oh... my... goodness...

this morning as rora and i were up early and the others were all out at a joey scout sleepover i decided we'd run to the supermarket so as not to waste time during the day (plus we were out of maple syrup and wanted pancakes for breakie hehehehe) so we ducked to Coles at the mall...

i nearly died at the total at the checkout! because i usually try to shop at the cheapest places (aldi, choku bai jo, discount stores etc) i always forget just how expensive the major supermarkets are, especially considering the quality of the fresh produce compared to other places. *sigh* that's the price you pay for convenience i guess!

so anyway, having shopped with no menu plan i need to work out a rough menu so as not to waste what i have bought.

cauliflower and bacon soup (also for freezer)
spag bol
sausages, mash & veg
potato & spinach curry & dahl
something with beef in the slow cooker
pizza

butter cake
chocolate cake
GF bread

mmmmm this was good and so easy! I'm working at a school atm and today we made something very similar in cooking class so I decided to use the inspiration for home :)

this will serve 6 probably

1 250g packet rice noodles (i wanted the fat flat ones but only had vermicelli)
oil of your choice, a few tabs
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 onion, cut into wedges
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1" ginger, peeled and chopped
500g chicken breasts or thighs, minced (or chicken mince of course!)
vegies of your choice - i used a pack of baby corn, cut into strips, 1/2 wombuk, shredded, 1/2 bunch of broccoli cut into small pieces *
fresh mint and coriander to your taste, shredded or chopped
soy sauce, perhaps 1/4 cup? (to taste) gluten free if required
1/2 lemon or lime
sweet chilli sauce to serve (optional)

heat oil in wok. add eggs and swirl a few times to cook a thin omelette. remove from pan and when cooler roll up and shred. save.
add more oil if needed and cook onion, broccoli, garlic and ginger until just starting to turn translucent. add chicken and baby corn and cook over high heat, stirring until nearly cooked.
add remaining vegies and cook for 5 minutes until soft
add remaining ingredients - including squeezing juice over wok and shredded omelette - and mix well heating well, serve with sauce if desired

yum!


* you could also use any chinese greens, capsicum, carrot etc

well, talk about a slack blogger!

Ryan turned 7 a few weeks ago - it's not party year here for him (though how is it that somehow a celebration with 2 friends turns out as big - and expensive - as a party, by the time you get all the family there?! lol) so we went to AMF bowling to play a few games. Food was simple - popcorn and chips, with a superman cake.

once i started decorating the cake i got total stage fright at how to do it without ruining it - i don't even own a piping set anymore! (recommendations please, not the TW piping ball, ugh!) - before i thought to use my printed out logo as a stencil rather than inspiration ;) made the job much simpler than expected!

the black gel spoiled it a little i think, it didn't have a nozzle so putting it on evenly was rather difficult.

it's been a long time since I last made these - around 2 years - so i decided to give them a try gluten free - they worked very well and finally! something all 3 kids will eat!!! lol

based on the recipe from Taste, made GF and doubled...

Gluten Free Jam Drops

250g butter, softened *
200g sugar or castor sugar
2 tspn vanilla essence
2 eggs
520g gluten free self raising flour or plain flour with 4-5 tspns baking powder added
plain flour, to dust
2/3 cup strawberry jam **

preheat oven to 180'c

put butter and sugar into thermomix and mix on speed 4 until light and creamy (you may need to scrape down) - around 20-30 seconds.

add vanilla essence and eggs and mix on speed 4 for another 20 seconds.

add flour and mix on speed 4 until combined - you will probably need to help it a little with a spatula as the dough gets stiffer.

roll teaspoonfuls into balls, flatten slightly and place on lined tray. when you've done a tray-full flour one of your thumbs or fingers (or the end of a wooden spoon etc) and create an indentation in each ball. fill with a small amount of jam.

bake for 15 minutes until just golden brown. leave on trays to cool.


I found that mine lasted in a tupperware container for 6 days! (usually i find GF cakes etc go dry very quickly)


* if my butter is straight out of the fridge i soften it by cubing, then putting in the thermomix on 37'c speed 4 for 20-25 seconds (any longer will melt it)

** if you make your own thermomix jam try making some runnier than usual, it's perfect!

Pantry week did not go according to plan last week *cough* less said the better. of course it doesn't help when you run out of basmati, jasmine AND arborio rice all the same week!

dahl
baked potatoes & ragu
meatloaf
minestrone
potato curry with raita
easy nachos
lamb & cauli curry (tonight)