Meatballs, meatballs, who wants meatballs? We do!!!

One of Mr P's favourite things to pack into the big rig freezer is Meatballs. he loves them so much that he eats them all by themselves. No veg, just tomato sauce! I prefer them with a good old fashioned meal of mashed potato & pumpkin with a helping of peas. Yum!! Kids love meatballs too!!  A very easy recipe & most of the work is done by your trusty food processor. i would be lost without a food processor. So here goes..................

Meatballs

500g of good quality lean mince
1 egg
1/4 cup of chopped fresh herbs (parsley, chives or herbs of your choice)
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1/4 cup of plain flour
salt & pepper to taste

extra 1/2 cup of plain flour for coating

Place all ingredients except for the extra 1/2 cup of flour, into the bowl of the food processor. Process for about 1 minute or until it forms together.

Using a ice cream scoop, scoop up mince & roll into balls using wet hands.

In a small bowl, put the extra flour & roll the meatballs in the flour until they are well coated.

When all the mince has been used, place the meatballs in the fridge for an hour or more.

When ready to cook, heat about 1/2 cup of oil in a fry pan. When oil is hot, place the meatballs in the pan.

Turn the meatballs every 2 minutes or so, making sure that all sides are evenly cooked.

When they are golden brown all over (approximately 10-15 minutes), place them onto a plate covered with several pieces of paper towels. This will soak up any excess oil.

Yum!!! Serve with veggies or salad & you have a beautiful meal. You can also make these a little smaller & serve as a snack at your next BBQ with dipping sauce.
Enjoy your day!!

Herb Butters, a Monday quickie!!

Here is a Monday quickie for you!! Now, how yummy does that look!! Herb butters are so quick & easy to make. Imagine on a cold winters afternoon, being able to make a lovely slice of garlic bread. Now you can. Herb butters can be any flavour that you like & can be made from fresh or dried herbs. They can be used to flavour a roast chook, put a dob in fish before grilling, used to cook a steak, top a roast spud, the list is endless. So here goes.............

4 tablespoons of softened butter or margarine
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped or dried herbs/
1 tablespoon of garlic

With a teaspoon, mix the butter & herbs well. The above picture is of chopped chives & butter.

The above picture is of garlic & butter

The above picture is dried Mediterranean herbs & butter.

Store them in little containers in the fridge for 1 week or in the freezer for 1 month.

For a quick snack, cut up some crusty bread and spread some of the herb butter. Place under the grill on a medium heat until the butter has melted & the edges of the bread turn golden.

Just like from a gourmet cafe or restaurant. Serve with as a side dish with a main meal or as an entree before a BBQ or dinner party.
Enjoy your day!

Pimp my ironing board!!!

My ironing board was looking very tired & old before this transformation. The last cover was that bad that I can not even bring myself to show you!! Now as a sewer, my ironing board can be found most days in use & in the middle of my lounge room! I am always ironing material, pressing hems, ironing on interfacing, etc, so when I recovered a beautiful antique chair for the bay window, it occurred to me that if I recovered the ironing board in the same fabric, it may not look like such an eyesore! I have always been able to look at something & figure out the easiest way to make a pattern, an ironing board would have to be one of the easiest thing I have ever had to make a pattern for. I simply laid the fabric on the floor, put the ironing board down on top & traced around it. I then extended the whole thing by 15cm the whole way around. I am really sorry but I forgot to take photo's at this point. This is what I ended up with.

Turning it over so the right side was facing up, I then pinned bias binding the whole way around starting from the middle of the straight end. Where I started from, I folded the end over about 2 cm.

Continue the whole way around until you get back to the start.

Sew the bias binding to the fabric.

Turn the fabric over so that the wrong side is facing up. Pin the binding to form a pocket the whole way around.

Sew close to the inside edge of the binding the whole way around the fabric

You now have a pocket to thread the elastic through to make this a fitted cover. Ties a length of hat elastic to the end of a safety pin.

Start threading the elastic through the opening that you created in the bias binding at the start & finish point on the end of the cover.

Thread it all the way around. when you reach the other end, pin the safety pin to the cover so you do not loose that end.

Holding on to the loose end of the elastic. fit the cover to the ironing board & pull the elastic to adjust.

Pull the elastic so the cover fits snug but you are still able to take it off. Tie the to ends of the elastic together in a tight secure knot.

And there you have it, one very stylish ironing board! You could make this to suit your home decor with any of the wonderful prints available. This whole cover, cost me less than $10 to make & was finished in under half an hour. I did leave the old cover underneath as the padding in the old cover was still fine, it was just that the top had a few marks. Now hopefully, the ironing board will not look so out of place when people drop by!!  Hmmm, I am thinking that I may have started a new colour scheme for the lounge room! I am a Sagittarius & we do get bored easily! LOL!!!

Sunday Special. Homestyle Beef & Bacon Pot Pies!!!

Mmmmmmm, yummmmmmy, pot pies!!! I love this pies! So very quick & easy! And tasty too!! Pot pies are so simple & kids love them because they are something a bit different. Good to make on a Sunday as an alternative to a full roast dinner. Mum can then have time to kick back & have a glass or 2 of wine (or tequila!) while waiting for this cook. So here goes......................


 Homestyle Beef & Bacon Pot Pies

500g of diced beef
200g of diced bacon
3 medium potatoes, peeled & cubed
2 large carrots, peeled & chopped finely
1 tablespoons of mixed herbs of your choice
1 large tablespoon of plain flour
3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce
3 tablespoons of tomato sauce
3 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
frozen puff pastry

Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl & mix well until all sauces & flour are combined.  Decide if you would like to make one big pie using 1 big casserole dish or pot pies using 4-6 small oven proof bowls. I used our dinner set bowls. Tip the bowls upside down onto a thawed sheet of pastry & cut out the top for the pie/s.

Spoon the pie mixture into the bowl/s. Fill up to about an inch from the top of a large dish or about 1cm from the top of a small dish.

Cover the top with the pastry lid.  Brush lightly with a little milk.

At this point you can even decorate your pies. Using a cookie cutter, cut out a shape with some of the leftover puff pastry. Place it on top of the pastry lid & brush again with a little milk. Make 4 small cuts in the top of the lid with a sharp knife so the steam can escape.

Now, so Mr P did not feel too left out hearing about our yummy dinner while he was away in the big rig, I also made one for him! I did the exact same thing but instead of the bowl, I made his in an alfoil dish for him to reheat in his 12v oven.

Put the pies in the oven for 1 hour on 180 degrees. Turn the oven up after the hour to 200degrees for about 10-15 minutes or until the pastry is golden & puffed.

Leave them for about 10 minutes before serving as they will be piping hot & remember that the bowl will be extremely hot so place a plate or tea towel under them.

Break open the top & the beautiful aroma hits you!! Sooooooo yummmmmmmy!!!! The preparation time for these yummy ies is only about 10 minutes, imagine the free time you could have on a Sunday arvo if you made these for dinner!
My Sunday is going to be a "home" day. With one very sick child & another getting ready for camp, I don't think we are going to make it to the Sunday local market like I had planned. Oh well, there is always next week!!
Whatever you are doing today, enjoy!

Cars 2, we can't wait!!! Release date June 23

Parental Warning:  Watching the new CARS 2 trailer may just make your little ones (& bigger ones) addicted to CARS all over again!!

Lightening McQueen is back!!! I have just watched the new trailer for CARS 2 & I can tell you that I am excited & yes, so are the chickadees!!! With all of your faves from the first CARS movie & some new additions to the CARS family. Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) may just become the new fave with all of the Mum's with his very suave voice!! In a race that takes them all around the world it is full of action, danger & lots of fast cars!!

Where will you be on June 23, 2011? Thanks to nuffnang I will be watching this with my whole family just for sharing this trailer with you! I'm sure I will see some of you there!!

Lemon Drizzle cake

When life hands you are tree full of lemons.....................it's time to make lemon drizzle cake! I think that nearly every second backyard in Australia has a lemon tree. In our yard we have a Lemonade Tree which is just a sweeter version of a lemon. They are 3 times the size of a normal lemon & smell simply divine!! This morning when I went out to the veggie patch, I couldn't help but notice all the bright yellow Lemonade Lemons hanging on the tree. I could already taste the Lemon Drizzle cake at this point! It is a very moist, lemon flavoured cake that has a lemon syrup poured over the top while the cake is still warm. The syrup soaks into the cake & is delicious!! So here goes........

Lemon Drizzle Cake
2 eggs
3/4 of a cup of sugar
150g of softened butter
Grated zest of one lemon
1 cup of Self Raising flour
125ml of milk
Pinch of salt

Lemon Syrup
50mls of fresh lemon juice
3/4 of a cup of icing sugar

Preheat oven to 170 degrees

In a food processor bowl, put the eggs & sugar & process for 2 minutes.

Add butter & lemon zest & process for a further 30 seconds or until all mixed in.

 Add the milk, flour & pinch of salt & process until it is smooth & even in colour.

Spoon mixture into a paper lined cake or spring form pan. Bake for 45 minutes.

Prick the cake all over with a skewer. Then start on the syrup while cake is still warm.

In a small saucepan, mix the lemon juice & icing or a low heat until it forms a cloudy syrup.

Slowly pour all over the cake while still warm so it soaks in. leave the cake to cool in the pan.

Yummy!!! This cake is perfect to make on the weekend if you are having guests or during the week for morning tea. It is simply delicious.

Well, I finally finished the quilt that I was making for my girls to use while on school camp. They both love it!

Well, it's that time on a Friday where there is washing to be done, floors to be mopped & cleaning to be done. Whatever you are doing on the weekend, enjoy!