in my kitchen

When I started this blog I didn't want it to be 'just another recipe' site and as I haven't posted a recipe in quite a while I am living up to that aim!

Once I have my new camera I will get back to some recipe posting but for now I thought I'd share some  notes about dishes that my family have been enjoying. It is Springtime here but we are still waiting for warm weather so our meals have been more like winter fare...

- into an oven proof pot I place a whole chicken, chunks of potato, sweet potato, carrot and onion 1 litre of chicken stock and some dried herbs. Put the lid on and place in the oven at 180 degrees for 1-1.5 hours depending on the weight of your chicken (1 hour for every kilo is the rule of thumb) you could turn the oven down to 160 degrees and cook it slower. The end result is a delicious broth, moist tender meat and flavoursome vegetables. So easy and so delicious. It was Pete's idea to do this, it is similar but different to this by Michelle.

- leftover rice? I decided to use up some rice by gently frying chopped onion in butter adding the rice and over a medium heat, heating the rice through and then adding chopped preserved lemon and silverbeet (or spinach) you could add some chopped almonds too. This is heavenly served with fish which I am lucky enough to have in ready supply - king george whiting or flathead - thanks to my fisherman husband and eldest son.

- my favorite breakfast lately has been a very simple green smoothie made with one frozen banana, a handful of baby spinach leaves and about a cup of filtered water all blended until smooth. If you are new to green smoothies this may be a bit too plain, you can add a handful of berries, you could also replace the filtered water with coconut water or for a sweeter version freshly squeezed orange juice, better still thrown in the whole orange (peeled).

-Pete came home from the local market on the weekend with a jar of black olive tapenade after we enjoyed it spread simply on a piece of toast for an afternoon snack I decided to use the rest in a pasta dish. I cooked gluten free spirals and while that was happening I pan fried some red onion, broccoli florets, garlic, silverbeet and parsley and then once the pasta was cooked I added the vegetables and tapenade and dinner was ready.

-home made pasties were a hit with everyone, they take a bit of work but it is a labor of love knowing every ingredient that goes into them is wholesome and organic.

- I stumbled upon a super quick and nutritious snack for the boys one afternoon on the holidays when River told me for the 15th time in an hour that he was hungry (?!!) I looked in the cupboard and saw some rice noodles, boiled the kettle, chopped up an avocado, opened a tin of dolphin friendly tuna, poured boiling water over the noodles, cut a seaweed sheet into shreds with the scissors, drained the noodles and then assembled all in bowls, splashed over some ponzu sauce and there you have it an 'instant' winner.

I hope there are some little morsels of inspiration for you in that list.

On a side note, I am planning to buy my new camera on Saturday (fujifinepix S4900 for those interested!) so next week we will back on track with some visuals. I had the very annoying experience of being ripped off shopping online for a camera, I ordered and paid for the camera three weeks ago, the camera hasn't arrived and the website has disappeared without a trace. I am going to attempt to get my money back through my bank or theirs...buyers beware!

Happy cooking xx