I haven’t done a homecooked food blog post in awhile.. so I’m basically lumping all of them into one right now :P
As a pregnant mum with a young toddler, and considering I go out daily and come home in a rush, my priority is to make fuss-free, easy meals that are tasty but healthy. OK, I lied about the last part. I try to make them healthy by adding lots of veggies in, but the word ‘healthy’ is subjective so what I consider healthy might be a calorie-fest to another ;)
All my meals are prepared within 30 mins, tops. Most are way less than that, because I have to keep an eye on Hunter whilst I’m preparing/chopping the ingredients, so for me time is of the essence. I cook after Hunter sleeps at 7-ish.
I’m minimalistic. I aim to use 1 chopping board, 1 knife, 1 mixing bowl (if required), and 1 large saucepan. Not much more, because I also don’t want to generate a ton of cleaning up afterwards.
I don’t use a standard recipe. Generally I’ll either make it up entirely, or get some inspiration from somewhere or other.. Not because I think I’m a fab cook, but I’m not good at following instructions (haha), and I like to do things my way. I will add and omit ingredients as I feel fit, depending on what I have in the fridge and what we like to eat ;)
Oh, and Hunter also eats a lot of this stuff for lunch. I don’t add salt in my cooking, and make sure there’s loads of veggies, so it’s good for him even though it’s ‘adult’ food. He LOVES it :)
Anyway, here you go!
Chicken fillets with veggies and bocconcini
Chicken fillets with veggies and bocconcini: I quickly seared chicken fillets over high heat, then tossed in chopped onion, garlic and zucchini. After a few mins, I added in 1 can of chopped tomatoes, and let it all simmer for 20mins. I then added in a couple of bocconcini and handful of basil leaves, then served it with cous cous.
Note: Chopped up, this makes a fantastic meal served on pasta or mash potato for Hunter. He gobbles it up at lightning speed!
Vegetable frittata (before)
Vegetable frittata (after)
Vegetable frittata: Grate or finely chop onions, leeks, carrots, broccoli and mix in a bowl with a handful of cooked chopped bacon. Add 5 beaten eggs, 1 cup grated cheese, 1 cup self-raising flour, 1/2 cup oil, and salt/pepper to taste. Put into a baking dish and bake at ~40mins at 180 celcius.
Note: Hunter LOVES this and it’s so tasty plus healthy! Very easy to bring along when we’re out for lunch, because it’s a ‘clean’ meal with little mess when feeding babies.
Sausage rolls (before)
Sausage rolls (after)
Sausage rolls: Mix veal sausage mix with pork sausage mix. Add in a handful of breadcrumbs (or flour, if you don’t have any), and grated carrot. Add a few splashes of milk, and mix well. Put on puff pastry and roll up, sealing with egg wash. Bake until cooked through and golden brown.
Note: I used shortcrust pastry in the pics above and it’s nowhere near as good as puff pastry. These are really good for keeping on hand and popping in the oven when you want a lil snack. I haven’t given Hunter this though, because I’m against him eating sausage (no nutrition IMHO).
Quiche (before)
Quiche (after)
Quiche: Blind-bake pastry in pan for 15-20mins. In the meantime, fry mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, bacon/ham, onion in a saucepan until liquid from mushroom evaporates. Season with salt/pepper. Turn off eat, and stir in 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup cream, 3 beaten eggs, a bit of nutmeg. In cooked pastry shell, put a layer of shredded gruyere cheese, add in the mixed ingredients and scatter with shredded basil, and top with another layer of cheese. Bake at 210 celcius for 10 mins, then reduce heat to 180 celcius and bake for another ~30 mins until cooked through.
Note: awesome comfort food. I personally use 2 layers of pastry instead of 1, because I like a thicker crust. Wait’ll you have a sniff of the smells wafting out of your kitchen when you bake this!!
Sour cream and bolognese pasta bake (first layer)
Sour cream and bolognese pasta bake (second layer)
Sour cream and bolognese pasta bake (after)
Sour cream and bolognese pasta bake: Cook a bag of pasta and stir in 2/3 tub sour cream, 2/3 tub cottage cheese, and chopped shallots. Put half of the pasta at the bottom of a large baking tray.
Brown 300g minced beef over high heat, then add chopped onion, leek, mushrooms, carrot, zucchini, salt/pepper to taste. After the veggies soften slightly, add in 1 can of chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5-10mins. Put on top of pasta in tray, then layer on grated cheddar cheese. Finally, layer the other half of pasta on top, and layer with cheese again. Bake at 180 celcius for 20 minutes.
Note: love how this makes a large portion, because it keeps well. To try and make this healthy, I put in way more veggies than I do beef mince.
Coffee Jelly
Coffee jelly: Boil 500ml water in a pot, then turn off heat. Take out a few tablespoons of the boiling water into a small bowl, and dissolve in 10g of gelatine. In pot, dissolve in 2 tbsp of good-quality instant coffee powder, and 5 tbsp white sugar. Add in the gelatine mix and stir well. Pour into glasse and chill in the fridge until set. Serve with whipping cream.
Note: insanely, a small pot of coffee jelly costs about $2 in Japanese supermarkets! For that price, you can make a huuuuge portion of it at home, and it’s so so easy! Will never buy coffee jelly again for sure…
Hope some of these recipes were interesting for you guys :) I fully encourage you to add in random veggies in your fridge, and mix and match as you choose. Experimenting in the kitchen is part of the fun of cooking, IMHO!
Do you like seeing recipes for quick & simple dishes here? Let me know and I’ll try and make the effort to photograph and blog ‘em more.. I’ve recently stopped documenting all my cooked food ‘cos been a bit lazy :P
