Ready Steady Cook
Warm salad of chorizo, spinach, tomato and onion
Having come home early I watched Ready Steady Cook show and then cooked the recipe above. Please note that the recipe is only for one.
It was delicious, sorry no photo's.
Warm salad of chorizo, spinach, tomato and onion
Having come home early I watched Ready Steady Cook show and then cooked the recipe above. Please note that the recipe is only for one.
It was delicious, sorry no photo's.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 7:27 am 0 comments
We had a great standby meal tonight - ready in less than 15 minutes
1 can tuna (in spring water)
1 pkt pasta (any short pasta)
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 6:32 pm 0 comments
I love haloumi and here is our haloumi Salad Rocket, sundried tomato strips, red onion and haloumi. The haloumi was dry fried on a grill pan.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 7:07 am 0 comments
TSS and CJK came over for lunch on Thursday.
I made a vegetarian, gluten free spag bol
1 can lentils drained
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions diced
3 large cloves garlic (add more if liked)
1 red capsicum diced
2 small containers of tomato paste
1 large jar spaghetti sauce (I used Ragoletto's red wine and onion)
paprika
basil
600 gms mushrooms
2 cans chopped tomato's
jar of sliced kalimata olives
splash red wine
Heat olive oil and fry onions until clear. Add garlic and capsicum and stir fry for one minute
Add lentils, cans of tomatoes, tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, paprika and basil, salt and pepper to taste (I did not use any).
Heat to simmer and let cook for 30 minutes
Add a splash of red wine, olives and mushrooms and simmer gently for another 40 minutes.
Best prepared in advance to allow the flavours to develop.
Add a packet of rice noodles or any other sort of gluten free spaghetti and serve.
On Friday I added about 1.2k of mince, two more onions and more garlic and served up for lunch for Lauren and MLR, then tea for JSR, MLR and me.
With the left overs (yes there are still leftovers) I am going to make a small lasagne for MLR.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 10:26 am 2 comments
I noticed last November that there was a new dish for Children at McDonalds, Pasta Zoo Happy Meal!!! A vegetarian, healthier option, yeh. I asked for one, and was told that they would be available in January! Not sure why it is on the menu in November!!!! We have now tried the dish twice and the kids like it.
I wanted to check the ingredients yesterday, as I was concerned about a child who seemed to react to the new dish (not my kids), I checked the McDonald's website and they have lots of information about their food and where it comes from and how it is prepared, but not about the Pasta Zoo Meal. So I rang them and they sent me the information. I am sure it will be on their website soon.
Here are the ingredients and main alergens found in the new Pasta dish being presented for children at McDonalds.
PASTA ZOO HAPPY MEAL
INGREDIENT INFORMATION
Reduced Fat Milk & Sipahh Straw - Chocolate MILK: Reduced Fat Milk CHOCOLATE SIPPAH STRAW: Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Cocoa, Maltodextrin (from Corn), Flavour, Sweetener (955), Vegetable Gum (414), Vanillin
Contains milk Reduced Fat Milk & Sipahh Straw - Strawberry MILK: Reduced Fat Milk STRAWBERRY SIPPAH STRAW: Sugar, Tapioca Starch, Maltodextrin (from Corn), Flavour, Vegetable Gum (414), Vanillin, Sweetener (955), Colour (162) Contains milk.
Zoo Goo Tomato [Tomato, Salt, Acidity Regulator (330), Calcium Chloride (509)], Fructose, Thickener (1422), Salt, Vegetable Powders, Vegetable Oil (Sunflower), Acidity Regulators (330, 270), Yeast Extract, Animal Fat, Colours (160c, 100), Preservative (202), Vegetable Gum (415), Herbs, Spice, Antioxidant (320).
Contains traces of sulphites in the thickener (<10ppm)
Pasta Zoo Cooked Pasta (Water, Durum Wheat Semolina, Eggs), Cheese [Ricotta (Whey, Milk, Salt, Acidity Regulator (260), Tasty (Milk, Cultures, Rennet, Salt, Anti-caking Agent (Tapioca Starch, (450)), Preservative (200)) , Parmesan ( Milk, Tapioca Starch, Cultures, Rennet, Salt)], Roasted Vegetables (Carrots, Onions, Celery), Sunflower Oil, Water, Tomato Paste, Sun-dried Tomatoes (Contains Preservatives (220, 202)), Potato Flakes (Contains Preservatives (220, 223), Emulsifier (471), Mineral Salt (450), Acidity Regulator (330)), Sweet Corn, Breadcrumbs (Wheat Flour, Yeast, Emulsifier (472e), Flour Treatment Agent (300)), Peas, Natural Flavour (Contains Milk), Salt, Thickener (461),
Garlic, Paprika Oleoresin (Colour), Herbs And Spices.
Contains gluten, milk, egg
Contains traces of sulphites (<10ppm)
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 8:47 am 0 comments
Here is what we had for breakfast the other day - don't you just love pancakes in the holidays!!! JSR had his with jam, AJR had his with butter, maple syrup and icing sugar.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 11:51 am 0 comments
Here is a great breakfast idea, it is vegetarian, low gi and healthy.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 8:33 am 0 comments
Tonight we had homemade pizza and tried out the new Pizza stone - it works very well, thanks for the great present. We had a beautiful garlic and oil pizza, as well as a half salami, baby eggplant and capsicum with mottzarella cheese pizza.
Sorry no pictures, we were too hungry!!
Afterwards we had Peacherine Crumble.
Step 1
Cut peacherine's and then mascerate in sugar and marsarla and then poach.
Step 2
Put cooked peacherine's into a pie dish
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 9:09 pm 0 comments
I got a request for a recipe finder site, you know where you can put in the ingredients you have and it spits out a great recipe - enabling you to declutter your cupboard. It is a great way to do this. I also go through my pantry once a year and anything that I have not used and is not out of date I donate to a giving tree. This year it was the giving tree at work, around Christmas time there are a lot of charity's looking for food donations. If you have serious congestion problems, you could do it in winter as well. Food is always needed.
So now you will see on the right hand site some suggestions for recipe finder sites (thanks for the great request JC), if you find better ones then let me know.
Aunty A
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 8:24 am 0 comments
We had a lovely repast of Calamari, seared lemon, steamed broccolini, fried garlic, pangrattato (basically fried or toasted breadcrumbs in garlic oil), and rocket salad.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 9:04 pm 0 comments
To serve 1
Ingredients
240g potatoes - unpeeled and cut into wedges
150g green beans, trimmed and cut into 3 cm lengths
1 cup baby rocket leaves
50 g (1/2) small red onion sliced thinly
Lemon Yoghurt Dressing
1/2 cup sheep milk yoghurt
1 tspn finely grated lemon rind
1 tbspn fresh lemon juice
1 tbspn finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
Method
Boil, steam or microwave potato and beans seperately, until tender, drain. Rinse beans under cold water, drain.
Meanwhile combine ingredients for lemon yoghurt dressing in small bowl
Place potato and beans in medium bowl with rocket and onion, toss gently top combine.
Serve salad drizzled with dressing.
And of course I did not follow the recipe slavishly -
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 7:34 am 2 comments
JSR had a great game of golf today and came home loaded with chocolate from our friends C&M. He then made a beautiful Thai inspired dinner of prawns and scallops with a corriander, red onion, rocket and baby spinach salad. JSR added some lime juice to the egg mayonaise for the dressing.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 11:32 am 0 comments
I had arranged a special class for Andrew which finished at 9.15 - so I headed to TSS's place for a little refreshment, while waiting. First thing this morning Andrew decided he really did not want to go, even though it was for Manga art (his passion). Decided to head to TSS's anyway.
Checked out the food from the fridge, selected several video's from the collection for possible viewing and headed across the road for a bottle of vino. For less than $5.00 each we had our frugal feast!!
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 6:48 am 0 comments
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 7:38 am 2 comments
Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic finely crushed
2 cups (300 g) grated sweet potato
2 zucchini grated
1/4 cup basil leafs torn
1/2 cup grated low fat cheese
salt and pepper to taste
4 free range eggs
150g cherry tomatoes halved
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 10:26 pm 0 comments
My current favourite Salad
lettuce, sun dried tomatoes, capsicum and corn - super easy super quick super healthy (no dressing required due to the oil from the tomatoes).
Gluten Free Cakes from Deeks
The three stooges make pizza. MLR's included chopped up dinosaur chicken pieces, AJR's was a Marguerita (cheese and tomato paste) and JSR's was a garlic and Parmesan one (not pictured). There was flour from one end of the kitchen to the other, as they made the bases from scratch. A great feast was had by all.
Aunty A.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 2:04 pm 0 comments
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 8:19 pm 0 comments
This post is all CJK's fault!!!
The article (linked above) discusses eating regionally, within certain limits, such as 250 or 100 mile (it is a US article).
I thought it might be fun to try a dinner made this way! Of course if we limited it to my garden right now we would have a meal of parsley, rasberries (not sure if there are one or two rasberries on the vine), some tired lavender and under ripe peacherines!!
Here are some sources of local ingredients we could use - local to the Canberra region to about 100 miles.
Wine
Lets start with wine - Canberra grows a variety of wine in the local region, and is a cool climate wine grower. The main varieties include Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Pinot Noir with some Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier, Sangovese and Merlot.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 11:25 am 0 comments
More TV food shows. Last week and this, started watching a show with Paul Mecurio as the host - Victoria's Food Trail, currently on Sunday nights on Channel 7, at around 5.30pm. It was first shown in February-March this year and is now in its second or third repeat. The link includes a recipe book of all the food Paul prepares. You can also buy the dvd of the show.
More information about Paul Mecurio.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 9:31 pm 0 comments
Say Cheese!
No really this is the title of episode 41, in this fabulous series with Maggie Beer and Simon. I watched this the other day and just wanted to eat every dish. I must ask CJK for a gluten free biscuit base and then I will try the savoury cheesecake. There is a section of the show where they go to the markets in central Adelaide, where I too have browsed with excitment and anticipation of what might be around the next corner. You can tour the market and I intend to do that next time I get to Adelaide.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 9:27 pm 0 comments
Serves: 4
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
1½ tablespoons olive oil
8 slices thin bacon
12 eggs
¼ cup (60ml) water
s
alt and freshly ground black pepper
20g butter
4 green onions (green shallots), chopped finely
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
120g fetta cheese, crumbled
75g baby spinach leaves
Method
Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in medium frying pan; cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on absorbent paper.
Combine eggs, water, salt and pepper in a large bowl; beat lightly.
Heat a quarter of the butter and 1 teaspoon of oil in same pan. When butter is just bubbling, add a quarter of egg mixture to pan; sprinkle over a quarter of onion, mint and fetta. Cook over medium heat, tilting pan, until egg is just set. Slide omelette from pan and fold in half. Repeat with remaining butter, oil, egg and filling.
Serve omelettes immediately with spinach and bacon.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 7:45 am 0 comments
Today's Recipe-To Make us Happy and Agreeable to Other People.
Ingredients -1lb Good Temper, 2lb Forbearance, 1lb Patience, 11/2lb Contentment, 3lb Unselfishness, 1lb Fun and 2lb Cheerfulness. Method - Mix well with two quarts of Human Kindness. Dose - One glassful the first thing in the morning, repeat as soon as the effect wears off.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 8:47 pm 0 comments
I really hate the question "what's for tea?" and you know you only get it on the day that you just wish that the food genie would just magic dinner out of thin air. For those times you may choose to come here and gain some inspiration.When you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand, and nothing, whoa, nothing is going right. Close your eyes and type in my URL and soon I will be there....
with sincere appologies to James Taylor.
Australian Sites
ABC Backyard Recipe Finder
Recipes from around Australia hosted by the ABC.
Australian Women's Weekly Recipe Finder
Offers an emailed recipe of the week, as well as finding recipes based on your ingredients.
Dining Downunder Recipes
Uses Australian native food.
Golden Circle Recipes
Good if you love Pineapple, does have other recipes and it is Australian Owned.
Nestle Recipe Search
Also gives you access to your own online recipe book that is free and you can add to.
Old Aussie Food Recipes
Click on the links down the side to get to these classic Aussie recipes. If you pay you can access many more recipes.
US sites
There are many US sites, but these two are my favourite.
I Village Recipe Finder
US based - enables you to put limited choices for a list of suitable recipes.
Busy Cooks
Great US site that gives recipes, you can sign up for an emailed recipe, and you can search for recipes. This site is a bit like going into a great bookshop, it can be hard to get out.
If you have great sites or recipes that you want to share, please send them to me or link from there to here.
Aunty A
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 8:57 pm 0 comments
Here are the cooks extrodinaire - very black and white.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 10:38 am 1 comments
Well today we had home made pesto and pasta.
Pesto
1 bunch of corriander
splash of lemon
splash of oil (to bind)
half a cup of pine nuts
Blend all ingredients in the blender or whizz and then pour (or scrape) over cooked pasta and serve.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 7:46 pm 0 comments
Hi there,
well there was left over salmon that could not be wasted, so here is Aunty A's new recipe.
500 gms light riccotta (for a heavier effect you could use 250gms of philedephia cream cheese)
1 bunch corriander (sorry JC) could use basil or parsley
squeeze lemon
handful of pine nuts
1 bunch aparagus cut into three
3 spring onion chopped into three
left over smoked salmon
6 sheets of filo pastry
oil spray
medium sized muffin tray (12)
Method
1. put first seven ingredients into the blender and blend until moderately smooth.
2. Spray muffin tray with oil.
3. Take three sheets of filo and cut using a scone cutter to fit the muffin tray.
4. Spray the filo in the tray.
5. Add heaped teaspoons of filling to filo pastry and bake in moderately warm oven (180) for 10-12 minutes - watch for burning.
Take second set of three filo sheets and repeat steps 2-5. To make a meal of this, serve with a green salad or roast tiny tomato's.
Great Tapas food, or Melbourne Cup food.
For Gluten free, serve on rice crackers or gluten free bread (as I did).
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 8:22 pm 0 comments
I made this today. Action shot going into the oven!
Brie Smoked Salmon Stackers
The link at the top of this page is a site that sends me recipe's regularly, from the US - so of course at the moment I am getting recipes for Autumn. Check it out and sign up if it looks interesting.
I have made changes of course, I added a spinach leaf to each stack and used no mustard as there is no mustard in fridge.
Here is what the children had for tea. Veggie burgers.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 2:11 pm 1 comments
Sweet Potato Rosti recipe
I got this recipe from Sanitarium, who send me a recipe a week to try. Sometimes I try and sometimes I delete. This one I should have deleted, however it was not a complete disaster.
TSS came around with beautiful offerings of an apron (need to have an apron if you are an internet cook!!!!), modelled by Aunty A on this page, as well as a meatless recipe book, which will feature in books section of this page. TSS kindly marked all her favourite recipes for me.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 3:22 pm 0 comments
Here is the adventure we had today when all the scary people came to our house. First there was the food!!
Snakes in bats blood
Eyeballs
and frogs in green slime, worms in sludge
and of course there were cupcakesdecorated by the ghouls, ghosts, pirates, princesses, fairies and vampires.
Then there were the people
Big witchesand little witches
Vampiresa pirate and the grim reaper
A yellow ghost, a fairy a princess (dressed up here as a ghost)was also spied.
Here are the whole crowd it all ended too soon and all the characters had to go home to bed.
Posted by Mondo Viagiatore at 7:00 pm 0 comments