I feel like Chicken Tonight !!!!

Last night we had Chicken Cacciatore Chicken Tonight. This is really tasty and a very easy meal to make. I also tried a new packet mix of Betty Crocker Berry & White Choc Scones. I think I could make better ones from scratch but it was worth the try. Bri has taken them to school today to share.
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Fry off an onion in a little olive oil then add the chicken breast pieces...
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To boost the vegetables in this dish, I grated a zucchini and a carrot to add in.
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Stir in the veggies and add about 2 tablespoons of water and put on a lid so they steam a little...
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Add in the jar of sauce and simmer for a further 10 minutes or so.
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I didn't do the best job of plating up and my peas look rather sad but it still tasted good.
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Chicken Tonight was launched in Australia around 1993 and they have many different flavours in the range including curries and asian sweet and sours etc. Honey Mustard is another favourite of ours. Always handy to have in the cupboard for a 30 minute meal.
Here is one of the original adverts that was aired on Aussie TV - I still sing the song in my head when I make it and Kirby used to say 'I feel like chicken tomite! when she was little!

(if you keep watching through the other commercials you will come to one called Dickhead tonight - quite funny!)
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Cheers - Joolz

Menu plan for the week... I have no clue!

I've been looking online for inspiration for meals for the week and have come up with zip, nada, nought, zero! Nil enthusiasm, Sharon! (to quote Kath and Kim!)
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Tonight we have having a slap up meal...
Lazy Beef Stroganoff - basically a Continental Pasta mix - Creamy mushroom & bacon - with a pack of stir-fry beef, mushrooms and onions in it and some frozen steamed carrots/corn & broccoli. Is that bad, am I bad wife/Mumma? (I love that Bri calls me Mumma xxx)
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We had a lovely chicken meal last night - Angus did Tuscan Chicken - it had garlic and lemon in under the skin and it was stuffed with lemon, thyme and rosemary. He cooked it in the weber and I did a potato bake and carrots and peas and gravy to go with it. I also did homemade bread (dough in bread maker) which was nice too. Then of course, we had the apple/berry pie for dessert....there is enough leftover for tonight so that makes a pretty good nosh up if you ask me!
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Cheers - Joolz

Apple & berry freeform pie...

I made this freeform Apple & Berry pie (from the current MasterChef magazine (winter). It was supposed to be Pear and Strawberry but I had the apples and berries on hand so I went with that.
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For the pastry, chop up 250gms cold butter into 1 cm cubes. In a food processor add 2 cups Plain flour and 1 cup of SR flour and 2/3 cup castor sugar. Add in the cubed butter and blitz on and off until the mix resembles bread crumbs. Now add in 4 egg yolks and a teaspoon of vanilla and blend until the mixture comes together as a crumbly mix.
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Turn out onto a clean bench and bring all the mixture together to a smooth dough. Halve the mix and form into 2 balls, cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
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Lay a piece of baking paper on the bench and roll one ball into a large round (dinner plate size) and cut out a neat circle (using that plate). Carefully place onto a large baking tray, still on the paper. Roll out the second ball and cut to size.
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I heated the frozen mixed berries and a little sugar in a saucepan...
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Place sliced Granny Smith apples on the round of pastry (should have used 3 apples)...
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... and top with the warmed berry mixture...
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By flipping the round over then peeling off the paper, cover with the second round of pastry, then using a fork, press down and seal edges of the pie. Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Make it as rustic or neat as you like.
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Bake for about 30-40 minutes in a 180C oven until dark golden.
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Tah dah! The fillings are endless - apple, sultana & cinnamon; apricot; apple & rhubarb; pear and strawberry. The pastry is lovely and short and sweet. Delicious!
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Cold again here today. Hardly left the house yesterday, just bummed around and pottered. We had some really heavy showers and some hail so it was nice to stay inside and not do much.
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Cheers - Joolz

Saturday Chores...

I've got a bit of house work to do today - I will update as I get the jobs done!

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Clean top of the fridge - the tallest person in the house reminded me that it needs doing! Erk!
(in his defence - he did offer to do it but ... it's done now!)
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Strip our bed, wash sheets and remake - done!
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Wipe out/scrub main bathroom shower - done!
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Re-organise my clothes for winter in walk-in-robe - done!
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Iron school uniform - 3 shirts, skirt and wool jumper ( I washed them all last night!) - done!
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I looked out my laundry window and decided that it needed cleaning - right now!
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That's better!
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Sort recyclable bottles to take to depot today - done and $43.10 richer! :)
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2 other loads washing done and drying - done!
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Vacuum through house & mop kitchen floor - now a Sunday chore - done!

Definitely time for a wine! Gus is cooking dinner, thank goodness!
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Cheers - Joolz

Creamy Thai Chicken Stir fry...

Last night I used a Masterfoods flavour sachet to create this yummy stir fry. The rice noodles need to be soaked in hot water for 20 minutes so that's the first job. Then I chopped up some mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, butter beans, capsicum and onion and had some bean sprouts too.
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Add a tablespoon of good olive oil to the very hot wok and fry off the onion...
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Add in the diced up chicken tenderloins and fry them off too.
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Add in the mushrooms first for one minute then add all other vegetables...
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At this point, I added about 4 tablespoons of water and put the lid on the wok for a minute or two. This helps steam the veggies so the beans etc are tender but not soggy.
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Now its time to pour in the sauce...
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... and the coconut milk...
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Stir through to combine and bring back to boiling ...
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...and serve over the Thai rice noodles. After chopping up the vegetables and chicken (about 5 minutes), this dish took exactly 15 minutes from stir-frying those onions right through to plating up. Stir-fries are a quick and easy meal to prepare and you can hide lots of veggies in there. It's a one pot meal too!
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Sunrise on Wednesday morning (7.06am)

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I've made another batch of the cherry shortbread cookies this morning, some for my niece this time.
They are about to come out of the oven and smell wonderful - I might have to keep a couple...
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Cheers - Joolz

Delicious Lamb, sundried tomato & fetta parcels...

Dinner last night - I went to huge trouble to get these delicious parcels of marinated lamb strips, sun dried tomatoes and fetta cheese encased in a lattice of puff pastry on to our dinner table .... I drove 50kms and back and visited a very nice butcher shop who makes them.... they were delicious!!! I did bake the potatoes and make the fresh salad... give me some credit!
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Brianna has had the sewing machine smoking all week - as part of her Year 12 Child Studies class, she has to construct an educational childrens toy. She has chosen to make a patchwork teddy bear so she has had to put together the material first so that she can cut out the teddy from the finished fabric.
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There has been lots of cutting and pinning, each night after school...
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Here is the completed patchwork piece ready for pinning on the pattern and cutting out. She plans to sew a jingly bell in the teddys ear, put a zipper on one leg, a shoe lace to tie up on the other foot and a ribbon loop for his tail so the child can hang on to the bear tightly. Yesterday, she went to Spotlight and bought hinges for the legs and arms and some big blue eyes.
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She also bought some really cute fat 1/4's to make a new sewing utensils bag with owls on them. I'll show you that when she is making it.
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I must have been hiding behind a door when the 'sewing gene' was passed out in my family, because I sure didn't get it so I am glad it as been passed on to Bri - I would have gone cross eyed and had an aneurysm trying to piece together those patches! She is ahead with the project so far and her teacher is really pleased with her efforts. Yay!
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Enjoy your day once again, I am off to work to tackle the monthly debtor statements - oh, joy!
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Cheers - Joolz

Pork, spinach & ricotta cannelloni...

Pasta for dinner. This is my recipe for cannelloni and tonight I used pork & veal mince but you can use chicken also.
Saute one onion and 5-6 mushrooms in a pan with a knob of butter - then remove from pan when soft.
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Choose a nice ricotta cheese...
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and fresh baby spinach - so happy to see this on the shelves at Woolworths - locally grown about 15 kms from my house! Their herbs are grown hydroponically and still have the roots attached.
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Add in the pork and veal mince (or use chicken mince) and a good teaspoon of chicken stock powder and some salt and pepper to taste and brown it all off...
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Add in the tub of ricotta cheese...
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...them add in the spinach leaves...
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The spinach wilts down so you can use a fair bit of it...
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I find the easiest way to stuff the shells is by letting the mixture cool slightly then put on a kitchen grade disposable rubber glove and just feed the mince mixture into the shells from one end. It took me less than 5 minutes to stuff them all.
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I arranged the cannelloni in a baking dish (spoon a little of the sauce in the bottom of the dish first - I forgot!)
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Top with your favourite pasta sauce - mine is Five Brothers Summer Tomato & Basil - then sprinkle with some grated, low fat cheese.
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Bake for approx. 45 minutes...
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... then enjoy. It was delicious!
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After dinner, I shined my sink. I have discovered the FlyLady site. Have a look and see what you think - there are some good hints and tips for organizing there that may just take the pressure off our day to day lives.
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Busy day today - I have a Bowen therapy appointment this morning then off to work until 1pm. My mum is having a new DVD/Hard drive installed so I have to take notes for her so she can use it (that will be a challenge for us both!) then I am off to MtG this afternoon for an appointment.
Have a nice day!
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Joolz