Saturday, February 22, 2014

So much cooler this week...

I go straight for comfort food when the weather cools off.
This recipe was slightly different as the meat/tomato sauce did not use a tin or jar of tomatoes, only tomato puree and not a lot of it. I actually used 2 tablespoons of tomato paste instead of opening a tin of puree and only using 30mls as suggested. Bit weird!
Anyhow, as you can see from the top picture, you layer the lasagne wuth the meat sauce then a bechamel sauce and parmesan cheese, repeating until you have 5 layers of pasta.
Top the final with bechamel sauce and cheese then bake until golden on top, about 40 minutes.
It had a plainer taste than my usual lasagne ( with hearty bolognese sauce) but we really liked it. It was lighter than usual.
We have had some lovely rain, a nice soaking which should green things up a bit.
This is everything I put into my baked rice.
1.5 cups rice (this was Jasmine)
1 tablespoon good curry powder
2 teaspoons chicken stock powder
Carrot
Sweetcorn
Red onion
Capsicum
Zucchini
Salt & pepper to taste
Add enough water to cover all this, mix it up well then dob in some butter/margarine. Cover with foil and bake for about 30-40 minutes. Check if its done by fluffing it up with a fork and taste a bit.
I like to make my own chicken skewers. Thread on fresh chicken tenders, drizzle with sweet chilli sauce, a little olive oil and a dollop of minced garlic. Put them in a plastic container and give them a good shake to coat them. Leave for at least 30 minutes to marinate. I cooked mine in a non-stick skillet.
Just keep an eye on them as the sweet sauce can make them burn easily.
Serve the chicken skewers over the rice with satay sauce which is
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup sweet chilli sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon lemon juice
And I sweeten it off with either one tblspn honey or maple syrup and I also added 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.
Last night I made pizzas. I made the dough from the recipe on my bakers flour packet but I was farly heavy. Not my best dough.
Still, they were tasty. This one has chunks of fresh chicken on it with all the usual pizza toppings.
This one has pineapple added as I like that.
I have started collecting fabric to make a scrappy strip quilt like the one Alicia Paulson made for her daughter. I am aiming for small florals, dots and ginghams like Alicia.
I got these few in Spotlight, total cost $8.75 (15cm strips) so I need to collect lots more yet.
I just love how it is put together randomly - a good beginners project.
This is Alicia's quilt and the link to her beautiful blog. Her daughter, nicknamed Mimi, is just gorgeous.
It might be a while before I tackle sewing this but I really want to give it a shot!
Brianna is coming home today so it will be lovely to catch up with her!
Cherrs - Joolz xx

9 comments:

  1. Joolz, I might give that baked rice a try. I don't think I have ever heard of it before. All the best with your sewing. I have always avoided doing patchwork as I am straight line challenged. LOL!

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    1. Its pretty much my own made up recipe. Good for packing in the veggies.

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  2. The rice and chicken skewers look yummy and I'm going to try them both this week. Loving your fabric too.
    Anne xx

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  3. Everything looks very yum but I'm keen to try the baked rice first, it's sounds delicious. Do you cook this in an average size casserole dish or what would you suggest to cook this in?

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    1. I used a 24cm pie dish and covered with foil but a covered casserole dish or lasagne dish would work fine. - J

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  4. I like the sound of that rice dish as well. I'd never thought to cook it in the oven like that, but how convenient. I've made an oven-baked risotto before (so much easier than standing next to the stove for ages stirring in stock a bit at a time).

    We've also had rain, but I'm not happy about it as it ruined the lovely snow that fell on Wednesday.

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  5. Im loving the sound of the rice as well , Im going to give that a go.
    Im glad the weather has cooled of too. xx

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  6. Hi Joolz,
    Every dish you make looks ever so delicious! Good thing I've just had a hearty breakfast or I'd be feeling really hungry just by looking at your pictures!

    Hello and good morning! I am new to your blog (and Adelaide!). Just wanted to say hi!

    Juanita

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