Saturday, July 30, 2011

quinoa recipe ...

I bought some quinoa recently and I have been on the search for a recipe ...

I might try this one ...



Quinoa Tabbouleh Recipe
(recipe from Auntie Susan)


Ingredients:
2 Cups water
1 Cup uncooked quinoa
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (if using bottled lemon juice start with 2T and add to taste)
3 tomatoes diced
1 cucumber diced
2 bunches green onions, diced
2 carrots grated
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. In a saucepan bring water to boil. Add quinoa and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature; fluff with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine rest of ingredients and stir in cooled quinoa. 
Enjoy.

Monday, July 25, 2011

recipe to try ...



Recipe for French Macaroons over at Here Comes The Sun ...

Looks achievable so I think I'll give them a go soon!!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

A few holiday snaps ...



Jack & Hannah filling in time in the car in PL on Thursday!


Rohan ...

Rohan & Hannah

Lachlan was around too but no suitable photo as yet!!

We have had a really relaxing holidays!! John has been working and I have had my usual work too but other than that we have

- had friends for dinner 3 Friday nights in a row
- been to 2 weekends of football
- all went and saw Cars 2 on Thursday
- had one weekend off from going to footy
- slept in
- gone to bed later than usual
- basically enjoyed the break!!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Reading ...

Mum suggested this book

Started Early, Took My Dog


Mum had said you had to stick with it at the beginning ... lots of different characters and no chapters in the traditional sense. 

So I stuck with it and have just finished reading it this morning and really enjoyed it!

Intriguing and it made me want to keep reading to see how all the characters joined up to make the story.

Thinking I might try another one of her books soon!

Now I am deciding between ...

The Other Family

and this one on the new book stand at our local library ...


(The copy I have has different cover)

New book quirk of mine ... When I select a new book I will initially look at the blurb on the back but by the time I begin reading the book I don't re- read it ... so far I have found it seems to give the story a little less predictability!!

Do you have reading quirk??

When I was at school I had a girl in my English class who always read the last page of the book first ... wonder if she does still!! LOL

Sunday, July 10, 2011

What's cooking ... ???

Tonight I thought I'd make sushi for dinner.

The older boys eat it ... with tinned tuna or smoked salmon inside and cucumber or lettuce.

Tonight I'm going to try adding Kewpie mayonnaise that I found at Woolworths in Port Lincoln last week.

I'm thinking about ordering a crepe pan so next time I can make these ...

Easy Tamagoyaki (egg sushi)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Tamagoyaki-egg-sushi/

or maybe some scrambled egg in the sushi ...

2eggsushi2

Recipe ... http://www.sugarbar.org/blog/2010/02/23/two-egg-inari-sushi/

These little pouches look great hey ... have to wait until a trip to Adelaide to find them maybe!!


On line kitchenware shopping ...

I am planning on placing an order with Peter's of Kensington ... always great service and very good prices.

Another on line Kitchenware shop that I have bought from recently was Kitchenware Direct. If you link to them on Facebook they have special FB specials for members.

From Kitchenware Direct I have recently bought a Scanpan chef's pan - great price and I love it. Then I ordered John's birthday present ... Riedel wine glasses ... beautiful to drink from and a great price, as well as some wine decanter cleaning beads and glass tea towels. The shipping is really quick as it is only from Adelaide!!

I also like to shop locally in Port Lincoln at House & Kitchen!!

finds at farm beach ...


 For Amanda's challenge over at Escape2Create.

welcome summer days ...

first cake ...

wet, wet, wet ...

First game ...

Saturday, July 9, 2011

love this ...

inspired*joyful*chaos (friendship)

What's cooking ... ??? follow up ...

Pea, ham & lemon soup ... had some for lunch ... can't work out if it's salty or the lemon is making it taste like that ... don't think I'd make it again but was worth trying ... will taste again and see.

Roast pumpkin soup ... delicious!

Sticky date pudding ... fantastic and went down well with the dinner guests last night although John told me off for making the serves too big! As it is quite a light pudding I think the serve was just right ;-)

The vegetables I cooked last night to serve with the undercut steak were ...

- roasted asparagus with olive oil, salt flakes & pepper ... good!

- roasted baby Truss tomatoes with basil & olive oil ... nice

- potato gratin from Delicious July 2011 ... good!

- Green beans with lemony breadcrumbs from Australian Good Food July 2011, p. 80
... hhhmmm I wouldn't follow the recipe again ... at the end you added the beans and lemon juice to the cooked breadcrumbs but the lemon made the crumbs all gluggy and I had to fish them all out before serving. Next time I would just sprinkle the crumbs over the top!!

I also made a Red wine jus from Donna Hay's fast, fresh & simple cookbook ... took a lot longer to make than the recipe said but it was good.

Tonight ... another taste of the pea, ham & lemon soup ... ;-)

Thursday, July 7, 2011

What's cooking ... ???

I often posted on Facebook about what I am cooking for dinner.

So I thought I'd try to post here on my blog about recipes I am trying or have tried and what I thought!

Today I am cooking ...

Pea, ham and lemon soup from Delicious July 2011 p. 98

Roasted Pumpkin soup from Donna Hay fast, fresh & simple cook book p. 81

and

Kathryn's retreat sticky date pudding originally from Super Food Ideas July 2004, p. 49

Sticky date pudding

It can be found at http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/7828/sticky+date+pudding

Other recipes I have tried recently are ...

Moroccan Chicken pie from Delicious July 2011 p. 80 which was absolutely delicious ... definitely recommend that recipe and easy to make.

Panfried Kingfish with cabbage & bacon from Delicious July 2011 p. 88 was also really yummy!! Recommend that one too!

I'm not very successful at food photography but if I get a chance I'll photograph some of the meals in the future and show you!