Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Main, Vegetable | Tags: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Bacon, Brushed Potato, Carrot, Corn, Corn on the Cob, Potato, Red Potato, Vegetables, www.aussiefarmers.com.au, Zucchini
Smiley Saturday time again. If you want to join in then click on the Smiley Saturday link above and head over to Lightenings to enter your Smiley Saturday link.
This made me smile
The first time I’ve used all 4 burners on the stove at once.
Back Left – corn on the cob
Back Right – tinned spaggetti (or noodle soup according to my youngest)
Front Left – fried carrot and zucchini sticks with bacon strips
Front Right – whole baby red potatoes (peeled)
An odd evening meal to be sure but I’m determined to use everything we have in the house and not buy any extras. I can’t seem to go into a Supermarket these days and walk out having spent less than $30, so I just don’t go in at all.
I’m also Smiling about the things kids say. 
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Fruit, Vegetable, Weekly Box | Tags: Apple, Apples, Asparagus, Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Avocado, Baby Bok Choy, Banana, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Brown Onion, Carrot, Chat Potato, Cherry Tomato, Cos Lettuce, Food, Fruit, Golden Delicious Apple, Lemon, Lettuce, Mandarin, Murcott Mandarin, Onion, Orange, Pears, Potato, Sundowner Apples, Sweet Potato, Tomato, Vegetable, www.aussiefarmers.com.au, Zucchini
So what did I get from Aussie Farmers Direct for my $35AU this week? Lots and lots of my fav. foods thats what.
4 x Pears
3 x Sundowner Apples
3 x Golden Delicious Apples
5 x Bananas
4 x Carrots
1 x Avocado - my most fav. fruit in the whole entire world.
2.5kg bag Chat Potato
2 x Broccoli
3 x Brown Onions
3 x Murcott Mandarins
1 x Baby Bok Choy (Shanghai)
1 x Cos baby leaves punnet
4 x Oranges
1 x Lemon
1 x Sweet Potato
3 x Zucchini Green
1 x Asparagus Bunch
1 x Tomato Cherry Punnet
Now for confession time.
Wow! I have nothing to confess this week 
:: Happy Dance :: we used everything. The celery got chopped up and put into little bags in the freezer to add to meals. Pear got turned into more apple and pear butter. Everything else was eaten during the week. Now that is awesome.
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Lunch, Salad, Vegetable | Tags: ALDI, Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Carrot, Chana Masala, Chick Pea, Chilli, Salad, Salsa, Scroggin, Sweet Potato, Trail Mix, www.aussiefarmers.com.au, Zucchini
Sadly without pictures because I’m not that awesome
I’ve been sending hubby to work the last few days with stunning salads and tins of flavoured tuna (ALDI is best for real deep flavour and not watery sandwich tuna, plus good prices). I did have to supplement a few salad ingredients from Coles to those provided in our Aussie Farmers Direct box, but hubby had been enjoying the change to his lunches.
I spent Friday cooking up a bunch of meals to freeze for hubbys lunches.
Chickpea and Sweet Potato Curry – using some Chana Masala spice mix provided by one of the Indian mums from PreSchool. OMG that is some awesome curry and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be making it again. Hubby may not actually get to eat any of this one because I love it so much. Made up a big pot of coconut rice to go with it and help reduce the heat a little. Got 5 single serve meals and 1 family size.
Chilli Beef with carrots, zucchini, onion and celery – this I made in the slow cooker, put the beef and veggies in and added a pot of tomato salsa dip from ALDI. No extra liquid. With mashed potato this made up 6 single servings. It is good but not as awesome as the curry.
Spag. Bol with grated zucchini and carrot. I’ve made this one before. Got another 5 single meals out of it.
So there is hubbys lunches for a fortnight at least along with his Scroggin snack and some meals for me. All Good
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Fruit, Vegetable, Weekly Box | Tags: Asparagus, Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Banana, Bell Pepper, Broccoli, Brown Onion, Carrot, Celery, Food, Fruit Vegetable, Granny Smith Apple, Lemon, Murcott Mandarins, Onion, Orange, Pear, Potato, Potato Salad, Red Bell Pepper, Red Capsicum, Red Potato, Rockmelon, Sundowner Apple, Tomato, Washed Potato, www.aussiefarmers.com.au
Heidi was very excited when the doorbell rang at 5.50pm on Thursday afternoon, she ran to look out the window and started yelling out to me “Is farmers direx”, “You get the box mummy”, “Is my farmers direx”. Awww. Nothing like a little indoctrination. Then she did a happy dance while I opened the box.
So what did I get from Aussie Farmers Direct for my $35AU this week? I couldn’t find the list of what was in the box so hopefully I’ve got it all, I’m typing this up as I put it all away.
4 x Pears
3 x Sundowner Apples
3 x Granny Smith Apples
4 x Bananas
1 x Lemon
1 x bunch Asparagus (mine mine all mine!)
1 x massive bunch of Celery (Mel can I interest you?)
4 x Carrots
2.5kg bag Red Washed Potato
2 x Broccoli
3 x Brown Onions
3 x Murcott Mandarins
1 x Red Onion
1 x 100g salad mix leaves
4 x Navel Oranges
4 x Tomatoes
1 x Rockmelom
1 x Red Capsicum (Bell Pepper)
Now for confession time.
I’ve thrown out the iceberg lettuce, it is not going to get eaten here at all.
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Main, Vegetable | Tags: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Broccoli, Broccoli Gratin, cauliflower, Cauliflower Gratin, Corn, Corn on the Cob, Diner, Food, Gratin, Main, Scotch Fillet Steak, Steak, Vegetables, www.aussiefarmers.com.au
I was so happy with the way my scalloped potatos turned out that I decided to use the same white sauce for a broccoli – cauliflower Gratin.
I used a whole head of cauliflower and a bunch of broccoli, the same amount of sauce as in the potato recipe. Cook the cauli and broccoli in the microwave first then put into an oven proof dish. Cover with the white sauce and bake in 180C oven for 20 minutes.
The corn I put into a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes.
And the steak was my luxury item – Scotch fillet steak, fresh from the butcher. I did cheat and cook it on the George Foreman Grill but it was delicious anyways.
The Verdict – This was divine. Yummy veggies, the cauli and broccoli gratin was even nice reheated for dinner the next day. And of course steak, yum. 
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Dessert, Food, Vegetable | Tags: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Beetroot, Cake, Chocolate, Chocolate Cake, Dessert, Food, Vegetable, White Chocolate, www.aussiefarmers.com.au
Today is a happy day and that needs to be celebrated with cake.
Before we get started I need to make my opinion on white chocolate clear – it is an abomination, it is not chocolate and I really do not like it.
I saw this recipe for chocolate beetroot cake and thought it sounded pretty cool. Then I thought how about I adapt it for white chocolate and then you would really be able to fully enjoy the fabulous beetroot colour. Plus I’d rather waste white chocolate in a beetroot cake than use the real stuff.
So I got what was left of my beetroot and boiled them for 45 minutes until they were done, when they were cool I rubbed the skin off and took off the tops and tails. Then I put them into my Braun choppy thing and mulched them until they were all blended into a beetroot mashy thing.
Remember to wear gloves!
Ingredients
30g white chocolate really finely grated – to almost powder
115g plain flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
150g caster sugar
240ml canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 whole eggs, beaten
200g plain cooked (vacuum packed) beetroot – not with vinegar – well drained & grated
110g plain white chocolate, chopped into small pieces (rubble rather than dust)
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and mix in the powdered white chocolate and sugar. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Grease a 18.5cm (7-inch) cake tin with butter and line with greaseproof paper. Pour in the cake mix.
Which will kinda look like this, possibly with less children looking in concerned about the bowl full of clotted blood you are turning into a cake.
Bake for 50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. It will be fairly moist and ‘fudge-y’ in the middle.
Turn out, and cool on a rack. Serve dusted with icing sugar and with a dollop of creme fraiche.
The Verdict – This was an interesting experiment, the colour did not turn out as hoped, there were blotches of purple red between blotches of plain cake colour. Hubby and the girls rather liked it. I could still taste the foul white chocolate. The texture was yummy. I have enough beetroot left that I could make the dark chocolate version. Then again I could also make a chocolate mud cake and slice the beetroot for sandwichs which is really a much better use of chocolate I also have about 2/3 cup of purply red liquid that was left after boiling the beetroots. Not sure where I will go with that but it was such a lovely colour I couldn’t bring myself to throw it out.
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Main, Vegetable | Tags: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Crock Pot, Dairy Free, Food, Onion, Potato, Scalloped Potato, Slow Cooker, Soy, Vegetable, www.aussiefarmers.com.au
I feel like I’m racing against time trying to use up the veggies from last week before they die a mouldy death and also get to this weeks veggies whilst they are still crispy and fresh.
I used this fabulous Scalloped Potato recipe to make Dairy Free Scalloped Potatoes in the Slow Cooker / Crock Pot
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons Nuttelex
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. pepper
- 1 1/2 cups soy milk
- 1/2 Onion sliced finely
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups cheese grated*
- 5 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
Preparation:
Turn potatoes into a buttered slow cooker, layer the sliced onion about halfway through. Combine butter, flour, salt and pepper together in saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk in milk gradually until no lumps remain. Heat and stir until bubbly and thickened. Stir in cheese to melt. Put sliced potatoes in crockpot; pour cheese sauce over. Cover and cook on low 5 to 7 hours.
Serves 4.
I needed the full 7 hour cooking time so these were not ready for my girls dinner but were for hubbys and mine.
No picture as it was white potato, in white sauce on a white plate and did not photograph well at night with a flash.
* we are lucky that Heidi can tolerate cheese, the process that turns it from milk to cheese seems to remove whatever dairy thing she is intolerant of. If I was to make this for my dairy allergic relatives I’d use a grated soy cheese.
The Verdict – This was yummy, I had extra white sauce left over that I used on my corned beef sandwiches, I think that was yummier even.
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Fruit, Snack | Tags: Apple, Apple Butter, Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Cinnamon, Crock Pot, Food, Fruit, Pear, Pear Butter, Slow Cooker, www.aussiefarmers.com.au
Ingredients
8 Pears
5 Apples
1 cup Water or apple cider
1 cup Brown Sugar
2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cloves
Put all the ingredients into the crock pot / slow cooker. I had frozen up left over pieces of apple and pear from the girls PreSchool snacks, the bits they hadn’t eaten. Much of it was not peeled even and I worried that would effect the end result but it didn’t at all. So now I know not to waste time peeling all the apples and pears.
Cook on low for 6 hours stirring occasionally.
Leave a toothpick or chopstick under the lid to vent some of the steam and help the liquid reduce.
After 6 hours use a stick blender to mush everything together until it is smooth and spreadable.
Cook in the crock pot / slow cooker for a couple more hours on low with a tooth pick or chopstick in the side to vent the steam. Basically at this point I was aiming to make it really thick, if you prefer a thinner consistency you could stop after blending and move straight onto bottling.
Once finished you can bottle it up to give away as gifts or keep it all for yourself and don’t share the yummy goodness.
Tastes great on toast, sandwiches or as a spread for roast pork.
The Verdict – Apple Butter has been a staple in our home since I discovered the recipe and how easy it was to make in the slow cooker / crock pot. You MUST make this. 
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Food, Fruit, Vegetable, Weekly Box | Tags: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Banana, Broccoli, Brown Onion, Brushed Potato, Carrot, Cherry Tomato, Corn, Food, Fruit, Golden Delicious Apple, Iceberg Lettuce, Murcott Mandarins, Oranges, Pear, Red Onion, Strawberry, Sundowner Apple, Sweet Potato, Tomato, Vegetable, www.aussiefarmers.com.au, Zucchini
So what did I get from Aussie Farmers Direct for my $35AU this week?
4 x Pears Apple & Pear Butter coming soon
3 x Sundowner Apples
3 x Golden Delicious Apples
4 x Bananas
4 x Carrots
2 x Corn
8 x Brushed Potato
2 x Broccoli
3 x Brown Onions
2 x Zucchini
3 x Murcott Mandarins
1 x Red Onion
1 x Iceberg Lettuce
4 x Oranges
2 x Sweet Potato
1 x Cherry Tomato Punnet
1 x Strawberry Punnet
2 x Tomatoes
Now for confession time.
We still have the Honey Dew Melon, Broccolli, Cauliflower, Carrots, Potatos and Onions (and some stuff I’ve forgotten) from the previous week. Being in hospital with Heidi for much of the week means food at home really didn’t get eaten. I’m working on using it all up but have not had time to post about it.
I did have to throw out some of the roasted and mashed pumpkin because I didn’t get it into the freezer in time and it was going mouldy in our fridge by the time I noticed it yesterday.
Filed under: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Dessert, Food, Vegetable | Tags: Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Dairy Free, Dessert, Food, Pumpkin, Pumpkin Pie, Soy Milk, Vegetable, www.aussiefarmers.com.au
In addition to the amazing Pumpkin Ice Cream that I blogged about last week I also made Pumpkin Pie.
After our days in hospital there was not much pie left when I came back and wanted to take a picture
Recipe is thanks to Akatsukami at the Unaboard
Pumpkin Pie
1/8 tsp. salt
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. ginger
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup Skim soy milk
1½ cups mashed cooked pumpkin
Beat eggs slightly. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in. Add milk and pumpkin and mix. Pour custard into an unbaked pie shell*; bake at 450°F for 10 minutes; then reduce temperature to 325°F and bake 35 minutes longer.
You can also add 1/3 cup chopped nuts to the unbaked custard.
For a richer pie, sift together ¾ cup sugar, 2 Tbsp. cornstarch, and the spices. Add an egg yolk, 2 cups whole milk, and 1 cup pumpkin. Cook custard until thickened, stirring constantly. Pour into baked pie shell, cover with meringue, and bake.
* You can purchase dairy free pie shells at the supermarket, just make sure to check the ingredients on the back, usually it is the savoury shells that are dairy free.
The Verdict – I love this Pumpkin PIe. I also love that you don’t need to use canned pumpkin which is not readily available in Australia. This works best with Japanese Pumpkin, I’ve found Butternut Pumpkin is too moist. Also roast your pumpkin to cook it, boiling the pumpkin makes it too wet. I love Soy Milk with this, the flavour really seems to compliment the pumpkin much more than regular cow milk.
