Chicken & Pumpkin Chilli (GF, TMX)

Yum! this was wayyyyyy nicer than i expected! will definitely make this again!

original recipe for Pumpkin Turkey Chilli

1 chicken breast, half frozen and cut into 1-2" cubes
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 onion, quartered
15g olive oil
1/2 green capsicum, cut into small dice *
1/2 red or yellow capsicum, , cut into small dice *
1 tin diced tomatoes
either around 400g tomato puree or 1 tin of water
1 tin drained kidney beans (around 400g)
4-500g diced pumpkin **
2 tspn ground cumin or cumin seeds
few sprinkles cayenne pepper
2 heaped tspns chicken stock concentrate

coriander to serve
grated tasty cheese to serve
sour cream to serve

place chicken in the thermomix and turn to closed lid. mince chicken using turbo button. when desired texture is reached place chicken in bowl and set aside (don't worry about cleaning out the bowl)

place garlic in bowl and chop speed 6 until it stops hitting the sides (around 5 secs). scrape down and place onion and oil in. cook for 2 minutes 100'c speed 5

add capsicum and cook for another 3 minutes 100'c reverse speed soft

add chicken and cook for 4 minutes varoma reverse speed soft

add in tomatoes and puree / water, beans, pumpkin, spices and stock concentrate. cook for 20 minutes 100' reverse speed 1

serve topped with coriander / cheese and cream as desired. we also had ours with steamed basmati rice and gluten free foccacia


* you could chop them in the thermomix, but i prefer the shape and texture of hand chopped capsicum
** i chopped the pumpkin to about 1-1.5cm dice. most of it cooked down, but some were left in chunks which was perfect :)

just can't compare...

my friend irene first made this bean salad for us when we were camping with her at kangaroo valley last year. rory loved it! now ryan loves it too. i've tried to replicate it with a non-commercial dressing and they won't touch it LOL so now i've given up and i just make it like she does :)

Irene's bean salad
1 tin mixed beans (4 or 5 bean mix), rinsed and drained
french or italian dressing (low fat and / or gluten free)

mix and serve, chilling optional lol

layered mexican dip

i've made this a few times and really you don't need a recipe, you just use whatever ingredients you have / you feel like at the time :)

eg:
sour cream
guacamole / avocado
diced tomato
salsa
refried beans or kidney beans
chopped olives (black is best but green or a mix would be fine)
taco spices
chopped red onion or green onions
grated tasty cheese
or anything else you like in mexican food :D

just layer it up - try not to make the layers too thick as then you can't get enough flavours on your corn chip lol - and serve with corn chips and any other dippers you want (carrot sticks and capsicum sticks would probably be nice too)


...or see here

Minestrone & TM31 bread

well, i could have sworn that i'd already posted a Minestrone recipe on my blog but i can't find it!

so here's the one which geoff gave to me based on the one his mum used to make...

Geoff's Minestrone

Serves 4

Another of Geoff’s favourites, based on June’s recipe!
You might want to add extra liquid (water or stock) if it’s too thick.

3 rashers of bacon, fat & rind trimmed
1 large onion, peeled & diced
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
1 large carrot, peeled & diced
¼ cabbage, shredded
800g diced tomatoes
approx 250g pasta shells
1 jar pasta sauce, try garden vegetable
chicken stock cube
1 can kidney beans
2 cups water
parmesan cheese, grated

1. Lightly fry bacon & onion until onion is transparent.
2. Add garlic and fry, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add all other ingredients and simmer until pasta is cooked.
4. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
5. Serve with crusty bread. Enjoy!

and here's how i made it tonight...

Tonight's Version

6 shortcut rashers of bacon, diced
1 large onion, peeled & diced
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
1 large carrot, peeled & diced
1 small green capsicum, finely diced
a handful of green beans, topped and tailed and cut into 8mm - 1cm pieces
800g diced tomatoes (i used tins)
approx 250g pasta shells
about 1/4 cup white wine
beef stock powder or cube
1 can borlotti beans, drained and rinsed
1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
around 5-7 cups water
parmesan cheese, grated


1. Lightly fry bacon & onion until onion is transparent.
2. Add garlic and fry, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add all other ingredients and simmer until pasta is cooked.
4. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
5. Serve with TM31 bread. Enjoy!

TM31 bread
i made this tonight - had my first try at plaiting - it's really hard to plait bread as compared to hair lol
anyway, i was too lazy to brush with milk or water to get the seeds to stick, so drizzled olive oil over it - discovered that the top remained really soft instead of going crunchy!

Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Veg Enchiladas (TMX)

this dish went through about 10 different incarnations in my mind before i started making it - it was going to be mini shepherds pies for a while there!!

anyway, i think it could have been improved but it was a hit with everyone so i'm noting it down for the future :)

you could do this thermomix or non-tmx.

2 medium orange sweet potatoes / kumara, steamed or microwaved until just cooked then peeled and roughly chopped

a few rashers bacon, roughly chopped
(1 onion, quartered. i didn't have any)
garlic to suit your taste - i used about 4 cloves

chop in tmx for a few seconds on 6, scrape down sides and do a few more seconds if needed
cook for 2 minutes on 100' speed 2

1 large head brocolli, roughly chopped (or 1 pkt spinach, you'd add this at the end though)

chop for a few seconds on speed 6
cook for 2 minutes on 100' speed 3-4

remove bacon / broccoli mix from tmx

make white sauce as per tmx book (less milk - 400ml milk - i used skim - 50g flour, 30g butter, 1/2 tspn salt but instead of nutmeg add a little ground cumin and coriander) also add in sweet potato before cooking.

cooked chicken, most of a BBQ chook or 2 breasts or whatever you have, diced
1 tin kidney beans, drained
(jalepeno peppers, to taste, chopped finely)

mix the broccoli / bacon mix, chicken and beans with the sweet potato sauce (i did this in the tmx but i don't really recommend it, there was too much and it ended up nearly pureed as a result)

put 3-4 spoonfuls into a tortilla of your choice, roll up and place in greased oven dish (i used a lasagne dish)
when finished pour some salsa or passata (with spices would be good, but i couldn't be bothered) over the top then top with grated tasty cheese

bake until cheese is slightly browned.

sorry for the shocking recipe writing, i am just so lazy atm...

some shopping...

forgot to say that today i went to the belconnen markets and picked up a few things i'd been wanting for a while.

first stop was the Food Lovers store which smelled divine! no idea what they were cookign but everyone who was walking past was intrigued too! lol anyway, i picked up my usual sweet chilli jam, which i had just used up, and after a sample got a jar of spicy bush tomato chutney. YUM!

then to the health shop there to stock up on bulks beans and grains. i finally got some whole wheat to try using to make my bread, though it's actually very expensive compared to ready ground flour (though i just noticed it's organic) at $3.45 / kg and i couldn't find a bag bigger than 1kg. there other bulk food places in town, i just don't ever go near them! if this works in our house i will investigate further ;)

i also bought dried pinto beans (the ones they make refried beans out of - from what i've read online they're supposed to be quite hard to get in australia?), kidney beans and something else i've forgotten LOL Lara tells me that it works well to presoak and cook the beans and freeze them in portion sized packages. perfect for me as i can rarely plan ahead far enough to go through that process and hence we have about 40-50 - tins of assorted beans in teh pantry atm !!!

lastly i bought some popping corn and YAY! i've discovered (at last) a healthy snack all my kids love!!!

after that up to the deli where i spent a bit more than i should have (unintentionally) buying expensive dips and cheeses and maple syrup when all i went there for was turkish bread!! (and i needed pancetta too)

over to the F&V shop where i totally forgot to stock up on 99c bread (aaagh) and discovered they no longer have their huge rack of huge sized herb and spice packets wahhhhh where to get them from now???? i don't know of anywhere else that sells them!

then i snuck a quick coffee in the sun at beppe's before racing back to M&D's to pick up the girls (well actually i raced straight to preschool to pick up ryan as i'd lost track of time - again! ooops)

"comfort food" recipes from New Idea magazine

all 3 use the same basic principles for making, will convert to slow cooker soon.

beef, bean and bacon casserole
olive oil
1kg diced chuck steak
1 clove garlic
1 onion, chopped
6 bacon rashers, diced
150g tomato paste
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
1 tab chopped fresh thyme
500g chat potatoes, quartered
420g red kidney beans, drained
steamed silverbeet to serve

sticky beef casserole
olive oil
1kg diced gravy beef
1 clove garlic
1 onion, cut into wedges
1 tab brown sugar
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup sweet orange marmalade
2 cups (500ml) beef stock
2 tab cornflour
2 tab water
1 long red chilli, finely sliced
200g sugar snap peas
basmati rice to serve

rolled beef brisket
olive oil
1kg rolled beef brisket
100g sliced pancetta, chopped
2 clove garlic
1 stick celery, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
400g pickling onion, peeled
1 tspn mixed herbs
200g cup mushies, quartered
1 cups (250ml) beef stock
1 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tab cornflour
2 tab water
mashed potato to serve

Method
heat oil, brown meat - in batches for diced meat
fry onion / garlic / bacon (plus pnacetta + carrot + celery)
add sauces, stock (plus mushrooms), etc bring to boil, replace beef and cover
cook in 160-180 oven for 1 1/4, 2, 3 hours
transfer to stovetop and add cornflour and water (and potatoes), cook til thickened
add extra veg and cook
serve

baked beans, slow cooker style

just for melissa ;)

http://members.essentialbaby.com.au/index.php?showtopic=186699&hl=

Gai's Vegetarian chilli

Vege Tex Mex Chilli (mild to med)

1x Lg onion
2x cloves garlic
2x capsicums}remove seeds
2x jalepenos }& ribs

sate above in oil, add a little salt

add 1/2 bottle beer or 1 cup liquid vege stock

1xlg or 2x sm cans crushed tomatoes
1x can kidney beans
1x can black beans (or 3 bean mix)
1x can vege refried beans - add gradually whilst stirring

add (note I use handful in lieu of tab)
1 tab cayenne pepper sauce
1-1 1/2 tabs cummin powder
2 tabs chilli powder

stir and add salt & pepper

ready to serve in 1/2 hour or cook longer

serve with grated cheese / guacamole / corn chips / bread / salsa / shallots
or whatever takes your fancy

spanakopita (well, the cheat's version!)

tonight's dinner was a pretend spanakopita (i'm too lazy to make it properly!) with a quick salad which i was also too lazy to put much effort into - hey, it's friday!

spanakopita, brazen style

2 sheets puff pastry (or do the filo thing if you're less lazy than me lol)
olive oil
1 red onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 pkt greek feta (or any nice firm yet crumbly one), crumbled
a large container of either cottage cheese (drained) or ricotta (low fat for us)
some parmesan if desired (maybe about 1/4-1/3 cup)
black pepper
nutmeg, a pinch
salt, to taste
3 eggs
as much fresh dill, finely chopped, as you like (i love lots but the family aren't as keen)
2-3 bunches spinach (i used a red stemmed chard) or 2 pkts frozen spinach, steamed and drained
hint: as a tupperware addict i have to recommend the salad spinner for draining the spinach, omg it's good! lol

turn oven on to approx 190-200' (i'm not really sure, mine was on 180' but mine cooks hot)
thaw the pastry
gently cook the onion and garlic with oil until soft (i actually did it in the microwave)
basically mix everything else together
grease a pie dish and line with 1 sheet pastry (if you're motivated you might like to blind bake it, far too much effort for me lol)
top with the cheese / spinach mix
top with the other sheet (cut a few slits in teh centre of the top to let the steam escape)
bake for around 30 minutes or so until it's golden brown all across the top.


quick salad
i had plans of making a green salad but was far too lazy to make it lol so i just tossed together a few things and put on a bought dressing. the kids all ate different bits but love salads like this :)

1 tin kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 tin corn kernels, drained
few small tomatoes, in large dice (i used some cute egg ones we grew in our vegie garden!)
baby beetroots, quartered
mix and toss with italian dressing