What have we been eating?

The Hungry Twins have had a tough week and a half.  They have battled new molars (how many new teeth can you get at one time??), gastro (from childcare) as well as (in the case of Skye) a raging case of severe nappy rash.  All this has meant that I haven’t quite had the energy to blog but the Hungry Twins are back on track now!

Although a bit grizzly from a bout of mild gastro, this didn’t really dim the Hungry Twins’ appetites – they still managed to put away a surprising amount of food.  Here’s what they have been eating….

Crispy chicken, pumpkin mash and zucchini

Chilli basil chicken and rice

Bangers and mash (with zucchini)

Cauliflower and bacon pasta

Custard powder chicken stir fry

More bangers with potato wedges, broccoli and mushrooms

Meatball pasta and zucchini fritters

Cauliflower cheese mac

Skye says more more more!!!

Perhaps I can eat this faster than Skye?

 

 

Not bad for too hungry girls!  One thing has happened in this time – the Hungry Twins have decided broccoli is passé and zucchini is IN!  Might have to grow some in a polytunnel to keep up with demand….

Super chicken

Dinner always tastes better in good company. It certainly seemed the case tonight!  Granny is visiting from Sydney for the week and the Hungry Twins were very excited.  This all translated into huge appetites….

Marrakesh chicken, broccolini and mashed potato

The chicken (marinated in marrakesh spices, bought from Saskia Beer at the Barossa Farmers’ Market) was devoured in about a micro-second.  We had to tear pieces from our chicken to share with the Hungry Twins!  The broccolini wasn’t much of a hit (thankfully, Monty the golden retriever eats cooked broccoli!) but the mash was enthusiastically eaten from a spoon.

Where’s the chicken?

Do I have broccoli stuck in my teeth?

After all this food, you would think that they wouldn’t need anymore.  But no, plastic cheese (three slices between them), pears and grapes were required before they were satisfied!

http://www.barossafarmersmarket.com/home/

http://saskiabeer.com

 

Down with capsicum!

Dinner last night was sausages (beef with cracked pepper), corn on the cob and some roasted veg (potato and sweet potato cooked with rosemary and lemon – yum).

Sausages and roasted veg

For something different, I had roasted some capsicum on the barbeque before cooking the corn.  A lot of effort not very appreciated, I am afraid.  Skye wasn’t interested (spat it out!) and Grace wouldn’t even consider trying it….. So I have found something that they don’t really like – I wondered when that would happen!

Corn is way better than capsicum!

Don’t even think of giving me capsicum!!

The rest of dinner was thoroughly enjoyed by the Hungry Twins.  At least, I assume so, given the speed with which it was eaten.  Needless to say, sausages are always a hit!

 

 

Can’t beat a pig

A true autumn day today – a bit of rain and actually cool for a change (fire required).  The Hungry Twins had a quiet day but the main thing was there was plenty of food!  Breakfast was back to the usual of three weetbix (between them), a crumpet plus some grapes.  Lunch included homemade pork dumplings from last night’s dinner, vegemite and peanut butter sandwiches, fish fingers, plastic cheese and a pear plus more grapes.

Pork dumplings

More pig for dinner.  Pork chops with homemade baked beans (including bacon) and colcannon (my version, anyway).

Pork chop night

A chop each plus all the beans and colcannon, gone!  The pork bones were then handed to the Hungry Twins before dessert of strawberries, cheese and grapes.  Yum!

Pork chop night is a winner!

The Hungry Twins put their front teeth (still waiting for some molars!) to good use.  Next time, I might just give them bones…..

Lucky for lamb

The Hungry Twins seem on the improve today.  Lunch was hoisin chicken stir-fry, which was received enthusiastically.  Grace devoured the chicken (couldn’t get enough), whereas Skye thought the broccoli was pretty good.  Although, to be fair, Skye also seems to be suffering from sore gums (teeth, again!).

Hoisin chicken lunch

For dinner, we had delicious local lamb that we had bought this morning on a morning stroll through Tanunda with the dog (and the Hungry Twins, of course).  Some Italian rat and mashed potato rounded out the meal…..

Tasty lamb for dinner

The Hungry Twins thought the mashed potato was pretty good (second helpings required) and the lamb was eaten by both Grace and Skye.  Guess those sore gums are feeling not too bad now!

Keep it coming!

I love my lamb!

The Italian rat was refused by both (all the more for us), but we were saved by the lamb bones.

That’s the ticket…..

Why eat rat when you can have lamb?

A bit of plastic cheese and some tinned peaches and that was it.  The Hungry Twins ate more tonight for dinner than they have for the previous two dinners combined!  Hopefully they are on the mend…..

Well, nearly (chicken cacciatore)

Sometimes I have a grand plan for dinner, make it, think it tastes delicious and then it is totally unappreciated by the Hungry Twins.  Tonight was such a night!  I made a lovely chicken cacciatore with fabulous free-range chicken (our good friend, Saskia Beer again) with tasty basil and garlic roasted potatoes and the Hungry Twins preferred the frozen peas!

Chicken cacciatore, potatoes and peas

Thankfully, all the effort wasn’t completely wasted – the chicken bones were a hit with the Hungry Twins…..

Well, that’s more like it!

Who needs fancy chicken cacciatore when you have bones?

The Hungry Twins did eat SOME of their dinner.  Then quickly moved onto cheese, strawberries and grapes.  At least they liked those!

Finally – fruit!!! (Don’t waste my time with boring chicken)

My husband and I liked the chicken cacciatore – all the more for us!!

Shepherd’s pie for dinner (more lamb)

Nice and relaxing day today.  The Hungry Twins were getting over the excitement of yesterday’s visit to child care (they had two massive naps today!) but were pretty happy all day.  At lunch time they tore into their peanut butter and vegemite sandwiches with an enthusiasm that had been lacking for the last week.  Perhaps really fresh bread (made this morning) had something to do with it?  The Hungry Twins then polished off the leftover meatballs from last night’s dinner.

Delicious (if I say so myself) shepherd’s pie

Dinner tonight was a household favourite – shepherd’s pie made with locally grown lamb (from our friends at Hutton Vale).  I leave the lamb in big chunks as it is so young that after a couple of hours it is fall-apart tender.  As my husband would say, mincing it would spoil it!  This time I made a traditional topping of mashed potato (instead of chunky potato and sweet potato).  I have to say that I think mash is far tastier!  The Hungry Twins seemed to agree….

They required a second helping!

Hmm, is this all there is?

That’s more like it – keep it coming!

Do I see seconds coming?

YUM!

It is very gratifying when the Hungry Twins devour all that is put before them and demand more!  The mash was spoon-fed to them and they seemed to enjoy it immensely.  Perhaps all that parmesan cheese that I added?  I have to say, I didn’t have any complaints either and neither did my husband!  There is even a little bit left for tomorrow, if the Hungry Twins are lucky (I might eat it first!).

http://thehungrytwins.com/2013/04/04/chunky-shepherds-pie/

http://www.huttonvale.com/website/lamb/

Too good for photos (George’s chicken)

A quiet day in today – the car needed new tyres – so no excursions.  Not that it mattered much to the Hungry Twins – a stroll to the end of our driveway and back (about 600 metres) to check out our olives trees.  Unfortunately, it looks like we won’t be pickling any this year!  The dry summer has made them drop all their buds.

Lunch consisted of savoury muffins (trying to offer something other than sandwiches), which were well received by the Hungry Twins, but to be honest, they were just as happy with fish fingers!  The muffins had the last of the Italian rat as a topping and some delicious free-range bacon (our friends at Heritage Barossa Pork).  I thought they were pretty good – I probably ate more than the Hungry Twins.

Savoury muffins with leftover Italian rat topping

Muffins or fish fingers? How to decide….

These aren’t too bad (but give me plastic cheese any day)…

I thought I’d try a new chicken dish for dinner.  We had bought some large chicken marylands from our favourite chicken supplier (Saskia Beer) at the Barossa Farmers’ Market on Saturday.  I prefer marylands when cooking chicken – the bones add extra flavour and a big one is enough for one of us and one of the Hungry Twins (usually!).

I used a George Columbaris recipe (in a little Penguin Lantern book given to me by my brother-in-law) that cooked the chicken with coriander, cumin and cinnamon as well as sliced onions,  potatoes and whole cherry tomatoes.  A lovely all-in-one-pot dish.  I also added some yellow capsicum (had a few extra) to go with the yellow cherry tomatoes that I used.  The result was delicious!  So delicious in fact that we were all enjoying it so much I didn’t take any more photos after the first one!

Too good for photos!

So I have no photographic evidence that the Hungry Twins thought this was pretty yummy.  They also liked the zucchini and carrots (cooked in homemade chicken stock) that were served as a side.  Perhaps next time I make it, I will remember to get some more photos!

http://barossaheritagepork.com.au

http://saskiabeer.com

http://www.barossafarmersmarket.com/home/

Cheat’s curry

How to use last night’s leftovers and make something a little bit different?  A bit of a challenge but flavour was important – the Hungry Twins seem to be coming down with another cold (how many can you have?).  Cheat’s curry to the rescue.  A twist on Kirra’s chicken curry, this was a quick and easy way to create something similar.

Cheat’s curry

I sautéed a diced red onion in some olive oil, added some pieces of blanched carrot then a heaped teaspoon of tandoori paste.  A bit of stock (made fresh yesterday), a half tin of crushed tomatoes (left over from yesterday’s pizzas) and a couple of tablespoons of greek yoghurt made the curry sauce.  The cooked meat from the chicken marylands (left over from last night’s dinner) was diced and added to the sauce, together with some cold roast potatoes. The leftover veg from last night’s dinner was tossed in for good measure.  A few minutes to bring everything up to heat and the sauce was done.  A handful of cooked fusilli pasta was thrown in and there was dinner.  A cooked meal done in under 30 minutes!  Not bad….

Another helping of curry please…..

Doesn’t get better than this….

One and a half servings later, the Hungry Twins seemed to be pretty happy.  A few sticks of cheese and a couple of cherry tomatoes and it was on to fruit.  Some newly bought strawberries (those bought at the markets on Saturday were gone!) and grapes and happiness all round.

More cheese, please!!

How much cheese could I possibly eat?

And there is even a bit of cheat’s curry left over for another emergency!

Chunky shepherd’s pie

My version of shepherd’s pie uses chunky pieces of lamb and is topped with diced potato and sweet potato to make it easier for the Hungry Twins to eat.  If you are lucky, you might get some leftovers (it tastes even better the next day).

Chunky shepherd’s pie

• Preparation time: 10 minutes
• Cooking time: 2 ¼ hours for lamb, 20 minutes to brown the top
• Makes: 4 serves

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 500gm diced lamb
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup red wine (optional)
• 400ml chicken stock
• 400gm tin crushed tomatoes
• 1 large potato, diced to 1.5cm pieces
• 1 small sweet potato, diced to 1.5cm pieces
• 2 tablespoons shredded parmesan

Method

• Preheat oven to 170^oC.
• Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, onion, 2 cloves chopped garlic and carrot to a heavy based casserole dish and cook on medium heat until onions start to colour and carrot starts to soften (about 10 minutes).
• Add the diced lamb and brown (about 5 minutes).
• Add the Worcestershire sauce, wine (if using), stock and tinned tomatoes.  Stir well and bring to a simmer.
• Place lid on casserole dish and put in the oven to cook until lamb is tender (around 2 hours).  Stir lamb halfway through and add a little more stock if required.
• While lamb is cooking, blanche the potato and sweet potato for 5 minutes in a pot of boiling water.  Drain and transfer to a bowl.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 cloves of crushed garlic and mix well to coat.

Luscious lamb ready for chunky topping

And now for the parmesan….

• Once lamb is ready, transfer to an oven-proof dish and spread the garlic-mixed potatoes evenly over the top. Sprinkle with parmesan.  Place in oven until lamb is bubbling and top is browned (around 20 minutes). Serve with a green salad or vegetables.