Aunty Kath's Tuna Casserole

I'm trying this one for the first time today. I put it all in a casserole dish and will reheat it at dinner time. It couldn't be easier though, and I'm a big fan of ingredients from the pantry and freezer. No rush to "use up" fresh veges, and it's ready to go whenever I am...

Thanks to my friend Kate for sharing the recipe!

4 tbsp butter/margarine/dairy-free margarine
8 tbsp plain flour
1 litre cow's/soy/rice milk (I find it works best with skim cow's/soy milk or rice milk as 'fatter' milk makes the sauce too thick)
1 large tin tuna in brine
1 small tin pineapple pieces, drained
500g frozen peas/corn/carrot mix or equivalent cooked, fresh vegetables cut into pea-sized pieces
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard (more or less to taste)

Melt butter in large pan. Remove from heat, add flour and stir until smooth. Return to gentle heat and cook for 1 minute, stirring well. Add milk and stir until smooth. Return to heat and stir until boiling. Boil 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Stir in tuna, pineapple, vegetables (no need to thaw frozen veg) and mustard.
Reheat before serving.
Individual portions can be frozen. I like to put a few child-sized serves in the freezer for quick and easy dinners.

The verdict: I liked it, the girls knocked it back, though they weren't interested in frozen yoghurt or custard either, so maybe they were just too tired for dinner. I put the leftovers in the freezer so they can learn to like it another day. It is very easy to make, and would be also nice with cheese (especially parmesan!) in the sauce, though there's plenty of dairy in it anyway... I think this has already found a place in our regular menu rotation!

Rocky Road slice

I don't know the correct name of the slice, but it's chocolatey and has marshmallows so it's kind of similar.

Here's the recipe:

2 packets malt biscuits, crushed

4 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 packet marshmallows, cut in half

Mix in a large bowl.

Melt 250g butter with one can condensed milk.

Mix together, push down into a tray and top with a drizzle of white chocolate.

That's it. Pretty much all straight from the pantry, so really easy to whip up at short notice. I add glace cherries for more of a rocky road feel. It's also a good idea to let the butter and milk mixture cool a bit or else the marshmallows melt and it's extra gooey (not necessarily a bad thing, it just depends on the look you're going for).

Pumpkin Soup in the Slow Cooker

This came from an internet friend (the lovely Jess). I've only made it once, ages ago, but with the cold weather lately I've been looking forward to soup and crusty bread for lunch. Now that I've dug out the recipe, I'll have to give it a go soon!

Pumpkin soup:

1 large pumpkin, de-skinned, diced chunky
1 small onion
2 cups vegetable stock
2 tsp curry powder

Add everything, cook on low 6-8 hours. Blend til smooth. I also like to add a head of broccoli to this one. :)

Buttermilk Pancakes with Glazed Strawberries

Serves 4

1 cup self-raising flour, sifted

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

canola oil cooking spray

1. Place flour, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Whisk eggs and buttermilk together in a jug. Pour egg mixture into well. Stir to combine.

2. Spray a large frying pan with oil. Heat over medium heat. Pour 2 tablespoons batter into pan. Repeat to make 4 pancakes. Cook for 2 minutes or until bubbles form on surface. Turn. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter to make 12 pancakes.

3. Meanwhile, make glazed strawberries

Place sugar and 2 tablespoons cold water in a frying pan. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Add strawberries. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until strawberries are warmed through. Serve pancakes with glazed strawberries.

I have had this recipe saved for ages, perhaps even years, in my "recipes to try" folder. Never got around to trying it until today. I must confess, in the past when I have wanted pancakes, I have bought the ready-made mix in the bottles that you add water to. Honestly, I think this recipe is almost as easy, and a much better lesson for the girls in what goes into our food. Plus, it's all ingredients that are usually in the pantry, so it's ready to go whenever we get a hankering for pancakes...

I didn't try the glazed strawberries, the girls just ate them with honey. I put the recipe here anyway so that we can try it out in future.

Buttermilk Scones

Completely stolen from the Taste website

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19423/buttermilk+scones

Makes

16

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups self-raising flour
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 60g butter, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• jam and whipped cream, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced. Grease and flour a 8cm-deep, 19cm (base) square cake pan.

2. Place flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

3. Make a well in the centre. Add buttermilk. Using a flat-bladed knife, stir until dough almost comes together. Place on a lightly floured surface.

4. Knead gently until dough comes together. Press out to a 3cm-thick round. Dip a 5cm round cutter into flour to prevent dough sticking. Cut out scones. Gently press leftover dough pieces together and repeat to make a total 16 scones.

5. Place scones, touching, in prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden and hollow when tapped on top. Serve with jam and cream.

• Variations:

• Spiced date scones: Add 1/3 cup finely chopped dried dates and 1 teaspoon mixed spice at the end of step 2.

• Basil and parmesan scones: Add 1/4 cup finely chopped basil leaves and 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese at the end of step 2.

• Bacon and chive scones: Cook 4 chopped shortcut bacon rashers. Add at end of step 2 with 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives.

They're still cooking, but they look fabulous! I used a glass as a cutter, and it was about 6.5 cms round, not 5 cm like they recommended, so I could only fit 9 scones in the tray and had a lot of mixture left over. I think I might invest in a proper scone cutter, I'm sure it won't be expensive...

It was a bit of effort rubbing in the butter, and it was a bit difficult with G wanting to join in. I wonder if I could use the KitchenAid mixer for some of it, or whether a food processor might do the job. Of course, I don't have a food processor yet, but there have been several times recently where I know it would have come in handy...

Chicken and Vege Sausage Rolls

This is what we're having for tea tonight. The recipe came from the Coles Magazine, I don't know what issue, but it's on page 23 and was probably from late 2009.

Here's the recipe as published in the magazine:

300g Chicken Mince

1/2 onion, grated

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 carrot, grated

1 zucchini, grated

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan. Line two baking trays with non0stick baking paper. Place the mince, onion, garlic, carrot, zucchini and hoisin sauce into a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and use clean hands to thoroughly combine.

2. On a clean board, cut one pastry sheet in half. Lay 1/4 of the mixture along the centre of each piece, and roll pastry over to enclose. Repeat with second pastry sheet. Brush rolls with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cut each roll in half and place, seam side down, onto the prepared trays. Back for 25 mins, until golden brown.

STORAGE TIP: Sausage rolls can be stored in an airtight container and frozen. Thaw and reheat in oven at 200°C or 180°C fan for approx 10 mins.

Since chicken mince comes in 500g packs from the supermarket, I use it all and throw in extra veges and end up using about 5 sheets worth of puff pastry. The girls love them because you get to have tomato sauce with them! They're pretty quick though, and with 5 sheets of pastry it makes about 40 sausage rolls, so they last ages in the freezer and are very handy for quick dinners...

Choc Bit Biscuits

Not "cookies", not "choc chip", they are, and have been since I was a child, called "choc bit biscuits". My Mum has made them forever, they are so easy to make and the kids just love them. Plus, they're nut-allergy-friendly, which is a bonus when special friends come to visit!

4 oz butter or margarine. This works out to be 115g, but I tend to use 125g butter because it's just easier to use half of a block.

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons condensed milk

1 heaped cup self raising flour

1 packet Nestle choc bits. Now, back in the olden days, they used to come in 250g boxes, but now you can only buy them in 375g bags, so really, just use a handful and you'll be right.

Cream butter and sugar, add condensed milk, flour and lastly choc bits. Either drop teaspoons of mixture on the tray, or roll into balls and place on tray (I'm a roller, that's what my Mum does). Cook for around 15 mins at 180°C for 15 mins. After about 5 mins into cooking, flatten with a fork or knife.