Last Few Days...

Doesn't time go fast when you're busy!  It's already another weekend and tomorrow we'll have to get ready for another week of work..  This week has been really good though, I worked, had a night with just me and the bubs while Bill went out with his friends, we had a friend over for dinner, got take away, and went out for dinner.

But last night was really fun to cook.  It was Beef Stroganoff which is supposed to be comfort food for the cold weather, but i'll say it's more comfort cooking for the cold weather for me.

Season 750g of beef strips really well with 1T of plain flour and salt and pepper.  Mix it a lot so really covered..

Once that's done, have 2 onions (I only had red ones left) and 200-250g button mushrooms sliced finely.

Into a frypan, put about 60g (about 2 Tablespoons), melt it on low, then add the onions.  Fry them slowly, stirring occasionally, and take about 10 minutes to do so.  It's worth not rushing it..

Once that's done, add the mushrooms and stir for a few minutes.  Add more butter if you think necessary.

Once nicely brown and almost 15 mins of frying have gone by, remove the onions and mushrooms from the heat.

You don't need to stand there, stirring, just get to it occasionally.  I sat down and had a snack.  A healthy one this time :)

Add the same amount of butter as before, melt, and add the beef strips.

 

Brown them up, then add the onions and mushrooms back to the pan.

Stir and add plenty of salt and pepper.....

Add about -12 tablespoons of tomato paste and 2/3 cup sour cream.  Mix through and cook for a few minutes longer until it's all nice and hot.

It's ready!  Serve immediately, with some rice or we had it with buttered toast.

This is a meal not to make ahead for a crowd of people (well you could do it for a crowd of people, but you'd have to cook the beef in batches to avoid it stewing whilst cooking).  Keep it hot in the oven or over a pan of boiling water only up to 20 mins. 

And here we go...

So what did I say up above about the week I had?..

well.............

Just me and the bubs - 

We had vegetables and garlic mashed potato..yum!

I had a friend come over for dinner and we had a turkey roast with steamed vegetables ..it was pretty good too

We had Monday night pizza (most usually, just cheese...mmmm...)

Hot Chips and potato scallops on Tuesday (I know, not very healthy, but oh well!)

I made a 'Chicken Dish'...no idea what it was as I made it up, but lets say it was Jac's Buttery-Lemony Chicken and it tasted great.

 A nice mixture of basil, S&P, lemon and butter (in the blue bowl is rice)

 Chicken browned in the pan, fresh zucchini added, stirred, mixture added, voila!  Served with rice, and it was really tasty!

And to finish this post, a cup of Hot Chocolate.  We went out for dinner the night before last (to Tosolinis which just might be one of my favourite places, where we started with garlic and pull apart breads, a gourmet pizza for Billy and I got Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni), and me being me didn't think to photograph the dinner, but did indeed remember to camera the drink just at the end of the night - better than nothing, and it was such a good time!

Tomorrow is Sunday!  Time to think about french toast for brekkie...mmm...or maybe brunch.....

Bye!!

Thursday night..

Mexican hot food is good.  I've decided hot and spicy is definitely one of my favourites, and always has been.  It probably started when Mum starting cooking me meals with lots of garlic in them and went from there..


Last night we had Mexican Chicken Enchiladas.  They are so simple, get your chicken ready with some spices and flavours, wrap it up, cheese and paprika on top, and oven for 25-30 mins.


We had it with some brown rice and salad..

Pretty good!

I'm off today to visit a friend who had a baby the other day.  Actually two of my friends had babies this week.  Not sure when i'll be visiting both of them, but i'll start with the first one today.

Both had little boys if you were wondering..  I went out this morning after doing the work drop off, and bought some cookies and a box of chocolate for the new mum, and some little things for the new bub.

How exciting :)  catch you later..

End of my work week

Have just found the below post...I thought I pressed publish yesterday...but obviously not!! oh well, here it is


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Have decided that there is not a chance I can update this blog on my work days (3 days a week), i'm just way too busy, how some people manage to update everyday and still do everyday things is way beyond me!


But at least I had a great week at work, I work at the best place so that really helps with the long hours of getting up at 5 and to sleep after 10 (no wonder, i've never put it like that, but that's 17 hr days!!)


So work-nights, we keep it simple.  It's really good knowing that daycare does really healthy lunch meals, so allows up to keep it nice and easy for dinner.

 Here are some yummy muffins (vanilla and white chocolate) I cooked Sunday, supposed to be for the rest of the week..

And here they are, after about an hour...   lesson learnt - maybe cover them next time :)

Dinner on Sunday was nice cooked schnitzels and vegetables, i'm working on my photos...

Followed by dessert...

 

Monday was a busy night, usually reserved for pizza night monday, but instead it was, yes, a sandwich... I know!

  Of course the other half didn't want just a plain sandwich and opted for a cheese kransky roll with mustard and tomato sauce...not for me, but lots of people would choose it

Tuesday night was the left over pasta bolognese from about a week or so ago (it was frozen, not just leftover in the fridge!)

But my Wednesday night meal takes the cake!

mmmmm... if I could have this everyday, i'd be very very content...

See, simple and busy for a few days a week - and you just don't know how simple it really will be.

I'm knackered and off to bed!

Dinner...what dinner?

Had a great time yesterday with my brother yesterday.  We ended up having lunch (big platter, full of 'stuff' - salads, cheeses, ham, salami's, avocado..etc, and a big crusty bread), and that moved on into afternoon tea, then dinner..don't you love having a good time.  Great to catch up with them too.


Busy busy, but I was doing some reading this afternoon, and thought i'd post this, it's what's fresh at the moment.  So putting these into the trolley will probably be cheaper at the moment and taste best also.

Spinach	Both english spinach and silverbeet are bargains this week.
Brussels Sprouts	Cook Brussels sprouts rapidly for maximum flavour. Steam whole or slice and add to stir-fries. If boiling, cook uncovered for about 5 minutes or until just tender.
Carrots	Tasmania's cool climate is ideal for producing premium quality sweet, crisp carrots. Carrots are plentiful and loaded with flavour. Enjoy them roasted, steamed or in soups and stir-fries.
Bok Choy	Sydney grown bok choy is ultra fresh and a choice buy at $1-$1.50 a bunch.
Potatoes	There is a good supply of potatoes in season. Desiree, Pontiac and brushed potatoes are selling well, or try the Kipfler, Spunta, King Edward or Bintje varieties
Pears	Make the most of sweet and juicy pears. Thinly slice semi ripe pears and add to a salad for extra crunch and sweetness or transform semi ripe pears into a quick and easy dessert.
Oranges	Try Aussie grown Navel oranges - make a fresh winter fruit salad with sliced navel oranges and kiwifruit, strawberries, fresh dates and mandarin segments. Warm 1/3 cup orange juice with 1-2 tbs honey and drizzle over the fruit salad to serve.
Rhubarb	Rhubarb is $3.50-$4 a bunch. Rhubarb teams deliciously with apples, pears or quinces.
Avocado	Hass avocados – always delectable are creamy, nutty flavoured and great value at $1.50-$3 each, depending on size.
Lemons	Combine finely grated lemon rind with finely chopped flat-leaf parsley and crushed garlic in a gremolata to sprinkle over crumbed lamb cutlets, osso bucco or a vegetable soup.
Custard Apple	Select firm custard apple with undamaged skin. Leave fruit to ripen at room temperature for 2-4 days until it yields to gentle pressure. As fruit ripens its skin colour changes from dark to light green.
Pineapple	Topless pineapples are sweet eating and low acid, and a good buy this week.
Strawberries	Queensland strawberries have started. Prices are expected to drop over the coming weeks.

Anyhow.....gotta go..I have a feeling the plate of muffins I just made are no longer a plate but more like a couple of them - and they were supposed to last the week!  oh well, at least they are being enjoyed :)

Burnt cheese on toast!

So i've been playing around with this blog a bit (what do you think...), I can see how some people can get hooked, putting posts up and making it your own is what many bloggers could easily get addicted to...

Last night was gilled cheese and pineapple on toast, burnt (not on purpose!).  Seeing as we have all got a cold which we bought back from our week away, nobody was really up for anything interesting.  The cucumber we had, is however from our garden..

Our vegie garden is so good.  We started it to see how it goes, and it's had one season now where we got so many different snowpeas, broccoli, celery, potatoes (oh the potatoes! they kinda took over at one stage...), strawberries, tomatoes, etc...

So now we are going to let it rest, finish up the existing cucumbers, brussel sprouts and capsi's that are in there, dig it up, and start again!

 It's a family affair...isn't she cute 

Anyhow... :)  just had the busiest morning, sick 4yrold to wake up to, 2 cats to the vet for a 9am appointment, saturday brunch with my friend, and bought some yummy's for lunch with my brother who is coming here...in about an hour...still have to get organised for that...mmmmm...

But I also just wanted to put up some pictures I took while we were away last week...

a nice looking water tower...

 

a 20c ride (see, they aren't all $2 anymore, these are still out there!)

and a funky door.  Yes, I took a photo of a door - I like it!

Much better photos than these.....

(where are those food photography skills of mine??  thought they'd just be natural...oh well...)

I'd better go and get ready for the big bro, just get ready enough so that it seems to him i'm always that ready (you know that trick!)

Catch you tomorrow!

Thursday 13 May 2010

What a whirl of a week that was, I feel a bit like i'm still living a week ago and a week didn't pass at all...I guess life is like that sometimes..


While I was away I tried to get pics and recipes on food which went from honey toast for dinner, to going out with Mum and Dad for dinner (where I had a chicken schnitzel which was, well, sometimes they're just not worth writing about unfortunately..at least the company was good!)


Last night I decided to cook a fave for someone else in the house, Corned Silverside with Balsamic Plum Glaze in the slow cooker.  You have to plan for this one as it takes 10 hours to cook, but is so simple and tasty that it's worth the planning.

Place meat (approx 2.5kg corned silverside), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1.5 tablespoons Balsamic vinegar, 3 mint sprigs, 1 medium onion studded with around 4 whole cloves, 2 carrots (peeled and cut into rough chunks), 3 cups of water and about 8 peppercorns into the slow cooker.

Cook with the lid on, 10 - 12 hours on low.  If you have a high setting you can do 6 - 7 hours but lower and slower is better












We just had it simple, with mashed potatoes and Balsamic Plum Glaze.

To make glaze, place 3/4 cup beef stock, 1/4 cup plum jam, 1.5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and 3 teaspoons sugar (I used raw sugar) into a saucepan.  Put on medium, stir occasionally, and after around 10 mins it turns to a sticky glazy consistency, and it's ready.

A great, simple dinner to be had after you've had a hectic week of travelling!

And here was dessert...

 Yep, that's simple me :)

See you!