The life and times of Libby Withnall

Another very yummy and simple dinner. Christy made this recipe a few weeks ago and it instantly became a family favourite, and it’s a great way to use up extra rice.

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Ingredients

2 Tbl olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

4 eggs, well beaten

4 Spring onions or shallots, chopped

1 red capsicum or 1 carrot, diced

4 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

Soy Sauce – to taste, min 2 Tbl

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1. Heat large frying pan, add 2 tsp of olive oil. Pour in the eggs and cook like an omelette. Remove, set aside, and dice when cooled slightly.

2. Add remaining olive oil to pan (I just use the same one). Add ginger, garlic, spring onion and capsicum.

3. Cook for a few mintues.

4. Add the sesame oil and rice and cook until rice is heated through.

5. Add omelette, peas and corn. Cook for a few mins until heated through.

6. Stir in soy sauce.

7. Serve and enjoy.

****  Recipe adapted from Ready, Steady, Spaghetii by Lucy Broadhurst – a really great book full of recipes suitable for kids.

Okay, we actually call these Weight Watchers banana muffins because I got the recipe off their community boards some time back, but they honestly have to be THE easiest banana muffins I have EVER made – and I have quite a few different recipes. Best off all they are “reasonably” healthy and just 3 pro points on the Weight Watchers Program. And it’s a fantastic way to use up those too-ripe super-expensive Aussie bananas that we can’t let go to waste.

So just how easy are they? Assemble ingredients (the vanilla essence is a mistake and not needed for this recipe)….

Mash two ripe bananas…

add remaining ingredients…an assistant makes the job easier….

Mix…

Then divide into muffin trays….

and pop into the oven. Easy Peasy!!!

So…would you like the recipe?
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wholemeal self raising flour

1/2 cups sugar (I use rapadura or brown)

1/4 cup Macadamia (or other) oil

2/3 cup light/skim milk

2 ripe bananas

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Spray 12 cup muffin tray with cooking spray.

Sift flour into a bowl then add sugar, oil and milk. Mix well but do not beat. Add mashed bananas and fold through mixture.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake for 15-20 mins until golden.

Since it’s school holidays I thought I’d share a nice easy recipe that you can whip up yourself or get the kids to make/help with.

Ingredients

1 cup self-raising flour

pinch bi carb soda

1/4 cup castor sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

jam and cream to serve

Method

Sift flour and soda into bowl.

Mix in castor sugar and make a well in the center.

Gradually stir in egg and enough milk to give a smooth, creamy pouring consistency.

OR you can do as I do and dump everything into a bowl and whisk .

Drop tablespoons of batter onto a heated, greased frying pan, allowing room for spreading. Cook until bubbles begin to appear, then turn, cook for 1min.

Soooooo easy, and so yummy. Best eaten fresh.

HI everyone. Hope you read my travels and saw what yummy foods I was eating on vacation. We tried to have local foods wherever possible and I’m going to do a post soon highlighting my favourites. But in the meantime it’s back to normal eating. While I think I did eat pretty well and chose healthy foods most of the time I have been missing my normal favourites like my salads and, of course, green smoothies.

I woke around 6am after a very goods nights sleep in my own bed. First up was tea and some orange cookies.

This morning I was faced with a pretty empty fridge.

Luckily Kevin had bought some bread (oh, how I missed my Bakers Delight Country Grain) and milk so I was able to have grilled cheese on toast with pineapple (no sliced so had to use crushed!).

I started with the unpacking, chatted with Mum & Dad and had a choc nut bar before heading off to get some groceries. Ah, that looks better.

Back home I got some lazy vegetable soup on the go. Simply open 2 packets of precut veggies, add water and chicken stock.

Boil until cooked. Blend and stir through a small tin of evaporated skim milk. Easy and delicious.

After that I prepared lunch. Pita bread stuffed with mayo, cheese, tomato and sprouts (I missed sprouts!)

A little later this was consumed.

Surprisingly I didn’t think about food again until I got hungry at 4pm. I had some cruskits and spreadable cheese (missed these too) and a bowl of veggie soup.

You’ll notice that over the next few days I’ll be eating all the foods I missed during the last 6 weeks. So it’s not surprising that tonights dinner featured roast vegetables. I cheated and bought a veggie pack (since my organic delivery isn’t until Thurs). So I just cut everything up, except for the pumpkin, and baked with a vegetable snitzel which I shared with Kevin.

It was delicious.

A few hours later I finished the day the same way it started – with tea and some orange biscuits! Much I have loved my holidays it’s nice to have access to my regular food. Oh, and the best news, I actually managed to lose 2-3kg on holidays. I intend to keep it off and work on losing the next 10kg before Christmas!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
300 grams aborio rice
3 1/2 cups chicken stock
125 grams button mushroom
1 carrot, diced
2 zucchini, diced
1 bunch bok choy, trimmed
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
30 grams cheese, grated

Method

Heat the oil in a wok and add the onion and garlic. Cook until onion is soft. Stir in rice and coat with the oil.

Add the stock and simmer, covered, for 10 mins.

Remove from heat and stir in vegetables.

Cook gently for 5 mins. Allow to stand for 10mins, covered.

Serve sprinkled with cheese

Serves 4 (above photos are for 2 serves)

Recipe courtesy of Adam Guthrie of I Feel Good.

Recipe courtesy of Adam Guthrie of I Feel Good.

Ingredients
3 cups (2 tins)  x  cooked chickpeas
2 cloves  x  garlic
1/2 cup x Tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup x fresh lemon juice
a good pinch of salt
water for thinning

30 grams butter or margarine
3 potato, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 red capsicum, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon  thyme
250 grams mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup light sour cream

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Chop veggies.

Melt butter in a large saucepan. Saute potatoes, celery, onion and capsicum until onion is tender.

Stir in stock, mlik, thyme, salt and papper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 mins.

Blend with remaining ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for a further 5-10 mins. Enjoy.

Serving Ideas: Serve ganrished with some sauted sliced mushrooms and  a little chopped parsley.

Had a lovely morning walk with the pups to start off yet another Summer like day. When Autumn will arrive I have NO idea – but I hope it’s soon.

Breakfast today was baked beans and scrambled eggs. Haven’t had this in ages and I really enjoyed it.

Since breakfast was quite early today I was a little peckish again by 9.30 so had  some cruskits with spreadable cheese.

I also made a green smothie to take with me in the car. I went to an info session on a TAFE course on a productive backyard gardening. But I’ve decided not to enroll at the present time.

I seemed to be hungry every couple of hours today so by 12pm I was starving again. Todays salad was the same as yesterdays but with a small amount of creamy garlic dressing. One of these days I will have to try making my own. I just love having salads on hot days like today but I can’t wait till it’s cool enough to start making soup .

Afternoon tea was a handful of those veggie chips from yesterday then as I was hungry (again) I had a “white” roll with cheese, mayo and salad. I don’t normally eat white bread but it was all we had in the house and I hoped a roll might actually keep me full for a while.

When I took the girls to singing lessons I had planned to have a cup of tea but Amy REALLY wanted a milkshake so I ended up with a low-fat one as well. It was quite nice but not really worth it. I much prefer Gloria Jeans Iced Chocs.

Once home I got dinner started while I unpacked groceries. Tonight we had Sweet Potato Rissoto. I was given this recipe by a friend many years ago and it’s still a family favourite. I made a big batch so its likely to appear here on the blog again tomorrow.

Sweet Potato Rissoto

5 cups chicken stock

100 mls Extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion — cut into thin wedges
600 grams sweet potato — peel, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 cups aborio rice
3/4 cup shaved parmasan (optional – I don’t use)

Heat 60mls oil in wok, add onion and cook for 2-3 mins.

Add sweet pot and rice, stir until well coated.

Stir in ladleful of hot stock and cook, stirring continuously. Add more when stock in absorbed. Continue for 20min until rice in creamy.

Stir in shaved parm and 2tbl sage (if desired)

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Supper tonight was a small piece of banana coconut loaf and dark chocolate thins with a cup of tea. Hoping a bit of sugar will ease the headache I’ve had all day.