. Stir regularly.  5.   Melt butter for creamy mustard sauce in medium saucepan. Stir in flour to make a smooth paste and cook for couple of minutes.(This is important so your sauce doesn't taste floury.)
6.   Add in milk and whisk. As the mixture starts to bubble and thicken, gently mix in cream and mustard. Stir or whisk until thickened and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7.   Stir creamy mustard sauce and chopped chicken into softened veg to complete the filling.  Remove from heat.
8.   Quickly line the base of a medium-sized pie pan with pastry. 
9.   Spread the filling evenly over the pastry base.                                                                      
10.  Lay more pastry over the top of the filling to form "lid" of the pie.  Fold and press to join pastry lid with pastry base. Cut a few slits in lid of your pie with a sharp knife.

11.  Bake until pastry is puffed and golden and pie is piping hot. (It is very important that your pie is very hot to ensure leftover cooked chicken has been reheated safely.)
12.  Enjoy with fresh green beans.    

* This recipe is not suitable for reheating.* 

Do you have a favourite Winter pie?

Meg