Carrot and coconut cake (a holiday baking experiment)

We have just returned from a holiday down the coast. I will post some photos of our adventures later this week. Today, I wanted to share a cake that I cooked. I made up the recipe, based on my basic fruit muffin recipe. It was so yum that I cooked it again (also, I measured the ingredients second time around, so that I could record it).

2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I think the first cake I made had a little more coconut than this, which was nice too)
3/4 milk
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Grease and line a ring pan.

Ask a willing assistant to grate the carrot (this is Mr Sociable's favourite job!).

Combine ingredients in a bowl. The mixture is quite thick. 

Scoop the mixture into the prepare ring pan. Cook at 180˚C until brown on top & cooked through* - insert a skewer to check (it should come out clean).

* The oven in the holiday house was very slow (it took over an hour to cook). I think in a fan-forced oven, it would take about 40 mins at 160˚C.

Chicken Maryland Pot Roast

A while ago, I tried making a whole chicken pot roast for the first time and everyone loved it! Success!! Mr Fun, who normally will not eat roast, ate the chicken and the rice (tonight he ate the potato too, because I said it was "just like chips"). But the whole chicken was a bit of a pain - I found it hard to cut the chicken up into pieces when it was hot and covered in liquid.

So tonight I made the same meal, but with chicken marylands instead (a chicken maryland is the drumstick and thigh, with skin on). It was much easier, because the chicken was already in pieces, ready to serve - I just separated the drumstick from the thigh when serving. I think next time I would add in a few different cuts of chicken, to provide a mixture of leaner and fattier meat.

Ingredients
4 chicken marylands
6 medium potatoes, cut into large pieces
4 carrots, cut into large pieces
1 large onion, chopped into small pieces
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine (I used sweet, but you could you dry if you prefer)
4 bay leaves

Method
1. Preheat the slow cooker. Spray the bowl of the slow cooker with oil.
2. Add vegetables, then chicken and liquid.
3. Cook for 4-6 hours on low, stirring once, to ensure all of the chicken/veg gets cooked in the yummy liquid.
4. Serve - either by itself or with bread/rice (season with salt/pepper to taste).

Yummy Low-fat Meatloaf (with hidden vegies)

Did you grow up eating meatloaf? Mum used to make it with sausage mince, which is apparently how Nana used to make it too. It was very yummy! (but, not very healthy...). This week, I set out to make a healthy meatloaf for dinner, with lots of hidden vegies. It was well-received by my family (even Franky, who was a bit dubious about meatloaf).

Ingredients
500g lean beef mince (eg heart smart mince)
500g lean pork mince
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 packet french onion soup mix
2 carrots, grated
2 zucchini, grated
2 cups fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs (whizz up stale bread with the food processor)
2 eggs

Method
Preheat oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a loaf tin. Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl. Empty into the loaf tin and press down to smooth out the top.

Cook for 1 hour 15 minutes. Test to make sure it is cooked through by inserting a metal skewer into the centre for 3 seconds. Pull the skewer out and check to see if it is hot. If the skewer is hot, the meat it cooked through. If not, cook for longer.

Leave the meatloaf resting in the tin to cool a bit before slicing (this will stop the meatloaf from crumbling when you cut). A serrated knife makes cutting easier. Serve with steamed vegies and/or salad.

The meatloaf recipes, from which I drew inspiration:
* Vegie Smugglers: individual meat loaves
* Taste: healthy meatloaf
* Fab Food: Retro Classics (2002), p108

Easter Baking with Kids: Cinnamon Crosses (and some other Easter playgroup activities)

This morning was our Easter celebration at playgroup, so I decided to make cinnamon crosses with the kids. They are REALLY easy. I've made them at a few camps, with my own kids and at playgroup a few times.

Cinnamon Crosses

You need:
1 packet puff pastry sheets
melted butter
pastry brush
cinnamon/sugar in a shaker

Defrost a pastry sheet and cut it into 2cm strips. Cut the strips into 2 pieces, one piece longer than the other. Lay the pieces onto baking paper, in the shape of a cross (the longer piece makes the vertical part of the cross, the shorter piece is the horizontal part of the cross).

Now is the fun (kid-friendly) part! Use the pastry brush to "paint" butter over the crosses. Use the shaker to sprinkle them with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake at 180˚C (160˚C fan-forced) until the pastry puffs up and turns golden (5-10mins).

Other Easter playgroup activities

We made Easter Sensory tubs...

Thanks Deb at the Aspiring Mum for the great idea!

and stained-glass windows (which even the 1 year olds were able to do with assistance!)

Mr Fun's craft (with a bit of help from Mummy)

We had an Easter Egg hunt (with plastic eggs containing chickens)...

and talked about how the Easter eggs/chickens remind us of the new life that Jesus gives us.

Recipe Remix (reusing leftovers)

A little while ago, I wrote about how have started to menu plan our weeknight meals. I like to cook big meals that will do two dinners (and two lunches for Franky to take to work). But I find it boring eating exactly the same meal two nights in a row, so I like to re-invent the leftovers from the night before to make something new. I've got some regular big meals that I can make every second night and easy "remixes" that I make the next night.

I'm going to share some of the reinventions that I make - and I'd love to hear some of your ideas too!

Chicken & mushroom pasta sauce --> chicken & mushroom pie
I cook the chicken mushroom pasta sauce with pasta on the first night. Leftover pasta is used to make lunches for Franky (with the sauce). On the second night, I make pies. We have a pie maker - so this is really simple. I just put the pastry in the pie-maker and fill with sauce. Can serve with vegies or salad (or chips, if I'm looking for a really easy dinner).

Burritos --> savory mince
We eat tacos/burritos on the first night, with the usual fillings - salad, meat, cheese, etc. The second night, I add some extra vegies to the meat (peas, carrot, etc) & serve it with rice or pasta & top with shredded cheese.

Spaghetti sauce --> lasagne
We eat spaghetti bolognaise the first night, then use the leftover sauce to make lasagne for the next night. Just requires layering the sauce with lasagne sheets and topping with cheese (I don't worry about béchamel sauce!).

Roast chicken --> roast chicken pizza
This one doesn't save much time (because it requires cutting up all the leftover chicken) - but it is very yummy!

 

Sausages & salad --> curried sausages
Ok, a bit daggy - but such a yummy reminder of my childhood! Use leftover sausages to make curried sausages. To make curried sausages, I use 1 onion, a few cloves of garlic, curry powder (I use a couple of tsp of Clive of India), flour and water. Add vegies as required (when we were kids, vegies were on the side, but now I add vegies into the sauce).

So, now it's over to you - I would love you to share some ideas for remixing leftovers! I need some new ideas :)

Peanut Oat Slice

I'm working on using up all the food in our pantry at the moment. It's part of a plan to tame the pantry & just buy what I need for a fortnight, rather than stock enough food for 2 months (no really, I'm pretty sure there was enough food in there for at least 2 months!).

So last night I made this peanut oat slice to take to Bible study this morning. In addition to being a super-easy recipe, it used up some oats and salt-free peanut butter (which is probably healthier than regular peanut butter, but just tastes....). There are still lots of peanut butter jars & oats in the pantry, so I guess I'll have to make it again ;)

Peanut Oat Slice
175g butter
3 tbs honey
1 cup brown sugar
100g peanut butter
3 cups oats
100g dried fruit/nuts (I used sultanas and cranberries)

Melt the butter, honey and sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Once melted, stir in the peanut butter and mix until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Press into a slice tin and cook for 35min at 180˚C. Leave in the tin to cool, then cut into squares.

Better than bread...

I've written before about my love of pancakes. I've recently tried making savory pancakes for the boys & they both love them! They are pretty filling, so they make a nutritious lunch (with hidden vegies). I'm planning to spread vegemite on some of them and freeze them as sandwiches for Mr Sociable to take to Prep.

Pancake sandwich with vegemite

Wholemeal Savory Pancakes*
2 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 large carrot, grated
1 large zucchini, grated
1 big handful of shredded tasty cheese

Combine all ingredients. Spoon out blobs of mixture onto a non-stick frypan (low heat). The mixture is thicker than regular pancake mixture, so I spread the blobs out in the frypan. Cook one side, then flip to cook the other side. Serve with savory spread or toppings. So far my kids have eaten them with vegemite and with tomato sauce. Today I am sending Mr Sociable to prep with avocado and cheese on a pancake sandwich. I think ham, cheese & tomato would be nice too!

You could substitute the carrot/zucchini for other vegies (eg corn) or meat (eg ham/bacon).

* This is a modified version of a recipe I received from Sarah. Thanks Sarah!

Pea and Bacon Tart

I made this recipe all the time in 2010 and then forgot about it... Until my mother-in-law was coming over for her birthday dinner this week. I spent a long time trawling through old copies of Delicious magazine trying to find it. I've decided to record it here* (with my own modifications...) so that you can enjoy it (and I will know where it is next time!).

2 sheets shortcrust pastry (but in the photos it is puff pastry)
300g bacon (I usually buy the pre-shredded stuff - and in the photos it is actually ham because I picked up the wrong packet)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
8 eggs
385g tin evaporated milk
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped 
1 cup cheese
2.5 cups frozen peas (defrosted)

Grease a pie tray and line with defrosted pastry.

I bought this one from IKEA & I love it!

Cook the bacon, onion & garlic with a little oil.

Combine the evaporated milk, eggs, cheese and mint. 

Add defrosted peas, as well as the cooked bacon, onions and garlic .

Fill the pie dish.

Cook at 200˚C (170˚C fan-forced) for 40mins. Check that it is cooked by cutting the centre with a knife, to see if it has set.

Serve with salad.

*The original recipe was "pancetta, pea & cheddar deep-pan tart", Delicious, March 2010, p. 118.

Lazy Fried Rice

I've recently lost my love of cooking. I think it started about a month ago, when Mr Fun decided that it is torturous to see Mummy in the kitchen and not be in there too. He SQUEALS on the outside of the child-proof gate. I've never heard anything like it - it's piercing, ear-splitting and drives me insane!!

Our kitchen is not really big enough for him to play in there safely while I am cooking. Nothing will placate him, apart from being in the kitchen with me. So, I'm spending as little time in there as possible at the moment (or trying to prepare food while he is eating/asleep). This fried rice "recipe" is super quick. He still squeals for the duration - but at least it's 20mins of squealing, rather than 45-60mins ;)

2 packets of Coles crunchy noodle salad mix (I don't use the sauce or crunchy noodles - you can save them for another time)
frozen peas (maybe 1/2 a cup?)
1 kg mince
4 cups cooked rice
soy sauce

Heat some oil in a wok & brown the mince. Add the frozen peas & the vegies from the salad mix and cook until the vegies start to wilt. Stir through the rice & soy sauce (to taste). Serve plain, or with chilli sauce.

That's it! No preparation, but very yummy! It is not as cheap as making it from scratch, but the salad mix is only $3/bag - so it's still much cheaper and healthier than a takeaway. And, it's a winner with my family...

More chicken nuggets

When I read the chicken nugget recipe in Deceptively Delicious, I was skeptical. The instructions are to mix pureed vegie (sweet potato, spinach or beet) with egg, roll the chicken in it and crumb. I felt pretty sure the vegie/crumb coating would just fall off. I also wasn't too keen on shallow-frying, as the recipe suggests.

Casting doubts aside, I gave it a go, with major variations to the original recipe. I baked, rather than fried. I omitted lots of the seasoning (including salt) & instead just squeezed some lemon juice over them at the end (but left Mr Fun's plain). I had mixed results, mainly due to the positioning in the oven (the ones closer to the element crisped up better and the coating was firmer). But, my family all gave them the thumbs-up (and Mr Sociable didn't even notice the greenish tinge).

Chicken breast nuggets (with zucchini coating)
3 zucchini, roughly chopped
1 egg
2 cups breadcrumbs
2 large chicken breasts, cut into nugget-sized pieces
lemon juice, to serve

Puree the raw zucchini in the food processor. Add the egg and whizz together. Dip the chicken into the zucchini/egg puree.

Put the zucchini-coated chicken into a bowl of breadcrumbs.

Pile the breadcrumbs on. Pick up the nuggest and very gently shake the nugget to remove excess breadcrumbs.

Place the nuggets on a tray. 

Cook in a moderate oven until golden, turning once. Cut one of the nuggets in half to check if they are cooked through. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

I actually made these in advance (before going to pick up Mr Sociable from preschool). I left the raw nuggets covered in fridge & just put them in the oven when we got home. Easy & delicious! :) I will definitely try these again - I'll watch the position in the oven a little more closely next time.

Sick people food (corn soup)

You may or may not know that I've had tonsillitis for about 5 days now. I've been eating lots of soft food (ice-cream, yoghurt, 2 minute noodles, etc). Last night I really felt like some chicken and corn soup. So, using only stuff that I had on hand (ie not chicken), I threw together this very easy soup, which actually tasted pretty good. So I thought I would share it :)

1/2 packet frozen corn (about 500g)
150g diced bacon
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1/2 rice cup of white rice
soy sauce
1 egg

Put the corn, bacon, chicken stock & rice into a saucepan with some water. Cook for about 40 mins, stirring occasionally and adding extra boiling water if required. Put the raw egg into the soup and stir through to break it up into small  pieces. Turn off the heat. Add soy sauce, to taste. Serve.

Kid-friendly* Satay

This satay is really easy, really yummy & very mild - no spices at all really. It's made with ingredients that I have on hand and, best of all, I cook it in the slow-cooker - so it's super-convenient :)

Beef stay with green beans, spinach & cauliflower

Kid-friendly slow-cooker satay
1 kg diced beef (eg. chuck steak) or chicken (eg. diced thigh fillets or drumsticks)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 cup peanut butter
1 400g can coconut cream
4 tbs fish sauce
4 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs lemon juice
chopped vegies (eg. spinach, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans, carrot)

Heat the slow cooker. Add a little oil, then the garlic, onions and peanut butter. Wait until the heat melts the peanut butter, then stir in the coconut milk, fish sauce, soy sauce and lemon juice. Once the sauce is combined, add the meat and vegies. Leave it to cook for a long time on low (length of time will vary, depending on your slow-cooker - mine takes 4-6 hours). Serve with rice.

* unless, of course, your child is allergic to peanuts... ;)

Chocolate & Zucchini Muffins

I have posted before about my love of muffins. They are great for hiding fruit/veg, but look just like cake! Today I made a variation on my standard muffin recipe to create Chocolate & Zucchini muffins. Surprisingly delicious!

Chocolate & Zucchini Muffins
1/2 cup oil (I usually use rice bran oil)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract.
4 grated zucchini
2 cups of wholemeal SR Flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
dash of milk to combine

Mix oil, eggs and vanilla. Add flour, sugar, zucchini and cocoa. Mix lightly, then add some milk to combine. Mixture should not be dry, but should still be sticky (rather than runny). Scoop the mixture into muffin trays (makes 18 kid-sized muffins, or 12 large muffins). Bake at 180 degrees (or 160 fan-forced) for 25 mins, or until cooked (they should spring back when lightly pressed).

I love... pancakes

Today, I have no bread and no car. I knew last night that we had finished the bread and I meant to cook some in the breadmaker, but forgot. So we are having pancakes for breakfast! Everyone in our house loves pancakes (that's what we call them - but really, they have the consistency of pikelets). They are quick and easy to make, but still feel like a "special" breakfast (so I'm kind of glad I forgot to make bread...).

We have pancakes quite a lot, so here's what I've learned:
1. Use a good non-stick pan. I actually have a special non-stick pan reserved only for pancakes and eggs - I have found that cooking meat in the same pan wrecks the surface & causes the pancakes to stick.
2. Use low heat to cook. Because my pancakes are a bit thicker than most, cooking on low heat ensures that they are cooked all the way through, without burning on the outside.

Saturday morning pancakes

Lohtown Sweet* Pancakes
2 cups self-raising flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Mix ingredients. Scoop out blobs onto a non-stick frypan & cook until small bubbles appear on the top surface.

 

 

Small bubbles on the top-side - ready to turn

Turn over to cook the other side. Put cooked pancakes onto a cooling rack. Serve with honey, jam, sugar/lemon, or vegemite (which my kids like!).

* I looked at some recipes on Taste this morning & realised that I use a more sugar than others do. The pancakes are quite sweet - nice to eat, even without a topping.

Sick people food (steeped chicken)

It's that time of year when all the little people share their tummy bugs with one another. So far, our kids are ok, but some of our friends have been sick. So, in honour of my sickly friends, here is a recipe for our favourite "sick people" food.
My husband first introduced me to steeped chicken. He normally makes it with ginger sauce & fried onions/garlic. Yum!! But that's not very sick-person friendly. So here is the plain version.

Plain Steeped Chicken
1 double chicken breast, cut into 2 halves

Boil a saucepan of water. Put the chicken in and boil for 2 mins with the lid on. Turn off the stove and leave it to cook in the hot water for 40mins. Take out the chicken and cut it into pieces.

Serve with plain rice, steamed vegies and oyster sauce (or just plain).

Mr Sociable's favourite: vegiefull burritos

Mr Sociable LOVES burritos. He would happily have them for dinner 3-4 nights a week (I make them about once a fortnight). I encourage his love of burritos, because they are really easy to make, they can be made ahead of time & they are very healthy (I make them without using packet mix and include lots of vegies). I often cook the meat and chop the salad vegies during the day, then put it in the fridge ready for dinner time. Leftovers make easy lunch wraps for Franky to take to work the next day, or the meat can be mixed with some peas/corn & served with rice (savory mince).

I wrapped this one a little too full! Only just managed to get it closed.

Lohtown Burritos
1 kg mince (I use kangaroo, but you could use beef or chicken)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 brown onion
3 carrots grated
3 tbs cumin
1 tsp stock powder (I use the Massells "chicken" stock)
(optional) 1 tin of plain beans, whatever you have - kidney, 3 bean mix, cannellini beans

Brown the onions and garlic in some oil. Brown the mince. Add the cumin, stock power and grated carrot (sometimes I add other vegies too, eg. grated zucchini or finely chopped spinach). Cook until the meat is thoroughly cooked and the vegies soft.

To make this delicious meat into burritos, you will need:
tortillas or lebanese bread
cheese
sauce (tomato or chilli sauce)
chopped salad vegies (eg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, grated carrot)

Ready to assemble - meat, tomato, cheese, cucumber, grated carrot, tortillas

Look at all that vegie goodness!

Cheese, spinach & bacon parcels (another spinach experiment)

As I mentioned in a previous post, we've been eating a lot of spinach this winter. This week, my Mum gave me 2 big bunches of English spinach + some filo pastry. So tonight I decided to experiment with making some cheese & spinach triangles. As soon as I took the pastry out of the packet (and half of the sheets slid out of my hand all over the floor), I decided filo "parcels" were more realistic than triangles! I started out by making portion-sized filo pastry parcels (that looked a bit like sausage rolls). Once I got sick of folding so many filo parcels, I switched to puff pastry & made a few enormous ones (1 sheet of pastry per parcel!).

 Enormous puff-pastry "parcels". Each one was made with a whole sheet of pastry.

We all loved this meal. Mr Fun ate a whole parcel by himself! Franky commented that "vegetarian meals are always yummier with bacon" ;)

Mr Fun making a mess

Cheese, Spinach & Bacon Parcels
2 brown onions, finely chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1.5 bunches of English spinach, roughly chopped
250g grated tasty cheese
150g diced bacon (I just buy the cheap, pre-diced stuff)
Pastry - either filo or puff

Cook the onions, garlic & bacon in a bit of oil. Add the spinach and cook until it starts to wilt. Stir through the cheese.
* Filo: Fold the pastry sheet over so that it is double thickness (or you could do more layers if you like). Put the mixture in a line in the middle pastry & wrap up. Cook for 45mins at 180 (160 fan-forced), or until golden brown.
* Puff: single thickness of pastry. I actually used 2 half sheets on top of each other, then pinched around the edge. Cook for 35mins at 180 (160 fan-forced), or until golden brown.

Filo pastry parcels (these ones were very simple - didn't even fold the ends)