Easter Menu

Here I am finishing my menu on Good Friday. Yesterday I went to the regional centre, it took all day to pick up some fire bricks for the heater for winter. It was a very warm day yesterday though, which is lovely, typical of the North East for Easter, just beautiful, and the scenery closer to home was the best, coming back.

We found a bulk Asian/Health Food shop there which is fantastic. They had split dried fava beans. It may help offset the price of LPG to drive there in the future.

We shopped at Coles and got some meat, however their mince was expensive this time. Did I buy any interesting food items while I was down there? Only harissa, which is good because I have come across it lately.

I was able to get this menu out using the vegetables with have and using some up, it is great, very happy. Bought some more black lentils (beluga). I based the menu on the meat I bought at Coles, which was loosely based around the vegetables and the fact our grown daughter is visiting and loves Sausage Casserole. We didn't have a vegetable delivery because of Easter, and luckily we had enough bread, because my husband and one daughter were away helping the others shift house, and I bought two loaves knowing about the Easter delivery.

Was very lucky I had a Hamper King Easter delivery of chocolate eggs.

Tuesday ~ Pies
Wednesday ~ Chow Mein
Thursday ~ Tuna Casserole
Friday ~ Sausage Casserole
Saturday ~ Chorizo Potato Salad
Sunday ~ Japanese Pancakes
Sunday ~ left over Chow Mein & noodles
Monday ~ Pork Mince Stroganoff
Tuesday ~ Rigatoni Milano (uses Italian Sausages)
Wednesday ~ Pork Sausage & Leek Tart
Thursday ~ Fried Haloumi with Chorizo & Cherry Tomato Salsa
Friday ~ Pumpkin & Pasta Bake
Saturday ~ Stir-fried Beef & Vegetable Chow Mein
Sunday ~ Beluga Lentil Salad
Monday ~ Zucchini & Corn Pancakes (to use dill) love these

Swap recipes:

Adzuki Burgers
Pork Meatballs in Creamy Mushroom Sauce (uses pork sausages)
Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca

Interesting recipes:

Dried Fava Bean & Fennel Soup
Sausages with Potato Rosti Bake (uses chipolatas)
Sausage Pasta Salad (uses chipolatas)
Lentil & Lima Bean Salad
Chorizo, Zucchini & Feta Rigatoni
Sausage & Pea Pie (uses pork sausages, ricotta)

Menu

Tuesday ~ Fettucine Carbonara
Wednesday ~ Curried Red Lentil Soup with Toasted Mountain Bread
Thursday ~ Kranksy Soup
Friday ~ Honey Chicken Stir Fry
Saturday ~ Zucchini & Haloumi Fritters
Sunday ~ Pumpkin & Bacon Pasta
Monday ~ Tuna Pasta with Rocket & Lemon Pesto
Tuesday ~ Continental Franks with Slaw
Wednesday ~ Pumpkin Lemon & Broccoli Risotto
Thursday ~ Tuna & Potato Salad
Friday ~ Pies
Saturday ~ Pies
Sunday ~ Pies
Monday ~ Pies
green beans

Interesting recipes:
Spiral Spinach Pie
Creamy Bacon, Pea & Parmesan Fettucine
Pappardelle with Rocket Pesto
Pumpkin, Rocket & Mustard Terrine
Rocket Salsa Verde Linguine (with chicken)
Rocket Pesto & Chicken Spaghetti
Cabbage with Goat's Cheese Filo Pie
Carrot, Cabbage & Tahini Salad
Pumpkin & Date Scones
Pumpkin Cornmeal Bread

Baking:
Beer Cake

Success from last week:
Corn Fritter with Chilli Dressing
Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup (we used thyme instead of oregano)
Aduki & Pumpkin Rissoles made with dried adzuki beans, adapted recipe coming I think

Green Split Pea & Vegetable Soup

Better than some minestrones. We made it by accident, we forgot to buy lentils, or rather couldn't in the end.

Greek green pea (lentil) Soup

Ingredients
1 cup split dried green peas
2 litres of water
1 large onion, med diced
1 cup celery and the leaves, med diced
3 small carrots, med diced
1 med zucchini, med diced
½ red capsicum, finely diced
1 400g can chopped tomatoes (whole OK)
5 garlic cloves, med diced
1 cup parsley, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp oregano, dried
1 tsp salt
2 tsp chicken stock pwdr + 3 tsp veg stock pwder

Method
Begin by sautéing onion, then carrot, celery, capsicum and after a while the garlic, add salt now.
After about 10 mins add zucchini, parsley then split peas. Mix for a while then add 2 litres of water (boiled in kettle). Finally add the tomatoes and bay leaves, oregano and pepper.
Bring your stock and water to a simmer and add stock powders.
Let it simmer for 30 minutes then use masher to break up tomatoes. Cook for about 50 mins, by then the peas will be nearly tender.
Nice with crusty bread or even white with marg.

Adzuki and Pumpkin Burgers

Adzuki and Pumpkin Rissoles

Ingredients

400g can adzuki beans, rinsed and drained
<< about ¾ cup dried beans soaked overnight, drained and cooked in a
pot for about 30 mins with a tsp of salt, 1 tsp sugar and ½ tsp
chopped dried chillies. Drained and blitzed to a pulp >>
1 onion, diced
½ tbls ginger, grated
2 clove garlic, crushed
2 to 3 cups pumpkin, peeled and steamed, then blitzed
A pinch of arame, soaked until soft then drained << not used, sub Kombu
<< a piece of Kombu, soaked for 5 mins and chopped into small pieces >>
2 tbls chives, finely chopped << not used..
½ cup coriander, finely chopped
1 tsp tamari
½ tsp sesame oil << not used
Cup brown rice flour << not used
Used about 1 cup plain flour.
1 teaspoon beef stock powder

Method
Put the chopped onions, chopped Kombu, coriander, garlic, blitzed
beans and pumpkin in a bowl. Mix. Then add the flour and mix well, if
a little to wet add a bit more flour. Can be soft but not runny..
Don’t bother making patties, use a spoon and ladle mixture in pattie
size into a med to hot frypan. Flatten with the back of the spoon.
Allow to cook and turn over a few times to ensure complete cooking.

Serve with wedges done in oven.
Makes 12

Adapted from Janella's recipe.

Lentil & Soup Menu

Tuesday ~ Greek Styled Omelette
Wednesday ~ Corn & Capsicum Pancakes with Mushrooms
Thursday ~ Corn Fritters with Chilli Dressing
Friday ~ Curried Red Lentil Soup with Toasted Mountain Bread
Saturday ~ Two Bean Nachos with Guacamole
Sunday ~ Felafel with Carrot Salad and Green Tahini
Monday ~ Another Greek Lentil Soup
Tuesday ~ Aduki & Pumpkin Rissoles
Wednesday ~ Speedy Mince & Noodle Stir-fry
Thursday ~ Kranksy Soup
Friday ~ Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup
Saturday ~ Honey Chicken Stir Fry
Sunday ~ Zucchini & Haloumi Fritters with Tabouli may need more zucchinis
Monday ~ Spaghetti with Zucchini & Cherry Tomatoes

Interesting recipes:
Thai-style Fried Rice
Braised Lentils & Sausages (uses Italian sausages)

Easy Mayo made with yoghurt


* Okonomiyaki sauce is a japanese worcestershire-style sauce - substitute with a mixture made of 2 Tb BBQ sauce and 1 Tb worcestershire sauce if you can't find it - it is worth looking for though!

From http://www.yourweeklymenu.com.au/recipe/337

Salmon & Potato Salad

Salmon and potato salad

Preparation Time 20 minutes

Cooking Time 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 800g washed small potatoes
• 4 green shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, sliced
• 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, shredded
• 1 110g jar Korean Salad Dressing (Sakims brand)
• 1 415g can pink salmon (John West brand), drained, flaked
• 50g snow pea sprouts, trimmed

Method

1. Cook the potatoes in a medium saucepan of salted boiling water for 10-12 minutes or until just tender (see microwave tip). Drain and cool under cold running water.

2. Quarter the potatoes and place in a large bowl with the green shallots, cucumbers and mint. Toss to combine. Reserve 2 tbs of the salad dressing and pour the remaining dressing over the potato salad and gently toss to combine. Arrange the potato salad on serving plates, top with the flaked salmon and snow pea sprouts. Spoon over the reserved salad dressing and serve.

Notes

· Microwave tip: pierce each potato three times with a fork. Place directly onto the turntable and cook uncovered 4-5 minutes on High/850watts/100% or until just tender. Wrap potatoes in foil and stand for 5 minutes before cutting into quarters. Gourmet tip: use canned red salmon instead of pink salmon. For the kids: potato salad with salmon - leave out green shallots.

Korean Style Salad Dressing

2 tabs soy sauce

1 tab sesame oil

1 tab rice vinegar

1 tab cup water

2 cloves garlic , minced

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon red chili powder
Directions:

1. Combine dressing ingredients and whisk together well, or put in jar with lid and shake well. Store unused portion in refrigerator.

Basic Menu

Tuesday ~ Pies, Peas, & Wedges
Wednesday ~ wombuk/wombok)
Thursday ~ Spinach Crepes with Creamy Mushroom and Mascarpone Filling
Friday ~ Sticky Sausage & Fennel Coleslaw Lavash Wraps (uses pork chipolatas)
Saturday ~ Pumpkin Noodles
Sunday ~ Vegetarian Japanese Pancakes
Monday ~ Salmon & Potato Salad
Tuesday ~ Egg & Nori Rolls
Wednesday ~ Lemon Spaghettini with Poached Eggs & Rocket
Thursday ~ Pesto Pasta with Zucchini, Feta & Tomato
Friday ~ Chickpea, Haloumi & Rocket Salad
Saturday ~ Vegetable Frittata (broccoli & cauliflower?)
Sunday ~ Coriander & Corn Omelette Rolls salad leaves
Monday ~ Salmon & Broad Bean Bake

left over ingredients:
baby corn
sweet potato

Success from last week:
Pumpkin, Chickpea & Spinach Dhal I was dreading this, but my husband used silverbeet and I had leftovers for lunch yesterday, delicious. I asked him for recipe to share, maybe I find spinach too slimy in these types of dishes
Spinach Crepes with Creamy Mushroom and Mascarpone Filling

Interesting Recipes:
Zucchini, Dill & Feta Fritters
Zucchini & Haloumi Fritters with Tabouli
Janella's Aduki, Pumpkin & Ginger Casserole, to compare to what we made last week
Janella's Miso Soup using miso paste
Brown Rice Fried Rice (uses left-over brown rice)
Chickpea Tabouli with Walnuts & Cauliflower
Chicken, Hummus & Tabouli Wrap
Chickpea, Haloumi & Rocket Salad
Bread Salad
Bread Salad with Sumac Chicken
Hummus, Cheese & Tabouli Pockets
Haloumi, Lentil & Rocket Salad
Yellow Split Pea & Bean Salad with Chive Dressing
Sumac Chicken & Hummus Wraps

Penny Pinching Menu

Yes it it February, the month of Valentine's Day and back to school. I had to buy a shares in a printer and different things. But my daughter is well on her way to her first day of class at uni. At home here, the food I expect will go further, once we stock up on a few things. So we have dipped into my bean store.

Tuesday ~ pies
Wednesday ~ pizza
Thursday ~ pies
Friday ~ Pumpkin, Chickpea & Spinach Dhal
Saturday ~ Aduki Bean & Pumpkin Soup
Sunday ~ Spaghetti with Zucchini & Cherry Tomatoes
Monday ~ Pies & Chips again
Tuesday ~ Spaghetti Alla Puttanseca

Wednesday ~ Spaghetti Carbonara with Broad Beans needs bacon and cream, leek parmesan
or Broad Bean and Silverbeet Soup needs can lentils
Thursday ~ Tomato & Borlotti Bean Soup
Friday ~ Greek Bean & Silverbeet Stew
Saturday ~ Potato & Egg Salad
Sunday ~ Spinach Crepes with Creamy Mushroom and Mascarpone Filling
Monday ~ Aduki Bean Chilli

Potato & Corn Salad

Success from last week:

both excellent
Wednesday ~ Cheesy Bacon & Pea Macaroni
Thursday ~ Spaghetti Carbonara (uses broad beans)
Chicken Burritos with Brazilian Black Beans the flavours in this were very well thought out, highly recommended. We actually made soft tacos, and we think if we made it again we would also make them. This time we used chicken fillets, but mince would be lovely I think as suggested.

Interesting recipes:
Maria's Vegemite Spaghetti Maria is a very good cook, I will have to try this when I get the courage
Minted Pea & Broad Bean Penne
Silverbeet, Broad Bean & Rice Soup
Sausage, Broad Bean & Mint Pasta

Repurposing a schoolbag

My daughter loves schoolbags that come from a surf shop in Wodonga. It takes 1 1/2 hours to drive there. Last week my eldest daughter went with her Dad to take her beloved mandolin to be fixed. It had a manufacturing fault in the batch and needed a new thingo (haha) that keeps the strings up? Anyway it meant a drive. While there they got my middle daughter the one that likes schoolbags from the surf shop some other school supplies. However she knew funds had to stretch to agreed a sewing project we cooked up, she loves it really.

She has two of these school bags. The old one and the new one. We hadn't thrown the old one out since last spring, ie somewhere in 3rd or 4th term last year. The new one? had a broken zip. So the other ones zip went into the new bag. The remainder was made into a pencil case and my husband took some photos.











The money was put towards a drink bottle, and lunchbox for my eldest daughter to start uni and other things she needed like umbrella. We also had to keep some money for driving her to her new place where she is staying already, getting ready for the new uni life on the 13th. My two youngest daughters, the only kids still at home start school on Thursday, my husband starts tomorrow, though he is there now.

Australia Day & Start of School Year Menu

I quickly posted this last night to get the ball rolling to use the links. I am really looking forward to some of the recipes I have decided on for the first week. We had the beef and vegetable chow mein last night and I was happy as it definitely cheered up my husband. We already had vegetables for it, he has done the shopping for this first week of dishes. Now to add the rest.

I was unable to order fruit and vegetables this week because of the Australia Day holiday. My husband bought in a few extra things like the tomatoes and broad beans. I will be having pies while he is away this week settling our daughter into uni. Tonight there is only my little girl and I and we will enjoy that. Only two pies to heat up!

Coincidently at my son's house the four of them will be having meat pies to celebrate Australia Day. I chose salami etc. because of the weekly specials at the supermarket. I am choosing chicken burritos with brazilian black beans because of the black beans in my pantry. I didn't know what they are marketing them in Australia as, because in Australia black beans are Asian and salty. It is hard to find recipes because you get the Asian ones when you type in black beans. The lady who posted this recipe does cooking demonstrations in Geelong I think. The last recipe is for mushrooms because my daughter isn't here to eat them. From now on we will be able to make recipes that serves 4!!!

Tuesday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise
Wednesday ~ Cheesy Bacon & Pea Macaroni
Thursday ~ Spaghetti Carbonara (uses broad beans)
Friday ~ Stir-fry Beef & Vegetable Chow Mein (uses wombuk)
Saturday ~ Tomato & Salami Spaghetti
Sunday ~ pies
Monday ~ Pies
Tuesday ~ Lasagne
Wednesday ~ Savoury Mince & Potato Wedges
Thursday ~ Chow Mein
Friday ~ Taco Salad (for left over rocket?)
Saturday ~ Beef Chow Mein (uses pac choy, I'm going to try boc/buc choy)
Sunday ~ Chicken Burritos with Brazilian Black Beans
Monday ~ Tortellini with Creamy Pesto and Mushrooms

Success from last week:
Chicken, Olive & Fennel
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
Pasta Primavera (my son asked for the recipe)

Interesting recipes:
Frittatine with Mushrooms and Peas this is ..."an easy-peasy Italian egg dish with an unusual technique that is part-omelette and part-scrambled eggs. It takes less than a minute to get a light, fluffy result."

Linguine with Bacon, Mushrooms & Feta

Odd Bodd Vegetables Menu

Thankfully we have had a break in the weather and things boiled don't seem so unappetising, neither does being in the kitchen with the oven on. My husband wants to have more bean dishes this week, he feels he has put on weight and I think is hoping it will save him lol. There are nice specials on meat locally. It seems the ones that chase the specials actually have to ask the shop to go out the back to get the specials. We usually just take what is there. I expect though being later in the week now there will be more put out. I don't think there is much left from any Christmas hampers, except the homemade plum pudding my Mum made for me. I am waiting for my daughter to come home from Beach Mission as she enjoys eating it. We have six people home, but not all have been home at once lately, though this fortnight they made all be.

Tuesday ~ Roasted Vegetable Risotto
Wednesday ~ Spaghetti Bolognaise
Thursday ~ Roasted Sausages with Braised Lentils and Bacon
Friday ~ Sausage & Egg Muffin Burgers
Saturday ~ Rigatoni Milano (uses Italian sausages)
Sunday ~ Cheesy Chicken Pasta Bake
Monday ~ Chicken, Olive & Fennel
Tuesday ~ Chicken & Vegetable Pasta Bake
Wednesday ~ Roast Vegetable Frittata
Thursday ~ Potato & Corn Salad with fish?
Friday ~ Chilli Bean Nachos
Saturday ~ Chorizo Hotpot with Braised Cabbage & Potatoes
Sunday ~ Spaghetti with Chorizo, Feta & Spinach
Monday ~ Chicken & Chorizo Paella
Sweet Potato & Chickpea Tagine
Pasta Primavera
Spaghetti alla Puttanesca (uses pasta sauce and anchovies)
Vegetable Pancakes made with wombuk, cabbage & potatoes instead, and parmesan

Interesting recipes:
Pepperoni and Corn Frittata (uses blue cheese)