Begin with a bang!

I've started the New Year with a bang, and I'm not talking about the fireworks!



This morning I visited a new church. Well the church isn't new, I've just never been there before.

I'm prioritising my spiritual health during 2012, so I'll be trying a few new things in the process.

Do you attend church regularly? Pray or meditate? What works for you when it comes to the spiritual side of life?



This afternoon we all went to the local public swimming pool. I did half an hour of laps, which seemed particularly hard work today!

This evening I did some prep work for a BBQ we're having at our place tomorrow, marinating steaks and cooking some bits and pieces that I need for some fancy side dishes that I'm making.

And now I'm blogging.

And now I'm tired!

How's the New Year going for you?

Photos of summer salads

I accidentally published my previous post a bit early. For recipes, click here.

I meant to add some photos.

Here is my Green Bean Salad.

It turned out yummy, and tasted pretty much exactly like the one at ate at the cafe. So yay for me and my awesome palate and for being able to work out a recipe after eating a dish just once. Maybe I should consider auditioning for Masterchef!

Here is the Warm Potato Salad.

Roast Potato and Bacon

Adding the dressing...

The finished product.

And it tasted just as yummy as I remembered it.

A great success all round :)

For the first time in what seems like ages, I've been doing some creative cooking today.

The weather is warm enough for a barbie for dinner and so I'm experimenting with a couple of salads to go with our steak. Mmmmm steak...

The first salad I'm calling Green Bean Salad. It was inspired by something I ate at a cafe near me. As soon as I began eating I knew that it was something I would try to recreate at home. It just seemed so perfect for the warmer weather and was a treat for the senses - the crunch of the beans complemented by the creaminess of the avocado; the peppery-ness of the rocket a perfect foil for the sweetness of the mango. 

I'm sharing the "recipe" below, but be warned! I fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to cooking. I've created my own version of the dish based only on my experience of eating it once. I may need to tweak the recipe a bit for next time. 

Ingredients

A couple of big handfuls of raw green beans, topped and tailed and cut into two-inch pieces.

A couple of big handfuls of baby rocket.

Half a large red capsicum, sliced as finely as possible.

Half a spanish onion, sliced as finely as possible.

A large avocado cut into small chunks.

A large mango cut into small chunks.

A drizzle of red wine vinegar.

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Method

Toss the beans, rocket, capsicum and onion in a salad bowl.

Dress with vinegar first, then oil.

Gently toss through avocado and mango just before serving.

The second salad is one that my sister served us recently. I helped her make it that day, so though I didn't have the recipe in front of me when I made it today, at least I had a fairly good idea of what went into it. Here's my version of Warm Potato Salad.

Ingredients

Enough new potatoes for everyone, cut into bite-size chunks. (I used about 750 grams. I didn't actually weigh them. I'm just guessing.)

A generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Diced bacon. (I used four short-cut rindless rashers.)

About half a cup of whole egg mayonnaise.

About a quarter of a cup of sour cream. (I used "light". Who was I kidding?)

Three good teaspoons of wholegrain mustard.

Method

Fry the bacon.

Put the potatoes into a baking dish and toss in the oil. Sprinkle the bacon over.

Bake the potatoes in a hot oven for 40 minutes, tossing halfway through cooking time.

Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard for the dressing.

Put the cooked potatoes into a serving dish and dress immediately.

Allow the salad to cool a little before serving.

Can be refrigerated and served cold.

Sweet Treats

Click the button to visit Brandy and play along!

Current weight: 66.5 kg

Goal weight: 57 kg

9.5 kg to go!

I only lost 0.4 kg this week, but that's ok by me. Now that I'm getting closer to my goal, I understand that my weight loss rate will slow down. As long as I'm still losing I'm happy!

I've been really enjoying my cooking lately. I think it's because I'm focussing on eating fresh fruit and vegetables and protein sources such as fish, lean meat and chicken. I'm not relying on processed or packaged foods which are generally "too expensive" in terms of WW points. I'm enjoying experimenting with different ways to prepare vegetables and salads, using herbs for flavour and trying new combinations.

I've also been making some desserts. It's nice to be able to have a sweet treat now and then, and at least if I make my own from scratch I know exactly what has gone into it and I can count the points accurately.

This Chocolate and Meringue Torte is a WW recipe. It only had 5 points per serve! I enjoyed flexing my cooking muscles a bit separating the eggs and beating the meringue until it was glossy :)

This Pear and Raspberry Bread was not a WW recipe but it was a real hit with all the family. Delicious served warm with some custard!

Have you been cooking differently since you started on your weight loss journey? What have been your most successful recipes?

Texan Feast - Recipes and Photos - Part 2

Did you miss Part 1? Check it out here.

Ok, so now everyone's up to speed; a fabulous Texan dinner with the following menu:-

Appetizer

Crackers with Cream Cheese and Jalapeno Jelly

Main

Texas Chili...

So let's continue shall we?

I was worried that the kids would find the Texas Chili too spicy, so I cooked a "pretend chili" for them using mince simmered in Napoletana sauce. I served it with Fettucine. With kids, you can never go wrong with what was basically spaghetti bolognese.

To go with our Chili, I knew we needed something breadlike. The last time I cooked southern food I attempted Biscuits, and they didn't turn out too good, so this time I thought I'd take a crack at Corn Bread.

Luckily Dillypoo sent me this little gem:

Prize-winning recipes!

I chose "Jalapeno Corn Bread" which won Best of Show/Breads at the 1980 State Fair of Texas! I'm sure you can't get any more authentic than that!

Here are the ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal

(For Australians, that is Polenta. It's a little coarser than what Americans call cornmeal, but it's all we can get.)

2/3 cup buttermilk

(Everything Southern I've cooked so far requires buttermilk!)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp soda

1/3 cup melted shortening

(For Aussies - I used Copha which is vegetable shortening, and also happens to be an ingredient in that children's party favourite - Chocolate Crackles. That's a story for another time.)

4 oz green chilies, finely chopped

(I was a bit scared, so I just used one de-seeded chili.)

1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup cream-style corn

And now here's how you make the Corn Bread.

Mix all the ingredients, except for the cheese, in a bowl.

Pour half the batter in greased 9-inch pan. Spread cheese over batter.



Pour remaining batter on top of cheese.

Bake 30-40 minutes in 375 degree oven.

(190 celcius for the Aussies.)

Here it is straight out of the oven. You can see that I look pretty pleased with myself!

So here's our table with the Chili, Corn Bread and Green Salad.

Yum!!!

Now I'm sure you're wondering, what about dessert? Dillypoo also sent my some Praline Pecans. I decided to keep it simple and serve vanilla icecream over which we could sprinkle some of the pecans that I chopped up. I also served some pecans in a little bowl for us to nibble on with our coffee.

Yum!!!

I am so pleased and happy with how the meal turned out! Love and hugs to my sweet friend Dillypoo. And there was still MORE stuff in the box she sent me, but I will have to tell you about that another day!



Texan Feast - Recipes and Photos - Part 1

I was so excited to receive my box of goodies from Dillypoo (see here) that I decided to cook a "Texan Feast" straight away!

As an appetizer, I decided to follow Dillypoo's advice and serve the Jalapeno Jelly she sent me spooned over cream cheese with crackers.

Everyone thought it was just delicious! The Jalapeno Jelly was sweeter than we expected, and not as hot. It disappeared pretty quickly!

I put out some mild salsa and corn chips for the kids in case the Jalapeno Jelly was too hot for them.

For the main course of my Texan Feast, I decided to use the D.L Jardine's Texas Chili Works that Dillypoo sent me.

(Sorry about the picture, for some reason Blogger has decided that it needs to be sideways.)

I had it in my head that Chili needs to be cooked for a long time so that the meat is really tender and the flavour has time to develop, so I started nice and early.

First I browned the mince. I used 1 kg of beef mince.

Next, the recipe called for 2 cups of water and an "8 oz can of tomato sauce". Here in Australia we don't have canned tomato sauce. What we call tomato sauce is what we put on top of sausages or meat pies and is, I think, similar to American "tomato ketchup". Never fear, Google to the rescue, I am reliably informed that this can of tomato puree will do.

I used 1 cup, and simmered the mince, tomato and water for a while in a big pot.



Next I added the Chili Spices. They smelled delicious. I could definitely detect paprika, chilli and cumin and maybe some cayenne pepper.

The Chili was simmering away when my sister and her family arrived. Immediately my sister commented on the delicious smell!

Next I mixed the Masa with some water and added it to the Chili. I'm told that this thickens the chili and gives it that certain something for a unique and authentic taste!

Then I added the Hot Pepper. I added half the packet, let it simmer for a while, then tasted it to see how hot it was. It tasted about right to me, so I saved the rest of the pepper for another day.

Now I've realised that this post is becoming "bigger than Texas", so I've decided to stop here. You'll have to find out about the rest of the meal in my next post - coming soon!

In the meantime, if you'd like to write about the food that you love, or share a recipe, then why don't you head to my latest challenge here and link up!

Southern Feast (or "What I cooked from Ree Drummond's cookbook")

Saturday night I cooked a Southern feast for my family from Ree Drummond's fabulous cookbook The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Readers of my blog will remember that my beautiful sister bought me the book after I waxed lyrical about Ree's blog and wonderful recipes. You can read all about it here.

So, what was on the menu?

I didn't do any starters because I had a feeling that the meal itself would be filling enough!

For main course we had Chicken-Fried Steak with Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy, served with Green Salad. Here's what it looked like on my plate:

How did it taste?

Well, I found the biscuits a bit challenging! They turned out a little crispier and less light and fluffy than I would have liked, but what do I know? Everyone tried some, but no-one went back for seconds. I'm not sure whether it was because the Aussie taste-buds are not accustomed to them or if it was because I just didn't do a very good job of making them! Oh well. Here's a batch of them straight out of the oven. Do they look right to you?

The chicken-fried steak was much more of a success. We all enjoyed the tasty coating and the meat came out tender and juicy, so I must have done something right!

But dessert...well dessert was a triumph!

For the kids I made chocolate brownies. I didn't have time to attempt two of Ree's dessert recipes so for the brownies I used a nice reliable packet mix. Here they are:

(There were more, but I decided that two brownies per child was ample and put the rest in the freezer for later. I'm mean like that.)

For the adults, however, I decided to have a crack at Ree's Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce. I'm so glad that I did. Here are some photos of the crisp in progress:

And here's what it looked like after it had been baked and (mostly) eaten:

It was absolutely, deliciously scrumptious! And the maple cream sauce that went with it (which I shamefully neglected to photograph) was heavenly. Mmmm mmmm!

So all in all, a very enjoyable meal for all concerned! I'll definitely make the Peach Crisp again and I think also the Chicken-Fried Steak.

As for other recipes in the book, I'm keen to try the Red Velvet Cake and the Fried Chicken next.

So what do you think? Do I make it as an honorary Southern gal?



You can be my friend on the "book of faces"!

So, what have you been up to? I joined Facebook.

Feel free to send me a friend request :)

I've been trying to resist for a long time, worried that I will fritter away hours every day foofing around online (which I already do, reading blogs, Twittering, etc). But then a fellow student from uni suggested that we use Facebook's new group pages to set up a networking group for those of us who are graduating from our Master of Education. It provides us with a free platform on which to share links and information and maintain discussions. So I decided to join up.

Here's my profile picture.

I got Chris to take some "arty" head shots of me in the backyard, but now I'm thinking that I look a bit old and wrinkly! I think a bit of photoshopping might be in order for the next one!

In other news, this Saturday I am cooking an American "Pioneer Woman" meal for the family when my sister comes over for dinner. Check this post to see how excited I am about cooking some traditional American fare.

I've decided on the menu - I'm going to cook Chicken-Fried Steak with Buttermilk Biscuits and Gravy - mmm mmmm.

Biscuits and gravy a la Pioneer Woman.

I'll take lots of pictures and let you know how it all goes. I think we might need something from the vegetable food group to go with all the fried steak and gravy goodness. Would a green salad go with it do you think? Let me know your suggestions...

Family favourite - Crispy Chicken Tacos

With all this talk about traditional American dishes, I've been thinking about Mexican food. (Just go with me people!) My family love my Crispy Chicken Tacos. I'm not trying to tell you that they're authentic Mexican, and I do have the help of Old El Paso.

I'd love to hear from people that do actually eat traditional Mexican food. What do you think of my version?

First I take some chicken breast (about 500g for my family), and dice it up small.

Now comes the magic of the Old El Paso! In the box is some "crispy crumb". That's the bit that everyone in the family loves so much.

I put the chicken and the crispy crumb in a clip-lock bag and shake it so the chicken is all evenly coated.

Then I make my own version of guacamole. It has avocado, sour cream and "Mexican seasoning". I know it's not what you'd call authentic, but we like it!

Now I chop up some vegies. This is what passes for a healthy family meal at my place because for some reason my kids prefer raw vegies to cooked. Salads - yes, cooked vegies - no. Makes it a lot easier to feed them in summer than in winter.

Lettuce.

Tomatoes.

Carrots.

Also we need plenty of cheese. This is the pre-grated stuff I buy in a bag at the supermarket. We go through a lot of cheese in my family.

Now let's take another look inside the Old El Paso box. Sweet chilli sauce - yum! We'll use that to top our tacos later.

Now to go with our tacos, I make an entree (starter) that I call Nachos. First we need some corn chips. I buy cheesy ones because I think that plain corn chips are a crime against humanity.

I have these cute little ramekins that I make individual serves of nachos in for each of us. No fighting over the corn chips! I top the corn chips with cheese then throw them under the griller for a few minutes.

I'll show you how I finish them off soon!

Also in the Old El Paso box are some mini soft tortillas. LOOOOOVE tortillas. Can't abide hard taco shells. I think they're just like a big plain corn chip - crime against humanity.

Finally, after all the preparation, I'm ready to cook the chicken. I fry it up and try to get it nice and brown and make sure that most of the crispy crumbs stay on the chicken. My family love those crispy crumbs so much that they will eat them straight out of the frypan!

Each ramekin of nachos gets a few pieces of crispy chicken on top, some more cheese, and another blast under the griller.

Here's how I eat my nachos - topped with guacamole, sour cream and sweet chilli sauce. Yummy!

Here's how I like to eat my tacos: first a generous smear of guacamole, then a few pieces of crispy chicken.

Then, a generous serve of vegies, and topped with sour cream and sweet chilli sauce.

You may be concerned that I won't be able to fold my taco and get it in my mouth! Please don't worry, all the vegies smush up easily and I just stuff it in - but you won't be seeing a photo of that!

I'd love your feedback on my crispy chicken tacos. Does your family like Mexican? How do you make your tacos? What about Nachos?

Any recipes gratefully received and I promise I'll document any attempts that I make!