maple-mustard dressing

I always thought of myself as a person who didn't like salad dressings, until I tasted this. My children love it too, and though it hasn't yet convinced them to eat the green things lurking in their salads, they'll eat up the other ingredients with a speed that's kind of scary, coming from my salad-haters. They even request more to roll their cobs of corn in. My current favourite salad to pour this over is a mix of cooked, cooled quinoa, chickpeas {drained and rinsed from a tin}, and lettuce, but really, whatever you want. It's from the Veganomicon cookbook. Finally, if you don't have the mustard powder, just leave it out, it's forgiving like that.

3 tbs maple syrup
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs wholegrain mustard
3 tbs grapeseed or nut oil {I tend to use avacado, next preferences would be macadamia or canola}
1/2 tsp mustard powder

Whisk all ingredients together, season to taste with salt and pepper {if you like, I never do as it tastes fine to me}, and you're done.

I find it easiest to make just before use, if you want to you could easily store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to use it, give it another quick stir first.

Easy.

muesli bars

This is a Nigella recipe, and though she calls them 'breakfast bars' I cant see myself feeding them to my children for breakfast any time- they're more of a treat than a breakfast, for me. Even so, they're quite tasty and great snacks- whats more, they're super-easy to make and children can easily help measure and stir without getting in the way. Of course you can use any dried fruit and seeds you like, given my daughter's love of both pepitas and cranberries, I stayed with the recipe. And look, there's absolutely nothing stopping you from turning them into lactation-boosting bars by adding in some brewer's yeast and flaxseeds, given they already have oats in them. Lastly, the original recipe called for 125g of raw, unsalted peanuts, which I left out for obvious reasons.

1 tin of condensed milk
250g rolled oats {not instant}
75g shredded coconut
100g dried cranberries
125g mixed seeds {whatever ratio you like of pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds}

Preheat the oven to 130 degrees and line a rectangular baking tin {about 24 x 33 x 4cm- I use my brownie pan} with baking paper.

In a large bowl, stir together all of the ingredients. It seems easiest to measure out all of the dry ingredients first, then add the condensed milk. Stir really well to combine, then turn into the baking tray, and using the back of your spoon, spread the mixture out and press down well so it's all spread evenly and level- make sure you've spread it right into the corners.

Put it in the oven for half an hour, then cool completely before cutting into bars of whatever size takes your fancy. You'll get anywhere from 16-24, I would think, unless you're cutting them very big or very small. Store in an airtight container until you want to eat.

mini lentil meatballs in a cheesy tomato sauce

Apologies for the extended absence and lack of recipes. We set off on a family holiday in January that was just fantastic, and a few weeks afterwards I discovered I was pregnant again. Which is absolutely wonderful, although being able to keep down only dry ginger ale and packet crisps for months does little for your cooking skills. Now that I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the vomity tunnel, what I want most to eat {given that anything green,  or remotely healthy still makes me ill} is food that tastes like it's out of a packet. Instant noodles, microwaveable pasta, frozen things that go into the oven...but I don't really want to eat anything that has ingredients I cant pronounce. Or that started off life as a vat of chemicals, or a soybean that's been horribly mutilated.

Then I stumbled across this recipe for spaghetti with mini lentil meatballs and knew I could tweak it a little to suit what I had in the pantry, while keeping that packet-y resemblance.The dried herbs and jarred onion help immensely, as do packet breadcrumbs. One quick note- I never measure pasta when I cook it, just guesstimate. The mini meatballs are enough for 2-4 people, so go with that and cook an appropriate amount of pasta. Just put the water on to boil while you roll your mixture into mini 'meatballs' and you're good to go.

For the mini meatballs-
1 tin brown lentils, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs tomato paste or tomato sauce
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbs olive oil

For the sauce-
2 cloves crushed garlic
400g tin crushed tomatoes
1 tbs brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup finely grated parmesan
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
3 tbs milk

If you're cooking pasta to go with this, get the water boiling now. Place the lentils in a bowl and mash with a fork until no whole ones are left, then add in the soy sauce, tomato paste/sauce, herbs, and onion powder. Stir well to combine, then squash together with your hands until you've got something that resembles playdough. Form into mini 'meatballs'- the size really is up to you, but I think the mini ones look cute and maintain that from-a-packet facade.

Put a frypan on the stove, add in the olive oil, and turn it on to medium heat. When it's heated up, add in the meatballs, and cook for about five minutes, maybe eight, browning on most sides. {If you're cooking pasta to go with, add the pasta to your pot of boiling water now}. When the mini meatballs are browned, add in the garlic and stir around for a minute or two, then add the remaining ingredients and stir gently, let simmer for about five minutes and voila. Almost as fast as a packet of microwave pasta and equally as tasty while being much, much better for you. And okay, if you want you can sneak some grated vege into the 'meatballs' too, alright?

savoury pepitas

{Still no photos as my tecnhical issues abound, I'm afraid}

What usually happens in our house is that I make these for a snack for myself, and then my children eat them all. Which I'm okay with, pepitas are a great source of zinc and a few other important things, and these take hardly any time or effort to make. And yes, there is sodium in the soy sauce, but it's only such a small amount used, I'd much rather they have these over packet crisps or something like that. If you can't find the liquid smoke, just substitute with soy sauce- don't go out and buy it especially only to use half a teaspoonful here.

1 cup raw pepitas
pinch smoked paprika {or just ground paprika}
1 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Place the pepitas in a non-stick frypan, and over medium-low heat, toast for 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently. They'll start to sizzle and puff up and turn brown- when about half of them are brown, they're done. Don't toast them for longer than ten minutes, or they'll start to burn.

Add in the paprika, soy sauce, and liquid smoke, stir well until it's well combined, then turn out onto a piece of baking paper and leave to cool.

If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container.

flourless chocolate-chip cookies

These are good. They're just really, really good. I found the recipe this morning on the Taste website and was slightly dubious about making them to take to a playdate. No need. Quick, easy, and slightly addictive. And that's if you can stop eating the dough long enough to make them. Ahem. My recipe includes the addition of some vanilla, and I think the adition of a tablespoon or so of ground flaxseeds would also be a good idea. You can easily make it egg-free by using a tablespoonful of pureed apple or egg replacer.

200g brown sugar
260g crunchy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Combine all of the ingredients apart from the chocolate chips in a bowl, and stir until they're well combined before stirring in the chocolate chips.

Roll heaped teaspoonfuls into balls, then place on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and flatten slightly with your fingers.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden-brown. They'll seem impossibly soft but will harden as they cool.

Makes about 20.

pizza party!

Oh, so long without a post! Partly because I dislike cookbooks that aren't filled with photos, and partly because I've been on holidays, eating too many crappy vegie burgers and some wonderful Italian food. But as for dinner tonight....

Every Sunday night we eat dinner with my parents, and Mum and I take it in turns to cook {I think my last blog was my Mexican night}. Tonight, I'm taking the easy way out, with a "pizza party", perfect for lazy Sunday nights, for weekends with drinks and friends, and well, for any time you want to produce a universally liked food, with little fuss.

Quite simply- I've bought some decent pizza bases, though you can make your own, and I usually do, but even I don't feel like it sometimes, particularly when I've managed to get this ridiculously sunburnt. And I'll lay them out on the kitchen bench, with the following-

*Tomato puree
*Fresh basil and thyme
*Potatoes, thinly sliced and gently sauteed
*Mushrooms, as above, as otherwise I find they make the pizza too watery
*Pineapple
*Tinned corn kernals {the small ones love it on pizza, I'm not entirely sure why}
*Semi-dried tomatoes- look, I loathe sun-dried tomatoes and these are beautiful
*Very thinly sliced onion
*Freshly grated parmesan and slices of mozarella
*If I at all liked capsicum and olives, I suspect I'd include those too.

And everyone puts exactly what they like on their own pizza, and away we go. Oh, and it's easily made gluten-free, just make {or buy, as I did}, a gluten-free base.

And with that, to go alongside, I plan on making the follwing...

*Crostini {buy the bread, lightly grill it, and drizzle olive oil over} with white bean puree...a tin of rinsed, drained, cannelini beans, garlic, olive oil, fried off in a frypan and bashed with a fork, and a little stock added, salt if needed, along with some finely chopped rosemary.

*Rocket, balsamic, and parmesan salad- just place your rocket in a bowl, dress with balsamic and three times as much extra virgin olive oil, then top with a handful of freshly shaved parmesan


Of course you could do anything you liked, or nothing at all, though I suspect that for a child's birthday party it would be perfect followed by a make-your-own-sundae bar.

margarita ice-cream

(Still no photos, I'm afraid, while my technical issues continue)

By no means am I actually suggesting you feed this to children- in fact, I'd loudly advise against it- but even grown-ups need treats too, and something containing ice-cream and tequila seems to fit that notion perfectly. It's a recipe from Nigella Express, and perfect for dessert following a Mexican meal. Which, might I add, I'm loving at the moment for entertaining people- a lot can be done with a little prep work and assembly- and indeed, it's easier to set up bowls of everything and let people assemble themselves. {Tonight, for example, we had- tortilla chips, quesedillas, tacos, whipped beans, corn on the cob, Mexi-cola cocktails and this}, and for most of my allocated needed-to-make-dinner time I was doing nothing beyond basic, simple chopping or stirring.

It's probably worth mentioning that the UK tablespoon measures are 15ml, Australian are 20ml. I used 20ml measures and couldn't notice any adverse affects.

125ml lime juice
2 tbs tequila
3 tbs cointreau
150g icing sugar
500ml double cream

In a large bowl, combine the lime juice, tequila, cointreau and sugar, stirring to combine, and then stirring occasionally for a few minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Pour in the cream and whip until it's thick, fluffy, and softly peaking.

Transfer the whole lot to an airtight container, and place in the freezer overnight.

If you like, and I would if it were for a party, serve in glasses rimmed with sugar and salt.