I always try to have a breakfast that will keep me full up until lunch time and toast and cereals just don’t cut it. CADA is still a favourite but I’ve had it so much that if I overdo it I get sick of it very quickly. A couple of times a week I’ll have porridge made with oats for breakfast. I’m not crazy about it, but I keep eating it anyway. It does fill me up, but feels really heavy sitting in my stomach and makes me feel bloated.
Last week I decided to give quinoa porridge a try. And I’m so glad I did because it is absolutely divine! It is delicious and a bowlful keeps me going for about 4 hours with no yuck, heavy, bloated feeling. I like to sweeten mine with rapadura sugar – maple syrup is good too. You can easily customise this porridge to suit your tastes – have it with or without yoghurt, berries, fruit and nuts. At the moment I’m enjoying a simple banana – and I usually don’t eat bananas but they are really good mixed through the porridge!
Quinoa Porridge
85g quinoa 125g water 125g milk 1 tsp vanilla pinch salt 100g milk 2 Tbs sultanas sweetner of choice (maple syrup, honey, sugar) fruit/nuts/yoghurt to serve
Before cooking quinoa, you need to wash and rinse it REALLY well to get rid of the naturally-occuring insect repellant the plant produces which causes a bitter taste. Some people like to soak their quinoa for an hour or so first, but I am never that organised so just rinse it through a fine sieve a few times. Place quinoa, 125g water, 125g milk, vanilla and salt into thermomix. Cook for 15 minutes on 90 degrees, reverse, speed 1. Add 100g milk and sultanas. Cook for 10 minutes on 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1. Leave porridge for 5-10 minutes to soak up extra liquid. Spoon into bowls and add sweetener of choice. Garnish with what ever fruit, yoghurt or nuts you like! This recipe makes enough for two serves. I put the second serve in the fridge and re-heat it to eat the next morning.
This time of the year is a busy time for birthdays in our family. We celebrated Jaron’s 34th and Nancy’s 1st birthdays last Sunday. On order for Jaron’s birthday cake was a Triple Chocolate Brownie Mousse Cake (original recipe found here.)
This cake is delish but so very rich. It easily serves more than 10 people. Next time I make it, I think I will halve the brownie base quantity and add more chocolate mousse. It was good how it turned out, but there is always room for improvement!
Triple Chocolate Brownie Mousse Cake
200g block milk chocolate, chopped 190g butter, cut into cubes 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup plain flour 1 Tbs cocoa 3 eggs, lightly beaten 100g white chocolate chips 200g block dark chocolate, chopped 2 Tbs boiling water 2 tsp powdered gelatine 600ml thickened cream 1/3 cup sugar 3 egg yolks
Place milk chocolate and 160g butter in a glass heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon for 2-3 minutes or until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius. Grease a 6cm deep, 23cm round springform cake pan. Line base with baking paper. Combine brown sugar, flour and cooca in a bowl. Stir in egg and cooled melted chocolate mixture until combined. Fold in white chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked. Cool completely in pan. Place dark chocolate and remaining 30g butter in a glass heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon, for 2-3 minutes or until melted and smooth. Cool slightly. Place boiling water in a small bowl. Sprinkle over gelatine. Whisk with a fork until gelatine has dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly. Add gelatine mixture to chocolate mixture. Stir until well combined. Using an electric mixer, beat cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Add egg yolks. Beat to combine. Add chocolate mixture. Beat until just combined. Spoon mousse mixture over cold brownie. Smooth top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or until set. Top with fresh and chocolate-coated raspberries before serving.
(To make chocolate-coated raspberries, simply dip frozen raspberries into melted dark chocolate. Place on baking paper lined tray and refrigerate until needed.)
We sadly missed Nancy’s formal birthday celebrations because we were on a little family getaway, so I made some cupcakes so that the kids got to sing to her anyway. After a tip from my cupcake queen making friend, this is my go-to cupcake recipe now. It always works and the cupcakes are fresh for a couple of days after making them. I’ve never bothered with the swirl and usually just make them vanilla flavoured though.
And here’s the cutest little one year old ever ready to devour her (third) birthday cake!
If you’re looking for a super quick, easy and filling dinner idea then look no further! My Mum used to make this casserole for the troops when we were growing up and we loved it. I had forgotten about it until a couple of weeks ago when I had a BBQ chicken to use and not much time to make dinner – 20 minutes later it was all cooked and on the table and everyone was happy! All of the measurements below are approximates…usually we just chop and add and make it up as we go so play around with the quantities and you can even try different vegetables if you like. We usually serve ours with rice or pasta, or you could use it as the filling for a yummy chicken pie!
Easy Chicken and Vegetable Casserole
50g butter
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
3 Tbs plain flour
2 Tbs chicken stock powder
water
1 BBQ chicken, shredded
Melt butter over medium heat in frypan. Add onion and cook until soft.
Add carrots, peas and corn. Cook for a couple of minutes.
Add flour and mix to a thick paste with the butter (you might need to add more butter and/or flour depending on how much sauce you want to make.)
Add chicken stock and about 1/2 cup water. Stir until water is incorporated into butter/flour mixture and everything is simmering. Keep adding water and stirring well to blend together until you have desired quantity of sauce.
Add shredded chicken and simmer for 10 minutes until carrots are soft.
I’m slowly going through and updating some of my old recipe blog post photos (the dodgy ones!). Here are a few that I’ve cooked and taken recently if you fancy some weekend cooking!
