gypsy eggs...

My sister and I had brunch last week during my 'incubation'*, at a lovely cafe in Willunga. My Eggs a la Flamenca were completely delicious!

Yummo...

I'm changing up my meal plans (again) and decided to find my own recipe for eggs a la flamenca. The recipe I used and adapted turned out to be called 'Gypsy Eggs' - how appropriate.

The final product...

RECIPE:  GYPSY EGGS (inspired by Delicious Magazine)

1 tbs olive oil
2 chorizo, thinly sliced
1 potato, thinly sliced and cut into 2 cm pcs
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
300 ml chicken stock
1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
4 eggs
some chopped parsley OR basil leaves
ciabatta OR sourdough

Step 1:  Boil potatoes for 5-6 minutes until just tender. Meanwhile, heat the oil in an ovenproof frypan over medium heat.  Add the chorizo and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until beginning to crisp.  Remove and drain on paper towel.

Step 2:  Add the boiled potato and and cook for 2 minutes. Remove and add to chorizo.  Add onion to the frypan and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until softened.  Add the garlic, tomatoes, stock, paprika, chilli and fried chorizo and potatoes, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the mixture has thickened.  Season with salt and black pepper.  Add peas for final 2 minutes until just tender.

Step 3:  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 C.  Make four indents in the pan, then crack an egg into each indent.  Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until the eggwhite has set but yolks are still soft.  Sprinkle with parsley or basil and serve immediately with bread.

(tomato mixture can be divided into separate baking dishes if preferred)

Enjoy...



* Incubation Explained

fortnightly menus...

Following a few years of chaos, a baby, going back to work and some seriously nutrient-less meals, I've finally put together a fortnightly menu. It allows for nutrition, ease and a little excitement, as well as fitting nicely into our budget and work/play routine.

WEEK 1 -
Saturday:  Cauliflower & Pea Curry
Sunday:  Spaghetti Bolognese (my recipe changes each time but the essentials stay the same)
Monday:  OUT (blessed)
Tuesday:  Eggs/Toast, Fried Rice, Home-made nachos
Wednesday:  Vietnamese Chicken (Thrifty Kitchen)
Thursday:  Vietnamese Cold Rolls (using leftover Vietnamese Chicken)
Friday:  Vegetarian Chilli (Delicious - Quick smart cook)

WEEK 2 -
Saturday:  BBQ Chicken & Proscuitto/Basil Pizzas (Jamie Oliver - Pizza Dough)
Sunday: Chicken, Olive and Fennel Pasta
Monday: OUT
Tuesday:  Chilli con carne, Eggs/Toast
Wednesday:  Beef Stew & Salad (Apples for Jam)
Thursday:  Take Out
Friday:  Carbonara & Greens (Everyday Kitchen)


NOTES:
These meals change each school term (10 weeks), so we get variety and follow the change in seasons. I've organised the meals so that I'm using up all ingredients in one week i.e. week 1, coriander, rice noodles etc; there has been a lot less waste.

I try to stick to my weekly budget of $120, which sometimes includes wine/beer (woot!). I shop according to my list and nothing more, however I do include things like haloumi, proscuitto and dark chocolate so we don't feel we're missing out.  I also bake two different snacks ie jam drops, cheese scones (like we did here) and plan possible breakfasts/lunches to include in my weekly shopping list. 

We're fortunate that my parents care for Nora on Mondays while I work, so dinner is gratefully gobbled at their abode Monday nights.  

Tuesdays is another work day for me so I want something quick and easy.  If I've got energy, I'll give Nora eggs and then lazily make something delicious for Joel and I after she's gone to bed.  Hence the multiple choice Tuesdays...

I make a basic tomato sauce recipe here, that becomes pizza sauce for Saturday and the base of the pasta dish for Sunday (I add fennel and some marinated red peppers into the basic tomato sauce). 

None of the meals, including take out night, are limited to specific nights.  We swap and change depending on how we feel.  It does, however, ensure that we only eat out once a fortnight (of course, this does not include our occasional indulgent weekend brunches...these are not negotiable!).

Phew...hope this ramble helps! I would love to hear your own menu plan / quick recipe ideas.



**If there's no link to the recipe and you don't have the recipe book listed, inbox me and I'll send you the details. 

Pumpkin Soup or Stew...

My poor little Nora fell and hurt her tooth on Tuesday and so that night we were awake...a LOT. At 3am, when I had resigned myself to the fact that it was now the start of my day, I made some coffee and toast, bundled Nora onto my lap, turned on ABC iview and started watching my new favourite cooking show Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers. It was the 'Hot and Cold' episode, which includes lamb and natural yoghurt, caramel apples with apple ice cream, hot porridge with cold milk and a lovely pumpkin dish with sour cream.

With a giant pumpkin sitting in my fridge I knew the soup/stew was a great idea for tonights dinner. The recipe is simple and can be done while doing other things:

Ingredients
40g butter 
2 onions, chopped 
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped (I didn't have any celery so added some red onion and capsicum)
3 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
400g lentils 
1.2 litres vegetable stock
600g assorted pumpkin (total chopped weight) (I also added some sweet potato)
small bunch parsley, chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp sour cream

Bubbling...

Preparation method

In a large pan melt the butter and then add chopped onions, carrot and celery. Add rosemary and bay leaves and after a few minutes add the chopped garlic. When softened, add lentils and pour over a litre of veggie stock. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer.

Peel assorted pumpkin into large chunks.  Add to the stew, season and then pour over enough water to just cover all the ingredients. Put a lid on the pan and leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes.

When the stew is almost ready, add the chopped parsley.

To make the stew creamier, remove a small bowlful to a food processor and blitz it with 200ml of stock. Pour it back in and the stew becomes instantly more velvety. (I didn't do this as my pumpkin/sweet potato was so soft it turned into a soup just by stirring).

Serve the stew in bowls adding a spoonful of sour cream to each. 

-------------------
I also made up a batch of Jamie Oliver's Pizza Dough and later added some tomato relish and danish feta for a cheats pizza:

DELISH!

School lunches...

Now that I've returned to work, I'm finding it hard to organise lunches for my teacher husband, little one and myself on the morning of each work day.  There are also times (many) that I get home and cannot for the life of me think of a meal that will take less than 20 minutes to prepare and won't have us all wailing in that dreaded 5-6pm period.

So, I got busy on Sunday and prepared a zucchini slice and a whole heap of mini sausage rolls.

Zucchini slice is lovely hot or cold for lunch or dinner and the perfect picnic food!

I only recently found the sausage roll recipe and since then they have been taken to school, work and a recent church luncheon. Always a hit.

My freezer is looking much happier (with things that will actually get eaten) and so is my family, now that they can munch down on one of these rather than tinned corn and a frozen roll...

Today's the day...

I've been meaning to start posting for a while but was a little nervous about getting it right so kept putting it off.  However, since reading this blogpost from Imogen Eve I've decided to bite the bullet and begin with a small non-scary post.

So...

On Friday night, this little munchkin and I were home alone while Joel had a well-earned evening out. I decided to have porridge for dinner mostly because of the ease but also because I know Nora loves it! We added some raspberries which made it healthy and super delicious.

What's your easy go-to meal?