Frozen Vegetables

Vegetables are an incredibly expensive part of the weekly shopping budget, especially if you want to stay healthy. The problem with cooking for one person though is that significant amounts of vegetable go to waste as you simply can’t eat it all before it goes off without having the same meal three times in a week!

This is where frozen vegetables kick in! To start with frozen vegetables can actually be healthier than fresh veg as they are frozen within hours of being picked, unlike fresh vegetables which may spend a few days on a lorry, airplane or ship to reach your supermarket shelf. Even if they aren’t more healthy they are of similar nutritional value anyway. Secondly they are much easier to store.Frozen vegetables are great as they are frequently already chopped up making cooking just that bit less messy, and the fact they are frozen saves worrying about expiration dates!

Spaghetti

Always satisfying to eat and always easy to make !
250 g spaghetti
250 g mince beef
1 brown onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
500 g tomatoes (skinned, pureed)
1 small tub tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mixed herbs
1 tbsp oregano
Fresh parsley
Salt & pepper
Parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti until al dente according to the packet.

Heat olive oil in a non stick fry pan and stir fry the mince beef until browned and crumbly. Adding diced onion and crushed garlic then frying till the onion is soft.

Add pureed tomatoes, tomato paste and water turn down and simmer. Seasoning with salt, pepper, mixed herbs, oregano.

Place the cooked spaghetti on a plate and pour sauce over the top, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Chocolate Macadamia Brownies

When going through the isle at the grocery store I came across Cadbury’s Dark Cooking Chocolate, and there on the back was the recipe for Macadamia Brownies
Ingredients
150 g unsalted butter (chopped)
250 g Cadbury Dark Cooking Chocolate (chopped)
11/2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour (sifted)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup macadamia nuts (cut in half)


Preheat oven to 140 degrees C. Line a 20cm x 30cm slice pan with baking paper.

Combine butter and chocolate and melt in a bowl over a medium saucepan; stir over low heat until chocolate is just melted.

Add sugar, egg, vanilla, flour, sour cream and nuts.

Stir until well combined. Spread mixture into prepared pan.

Bake for 35 minutes or until brownie forms a crust on the outside. Allow to cool and slice.

Hot Apple Crumble

A perfect dessert for those with a sweet tooth, this recipe only takes 15 minutes to prepare, then its straight into the oven. We love to serve this with vanilla ice cream!
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 granny smith apples (cored, peeled, sliced)
2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 cup instant rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Prepare the apples then place in baking dish.

Place flour, oats, sugar and cinnamon in bowl, rub in the butter using your fingertips till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Then sprinkle on top of the apples.

Bake for 45 minutes in oven or till lightly browned on top and apples are cooked through.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Vegetable & Udan Stir Fry

The stir fry contains a colourful variety of fresh vegetables such as, red capsicum, zucchini, broccoli, fresh mushrooms, Chinese dried mushrooms, bok choy, and corn. Tossed together with Udon, which is a Japanese thick white noodle made from wheat flour. And no oil is used in this recipe, making it perfect for the health conscious.

This is so tasty and can be eaten hot or cold. So perfect to make extra and pack for lunch the next day.
Ingredients

Ingredients
200 g fresh udon noodles
1/2 red capsicum (sliced)
1 zucchini (sliced)
1/2 cup broccoli (cut)
1 cup fresh mushrooms (sliced)
2 chinese dried mushrooms (re hydrated)
1 bunch bok choy (roughly chopped)
1 corn cob (cut off cob)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 cup water

Prepare all vegetables and place in a bowl, using a non stick pan, stir fry all the vegetables until semi cooked, add the fresh udon noodles, these only take 2-3 minutes to heat through.

Now add the dark soy sauce and water into the pan and stir through. Serve.

Pizza

A great way to have everybody involved with the preparation and cooking process is to make a batch of pizzas for dinner.

I like to combine 3 different cheeses for our very own pizza cheese. The Mozzarella being the main cheese, it’s mild and creamy flavour perfect for giving those stringy cheese bits when you pull apart the slices. To give the cheese a bit more flavour tasty cheddar band Parmesan are added.
300 g mushrooms (sliced)
1 brown onion (diced)
1 green capsicum (thinly sliced)
1 red capsicum (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup black olives (sliced)
1 cup pineapple (sliced)
250 g honey leg ham
250 g salami
250 g spicy pancetta
2 cup mozzarella
1 cup cheddar
1 cup parmesan
mixed herbs
salt & pepper

Tomato sauce

Beef Lasagne

6 lasagne sheets

Meat Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 brown onion (diced)
500 g mince beef
500 g jar pasta cooking sauce
100 g mushrooms (sliced)
Cheese Sauce
� cup butter
� cup plain flour
2 cups full cream milk
1 cup grated mozzarella and cheddar
Salt and pepper to taste

Additional
� cup grated mozzarella and cheddar
Grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven 180 degrees C.

Meat Sauce
Using large non stick fry pan, heat oil, adding mince beef, onions and mushrooms then frying meat till brown.

Stir in pasta cooking sauce and add salt and pepper to taste

Cheese Sauce
In a medium saucepan, add butter, flour, milk and heat on medium, continuously whisk to maintain a smooth consistency, this will gradually thicken. Stir through one cup of cheese till smooth.

Place a layer of lasagne sheets at the bottom of baking dish. Top with a third of the meat sauce sprinkle a little cheese and a third of the cheese sauce then add another layer of lasagne sheets. Arrange other layers the same. Smooth the top layer and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake in oven for 1 hour.