Kitchen Kapers Week 8

Monday

This morning before school I made Jazz and Eliza Blueberry and passionfruit smoothies for breakfast.

 Soup night - this weeks soup was Cauliflower Soup with Spiced Cauliflower.

Tuesday

Jackeroo Pie with Beetroot, Baby Spinach, Lettuce and Feta Salad.

The baby beetroots were in my Fruit and Veg box from Aussie Farmers this week. They were pre-cooked, and in a vacuum sealed bag, they were sweet and delicious. Eliza insisted on getting the Blood Plum Finishing Vinegar at the winery in Murrimbatemen in January, so we use it as a dressing for our salads.... very nice.

This time of the year I normally receive pears in the Fruit and Veg Box from Aussie Farmers. The girls tend not to take them to school as they get bruised before they can eat them during Fruit Break, so they either get eaten after school, used in fresh juice, added to a salad, or made into a dessert. This week I had a few of them, so before getting stuck into my work for the day, I put on a date and pear cake to bake which we had for dessert that night with macadamia and caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream. I found this recipe on http://www.taste.com.au.

Wednesday

I forgot to get the meat out to defrost for the slow cooker meal I was going to do, but since swimming is now not on until next week it wasn't too big a concern. (some delay with building the toilets apparently, before they open the new swimming centre). We had Chargrilled Pesto Chicken with Apple and Celery Slaw instead.

The salad was very quickly prepared in the food processor using the slicing blade - in went the cabbage, celery and apple. The salad probably took less than five minutes to make including the dressing (buttermilk, lemon juice, garlic and Dijon mustard).

Buttermilk

I occasionally find recipes with buttermilk in them, but can very rarely find it in the supermarket. Jazz and I looked it up one day to see if there was an alternative, and found that you can make your own, so there is really no need to buy it (and therefore waste the portion you don't use).  Simply add a tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) to a cup of milk, and leave it to thicken slightly (about 10 minutes). You can also substitute yoghurt if you like (it is thicker than buttermilk but has a similar taste).

Thursday

Off to sit another challenge test at CIT to get another exception, so I quickly threw on a Tuna casserole and prepared a tossed salad for the family to eat while I was gone. This was all there was left, which the girls ate on Saturday lunch as leftovers.

Friday

Friday night is family movie night - we watched "The Fifth Element" this week - the girls really enjoyed it. I dont think they have watched a Bruce Willis movie before.  Since it was movie night we have take-away, so we ordered in some Crust Pizza. We got the normal Hawaiian for the girls, and we got Pulled Pork and Slaw for ourselves. It was delicious - and I think it may have pipped the Piri Piri Chicken for our favourite pizza.

Saturday

We met Eduardo, Luciana, Thomas and Sofia at Chang Co Thai Restaurant in Belconnen for dinner. We only just realised they have also opened one in Gungahlin. The food is always nice there. We enjoyed fried tofu, satay chicken sticks and spring rolls for entree. For mains we had Thai Beef Salad, Chicken Panang Curry, Pork and Ginger Stir fry, Chicken Pad Thai, with jasmine and saffron rices. Afterwards we had ice-creams at Cold Rock.

Sunday

Tonight we enjoyed some Cheddar meatloaf for dinner - a Jamie Oliver recipe. Where you make the meatloaf in the centre of a casserole dish. The meatloaf itself has Vintage Cheddar pieces in it - thus the name, Cheddar Meatloaf.  The sauce is made from thinnly sliced capsicums, peeled tomatoes, red chili, balsamic vinegar etc. Served this with steamed vegetables (including a special little bowl of brussel sprouts for Jazz - she is the only one that really likes them!).

School Lunches

Sometimes I struggle with what to prepare for school lunches. Jazz has been having chicken salad sandwiches lately, but wanted a change.  Sometimes she has some really interesting advertisements at the beginning of the Minecraft Youtube videos she watches, and I caught one which had this great idea in it - presented by Julie Goodwin (Master Chef).  Cut the crust off a couple of slices of bread, add your topping/s, roll them up, cut in half and thread onto a skewer, put in a clip-lock baggie, and lunch is done. Jazz really enjoyed them (now if only Eliza was as easy to please!). This one was made with sliced turkey and cranberry sauce.

Happy Eating
Di :-)