Vegetable & Tortellini Soup

I made this yummy little soup a couple of weeks ago. It was DE-LISH!!!  I got it out of the June 2012 issue of Recipes +.

INGREDIENTS
1 tbspn vegetable or olive oil
1 brown onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 red capsicum, chopped (but I only used a half)
400g can diced tomatoes with basil & garlic
2 large vegetable stock cubes
1zucchini, quartered lengthwise, sliced
250g dried cheese tortellini (found in the dry pasta aisle)
400g can cannellini beans, rinsed
1/2 cup shredded basil leaves
(And to please the non vege eaters in our house I also included 250g diced bacon but this soup really didn't need it!)

METHOD
1. Heat oil in a saucepan over hightheat. Add onion, celery & capsicum (I also added the bacon in this step); cook and stir for 3 minutes or until soft.  Add tomatoes, crumbled stock cubes and 3 cups water.  Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low; cover.  Simmer for 30 minutes or unti lvegetables are tender.  add zucchini; simmer, covered, for 5 minutes more or until tender.
2.  Meanwhile, cook tortellini in a saucepan of voiling salted water for 8 minutes or until tneder. drain.
3.  Add beans to soup; cook and stir until heated.  Stir in tortellini and half the basil.  Season.  Serve topped with remaining basil. I served it up with some yummy bread.

Here are the pics I took on Mr C's iPhone (because I couldn't find my camera. he he heh, opps).

Mr Magoo had a small sip and declared "Wow, this tastes HEAPS better than I thought it would!"  Yeah thanks Mr almost 9...  
H liked the tortellini ad bacon best and ate them first.  Silly duffer should have saved them for last but he hasdn't figured that out yet. Lol.

I will DEFINATELY make this again!

Bye for now, K

3 Minute Chocolate cake

This week for the Friday Food Find I have cheated ever so slightly.  I have made this cake a few times.  Even Mr Magoo has made this cake.  He made it when his grandparents were coming to visit.  Well, a few weekends ago Mr C was pretty bored so he & Miss Pants spent some time together and made a cake.  Now, except for the bit where Mr C used a slightly too small cake tin (ring tin) & it over flowed all over my oven, and stank the house out for DAYS, it turned out REALLY well.

INGREDIENTS
90g margarine or soft butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tbspn cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 cup self raising flour

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
Beat the margarine and cocoa to a paste.
Add eggs, then flour,sugar & milk all together.
Beat for 3 minutes.
Spoon into a greased ring tin or 7" x 11" pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
ice when cool as desired.

Mr C iced it upside down & cut off the bits that hung over the sides of the tin, then ate them.  He served it up with a dollop of lite cream.  THANKS DEAR!!  'Twas Yummo. 

Bye for now, K

Ham & Cheese Scrolls

This weeks Friday Food Find comes from Nicole (aka The Planning Queen) at Planning with Kids.  I've made vegemite & cheese scrolls & twists before but I'd never done this variety so technically they're new to me & qualify for my FFF.

I didn't actually go & use Nicole's blog so I'll just let you know what I used.

INGREDIENTS
3 sheets of puff pastry
approx 200g shaved ham, roughly chopped
a few handfuls of grated cheese

METHOD
Preheat oven to 200 deg C
Line a bikkie tray with baking paper
Sprinkle ham & grated cheese over the sheets of puff pastry making sure you leave a couple of centimetres at one edge bare.

Roll the pastry towards the bare edge forming a log.  This edge will help seal the scroll.

Cut the log into pieces 2-3 cm wide.
Place on baking tray & pop in the oven for about 15 minutes.

I wasn't sure whether they'd cook better on their side or flat.  I think they cook better flat but look nicer truned upside down after being cooked on their side.  What are your thoughts?

Bye for now, K



Choc Coffee Muffins

About a month ago I hosted a Chefs Toolbox party and we made the YUMMY Coffee Choc Friands from the website.  I didn't get to take a picture of them so I changed the recipe slightly and made them again, to suit me, hoping to take pictures but I forgot, again.  Sorry about that. 

Anyway, here's what I did.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup icing sugar
2/3 cup plain flour
1 cup almond meal
180g butter, melted and cooled
6 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons instant decaffeinated coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water
100g white chocolate drops


METHOD
1.  Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2.  In a mixing bowl combine sugar, flour, almond meal, butter & egg whites.  Mix well until all ingredients are combined.
3.  Pour dossolved coffee into mixture & mix well.
4.  Fold the white choc drops through.
5.  Spoon mixture evenly into the muffin (or Friand if you have it) tray.
6.  Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
7.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the tray.

They were good but I have to admit the dark chocolate gave it that something extra (I am NOT a fan of dark choc), so perhaps next time I'll try milk chocolate instead of white.

Mr C said he could barely taste the coffee, I thought it was OK.  It wasn't what we normally drink (& he has really strong coffee) so perhaps that made a difference.  I'm not sure.

Perhaps next time I make them I'll remember the photos.

Bye for now, K

EASY Muesli Bar Slice

This really is the EASIEST muesli bar recipe I've ever come across.  It was soo easy & sooo yummy that I haven't even taken a decent number of pictures to share so check out Retro Mummy's Blog, where I found this recipe for her clear pic's.

Now I wouldn't exactly call it a healthy muesli bar recipe but it is the best tasting one I've tried in a while.

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup rice bubbles
1/2 cup shredded/desiccated coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
good splosh of maple syrup or honey or golden syrup
and I added half a cupt sultanas too

METHOD
Preheat oven to 160 deg C and line a squre or rectangular baking tray with baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl
Pour into the tray and flatten out making sure it's fairly evenly spread.
Now the recipe I saw said to bake for 40 minutes until lightly brown but it only took 30 minutes in my oven & smelt delicious!!  (My oven's a bit strange. Slices & cakes take less time to cook, meat takes longer.)
Leave it in the pan to cool if you can.  We couldn't...

Bye for now, K

Pear & Cinnamon Muffins

While I had a little time one morning before school I thought I'd whip up some muffins I'd seen on another blog.  Unfortunately the page wouldn't load so I pretty much made it up as I went.

They went something like this.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup plain flour
1 cup almond meal
about 2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
about 1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg & 1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 cup lite milk
2/3 cup or less olive oil
1 1/2 pears, grated

METHOD
Preheat oven to 180 deg C.  Place a muffin case in each hole of a 12 hole muffin pan.

Put ALL ingedients in a bowl.  Mix gently with a wooden spoon until until just combined. 

Divide evenly amongst the holes.  Bake for at least 25 minutes.

Grating the pear.  Sorry, but this is the only pic I took.  I'm sure you know what muffins look like though.

I'm thinking this was probably not quite long enough or perhaps not hot enough. They were SUPER moist & stuck to the cases badly.  VERY tasty though :)

Bye for now, K

Oven Baked Sausage & Tomato Risotto

I was talking to a friend on the phone the other day that I speak to maybe once every 3 months.  When we talk it's like we never skipped a beat.  We've been like it for years.  We certainly don't always see eye to eye on things but we're OK with that.  Anyway, last time we chatted she was making risotto. I've made a vegetable risotto before but it got me thinking about making something different for a change so google & Taste.com were visited.

This is what I came up with...

INGREDIENTS
1 tblspn oil (if you need it)
725g italian sausages
1 brown onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
3 celery stalks, sliced
400g can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, to serve

METHOD
1.  Preheat oven to 180deg C.  Heat oil in a 12 cup flame proof casserole or ovenproof saucepan (such as my new Como Advanced Saute Pan from The Chefs Toolbox) over medium heat. Fry sausages for 10 minutes, turning until browned and almost cooked. Remove from pan.

2.  Add onion to saucepan, and more oil if you needed.  Cook for 5 to 8 minutes until soft.

3.  Slice sausages into bite-sized pieces.

4.  Add rice and celery to saucepan.  Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring.  Add sausages, tomatoes, stock and water.  Stir.  Remove from heat. Cover with lid or foil.

5.  Transfer dish to the oven & cook for 30 to 35 minutes or untilalmost all the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender, but firm to the bite.  Serve sprinkled with parsley.

I left mine in a little too long so I sprinkled each plate with water before serving it up.

It turned out we're not huge fans of italian sausage. Lol.  It was still pretty good though.  Even after two had two lunches from the left overs there was still PLENTY left too.  I think we could almost half the recipe next time.  I'd like to try it with extra lean pork sausages I think.

Do you have a favourite risotto recipe you'd care to share??

Bye for now, K

White-Choc Easter Tarts

I made this Friday Food Find earlier in the week & took it to a friends place when the kids and I were invited out for lunch.  I had seen the recipe before Easter but hadn't quite found the time to make it, so I had all the ingredients already. (I had to check the date on the cream before starting, and it was still good.)

I found the recipe in a Coles catalogue.  You can find it and other yummy treats here.

Mmmmm... straight to the hips!!

INGREDIENTS
250g pkt of butternut snap cookies
375g pkt NESTLE White Melts (but I had to improvise)
1/3 cup (80ml) cream
20 solid chocolate Easter Eggs

METHOD
1.  Preheat oven to 180 degC/160 degC fan forced.2.  Combine White Melts and cream in a heatproof bowl; microwave uncovered on medium (50%) for 1 minute; stir.  Repeat process in 30 second intervals until melted.  Stand for 15-20 minutes or until cooled and thickened slightly.

3.  Place cookies over 20 holes of two 12 hole shallow patty pans.  Bake for 3-4 minutes  or until soft.  Remove from oven; using a metal spoon, carefully press softened biscuits into pan to mould into a cup shape.  Allow to cool.

4.  Spoon white choc mixture into bisbuit cases; smooth top.  Top each tart with an Easter egg.  Refrigerate until set.

ready for the fridge

This was pretty easy.  The hardest part was moulding the biscuits to the pan.  I tried a teaspoon but that wasn't terribly succesful.  I found a soup spoon to be the most effective.  You need to move quickly at this stage and be careful not to burn your fingers.  I ended up putting one tray back in the oven because they cool very quickly and go hard again.

It actually made 21 little tarts and by 8 o'clock that night there were NONE left.

Bye for now, K

Easter Nests Take 1

Well this isn't my normal Friday Food Find style post.  To start with, it's Saturday.  Secondly, Friday was my birthday so I was busy with other things :)  I saw another post for Easter Nests that I'd like to try but for some reason I didn't bookmark it.  I'll try to find it but I'm not making any promises.

This IS something I've never made before. I saw it here. I mentioned these nests to a friend and showed her the original post and she said "Yeah, they're Spiders!  My Mum made them for every birthday party we ever had! Didn't your Mum ever make them?"  Ahhh, no...  NEVER.  Anyway, here we go.

Easter Chocolate Nests

INGREDIENTS

1 packet Chang's Oriental Fried Noodles
2 tbspn crunchy peanut butter
200 grams of chocolate
approx 18 small Easter eggs

METHOD
1.  Line small bowls with baking paper
2.  In a microwave safe bowl, break up chocolate, add peanut butter & melt on high for approx 60 seconds.

3.  Stir the chocolate mixture and if it is not melted, heat for a further 15 seconds or more as required depending on the wattage of your microwave.
4.  Add the noodles and mix well.
5.  Spoon the mixture into the bowls evenly.  The aim is to have the base thinner making sure the mixture goes up the walls of the bowls to form a nest.  (Easier said than done.  I had to help H with this bit.)
6.  Put them in the fridge for at least one hour to set. Peel off the baking paper and add the small Easter eggs.

You could put them in cellophane bags and give them as gifts or just have them as an after dinner treat with the family.

As a bonus, I got these LOVELY flowers from a friend the day before my birthday.  She didn't know my birthday was the following day but she did know that tulips are my all time favourite flower. The photo didn't turn out too good, but you get the idea.  Thank you Gorgeous Girl!!

This is the cake Miss Pants picked out for me when Mr Creator took her shopping to pick one.  Apparently, I like Barbie.  (Again, not good quality.  Perhaps I should think about a new camera.  I don't like borrowing Mr Creators big fancy pants DSLR because it's heavy & big.  Mine fits in my pocket.)

Since my birthday was also Family Games Night I picked the game.  I decided on junior Scrabble.  It got a bit late & a bit much for Miss Pants so she had to retire early.  Master H isn't a real fan of reading or practising his spelling words so he wasn't real enthused about playing but when he won he was pretty happy with himself :)

That's it for today,

Bye for now, K

Easter Activities Begin...

... In our house

Yesterday I did a little shopping in preparation for some Easter and school holiday craft (and perhaps some it can be used at gifts).  I can home with quite a few things to keep the kids momentarily busy through the holidays.  I ran into someone that was telling me she'd heard about people having Easter "trees" and was going togive it a go, so if I come across one I'll share it with you.

One of my purchases was a box of cookie making stuff.  It came with cookie mix (like a box cake mix), icing mixture, egg shaped cookie cutter and a tube of coloured icing.  I cooked them up yesterday afternoon before the kids got home from school and we iced them after Miss Pants finished her swimming lesson.  They had 5 each to ice.  I helped with the butter icing which was supposed to be used to sandwich the biscuits together, but this way they'll go further.  The icing wasn't terribly thick but I put it in a freezer bag and snipped a corner off to squeeze it out anyway.  The kids decided how they wanted me to put it on & they used the green that came with the kit & some glitter icing pens we already had to decorate them.  I did a few too :)

Miss Pants squeezing the glitter icing on.  Pink off course.

H asked me to make different designs on his bikkies before he added the coloured stuff.

Mr Magoo's works of art.

The Finished Product

Because it was so close to dinner time (& because there was so much sugar involved) I only let them have one each before dinner.  Mean Mother aren't I.  Bwahahahaha...


Bye for now, K

Five-spice Pork and Plum Stir-fry

This weeks Food Find came from the March issue of Super Food Ideas.  (I couldn't find the recipe online though, so I hope I don't get into trouble for sharing it. Shhhh.)

INGREDIENTS

sauce, stock & spice mixed together

1/3 cup plum sauce (although, as usual I used more)
2 tbsp chicken stock (or more if using a thick sauce)
1/4 tspn Chinese five spice
500g pork leg steaks, thinly sliced
350g fresh chow mein noodles
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 brown onion, cut into thin wedges (I didn't have any in the pantry though)
1 large carrot, peeled, halved lengthways, slice diagonally

Pork in the sauce mixture

200g green beans, trimmed

METHOD
1.  Combine plum sauce, stock and Chinese five spice in a bowl.  Place pork in a glass or ceramic bowl.  Add half the sauce mixture.  Stir to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour, if time permits. (It didn't in my house.)

Cooking pork in batches

2.  Place noodles in a heatproof bowl.  Cover with boiling water.  stand for 1 to 2 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Using a fork, separate noodles.
3.  Heat a wok over high heat.  Add half the oil. Swirl to coat.  Stir-fry pork, in bathces, for 2 to 3 minutes or until just cooked.  Transfer to a bowl.  Wipe wok clean with paper towel (I did this between batches).

Stir-fry vegetables until tender

4.  Add remaining oil to wok over high heat.  Swirl to coat.  Add onion.  Stir-fry for 1 minute or until onion has softened.  Add carrot and beans.  Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender.  Return pork to wok.  add noodles and remaining sauce mixture.  Stir-fry for 1 minute or until heated through.

Finished product (sorry about the picture quality)

We ALL loved it!  We will definately be having this again!!  Might even pick a slightly spicier sauce next time, or mix it up with different vegies (although the simple vegies appealed to us all).

To save time in the evening, you can prepare it all earlier in the day, & then it's just a matter of cooking it come that crazy time :)

Bye for now, K

P.S. I thought I'd scheduled this for Friday morning but clearly I FORGOT!

Tuna Mornay

I said I would share recipes I've never made before and in all honesty I've never made this version of tuna mornay before. I've made packet varieties but never from scratch. I found it in the March 2012 issue of Super Food Ideas but it can also be found here.

INGREDIENTS
50g butter, chopped
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1 large celery stalk, trimmed, finely chopped
1/4 cup plain flour
2 cups milk
2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese (although I had tasty in the fridge)
425g can tuna in springwater, drained, flaked
1 medium bread roll
olive oil cooking spray

I made a very basic salad of baby cos lettuce, cucumber and tomato, to accompany it.

METHOD
1.  Preheat oven to 180deg C.  Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes or until melted & foaming.  Add onion and celery.  Cook for 2-3 minutes or until onion has softened.  Add flour.  Using a wooden spoon stir to combine.  Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until mixture bubbles.
2.  Remove pan from heat.  Slowly add milk, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly to prevent lumps forming.  Return pan to medium heat.  Cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens,  Remove from heat.  Stir in cheese and tuna.
3.  Transfer the mixture to an ovenproof dish. Break the bread roll up & sprinkle it over the top.  Lightly spray with oil.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.  Serve with side salad.

Mr Creator isn't normally a fan of tuna mornay, but he had a second helping.  The kids all liked it too and it was really a quick, easy meal for the family.  We'll be having this again :)

Bye for now, K

Baked Tomato and Basil Gnocchi (with Bacon)

I have seen lots of recipes for gnocchi and I've looked at this recipe several times, but something was always holding me back.  I think it was the stories I've heard from others about how gnocchi goes tough if not cooked "just right", so I'd always avoided it.

I decided enough was enough & dove into this recipe from the Planning Queen at Planning with Kids.  She also has a facebook page if you're interested.

INGREDIENTS
750g gnocchi
500mls pasta sauce
I also added 4 rashers of middle bacon
1 onion
2 gloves garlic
300mls cream (I used light cooking cream)
2 tbsps olice oil (I omitted this)
3 tbsps fresh basil
90g sun dried tomato
approx 100g fresh grated parmesan cheese

METHOD

Bacon, onion & garlic

Boil water for pasta
Finely chop onion & basil
Dice bacon (rough large dice)
If you don't use the bacon you'll need to add oil to a large frying pan (but there's enough fat in the bacon to not need it)
Add bacon, onion & garlic and cook for several minutes, until the bacon is almost done & the onion has softened

Cream has been stirred in

Add sun dried tomatoes
Add pasta sauce to frying pan and turn heat down slighlty. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Add cream to frying pan and mix well. Turn heat up slighlty to allow to bubble then reduce heat and allow sauce to thicken.
Add basil
Place gnocchi into boiling water as per instructions on packet!
Turn grill to high heat
Drain gnocchi

Drained gnocchi

Add gnocchi to the frying pan and combine wellPour contents of pan into a lasagne dish, even out as required
Cover with parmesan cheese and place under grill until cheese has melted
Serve with warm garlic bread or garlic pizza
ENJOY!


Like the Planning Queen say, it's not a very interesting dish to photograph, so you can see her photo of the finished product by following the link.  It was YUMMY though.  I'll definately be cooking this again.  I might add other vegies or meat next time too.

Bye for now, K

Fish with Lemon & Dill Flavouring

This weeks Friday Food Find was actually "found" a few weeks ago but incase you hadn't noticed I've been away from the blog a little too much.

I've been trying to add more fish to our diets.  Mr Creator & I aren't really huge fish fans, but I know we need it (so if you have an easy fish recipe you like feel free to share).  We certainly don't eat enough of it but I try to have at least three seafood meals in a fortnight.  Usually fish or prawns.

This one was EASY!!  We liked it & so did Mr Magoo.  The other two wouldn't try it but Mr H liked the potato/tomato sample he had on his plate.

The instructions were simple and easy to follow.  I'll paraphrase...

1.  Purchase this from supermarket.

2.  Preheat oven to temp specified on back of packet.

3.  Remove cook-in-the-bag bag from packet.

3.  Fill said bag with sliced potato, tomatoes & fish. 

4.  Then add contents of remaining pocket from original packet purchased and add water as specified (although if you somehow happen to forget & remember when more than half of said cooking time has expired, do not fret. You can add it late and it still tastes great.)

5.  Seal bag as directed, bake in oven for specified time.  While baking, prepare an appropriate side such as salad or blanched broccolini.

6. Serve and enjoy :)

Told ya it was easy! Will try another of these I think.

 

Bye for now, K

Just so you know I have not been paid or compensated in any way for this post by Continental or any company associated with Continental (but if they want to share a little they can. Lol).

Prawn, Tofu & Egg Noodle Stir-fry

This recipe came from  a sample sized Australian Healthy Food Guide magazine that arrived with my BUPA health insurance magazine recently.  Similar recipes can be found on the Healthy Food Guide website here.

The original recipe called for chicken, but I decided on prawn.  The kids ate it too but only the older kids liked it. I've since made it again, (last night) because I forgot to take a picture of the final product.

I got it all ready early in day so all I needed to do was cook it

INGREDIENTS
300g fresh rice noodles
cooking oil spray
300g peeled green prawns
500g pumpkin, peeled, cut into thin slices
2 cups broccoli florets (I just used a whole head)
1 bunch baby bok choy, shredded
4 green onions, sliced
Bottle of Oriental Plum marinade/stir-fry sauce (recipe called for 1/3 cup but I used it all)
250g firm tofu, cut into small cubes

We even had the tofu

METHOD

1. Place noodles into a large bowl and cover with boiling water.  Separate with a fork, drain and set aside.
2. Spray a wok with oil and adjust heat to high.  Cook prawns in batches until cooked through and set aside.
3. Return wok to high heat. Add pumpkin and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add broccoli for a further two minutes.  Add bok choy and onion. Stir-fry for a further 2 minutes until bok choy is tender.  Return prawns to wok and add stir-fry sauce. Add tofu and noodles.  Toss through to combine before serving.

cooked the prawns in batches

Vegies done, about to finish off

Ready to serve :)  (Minus the tofu, with extra pumpkin & prawns)

Afternoons get pretty busy in our house with two doing homework and reading, one wanting to do homework, one needing feeding and three out of five weekday afternoons we have extra activities to get to.  So where possible I get things ready ahead of time.  The vegies and tofu were all cut and the prawns were peeled and deveined waiting to go.  I just put everything in the fridge till it was time to get dinner happening.  I wish I could say I was organised enough to tell you I do this all the time but I'm not...  Perhaps one day I will be, but I doubt it. Lol.

The second time I made this I purhased 1.2kg of green prawns, peeled and deveined them and omitted the tofu. I used 700g of pumpkin instead of 500g  and also used Honey, Soy & Garlic sauce the second time. (The kids and I preferred the Oriental Plum version better but I think it comes down to personal preference. You could easily make your own sauce too.)




Bye for now, K

Meaty Pasta Bake

Sorry that this weeks Friday Food Find comes to you on Saturday but things happen...

This recipe can be made beforehand and frozen for a quick midweek meal when you know you'll be otherwise tempted to grab takeaway (I really should remember this more often), or just made in the morning & reheated that evening (I often pick recipes I can do that with).  If you pick your ingredients well it's relatively healthy too.  You can have all reduced fat/skim options in the topping or skip the topping completely.  This recipe is what I used and there was plenty left over for a few lunches.  I used the bigger type of macaroni but I think next time I might use the tiny macaroni or even the little baby shells.  I think they'll fold through more easily.  Everyone has probably had something like it & just forgotten how easy it can be to make.

Meat Sauce:
700g lean mince*
420g can tomato soup, undiluted (homebrand is fine)
1 small onion finely diced
1 cup grated carrot
3/4 cup grated zucchini
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 tablespoons tomato paste (I used salt reduced)
2 teaspoons beef stock powder
3 cups cooked pasta

Topping:
(I had NEVER made this before, it is normally Mr Creator's domain)
1 tablespoon reduced fat butter
3 level tablespoons plain flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup grated reduced fat cheese



Preheat oven to 180deg.

Cook pasta as per packet instructions.

Cook mince in a large non-stick frying pan until browned.  Add tomato soup, onion, carrot, zucchini & peas. Cook while stirring for 2 minutes.  Add stock powder and tomato paste. Cook for further 5 minutes stirring often.  Fold through cooked pasta and spoon into lasagne style dish.

Melt your butter/margarine in saucepan, add flour, cook for a minute. Slowly add milk using a whisk, stir continuously, to avoid lumps**.  Pour the sauce over the meat then sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Just prior to going in the oven...

Miss Pants said she didn't like hers but when it was reheated and given to her again for lunch the next day, because her dinner had been glad wrapped and put it in the fridge untouched, she DID like it. Everyone else loved it.



* I used Woolworths heart smart beef mince in this one, but next time I will use the Heart Foundation Tick Approved Turkey mince.  We eat a lot of mince (because it's so cheap) and have found that there are still healthy options in mince.  It's great. 
** I didn't think I needed a whisk but I got it out quick smart!!