Monday - All out

All out tonight so no cooking!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Sunday - nachos

Just Stirling and I for dinner tonight so I recycled the left -overs from Saturday night into nachos. That now finishes our sojourn into mexico!!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Saturday - Tacos - Fresh pineapple

My son's girlfriend came for dinner tonight so the four of us had a taco feast.

Main course:
Taco Shells, Sauce, seasoning - $6.52
Lettuce
Tomato
sour cream
guacamole
cheese
meat sauce - mince - $8.00

Dessert:
a fresh pineapple

Recipe:
Meat sauce-
500g mince
1 medium onion
vegetable oil
taco seasoning
1 teaspoon sambal oelek
1 tin crushed tomatoes

Saute the onion in the vegetable oil til soft. Add chilli and taco seasoning and cook for 1 minute. Add the mince and brown. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with warmed taco shells and all the trimmings.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Friday - Fried chicken - killer python

Just Claudia and I for dinner tonight.  Dessert was a large jelly snake - ahh childhood memories!

Main course:
Home made fried chicken - $5.00
Rice
Salad

Dessert:
Killer python

The kids love my home made fried chicken.  I recently found in the supermarket KFC style flavouring and although it doesn't really taste like KFC it is nice.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Thursday - beef sausages and veg - choc chip cookies

Main course:
Beef sausages - $3.50 for 6
boiled potato, cauliflower, broccoli, beans, carrots

Dessert:
Last night's choc chip cookies.

After the debacle of the 'taste sensation' sausages from a week ago I stuck to a tried and true flavour. All was well!

Eat well, Live well!

Wednesday - chicken and asparagus ravioli - choc chip cookies

Quiet night with just Claudia and I for dinner.  Made some choc chip cookies for school snacks but we just had to sample some (in case they were poisonous you know!!).

Main course:
Chicken and asparagus ravioli - packet $5 (used half)
Cheesy tomato sauce

Dessert:
Choc chip cookies

Recipe:

Choc chip cookies ( courtesy Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook)
!/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
125 g butter
1 3/4 cups self raising flour
1 egg
125 g choc chips (they also add 60g walnuts but I just add extra choc chips)

Cream butter, sugars and vanilla. Add lightly beaten egg. Add flour then choc chips. Place teaspoons of mixture onto baking slide and cook in a moderate oven for 10-12 minutes.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Tuesday - wiener schnitzel and chips with veg - no dessert

We were given some wiener schnitzels on Monday -  so tonight was their turn!! Also veg delivery day so lovely fresh veg to have with dinner.

Main course:
Wiener schnitzel
Homemade chips
cauliflower, broccoli and carrots
Lemon for flavouring

After that feast everybody too full for dessert. baking day tomorrow as car in for service.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Monday - plum pork balls

Daughters creative writing class tonight so dinner had to be quick and easy!

Main course:
Plum pork balls
stir fry veg with soy sauce- bok choy, carrot, capsicum, zucchini, broccolini
rice

Dessert:
More mini muffins

Recipe:

500 g pork - $4.62
1 tablespoon plum sauce
1 medium onion - diced
1 clove garlic - minced
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon sambal oelek
1/2 cup bread crumbs - fine
vegetable oil


Saute the onion and garlic until transparent. Mix with other ingredients and shape into balls. Grill.


Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Sunday - pasta with peas and bacon - mini muffins

Quick dinner tonight as all very busy today with homework and sporting committments.

Main course:
Spaghetti
Bacon, cream and pea sauce

Dessert:
Mini muffins

Recipe:

Pasta sauce -
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup peas
3 rashers bacon
black pepper to taste
small pot of cream

Saute the onion, garlic and bacon til soft. Add peas and cream and simmer whilst pasta is cooking.

Mini muffins -
Citrus poppyseed

1 tablespoon zest (lime lemon and orange mixed)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup self raising flour
50g butter
1 tablespoon poppyseeds

Moderate oven and they take about 15 mins to cook.

The muffins were the handiwork of Claudia.  She got up Saturday morning and made three batches of 3 different types of mini muffin. School snacks sorted!!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Saturday- Cupboard rummage

My daughter and I had a very late lunch so no real dinner tonight - tea and toast!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Friday - spaghetti bolognese and chocolate bar

Just my daughter and I for dinner tonight so I pulled one of my trusty frozen meals - Bolognese sauce.

Main course:
Spaghetti Bolognese

Dessert:
Mars bar for me and a Kit Kat for Claudia

My son and his girlfriend celebrated two years today. I am so proud of them.  They have a lovely relationship with lots of mutual support and laughter. They celebrated by cooking together - just their style - not flashy or full of the need to big note themselves.  Really sweet.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Thursday - Moroccan drumsticks and baked apple

This is a favourite of the children's and is super easy and very tasty.

Main course:
Chicken drumsticks (8) - $5.69
Masterfoods moroccan seasoning
roast potato and sweet potato - also seasoned with mix
broccolini,carrots,zucchini
olive oil

Dessert:
Baked apple



Recipes:

Chicken -
Place chicken in an oven proof dish and drizzle with olive oil. Season with a liberal amount of mix.  Do the same for the vegetables to be roasted.  Place both dishes into a 200c oven and roast for 1 1/4 hours.

Apple -
Core granny smith apple and stuff core with a mixture of brown sugar and sultanas - really pack it in. Place in an oven proof dish and put a cup of water per two apples.  Bake in a 180c oven for 1 hour.  Serve with icecream or cream.

3 legs left over so that's school lunch covered tomorrow!
Trying very hard to eat our required 5 serves of veg and 3 of fruit a day. In summer very easy with salads and fruit platters but a bit trickier in winter. Nearly the weekend - yay! If salmon is a decent price I think I may indulge as I have been given a lovely bunch of asparagus and I love those two together.

Eat well, Live well !
Susie

Wednesday - middle eastern lamb kebabs and pear galette

Cold, miserable weather still!

Main course:
Middle eastern lamb kebabs with coriander yoghurt sauce
carrot sticks
boiled rice

Dessert:
Pear galette
cream

Recipes:

Lamb kebabs 
500g lamb mince - $8.50
1 medium onion - diced
2 small cloves garlic - minced
1 70g egg
1/2 teaspoon chilli
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coriander paste
olive oil

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil till transparent.  Add to all other ingredients and mix well. Shape into sausages and push a skewer through the centre. Cook under the grill til nice and brown.(makes 8)

Yoghurt sauce:
1 tablespoon plain yoghurt ( I use greek style)
1 tablespoon coriander paste

Mix together well.

Pear galette:
2 sheets puff pastry
3 medium pears - peeled and sliced thinly
some milk for glazing
some jam (warmed) for glazing  ( I am using apple and kiwi jelly at the moment but apricot would work well too)

Place one sheet of puff pastry onto baking slide and brush the edges with milk.  Cut the centre out of the second sheet leaving a 2 cm border.  Place onto the first sheet and brush the edges with milk. Place the pear slices ,overlapping, into the centre well. Brush with jam and bake in a 200c oven for approx 20 minutes or until pastry is puffed and golden.  Serve with cream.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Tuesday - chicken fried rice and marshmallows (again!)

Just my daughter and I for dinner tonight.  I used a combination of left overs (the spare roast chicken from sunday night) and new (fruit and veg delivery today) to create dinner tonight.

Main course:
Chicken fried rice

Dessert:
Marshmallows ( I love the pink ones!)

Recipe:
2 chicken breasts (no skin) - chopped into small pieces
1 rasher bacon - diced
1 medium onion - diced
1 cm piece of ginger - grated
1 medium clove of garlic - diced
3 spring onions - sliced
1 medium carrot - diced
1/2 medium red capsicum - diced
small head of broccoli - cut into small pieces
good handful of frozen peas
good handful frozen corn kernels
2 pieces/heads of bok choy - chopped
1/4 small cabbage - chopped into small pieces
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
teaspoon sambal oelek (optional)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups uncooked rice - boiled

Put rice on to cook.
Saute the onion, garlic and ginger and bacon in vegetable oil til cooked. Add vegetables and stir fry. Add sauces then cooked rice. Stir til well combined.

Enough left over for three serves for school lunches.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Monday - Leftover pasta bake and marshmallows

Rush, rush, rush night so we had left-overs from the other night.  I always keep a few meals in the freezer for just these type of nights. That way we eat properly and don't resort to takeaway - too expensive and often not nutritionally sound!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Sunday - Roast chicken and choc chip cookies

All home on a cold and rainy night - definite roast weather!

Main course:
2 small chickens - seasoned with garlic salt - $10.90
potato, pumpkin, sweet potato and onion - seasoned with sea salt
beans
broccoli
cauliflower
carrots
chicken stock gravy

I know it looks like I went over my ten dollar for protein limit but we only ate one chicken - the other is for school lunches in the week.

Dessert:
mini chocolate chip cookies. Those multi pack ones.  Ideal serving size. About $4 for 8 little packets.

It's a long weekend for us here.  Tomorrow is taken up with sporting committments for my son and then the evening is creative writing class for my daughter. Somewhere in there I have to fit in a coffee with my good friend Trace!!  Haven't seen her for ages - life gets too busy.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Saturday - out to dinner

Everyone went in 3 different directions tonight.  Claudia off to her Dad's, Stirling out with his girlfriend and me to the local Thai.I can eat there for $11 for a great plate of chicken fresh veg and flat rice noodles.  The servings are so big I end up taking half home for lunch the next day.  Great value!!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Friday - Pasta bake - no dessert

Cold and miserable night so real comfort food to stick to your insides was called for!

Main course:
Bolognese pasta bake - recipe as before


Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Thursday - honey bbq sausages - icecreams

Tried a new flavour of sausages tonight.  Must say not a big hit.

Main course:
Honey BBQ sausages - $3.69 for 8
Homemade chips
Steamed vegetables - cauliflower, broccoli, carrots

Dessert:
Choc. crunch icecreams - $6 for 8

Icecreams will live to serve another day - sausage flavour - a resounding NO!  Oh well - live and learn.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Wednesday - honey,soy,chilli chicken - red snakes

A pantry special tonight - ie: made up recipe!

Main course:
Honey, soy, chilli chicken - $5.62 for 4 thigh fillets
boiled rice

Dessert:
Natural Confection company red snakes - 2 each

Recipe:
4 chicken thigh fillets cut into smallish slices
1 medium onion sliced
3 shallots chopped (green/spring onions)
1 clove garlic sliced
1 dessertspoon honey
1 teaspoon sambal oelek (crushed chillis)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
vegetable oil

Put rice on to cook.
Fry the onion and garlic in vegetable oil until transparent, add chicken and shallots and cook til done.  Add sauce, honey and chilli and stir.  Turn heat down and simmer til rice cooked.

None left over for school lunches - much to my daughter's disappointment!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Spaghetti boscaiola and chocolate biscuits

Quick and easy meal tonight.

Main course:
Spaghetti boscailola - approx $2 a head
Parmesan cheese

Dessert:
chocolate biscuits

Recipe:
Spaghetti
3 rashers bacon - diced
1 medium onion - chopped finely
2 cloves garlic - minced
olive oil
cream
tablespoon chopped parsley

Saute the onion garlic and bacon til cooked. Add cream and simmer while spaghetti is cooking. Add parsley just before serving. Add parmesan cheese if desired.  To make a richer sauce you can add mushrooms, white wine a a bit of cheese.

Monday - take away night

We had a take away night tonight - 2 pizzas, garlic bread and icecreams. A total cost of $30. The kids took the left over pizza for school lunches.

Maybe not totally Eat well, Live well! - but once in a while doeasn't hurt.
Susie

Sunday - Lamb shanks and chocolate biscuits

My son's girlfriend came to dinner tonight and as he had been super active with his umpiring duties, we had a yummy indulgent dinner of lamb shanks.

Main course:

Lamb shanks - $15 for 4
roast potato and sweet potato with garlic
Broccoli, peas and carrots

Recipe -
4 lamb shanks
2 med onions - chopped
3 cloves garlic - sliced
3 rashers bacon - chopped
1 jar of pasta sauce
1 tin italian diced tomatoes
500 ml water (or red wine)
olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 180 c. Put about a tablespoon and a half of olive oil into the bottom of a baking dish over heat and brown lamb shanks.  Remove from heat and add onion, garlic and bacon. Stir to evenly distribute. Pour pasta sauce and tomatoes over the top and add water.  Place on the bottom shelf of the oven and cook for 3 hours.

Dessert:
Selection of chocolate biscuits.

 Another new week begins. Hope it's a good one for us and you.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Saturday - Egg and bacon toastie and fresh pear

Kids out again tonight so just me!

Main course:
egg and bacon toastie - pantry items

Dessert:
a fresh pear

Pears are in season at the moment and are absolutely delicious.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Friday - agnlotti and yoghurt

Just me for dinner tonight .

Main course :
Cheese and spinach agnlotti - I buy this by the kilo and freeze it into 200g portions - $1
store bought tomato sauce - $4
parmesan cheese

Dessert:
low fat strawberry yoghurt - 1 kilo for $4

I try to eat properly when the kids aren't home. though sometimes the lure of toast and tea is too hard to resist!!

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Thursday - Roast beef and chocolate

Is there a theme with chocolate? Not really just finishing the Terry's chocolate orange.

Main course:
Roast beef - eye fillet 660g $9.62
I drizzled olive oil over the beef and seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper before roasting.
Roasted potato and sweet potato flavoured with garlic salt
Beans, zucchini and carrot
Beef stock gravy

Dessert:
Terry's chocolate orange.
This special treat is almost gone.  We usually only have one of these at Christmas.

Very hungry son after training so no left overs.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Wednesday - Disaster night!

I tried to make a curry with a short cut because I was tired - big mistake!  It turned out inedible so the kids had cereal and toast instead.  Lesson learned - do not substitute garlic salt for garlic in a curry.

Main course:
Proposed -
Pork curry - 500g diced pork $6.80
Rice
Actual -
cereal and toast

Dessert :
 more Terry's chocolate orange

The kids were very forgiving of my culinary mishap - thank god! Well we all live and learn.  Definitely not a night of  Eat well,Live well.

Eat well, Live well !
Susie

Tuesday - Claudia's go-to meal

Just my daughter and I for dinner tonight as my son was having dinner at his girlfriends home.  Claudia wasn't too well so we had a "comfort" meal.

Main course:
Claudia's go-to meal - 1 rasher bacon - $9.90 kg
scrambled eggs and toast for me

Dessert:
Strawberry low fat yoghurt - $3.30 for 1kg

Claudia's go-to meal
rice
1 rasher bacon - diced
corn
peas
cook the rice peas and corn together, fry the bacon pieces and when they are all ready mix.  She sometimes adds some soy but 9 times out of 10 just likes it plain.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Monday - Stir fry and chocolate

The three of us again - as it is most nights so I will refrain from saying who was here unless it's different!

Main course:
Chicken and vegetable stir fry - 4 chicken thigh fillets $6.52
Rice

Dessert:
Terry's chocolate orange pieces - a gift from our Saturday dinner guests!


Chicken and Vegetable stir fry

4 chicken thigh fillets
1 large onion - cut into slivers
2 small cloves garlic - sliced finely
1 cm piece of ginger - finely chopped
1 teaspoon sambal oelek
2 tablespoon thai sweet chilli
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon coriander paste ( or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh)
3 shallots (spring onions)
1 large carrot - sliced finely
1 small red capsicum. sliced finely
1/2 large zucchini - cut into rounds and then halved
dozen or so beans - chopped into thirds
broccoli - chopped into small pieces
2 cups shredded cabbage

Basically whatever vegetables are in the crisper! When my son is not home I add corn and peas.  He is not a fan of these two vegetables.

There was enough left over for one serve for a school lunch.

Eat well, Live well!
Susie

Sunday - Pasta Bolognese and icecream

Just the three of us for dinner tonight.

Main course:
Bolognese - beef mince 500 g $7.00
Penne pasta - from pantry
Parmesan cheese - from fridge

Dessert:
Hokey Pokey icecream - $6.00 for 2 litre

Bolognese recipe - made up.

500g mince
3 rashers bacon - diced - 1 kg for $9.90
2 med onions - finely diced
1 large clove garlic - minced
1 pot of tomato paste
1 teaspoon (generous) of sambal oelek  (can omit this if people are chilli phobic)
olive oil
1 tin diced italian tomatoes
1 jar (500g) pasta sauce
If I have some I like to add a generous slurp of red wine too.

Saute the garlic, onion, chilli and tomato paste in olive oil until soft. Add the bacon and mince and brown.Add rest of ingredients and simmer for at least 30 minutes on a low heat.

We like to have dessert most nights.  However we have small serves - just a little something sweet to round off the palate!

Eat well, Live well!
Cheers
Susie

Saturday - Roast chicken and Lemon Delicious

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday night so I did a roast. There  were two guests so that made 5 for dinner.

Main course:

• Garlic and chilli split chicken x 2 - $6.50 each. I bought this already in marinade from the supermarket.
• Garlic salt flavoured roast vegetables - potato, sweet potato, pumpkin and onion - fruit and veg box
• thyme oven roasted cherry tomatoes - fruit and veg box
• honey glazed baby carrots - $2
• green beans - from fruit and veg box

Dessert:

• Lemon Delicious - 2 lemons from fruit and veg box and other ingredients from pantry.
• Thickened cream - $2.39 for 500ml

Lemon delicious recipe - courtesy of "The Cook's Companion" by Stephanie Alexander

2 lemons
60g butter
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
3 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons self raising flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Pre-heat oven to 180 C and butter a 1 litre oven-proof basin or serving dish. Zest 1 lemon and juice both.  In a food processor, cream butter with zest and sugar, then add egg yolks. Add flour and milk alternately to mixture to make a smooth batter. Scrape mixture from sides of processor bowl and add lemon juice.  Transfer to a basin.  Whisk egg white until creamy and firm and fold gently into batter.  Pour batter into prepared basin. Stand basin in a baking dish and pour in hot water to come halfway up sides of basin.  Bake for 1 hour.  Allow to cool a little before serving.


There was enough chicken left to make shredded chicken for school lunches for the first two days of the week.  Nothing else was left except cream.

I try to keep a well stocked pantry of basics and we don't eat a lot of processed foods as I prefer to cook from scratch.  However I believe in pre-made pasta sauces as a great "go to" as a recipe base.  We have a delivery every week of a box of fruit and a box of veg from a co-op that I belong to. It's much cheaper than the supermarket, it's seasonal and super fresh. I don't know what I am going to get each week other than the basics of potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. It makes it exciting to unpack and start planning what we will cook with our "bounty".