Kinda Quick Crockpot Roast Lamb (or beef for those with a sheep phobia)

While by definition slow cooking is not quick , in my mind any meal that only requires 10 minutes of human attention to throw together is a quick meal. Henceforth the title of this post.

So take your meat  (I used a 1.5 kilo rolled lamb flap)  and brown all sides in the fry pan. This is the part that takes 10 minutes.

Side note: Once,  in about 1989,  I cooked a rolled lamb flap in the  oven  and served up a meal  with the same consistency and flavour as old boots. I did not bother buying a rolled lamb flap again until 2005 when I bought my crock pot.  

Throw your  meat in the crock pot and turn it on high. Add whatever roast seasoning you like.  If you're from South Australia you will have access to Nostimini but if  you aren't  from   here I feel sorry for you.This stuff is awesome and you're truly missing out. Marg has some , so if you're at the top of the country go visit her with a little baggie and she may give you some if you ask her nicely. Throw the lid on the crock pot and go away. In the next 6 hours, which is how long you've got until you have to look at dinner again,  you'll have enough time to sew a quilt top or spend a load of time looking at blogs. You can thank me later.

Come back after the aforementioned 6 hours. Pull your roast out of the crock pot. Slice it up. Don't worry if your knife is not sharp because this roast is so tender it practically falls apart. Serve it with whatever you like. I make gravy out of the juices in the bottom of the crock pot which is unhealthy but is seriously the  best darn gravy you've ever tasted. 

After dinner email me to tell me how delicious dinner was - and about how you think I could give Nigella/Donna Hay/Rachael Ray a run for her money. You're welcome.

Devil Soup

I was going to do a  pretty photo montage of some of my cooking from  last week, but , since I'm a technological dunce , and haven't worked out how to make a montage yet (Hey ! I downloaded Picasa and that was as far as I got, and I even played with it a little bit,  but my screen went blank and I couldn't make any pictures appear in the proper box and I don't have a lot of patience this week if you know what I  mean and wow was that the longest run on sentence EVER and imagine if I was saying it without drawing breath-but I bet I could because that's one of my talents  ) I  decided to do a  post about devil soup.

I found the recipe for devil soup  here. (aka Baked Potato Soup)  As you can see it's not made from dried or crushed devils or anything else that is hard to obtain. No Siree...you probably have everything you need right in your kitchen already.  Easy!

This is the Australian version of Velveeta. It says it's made from real cheese right there on the pack, but I'm pretty sure that's bullshit. No "real" cheese I've ever seen is capable of living in your pantry for months.  I suspended my thoughts about  the idea that this is a block of chemicals in fancy packaging (I mean after all I eat McDonald s and who knows what that really is. And I can't say what I really want to here because Macca's have a nasty habit of suing people that don't say nice things about their food  ) and got to work.

Ta da! This is the end result.

This was freaking delicious. I am in LOVE with Kirsten for posting the recipe.

A few things . You will notice this soup is not really called Devil Soup. That's just what we're calling it here because it's so sinfully delicious. Personally, I think this is fondue masquerading as soup.

This recipe calls for a small pack of Velveeta. I had to google to find out what sizes Velveeta comes in, work out which one was small, and then convert from oz to grams. That's dedication. You guys are aware that your small cheese is the size of a large Australian block aren't you? I watched some video of a woman explaining what velveeta was and she held a block up the size of her kitchen counter. Actually I think she lifted it with the aid of a winch. I guess that's the large size.

Also as I was finishing up this post , our power went out ...I'm scared it's because I wrote devil in this post. You guys know I'm only joking about this being devil soup right?

One day when I have time, I'll teach myself to do photo montages. or maybe one of you will take pity on me and send me instructions. Thankyou. Curtsey . Bow out.

Grocery Challenge -Week 4 (and Nanaimo Bars !)

I did my grocery shop Wednesday night , and have managed to hit the shops three times since then to spend more money. So , not such a good week. Maybe since I know it’s almost the end of the month , I’m cutting loose. I’m still on target , providing I don’t race out to buy wagyu beef or a crayfish.

So, total spent for this week $172.05

Total remaining until the end of the month $143.93

In my own defence I cooked coconut rice this week and had to buy  10 kilo bags of three different kinds of dal when I only needed 4 tablespoons of each kind. And pure coconut oil is expensive you know. (And looks and tastes like suntan lotion)  I’m going blind from googling recipes that require channa dal. I’ll be making it into porridge if all else fails.

Now, down to business. I implore you to stop talking about food in your comments. I have no willpower and I’m going to end up with a backside the size of the outback if you don't.

Last week it was Nanci and her Butter Tarts . Mmmmmmm Butter tarts. This week, the gorgeous Marg planted the seeds of Moose Milk and Nanaimo Bars. I’m giving the Moose Milk a miss , because I’m not a lush …(sorry Marg –I couldn’t resist) but I decided to make the damn Nanaimo bars since I couldn’t get them out of my head.

These need custard powder. I’ve never bought custard powder before. I know you’re thinking “Does this woman live under a rock ?“. It was thrilling to buy such an exotic ingredient.

The recipe I used is here . We don’t have Graham Crackers here so I used chocolate ripple biscuits instead.

These are easy enough to do. I just like to mess up my kitchen when I cook. See?

This is what rose like a phoenix from the ashes.

Yes, that is seized milk chocolate on top …How observant of you to notice! And mine seem pretty big compared to the recipe picture. Hmnnnnn...I wonder if that's because Australia is a lot like Texas. Everything is big here. Maybe our 8 inch pans are smaller than yours. Maybe my mix fluffed up due to the sunshine, and the fact we're south of the equator.  Whatever.

But they still taste great, even if they don't look pretty. Next time, I'll halve the base or double the size of the pan! This time, I'll just shut my eyes when I'm taking one from the fridge. (and when I'm next weighing myself)

Next time any of you want to talk food …since I’m easily led , mention salad or vegetables will you?  If I don't eat something green soon,  I fear for my health.

Grocery Challenge-Week 3

Week 3 of the Great Grocery Challenge has arrived. Head on over to One Crazy Journey  for an update on Flamingo Mama's progress.

Since I was under the weather  last  week and couldn’t get out to shop so much, I was forced to use what we had in the house. I’ve noticed that you can get really creative when you have to. I must confess there was a high degree of menu shuffling  this week because people didn’t want me breathing on their food. (Mental Note To Self: Learn to perfect a cough for other occasions I don’t feel like cooking) I highly recommend contracting a virus if you're wanting to save money on groceries as well.

I spent a massive amount this week. All of $17.00. My shopping list included ice cream (we had a guest for dessert because any other time I would be too mean to buy ice cream ) , cream, raisins, and milk.

This makes my total grocery spend for March so far : $348.02

Leaving me : $ 315.98 Pretty darn impressive huh?

I’ve been trolling round looking for new recipes this week and have found blogs an amazing source of inspiration. I particularly liked this recipe from Kirsten's Cooking  for Baked Potato Soup  I think Velveeta must be like our Kraft Blue Cheese, so that’s what I’ll be using.

My mission this week is to use all the little leftover bits and pieces from our inside freezer. Everytime I open the door something jumps out and tries to attack me. So if this week’s menu looks a bit cobbled together it’s because it is. Plus, I’ll be using some of last week’s meals because we didn’t eat them. Has anyone else noticed if the main cook is sick, everyone else decides that eating proper meals is low on the priority list? I personally dont think lollies and Dorito's are a meal.  Apparently some people in this house think that covers mains and dessert.

My Menu for this Week:

Lunches/Brunches

Chicken and avocado sandwiches
Bacon , Eggs and Toast
Pancakes with Maple Orange Butter 
Cheesey Tuna Potatoes
Chicken Wings and Salad
Mediterranean Vegetable Frittata
Lamb Salad with Mint

Dinners
Rendang Curry , baked potato skins with bacon cheese and sour cream, Jasmine Rice and Butter Tarts
Smashed Roast Chicken with Cajun seasoning, gravy potatoes, corn and beans.
Pasta and Spaghetti Sauce with two cheeses
Cooking with SAJ –Finally going to do those lamb Shanks with Carribean Coconut Rice
Kirsten’s Baked Potato Soup with Crispy Bacon and Rolls and lemon cheese cake
Steak with Garlic Cream sauce , BBQ potatoes and a green salad
Takeaway for dinner one night

I make all my own rubs and marinades. The cost is significantly less than the store bought kind and it's really easy to do.  This is the Cajun Seasoning Recipe  I use.  And here is an old post of mine that  lists  links to a couple more rub recipes. So,  Happy Shopping, Meal Planning and Cooking. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else is doing.

P.S. I bought a cake  from the store on March 12th and it has a use by date of April 3rd. Apparently this cake will keep for at least  three weeks ...no cake I  make ever lasts that long. Exactly what is in there to keep it fresh for that length of time ? Ugh- I don’t want to know. I just fed it to the dogs. Now I feel bad because I wouldn't eat it but I expected them to, and because they can't read they weren't making an informed choice.