roasted tomato soup

I made this while missing tomato soup from the UK
I would normally make it with red onion but I had none on hand but had a lot of dried minced onion

at least 2 types of tomatoes I use cherry and vine (enough to cover the dish your using)
1 tablespoon of oil
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
splash of balsamic vinegar
good amount of dried minced onions
at least 1/3 table spoon of dried basil (I properly use at least 1 tablespoon if not more)
chicken stock (the amount depends on how much tomato mix you because you don't want it too thick or too runny)

place all ingredients in to a oven proof dish except the chicken stock
cut the larger tomatoes and don't worry about the cherry tomatoes
add all the other in dish, mix well and roast for about 1 hour at 250 degrees
remove from oven and when cooled put mixture with chicken stock in a food processor and blend
then sieve the mixture....you should be left with a very small amount of the mix and a beautiful tasting tomato soup.
The small amount of left over mix I add to spaghetti sauces or spread it on chicken then just bake the chicken

Hummus without tahini

2 cans of chickpeas liquid reserved

1/2 fresh lemon juiced

3 cloves of fresh garlic minced

small splash of sesame oil

white pepper (a good shake)

drain the chickpeas and reserve the liquid.

in a food processor add the chickpeas, lemon juice, pepper and minced garlic

turn on processor and the mixture should become like a very thick paste.

slowly add the liquid from the chickpeas until a constancy you require

Easy rice salad

cooked white rice, around 1 1/2 cups
cooked wild rice,  around 1-2 cup
1 tbsp  extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
garlic powder 1 tsp (optional)
1/4 cup fresh coriander/cilantro

mix the rice rices together using a folk.
then in a separate bowl, mix all the other ingredients together and mix well
and then pour over the rice. mix altogether well and refrigerate

perfect rice - thanks to Mel

rice
salt 
water

put on a pan of water, add a dash of salt and then bring water to a rolling boil
whening at a rolling boil add rice...set timer for 10 minutes and after 10 minutes remove rice from stove and strain.

I can't or could not cook rice for teh life of me...even with a rice cooker...how bad is that?
So my friend Mel told me to make it in the saucepan with no measurement....perfect for me.
I used a large pan...filled it up about 3/4 of the way with water and then I used about to cups of rice...way to much water I thought...but it turned out perfect.

*Mels tip for fried rice was teh rice has to been cold when used in a fried rice...well all I can say was WOW!!!!

Stock cupboard crockpot beef stew, garlic broccoli, homemade yogurt

Sorry I have not been here in a while ...AGAIN..
This week I made a crockpot/slow cooker beef stew.
I noticed I had a lot of packet mixes that needed to be used up.
I decided while I need to make things from scratch I still need to use up products before
they go out of date.


Stock cupboard beef crockpot beef stew


Beef skirt (I cut into 4 pieces) (I have no idea what size the skirt piece was, it was bought at Costco)
2 onions cut into large pieces (for fussy son's who say they don't like onions)
tin of diced tomatoes
1 packet of pot roast mix
1 packet of brown gravy mix
2/3 - 1 cup of water

place half the onions in the bottom of the crockpot, add beef add the rest of the onions.
add water to the pot roast and brown gravy mix. Mix well and pour into crockpot
Then add the tomatoes and give a little mix.
cook on low for around 8 hours.

Beef skirt is a VERY cheap piece of beef. It is perfect for slow cooking or using in pies.



Garlic broccoli

Broccoli cleaned and trimmed
2 cloves of garlic minced
butter

Get a saucepan of water add the minced garlic and start to boil the water.
Then when boiling add the broccoli for a few minutes to cook.
When cooked drain and then place hot broccoli to a warmed dish and then add a little butter until all melted.

*I don't have a steamer here in Japan and they are quiet expensive, so I decided to try cooking broccoli this way one day...I came up with the garlic broccoli after having veggies as a side dish one day. They were so nice and the added garlic was so nice and not to much.
Also I can get the family to eat this.

Homemade Yogurt

This is soooo easy it frightening...lol

like I have stated before, I do really use measurements

milk (I use around 2/3 of a litre)
spoonful of 100%natural yogurt and no additives
glass/ceramic dish with lid (lid can be plastic but NOT the dish)
few tea towels and cupboard
cheese cloth
sieve
dish that has space between the sieve and the bottom of dish when sieve is rested on the dish

boil the boil slowly...
in a glass dish add a spoonful of yogurt (100% natural )
when the milk has reached not quite a rolling boil and NOT burnt
remove from stove and let stand for a short while...
add the milk to the yogurt and stir.
leave a little while before place the lid on the dish.
I normally clean up and then add the lid.
I but a towel on the shelf, the I wrap a towel around the dish and place the dish in the cupboard and the I add another towel over that.
Leave for at least 8 hours and you will have yogurt.

Then I get a cheesecloth and sieve
place the cheesecloth inside the sieve and pour in yogurt and the water will pass through the cheese cloth and sieve
I normally do this a few times over a few days so I get a greek yogurt

8remember to always keep a little back to make your next batch

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

I found this recipe on Pinterest via Life as a loft house.

I changed 2 or three parts of the ingredients because I used what we had in the house.

We loved this recipe. Not your usual sweet and sour recipe, but very tasty.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:

5-6 boneless chicken breasts

salt + pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten (I found I needed 3 eggs)

1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 tbs ketchup

1/2 cup apple  vinegar

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

rocky road, our version

2 bags of chocolate chips
1 cup of rice krispies
1/2 cup small mashmallows
handful of craisins
handful of M&M's even better if you have the flaovoured kind (cherry flavour was the best I ever used)
small amount of broken pretzels

melt the choclate in a mircowavable dish
when all melted add the krispies and stir well making sure all krispies are coated
add the rest of the ingredients and mix together.
spread mixture out onto waxed paper to set
place in the fridge until complete set.
When set remove from fridge and paper and break into smaller pieces.