Category: Daily Life

Had a short rain storm yesterday evening, a welcome relief for the garden which instantly freshened up. The rain brought with it a cool change and fresh earthy scents into the garden. The damp ground, cool fresh air, and early morning sunshine provided wonderful conditions for my walk around the yard with the dogs this morning.

On days it doesn’t rain, I provide daily hand watering of the kitchen garden and potplants. They are pleasingly healthy, we’ve been having meals with fresh herbs and asian greens, although I had to fight off the caterpillars for the last of the bok choy. Today I noticed my first baby tomatoes of the season on the larger of the two bushes which gave a little thrill.

I’ve recently added a new “wing” to the vegie patch, using the “no dig” approach to gardening*. You start off with a thick layer of newspaper over the lawn, cover this with a layer of lucerne hay, sprinkle some organic fertiliser (I used Dynamic Lifter) and cover with a layer of straw. Another sprinkle of fertiliser and then add your compost layer where you plant your seeds or seedlings. I didn’t have compost so used some good quality potting mix.

I planted some capsicum seedlings in one section, and some Roma tomato seeds in another. Also popped some silver beet seeds in the first bed where the bok choy were – there is only one bok choy left, which I’ve let go to seed. I’ll grow some more after the hot part of the year is over.

* A funny little old lady called Esther Deans developed her “no dig” gardening method on poor soil similar to ours. Poor health prevented her from gardening in the traditional way, with lots of back-breaking digging. Instead she dreamt up this way of building up her garden through organic layers on top of the soil. A very practical approach for anyone, but particularly for those who are physically challenged. Esther’s books include anecdotes about people in wheelchairs building no-dig gardens on top of old bedsteads, to raise the garden up to a more accessible level. Don Burke (who wrote The Lazy Gardener) also promotes this method of gardening.

The plan was to make a vegetable lasagna, using my home-made ricotta in the cheese sauce. The lasagna sheets in the cupboard however, had been got at by pantry beetles and were full of chewed holes. It has been a while since we last made lasagna!

I decided to use some spiral pasta to make a pasta bake instead, and prepared a tasty vegetable sauce topped with the ricotta cheese. I borrowed ideas from a couple of recipes.

Ricotta cheese sauce from Spicy Vegetarian Lasagne on Allrecipes:

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 400g ricotta cheese
• 250g grated mozzarella cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed

I didn’t have mozzarella so substituted cheddar cheese. Also used fresh basil instead of oregano. This was very easy to prepare in the Thermie – threw in cubes of the harder cheeses to grate at speed 8 for 10 seconds, then added the other ingredients and combined at speed 5 for 5 seconds. Poured into a bowl and set aside.

The vegetable sauce from Vegetable Lasagne on Forum Thermomix:

• 1 onion peeled and quartered
• 1 clove garlic peeled
• 20 gm EVO
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, peeled and roughly chopped
• 100 gm sliced mushrooms
• 1 x 400 gm can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried basil

I omitted mushrooms and added a large capsicum (also didn’t peel the zucchini). Used fresh basil from the garden. Into the clean dry bowl of the Thermie I chopped the onion and garlic, with a splash of MOO (mild olive oil) since I’m not a fan of the taste of olive oil. Then sautéd for a couple of minutes on speed 1, temperature 100°C.

Added carrots and basil leaves, chopped. Added zucchini and capsicum, chopped. Added can of tomatoes, tomato paste and a spoon of vegetable stock concentrate (from EDC). Cooked for 15 minutes on Reverse speed 1, Varoma temperature.

To assemble, I placed pre-cooked pasta spirals in the bottom of a large 30 x 40 cm casserole dish, poured vegetable sauce over this and topped with the ricotta cheese sauce. Baked at 180°C for 40 – 50 mins until the topping was golden brown.

Very tasty 😀 the ricotta added a nice tang.

After making a delicious beef pot-roast in the slow cooker earlier in the week, we still had a good amount of leftovers and I was looking for a creative and delicious way to use it up. There are some brilliant ideas posted online but I ended up adapting a stroganoff recipe, without mushrooms (which aren’t good for my allergic hubby).

Into the Thermie I chopped half an onion and a little crushed garlic on speed 7 for 2 – 3 seconds. I added some cooked bacon pieces, left-over from making quiche the other day. These I sautéd for three minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.

A lot of easy stroganoff recipes will tell you to add a can of mushroom soup. I couldn’t use mushroom obviously, and also didn’t have any cans of soup in the pantry. Instead I used leftover gravy from the roast which had been frozen into ice cubes (glad I didn’t chuck it as I usually do!)

To the sautéd onion I added the beef (approx 2 cups, shredded with a fork), gravy cubes (approx 2 cups), a spoon each of tomato paste and vegetable stock concentrate (from Every Day Cookbook) and about a cup of hot water. I put this on a slow mix at Reverse speed soft for 10 mins at Varoma temperature.

Then I stirred in a couple of spoonfuls of light sour cream (using spatula) and served over spiral pasta I’d cooked earlier. Lovely smooth and tangy stew with tender stringy beef. Yummy! and a great way to use up leftovers 😀

Quite a different result from my second attempt at yogurt making. Instead of the lovely thick creamy substance of my first batch, I had a jar full of curds and whey (and not a tuffet or spider in sight!)

For this second batch I had slightly changed my technique. I had poured my cooked yogurt into a large glass jar wrapped in a blanket, instead of the ceramic casserole dish. I left the yogurt in the microwave oven with the light on as before. When I checked on it a couple of hours later I remember thinking it seemed a lot warmer than last time.

In fact the temperature got too high, which overcooked the yogurt. Fortunately all was not lost when I learned from Andrea at Forkable that I could drain the curds to get ricotta. Easy!

Now looking for some tasty ways to use ricotta 🙂

I have a few days off work right now and thought it a good time to start a little organising in the clutter hot spots around our home – the study, the blue room, the shed. The last two are the trickiest because they are designated husband zones. The trick will be to get the job done without hubby thinking that he’ll never find his treasures again! It will be a gradual process. I shall need to work hard at curbing my instinct to throw things away..

Today I began in the blue room, 30 mins to clear a space about two foot square at the doorway. Done! Now we don’t have to step over things to enter the room 😉 As a bonus, I found $2 in loose change, just in that small space!

When I can walk in here to the window without having to step over things, I will hang the third and final of my new window blinds.

I’ve been having so much fun in the kitchen lately with my Thermomix. It has rekindled my enjoyment of baking, and I’ve been trying new recipes and sharing the results with family and friends.

• chocolate cake
• peachy cheesecake slice
• apple and sour cream slice
• ginger cake
• armenian nutmeg cake
• cupcakes
• jam drop cookies
• oaty cookies
• bread
• savoury muffins and quiche

With all this baking going on it’s become evident we need a new oven. Maybe sometime in the new year.. in the meantime I’ll make do, and shall practice making some baked Christmas treats. I’m keen to try Lavender Shortbread with my culinary grade lavender flowers, and some Spicy Parmesan Shortbread for a savoury treat.

In the last couple of days I made my first batch of yogurt, it was surprisingly easy and successful! I followed the instructions in the Every Day Cookbook, and also read up on all the yogurt-making tips on Forum Thermomix and Super Kitchen Machine.

After heating the milk and adding my yogurt starter (3 tablespoons of set-in-the-tub natural yogurt from Aldi) I poured my yogurt to set in a warmed ceramic casserole dish with its own lid, wrapped in tea towels and rested in the microwave with the light on for warmth. I couldn’t resist a peek after six hours, and was delighted to discover the thick, creamy result just like the Youtube video I’d watched.

My next challenge was mayonnaise, and unfortunately the first attempt was a fail. There seems to be a knack to making mayo.. and luckily I saw Quirky Cooking Jo’s tip about re-using my failed mayo to start again with a fresh egg, mustard, vinegar etc. The second attempt was a crowning success! I also followed Jo’s suggestion to add a little honey, which added a nice touch of sweetness. 🙂