Gozleme

This recipe is from the fabulous Kidspot Website - I made it on a Saturday night as a bit of a treat meal and we really enjoyed it!  The spinach & feta filling was our favourite - although the mince one was delicious too.  They're quite filling and so we had plenty of leftovers for the next day, but it would also be great as a finger food/entree option with guests.  For something a bit different and fun, I would definitely recommend it!

Ingredients

Dough

400g Greek style plain yoghurt
500g self-raising flour
4 tbsp olive oil

Spinach filling
100g baby spinach
200g feta cheese

Mince filling
2 tbsp olive oil
500g lamb mince
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tin tomato puree
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli flakes

Method

Mince filling
In a frying pan, fry the lamb mince and make sure you break it into small lumps with a wooden spoon.

Add the garlic as it is browning and stir well.

Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, then add the cumin, tomato puree and chilliflakes and stir.  Cook for a further 2 mins and set aside.

Feta and spinach filling
Pour boiling water over the spinach and then drain. Crumble feta up and stir through spinach.

Dough
Combine the yoghurt with the self-raising flour and knead on a floured board for 2-3 mins.

Cut into 8 portions. Cover with a damp tea towel until ready to use.

Cooking
Roll each dough ball into a 25cm round and place a quarter of one filling on one half. Fold dough round in half and press together the edges.

Heat a skillet, frying pan ot barbeque hotplate to medium heat and brush each Gozleme with olive oil. Cook on each side until golden "eyes" appear.  Repeat for remaining dough and filling.

Serve with lemon wedges.

Satay Chicken

I got this tasty little number from the 4 Ingredients "One Pot, One Bowl" book - what a fantastic idea!  Not only are the recipes easy, quick and cheap - but there's hardly any washing up!  I made my own little changes to this one - like using Greek Yoghurt instead of the cream (but I then had to thicken it with a bit of flour) and I just added frozen veges to keep it easy and cheap.  Also, I'll let you in on my little mum-trick - instead of serving saucy dishes like this with carb-loaded white rice, potato or pasta, just steam some cauliflower and puree it up, like I've done here.  It makes you think you're eating rice or mashed potato, but really, it's just a low-calorie vegetable!  The kids won't even realise, how sneaky is that?!?  With the yoghurt and added veges, it comes in at just 200 calories per serve :-) But it wasn't quite the response I was hoping for from Liam & Robbie - hear the Family Show Taste Test below...

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 tablespoon red curry paste
400g chicken breast
2 tablespoons peanut butter
3/4 cup cream

Method
In a non-stick frying pan, heat the curry paste. Add the chicken and seal, stirring evenly to cook. Add the peanut butter and cream, stir to combine, and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 4 minutes.

Optional: serve with rice or fettuccini. Toss through some thinly sliced vegetables if you have them in the fridge. What did Liam & Robbie think? Hear the Family Show Taste Test:

Brown Rice & Carrot Bake

I had a flashback to my childhood the other day and had to call my mum to ask for the recipe I was thinking of - and it's this Brown Rice & Carrot Bake! I made it for some friends for lunch and it was just as tasty as I remembered! It's a bit like Zucchini Slice and is great for using up leftover rice you might have on hand. I added some chopped asparagus and you could pop in other veges like corn, capsicum, zucchini or peas. Mum got the recipe from the Nursing Mothers Association (now the ABA) cookbook and it comes in at only 200 calories per serve - it's so versatile as it can be served warm for dinner, cold with salad for lunch, or even for breakfast! Give it a go!

Ingredients (serves 8)
2½ cups finely grated carrot
125g cheese, grated
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 eggs, well beaten
1¼ cups milk
2 teaspoons melted butter
1/2 onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper

Method
Mix carrot, cheese and rice in a bowl.  Combine other ingredients and add to carrot mixture. 

Spread into a greased casserole dish. Cover and bake in a moderate oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until cooked through.

Beef Provençal Casserole

This recipe is from the CSIRO cookbook and it's really good! Mr 1 absolutely loved it & devoured his serve plus half of his sister's! I've put the instructions as is, but this would also be perfect in a slow-cooker. Just 200 calories too, bonus!

PS - just a shameless plug for my Facebook page, so you can see whenever a new recipe is added!  Plus I love to repost my favourites from along the way - so get on over and become a liker! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mums-in-the-Kitchen/328059910543699

Ingredients (serves 4)
Olive oil spray
1 brown onion
200g mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400g beef, diced
400g tin diced tomatoes
2 cups beef stock (or substitute 1 cup with red wine)
1 red capsicum, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon oregano, chopped

Method
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius/150 fan-forced. Spray a frying pan with oil and heat on high. Add onion, mushrooms and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft. Transfer to a large, oven-proof dish.

Cook beef in frying pan, in 2 batches if needed, until well-browned. Add to mushroom mixture.

Add tomato, stock, capsicum and carrot to frying pan and bring to a gentle boil, scraping up any bits of beef stuck to bottom of pan. Add to casserole dish and stir well.

Cover and transfer to oven for 1.5-2 hours. Remove lid and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until meat is tender. Stir through herbs and season to taste.

Gluten-Free Flourless Orange & Almond Cake

Many people lately seem to looking for gluten-free recipes. I came across this one in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine and decided to give it a go! It's also dairy-free (bonus!) I'd never tried an orange cake that used the whole orange before, so I found it an interesting process - but a fabulous result! As you can see, I made it as cupcakes and a loaf, and they baked for 30 and 45 minutes respectively.  Enjoy!  (Plus check out the Family Show Taste Test below - what did Liam & Robbie think?)

Ingredients
2 oranges, unpeeled
6 eggs
1 1/3 cups caster sugar
250g almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
Icing sugar, for dusting
Orange zest, to serve
Toasted flaked almonds, to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Grease and line a 22cm round cake tin.

Put oranges in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour, ensuring oranges remain covered with water - weigh down with a heat-proof plate, if necessary. Transfer oranges to a plate and set aside to cool for 30 minutes or until they reach room temperature. Cut oranges into quarters and remove seeds. Put in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Put eggs in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat, using the whisk attachment, for 2-3 minutes or until fluffy and foamy. Add caster sugar and whisk on high for 5 minutes or until thick and glossy.

Add orange purée, almond meal and baking powder, and mix until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared tin.

Bake for 1 1/4 hours. Set cake aside in tin for 6 hours or overnight to cool completely.

Turn out cake onto a serving platter or cake stand. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with orange zest and almonds just before serving.

And find out Liam & Robbie's verdict:

Cheese Twists

This is a recipe I made for my son's first birthday party - I served them in plastic shot glasses that had a teaspoon of dip in the bottom, with carrot and celery.  The guests loved them and the leftovers were a perfect morning tea snack for the kids for the next couple of days (although they are best on the day they're made).  Super easy to make too!

Ingredients

2 sheets frozen butter puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, beaten lightly

1/2 cup grated tasty cheese (you could also use parmesan, or a combination of both)

Method

Preheat the oven to hot (220°C).

Brush one sheet of pastry with egg then sprinkle with cheese.

Top with the other sheet of pastry.  Cut pastry in half, then cut into 1cm strips.

Twist the pastry pieces and place on lightly greased oven trays. Bake in hot oven for about 10 minutes or until the pastry is browned and puffed. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Ricotta Spaghetti

I found this recipe in the 4 Ingredients "Herb it Up" book.  It was a perfect Friday night meal, on one of those days where I got home at 5pm - and it was ready by 5:30.  I know there's 5 ingredients in this one - being a mum, I just couldn't help but add the broccoli!  Plus a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a generous twist of salt & pepper.  Enjoy!

Ingredients (serves 4 - 295 calories per serve)
250g spaghetti
1 teaspoon garlic, crushed
150g low-fat ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon tube/freshly chopped/dried basil
1 head broccoli, chopped

Fill al arge pot with water and bring to the boil.  Stir in spaghetti and cook for about 10 minutes, until al dente.  Drain well.  Steam broccoli until tender.

Stir the garlic, ricotta and basil in a saucepan over low/medium heat for 4 minutes or until hot.  Stir in the spaghetti and broccoli.

Chicken Skewers

These skewers are a fantastic meal as the weather warms up.  You can use any veges (or meat) you like - these ones came in at just 40 calories per skewer!  I served it up with a big salad of lettuce, cucumber, corn and capsicum and the whole meal came in at under 200 calories and tasted great!

Ingredients (serves 4)
300g chicken breast, diced
1 tablespoon moroccan seasoning
100g mushrooms
12 cherry tomatos (about 150g)
1 zucchini (about 150g)
1/2 red capsicum (about 70g)
1/2 red onion

Method
Soak 12 bamboo skewers in water for about 20 minutes (this will prevent them from burning during cooking).

Take diced chicken and combine with seasoning.  If time allows, let it sit for 30 minutes, otherwise it's fine to use straight away.

Chop all veges into 12 pieces.  Thread chicken and veges onto the skewers.

Cook on medium heat on barbeque or grill pan until chicken is done.  Serve with salad.

Tim-Tam Pops

I saw this recipe in a few places so decided to try it for my little boy's first birthday party.  Well, I've since decided that Cake/Tim-Tam Pops are not for me!  I think they look amazing when done well, but they're just too fiddly for me and involve too many steps.  I wanted to share the recipe anyway because so many people at the party commented how much they loved them (even though I wasn't too happy with them!)  I struggled to get the right consistency, so there was a bit of refrigerating and re-rolling involved, then my chocolate wasn't melting properly so I was lucky to get any out on the party table!  Anyway, they tasted yummy and you could always experiment with different flavours of tim-tams.

Ingredients
200g packet of tim-tams
100g cream cheese
lollipop sticks
200g candy melts/melting chocolate
decorations, if desired (I used fondant stars)

Method
Crush tim-tams in a food processor.  Add cream cheese and blend until well combine.

Roll tablespoon-sized balls of mixture on a tray covered with baking paper.  Place in the fridge for about an hour.  Remove and push lollipop sticks into the balls.

Melt chocolate in the microwave or over a saucepan of simmering water.  Dip the balls into chocolate, spin around to remove excess.  Either lie on baking paper or push into styrofoam to decorate.

Moroccan Lamb Shanks

I adapted this recipe from one I found in the Michelle Bridges "No Excuses" cookbook.  It was absolutely divine!  I loooove lamb shanks, so this was right down my alley - the flavours were amazing and the meat was so tender.  Winner!

Ingredients (serves 4 - 340 calories per serve)
olive oil spray
2 lamb shanks, trimmed of fat
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon Moroccan season
1 cup chicken stock
150g frozen peas
500g pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed
300g sweet potato, peeled and cubed

Method
Lightly spray a large casserole dish with olive oil and heat on medium-high.  Cook the lamb shanks for about 8 minutes, turning occasionally, until well browned all over.  Remove from the dish.

Heat the olive oil in the dish on medium and cook the onion, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened.  Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant, then stir in the seasoning.  Return lamb to the dish with the stock and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour 10 minutes (I actually put mine in the oven at this point, on 130 degrees fan-forced for about 3 hours).

Add the pumpkin and peas to the lamb and cook, covered, for about 20 minutes or until tender.  Cook sweet potato and mash.

Remove lamb from the bones, stir and serve over the mash.

Cheddar Cheese Biscuits

This is another recipe I made for my son's first birthday party - and they went like hotcakes!  I think people really go for savoury options at parties - and I loved that it was something I could do so easily in the shape of stars and rocket ships!  Would be great as a lunchbox snack too.

Ingredients (makes 30)
150g butter, softened
1 cup finely grated Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (plus extra for sprinkling)
1 1/4 cups plain flour, sifted (plus extra for kneading)

Method
Cream butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Stir in cheeses and beat until just combine.

Fold in flour, mix to combine.  Turn out micture onto a lightly floured board and knead lightly to form a round dough ball.

Roll out dough to 5mm thickness. Cut into rounds (or other shapes) using a biscuit cutter.  Place onto lightly greased baking trays, sprinkle with extra Parmesan cheese and lightly dust with sweet paprika if desired.

Bake in a preheated 180 degree celsius oven for 10-15 minutes or until cooked and golden.

Cool biscuits on trays for 5 minutes before transferred to wire rack.

Spinach and Beetroot Tart

This recipe is from the Women's Weekly "Fast" cookbook.  It's in the lunch section, but I made it for a weeknight dinner - it was super easy and quick.  I wasn't sure if the kids would like it, but they did.  The husband enjoyed it too, but didn't find it very filling, so perhaps it is a better option as a lunch.  It comes in right on 300 calories :-)

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
250g frozen spinach, thawed, drained (I also whizzed it in the food processor so it wasn't as stringy for the kids)
200g low-fat feta cheese, crumbled
425g can drained baby beetroot, sliced

Method
Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius/200 fan-forced.  Place pastry on an oven tray.  Fold edges of pasty over to make a 5mm border all the way around.  Prick pastry base with fork.  Place another oven tray on top of pastry (to stop it from puffing up); bake 10 minutes.  Remove top tray from pastry; reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees/180 fan-forced.

Meanwhile, combine spinach with half the cheese.  Top tart with spinach mixture, beetroot and remaining cheese.  Bake tart about 10 minutes.