{Meal Plan Monday}

Well Meal Plan Mondays are back. Fortnightly, 'cause that's how I roll. For how long they'll be back I don't know, but on Friday I sat on my arse all day I had some spare time on my hands so put together this fortnights meals in advance. Oh I have been doing meal plans but nothing concrete and definitley not in advance like I once did. More like half weekly.

So with footy training in full swing and now basketball taking up my Monday evenings I need to be more prepared. Mondays need to be quick foods and preferrably meatless and Tuesdays and Thursdays are perfect slow cooker nights after footy training! This fortnight most of my recipes are from my trusty Taste iPhone app. Some are old favourites and some are new, yet to be tried recipes.

Oh and I still have that "no working oven" thing going on.

Week 1

Monday - {Meat Free Monday} Potato & Roasted Garlic Soup

Tuesday - {Slow Cooker} Mediterranean Style Lamb Shanks

Wednesday - Green Thai Chicken Curry

Thursday - {Slow Cooker} Chicken Cacciatore

Friday - {Family Fun Night} Clean Home Made Pizzas

Saturday - Rigatoni with Italian Sausage & Broccoli Last minute BBQ at Mum's house ;)

Sunday - {Slow Cooker} Beef & Red Wine Casserole with Cheesy Dumplings

Week 2

Monday - {Meat Free Monday} Gnocchi with Spicy Tomato & Feta Sauce

Tuesday - {Slow Cooker} Beef Curry with Rice and Pappadums

Wednesday - Kangaroo Fillet with Salad and Baked Potatoes

Thursday - {Slow Cooker} Whole Spiced Chicken with  Sweet Potato Chips & Salad

Friday - Fish coated in Dukkah with Avocado Salsa {unless we head out for Date Night!!}

Saturday - Thai Beef Salad with Nam Jim

Sunday - Spaghetti Bol


I'll post some of these recipes and link them back to here in the next few days so check back if you're interested in any of them. If there's one you'd like but I don't link it please let me know and I'll put it up.

Do you use a slow cooker during the cooler months?

You can also follow me on

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If you've been following me on facebook you may or may not know that I have registered for a 220km bike ride  for the Perth Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2013. This is a cause close to my heart as I have lost some very special people to this horrible disease. As part of my entry I need to fund raise a minimum of $2500 to take part in the actual ride. I really hate asking for donations but I've been told that it's the only way! Do you have a spare $2? Every little bit helps. All money raised will go directly to support cancer patients and their families and all donations $2 and over are tax deductible. Thank you!!



Gulaschsuppe - A soup to warm your soul

Yesterday Mr Hausfrau announced that he would cook dinner.

After I finished my happy dance I told him that I was planning on making  beef and veg soup so he pulled out one of his old chef cook books and suggested this little beauty

Green Turtle Soup?? Eeeeewwwww!!

No not the turtle soup. The Gulyás leves. It's Gulaschsuppe, or Goulash Soup. A Hungarian soup. It's a delicious hearty soup that is perfect for crappy cooler weather.

The recipe translated for you. (and tweaked a little by the chef)

1kg beef, diced small
4 large potatoes, diced small
1 large onion, diced small
1 rep capsium, diced small (we used half a red and half a green 'cause that's all we had)
2lt beef stock (Veg stock would work too)
200ml red wine
A little extra wine (to deglaze, not to drink!)
2tbsp oil (veg, canola, whatever)
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, crushed
2tbsp paprika (you can mix this up with sweet paprika or a spicy one)
1tsp marjoram
2tsp salt
2tsp cumin

What the chef did while I sat with a glass of wine and watched

1. Cook off the onions until they're "translucent" (His word not mine) - add the garlic just before the onions are ready. Remove and set aside.
2. Brown the meat.
3. Keeping the meat in the pot deglaze with that extra wine (if you haven't drunk it yet)
4. Return the onions to the pot and add all other ingredients.
5. Bring the soup to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour. Keep the lid on but with a slight gap.

Serve with nice crusty bread slathered with butter! (Note to self, an extra hour in the gym is needed this week) You could probably serve with sour cream too. We didn't, just a sprinkle of fresh chives and cracked pepper.

Not the best photo. Taken by my iPhone in bad light. I was too eager to eat it!

That's it! It serves 8! (Well it served 4 last night and again for lunch today with a little still left over that I'll be gobbling up again tomorrow!)

Mr Hausfrau said that if he was to do anything different next time he would add some tomato paste to make it more "tomato'y"

If you make it let me know.

You can also follow me on

facebook | www.facebook.com/TheAussieHausfrau

Twitter | @AussieHausfrau

Instagram | @aussie_hausfrau

If you've been following me on facebook you may or may not know that I have registered for a 220km bike ride  for the Perth Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2013. This is a cause close to my heart as I have lost some very special people to this horrible disease. As part of my entry I need to fund raise a minimum of $2500 to take part in the actual ride. I really hate asking for donations but I've been told that it's the only way! Do you have a spare $2? Every little bit helps. All money raised will go directly to support cancer patients and their families and all donations $2 and over are tax deductible. Thank you!!



What to cook when you feel like crap! Also known as Mexicano Salsa Chicken or Slow Cooker Lucky Dip!

Autumn. She's a comin' (That's Fall for my Americano peeps or Herbst for my *ahem* fellow Krauts)

With Autumn comes the start of AFL season for PrincessBF, and the loss of my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons/evenings to footy training.

This is where my old faithful slow cooker comes in handy.

With Autumn comes the onset of the cold and flu season and other crap.

So when I woke up this morning still feeling like death warmed up, knowing that Monday afternoons are now taken up with PrincessBF playing specialised Basketball for her school, I decided to break out the slow cooker early and throw together some bits and pieces to free up my evening. What better than to come home from basketball to a cooked meal!

Let's call this...... Mexicano Salsa Chicken. Yeah sounds boring but I barely have the energy to type let alone think! Oh by the way - totally doped up on antihistamines at the moment so excuse any mistakes.

Mexicano Salsa Chicken

I have no measurements - I totally just threw in what I had in the fridge and cupboard!

Chicken breast (you could use tenderloins or thighs) chopped

Tin tomatoes

Jar of Medium Salsa

Packet of mexican seasoning (only need half a packet)

1/2 red onion - chopped

Some grape tomatoes that were on the way out

1/2 a capsicum I found at the back of the fridge - chopped

2 sticks of near wilted celery - chopped

2 small carrots - sliced

Sea salt flakes and black pepper to taste

Throw it all in.

Mix.

Set and forget. 6 hours on low (you could also go 4 hours on high)

I had planned to serve it with rice. Came home from basketball to put the rice on only to find that I didn't have any!!! Doh! Not to worry, Mr Hausfrau and PrincessBF had theirs with jacket potatoes and RandomBoy and I have some pasta left over from last nights dinner.

Complements all round to the chef. That'll be me!

Do you have a slow cooker? Use it? Love it?

You can also follow me on

facebook | www.facebook.com/TheAussieHausfrau

Twitter | @AussieHausfrau

Instagram | @aussie_hausfrau

If you've been following me on facebook you may or may not know that I have registered for a 220km bike ride  for the Perth Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2013. This is a cause close to my heart as I have lost some very special people to this horrible disease. As part of my entry I need to fund raise a minimum of $2500 to take part in the actual ride. I really hate asking for donations but I've been told that it's the only way! Do you have a spare $2? Every little bit helps. All money raised will go directly to support cancer patients and their families and all donations $2 and over are tax deductible. Thank you!!

{Meal Plan Monday}

I had a bit of a busy week and had to sort of throw together my meal plan very quickly instead of taking my time to create it with love, so I went with a few old faithful recipes this week and some tried and tested ones from my awesome Taste.com app.

It's also a bit of a short meal plan as Mr Hausfrau and myself are off for a weekend getaway at the end of the second week!! Woohoo!!

Week 1

Monday - {Meatfree Monday} Roast Garlic & Potato Soup

Tuesday - Pork Fillet with Mash Potato and Vegetables

Wednesday - {Easy Night - Mami's Night Off} - Meat Pies with Chips & Gravy

Thursday - Sweet Chilli Beef Noodles

Friday - Green Thai Chicken Curry

Saturday - Self-Saucing Meatloaf with Salad

Sunday - Spaghetti Bolognese

Week 2

Monday - Roast Chicken with Roast Veg

Tuesday - Crispy Potato and Beef Pie

Wednesday - {Easy Night - Mami's Night Off} Left Overs ;)

Thursday - Garlic & Mint Chicken

Friday - Holidays!!

Saturday - Holidays!!

Sunday - Holidays!!


I'll post some of these recipes and link them back to here in the next few days so check back if you're interested in any of them. If there's one you'd like but I don't link it please let me know and I'll put it up.

How do you like to find new recipes? Books? Magazines? Internet?

 

You can also follow me on

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I'm in the running for the Top 25 Australian Moms Blogs! If I've ever made you laugh, even just a little bit, or you've enjoy my pics or delicious recipes, please please please head over and click "vote" on this link (or click on the pic below). You can vote EVERY 24 hours!! Making the top 25 would be a far off dream, but the top 50 would be lovely! Thank you!!

{Recipe} Beef & Chilli Stir-Fry

When I first tried this recipe I swear to God there was a party in my mouth and I declared that it was by far the BEST meal I'd ever cooked!

Ingredients

500g beef rump, trimmed and sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced thickly (red is good but brown works well too)
2 long red chillis, sliced thinly (seeds out if you don't do hot, seeds in if you like a bit of heat!)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 red capsicum, sliced thickly
1 yellow capsicum, sliced thickly (I like to mix the colours up with 3 smaller capsicums. Red, yellow AND  orange)
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 tsp cornflour
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp shao hsing (Chinese cooking wine)

Steamed rice to serve. Jasmine works well.


Method

1. Place cornflour in a small bowl. Add soy sauce. Stir until smooth. Add wine and 1 tbsp cold water. Stir to combine.
2. Heat a wok over high heat. Add half the oil. Swirl to coat. Stir-fry beef, in batches, for 2-3 minutes or until just cooked. Transfer to bowl.
3. Add remaining oil to wok over high heat. Swirl to coat. Add onion. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until softened. Add chilli, garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add capsicum. Stri-fry for 2 minutes or until just tender. 
4. Return beef to the wok. Add sauce mixture. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until heated through.
5. Serve with rice.

Note

Chinese wine can be found in the international section of most supermarkets. If you can't find it dry cooking sherry works too!

serves 4

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{Recipe} Lamb Kofta with Rice Salad

Ingredients

for koftas
500g lamb mince
1 cup bread crumbs
1 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste
12 skewers

for rice salad
1 cup long grain brown rice
1/2 cup seeded black olives, sliced
1 small capsicum, red or orange, diced
1 tbsp olive olive
2tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped parsley
150g crumbled fetta cheese



Method

1. cook rice until tender (which ever method you prefer) then rinse under cold water and drain well.
2. combine rice in a large bowl together with the olives, capsicum, oil, lemon juice, parsley and fetta cheese. Combine well.
3. meanwhile, combine mince, breadcrumbs, parsely, onion, garlic, garam masala, lemon juice, yoghurt and salt and pepper. Roll into 12 balls.
4. roll balls into sausage shapes and thread skewers through centre of koftas.
5. Cook on heated oiled grill plate or grill on BBQ until cooked through.

serves 4

note - I like to serve this with a yoghurt dressing. Combine some natural yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and drizzle over the koftas. Sometimes I add sumac to the dressing too.

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