Food Friday

Things have been quite busy around here so I haven't had much time for blogging.  I managed to squeeze some baking in during the week though, so Food Friday has made it this week...

Spinach and Cheese Scones

Ingredients
250g Frozen spinach (thawed, chopped and drained)
2 1/2 cups SR flour (sifted)
1 tablespoon caster sugar
50g chopped butter
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
extra flour for kneading

Preheat oven 240 degrees celcius / 220 degrees celcius fan-forced.
Sift flour and caster sugar into a medium bowl.  Rub in the butter.  Stir in grated cheese and chopped spinnach (I always forget to chop it!).  Stir in milk and mix to a soft, sticky dough.  Turn dough onto floured surface and knead lightly until smooth.  Press dough into about 2cm thickness and cut round shapes (a glass works well if you don't have a cookie cutter)  Place the scones, just touching, in a pan lined with baking paper.  Bake for about 15-20 minutes depending on size and your oven.  Serve warm.

TIP 1
This recipe says it serves 16 but I usually get about 10.  I cook them for about 16 minutes at 220 degrees celcius (fan-forced).

TIP 2
You can freeze these scones (uncooked) for up to one month.  Bake from frozen and add an extra 10 minutes to the baking time.  - I haven't tried this yet, but if you do and it works, let me know!

Food Friday

A somewhat "healthy" date loaf recipe.

I love date loaf, and remember mum always making it when I was a kid.  This isn't her recipe though...sorry mum :)  This one is a bit simpler.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
60g butter or margarine (chopped)
1 cup boiling water
1 3/4 cups sifted SR flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Simply put the chopped dates, sugar and butter in a heatproof bowl.  Add the boiling water and mix until the sugar dissolves and the butter is melted. Add the vanilla essence.
Add the sifted flour and bicarb soda and mix until all combined.
Pour into a greased loaf tin (not a very big one, this isn't a big cake) and bake for 30-35 minutes at 180 degrees.  Every oven is different so check if it is cooked before taking it out of the oven.

And there you have it, quick and simple "healthy" date loaf recipe!

Food Friday

A winter warmer - Thai Green Curry (chicken)

This is a favourite in our house.  I used to make it once a week, but I got slack and hadn't made it for a while...until last night...

 

It is so EASY!

You will need this:

Follow the directions on the jar for a very delicious green curry.

I like to make it my own.  This is how I usually make it (I have had to tone down the curry spice for E. For some reason she doesn't like it spicy :) so this is a mild version):

Ingredients

Chicken breast (usually about 300 grams)
1 small onion
1-2 tbspn Valcom green curry paste
2 tbspn fish sauce
2 tspn Castor sugar
2 x 400ml cans light coconut milk/cream
broccoli
green capsicum
zucchini
peas
3 cups basmati rice

Slice the chicken breasts and the onion and chop the vegetables.  I will usually use any green vegetable I have, so don't be scared to use other vegetables.

Cook the rice now.

Heat some olive oil in a pan (about 2 tablespoons).  Cook the onion for 30 seconds and add the curry paste and stir for another 30 seconds or until fragrant.  Don't burn the paste!  Add the chicken and cook until just cooked.  Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar and bring to the boil.  (I use two tins of coconut milk to reduce the spice.  If you like it spicy, and without much sauce, just use one).

Add the vegetables and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

This quantity will feed our family of 3 for two meals with some left over.

Enjoy!

Food Friday

Friday sure does come around quickly!

It has been a lazy cooking week this week so I don't even have anything really fun to share.  Only 3 weeks in and I'm already falling behind.  Yikes.

One snack that we have really been enjoying though is these banana pancakes I found on Pinterest.

Banana Pancakes

It only takes 5 minutes from the thought to make them to devouring them.

Ingredients:
1 ripe banana (mashed)
2 eggs

Add a touch of vanilla and cinnamon for extra flavour. 

Whisk is all together, cook in a frying pan for 20-30 seconds, flip and you're done!

Great served with berries or ... maple syrup of course (but then I think that takes the "healthy" out of them)

A great afternoon snack.

Rainy Day Monday

What to do on a rainy day?

After what seems like a week of grey and bleak weather, and spending far too many days indoors, I thought I should try and come up with something a little bit out of the ordinary to help us get through another day inside.

This is E's favourite thing to do...

But instead we found some balloons!

Every child loves balloons, right?  You can throw them, kick them, bounce them, run around them...hours of fun (well, minutes if you're a one year old, but I'm sure they will still be fun when she wakes up from her nap!)

We can't go past the felt board activity.  E still loves it!  I have the board tucked away beside a cupboard but she knows exactly where it is and pulls it out at least once a day.  It's perfect for a stuck inside rainy day too.

and for lunch....
 

A pancake picnic!  This was fun.  Although by the time I got it ready E had already eaten a pancake whilst lying down on the kitchen floor.  I guess she was ready for bed already :)  But she still joined us for some more on the picnic blanket.

The best and easiest pancake recipe ever (thanks to some wonderful friends ;) )

Ingredients
1 cup of SR flour
1 cup of milk
1 egg

That is all!

Top with whatever you like (works great with yoghurt and fruit...or unhealthy like us...lots of maple syrup!)

And now that she is sleeping peacefully, I can do the best rainy day activity of all...SEW!

Food Friday

Homemade Pizza! 

Nothing beats your own homemade pizza with your own homemade pizza base!

After many different pizza base recipes over the years I have settled on this one.  It works perfectly every time and tastes great!

This one is from Jamie Oliver (see link here)

Makes 6 to 8 medium-sized thin pizza bases

Ingredients 

 

1 kg white bread flour or '00' flour, or 800g strong white bread flour or Tipo '00' flour, plus 200g finely ground semolina flour (I use the '00' flour and then plain flour for kneading if required) 

1 teaspoon fine sea salt 

2 x 7 g dried yeast sachets 

1 tablespoon golden caster sugar 

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

650 ml lukewarm water

Visit Jamie Oliver's page for the recipe instructions :)  Click here

Top it with your favourite ingredients!

I freeze the left over dough in 2 base lots.  Just put them in a freezer bag and seal!  They thaw easy and still make great pizzas.  I love being able to pull them out of the freezer during the day when I don't feel like cooking dinner.

We use a pizza stone in the oven to cook our pizza, but if you don't have one I am sure a normal tray would work well too.  

Do you have a pizza base recipe that you love?  Please share it!

I think we might have pizza tonight! :)  

Food Friday

Food, glorious food! It's no secret that I love food!   I have a big sweet tooth - that's no secret either :) but I struggle to come up with meal ideas each night, so it seems like we end up having the same old thing over and over again. 

I thought it would be fun to post a recipe each week. I'm calling it "Food Friday".  I am hoping that my lovely readers out there will help me out with some of their recipe ideas as well! Feel free to leave comments and link to other recipes ideas.

This week's recipe is one I made a few nights ago - Spinach and Ricotta lasagne.

It is really a cannelloni recipe that I adapted because I didn't have any cannelloni :)

Ingredients:

250g frozen spinach thawed
500g fresh ricotta
1 egg
1/2 chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
salt & pepper
lasagne sheets
2 tins crushed tomatoes (or equivalent passata)
500ml water
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup oregano chopped
1/2 cup grated cheese

Bechamel Sauce:
60g butter
1/3 cup flour
4 1/2 cups milk (add as needed)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Combine spinach, ricotta, egg, parley, Parmesan, salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Combine tomatoes, water, garlic and oregano.  Alternate layers of tomato mixture, lasagne sheets and spinach filling until mixture has been used.  Top with Bechamel sauce and grated cheese.  Cook for 35-40 minutes or until pasta is cooked through.

To make sauce - melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  Add flour and stir until combined.  Cook for a minute (do not burn) gradually add milk, stirring constantly, until desired consistency.

And there you have it.  Enjoy!