Recipes We Love

Banana Bread

2008-11-03T03:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a recipe from my friend Michelle that I have made (and we have loved) many a time!

+ 3 or 4 ripe bananas (the riper, the better) - Mashed
+ 1/3 cup of melted butter
+ 3/4 cup sugar
+ 1 egg, beaten
+ 1 teaspoon vanilla
+ 1 teaspoon baking soda
+ pinch salt
+ 1 1/2 cups plain flour (I like to use wholemeal, but it does work with white)

1) Pre-heat oven 175'c. With a wooden spoon (or spatula) mix butter and bananas in a large bowl.
2) Mix in sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle in the baking soda and salt over the mix and stir.
then add the flour.
3) Pour into a greased, 4x8 inch loaf tin.
4) Bake for one hour (roughly- Put a skewer in and when it comes out clean, it is cooked)
5) Cool on rack.

You can also add walnuts (as long as there are no allergies) or my personal favourite is chocolate chips!

Tuna (or salmon) Rissoles

2008-11-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

+ 2 big cans of tuna (i like the greenseas one that is in spring water best, alternatively you can use salmon)
+ 3 med potatoes peeled, diced and boiled
+ 1 egg, beaten
+ 1/2 cup or so breadcrumbs
+ mixed herbs
+ 1 small finely diced onion

1) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Wet your hands and form rissole sized balls with the mixture.

2) Heat some oil in a fry pan and cook the rissoles on med heat for approximately 10mins each side.

These are really easy and really yummy. Another good end of the week meal (you know, when your cupboards are empty lol).. Also taste great cold the next day!

Beef or Lamb Stew (slow cooker variation included)

2008-11-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

+ 600g diced beef or lamb
+ 2 medium carrots
+ 3 - 4 small potatoes
+ chopped beans
+ peas & corn
+ broccoli & cauliflower
+ 4 - 5 cups beef stock (or enough to cover everything)
+ gravy powder
+ corn flour

1) Wash, peel and chop all of the vegetables into equal sized pieces. Then load up your slow cooker with the meat, vegetables, herbs and stock. Turn the cooker on low and leave for 6 - 8 hours. Check every so often and add more water/stock/herbs as necessary.

2) About 1/2 hour or so before you are ready to eat, mix about 2 table spoons of gravy and 1/2 tablespoon corn flour with a little water and make a paste. Stir this through the stew and then turn the cooker up to med/high until you are ready to eat.

ALTERNATIVE STOVE VARIATION:
1) Put meat, veggies, herbs and stock in a large pot on the stove. Bring to the boil, then put the lid on and simmer for about 1/2 hour to an hour.

2) When the meat is cooked and the veggies are tender, make up the gravy & cornflour mix as above and stir through the stew until it thickens. Then serve it up.

Vegetable Pasta Bake

2008-11-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

1/2 medium sized butter nut pumpkin
1/2 medium sweet potato
3 medium sized potatoes
1 carrot
2 tins peeled tomatoes
mixed Italian herbs
pasta (2 - 3 cups of spiral, shell etc)
Grated cheese

1) peel and chop all the vegies into similar sized pieces, then put in a large pot, cover with water and boil. At the same time, cook the pasta.

2) Whilst this is all cooking grate some cheese, only a couple handfuls or so.

3) when cooked, drain the pasta and vegies and put in a baking dish. Add the tomatoes & herbs.. give it all a mix, sprinkle cheese on top and whack in a preheated 200 degree Celsius oven until the cheese is melted and golden.

4) ENJOY!! You could have this as a side dish with meat, but i think it was great on its own.

This was a recipe I made up on one of those nights where you are REALLY overdue for a food shop and don't have too much left in the cupboards.

Easy Homemade Pizza & Dough Recipe

2008-11-02T21:27:00.001-08:00

1x 7g packet dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup warm water
2 1/3 cup plain flour
1 beaten egg

1) Put the yeast, then the water, then the oil, then the sugar into a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.

2) Then add the plain flour and mix until it forms a dough.

3) Take it out and knead it on a floured surface for a little bit until its not as sticky (keep dusting with flour..)

4) Roll out into what ever shape you please and put it onto a pizza/oven tray. Preheat the oven at this stage to 200c.

5) Use a pastry brush to brush the base with the beaten egg. Let it sit for a minute then put on the pasta sauce, toppings & cheese and whack in the oven for about 15 - 20mins.

ETA: If you are allergic to eggs (or the people you are serving this to are) then just omit the egg brush. Its not 100% necessary.

Easy Pastry Recipe

2008-11-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

2 cups flour
1cup marg or room temperature butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 - 6 tblspoons ice water (just stick some water in a cup in the fridge for a few hours)

1) Sift flour into bowl & add salt
2) Mix in marg until it forms into pea sized balls, i use my fingers and "rub" it together
3) Add water and mix until it looks like dough & has a "doughy" consistency

Cheesy Muffins

2008-11-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

+2 cps Grated Cheese
+1.5 cups Sifted self raising flour
+1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (i substituted this for some dried chives from the cupboard, added about a tablespoon)
+1 lightly beaten egg
+1 cup milk
+pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 210C.
Combine the cheese, flour, herbs and egg in a bowl with a wooden spoon.
Then add the milk and salt and stir until everything is combined.
Spoon mixture into a 12cup greased muffin pan and bake for 12 - 15mins or until cooked through.

Meatballs

2008-11-02T21:21:00.000-08:00

500 - 600g minced beef/lamb
Small diced up onion (as fine as you can manage)
Garlic (about 1 tsp or the equivalent in dried/powdered stuff)
2 tbsp stuffing mix or breadcrumbs and some extra seasoning ( i use a dried italian herb mix)
2 eggs beaten
Pinch of mixed herbs (optional)

1) Mix everything together in a large bowl until blended.
2) Put some oil in a fry-pan (but dont turn it on)
3) Roll the mince into balls and place in the fry-pan [tip: have a small bowl of water and dip your hands in it in-between each ball to stop the mix sticking to your fingers]
4) Turn the fry-pan onto medium/high and cool all the sides until there a nice brown.

Serve on top of cooked pasta and heated pasta sauce (i have that going whilst i do the meatballs) and garnish with some basil.

Vegetable Bake

2008-11-02T21:19:00.002-08:00

Vegetable (veggie) Bake

+ Enough chopped up veggies (corn, carrot, peas, beans, potato, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage ect) to 3/4 a large pot
+ 1 lot of cheese sauce
+ Extra grated cheese

1) Preheat oven to 180 Celsius.
Boil the veggies in water until they are tender. Make the cheese sauce whilst they cook.

2) Drain the veggies then put them into a lasagne dish, mix the cheese sauce through them then top with the extra cheese.

3) Bake in an oven for 20mins or until the cheese is golden.

Lasagne

2008-11-02T21:19:00.001-08:00

Lasagne
+ 500g beef mince
+ 1 jar plain pasta sauce
+ dried Italian herb mix (or fresh basil, oregano etc)
+ garlic powder
+ finely diced onion (you can use onion powder instead if you plan on freezing leftovers)
+ lasagne sheets
+ 1 lot of cheese sauce recipe
+ grated cheese

1) Preheat oven to 180 Celsius.
Brown the mince in a saucepan, then add the onion, sauce, herbs, garlic and onion and simmer for 5 - 10mins whilst you make the cheese sauce.

2) Get a lasagne dish and start layering. We usually go: mince, few globs of cheese sauce then pasta sheet. On the second last layer I put the rest of the mince and no cheese sauce, then on the very last (or top layer) I put the rest of the cheese sauce and I sprinkle with grated cheese.

3) Put in the oven for 20mins or until the cheese is nice and golden.

Cheese Sauce

2008-11-02T21:04:00.000-08:00

Cheese Sauce
+ 2 cups milk
+ 2 tbsp margarine
+ 2 tbsp cornflour
+ 2 big handfuls of grated cheese

1) In a saucepan mix the cornflour and milk until there are no lumps, then add the margarine and put on a medium heat.
2) Stir the mixture constantly until it starts to thicken and bubbles appear.
3) Take off of the heat and stir in the cheese until its all melted.
4) Use with lasagne (mozzarella cheese works great), veggie bake or corned beef/silverside.

The next two recipes will be lasagne and veggie bake. Which you use this sauce for.

Chicken Nuggets

2008-11-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

500g skinless chicken breast - diced into about 2cm x 2cm cubes
1 egg - beaten
plain flour
breadcrumbs or finely crushed cornflakes (or a mixture of both, we quite like the cornflakes)
some mixed herbs (optional)

1) Line up three bowls. In the first put your flour, the second your egg and the third your crumbs mixed with the herbs.

2) Grab a piece of chicken and dip it in bowl 1, then bowl 2, then bowl 3 (making sure its well crumbed) and put on a plate. Repeat with all the chicken.

3) Heat some oil in a fry pan and on medium cook all your coated chicken for about 5 mins both sides (or until chicken is cooked through). Alternatively you can preheat oven to 180 Celsius and cook them on a lightly greased tray for about 10 mins each side.

4) Serve with some veggies for a yummy dinner.

Pancakes

2008-11-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 egg
anything else you would like to add ie: choc chips, chopped up fruit, berries, vanilla essence etc.

Mix it all together then cook on a med heat in a fry pan (with oil).
Pancakes are ready to turn once they start bubbling.

We have these every couple of weeks for breakfast on the weekend - yum yum!

Simple Chocolate Brownies

2008-11-02T20:15:00.000-08:00

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
3/4 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder

1) Preheat oven to 180'c
2) Grease and line a 33 x 23cm cake tin.
3) Melt the butter (I microwave mine)
4) Beat eggs with the sugar and add vanilla, flour cocoa powder and butter, then beat together.
5) Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until a skewer comes clean.
6) Let cool before cutting and eating.

We have enjoyed these quite a few times. You could even add chopped walnuts if you fancy.

xo
Em

Chocolate Pudding (recipe for microwave)

2008-11-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

1/2 cup self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup soft margarine/butter
few drops vanilla essence
2 eggs - beaten
5 tablespoons milk

1) Lightly grease 1.1L pudding basin. Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa into a bowl and then add the sugar, margarine, vanilla, eggs and milk.
Beat using an electric beater for 1min.

2) Spoon the mixture into the basin, cover and microwave on high for 6minutes. Let stand for two minutes before serving with custard, cream or ice cream.

This is a recipe that Aaron's mum got out of a magazine years ago and it has been used so many times over the years I could barely read the page to copy it! I have had this 4 times and its the yummiest pudding ever (and so easy to make!).

xo
Emma

Introduction..

2008-11-02T20:03:00.000-08:00

All the recipes i put on this blog are ones that I have made and my little family of three (soon to be four) have tried and loved.

Most of the first ones will be ones that we have tried time and time again, I will mention when its a recipe we have only tried the once (so a new one i spose)

xo
Emma