Spicy Pork Lettuce Cups

Spicy Pork Lettuce Cups with RiceMix free-range  pork mince with garlic, ginger, chilli,  finely diced and steamed eggplant,  diced green beans, diced red peppers and some optional lemongrass.  Add some  sweet soy sauce, fish sauce and oyster sauce (say 2 Tbsp of each for 400 grams of pork), and some water if you need it to stop the mixture drying out while it cooks.  Place inside big cos lettuce leaves and wrap them. Serve with rice.

Decadence

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hummingbird cake  

Ingredients

 
1 cups plain flour
2/3 cup castor sugar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup vegetable oil (canola, corn or safflower)½ cup chopped pecans or whole sultanas2 mashed overripe bananas1/3 cup  crushed pineapple in syrup
Cream cheese frosting
1 Tbsp butter, softened
50g full fat cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup icing sugar

  

Instructions

 Position oven shelves; preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 18cm round cake pan, line base with baking paper.

Sift flour, soda, spices and sugar into large bowl. Using wooden spoon stir in eggs, oil, nuts or sultanas, banana and pineapple until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake cake at 180°C about 1 hour. Stand cake 10 minutes then turn onto wire rack; turn cake top-side up to cool.

Spread cold cake with cream cheese frosting.

Cream cheese frosting: Beat butter, cream cheese and essence in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy; gradually beat in icing sugar

More toddler food …

I have been having a bit of a cooking frenzy tonight, trying to stock up the freezer with toddler snacks (and to be honest, Hubby and I like them too).

So here are the recipes:

Toddler meatballs

 1 small onion, grated (yes – grated!)250g lean minced beef

½ tsp dried thyme or oregano

1 tsp fresh chopped parsley or other herb2 tbsp tomato sauce

Plain flour for dusting.

Spray oil for cooking In a large food processor place all the ingredients. Blend until well mixed.  Using your hands, form the mixture into mini meatballs (you’ll probably get about 18), dust with flour and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Heat the  oil in a large frying plan and sauté the rissoles for about 15 minute or until golden and cooked through.

Falafel 400g tin chick peas drained½ small onion, very finely chopped1 garlic clove, minced1/2 tsp ground cumin1/2 tsp ground coriander2 Tbsp flour, plus extra for shaping2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, mint or corianderSalt and pepperSpray oil (or cook in a thick layer of canola oil for a treat!) Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Flour your hands, and then divide into 12 portions, shaping each into a round patty. Lightly pan fry each falafel for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden and crisp.

Uncooked patties can be made a day ahead and refrigerated, covered, or frozen

recipe: asian chicken stir-fry

asian chicken stirfry

 POINTS® value per serve |  6
Servings | 2

Ingredients

 

280g skinless boneless chicken, in strips                                                                           

3 green onions, sliced  

1 tsp ginger, finely minced                                                                                                      

1 clove garlic, minced                                                                                                 

1 Tbsp sweet Thai chili sauce2 Tbsp  sweet soy sauce                                                                          

 ½ cup uncooked rice,                                                                                                         

Free veggies: Broccoli or bok choy, carrots, capsicums, lightly steamed 

Instructions

1. Marinade the chicken in the green onions, ginger, garlic and sauces. The marinated chicken can be frozen at this point.

 

2. Cook rice and steam veggies

2. Coat a non-stick fry pan with cooking spray. Heat, then cook chicken for five minutes until golden, Add vegetables.

 4. Serve rice topped with chicken and veggies, with lemon slices on the side.

Chilli con Carne for Toddlers

One of the cool things about wordpress is that you can see what people have been ‘googling’ to get to your site. Last week someone wanted a ‘toddler friendly chilli recipe’ so I thought I’d oblige.

This is a great recipe for kids and also for adults that don’t really like spicy ‘foreign’ food. My mum used to make it for us all the time. You can, of course, adjust the seasonings to taste.

Domestically Blissed’s Toddler Chilli

• 1 tbsp canola or olive oil
• 1/2 onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
•  500g lean ground beef mince
• 1 jar of standard issue tomatoe pasta sauce ( I use Dolmio)
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin baked beans in tomato sauce, drained slightly
• 1/4 tsp ground chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano

Instructions

In a large saucepan heat the oil then add the onion, garlic, mince, spices and herbs. Cook until mince is browned. Drain any excess liquid.

 Add pasta sauce, tomatoes and baked beans.

 Simmer on a low heat for 30-45 minutes until some of the excess liquid has been absorbed.

Serve with: sour cream and mashed avocado preferably! For adults wanting more kick, add tabasco or chilli sauce, or some chilli flakes.

Great with  rice, on toast or in pitas!

Noel noel – Christmas recipes

Christmas Mince Pies and Mulled Wine, for me these two things are the very essence of Christmassy-ness.

After a bit of trial and error, these two recipes seem to work very well, and my darling husband enjoys them as well.

mulled wine

1 bottle red wine

½  cup strong earl grey tea

4 Tbsp dark rum, brandy or grand marnier 

1 orange, quartered, each quarter stuck with a clove

2 cinnamon sticks

2 Tbsp brown sugar ( more to taste)

Put all ingredients  in a large saucepan, bring almost to the boil then turn down to the lowest possible heat before serving in glasses.

cranberry and apple mince

2 x 770 g cans sliced apples

1kg sultanas

400g currants

400g dried cranberries

200g blanched sliced almonds

2 oranges – juice and finely grated rind

2 tsp ground cloves

4 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 cup brandy

800g sweet short pastry (approx) 

Preheat oven to 180C fanbake.  Soak the cranberries, 500g sultanas and 200g currants in the brandy for 1-2 hours.In food processor finely chop apples, almonds, along with the remaining sultanas and currants. Place all ingredients In stockpot and simmer for one hour. Line the bottom of mini muffin tins with thinly rolled pastry Top with mince mixture and bake 10-12 minutes.