Mmmmm I love spring salads. This one has a very mild chilli pepper in it, so mild infact that it tasted not unlike capsicum with just a little bit of extra zing, not much though, just a hint.
Been enjoying lots of turkish bread and wraps with yummy fresh salads. Occasionally I splash out and add some tinned fish or left over corned beef.
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, Main, Salad, Vegetable | Tags: Aioli, Aioli Mayonnaise, Aussie Farmers Direct Challenge, Bacon, Cabbage, Carrot, Chicken, Coleslaw, Dairy Free, Eggs, Fathers Day, Food, Fruit, Knives, Mundial, Pears, Potato, Potato Salad, Red Onion, Roast Chicken, Salad, Vegetables, www.aussiefarmers.com.au
Add playing with knives to your list of “Things not to do at 5am when you’ve had 4 hours sleep and no coffee.”
Thankfully I only sacrificed a fingernail to the God of Sharp Stuff before I came to my senses and had lots and lots of coffee 
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I must digress for a moment to state my deep love of my Mundial Knives and thank my brother-in-law Peter for suggesting them. They are perfect for my needs, well after sleep and coffee when I’m less prone to injure myself.
My contribution to the in-laws Fathers Day lunch was:
2 Roast Chickens (roasted with pears inside them instead of stuffing, they were very moist)
Coleslaw
Potato Salad.
Coleslaw
3 Carrots
2/3 of the half a cabbage.
Kraft Coleslaw dressing (not the low fat kind as that has dairy in it)
I grated the carrots and the cabbage using the fancy machine my mother-in-law gave me. Very quick and easy once I cut everything down so it fit in the machine. Which of course meant waiting for the coffee to hit my nervous system and make using a knife less dangerous.
Mix it all together, I like to be pretty generous with the dressing. Yummy coleslaw ready to go. Plus if you are lucky you get leftovers to eat on sandwiches with the left over corned beef from dinner the other night. 
Sorry about the shocking photo it was pretty early and I was a little sleep deprived. 
Potato Salad
This is a recipe I got from my mum and of course modified a little, I just can not help myself, I have to change something.
2 kg bag of smallish potatoes
250g Middle Bacon
1 dozen eggs
1 red onion
Super Secret Ingredient 
Shhhh don’t tell anyone else – Aioli Mayonnaise. I’ve been buying the Neil Perry Fresh brand from Safeway but looking up the recipe online I think I could make this myself. It is also dairy free.
Peel potatoes and quarter. Boil until just cooked. Drain and tip into large salad bowl. Yep ‘tip’ I’m all about technical cooking terms.
Boil the eggs until they are hard (I give them about 10 minutes to be sure). Peel the eggs and quarter them. They can go into the large salad bowl with the potato.
Finely dice the onion and the bacon. Saute together in a medium hot fry pan (I don’t add oil, just let the bacon fat do) until the bacon is a little crispy and the onion is translucent. They get a really nice smell happening about the time the are ready to finish cooking. Tip them out onto some paper towel to drain the fat.
Then add the onion and bacon into the large salad bowl also. Pour in all the mayonnaise and mix together gently. You have to be gentle or else the eggs fall to pieces.
Another bad pic sorry.
The potato salad was a massive hit and we only had enough left over after for hubby and I to have a spoonful each.
The Verdict – This potato salad is TEH AWESOME! Coleslaw was good, not stellar but good and very tasty the next day on sandwiches which I think is the best use for coleslaw after spreading on hot chips. The chicken with pear stuffed inside it was also really nice and moist, my chickens usually roast too dry which is why I avoid roasting them, maybe pear is the secret. Overall a successful contribution to the family lunch. 
