Category Archives: Kitchen Diary

Casseroles, Multi cooker recipes

ONE POT WONDER

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I am the queen of one pot wonders (self imposed title)

I love them, they are so quick, easy and tasty.

Here’s the recipe of the one I made tonight.  I think I’ll call it …….

Mince One Pot Wonder

  • 500 grams of Mince
  • 1 Onion
  • 3 Stalks of Celery
  • 1/2 Small Cabbage
  • 2 Carrot (grated)
  • 1/2 cup Tomato Sauce or 1 Tin Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1 Packet French Onion Soup Mix
  • 1 tblsp Olive Oil
  • Water
  • 1 Packet Pasta – I used macaroni

Place saucepan on the heat and add olive oil.  Fry onion and celery until soft, add mince, cook until mince is browned.  Then add the cabbage, carrot, tomato sauce and french onion soup mix and water. Cook until cabbage is soft.

Cook pasta in separate saucepan and drain and rinse and then add to mince mixture and combine.

PS: I know I said this was a one pot wonder and technically I used two pots, but you can make this in the pressure cooker or in one pot but you need to add more water so the pasta cooks.

PPS: If you cook this in the pressure cooker just make sure that the pasta is covered by liquid.

PPS: You can add any vegetables or meat that you like to this dish, the process is the same.

ENJOY

 

 

Multi cooker recipes

SWEET AND SOUR PORK IN THE MULTI COOKER

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No 1 son very generously bought me a multi cooker for my birthday and mothers day.   It is a Newwave cooker but there are many more brands on the market.  This one slow cooks, steams, high and low pressure cooks and has a soup function.

My multi-cooker
My multi-cooker

I actually wanted an electric pressure cooker but I got a lot more than I bargained for.  I had a stove top pressure cooker when we were first married about 25 years ago but it just seemed to turn everything to mush, so I didn’t use it much at all.  After watching various cooking shows I thought an electric one would be a good idea.

Well it turned out to be a great idea.

Last night I made Sweet and Sour Pork Chops and it was really yummy so I thought I’d share it with you.

Sweet and Sour Pork Chops.

  • Pork Chops – enough for your family
  • 1 Onion
  • 4 stems of Celery
  • 4 Carrots
  • 1/4 Cabbage
  • 1/4 cup Flour
  • 1/2 to 1 cup Tomato Sauce/Tomato Soup
  • 1 tin Pineapple
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 2 tblsp of Vinegar
  • 1 tblsp of Olive Oil
  • 2 tblsp of Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup hot water (optional)

Press the brown function on your cooker and add the tablespoon of olive oil.  Chop onions into chunks and add to the cooker and brown. Slice celery, carrots and cabbage and add.  Place 1/4 cup of flour in a plastic bag and add the pork chops, give the bag a shake until chops are coated with flour and then add these to the cooker and brown.  (The flour will give you a thicker sauce)

Add pineapple pieces and juice, tomato sauce, vinegar, salt, and brown sugar, mix altogther.  At this stage you may need to add some hot water, this is optional, you need to have enough liquid so that the cooker builds up pressure.

Close the lid and press high pressure and set for 30 minutes.  I did it this long last night and the chops were still intact but the meat easily came away from the bone.

When finished allow the pressure cooker to vent naturally, and serve with mashed potato or rice.

PS.  I vented the pressure cooker with the release valve to vent and ended up with the liquid coming out of the top (we had the power off until 7pm so I was in a hurry) so I had a small mess to clean up.

PPS.  I had enough sauce left over to make a sweet and sour tuna for tonight.  I will just cook some rice and heat up the tuna with the left over sauce and maybe add another tin of pineapple (my husbands favourite) and mix it together and serve.

PPPS.  I am not really a measure and cook type of person, I do tend to just chuck stuff in and change things.  You can add whatever else you like to this dish.

ENJOY!!

 

Cake recipes

PRIZE WINNING CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE

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Our No 2 son got eczema at 5 months of age.  His skin was pretty terrible and his cheeks were a bleeding, weeping mess.  It was awful.  We kept going to the doctor, who kept prescribing medication that really didn’t do anything.  Finally we found a doctor who sent him for testing in Melbourne.  We made an appointment, and waited. The waiting list was months away.

When we had him tested he was allergic to dairy, egg (got an epi pen he was THAT allergic), and basically a whole lot of other things.  He was taken off everything he was eating and was reduced to bread, potatoes, chicken, apples, pears and a smattering of other vegetables.  It was fantastic that he wasn’t gluten intolerant or I don’t know what I would have fed him.

He wasn’t allowed outside until his face cleared up (which is hard for a 2 year old – this was how long it took us to get a doctor to do something and then how long we had to wait for an appointment).  He was prescribed creams 3 to 4 times a day for a week and antibiotics.  Well he cleared up within 7 days, it was amazing, he could go outside and play again.  His cheeks were quite red for a long time but it has now cleared up.  We thought with all the creams over the years that he may have some skin damage, but praise the Lord his cheeks are just smooth and beautiful.

So over the last 4 years it has come and gone, we had another breakout after travelling to visit family and I thought it was back in full force again.  But after a period of time (and only eating what he was allowed) it went away again.  I am happy to say that his face is still clear, which is great, he still has to deal with it on his inner arms and behind his knees, but that is fairly manageable.

So I suppose the point of this post is to share with you a chocolate cake recipe that I used so that he could at least have something special and a birthday cake.  I became quite adept at cooking without dairy and eggs and really basically substituted butter for olive oil.

Anyway here is the recipe,  it sure put a smile on our little boys face.

Chocolate Cake

  • 3 cups flour
  • 2 cups white sugar (I always use raw)
  • 2 tsp baking soda (bi carb soda)
  • 6 tblsp cocoa
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp vinegar
  • 10 tblsp olive oil

Mix dry ingredients, add remaining ingredients.  Bake at 190 degrees for 35 mins or until skewer comes out clean.

When I made this cake for our son I iced it with a chocolate icing and changed the butter for water.

OPTIONAL EXTRA:  when mixing you can add frozen raspberries.

This mixture is also great for muffins as well.

No 1 daughter made this cake for our local show and won first prize in the relevant section. (even after the cake had hit the ground, face down – it was covered in glad wrap!!!!)

ENJOY

This post is linked up…

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