God Help Me - I've reached an all-time low.......

I served this to my children tonight.

I was shopping, came upon this on the shelf, thought it looked okay, and bought it. It said it was for kids. To me, that means they'll probably eat it (unlike many other things I've cooked).

So tonight, once again lacking in ideas, I decided to bring it out of the cupboard.

Instructions:

1. Pour pasta into tray.

2. Pour sauce over pasta.

3. Put tray back in box and cook in microwave for one minute.

Oh dear god, I'm giving my children TV dinners.

I swear, this will never happen again.

(Although, they did like it).

Mocha Brownies

Please don't begin to think that I enjoy cooking sweet things. Just because there are two in a row right here in front of you. It's only because I was hungry and mocha brownies were the only thing that I had every ingredient for.

Yes they were very nice, although a little plain. But they do look rather good, don't you think?

Mars Bar Slice

I like Mars Bars. I also like things that are easy to make. This seemed easy. So I thought I'd try it.

It wasn't difficult. Neither was it particularly tasty. Just crumbly, messy and as you can see from the picture, a fairly haphazard distribution of chocolate on top.

Of course the kids ate it. So I guess that's something.

Pumpkin Risotto

As you know, I love pumpkin. I'm also fairly happy with rice and all things rice-related (such as risotto). So it only stands to reason, that I would love this dish.

And guess what?

I do!

Every mouthful, every grain of rice, every piece of onion, and every glump of - hang on - glump? I don't know what a glump is, but it seems a fairly accurate word to describe a piece of mushy pumpkin. Every glump of pumpkin was perfect.

Don't tell anyone. But I ate two bowls!

Vegetable Tagine with Olive and Parsley Couscous

I know. I'm impressed too. Until I made this, I didn't even know what a tagine was! I must admit, I'm still a tad confused. According to my research, a tagine is some kind of an Egyptian or Morrocan dish that you cook in, not actually the name of a food. So I can only guess that the word can be also applied to a recipe that you would prepare in such a dish.

Anyway, not knowing a thing about what I'm doing has never stopped me before, so I decided to give it a go. The main drawcard about this recipe for me was that at the very top of the page, it said "You will need a piece of pumpkin weighing approximately 600g for this recipe." Now I love pumpkin, so any recipe that uses 600g of it is good in my books.

This one was relatively easy to make. Cook up the vegetables, add the spices, cook the couscous and mix it all in together. See those cute little chickpeas in the photo? How sweet are they? Very tasty too!

Of course, the offspring would have none of it, so I whipped up a spaghetti with leftover lamb pieces from last night's Mediterranean Lamb Casserole. How good am I? Making not one, but two separate dishes in one night!

I just might be getting better at this. That could be a worry!

Mediterranean Lamb Casserole

Never let it be said that just because I'm a vegetarian, I won't cook meat for anyone else. Look at this! A dish that was so easy to prepare, I could have done it with one wooden spoon tied behind my back. The most basic of ingredients - potato, carrot, onion and lamb - served with some plain white rice, and there you have it.

I am rather proud of it.

And told it was delicious! I'll just have to believe them on that one.

Eggplant Parmiagana - I think I've finally done it!

Found my signature dish, that is. This was easy to make, healthy, and tasted so luscious, I couldn't believe that I had actually cooked it.

My biggest problem was browning the eggplant slices in oil. They did come off a little, well, oily. But they did say in the book that as an alternative, you could just brush them with a little oil and pop them under a grill.

So next time, I'm making a double batch. This is the dish I'd like to be remembered for. (Never thought I'd say that!)

Oh, yes I know the photo is out of focus, but hey, you can't be a sensational cook and a brilliant photographer, can you?

Beef Curry

Okay, so I got out of my comfort zone and worked through my intense distaste for touching raw meat, and made a beef curry for my well-deserving husband.

I know it looks kinda' plain and bland, but I'm told it tasted superb. And he ate every bit of it!

So there you go!

(Now, think I'll go and boil an egg or something.....)

Cheesy Macaroni

Now this is pretty easy. Even for me. The only tricky part is to remember to add the puree (you know that special 'secret' ingredient mentioned below) to the milk mixture. Easy!

Kids love it! Mum loves it!

A winner!

Orange Puree (or how to get the kids to eat vegies without them knowing it!)

Alright. I'm sneaky. I admit it. But things have gone from bad to worse with Daughter No. 1 and her flat refusal to eat vegetables. There was a time when she would at least take a few bites. But in the last couple of months, I'd have more chance of successfully cooking a gourmet meal for 10 people, than have her take so much as a sniff of a vegetable.

So, thanks to the shifty parents at http://parentcenter.com/, I found a great way to sneak those vegetables right under their noses, without them suspecting a thing.

It's called orange puree, and it's made by boiling sweet potato and carrot, and then blending it until it's a smooth puree. Then you just mix it into whatever you're serving them! How easy is that?

Then I divided it into portions of about 1/4 cup each and froze them in plastic bags. How cool! I served it with Cheesy Macaroni (also from the parentcenter website - man I love those guys!)

There's also white puree, made from doing the same thing with cauliflower. I'll try that one next time.

I'm a sneaky mum (and proud of it)!

Aaaargh!

You already know I hate cooking.

Just letting you know that I still do.

Suffice to say - overcooked vegetables, undercooked chicken, burnt garlic bread.

Okay, enough said.

For now.

Chicken Pie

As usual, I was rather lacking in motivation today. I was also rather lacking in ingredients. I had some chicken strips to make up into a stir fry, but no vegetables (yes it's shopping day tomorrow). I had visions of the four of us eating chicken on toast, or something equally distasteful. It wasn't looking promising. Until......my saviour came home from work.

We already know he's a great cook. He can cook almost anything from nothing, and it works every time. Well tonight, he outdid himself. He glanced calmly in the cupboard and the freezer as he chatted casually about his day. He wasn't stressed; he wasn't panicking; he wasn't me. He pulled a packet of fillo pastry out of the freezer and a Maggi sauce mix out of the cupboard. He continued to chat casually as he tossed the chicken into a pan and began stirring.

Thirty minutes later, there it was. The most delectable looking, smelling and tasting dish made from almost nothing, that I have ever tasted. Served in cute individual ramekins, the kids looked on it as a bit of a treat too. All eaten.

I knew I married him for a reason.

Chicken with Fried Rice

When my youngest daughter refused to eat this one, I explained to her that she really should give it a good go, as I'd spent a fair amount of time cutting up and preparing the vegetables to go into the fried rice. Now this wasn't exactly true, but I had spent a fair amount of time standing at the supermarket freezer, deciding whether to buy the frozen fried rice and vegetables or the frozen stir fry vegetables in Alfredo Sauce. In the end, the fried rice won out.

Okay, so now I'm struggling. Yes I'm resorting to pre-made meals more and more. Yes I feel bad about it. But I'll get by. I know people who live on this kind of food. It works for them. They don't seem to have grown any extra appendages or started talking in unrecognisable voices. No nasty side effects there. So I figure the odd use of such foods is a fairly safe risk. Although I will admit, it felt wrong - even for me - to be dropping a frozen brown cube into the pan, that would eventually become the sauce. Somehow, the words "stir until the sauce melts" just don't seem right to me.

Of course I did cook the chicken. And that was rather nice. So I don't feel too bad.

Chicken Breast Fillets .... done any way you feel like!

I'll admit it. This is a strange one. You see I had a couple of chicken fillets in the freezer, and no idea of what to do with them. Now I'm not one of those amazing people who can just look in the cupboard, throw a few assorted ingredients into a dish and then come up with something that you'd pay big bucks for in a five star restaurant. My husband - he can. Me - I cannot.

So, like all unimaginative and truly uninspired cooks, I turned to the internet. After scrolling through pages and pages of sites that talked about spices and exotic flavours (these people obviously have no kids - or highly cultured ones), I eventually found a recipe that was just called "Chicken Breast Fillets". A quick glance at the ingredients. Good. Nothing there that I couldn't pronounce, and all I had to buy was bacon. Bring it on!

Now this recipe called for the bacon to be chopped and the chicken to be sliced lengthways. Hmmm. Never heard of that before with chicken, but oh well, when it comes to cooking, there's a great deal I've never heard of before. So I duly followed the recipe.

Begin with a layer of fresh breadcrumbs. Follow with a layer of bacon. Finish with a layer of chicken. Just keep layering. Okay, I can do that.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. I followed the instructions for the sauce, but somewhere along the way, something dreadful happened and I ended up with very little sauce for such a large dish. What to do? I know. I'm rather fond of the old Fountain brand Smokey BBQ sauce, and luckily we had a fresh bottle. So, with all the panache and style of the classy chef that I'm not, I squirted the sauce randomly over the chicken. (That's the brown stripes you can see.)

Forty minutes later, a dish that looked, well, interesting. And the taste? Well you could describe that as interesting too. The general consensus was that the breadcrumbs were the best bit. Let's face it. You can't beat crunchy, crispy breadcrumbs!

Shepherd's Pie - Take Two

Yes I know I've bragged about this one before. But you see, I get very happy when I'm able to cook something without having a mental breakdown in the process. I get happier still when I'm able to cook something that the kids will actually eat. And this dish, gives me both of those happy outcomes.

So I won't bore you with details of how the carrot and onion burned in the pan before I was able to add the meat (they didn't). Nor shall I bore you with details of how the meat mixture refused to thicken in the time they said it would (it didn't). Instead I shall leave you with photographic proof that my kids do sometimes eat what I dish up to them!

Chicken Teriyaki

I've been a bit remiss in my cooking efforts lately. Kinda' been falling back on old favourites, or relying on my husband to cook for me. You see, since I started this blog, I've confirmed something that I've really known all along. I hate to cook. I really do. As soon as I hear the sound of the pantry door opening or smell the fumes rising from the stiry fry, I ask myself: Why? Why are you doing this again when you so obviously hate it? And of course, the answer is that my family must eat. And so must I. So I forcibly drag myself away from the take away menu and tell myself that if I practise this cooking thing enough, I just might get better at it.

But I haven't yet.

So tonight, I must confess, I've cheated. Don't get me wrong; I've cooked something. That is, cooked in the sense of taking something out of the freezer and stirring it in a frypan until it becomes edible. But hey, it's still food. The supermarket freezer is full of those colourful bags of frozen vegetables that you mix with meat to make a complete meal. Despite my initial conviction that I would never prepare food this way, well ... I admit .... I've done it. Yes I used to think that fresh vegies were best. But I did read somewhere that frozen ones are pretty alright too, because they're frozen at the point at which they are best. It makes sense to me. So thank you Mr Birds Eye for the frozen packet of vegetables and sauce that makes my Chicken Teriyaki.

It did smell good. It even tasted good. However I did feel a little strange dropping a frozen square of sauce into the pan. That just didn't feel right. But it was a meal that should sustain us for another 24 hours. Except for my daughter. You know, the one who hates vegetables. She refused it. Totally. Wouldn't even try it. So she ate sultanas. Yep I know. I don't get it either.

Yabbies!

Let me start by saying, this is not something I ever want to see on my plate. I do not now, nor have I ever, nor will I ever, catch, cook and eat anything that comes out of the water. It's just one of those things I don't do. Like choosing clothes for my eldest daughter. It's just not done, unless you're prepared to deal with the consequences.

So when my husband suggested that he takes the girls down to our dam to catch yabbies, I was slightly displeased, to say the least. I told him in no uncertain terms that if by some chance, he managed to catch any, he was not to bring them into the kitchen.

They returned with a bucket of slimy, clawed, and in my view, highly unattractive crustaceans. What's worse, he took them into the kitchen, put them in a saucepan and cooked them on my stovetop!

Apparently yabbies are very good eating, but I was not about to find out. He boiled them in water and served them with tartare sauce. Both girls devoured them, and asked for more.

And me? I'm off to the shops to buy .... something..... anything. Anything that doesn't have eyes and claws.

Vegetable Flan

Okay. First of all, no-one ever told me about this thing called 'blind-baking'. "Blind-bake pastry for 10 minutes" it said. What the heck? Thankfully the back of the pastry packet explained this phenomenon. "Line the dish, trim the edges, place a sheet of baking paper in it and fill with uncooked rice. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove loading (that's what we chefs call the rice and baking paper) and cook for a further 8 minutes or until pastry is golden." Well, okay; if you say so.

As foreign as this was to me, it all seemed to work out just fine. The rest of the recipe was pretty well straight forward. Melt the butter, mix the vegetables, gradually add the milk and - you guessed it - stir until boiling! I can do that!

It didn't burn. It didn't sag. It didn't sit on the dinner table as a shameful testament to the fact that cooking is what I do worst in this world.

It worked!

And even better - everyone loved it. Everyone. Even my vegetable-hating daughter. She ate every last piece. I tell you, this one is a winner!

And take a look at the photo. The recipe is behind the flan. I must say, I'm rather proud that for once my creation actually closely resembles the photo in the cookbook, instead of looking like yesterdays leftovers.

Now if only they would all turn out this well!

Chicken Fillets with Spring Onions and Dijon Mustard sauce

Okay. I know. The first thing you're going to say is "Where are the spring onions? How can you make a dish called Chicken Fillets with Spring Onions and Mustard Sauce, and not have any visible spring onions?"

A fair question. You see, there were spring onions. But then they kinda' got burnt, as did everything else, and the resulting required scraping of the frypan didn't really leave much in the way of .... well .... anything.

I will say that the chicken did have a lovely mustard flavour. It blended in quite nicely with the chargrilled flavour. And everyone ate theirs. Except me. But that's because I'm sick. I have tonsilitis and believe me, when your throat feels like it's got a machete running wild in it every time you swallow, eating kinda' drops down on the list of important things.

But I think I'm not totally blameless for messing this one up. Why do these recipe books say "cook chicken on high heat" in one sentence, and then in the very next sentence, say "remove chicken and place spring onions in pan, cooking on medium for 1 minute."?

It takes more than a couple of seconds for the temperature of the hotplate to go from high to medium. Nowhere in that recipe did it say "remove pan from heat until your hotplate has cooled down!" Nowhere I tell you. So I don't feel totally useless.

But I'm getting there.

Tiger Wraps

Okay, so now I'm getting desperate. Now you see what I've become when I can no longer think up exciting and nutritious meal ideas for my starving family.

Actually, this was daughter number one's idea. For lunch, she wanted a wrap. A wrap being the gorgeous mountain rice bread that one usually packs with tasty and satisfying fillings like meat and salad.

"I want it like a tiger" she said.

"A tiger?"

"Yes. Stripey. Like a tiger."

"Okay" I said. "Just how do you make it stripey?"

"With nutella and peanut butter" she said. "In a stripe pattern."

And she proceeded to alternate stripes of nutella and peanut butter onto her slice of bread. Yes, with the same knife.

It obviously tasted good though. She ate it before I'd even put the lid back on the peanut butter. Now if only I could get her to eat vegetables as quickly.

Brussels Sprouts (as requested!)

Yes, I couldn't believe it either. My vegetable-hating daughter requested brussels sprouts.

I must admit, I'm not a big fan of them. If it's a choice between eating brussels sprouts or say, allowing myself to be suspended by my feet over a crocodile-infested swamp, I'd definitely choose the sprouts. But generally, I tend to politely pass them by in the supermarket.

And so, you can imagine my surprise when daughter number 1 points to them and says "Mummy, what are those green things?"

Green things? I thought. Why is she interested in green things in the fruit and vegie section? That's not normal.

"They're called brussels sprouts sweetie" I said, not entirely certain I wasn't dreaming.

"Can we try them?" she asked.

Okay. Now I know I must be dreaming.

"Oh, for a minute there I thought you said, can we try them" I answered.

"I did" she said. "So can we?"

"Oh, well, yeah, sure we can." This can't be happening. Next she'll be asking for pumpkin.

I drove home from the supermarket rejoicing in the fact that my 6 year old had finally accepted vegetables into her diet! I also drove home in a panic because I had no idea how to cook brussels sprouts!

Luckily, my culinary knight-in-shining-armour (aka my husband), came to the rescue. Is there nothing this man cannot cook? When dinnertime finally came, we excitedly placed the little fellas' on the table. She looked at them and her pretty face immediately formed into an expression that you'd really rather not see when you've just served up food.

"They smell funny" she said.

"Yes but they taste delicious" I replied, hoping that this would be the only time I would ever lie to her. "Are you ready to try one?"

"Of course" she said.

She took the tiniest bite. She tried to smile. Her little face wrinked up.

"Yuk! They're awful!"

"They're not awful darling! They're delicious!" I sang.

"Delectable!" my husband crooned.

"Mouth-watering!" I exclaimed.

"No, they're disgusting!" she said. "I'm not eating them."

"We love them!" we both sang in unison, chewing away cheerfully.

Luckily we have perfected the art of moving food around a plate to give the impression that we are in fact, eating it.

Next time, I think I'll go vegie shopping alone.

Chicken Kiev, Chips and Steamed Vegetables

I've always been a fan of Chicken Kiev. Maybe it's the garlic butter or maybe it's the roasted crumbed chicken. Or maybe it's even the fact that no-one will come near you for a kiss until the next day. But it has a certain appeal.

My best experience with a Chicken Kiev happened one day in a small country pub. As I cut into it, all the yummy garlic butter oozed out until it saturated the chips and salad. I can still taste it today.

So, hoping in some small way to replicate that feeling, I decided to serve it with chips tonight. All went well until the time came to turn the little devils over. Wouldn't you know it; those cheeky little chicken bottoms starting sticking to the pan. Okay, this is where I start to panic. But who is there to save the day (yet again?) Of course, it's my cool, calm and collected husband, who stepped in, flipped the chickens and then started setting the table.

When served up, the chicken looked scrumptious and the steamed vegies and chips suited a Friday night casual home cooked meal. Even better, the plates were empty down to the last bite.

Excuse me now. I've gotta go and gargle.

Roast Vegetable Lasagna

As I write this post, I'm slowly recovering from the ordeal that is cooking for me. Tonight, more than any other night, the title of this blog has rung true. I have experienced panic, fear and frustration. And all before anything was even cooking!

It began easily enough. Prepare some vegetables and cook them at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. Okay, maybe I need to read recipe instructions 6 times instead of 5, but can there really be much difference between 10 minutes in the oven and 40 minutes in the oven? Yes it's true. I confess, I did leave them in just a little longer than I was supposed to. But I got sidetracked. Seriously. (We've just hired a gardener to come and tidy up our yard and I had to meet with him.) At least we'll have a great garden.

You'll be pleased to know, however, that no real damage was done. Okay so they were kinda' chargrilled vegetables rather than plain old roasted, but hey, they still tasted great.

Next I had to make a tomato sauce. Lesson No. 2 - check your ingredient list before you begin making the meal!

"Do we have any sundried tomato pesto?" I fretfully asked my husband.

"No."

"But, but, I need some!"

"Do we have any sundried tomatoes?" he asked, casual as ever.

"Yes"

"Then I'll make the pesto."

"Great!" I said, happily. "But can you please do it now because I need to add the vegetables to it."

He sauntered off and expertly began cutting up sundried tomatoes and whatever else goes into sundried tomato pesto.

I checked my recipe again.

"Oh no, I've got to make some cheese sauce!"

To my surprise, my husband finished his pesto and took the blender out of the cupboard.

"What are you doing? Nothing needs to be blended?" I cried, not totally certain that I even knew what I was talking about.

"That tomato sauce you're making" he said. "The onions are not chopped finely enough. I'll just whip them in the blender for a bit."

So whip he did, with all the confidence and coolness of a person who's been blending tomato sauce for years, while I stood at the stove wishing the cheese sauce to make itself.

"It's alright. I can do that" he said. (What a man.)

And so while he made an exquisitely delicious cheese sauce, I began layering. Vegetables, pasta, cheese sauce, vegetables, pasta, cheese sauce, grated cheese.

"It's okay" I told myself. "It's all gonna' be okay."

We tenderly placed the dish into the oven and opened a bottle of wine. Trust me, I needed it. 35 minutes later it was ready. The most delectable lasagna, melted cheese dripping into layers of roasted eggplant, zucchini, sweet potato and pumpkin.

Delectable.

But the kids hated it.

Ah well, I know what I'll be having for lunch tomorrow!

Spinach and Ricotta Agnolotti

I must say, I'm rather proud of this one. It has a fancy name; it tastes delicious, and it goes extremely well with red wine and garlic bread. I'm even prouder that I learned a new word. Did you know, that agnolotti means priest hats in Italian?

However, I must confess, that I had absolutely nothing to do with this one. I did have a plan, mind you. I found an out-of-this-world recipe for Vegetable Lasagna, which I had full intentions of doing tonight. But blow me down, if I'm walking aimlessly around the fruit and vegies section of the supermarket and there's not a piece of pumpkin to be seen! I LOVE pumpkin! I can't possibly have a vegetable lasagna without it. It would be like having a roast dinner with no gravy. It just can't be done.

So when my hard-working husband returned home from work, I readied myself to give him the full story of my good intentions being thwarted by the absence of my favourite vegetable!

"That's great!" he said.

"Oh?" I answered.

"I've got a Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli in the fridge. I'll whip that up instead." (Okay so we didn't exactly make it from scratch, but really, how many people actually do that?)

So it seems I'm let off the hook, and instead of layering vegetables between sheets of pasta, I'm able to open a bottle of wine and eat a scrumptious meal which contains a word I'd never before known!

Aah, this cooking thing isn't too bad after all.

(And yes, the kids loved it!)

Back on deck!

Just in case anyone has missed me over the last couple of days, I'm happy to report that I'm back on deck and ready to get back into the nightmare - I mean, adventure, of cooking again!

We were away for a few days over Easter, and I can gratefully say that I was not required to perform anything more culinary than cooking toast for my girls' breakfasts. And so, with a tummy full of easter eggs and hot cross buns, I'm once again scouring the recipe books and depleting the supermarket shelves!

See you tomorrow!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Aah yes, the old favourite. I must admit, this one is consistently a winner with the kids. And yes, even I can cook this one.

Daughter No. 1 ate 2 bowls of this; No. 2 ate nearly 1 bowl. There are leftovers, and I can say, with full confidence, that they will be gone by this time tomorrow.

So there you have it. A bowl full of meat, pasta and a nice slathering of tomato sauce. Okay, it may not have loads of green leafy vegetables, but at least I can cook it, and they can eat it. That makes it a winner in my book.

Oh and me? I had some pizza. (Okay so I haven't quite got the hang of cooking a meal that everybody will enjoy. But I'll get there!)

Ciao.

Chicken Parmigiana with Baked Vegetables

I did tell you once that I'm a big fan of chicken. Well that was before.

"Before what?" you ask.

Before it became the basis of every meal I attempt to cook. I do believe that I've now had chicken in ways previously unthought of by anyone. I've roasted it, barbecued it, grilled it, fried it, eaten it cold, eaten it reheated, crumbed it, squeezed lemon juice over it, covered it with gravy, poured curry sauce over it, and put it into tacos!

Do you think I'm still a big fan of chicken?

That's right.

My kids however, still seem to like it. Well tonight they certainly did. Both of them happily ate their chicken, tomatoes, cheese and all, but steadfastly refused to eat their baked vegetables. This is not so bad. I've lately stumbled across a few life-saving websites that bravely instruct mothers on all the ways you can sneak vegetables into other dishes, without your kids knowing. This will be my next challenge.

In the meantime, if anyone knows something scrumptious that's easy to cook, doesn't contain red meat, has lots of hidden vegetables, maybe a bit of rice and has absolutely nothing to do with chicken, please send it my way.

Tacos....again!

Well they are a winner. And when you're on a winner, you stay on it!

Everybody happy!

You can't beat a BBQ.....

.....especially when I'm not the one cooking it!

Today was a hot day, and hot days are perfect for barbecues. In our family, it's always been the man of the house who cooks the barbecue, and I'm not one to break with tradition. Especially if it means I don't have to stand over a grill and flip burgers and sausages with smoke clouding my vision and flies buzzing around me.

I did however, make a salad. A pasta salad. Not a particularly exotic one, I'll admit. But it did get eaten. Well, some of it did. I made a little too much, you see. I can't help it. I always get carried away with pasta and potatoes! I love them both and I'm usually hungry when I'm preparing food and so - well, you know! I end up with far too much! But that's alright. Tomorrow's supposed to be hot again, so that's perfect salad weather. And then there's always breakfast, and lunch. Not to forget morning and afternoon teas......

And yes, I know I said that I don't eat red meat. But that's only because I don't like the taste of it. But there's something about barbecued meat that's, well, kind of appealing, in the right frame of mind. And so, yes, I ate two barbecued sausages.

The more observant of you may notice that there was no post for last night's meal. That's not because we didn't eat (although maybe we shouldn't have). I cooked up a Butter Chicken, but it was, well, not that memorable. So I kinda' let it slip. (It was from a packet anyway, so I guess it doesn't count!)

Well time to go now. Must go and look up some recipes for leftover pasta salad!

Shepherd's Pie

Shepherd's Pie, Cottage Pie, Potato Pie. Call it what you will. I call it a miracle that my kids actually requested me to cook this for them, so cook it I did, and learned a few valuable lessons along the way.

Lesson Number One: Do not go and hang out washing whilst the potatoes are boiling.

End Result: No need to drain the water from the potatoes. And yes, the saucepan has finally come up lovely and clean, thanks.

Lesson Number Two: If you don't want to eat what the kids are eating, THINK AHEAD! This means defrosting the chicken for the curry a little sooner than 2 hours before you hope to cook it.
End Result: Yes my grilled cheese on toast was very nice, thanks.

In the end, daughter number one loved it. She was full of compliments from start to finish, although there was one dark moment when a look of concern came over her and she said "are there carrots in this?"

"Yes" I said. "And there are supposed to be peas in it too, but I didn't put them in. Aren't you glad?"

She happily continued eating.

Number two was not so convinced. She merely ate the potato from the top and said "I'm full. Can I go and play computer now?"

Ah well, one success is all I ask for.

"Soft-boiled eggs, please!"

I'm sure anyone can boil eggs.

Well, anyone except me, of course. This morning, daughter number one asked for a boiled egg.

"Hard-boiled or soft-boiled?" I asked her.

"Hmm" she said frowning (my kids always frown when I'm about to cook for them). "What's the difference?"

"Well" I said "Hard-boiled is when the yolk and the white is solid, not runny. Soft-boiled is when it's runny, and you eat it from an egg cup."

"But last time you made me one, it was a bit solid, but I ate it from the egg cup."

"That's true" I said, "but only a bit solid. It could've been worse. No-one told me you had to take the egg out after four minutes if you wanted it runny."

"Well today I'd like it runny please" she said with an expression that told me if it was left in there for four minutes and one second, that would be the last egg I'd ever cook.

I looked at the clock. I waited until the second hand was exactly on the twelve. I dropped the egg into the boiling water and didn't take my eyes off the clock. One minute, two minutes, three minutes, four. I scooped that egg up out of the saucepan and placed it in the egg cup. The moment of truth had arrived. I nervously cracked the top off the egg. It was .....

.... perfect! Not too runny; not solid. Just right. Served with a slice of toast cut into fingers just the right size for dipping, and I have a success!

"It's very yummy Mum" she said approvingly.

"Oh, it was nothing" I said. "Anyone can boil an egg."

Lamb Cutlets with Pasta Bake (and red rice!)

I must admit, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to cook tonight. I know what you're thinking. Only four days into it and already she's stuck for ideas! I did warn you; I am not inspirational in the kitchen!

I decided that it wouldn't be fair to subject everyone to chicken yet again, and that everyone's iron levels might need a bit of a boost. So I went for the lamb cutlets. In the past, these have proven to be quite popular with the smaller members of the household, so I figured we were on fairly safe ground.

As to the accompaniments....well that's where I ran into trouble. Daughter number one loves Pasta Bake. Daughter number two detests it. Daughter number two asks for rice. Daughter number one would not eat rice if it was the only thing between her and starvation. I knew the steamed vegie experience of a couple of nights ago would still be horribly clear in their minds, so it came down to a toss up between pasta and rice.

I've never been one for making quick decisions, so I took the easy option and cooked both! Pasta for everyone else; rice for daughter number two. Now as you know, little number two loves rice, but occasionally has a yearning for rice that's a touch, well, different. In a moment of madness several months ago, an adult in this family (and it wasn't me) added some yellow food colouring to her rice, and since that time, every now and then, she likes her rice to be coloured. Tonight, it had to be red. (Trust me, this doesn't happen very often!)

To sum up, it was certainly an interesting dining experience. Husband with pasta and lamb cutlets; daughter number one with pasta and a lamb cutlet which stayed on the side of her plate untouched; daughter number two with red rice and a lamb cutlet which she devoured, and me with pasta only.

All I can say is, bring on Friday!

Tacos - a winner every time (Husband's fight back)

It's an old favourite and a guaranteed winner with the kids and also with Wife No1... When it is my turn to cook the evening meal it will always come down to two options. Take away or Mexican!

Mexican won out tonight. A little diced chicken, and packet of seasoning, chopped lettuce, grated cheese, mild taco sauce and some diced Jeeralang Junction tomatoes. Pop it all in colourful bowls, set them in the middle of the dining table and 'Voila' spicy food with colour, crunch and it is mildly healthy. The children are unaware they are eating leafy green garden foods with dairy and vegetables held together with crispy corn. Wife No1 is unaware that this colourful and popular meal cost all but $6.95 from aisle 3 on the way home from work.

Dad's a winner with the kiddies and Wife No1 is very happy to clean up the dishes...

Crumbed Chicken Schnitzel, Cheese & Bacon Potato Bake, with Steamed Vegetables

With the spinach success of last night still clear in my happy and victorious mind, I eagerly set about preparing tonight's dish. Crumbed chicken schnitzels - easy enough. Bought fresh from the deli and all that I had to do was fry them.

Cheese & Bacon Potato Bake - also easy. I can peel and slice potatoes and pour a mix over them. (Incidentally, I do a very excellent scallopped potato from scratch, but I confess, tonight I used a pre-made flavour sachet.)

Steamed Vegetables. Hmmm. Now I must admit, I love steamed vegetables. Steamed at just the right temperature for just the right amount of time gives them a crisp texture and a delicious flavour. However, I do have a tendency to, well, overcook them. I never set out to overcook them. I just don't like them to be too firm. Also, sometimes I just forget. This happened tonight. You can blame the ABC for this. I'm flicking the channels waiting for the news headlines when all of a sudden I see a documentary and historical re-enacment of the American Civil War. I know next to nothing about the American Civil War but I'm a pushover for a historical re-enactment.

By the time the Civil War had been fought and won, the vegetables were beyond salvation. Not surprisingly, they weren't well-received. Daughter two, disappointed by the non-appearance of rice on her plate, ate a few mouthfuls of chicken, a small piece of potato bake and a bite each of pumpkin and zucchini. Daughter one - she of the spinach extravaganza the previous night - ate her chicken and potatoes, but cried "Don't even think about making me eat pumpkin!"

Instead, I encouraged her to try a piece of carrot and a piece of zucchini. First the zucchini. I braced myself. "I don't like it" she said, her face contorted into a display of agony.

"Okay" I said. "Try the carrot."

She did.

"It tastes the same as the zucchini."

Okay. I know carrots are not supposed to taste the same as zucchini. If they do, then you've obviously done something very wrong.

Apart from this, not a bad effort. Just remind me to keep the television turned off next time!

Spinach and Yogurt Potato Skins - Success!

I'm the first to admit it. With a daughter who likes only rice and another daughter who won't eat vegetables, I'd be fairly optimistic to think that a dish that contains two vegetables in it (one of them green, at that!), would go down well.

But I have cooked this one before, and to my absolute joy and amazement, it was as popular as the Mr Whippy van on a hot Summer's day.

So I naturally assumed that this would be a good starting point for my new-found kitchen enthusiasm.

Now, I've never been a big fan of spinach. It's green; in its frozen form its leaves clump together and it reminds me more of something I'd relegate to the bottom of the farthest rubbish bin as soon as possible. But it tastes heavenly. Especially when it's mixed with potato.

This dish is easy to prepare. (For me, that's sayin' something!) I dished it onto the plates and nervously called everyone to the table.

"Yuk!" said daughter number two.

"Just try it" I said. "You've had it before. You loved it then."

I soon found out that this approach doesn't work with a 4 year old who lives only in the present.

"Yum!" said daughter number one. (Yes, this is the same daughter who will not eat vegetables.)

I watched in amazement as she chewed away happily whilst entertaining us all with a detailed account of her school day. Somewhere between the retelling of the events of morning recess and lunchtime, a piece of spinach got stuck between her two front teeth, and she discreetly shifted it before moving onto a blow-by-blow description of how everybody in the school got into trouble because someone messed up the toilets and wouldn't confess. All the while, eating spinach! She ate two of the potato skins and asked for another. My vegetable hating daughter is eating spinach! I savoured every moment because I know that another vegetable will most likely not pass her lips until I cook this one again.

Overall, a huge success!

Let the stirring begin!

I don't like to cook. In fact, I hate to cook. I hate meal planning and shopping. I hate measuring and mixing ingredients. I hate steaming and stir-frying, boiling and baking, mashing and mixing.

But I must eat.

I also have a husband and two daughters, who must eat.

So I must cook.

However, there are difficulties:

• Husband is what we might euphemistically say "weight-challenged" and is, at many and varied times throughout his life, on some sort of diet. In between such times, his weakness for red wine and his self-confessed need to be almost constantly nibbling, does sometimes not work in his favour.
• Daughter number one would rather donate every single one of her toys to charity and spend her spare time analysing War and Peace, than eat vegetables of any kind.
• Daughter number two has a deep and inexplicable desire for rice and rice only, and would happily eat it every day if I allowed it.
• Oh, and me? Apart from my inability to cook, I also don't eat red meat or fish. No reason, other than the look, smell and taste of them makes me want to be violently ill and never eat anything again, other than hedgehog slice (which, incidentally, I make rather well).

So, in the interests of being a respectable and responsible wife and mother, and not allowing my family to eat grilled cheese on toast every night, I've decided to make an immense effort, and .... well .... cook!

Be warned, I have tried this before and failed. But now that I'm laying down the challenge in front of the entire cyberworld, I'm feeling slightly more optimistic about my chances of success. I'm also hoping that some of you kind-hearted cooks out there will feel sorry for me and help me with recipes, hints, tips or any good, old-fashioned advice that will keep me accountable and well away from the frozen food section of the supermarket. I know my family will thank you for it.

So there you have it. I intend to report in every day, with my latest culinary success story. One more thing you should know. Friday night in our home is take-away night. Sunday night is leftover night or get-whatever-you-feel-like,-even-if-it-is-grilled-cheese-on-toast. As you can appreciate, Fridays and Sundays are my favourite days!