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What are you cooking this Christmas?

December 9, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News · Tagged celebrations, cooking techniques, feeding the family, recipe

Gloriously home made good cheer.

How are your kids faring in the lead up to Christmas? Mine are nearly jumping out of their skins with excitement. Me? Not so much. For the grown ups, it’s a bit more stressful, don’t you think? So much to do! So much to remember!

To negotiate it all with the minimum of fuss, I resort to LISTS. And I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’m a chronic planner. Long ago I learned that my brain is unreliable, so don’t be surprised to walk into my kitchen and find I’ve got a running sheet for Christmas day, which starts at the time we want to eat and works backwards all the way to what time I need to preheat the oven. Sure, it’s a bit uptight, but for me it means that I don’t have to think, just do, which I find easier after an early afternoon glass of bubbles!

My menu for Christmas day is nearly set. Is yours? I’ll love to see your recipe links and ideas. Shall we do a bit of recipe sharing? You all pop yours in the comments below and here’s what I’m cooking this year…

Christmas Eve – I get off lightly, just turning up to my side of the family with a green salad and the traditional pudding, which is already in the fridge, ready to go.

This year, the other side of the family is coming to our house for Christmas day. There are only 9 of us, so I can do the traditional lunch without too much trouble. I’ll serve a starter platter of good crackers with smoked salmon, capers, chives, and lemons. Freeform sounds good to me – everyone can compile their own morsels. (If you like these flavours, and want a more formal starter, check out this smoked salmon & cheese tart recipe – it’s REALLY good).

For main, it’s a roast turkey. I’m going to use this recipe from Taste. I tested the stuffing on a roast chook last weekend and it was delicious (I used sourdough breadcrumbs). On the side I’m thinking that this green salad with mango looks good and some hassle back potatoes.

For dessert, I’ll crumble meringues into parfait glasses, along with chunks of Christmas cake, ice cream and some poached cherries (I’ll cook them in a sugar syrup with vanilla & cinnamon).

To nibble afterwards? Well, it’s gotta be rumballs. My gorgeous granny used to make them and as soon as I pop one into my mouth I’m bombarded with happy memories of childhood and love.

A cuddle in a recipe.

Rumballs

1 packet plain biscuits (I like Milk Arrowroot)
395 g can condensed milk
1 cup desiccated coconut, plus ½ cup extra, for rolling
3 tbsp good-quality cocoa powder
3 tbsp rum

Line a plastic container with baking paper. Tear some extra sheets so that you can store layers of the balls easily.

Place the biscuits in a large plastic bag and use a rolling pin or your fist to smash them up into crumbs. Tip into a large mixing bowl.

Add the condensed milk, coconut, cocoa and rum. Stir to combine. Use your hands to roll bite-sized balls. Toss in the extra coconut and place in your container. Seal and refrigerate for 2 hours.

MAKES ABOUT 60

ps….**CHRISTMAS DELIVERIES**

Wanting to buy Vegie Smugglers cookbooks as gifts? Make sure you place orders within the next couple of days – especially if you’re far flung. Of course e-books can be bought anytime – you’ll be sent an automated download link at the time of your purchase.

pps… **I’M ON HOLIDAY!**

After nearly 4 years of regular blogging, I need a break. The shop is still open and I’ll still be checking Facebook & emails, but to replenish my creative juices I’m taking a few weeks off (in the background I’ll be finishing off my new cookbook and Thermomix e-book).

Thanks to all of my regular readers – I hugely appreciate your ongoing support of this blog and my business! So have a wonderful Christmas, happy New Year and I’ll see you at some stage in January. xxx

Comments (16) »

Ho ho flipping ho!

November 18, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News · Tagged celebrations, feeding the family

I am horrified to report that Christmas is just over 5 weeks away. How the year turned into a high speed adventure, I’m not sure. Somehow since August, the year has compressed and now I’m dreading an impending crash. Because I’ve not done any preparations yet. Have you?

The kids did pop together their Santa list over the weekend. I like to lock that sucker down nice and early. But scanning through I’ve noticed that even the cheapest items will leave poor Santa with empty pockets until mid-March.

Fret not, though. With your mind full of to-do lists, I’ll sort out your immediate concerns. All these meals can be made ahead and stored in the fridge, ready to munch on when you get home late from the ballet concert, or ready to scoff before you head out for Christmas carols…

Chicken pies – reheat in the oven.

Tuna pasta salad – eat cold.

Mini frittatas – eat warm or cold.

And my present to you this Christmas? Until December 2, I’m offering an earlybird Christmas special. Buy a cookbook bundle (that’s 320 glorious colour pages, full of 120+ Vegie Smugglers recipes) and you’ll receive the Lunchbox Planner e-book (worth $14.95) for free.

So for $59.95 you get the two books delivered to your door and the ebook is ready to download. And just quietly, I won’t tell if you decide to gift on the cookbooks but keep the ebook for yourself. We all deserve a little something at this time of year.

Comments (2) »

What kind of a woman are you? And what kind of woman will your daughter be?

October 2, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian · Tagged parenting, recipe, vegetarian

Can you guess what my favourite TV show is at the moment? Possibly you might think that it’s Jamie, what with all of his new budget recipes. And I am a massive fan of his so it might surprise you when I say that I’ve not caught even one episode of his new series.

Well then, is it Adam Liaw trawling around Japan and presenting some of the best-ever looking sashimi on TV? Nope, not Adam (although I am religiously watching him on Thursday nights).

Actually it’s not a food show at all. No, it’s a show that can teach me MUCH MORE ABOUT LIFE. And that show is, of course, The Bachelor Australia.

I can’t get enough of it.

Being a simple girl, free of hair extensions and matching mani/pedis, I’m finding that I have SO MUCH TO LEARN. Like how to apply so much makeup that I look homogenously like every other girl. How to make high heels look ‘right’ when I’m visiting sand dunes. How to wear hotpants with confidence. How to appear charming at not-at-all-awkward cocktail parties where there’s just me and 20 other girls who all hate my guts. And how to attract the attentions of a not-at-all-boring fella, who I imagine is being paid a lot of money in order to nod with compassion and state, straight-to-camera, “this is all obviously really intense for the girls, all wanting to get my attention.”

In the same week, I watched Anne Summers chat with Julia Gillard. As a staunch supporter of women’s rights, I lapped it up. Evidently Julia didn’t do such a great job as PM, but I thought it was just a little bit awesome that after such a tumultuous time, she finally got to be in a room full of adoring women who wanted to say THANK YOU, for being the first female prime minister. And THANK YOU for enduring the personal slander that poured over you in the guise of legitimate political criticism. THANK YOU Jules, for paving the way.

I suppose we’ve hit true female liberation – this is a time when girls can grow up and choose where they belong on this vast range of femininity. But part of me can’t help but worry that the women choosing to perpetuate the stereotypes and inhabit the decorative part of the scale aren’t just making life a little bit harder for those who are trying to prove that a woman is worth more than just her looks.

And while I try to remain open-minded, I have to admit that I already know at which end of the woman-scale that I hope my daughter chooses to place herself. What about you?

From Vegie Smugglers 1. Have you bought a copy yet?

Liberated ‘chick’pea & corn fritters

²/³ cup self-raising flour
1 egg
²/³ cup milk
315g can corn
kernels, drained
1 medium carrot, peeled,
grated
400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained, mashed a little
4 spring onions,
finely chopped
Handful of basil and parsley leaves, finely chopped
Black pepper
Canola oil, for frying
Salad and lemon wedges, to serve

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Slowly add the combined egg and milk, whisking as you go to avoid lumps.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the batter and mix until evenly combined.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the canola oil and ensure it is nice and hot before adding ¼ cup amounts of batter to the pan.

Cook for 3 minutes then flip over and cook on the other side for a further 3-4 minutes until nice and golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Drain on kitchen paper.

Serve warm with salad and lemon wedges.

MAKES 10

Comments (13) »

Am I being firm or unkind?

September 19, 2013 · Filed under News · Tagged parenting

Don’t ask why, but THIS is the ‘cool’ cap, he’s so desperate for.

Drama at school this morning as Mr M&P arrived for mufti day only to realise that unlike the rest of the boys in his class, he had forgotten to wear a cool cap and instead was sentenced to an embarrassing day with only his daggy green wide-brimmed hat to protect him from the harsh Australian sun.

Trying to instill the idea that he needs to be responsible for his own items for school has been an ongoing battle – readers, library books, notes etc are ignored and forgotten with such tedious regularity that I really felt that I had to hold my ground, even though he had worked himself up into quite a tizz.

He wanted me to go home and return with his cool cap. I told him that he’d have to wear his regular school hat, instead. The conversation deteriorated to this point…

Him: “But muuummmmmmmmyyyyy, if you loved me, you go and get my cap.”
Me: “If I really loved you, I let you learn the lesson that you need to be in charge of all your own things.”
Him: “But I haven’t learned that lesson yet.”
Me: “Yes, you’re learning it right now.”
Him: “But I’ll look stupid.”
Me: “No, you always look handsome and I always love you.”

Bell rings, saving me.

He sucked it up and joined the line with all the little boys wearing the coolest assortment of caps known to man.

I’ve got to go out again soon, and I’m thinking that I might just go via school and pop his cap into his bag, ready to surprise him at lunchtime. Is it the right thing to do? Or am I a sucker?

_______________

Now apologies – there’s no recipe this week. I’m desperately trying to finish off my new cookbook instead. I promise you a chocolately, awesome treat next time, which definitely is worth the wait.

Comments (24) »

Cake stall SOS

September 5, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged baking, ideas, lunchbox, treats

Do you think the best part of election day is the food? Of course I would, what with me being both a pig and a glutton – nothing thrills me more than a display of home-made baked things or a sizzling BBQ with the waft of bacon.

If you’re lucky enough to be voting in a church hall, then you might just get a home-made jar of jam or lemon butter along with your piece of democracy. Most of us will trundle along to our local primary school where nabbing a bacon & egg roll or sausage in a bread will mean our hands are full enough that we can happily refuse the ‘how to vote’ pamphlets. Then after casting your vote, come out and buy up big at the cake stall. For the school, it’s one of the best fundraisers of the year.

No doubt if you have school-aged kids then have had the note home requesting that you whip something up for sale. Life being the busy thing it is though, you probably don’t have time to help out… or do you? YOU DO! I’ve got your back sisters – these cake stall donations are all simple, quick AND delicious. Click the pics to go through to the recipes…

The easiest cupcakes ever.

Anzac Biscuits

Microwave marmalade.

...awwwwww, transported straight to Queensland.

Pineapple cakes.

May the best man win….

Comments (10) »

Dad’s turn to slack off (and be feted)

August 30, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian · Tagged breakfast, brunch, celebrations, eggs, family, vegetarian

Back in May, I was quite vocal about what it was that I was looking for in my Mother’s Day. Now, as September dawns, it pains me to admit that it’s now Dad’s turn to pop the feet up, be reminded of his awesomeness and generally made to feel as though he’s king of his domain (one day won’t hurt us, will it?)

So possibly you’ve got a big brunch planned. And of course there’ll be bacon, a bit more bacon. Maybe a few chippolatas and a bit more bacon. To go with it, chuck together this brunch frittata. The best bit of it is that you can actually make it up the night before, store it in the fridge and then bake it in time for when your family descends the next morning. Handy!

See ladies, quietly, I’m still looking out for us, even though it’s not exactly our turn.

Impressive and easy – my favourite combo.

Make-ahead Brunch Frittata

2 potatoes
4 spring onions, finely sliced (use some of the green bits too)
½ punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
6 mushrooms, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 cup bread cut into a 1cm dice (this is a great way to use up day old sourdough)
1½ cups grated cheese
5 eggs
½ cup milk
Salt and pepper

Cook the potatoes. You could bake them, boil, steam or microwave them until just tender (I use the microwave as I find it the quickest and easiest way).

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line an 18x28cm slice tin with baking paper.

Once cool enough to handle, peel away the potato skins and chop into a rough dice. Add to a large mixing bowl.

Tip in the vegies, bread and cheese. Combine well.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs and milk. Season well. Pour onto the vegies and mix. Tip the mixture into your slice tin and fiddle bits around so that the mix is evenly distributed and firmly packed. Leave a few cherry tomatoes on top for presentation.

Bake for 40 minutes until set and golden on top.

Cut into 8 brunch-sized slices. Serve alone or with chipolatas and bacon.

Comments (5) »

When mummy reaches Exorcist point…

August 19, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Red meat · Tagged feeding the family, lamb, parenting, slow cooker

Despicable behaviour, all around.

After a slow and insidious build over the last month, this morning I stopped coping, my head started spinning and I started to yell.

It’s ages since I shouted at the kids and for weeks I’ve resisted, instead using all the positive parenting tools in the book. But I have been feeling increasingly as though I am getting nowhere with them. Finally it all got too much, I cracked the shits, did a bit of screaming and actually got their attention.

Do you ever have those moments where parenting is just too hard and you are totally sick of it?

And what has been the growing problem? It’s all been over the kid’s refusal to take their school responsibilities seriously. There’s a long and tedious list of tasks they’ve not done or done poorly and without any effort. My philosophy with schoolwork is that I’ll be informed about what they’re supposed to be doing at home and offer lots of support, but I won’t do any of it myself. I’d rather they hand in an absolutely rubbish assignment of their own doing rather than a bit of my handiwork.

But it’s frustrating, watching them be so half-hearted. This morning once I calmed down, we walked to school and discussed the serious nature of responsibility and I asked for their reasoning and thoughts on how we could make improvements.

Mr M&P declared that he prefers not to do schoolwork, because it is simply too boring.

Miss F decided that she’d cooperate much better if instead of earning stars (for our star chart), she just earned money. For instance, 20 cents for putting on her school uniform each morning.

In the spirit of respect I listened attentively and thanked them for their contributions. I explained calmly to Mr M&P that sometimes life is boring and he should get ~~fucking~~ used to it and develop a better attitude. Then to Miss F, I calmly explained that ~~she didn’t have a hope it hell getting paid to~~ getting dressed really is just an expected fact of life.

Sigh. Parenting. It’s hard yakka, isn’t it?

In the spirit of trying to make things easier, here’s our latest slow cooker favourite.

Saucy! Great for dipping into with bread.

Slow cooker lamb chop casserole

1 tbsp olive oil
1kg lamb chops – I use forequarter or loin chops (chump chops need to have the fatty tail removed). For a bone free version, cube a 1kg mini lamb roast
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, thickly sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp plain flour
1½ cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
800g diced tomatoes
Pepper
1 tsp sumac (don’t leave this out – it’s the essential ingredient)
1 fresh bayleaf (or 2 dried)
1 large turnip, peeled, diced
2 large carrots, peeled, sliced
1 cup peas

Heat the oil in a large stovetop to oven dish. Brown the chops on either side for 3 minutes or so. Remove and place into your cooker.

Reheat the pan and add the onions and celery, stirring often until softened (about 5 minutes). Add in the garlic for a minute until fragrant, then sprinkle over the flour. Cook it out, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. After a minute it will start to smell sweeter and you can slowly add in the warm stock, Worcestshire sauce and tomatoes. Stir well, season with pepper. Add the sumac and the bay leaf. Tip this into the slow cooker, then toss in the vegies (except the peas). Mix well.

Cover and set to low for 6 hours. (Or on high for 3 hours should work too, although I’ve not tested this method).

Remove, check that the meat is cooked and the vegies are tender. Mix in the peas, re-cover and leave to sit for 15 minutes more.

Serve with bread or over pasta or mash.

Serves 2 adults and 4 kids.

If you love slow cooking, you’ll love my latest e-book!

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How not to grow weed(s).

August 16, 2013 · Filed under News · Tagged gardening, parenting

All around me little buds are popping open and there’s the unmistakable smell in the air of Spring. Each year at this time I’m filled with optimism about how self-sufficient I will be throughout the coming summer. You know, with plants and stuff that I can grow and eat, cause there’s no better way to educate your kids on where food comes from than by growing a bit of your own.

Somehow through the winter fog, I forget that I am possibly the world’s most well intentioned but flakey gardener. Rather than dwelling on all the dead plants I’ve pulled and chucked, I think back fondly to my success with eggplants and am sure that THIS YEAR will be the year when I don’t kill everything. Diligently this winter I’ve gotten my Bokashi bucket back into use and there’s some terribly lovely soil waiting for use.

Joining in the fun, Miss F has taken advantage of a freebie sent from Stihl, promoting their “Get real, get outdoors” program. They’re running a range of programs, including assistance for your school working bee and a ‘my green wall’ in-school program, that shows kids how to look after plants. Ever the industrious lass, Miss F had the kit underway before I knew anything about it. Proudly she led me outside to see her handiwork.

Miss F was proud of her hard work.

‘Excellent!’ I exclaimed. ‘Did you get the soil from the new compost, Miss F?’
No she said, she just found some dirt laying around, unneeded in the garden. And when I turned around, it was fairly obvious where she’d found it.

Dirt apparently just laying around, doing nothing.

Anyway. I’ll keep you posted on how we go with our Spring project. Has the start of Spring got you hatching some new outdoors scheme? I’d love to know about it. And if you’ve got any good tips for gardening-for-brown-thumbs, let me know. Last year I even killed mint, which is apparently almost impossible.

The good news is that the baby beets are underway.

The good news is that her baby beets are underway.

Comments (6) »

Ummm, but isn’t that a bit obvious?

July 25, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, News, Vegetarian · Tagged recipe, slow cooker, soup, vegetarian

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Stuck in a doctor’s waiting room this morning I was assaulted with the thrilling spectacle that is morning television. Luckily for me I arrived just as they presented a segment on ‘eat your way to looking younger’. Perfect timing since last week my daughter said, “Mummy, I’m just going to call you a lady, because you’re not a young lady but you’re not quite an old lady either.” Ahhhh. Another moment of kid truth that DOESN’T FEEL AT ALL OUCHY.

Anyways, I tuned in to the TV, all ears and was shocked to discover that…. I need to eat more fruit and vegetables. No shit. I mean, really? Does anyone think as they scoff a lolly or cinnamon doughnut that they are doing themselves a favour?

Regardless of the ailment, I seem to hear this same message repeated by health professionals over and over again. Eat less processed foods. Eat more fruit and vegetables.

Don’t we KNOW this by now? Am I overestimating the food education of our society? I think this is basic, boring drivel. Which is why I never bother to give that part of the message here – it’s a given, isn’t it? I’m more interested in giving inspiration for what to do with all that gorgeous fresh produce so that your kids will love it, too.

And my kids do love this vegie stew/soup. Clean bowls every time (when assisted with some fresh baguette slices). Originally I posted this as a pressure cooker recipe, but I’m happy to report that I made it in the slow cooker last night and can confirm that it needs 4 hours on high (which should translate to 8 hours on low). And chop your sweet potato and cauliflower into little pieces so that they can break down and be gorgeous.

See the original recipe here…

There’s still enough winter left to enjoy this.

Comments (14) »

Do I love my thermomix? You might be surprised…

July 20, 2013 · Filed under News · Tagged cooking techniques, feeding the family, thermomix

Take me to your leader.

So last Thursday, the mothership landed. A lovely Thermomix consultant named Kellie dropped in and got me going on the device that will do everything – revolutionise my cooking, fold my washing and felate my husband.

With true cult fevour I spent the next three hours making a risotto, 12 muffins, 1 tub of cashew nut butter and bread. The next day I made bread, homous and jam. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to perfectly soft-boiled eggs, more bread and a soup. (Am I sounding a bit ‘hungry caterpillar’ yet?)

And do I love it? Well, I am actually a bit more reserved than you might imagine. As my hubster eloquently put it – “it’s very German, seems to be more about food production than cooking”. And I reckon he’s nailed it. There’s not much art to it, but heaps of efficiency and repeatable results. Since though, families do deal in food production most of the time, a thermy is never going to be a wasted investment. The amount of dishes you can cook in the time you have changes drastically and the type of things you’ll cook alters too. Bread was never high on my to-do list, but it has been easy to whip up two loaves in two days. Score. And I can easily see how it will increase the amount of stuff that I’ll make from scratch, using wholefoods, and that’s a huge win.

But there’s hype to sift through, too. Making muffins in it was annoying. All the mixture stuck in the blades. I think it’s easier to mix muffins in a single bowl and then divide the mix out. The homous was delicious, but I can also make delicious homous in mini-food processor. I find it’s more about the recipe than the gadget.

If though, you’re not a keen cook and owning a thermy gives you the encouragement you need to make these things, then obviously I’m not going to be critical – my end goal is just to get people cooking, so if the thermy gives you the confidence you need to try it, then that’s awesome.

My biggest gripe though, is that the machine is for right-handers, not left-handers like me. Everything needs to be done clockwise around the blades and I actually find this difficult with my non-dexterous hand. In the end I rebelled and dug out my sticky muffin mix using my left hand – in the process taking some significant gauges out of the fancy $18 spatula. So I need to try and reprogram my brain and get my right hand working better. I’m sure those Germans are actually doing me a favour, forcing my brain to rewire thus helping me ward of dementia for an extra year or two.

But at $1939, it’s frustrating that I couldn’t order a left-handed blade set.

So for me, it’s going to be a great extra tool to have in the kitchen, but one lacking in a bit of soul. It does a great job of churning out food and I am looking forward to revisiting a few of my old recipes to give them a thermomix tweak. Stay tuned.

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