donna's/leonie's pesto meatballs

Right the originality of this recipe definately belongs to Donna Hay, Simple Dinners..... It is soo good and such a quick life saving meal for any busy family.... I will post the original recipe then at the end add my alternative...

500g mince
3/4 cup store bought pesto
3 slice good bread (i use sour dough)
1/4 cup  milk
tub bocconccini
1/2 cup pitted sicilian olives
2 tubs cherry/baby roma tomatoes
2 cloves Garlic
olive oil

Soak the bread in milk and squeeze. In a bowl mix mince, minced garlic,  bread, pesto to make smooth mince mixture. (the more you mix the more elastic your balls will be... honetly its a good thing!) using a 1/4 cup measure make meatballs, place in an oven proof  pan and fry meatballs until just brown on outside, scatter around tomatoes and olives, place in oven for 15 minutes at 180c. Add scattered bocconccini to pan bake for further 10 minutes.

simply serve with crusty bread and enjoy.... sooo good!!!!

now for my variation.... I have been sick with the flu for a week or more so I have been cheating with my meal plan.... I also am a crazy busy full time working mum that has busy kids and I need solutions for yummy dinners that are quick, easy and taste GREAT! Now I love anything in the slow cooker but my hubby and boys are not as keen on the ol'stew.... so I have been playing/searching for great slow cooker recipes because this baby saves my bacon weekly!

now I made these meatballs at 6 in the morning, only they were a little different,

I mixed
500g mince
3//4 cup pesto
1 diced spanish onion
I mixed all of these then placed 1/2 jar passata sauce in base of my slow cooker, followed by meatballs, followed by rest of passata mixed with 1 tin diced tomatoes. I scattered 2 good handfull of sicillian olives over the top, set on low and OMG HEAVEN!!!!!! oh I got home at 5pm and turned it off... was so good and easy.

I served this with some Barilla pasta and freshly grated parmesan, everyone in my house was HAPPY!!!!

One pot cheats roast chicken.....

Now I am busy, we are all busy, and feeding growing boys is difficult this much I know.... keeping everyone's taste buds happy is just as hard (I am the worst to please). I am always after that something different... you know it reaches to the front, sides and back of the palate, keeps it all happy.....

well, I spend, as most that know me well, way TOO much time in recipe books, online looking at food and recipes and on god forbid I say it out loud Facebook!!!! well in my 'spare' time I have found some wonderful blogs that I read for so many different reasons, I rarely comment, I rarely can think of witty things to say, some of these people make me look like a saint that swears very very little!!! but hey those reading that know me too well, a truckie and I have way more in common that just taste in bad driving music!!!!

well on my prowl of the internet I have stumbled upon one of the prettiest houses oh I mean blogs.... Sarah, I also love the ever funny beth . These ladies cook like me, so its only fair that the originality of the following recipe goes to sarah.....

Now for this recipe I have sourced one of my favourite pots... now I love cookware that should be NO secret and I have tonnes but I just have never had the cash to buy the real deal stuff, so when I happened to be shoppping in  a chain store last year and stumbled upon a copy of a pan I had been drooling over for less that half the price I snatched that baby up!!! I had just bought the big kahuna in red (oh baby its the real deal!!)... so anyway this pot is used 6 out of 7 nights I kid you not!!!! if you get your hands on this you will never look back!! I can only imagine what the real kahuna would be like....ahhhhhh dreaming of my happy place  with a variety of colours at my very finger tips..... (have to admit this online store is a saved favourite in my browser....click here to see.

Here is my baby.... I bought it here, love the new latte colour.... and of course the RED!

Now as for the recipe...hmmmm thats the whole point of the blog....

now this looks as easy as it is...honestly a roast on the table 50 minutes after getting home from work!!! I dice/chop may be more accurate any veges I have, here I have used potatoes, pumpkin and sweet potato, red onions, garlic, corn, and zucchini.

First step is to add the onion, garlic, and root veges to the pan splash with a good lug (but not too much) olive oil and bake for 30 mins in a hot oven (200c), when the timer goes off

seriously just wanted to show off my cool timer..... hmmmm may just collect them all!!!

take out of the oven and bury the chicken thighs into the veges, add some fresh thyme sprigs, and the 'softer veges' eg zucchini, corn etc.... I add1/2 cup of chicken stock as well, just helps with the moisture and sauce at the end... (if I am drinking a glass of wine or a bottle is open I will also splash some in at this stage also) put it all back into the oven for a further 20 mins or until everything is cooked...

seriously thats it,..... I remove the chicken and veges and plate up then over a medium heat I put the pan on and reduce the sauce to a gravy, pour some on the top and EAT!!!

seriously never a complaint and it never tastes the same..... and there are NEVER left overs!

Ps. I use at least half a head of garlic

pps... seriously love that I wrote 'if' I drink wine!!!! hahahahhaa of course I AM drinking wine!!!!

happy cooking xx

My hotchpotch savoury muffins

These muffins are a staple in the boys lunch boxes.... There are always some in the freezer, in the colder months they are great for work with soup, just adding that something missing thing I get from soup at times (to be honest I zap them in the microwave for 10 secs then they transform back into the fresh warm muffin straight out of the oven...smell and all) As I have always preferred savoury to sweet these or variations of these would have to be my favourite type of muffin.....

The savoury muffin base is:

3 cups self raising flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 cup of tasty cheddar, pizza cheese mix (or sometimes a mix of parmesan if you dare.... and I DARE!!)

That is the basic mix, now I add whatever is in the fridge, my usual suspects are Sundried tomatoes (yes they are cool and soooo NOT out of fashion, why people ever gave up on these is beyond me they are simply YUM), oven roasted capsicum (for these two I alwas have jars of 'always Fresh' in the fridge). I also add any cold meats hamm, salami, prosciutto(I dice and fry mine), herbs (I love cheese and chives!) pineapple works if it is well drained, to add more of a pizza flair you can add 2 tbs of tomato paste, eshallots diced are good too.... the list is seriously endless and limited only by your fridge and pantry ingredients!

Mix the basic mix until just combined, add all other ingredients mix til evenly stired through, using an icecream scoop add to lined muffin tine and bake for 25-30 minutes at 180

These babies are delicious warm straight out of the oven....

ENJOY!!!!

happy cooking xx

she makes cakes part 2......

ok seriously this post could be called this woman is crazy, has too much time on her hands or hmmmmm maybe she just never grew up..... ok I love to throw a party, it makes me smile from the inside out....I want my boys to know that they are uniquely special to me and their birthday is a time of absolute reflection on the wonderful people that they are and how I just love being their mum....We have had bumpy roads my boys and I  so I am reminded every birthday that every year is special and to be honest when we make to another number, I somethimes sigh with relief that we made.....(insert crash & burn and cry like a baby... depending on the child.... those that have ridden this journey with me know exactly who I am talking about....)

well the crazy parties started I guess with Lukes 'spooky' themed party, it honestly was to die for!!!boom boom. I had been very fortunate to meet a wonderful friend Steph, who was in Canberra on posting from the US of A!! she had so many decorations it was very easy to get out of hand... now I have to confess while this party was BRILLIANT the cake was less than impressive but hey it was original!

so here are some party pics...

this is my lightweight trying to pop a balloon.... if only I had the same issues!!!!!

The cake was a simple and basic chocolate cake in the shape of a ghost, I then covered the cake in vanilla icecream and froze the lot...While I think its the ugliest thing on earth there was not one complaint from kids or mums!!!

Next up is Alex's 5th birthday, it was bright fun and cool.... He had chosen an 'under the sea' theme, now this theme would happen to be the very first theme of my teaching career... so I had a few ideas.... but it was still fun to do and as always the kids had a blast so mission accomplished.... I LOVE this cake, he is so COOL and effective and seriously the simplest cake ever!

here are some pics



the birthday boy!

the party space...

Next was Lukes 7th, it was a fairly low key affair in terms of friends as we had just moved but it was HUGE in terms it was the First ever birthday with family...

 obviously a Ben ten theme....Luke desperately wanted to go to Movie world for his birthday, but we still had a small celebration!!! hahahha My family is BIG!!!!nothing is small!!! Lucky enough we could have it at Nanna and Grandad's after luke begging, he really wanted a 'pool' party..... who am I to deny a birthday wish I love them!!! our wonderful Canberra friends helped him celebrate too.... Now in my family there are a LOT of end of Feb birthdays so the cake was extra big and there was plenty for everyone, Luke felt very special to share with them

the Omnitrix

 next up was Alex of course, now this birthday was a party that will go down in my partying history as one of the greatest!!!! it was a Star wars party for my star wars mad boy!!!!! super fun had by all.....it was a celebration of all that the year promised and all we had all been through...we all needed this celebration.....and celebrate we DID!

We had jedi training, light sabers, jedi costumes I sewed for all the guests, destruction of the millenium falcom (water balloons) and Darth Vadar even paid a visit....

When I did these parties it was long before I found great party sites like the little big company and lily chic events and so many more, so I scrounged spotlight, woolies and the internet for ideas and accessories........ now I have found these girls my planning days have come to a screaming hault in the fear that I could never be creative enough,.....BUT I promise I spend hours drooling over their shops and products and have been grateful in winning a few prizes seriously check these ladies out!!! They are lovely and there are loads more like them... this my friends would be a dream job, I would be in my element.... but would need some design and cake decorating lessons first....


now here are some other cakes and goodies I have baked....they look ok and are fairly easy....I am not going to post instructions but if you want them ask and I may just do it....

 my birthday cake, vanilla bean sponge, chocolate ganache, with chocolate shards.... made with my gorgeous friend Jane celebrating my birthday, Marks and Tracey's, the Canberra crew together again xxx funny thing is I don't really like chocolate but LOVE making this cake!!! oh of course its accompanied with a COSMPOLITAN!!!!

The rainbow cake, an experiment from a picture - to picture perfect... LOVE LOVE LOVE everything about this cake! its so ME!

my gorgeous Niece Lola, just love that little chicky to bits xxxxxx

well thats the signifigant cakes of 2010...... seriously there is a cake every other week these posts take ages and life is crazy busy..... there will be more... be warned!!!!

happy cooking

Leonie xx

she bakes....part one.... there are lots of birthdays and cakes!!!!

well over the years I have baked a LOT of cakes and I mean A LOT of cakes.... this is how my food love started I guess, it was after my eldest son turned one and I SUCKED and his cake... it went in the bin after my husband and dad tried to hep fix it the morning of his first birthday party...I had to dash buy a store cake and smile between my heavily pregnant tears... my boys are close REAL close!!! You see I was trying to make an ELMO cake well it looked  like a deranged alien...... I have never forgiven my self for sucking quite so badly... so I have tried to make it up to my kids and give them birthday they will remember forever.....

so here are a few....

Lukes 2nd birthday, dorothy the Dinosaur.... an epic adventure involving, me, Mark, my mum and step dad Ken.....

Alex's 1st birthday Whale cake! the book is still blue!

Lukes 3rd birthday Thomas.....

Alex's 2nd birthday - captain Featherswords ship... complete with wiggles and deck hands...

Luke's 4th birthday - dress up party... mums cheat spiderman cake....

Alex's 3rd Birthday

the count down!

a much easier dinosaur thanks to womans day kids party cakes!!!

Lukes 5th borthday..... now this is where I came into party decorating and LOVED it all!!!

Alex's 4th birthday

Lukes 6th Birthday.....

more to come....

looking at these makes me teary... cannot believe I have big boys now... these parties and memories seem just like yesterday...