Dinner at home - Pasta 2 ways

Both of these dishes started off in the same way - in a frying pan, I heated a little olive oil, and added a chopped onion, some chopped pumpkin and some chopped sweet potato, and fried until tender.  I was planning on tossing this through pasta for both of us, but as I cooked this mix of vegies, it put the idea of making a pumpkin and chick pea curry.

Since Janet doesnt like curry, I took half of the vegie mix out of the pan and popped it into a seperate pan with some bacon.

I then tossed this through the wholemeal pasta I had already cooked and bingo - bacon & pumpkin pasta

With the remaining vegies in the original pan, I added some kofta curry paste and a small tin of chick peas....

and there you have it, pumpkin & chick pea curry with wholemeal pasta!

Delicious!!

Out for Breakfast - Coffee Club VIllage Square

Another Saturday morning car service means another breakfast at Coffee Club Village Square. Friendly table service, with water bottle and glasses placed on the table as soon as you sit down!!

I tried something different this time - Haloumi & Mushrooms served with toasted turkish bread, baby spinach and pesto. Except I asked for no mushrooms, and for some grilled tomato (I decided to not risk overdosing on mushrooms).  Delicious!!!! (Another slice of tomato would have been nice)

Janet had the bacon, eggs, tomato & toast (again!!) minus the tomato - and loved it (again!!)

I was a little suprised when I read the bill (after we had paid and walked out) to see that they had charged me extra (I think $2) for my one slice of tomato. Even though I had not had the mushrooms, and Janet had also not had tomato. Only $2, but really, I think they could have just thrown it in!!

Dinner at Home - Tomato Soup & Cheesy Garlic Toast

mmmm tomato soup would be one of my favourites. I made this for a weekend dinner - a simple soup made by frying up some onions, garlic and fresh herbs, along with some red capsicum, before adding in a tin of tomatoes and whizzing up until smoothish. Add vegie stock or water to thin down if needed, and stir in some fresh basil before serving!

to dip in the soup - cheesy garlic toast - spread a little garlic onto a piece of bread, sprinkle with grated cheese and pop uder the griller until brown!

Dinner at home - breakfast for dinner!

We had eggs that needed using up, so we had some breakfast for dinner! (yes, I could have done some baking, or made a more "dinnerish" dinner, but this went down quite nicely!)

For Janet - fried eggs, bacon and wholemeal toast

for me - an omlette filled with onion, red capsicum, grape tomatoes and a sprinkle of parmesan, with some wholemeal toast.

(I simply sauted the vegies, removed them from the pan to cook the egg, and then added them back in with the cheese before folding the omlette over - not the prettiest thing to look at, since it kind of stuck to the pan a little, but it certainly tasted delicious!!)

Out for Lunch - Just Poppys - take 2!!

We were going to be in the area, so we just had to go back and try Just Poppy's again!!

They have a wide selection of different soft drinks in their fridge - Janet had the Lime, I had the Raspberry Cranberry - YUM!!

We both tried different burgers to the ones we had on our previous visit -

Janet went for this Lamb Mince Burger - "Ewe Bewdy" - Lamb mince seasoned with lemon, basil, thyme, on onion, lettuce, tomato & bbq sauce.  (minus the tomato and onion) This was a big hit - she said she could really taste the seasoning in the meat, and it was delicious!!

I tried the "Salt of the Earth" burger - pineapple, egg, cheese, mushroom, grilled onions on lettuce, tomato & beetroot with sweet chilli sauce & Mayo. (minus the egg).  This was a great burger, although a little on the drippy side, as could be expected with the pineapple, sauce and mayo.

Dinner at home - Vegie not-Burger!

This is one of my favourite dinners at the moment - super easy too - mixed salad leaves from a bag (that includes grated carrot and grated beetroot), tossed together with some chopped tomato and drizzled with a little mayonaise and topped with an oven baked Sanitarium Not-Burger and some onion. (the onion on this one went a little crispy in the oven - oops!)

Out for Lunch - Luigi's, Sunnybank Hills

We went here for a Sunday lunch - it was the day after Janet's Party and we were very sleepy!

We started with some buttery garlic bread. Which was delicious, but unnecessary, since it filled me up way too much.

Janet tried the Meat Lovers Pizza (just for something different??? :-)  ).  It had a nice crisp thin base and a decent amount of toppings, without going overboard.

I had the spaghetti Napolitana, which had mushrooms through the sauce - chopped up mushrooms that I was able to eat with no dramas.  It was a nice thick, chunky tomato sauce, just what I felt like!!

Luigi's is in the Pinelands shopping centre on Mains Road. I'd go back to try the vegie pizza :-)

BBQ Dinner - Berrinba Wetlands

We had a bbq at the Berrinba Wetlands. They were extra Wetlands, since it was raining.  Too bad they don't have the bbq's under cover! An umbrella soon took care of that though.

I continued with my "I like Mushrooms" quest. by bbq'ing a large mushroom. I put some garlic on it for flavour.

THis is my giant mushroom burger. Unfortunately, I ended up removing the mushroom. Too much mushroom for me. Way too ambitious. Small chopped up pieces of mushroom would be a better plan!!

Janet had a sausage burger.

and Shadow behaved herself tied to a post nearby!

Happy Birthday Janet!

Janet turned 40 on the weekend, and we had a "Young at Heart" party for her.  This has kept me rather busy cooking over the past few weeks!!

We were expecting about 40 people, so I made lots of food - I cooked most of the finger food in advance and froze it.

We started with lots of different nibblies.....

Cheese, dip and crackers

Chippies!!

Cheezles!!

and of course some lollies!

The "healthy plate" - I made a big bowl of hommus. In fact, I am still eating it now :-)

Then we moved onto some hot finger food....

a pile of sausage rolls

I made 3 different kinds of meatballs - mexican beef, sweet chilli turkey & honey, rosemary lamb

I also made a batch of corn fritters, 2 kinds of puff pastry pizza scrolls (bbq meat lovers & roasted vegie), and Nigellas Ritzy Chicken Nuggets

We had a wonderful gang of waiters to help hand the food around - thanks kids!!

and because it was a "young at heart" party, we also had to play a few party games - we "pinned the nose on the koala" and also played "pass the parcel!!!

And then we had dinner!

I made 2 rather large lasagne's - one meaty and one vegie (I forgot to take a photo until after they were outside in the dark)

My Mum made this delicious salad, and there was also a potato salad from Chevonne, that I neglected to photograph! Garlic bread too!!

YUM!!

Then, there has to be some desert......

We did have a fruit platter, but we kind of left it in the fridge. oops

every kids party needs fairy bread!!

the jelly cups were a big hit!

Pam made these fairy cakes

and Janet specially requested chocolate crackles, so Chevonne & her kids made these snazzy looking ones!!

And of course, no birthday is complete without a cake..... Janet selected this one from the Women's Weekly Birthday Cake book, and I made it for her.....

HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY!!!!