Slow Cooker Chicken Stock

About 18 months ago I discovered through the Cheapskates Club a recipe for making chicken stock in the slow cooker.  It was a light bulb moment for me.  I love my slow cooker, I love simple recipes and I love saving money.  Making stock in the slow cooker cover all three of these loves.

Here's how I make chicken stock in the slow cooker

1 chicken carcass
3 - 4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of dried onion flakes
2 teaspoons of dried parsley
1 - 1 1/2 litres of boiled water

Place all ingredients in the slow cooker making sure the carcass is covered with the boiling water.
 
Cook overnight or for up to 24 hours.

Drain the stock through a colander and use within 2 days or freeze for future use..

To make chicken soup,  use the little bits of chicken meat off the carcass once it's been in the slow cooker.  The meat is quite easy to get off and it's suprising how much meat a carcass can hide.

Chop Suey - Aussie Style

 Chop suey was one of the first recipes I learn to make as a newly wed.  It's cheap,  easy and quite good for you..  It's full of flavour and full of veggies.

250 - 300 grams of mince beef
2 cups of frozen beans, corn, peas ( combined )
1 stick celery finely sliced
3 - 4 mushrooms sliced
Broccoli and cauliflower florets cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon curry powder
Salt, pepper and chives / parsley to taste
2 handfuls of cabbage,  spinach or silverbeet finely chopped
1/2 pack 2 min noodles
1/2 packet of chicken noodle soup
Dried onion flakes and garlic granules ( or fresh )
I medium carrot,  peeled and finely sliced 

Cut all veggies and place in microwave veggie steamer and cook in microwave on high for 8 mins. 

While the veggies are cooking, cook the mince in large electric frypan.  

Put the chicken noodle soup into a measuring jug and add 1 cup of boiling water and stir. Add to the meat  

When veggies are cooked, add them to the meat. Add curry powder and seasonings to taste. Stir well. 

Add cabbage / silverbeet / spinach on top of the meat and veggies and place the lid on for 5 mins. Stir everything together and add extra water if needed. 

Add cooked and drained 2 min noodles just before serving. 

Serve with a dash of soy sauce and  rice or mashed potato on the side.  

Serves 4 - 5 people  

*  Yummy as leftovers on toast 

*  Can be made with chicken and bacon as an alternative - known as Chop Chicken 

*  Leftovers can be frozen 

*  You can use any veggies you want and as many as you want 

Hoovers Doovers

This recipe is an old family favourite from my childhood.  When Mum first made them,  Dad called them Hoovers Doovers as he thought that's how you pronounced hors d'oeuvres. As with most of my recipes,  you can make them your own by adding your favourite ingredients.  My inlaws like to add pineapple to theirs.


Bread - sandwich sliced of any type
Butter or margarine

Butter approximately 12 - 14 slices of bread and place onto large flat baking trays

In a bowl place -

1 1/2 large tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes finely diced
4 eggs
Diced ham or bacon - about 150 -200 grams
1 1/2 - 2 cups of grated cheese
2 teaspoons of dried onion flakes or 1/2 small onion finely diced
1 teaspoon of chives or parsley
Salt or garlic salt, pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together.  The mixture should be wet and thick. Add another egg if needed.
Spoon onto bread and spread to the edges with a fork.
Cook in the oven for 25 - 30 mins @ 200c until the bread is golden underneath.

Serve hot.  They are best eaten fresh but can be refridgerated  for two days but must be covered.  Can be frozen.

Making The Most Of Citrus Fruit.

When most people think of Winter they think of colds,  the flu and putting the heater on.  I love Winter for the cold weather,  comfort food and most importantly,  citrus fruit.  At this time of the year citrus fruit is in abundance and it's cheap. My girls love oranges as a Winter snack. They cut them up into eighths and eat every last drop of pulp.  Much better for you than store bought orange juice and cheaper per portion size.

I love to make 50 / 50 cordial for the family . It's made with 3 oranges and 3 lemons. So to have the cheap Winter fruit available for cordial in Summer, I zest and squeeze the oranges and lemons into a container and freeze. I also make a whole orange cake that uses one orange. I just blend the whole orange ( minus the pips ) in the food processor and freeze it in a container for all year round baking.

Lemons are coming into season too. With supermarkets selling them at 80 cents each, I'm very grateful that my lemon tree is in it's sixth season of bearing a good amount of fruit. To make the most of the "free" lemons, I zest them and freeze the zest for lemon slice, lemon and pistachio biscuits, lemon chicken and savoury chicken or salmon flan. Then I juice them and pour the juice into ice cube trays and freeze. The ice blocks are stored in an airtight container to be used on fish , pancakes, to make lemon butter, jam.  lemon slice etc, etc. This year I'm planning on slicing some lemons and freezing the slices to make lemon chicken.

It's great to have these items on hand in the freezer. It stops the need to run to the supermarket for one lemon. I'll bet it would be out of season and you'd be paying premium prices.

If you haven't thought about it before, growing a lemon tree is great. It looks good, the blossoms and fruit smell divine and a bowl of lemons on the kitchen bench is a little ray of sunshine in the middle of Winter. It can be grown in a pot too. Best of all, you'll get your money back from the cost of a tree in no time.

So if anyone offers you a bag of lemons, or your neighbour has a tree with too much fruit for them to use, you'll know what to do with it.

Lemon butter

Orange cake and muffins

Freezing the juice.

Lemon butter for presents

Getting ready to make 50 / 50 cordial.

Running Out Of Groceries Or Grocery Money

Running out of food can be a scary situation to be faced with. What to do ? What to do ? I guess the first question you need to ask yourself is " Have I really run out of food or do I have food but don't know what to cook ? " If you have run out of food just because you didn't buy enough,  then it's time for a new plan of attack. Writing a menu plan for the week might be a good place to start. Then write your shopping list from the menu plan. Don't forget to include breakfasts, lunches and snacks as well as the main meal.    Once you've mastered shopping for a week then you could try fortnightly or monthly shopping.

You might be in the situation where you haven't run out of food but feel like the food you do have isn't going to make great meals. This is the perfect time for experimentation. Grab your cookbooks or use the internet to try something different. There are websites where you can search for recipes with certain ingredients. This could be the making of a new family favourite recipe.

If you have run out of grocery money for whatever reason, you have a few options. Can you make meals out of the food you DO have ? Can you find some extra money from another area of your budget ? I'm not talking about hundreds of dollars. $20 or $30 could last a week or two with a carefully planned shopping list if you have basic ingredients on hand like herbs, spices and a few baking ingredients like flour and sugar

Once again a menu plan will help you through a tough time until money becomes available again. A packet of quick oats will give you a filling breakfast for a week. Two loaves of bread will be enough for lunches. Buying one piece of the cheapest fruit available per person could be a snack. In Winter apples, pears and citrus fruits are very cheap. In Summer it could be stone fruit or grapes.

Dinner doesn't have to be fancy if money is tight. Here are some cheap meal ideas -

* Boiled potato with steamed veggies, seasonings and a little grated cheese on top is very yummy and cheap.
* 300 grams of mince can be bulked out with rice, rolled oats and cheaper vegetables like beans, cabbage or carrots.
* Eggs, baked beans or spaghetti on toast
* Pasta with tomato sauce and cheese
* Pasta with a tin of tomatoes and grated vegetables
* Fried rice without any meat.
* Pancakes

Remember,  water is free ( or almost free ) so drink lots of it.  If you are after a hot drink,  then tea is cheaper than coffee.

Have you ever run out of grocery money or groceries ?  What did you do in this situation ?

Pizza Scrolls

Quite often I make mini quiches for the family or a catering order.  After the pastry shells have been cut out,  there's so much pastry left over.  It's always bugged me that the pastry goes to waste.  Just recently I had another catering order for 80 mini quiches.  With all that pastry left over,  I thought it was time to make something else from the scraps.  The following recipe is something I made up as I went along.  The result was yummy little pizza scrolls that my family enjoyed.  The rest were frozen for lunch box treats.

Scraps from puff pastry sheets
Sauce - I used tomato and bbq combined
Grated cheese
Mixed dried herbs.
Flour

Flour your kitchen bench then knead the pastry until it forms a ball.

Using a rolling pin ( or your hands ),  roll out the puff pastry until it resembles an oblong that's a few millimetres thick.  It might be a bit tough to work with.  When this happened,  I gave the pastry a 5 minute rest then continued rolling.

Spread the sauce over the pastry leaving 1 centremetre around the edges.

Sprinkle the herbs over the sauce and add the grated cheese still leaving an edge.

Roll the pastry lengthwise into a long log.

Cut the log into 2 - 3 centremetre pieces and place onto a lined baking tray.

Pinch the outer edge of the scroll to secure.

Cook at 180 degrees Celsius for approx, 20 minutes.

From the freezer

Fresh out of the oven

Pizza toppings just before rolling.

Bulk Cooking

Bulk cooking is a great way to save time in the kitchen. For those of you who are new to this concept, it pretty much means exactly that. You cook multiple meals at the same time to store in the freezer. The benefits of bulk cooking are -

* It saves time in the kitchen at meal times.
* Saves on electricity / gas.
* Emergency meals on hand in the freezer
* Helps avoid the takeaway temptation.
* Meal preparation is simplified
* Older children can get tea ready for you if you are sick or faced with an emergency.
* Great for taking on holidays
* Unexpected visitors can be fed.
* Peace of mind
* Great for portion controlling the meat.
* Being prepared for sickness in the house
* Being ready for financial hardship.

The benefits I listed above really are wonderful.  Most importantly,  bulk cooking is about getting your house in order.  I cannot stress enough how important this is for you,  your family and your friends.  Here's a question for you to think about.  If an emergency came to your home,  would your family and friends have to feed you ?  Yes it's wonderful to have a meal offered to you,  but would you be relying on others to get you through a crisis or emergency ?

I've lost track of the amount of times I've been asked to provide meals for others.  I try to help when I can but often these requests come at a time when I'm away on holidays,  having a very busy week or I'm sick.  Also, to be honest my budget doesn't stretch to feed other families.  Then I feel a little guilty that I can't help. Then I worry that the person or family doesn't have food to eat.

We've had a few emergencies visit our family over the years.  Five years ago I was hospitalised for a kidney stone.  Thankfully my sister in law and her mother were able to take care of our girls at short notice.  Darren took food out of the freezer to bring into the hospital for him to eat while he sat at my bedside.  After I'd been home for a few days,  we remembered we had a visitor coming for lunch. This had been organised a week earlier.  Thankfully I had lots of soup and chocolate brownies in the freezer to serve.  The visitor didn't know I'd been in hospital a few days earlier.  She guessed something was up when I had to sit down while Darren and the girls organised lunch.

Both Darren and my Mum have been hospitalised right on Christmas a few years running.  During those times, I had to drop what I was doing to be with them.  Thankfully I had a menu plan and plenty of meals in the freezer to defrost and eat.  It was one less thing to worry about.

Most of the meals I bulk cook are made with beef mince or chicken.   I buy a couple of two kilo trays of mince at a time. I try to plan this when I have a couple of days off from work. I then weigh out the amount of raw meat I need for the multiple meals I plan to cook.  The other option is to cook a double amount of food when you are preparing dinner each night.

For spag bol I use 300g for the four of us. If I want to make four meals for us then I weigh out 300g x four meals = 1200g. I cook the mince in a large electric fry pan and add four tins of tomatoes, four serves of tomato paste and four times the amount of seasonings. Once cooled it is spooned into four containers and frozen.

I use 400g of mince to make pie meat. This is eventually made into a family sized pie that serves the four of us. If I want to make pie meat for four pies I weigh out 400g x four meals = 1600g. It is cooked, seasoned, thickened with gravy powder and corn flour. When cooled it is divided into four containers and frozen. When frozen I empty it out of the container and double wrap it, label and date it and pop it back in the freezer. When I want to make a pie, it's defrosted in the fridge overnight then spooned onto a pastry lined pie plate and topped with cubed potato. A pastry lid is placed on top then cooked in the oven.

I use 400g of mince to make a meatloaf. To make four meatloaves I weigh out 400g x four meals = 1600g. I need 3 tablespoons of uncooked rice x four meatloaves = 12 tablespoons. This is cooked and added to the raw mince with salt, pepper, onion, parsley, four eggs and large squirts of tomato sauce. Mix well and divide into four meatloaf / baking tins and cook at the same time in the oven. When cooled double wrap and place in the freezer.

I hope these recipe ideas give you inspiration to give bulk cooking a go. It only takes a few hours to have 15 - 20 family sized meals ready for the freezer.  It's a small sacrifice to make for your family's peace of mind in a crisis.

Chocolate brownies from the freezer

Single serves for the freezer

Hamburger patties in bulk

Trays of zucchini slice ready to portion and freeze

Soup for the soul and freezer.

Do you bulk cook for your family ?  How has bulk cooking helped you in a crisis ?

Pumpkin Soup

With the weather turning slightly cooler,  Winter will be here before you know it.  In my house,  Winter means comfort food and soup falls into that category.  There's nothing like a big bowl of homemade soup and some crusty bread to fill an empty tummy and warm the soul.  Pumpkin will be coming into season shortly and prices will get cheaper.  Here's my pumpkin soup recipe for you to enjoy -


I smallish butternut or jap pumpkin
1 to 1 1/2 litres of boiling water
1 medium onion finely diced ( dried onion flakes can be used )
1 - 2 tablespoons of chicken stock powder
1 tablespoon of chives  fresh or dried
Pepper to taste

Scoop out the pumpkin seeds and cut off the skin. Cut into large chunks
Add the pumpkin to a large saucepan and pour in boiling water until the pumpkin is almost covered.
Add the diced onion.
Cover the saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.
Add the chives.  Stir in well.
Using a stick blender,  blend the soup until smooth.
Add the chicken stock powder one tablespoon at a time and stir in well.

Serve with a dash of sour cream and chives.

Serves 4 - 6

NOTES -

*  This soup freezes well.

*  Butternut pumpkin can be bland in flavour.  If you use this pumpkin,  more stock powder may be needed.

*  This soup can be cooked in a vegetable steamer in the microwave.

Fish Cooked In Foil

Back in the day when my girls were doing swimming lessons,  I had to find simple things to cook on swimming night.  There was no point in cooking a roast as time was scarce.  After watching a few cooking shows,  I came up with this recipe that ticks all my boxes - simple,  tasty, can be prepared earlier and very quick to put together.

I've used a few difference types of fish for this recipe with Blue Grenadier being the cheapest to buy on most occasions.  Here's what you need -

Aluminium foil
Baking paper ( not waxed )
Canola or olive oil spray
Long oven tray
Fish
Butter
2 lemons - one sliced, one juiced
Seasoning to taste.  I use salt,  pepper,  garlic,  paprika and  parsley

Tear off a long piece of foil and lay flat on the baking tray.
Tear off a slightly smaller piece of baking paper and lay on top of the foil.
Lightly spray the baking paper with canola or olive oil.
Lay the fish in the middle of the baking paper length ways
Drizzle the lemon juice over the fish
Season the fish to taste with your choice of seasonings
Add a couple of knobs of butter to each piece of fish
Lay the sliced lemon on top of the butter.
Bring the long sides of the foil and baking paper together in the middle and fold over a couple of times.
Then fold the short ends of the foil to form a sealed parcel.
Bake in the oven on 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes then check to see if the fish is cooked.
Serve with rice,  steamed vegetables or a salad.
Use some of the juices from the fish to pour over the fish or rice when serving.

Zucchini Slice

This zucchini slice recipe is wonderful to eat all year round.  In Summer I serve it with salad,  a baked potato and fish.  In Winter it's served with rice,  steamed veggies and any meat.  My girls don't like zucchini as a vegetable but they'll happily eat my zucchini slice.  I think it's the cheese on top that makes it appealing.

2 large zucchinis,
1 large carrot,
1 large potato
A couple of pieces of pumpkin ( optional ).
2 eggs
2/3 cup of plain flour
Salt,  pepper,  garlic granules or powder to taste
1 tablespoon of chives or parsley ( dried or fresh )
1 tablespoon of onion flakes or 1/2 a finely diced fresh onion

Grate the zucchini,  carrot,  potato and pumpkin.
Squeeze all the juice from the grated veggies
Place all the grated veggies into a large bowl and mix together.
Add the eggs,  flour and seasonings and mix well
Place into a large greased oven / casserole dish and pat down with your hand..
Top with grated cheese and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.

NOTES -

*  This recipe is interchangeable. Any veggie listed can be increased or deleted depending on what you have on hand

*  Using a food processor makes light work of all the grating.

*  This recipe is easy to double or triple if you have an abundance of zucchinis.

*  I sometimes add ham or bacon but this does increase the cost of the slice..

*  Can be frozen.  I cut up into portion sizes, and place squares of cut up cereal packet between each slice.  Then cling wrap and place in a freezer bag.

*  Keeps for up to one year in the freezer or 48 hours in the fridge.   

Slabs of zucchini slice

Tomato Relish

It's finally here.  The much awaited,  much requested tomato relish recipe that I make. Tomatoes will be ripening soon and / or coming on sale in the fruit and veg shops.  This recipe is fairly simple to make.  Just make sure you have all the ingredients on hand before you start.  You'll also need lots of glass jars with metal lids ready to fill.

Tomato relish is great to have with Krispy Fried Chicken drumsticks     ( or any chicken for that matter ),  ham or silverside.  It's also wonderful in a cheese and meat sandwich.

3 kilos of tomatoes - diced
8 medium onions - peeled and diced
4 tablespoons of salt
4 1/2 cups of malt vinegar
4 green chillies - de-seeded and very finely chopped
4 cups of brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of curry powder
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons of plain flour
1/2 cup of water

Place the tomatoes and onions into a large plastic or glass bowl

Sprinkle with the salt,  mix,  cover with cling wrap and leave for 12 hours ( overnight )

Drain off any excess liquid

Place the tomatoes and onions into a very large saucepan ( or two ) and add the sugar,  vinegar and chillies.

Gently boil for 1 1/2 -2 hours stirring occasionally until the liquid has reduced a little.

Mix the flour,  water,  Dijon mustard and curry powder into a smooth paste in a measuring jug or glass bowl.

Very slowly add the paste to the tomatoes while stirring constantly.

Gently boil for another 10 - 15 minutes.

Spoon or pour into sterilised glass jars and seal immediately.

The relish will keep for up to one year in a cool dark place.

Refrigerate after opening and consume within a few weeks.


NOTES -

*  I once made this recipe without doing the overnight draining process ( I forgot ).  So I added the tomatoes,  onions and 1 tablespoon of salt to a large saucepan then continued with the recipe as per usual.  It still worked out just fine.

*  Feel free to add more chillies if you like it hot.  I don't like chillies at all but with four in the recipe,  you don't really notice them.

*  Make your own brown sugar to save some money.  The recipe is in the recipe section under mixes.

*  Malt vinegar is a type of brown vinegar.  The label on the container must say malt.

*  Sterilise the jars in an oven on about 150 degrees Celcius for approx, 30 minutes.

*  The original recipe was given to me from a book.   I've adjusted it to suit my family's tastes.  Feel free to change it to suit your own tastes.

*  This recipe is a double batch of the original version.  I doubled it to save time and to fill more jars.

*  From memory,  you need at least 10 - 15 small / medium sized jam / relish/ pickle jars.

*  Remember,  when bottling relish,  the lids will retain some of the smell after washing.  I don't use these jars for anything other than relish..

*  This relish makes a wonderful present when you add a hat ( material circle ) and gift tag.  It's also great to give with homemade pita chips.

How I Freeze Food

A couple of weeks ago I showed you what was in my freezers and gave you the list.

This week I thought I'd explain how I store the food to avoid spoilage and waste.

Here's what I use -

*  Plastic containers of all sizes.

*  Takeaway food containers

*  Cling wrap

*  Foil

*  Freezer bags,  large and small

*  Cereal packets cut up into squares are used as go between to stop cut of meat or soup sticking together.

*  Masking tape and permanent markers for labels

*  Recycled plastic fruit and veg bags

*  Recycled bread bags
 

When I make soup,  I always make a big pot to save time and energy.  As yummy as it is,  we can't eat it quick enough.  So I always make sure I freeze some.  I have small flat containers that I use for this purpose.  They are the Starmaid brand but I don't think they are sold any more.  I fill up each container as this represents one single serve.  Once cooled in the fridge,  the lids are put on and frozen in a stack.  Once frozen,  I pop the soup out of the container.  I slip a piece of cereal packet on top of the soup and pop another soup serve on top.  Then they are double wrapped in freezer bags and placed back in the freezer.  If I have multiple types of soup in the freezer,  I label the soups and date them.

I pop the soups out of their containers because even though I have lots of containers,  I very quickly run out.

Lamb chops are taken off their trays and portioned into meal sizes which is usually one chop per person.  Once again I slip a piece of cereal packet between each chop then double wrap in freezer bags.

Mince is portioned into 300 gram and 400 gram serves.  300 grams is for chop suey and spag bol, 3 x 300 gram does lasagne.  $00 grams is used for meat pie,  meatloaf and cassroles.  Each portion is wrapped in cling wrap.  Then a few portions are put into large freezer bags and labelled and dated.

Diced beef is portioned into 500 gram lots for stew.  I pack it into a snap lock bag,  flatten and label.

Roast beef and silverside is always cut in half as it's way to big for the four of us.  I wrap it in cling warp, label and date then wrap in a freezer bag.

Sausages are portioned into meal sizes which is six for us.  I wrap in cling wrap then multiple portions are put into a large freezer bag.

Single serves of leftovers are put into the flat takeaway food containers.  They are dated and labelled.

For chicken fillets,  I take the skin off,  trim the sinues off  and place individually into frezer bags.  Multiple fillets are then placed into a larger freezer bag.  It's easy to grab the amount of fillets needed when they are single.

Hamburger patties are stacked on top of each other with the cereal bag squares put inbetween.  We only have one atty per person and they are double wrapped.

Lemon ice cubes are placed either in snaplock bags or takeaway food containers.  Same with tomato paste.

Any baking is double wrapped.  Cakes are dated and labelled so I know what the flavour is.

Final notes -

*  Bread bags are used  for the outer wrapping for many items
*  I always rotate all meat,  baking and meals to avoid food being frozen for too long.
*  I delegate one shelf for each type of meat where possible.  All beef mince and hamburgers on one shelf,  all chicken on one shelf,  all roasts on one shelf,  all soup on one shelf,  leftovers in one drawaer etc etc,
*. I label meat with masking tape on the first layer of plastic then wrap again.  It prevents the label falling off.
*  I don't have glass containers in my freezer because they are too expensive and I'd need so many.
*  It sounds like I use a lot of plastic bags and wrap but I try to recycle where I can.  I bought a big roll of large freezer bags from Tasman Meats a couple of years ago.  This has saved a lot of money and I reuse them..
* I use everything within one year. 


I think that's explained most of the ways I freeze things.  I guess the most important things to do is to double wrap,  rotate and label.

If you have any questions,  please feel free to ask.

Freezer meals - free food

Chicken curry ready for the freezer

Pasta sauce in meal sizes

One of my freezers

Freezer equipment

Starmaid containers

Takeaway food containers given to us.

Honey Soy Chicken

Once upon a time I was one of those people who bought sauces to pour over chicken to make a tasty meal.  This recipe was one of the first I attempted to make from scratch so I could save a little money and reduce our consumption of preservatives.  Once cooked,  the chicken is tasty,  sticky and worthy of licking your fingers.  

3 tablespoon of plain flour 

2 tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of soy sauce

Dried onion flakes

Dried chives

Pepper to taste

Garlic powder or granules

Chicken pieces – any piece will do.

Aprox. 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Coat the chicken pieces in flour.

Brown the chicken in a fry pan with the olive oil.  Transfer to an oven dish.

Melt the honey in the microwave for 20 seconds until runny.  

Add the soy sauce and stir.  

Using a pastry brush,  brush the sauce over the chicken pieces 

Sprinkle the seasonings over the chicken.

Cook covered in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius   
Turn the chicken over,  baste with the juices and cook for another 20 minutes uncovered. . 

Serve with rice or mash and vegetables.

Ready to eat

Browned and seasoned

Half way through cooking in the oven.

 

Potato Cakes From Mash

These potato cakes are very frugal and oh so yummy.  Served on their own as a lunch or served with a salad in Summer they make a delightful treat to eat. My Mum started making these when I was iny teens.  There's no recipe as such so I've written down what I use to make them


Left over mashed potato or potato and pumpkin together. You need as little as a cup in quantity
1/2 cup of grated cheese
Sprinkle of -
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt or powder
Paprika
1 teaspoon of chives or parsley
Olive oil for cooking
Plain flour for coating
Paper towel on a plate for draining

In a large bowl mixed together the mash and seasonings until well combined

In a smaller bowl add 2 - 3 tablespoons of plain flour

Place rounded tablespoons of the mash mix into the flour and coat.

Place the potato cakes in a heated fry pan with olive oil.

Flatten the potato cakes a little

Cook on each side until golden brown

Serve with sauce or tomato relish

NOTES -

*  I prefer to use cold mash as it's easier to form into balls to coat in the flour

*  Be careful that the oil is not too hot as the potato cakes can burn very quickly.

*  If the mash mix is too soft,  add a little flour until it stiffens a bit

*  If I'm planning on serving pumpkin and potato mash with dinner the night before,  I cook up extra so I can make these potato cakes the following night.

*  Store them in the fridge for two days if you make too many.

Lunch

Left over pumpkin and potato mash

Add the seasonings

Cook in olive oil

Golden brown

Ready to eat.

My Menu Plan 16th August - 15th September 2015.

After a few months of not having a menu plan,  it's wonderful to get back into the routine.  My mind is a ease and the family just loves to see what's on the menu for tea each night.

Here's the long awaited menu plan for the Gower's -

Sun 16th   -  lunch at Cath's place after arriving home from the workshop.  Get Your Own that night.

Mon 17th  -  KFC drumsticks with tomato relish,  wedges and salad
Tues 18th  -  Tuna Pasta Bake with greens
Wed 19th  -  Meals out of the freezer
Thurs 20th  -  Fish in foil,  rice and steamed veg
Fri 21st  -  Homemade hamburgers and wedges
Sat 22nd  -  Veggie soup and toast
Sun 23rd  -  Get your own but feed me 

Mon 24th  -  KFC drumsticks ( we have lots in the freezer ), mash and steamed veg
Tues 25th  -  Homemade meat pie with steamed veg
Wed 26th  -  Meat pie leftovers and anything from the freezer
Thurs 27th  -  Roast chicken with roast veg and cauliflower and white cheese sauce
Fri 28th -  Spag bol with garlic and herb toast
Sat 29th  -  Chicken curry with rice
Sun 30th  -  Get your own but feed me.

Mon 31st  -  Honey soy drumsticks with mash and steamed veg
Tues 1st  -  Beef stew and mash
Wed 2nd  -  Wedding Anniversary so maybe out for tea
Thurs 3rd  -  Fish in foil,  wedges and steamed veg
Fri 4th  -  Rissole casserole with mash
Sat 5th  -  Chops,  mash and steamed veg
Sun 6th  -  Father's Day.  Might cook something special at home

Mon 7th  -  Saucy chicken drumsticks with rice and steamed veg
Tues 8th  -  Chop suey and mash
Wed 9th  -  Roast leg of lamb with roast veg and steamed veg
Thurs  10th  -  Tuna casserole and greens
Fri 11th  -  Shepherds pie made with left over lamb
Sat 12th  -  Homemade meat pie with steamed veg
Sun 13th  -  Get your own but feed me

Mon 14th  -  KFC drumsticks with mash and steamed veg
Tues 15th  -  Homemade lasagne with steamed veg

NOTES

*  I don't cook on Sundays.  We are generally busy with church or family get togethers.  I cook six nights a week for my family so Sunday night is their turn to serve me.  It also gives them a chance to learn new skills in the kitchen.

*  The menu plan is not set in stone.  If something comes up I just swap it around.

*  I always defrost the meat in the fridge as it's the safest way I know.  If something comes up and we can't eat it that night,  it's safe for another day.

*   The veggies we eat are the cheapest in season I can find.  We also have lots of blanched veggies in the freezer.  Someone commented on an earlier menu saying we eat a lot of potato.  As I said,  the menu isn't set in stone.  Some nights I look at the menu and might change the mash to rice.

*  We don't have any special dietary requirement in my family.

* We rarely have dessert as the main meals are enough.

*  Left overs are frozen that night and written into the menu plan as a free / freezer meal.

lasagne and streamed veg

chicken curry in the slow cooker

Family meat pie

Hamburgers and wedges at home

fish in foil

Rissole Casserole

This is another one of my made up recipes.  I love a good casserole and mash and this one ticks all the boxes.  I'm the best Mum ever when I make this for my family.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

500 grams of beef mince

1 medium carrot peeled and diced

2 – 3 medium mushrooms sliced

½ a zucchini diced

1 cup of frozen or fresh beans

1 stick of celery diced

1 tin of tomato soup

Salt and pepper to taste

Good shake of dried oregano,  basil,  onion flakes and garlic

500 - 700 ml of water

1 cup of uncooked shell or 1 1/2 cups of spiral pasta

Roll mince into small balls. 

Place into a large oblong casserole dish. 

Add carrot,  celery,  mushrooms,  beans and zucchini over the top. 

Sprinkle on the seasonings.  

Mix the soup with 500 - 700 ml of water and pour over everything..
Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 40 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius 

Take out of oven,  remove the foil and add the pasta.  

Push the pasta under the liquid so that it cooks.  Replace the foil.  

Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes or until the pasta has cooked through. 
Serve with mash and crusty bread.  

Serves 4 – 6 people. 

Freezes well.

NOTES -

*  If you have the time,  brown the rissoles in a fry pan first then add to the casserole dish.

*  I'm all for budget ingredients but this is a dish that needs a good quality tomato soup.  The Aldi brand is strong in flavour and dilutes well without loosing too much taste. Please don't use a generic brand unless you add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste for extra flavour..

*  This is a recipe where you can add any vegetables you have on hand. 

*  Left overs are great on toast.

Winter comfort food.

Browned rissoles with added carrot.

Adding silverbeet - because I can.

Ready to serve.