Pumpkin, Pistachio and fetta salad

This is my go to salad for lunch. You can roast the pumpkin at the start of the week and keep in the fridge. Then it's just a matter of throwing the ingredients in the bowl and Voila!  I am going to give the quantity for a family sized salad. You can easily divide the ingredients and eat it over the week for your own lunches.

Ingredients

1 Butternut Pumpkin cut into chunky pieces ( I like to keep the skin on)
Salt & Pepper
1 bag mixed lettuce, washed
1 Red Onion finely sliced
3 Tomatoes cut into wedges
1/2 block Fetta
1/3 cup Pistachios

Lemon Honey Mustard dressing

Juice 1/2 Lemon
1 tablespoon Honey
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 250 C. Place pumpkin on non stick tray. Spray with oil and season. Cook for 20 minutes or until golden and tender. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Warm honey in a microwave proof bowl briefly (10 seconds). Add all other ingredients and mix well until combined.

Place mixed lettuce on bottom of salad bowl. Add  pumpkin and tomato and red onion. Crumble Fetta over the top. Sprinkle with Pistachios and pour dressing over the top. Toss to coat before serving.

Souffle Omelette

I love to cook. It is something that I do quite well. I also love to eat!  However, I am also pretty time poor. It is not always easy to cook something yummy when you are juggling two children, or when you are working. I think I have become the master of cooking yummy, nutritious food that is also quick to prepare.

I like to cook using as many basic, unprocessed ingredients as possible. I no longer use packet mixes, and rarely use ready-made sauces. I just like knowing what goes into my food, and I also find there is too much salt in many packet mixes. I have recently been diagnosed with insulin resistance, and I am having two carbohydrate free days a week on the recommendation of my dietitian. So, most of the food I make is cooked from scratch.I don't think this means it has to be time consuming though.

I have decided that I would share some of my favourite recipes with you. For the next few weeks I will share 2 recipes a week with you. The focus on these recipes will be healthy and made from scratch.

My first recipe that I will share is one of my favourite breakfasts. I eat this on my carb free days as it is high in protein, tasty and filling. It also looks super impressive. The quantity for this is for one. If you want to make more than one omelette I would just repeat the process for each omelette you want to make, so you ensure the quantities are right.Otherwise, this is a treat best made just for yourself.

2 eggs - separated
2 tablespoons Milk
Salt & Pepper to taste

Filling
2 Ham slices
1/4 cup shredded cheese
1 handful washed spinach leaves

Put a non-stick frypan that has a lid on to medium heat (I actually use a non-stick flat bottomed wok)

In one bowl quickly whisk the egg yolks and milk until combined. In another bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the yolks into the whites and fold through.

Spray the fry pan with oil. Pour the mixture into fry pan. Put the lid on and cook for 2 minutes and let it cook. The base will turn golden while the eggwhites will puff up. Take the lid off and put the remaining ingredients on one half of the omelette. Put the lid back on and let it cook for another 1-2 minutes.

When you are ready to serve slide a egg flipper under the omelette. It should be able to slide easily. Lift one half of the omelette while tilting the pan slightly and fold the omelette in half. Slide it off onto a plate and enjoy.

You can add some hot buttered toast to make it extra filling.

One Pot Sausage Pasta

I was recently on the lookout for a meal that I could make with my dwindling supplies in Fridge/Freezer/Pantry. I have discussed before how I try to stretch out my grocery shopping when possible. I had sausages in the freezer, but no bread or bread rolls for a sausage sizzle. I also had some spinach from my garden that needed using as it was going to bolt.

I came across this recipe on Pinterest and realised that with some tweaking it would work.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 Heaped teaspoon  garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

6 Sausages

2 cups chicken stock

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup milk

2 cups Macaroni Pasta

2 cups chopped spinach

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/4 cup cheese (Parmesan or Tasty - I used both)

In a pot heat olive oil and add sausages to the pan to cook (I cut mine up while raw, however you could also precook the sausages whole then slice) once half cooked add the onion and garlic. Cook until sausages are browned and onion partially cooked. 

Add in stock, milk, canned tomatoes and pasta. Stir well and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and continue to cook for a further 10 - 12 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent from sticking to the bottom.

In the last few minutes add in the veggies, stir well and put lid back on for the last few minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and serve.

Voila! A super simple, one pot meal. I can see this meal being one you can easily adapt. Swap sausage for chicken (You may lose some flavour so add some herbs), Use whatever veggies you have on hand (Frozen pea/carrot corn or whatever is wilting int he bottom of the crisper) and use whatever pasta you have. 

Berry and Lemon Sangria

New Years just isn't quite the same once you have children.

We have found the last few years New Years has been very low key, often spent at home with a plate of antipasto, and a quick kiss before we head to bed at midnight. In fact, most times we snooze before midnight and only wake just in time to watch some fireworks on T.V.

This year, we went to my Brother In Law's place, which is only one block away from our home. This meant we were able to load the kids up into the pram and walk over. This also meant we both could indulge in a few drinks, providing we could still walk (stagger) home later on.

I decided to make some Sangria to share with everyone. I had a look through my cupboards and came up with a berry and lemon flavoured Sangria. I have learnt that the main elements of a Sangria just needs to be wine, juice, soda and fruit. Sometimes it also has some brandy or Cointreau added. I had plenty of red wine in our cupboard. We are not bit wine drinkers, and only really drink very sweet wine such as Moscato. However, we are often given bottles of red wine as gifts. Which means I have a cupboard full of red wine that we will never drink. So making a Sangria was going to be a useful way of using up some of that wine. I also had a homemade jar of Lemoncello. I fell in love with that sweet liqueur while in Italy, and I discovered it was very easy to make! I decided to replace Brandy with my Lemoncello, and use a bottle of Apple Blackcurrant juice I had in the cupboard. Then I just added lemonade, frozen berries and lemon slices, and my Sangria was ready! Yummo!

1 bottle Red Wine
1 1/2 bottle Apple Blackcurrent Juice
1/2 cup Lemoncello
1 bottle Lemonade
1 Cup Frozen Berries
1 Lemon, Thinly Sliced

All the drinks into your punchbowl/Jug/Drink dispenser and give a stir to mix.
Add in the berries and sliced lemon
Chill
Serve poured over Ice with some of the fruit

If using a beverage dispenser you could have some chopped fruit in a bowl next to the Sangria, so people can add some fruit to their drink. Alternatively, you could also freeze some fruit into ice cubes and have that on the side.

Overnight French Toast Recipe

For Chrisrmas breakfast this year I wanted something quick, minimal mess and nothing too heavy. We were hosting Christmas Day lunch at our house, so we had enough things to prepare that morning, without having to also put together an elaborate breakfast However, I wanted something special, because it is the one time we will sit together as our immediate family. 

I had seen in Pinterest a number of overnight French Toast recipes and decided that would be perfect. I was able to whip it up the night before and pop it into the fridge. The next morning, while we were opening presents, I had this baking in the oven. I chopped up some fruit, and put out some jam and syrup. That was as labour intensive as it got.

This tasted delicious. My Husband doesn't usually like sweet breakfasts (he puts Vegemite on his pancakes!) yet he went for seconds. It was just what we wanted, and I suspect this will become a Christmas breakfast tradition.

Serves 6**

1/4 

cup (4 Tablespoons) butter, melted

3/4 

cup packed light brown sugar

1 

loaf Scone Bread (You could swap for any Thick Cut bread)

8 

eggs, slightly beaten

1 

cup whole milk

1 

Teaspoon vanilla paste

1/8 

teaspoon salt

** I halved the recipe to make enough for just Hubbie, myself and our daughter.

• In a small bowl combine brown sugar and melted butter and pour on the bottom of a rectangular baking dish.
• Arrange slices of bread in the baking dish overlapping if necessary.
• Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, salt in a bowl and pour evenly over bread slices.
• Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4-12 hours.
• In the morning, take the casserole out of the fridge while you are preheating your oven to 180 degrees.
• Bake casserole for 30-35 minutes. If top starts browning too quickly place a foil loosely over the top of the casserole for the last 10 minutes or so. You want it to cook long enough to make sure the bottom part is cooked but don't dry it out completely.
• Remove casserole from oven and let it cool slightly before serving. Serve with jam, fruit & maple syrup.

Freezer Meals - Maltese Pasta Bake

This is another pasta based freezer meal. Really, I think pasta based meals are some of the best to freeze, as they usually cook so well, if not better!

This is a classic family staple in my Husbands family, and has become one I adore too. It is like a cross between and Italian Lasagne and a Greek Pasticcio but without the bechamel! Yummo! It is super easy to make. It is even easier if you have made a big pot of Bolognese ahead of time. I often make a huge pot of bolognese and then divide it up and freeze it. That can be used to make Spaghetti, Lasagne or Pasta Bake! For this recipe I am going to assume that you have already made your favourite bolognese ahead of time.

Maltese Pasta Bake

Serves 6

Ingredients

2 cups cooked bolognese sauce ( Check out my recipe here)
1 packet Penne Pasta - Cooked
5 Eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (set aside approx 1/4 of it to sprinkle on top)
1 cup grated cheese

In a big bowl stir the bolognaise, cooked pasta, parmesan and eggs together. Pour into baking dish.
Top with the remaining cheese.

Bake in moderate oven for approx 45 Minutes.

Notes

The resulting pasta bake should be able to be sliced into squares/rectangles and served.
If freezing, freeze unbaked, then bake in moderate oven with foil 'lid' until nearly cooked, then remove so the top can brown.
This dish is even better if you bake it earlier in the day, let it cool, then put it back in the oven to rewarm about 15 minutes before. This is how my MIL often does it, and it slices up perfectly.
The recipe is so easy, double it nd have one for dinner and freeze another dish!!

Kids Cooking - Wholemeal Banana Muffins

My daughter LOVES to cook. She is obsessed.  Her present for her first birthday was a toy kitchen from Ikea. At first it was used for fine motor skills - opening and closing doors, pressing buttons, turning knobs. Eventually she moved into pretend play.

 Her love of cooking has grown since going to pre school as they frequently have 'Baby Masterchef' classes where they cook all sorts of goodies.

In support of this I am finding myself letting her help me in the kitchen more. I also figure that while were cooking things we may as well try to make it healthy (most of the time). With this in mind I tweaked a recipe I found on the Chobani website.

Wholemeal Banana Muffins 

1 Cup Plain Flour
1 Cup Self Raising Wholemeal Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Cinnamon
4 Bananas
1/2 cup Coconut Oil
1 small Tub Chobani Yoghurt (or 1/2 cup) ( I used Mango flavoured)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 egg

1. Pre heat oven to 170
2. In a large bowl mix together the flours, baking powder & cinnamon.
3. In another bowl mash the banana
4. Add the oil, egg, yoghurt & sugar. Stir well.
5. Add the banana mixture to the flour and stir until all combined
6. Spoon into a greased muffin tray and bake in oven for 25 min or until cooked.

Freezer Meals - Make Ahead Ultra Rich Bolognese

Lately I have been so tired by the time I get home from work, that I can't even begin to think about what to make for dinner. I am blessed to not have many pregnancy side effects, but one that I do get is overwhelming tiredness. I actually find I often need to have a nap after work, I am that exhausted.

Last time I was pregnant, it meant my Husband and I resorted to lots of take away. This time I want to ensure that I am prepared and have a few easy meals on standby. I am going to share with you a series of freezer meals that are great to make ahead, freeze well and taste just as good as made fresh.

One freezer staple I have is ready made bolognese sauce. If you have some of that in the freezer you have the main ingredient for many fast meals. Here are a few ideas I can think of right now

- Spaghetti Bolognese
- Maltese Pasta Bake (Recipe coming soon)
- Chilli Con Carne (Add a can od beans and some chilli)
- Baked Zucchini  (Zucchini filled with a bolognese mixture)
- Bolobnese Bread Bowls

That is only a few. It really is very versatile.

Everyone has their own go to recipe. I decided I would share mine. It is one that I have perfected over the years. I like my sauce to be very rich, thick and tomatoey.

I usually just make this recipe 'on instinct' so it was a bit unusual to have to stop and take notes so I could tell you how much of everything I use.

This recipe makes a large pot. I usually divide it into about 4 to freeze. Adding the celery and carrot really stretches the sauce, whilst also making it healthier. It also enhances the flavour.

Ingredients

750g Minced meat ( I like to use a 1/2 mix if low fat beef mince and pork mince)
2 stalks celery, leaves removed
1 large carrot
1 large onion  ( I used red onion in the photos, but i usually use brown)
2 heaped teaspoons minced garlic
1 700g jar passata
1 400g tin diced tomato
1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
1/4 cup Wine ( I use whatever i have on hand, white or red, doesn't matter. If you have no wine use water)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar (Or more to taste)
Olive Oil
Fresh Basil (see notes)

All the ingredients ready and prepped.

Finely dice the onion and celery. Grate the carrot (don't worry aout peeling it, the skin has extra fibre). Heat a large pot on the stove and add some oil. Once hot, add in the onion, celery and carrot. Cook this until the vegetables have softened. Set aside in another bowl.

Cooking the vegetables 

Add a little more oil to the pot and let it heat up, then add the mince. Brown the mince, ensuring that there are no cunks. Once mostly browned add in the minced garlic. Then add the vegetables mix back in. Give it all a stir and until all the minced has browned.

Browning the mince

Add in the passata, tin tomato, tomato paste and salt and pepper. I use the wine to 'wash' the inside of the passata jar and pour that in. Give it all a good stir.

    Washing the jar out with wine                                  All the tomatoey goodness

Put the pot on the back heat and turn it down to a simmer. I now let it cook for at least an hour, preferably two. I cook it until the sauce is really thick. I give it a stir every now and then.

Time to simmer down

Once the sauce is near the end of coking (About 10 - 15 minutes to the end) I will taste the sauce and add some sugar. I will usually dd 1 teaspoon, taste, then add moe if needed. I then will add more salt and  pepper to taste. Add the finely chopped basil. ( See notes).

So thick you can run a path through it

You now have a rich, luxurious sauce that you can eat right away, or let it cool and then put into freezer containers. I put mine into sandwich sized snap lock bags. and flatten it.

Notes

You use the sugar to counteract the acidity in the tomato. I always add sugar before I add more salt, because I often find that you need to balance the acidity before you make it saltier, or you can tend to over salt it.

I use fresh basil if i have it at home, otherwise i use dried basil or parsley. I do not use Italian herb mixture because i find the thyme in that is often too overwhelming. I also add in 2 - 3 bay leaves if I have them, and pull them out before serving.

Feel free to add some extra vegetables if you want to. I will often finely grate in some pumpkin, sweet potato or zucchini if I have some in the fridge. Mushrooms are a great addition.

If you want a smoother sauce, or have fussy eaters with eagle eyes that may spot the veggies, i sometimes give my sauce a very quick blend with a stick blender. I really only give it 2 - 3 quick bursts. It gives it more of a 'restaurant' texture.


This batch of bolognese made 3 packets of sauce (approx 1 1/2 cups each) and 2 pasta bake dishes.

Healthy Chicken Caesar Salad

For Christmas I received Jamie Olivers '15 Minute Meals' cookbook. I was somewhat dubious as to whether the meals would really only take 15 minutes, however the recipes looked tasty so I was keen to try them.

The first recipe I tried was the Caesar Salad. I made it one night after having spent the day at the beach with family. Earlier in the week my Husband and I had tagged all the meals we liked to look of and we had written out a shopping list of the ingredients we needed to buy. Whilst the initial cost was expensive, many of the ingredients are used in more than one recipe.

With all the ingredients for the salad on hand I set about making the salad. I followed his instructions in getting all the ingredients out and on the bench, including setting up all the tools i would need to make the meal.

The meal was so simple to make and really did only take me 15 minutes to make.The taste. OH MY GOD! AMMAAZZZIIINNNGGG. Yes. It certainly is worth the capitals and multiple letters.

What really made this salad was the crunchy polenta coated chicken and the to die for sauce. It is not really a normal caesar salad, or a normal dressing. The dressing is creamy, garlicy and has a great basil flavour. Thankfully there was way more dressing than was needed so I used the leftover dressing on my salads for lunch the rest of the week. Yum!

Also, the chicken was so simple to make that I have made the chicken on it's own as a chicken schnitzel a few times since. The polenta gives the chicken the crunchy coating like a fried schnitzel, but without all the oil.

• For the chicken:

• 2, 3.5-ounce skinless chicken breast

• 1/2 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika

• 2 heaped tablespoons of finely ground polenta

• Olive oil

• For the salad:

• Ciabatta loaf of bread

• 1 clove of garlic

• 2 red radicchio (Iused some chicory I had for another recipe)

• 4 slices of pancetta

• 2 heads romaine lettuce

• 10 cherry tomatoes

• 2 large jarred red peppers

• Balsamic vinegar

• 1 bunch watercress

• For the dressing:

• 1 clove of garlic

• 2 lemons

• 2 ounces parmesan cheese plus extra to serve

• 8 anchovies

• 4 heaped tbsp of fat free natural yogurt

• 1 splash of Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon of english mustard

• 1/2 bunch of fresh basil

Preparation

On a large sheet of wax or parchment paper, toss the chicken with paprika, polenta and a pinch of salt and pepper. Fold over the paper, then bash and flatten the chicken to roughly 1/2-inch thick with a rolling pin.

Put into the frying pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and brown until golden and cooked through, turning after about four minutes. Cut four thick slices of ciabatta, place on a griddle pan and remove when nicely charred on both sides.

Squash the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher into a blender. Squeeze in the lemon juice, crumble in the Parmesan and add the rest of the dressing ingredients. Blitz until smooth then season to taste.

Rub the toasts with a halved garlic clove and cut into strips. Quarter the radicchio and add to the griddle pan with the pancetta to char for a couple of minutes.

Roughly slice the lettuces and arrange over a large serving board or platter. Scatter over the ciabatta strips half the tomatoes and slice the peppers, then add to the board. Toss a splash of balsamic with the radicchio and arrange on top.

Slice the chicken, lay it around the salad, drizzle over the dressing, crumble over the crispy pancetta and snip over the watercress. Use a speed-peeler to shave over the extra Parmesan.

Serves four