Seems we can never get enough popcorn in our house and although the plain variety is always welcomed, the flavoured ones are definitely preferred (but we have to be healthy sometimes…don’t we?).

Caramel Popcorn is a favourite, but recently I made up this Chocolate Marshmallow Popcorn, which went down a treat.  I just used the chocolate that was in the pantry, which happened to be Cadbury’s Top Deck (my all time favourite).  I think you could pretty much use any chocolate you have available – dark, milk, white or even those with fruit and/or nuts.

Chocolate Caramel Popcorn

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/3 cup popping corn

90-100g chocolate (about 4 rows of 200g block)

1 tablespoon butter

10 marshmallows

Method

Grease a slice tray and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and once hot enough (a corn kernel will spin when dropped into the oil) add the popping corn.  Put on the lid and shake well.  Once popping slows down, remove from heat.

Melt the chocolate and butter together either using a double boiler, glass bowl over a pot of simmering water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water) or the microwave.  Stir to combine and then stir through the marshmallows until they are melted.

Pour the chocolate mix over the popcorn and stir to mix.  Pour into greased tray and cool.  Once cooled, break into chunks and enjoy!

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try it too!

Cooking meatballs in the slow cooker is something I’ve posted about before – Spaghetti and Meatballs.  The difference this time around is that the pasta is cooked in the slow cooker as well!  This makes it literally a one-pan (or actually slow cooker) meal.

I must admit, there was a degree of skepticism at first about how the pasta would turn out.  But it worked fantastically.  There is a fair amount of liquid in the cooker before adding the pasta – don’t let this scare you off.  It all gets absorbed beautifully in the last 45 minutes of cooking and comes out a treat.  Just spoon it out and you’re good to go.

Any meatballs will work here so feel free to use your favourite meatball recipe.  Otherwise, try the basic one below or the one here.

Slow Cooker Meatballs and Pasta

Adapted from Super Food Ideas, July 2011

Ingredients

500g mince

25g parmesan cheese, freshly grated

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium brown onion, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 tablespoons sweet sherry

500g jar tomato paste

6 cups water

350g dried short pasta (e.g. penne, rigatoni)

Method

Combine mince, parmesan, parsley and breadcrumbs in a bowl and mix together well with your hands.  Roll mixture into balls – any size you like – and set aside.

In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat and cook onion and celery until soft.  Add the sherry and cook stirring for 1-2 minutes to boil it down a bit.  Stir in tomato paste and water, combining well.

Tip tomato mixture into the slow cooker then place the meatballs into the mixture.  Cover and cook on low for 6 hours on LOW.  Then add the pasta, stir through, cover again and cook for a further 45 minutes or until pasta is tender.  Season to taste.  Serve sprinkled with extra parmesan cheese and parsley.

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• While it doesn’t matter if the meatballs are cooked a little longer, the pasta will start to break down if it is overcooked.  Around 45-50 minutes is usually a good amount of time.
• Don’t be concerned about the amount of liquid, it is all absorbed and reduced in the end.
• Experiment with different flavoured meatballs.

I’ve had a bit of a thing with chicken and puff pastry this winter.  Chicken Pie has always been one of my favourites and when I was younger, Pampas had a great one that was a regular in my trolley.  Well now I’m so much older and wiser I can actually make a version of this for myself.  Besides, last time I looked, the Pampas version was much smaller than I remembered and didn’t look quite as appealing.

Sometimes the thought of making a pie can seem a bit daunting, time consuming and all too hard.  But not this Chicken Pie!  It only takes a few ingredients and it’s ready in no time.  It’s perfect for cold winter nights and is a guaranteed hit with the whole family.

Chicken Pie

Adapted from 4 Ingredients

Ingredients

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed

1 tablespoon oil

2 chicken breasts, diced

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

500g frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

Beaten egg or milk to glaze pastry

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C (360F).  Grease a pie dish well and line it with one sheet of the puff pastry ensuring the base and sides are covered well.  You can ‘cut and paste’ the pastry to fill any gaps on the sides.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and pan fry the chicken pieces until olden brown and cooked through.  Pour in the soup, followed by the vegetables and stir together well to combine.  Season to taste then pour into the pastry shell.

Place the remaining pastry sheet over the top and press the edges together well using a fork.  Cut a few slits in the top of the pie and brush with beaten egg or milk.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden on top.

Serves 6

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• You could use any chicken in this recipe including leftover roast chicken and store bought barbecue chicken.  About 2 cups of chicken meat is required.
• I used a casserole dish and trimmed the pastry to fit – so use whatever dish you have on hand.

Next time you’re thinking ‘pie’ make it quick and easy with this recipe.  If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try it too!

The Caravan Show is a bit of an annual sojourn for us and what I really love about things like this is there is always the chance of finding something new, different and/or interesting – a hidden gem.

So what has all this got to do with a toasted sandwich?  Well, apart from all the great vans, tents etc, there are always some interesting products that relate to cooking and food, usually with a ‘camping’ twist on it.  One of the things I found at the last show were some great non-stick cooking liners (reusable, easy to clean, thin) and with them came a packet of ‘toaster bags‘.  I’d never seen these before and the instructions were pretty limited, but once I worked it out, I was hooked.  I’d found my gem!

Essentially, these bags allow you to make toasted sandwiches (and a whole heap of other goodies) in the toaster.  It’s that simple – make your sandwich, put it in the bag, cook it in the toaster and eat.  No messy clean up and no need for any grills or sandwich presses.  The other great thing is that these little beauties are a cinch to clean.  Most of the time I just shake it upside down to get rid of the crumbs, but they can be washed in water or even the dishwasher if necessary.

Needless to say the toaster bags have become a staple in our kitchen and they give a quick and easy option at snack time, lunch time or even breakfast time (sometimes my daughter likes a toasted sandwich for brekkie).

As it turned out, these little bags aren’t always that easy to come by so I set out to find some.  At the same time I figured that there would be others who may find them handy as well.  So now they are available right here at the new TKC Shop.   The shop has been something I’ve been working towards for a while and am excited to bring it to my readers.  Over time I plan to stock a range of products that make life a bit easier when feeding the family, while also injecting a bit of fun.

To find out more about the Toaster Bags (including my video on how to use them) click here.

If you have any favourite toasted sandwich recipes to share, leave them below (I’ve got a giveaway for the best one).  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try the toaster bags too!

Cooking bolognaise sauce in the slow cooker has become one of my new favourite recipes.  It is so easy and as with most slow cooker recipes, it’s a case of set and forget for the day.  What I also really like is that there is no messing around with softening onions, browning mince and watching the pot while regularly stirring.  No messing around – just throw all the ingredients into the slow cooker, turn it on and get on with your day.  Of course, it is also useful to make a double batch and freeze some for another night.

The recipe below is extremely flexible and fits in a 3 litre slow cooker.  Throw in whatever you would normally use for you favourite bolognaise recipe – just don’t add too much liquid as there won’t be the evaporation you would normally get on the stove top.

Slow Cooker Bolognaise Sauce

Ingredients

1kg lean minced meat (I use kangaroo or lean beef)

2 small onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 x 425g can peeled tomatoes

1 jar pasta sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup beef stock

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

1 bay leaf

Seasoning to taste

Method

Put everything into the slow cooker and stir well to combine.  Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.  Serve with pasta of choice, sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• The quantity in this recipe is enough for 2 meals for my family of 2 adults, 3 kids (all with generous servings).
• This recipe is for a 3 litre slow cooker.  Adjust quantities to suit ensuring slow cooker is around 3/4 full for best results.
• If there is too much liquid towards the end of cooking time, remove the lid, turn cooker to HIGH and allow some liquid to boil off for up to an hour.  This will thicken the sauce.
• Dried herbs can be subsituted for fresh.

Be warned, you may never cook bolognaise sauce the ‘old way’ ever again.  If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try it too!

Sometimes the cupboard can be looking pretty bare around dinner time and it can be a struggle to pull a meal together.  Luckily there are always a few staples that most of us have such as tinned tuna, vegetables (fresh, frozen or canned) and rice.  With that combination, it is actually easy to pull a dish together and create a version of this Creamy Tuna Mornay.

Last time I made this there were a few scraps of fresh vegetables around so I used those.  However, frozen and canned work just as well particularly for things like corn and peas.  So mix and match according to what you have on hand.

Creamy Tuna Mornay

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, chopped

1 large stick celery, chopped

1 x 425g can of tuna in springwater

1 1/2 cups milk (approx)

2 tablespoons flour

3 cups vegies – here’s what I used:

1/2 head broccoli, cut into small florets

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 cob corn, kernels removed

Method:

Cook vegetables until just tender using a microwave or steaming.  Set aside.

Drain the tuna juices into a jug and make it up to 2 cups with the milk.

Heat butter and oil over low heat and saute onion and celery until soft.  Add flour and stir for 1 minute to make a paste.  Gradually add the tuna juice and milk while stirring.  Continue to stir while the sauce comes to the boil and thickens.

Once nice and thick, stir through cooked vegetables and flaked tuna.  Season to taste.  Serve with rice.

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• As mentioned, use whatever vegies are on hand – fresh, frozen or canned.
• Tinned salmon can be used instead of the tuna.

So next time you think the cupboard is bare, whip up this recipe to feed the family.  If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try it too!

Recently I was singing the praises of pearl couscous – and here that song continues with this super tasty dish of Indian Chicken with Pearl Couscous.  The recipe appeared in our local Sunday paper soon after writing the post so it was not one that I could pass up.  Plus, it was singing the praises of the dish as an “anti-inflammatory boost” – something that never goes astray in the cooler months.  This is a result of all the spices and herbs so don’t leave them out.

Basically the dish incorporates Indian flavours  with chicken, vegetables and pearl couscous and is quick and easy to make.  What I also really like is that it’s all done in one pan (like One Pan Chicken with Spinach) which minimises clean up and pot juggling.

The original recipe called for red capsicum, but I had heaps of green on hand so used those.  You could easily mix and match the vegetables according to what is on hand.  The kids really like the texture of the pearl couscous so give this a go and give the family a health boost in the process.

Indian Chicken with Pearl Couscous

Recipe adapted from Sunday Mail

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil

1/2 brown onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp finely grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp medium curry powder

600g chicken thighs, cut into chunks

1 green (or red) capsicum, diced

1 medium zucchini, diced

250g pearl couscous

2 1/2 cups simmering chicken stock

Juice of 1/4 lemon

Method

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, ginger, fennel and cumin seeds.  Stir for 3 minutes before adding the curry powder.  Stir briefly to release the flavours and then add the chicken, capsicum and zucchini.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times.

Add the pearl couscous to the pan and stir gently for 1 minute.  Pour in the simmering stock and stir well.  Bring to a low simmer, season to taste, cover with a lid and allow to cook over low heat for around 10 minutes.  Stir a couple of times and adjust the temperature if it becomes too high.  If the mixture starts to dry out, add a little more water.

The dish is ready when all the liquid has been absorbed by the couscous and it is cooked.  Stir through the lemon juice and serve.  A garnish of coriander leaves can be added.

Serves 4

Hope you enjoy this recipe and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try it too!

It was Mother’s Day last weekend and in typical style, Mum requested no presents – “I have everything I need.  Just make me a nice cake.”  So a nice cake she got.  Ginger is one of her favourite things – particularly in any glace, crystallised or other sweet form, so I knew I couldn’t go wrong with this Ginger Cake.

While I expected it to be a ‘nice cake’, it was much better than that.  The base came out quite densely and had a real gingerbread taste to it – delicious.  The glace ginger certainly tops it off nicely and when the kids pick it off (like mine did) there’s extra for the adults.

Another bonus was it made a nice big cake so there was enough to leave a good chunk for Mum to enjoy during the week, with extra for us to take home for lunch boxes and morning tea.  In fact, the recipe suggests that the cake is best served 2 to 3 days after baking as the flavours have had time to develop.

Ginger Cake

Recipe from “The Essential Baking Cookbook” by Murdoch Books

Ingredients

125g butter

1/2 cup black treacle

1/2 cup golden syrup

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 cup self raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

glace ginger, optional, to decorate

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F).  Lightly grease a 20cm square based pan and line the base with baking paper.

Combine butter, treacle and golden syrup in a small saucepan and stir gently over low heat until the butter is melted and ingredients are well mixed.  Set aside.

Combine the eggs and milk.  In a separate large bowl sift the flours, bicarb of soda and spices into a bowl.  Make a well in the centre.  Add the butter mixture to the well followed by the egg mixture.  Stir well with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well combined and smooth.  Pour into the prepared tin.  Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  Leave in the tin for around 20 minutes to cool before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, the cake can be iced (recipe follows) or simply dusted with sifted icing sugar.  Store in an airtight container for up to one week, or freeze un-iced for up to 3 months.

Lemon and Ginger Icing

Ingredients

2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

30g butter, melted

3 tsp milk

3 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon rind

Method

Sift the icing sugar into a small heat proof bowl and stir in the remaining ingredients until it forms a smooth paste.  Stand the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the base doesn’t touch the water, and stir until smooth and glossy.  Remove from heat and spread quickly over the cake with a flat knife.  If using, decorate the top with chopped glace ginger.

The Klutzy Cook Notes

Golden syrup can be used to replace black treacle.

Hope you enjoy this Ginger Cake as much as we did and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try it too!

It’s been quite some time since I posted a Stir Fry recipe (last one was Kangaroo Chow Mein) – probably because I haven’t made as many lately.  I always enjoy watching the kids pick the ‘green bits’ out of them which is usually the Asian greens that have wilted in the cooking process.  They’ll spend ages fishing around for them, then realise it’s a losing battle and get on with eating it anyway.

Thankfully, stir fries are back on the menu at our house and this most recent variation of Chicken with Ginger and Lemon Grass was a good one.  The added bonus for the kids was there wasn’t actually any ‘green bits’ to pick out.

This was a super quick stir fry that could easily be adapted to whatever vegetables are on hand.  It does require the chicken to marinate for the best flavour so make sure to allow time for this.  It’s often easiest to get this part organised the night before which leaves only minimal preparation on the night of cooking.

Chicken with Ginger and Lemon Grass

Recipe adapted from AWW Sensational Stir Fries

Ingredients:

500g chicken breast fillets, chopped coarsely

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp peanut oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1/3 cup white vinegar

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp sugar

200g broccoli, chopped coarsely

1 large red capsicum, sliced thinly

5 shallots, sliced thickly

Method:

Combine chicken, oils, garlic, ginger, vinegar, sauce and sugar in a bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat and cook the chicken in batches until browned.  Set aside.

Add the broccoli and capsicum to the pan and stir-fry for 1 minute.

Return chicken to the wok.  Add shallots and stir-fry until all heated through.

Serve (it’s perfect with rice).

Serves 4

The Klutzy Cook Notes

• The original recipe also included lemon grass, so if you have some on hand chop a couple of teaspoons and add it to the marinating mixture.
• Any vegetables could be used – snow peas, carrots, bean sprouts or beans would all be great.

Hope you enjoy trying this recipe and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.  Plus, tell your friends on Facebook (click the icon below) so they can try it too!