What I cooked with evaporated milk

A neighbour of Mum's friend is eligible for food parcels from AC Care. She gets tins of evaporated milk in them and with no idea what to use them for she hands the tins to mum's friend, who gives them to Mum, who in turn hands them to me.

I am sure my mum lives for giving away food. If it's not homegrown veggies from her abundant garden, it's packets and cans of stuff she wont use.

I am not one to knock back free food. So I happily brought them home with me and they sat in the pantry until I hit google up for some ideas.

One of my pet hates is when hubby stands at the pantry, fridge or freezer proclaiming to all who will listen that he thinks we are running out of food. It gives me the shits! 

To prove that no, I don't need to go to the shops, it gave me the perfect opportunity to use up the three cans of evaporated milk keeping the pantry shelves warm, for weeknight dinners. I did not hear any complaints, from hubby anyway. The kids are a whole other kettle of fish, that continue to make me want to throw my hands in the air and order takeaway every night.

Bacon and egg pasta.
I used this recipe for ham and egg pasta on the Taste website. Instead of ham I used bacon. It's cheaper and I had in the freezer. It's a quick and easy recipe, tasty too.

Bacon, broccoli and sweet potato quiche 
This was another Taste recipe which I changed to use up ingredients I already had. 

The broccoli was from the garden, I substituted ham for bacon again, and instead of using tinned corn, which I didn't have, I cut up sweet potato in small cubes, about a cup, and microwaved them until soft.

Pumpkin and pea risotto
When you have a particular brand of food stuff that you have no ideas for, a great tip and one that I didn't do myself at first, is to head to the brands website for recipes. I found this recipe on the Nestle website, for Pumpkin and broccoli risotto. 

Of course I'd used the broccoli in the garden in the quiche, so used a cup of peas instead. 

This makes a fair bit of risotto, so if you have lots of left overs, you can try making arancini balls! I didn't, I just ate risotto for lunch three days in a row!

Here's how I made my risotto. You will need -

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 onion, chopped
2 cups short grain rice 
4 cups water
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
600 grams cubed pumpkin (about 1-2 cm cubes)
375ml can evaporated milk
1 cup frozen peas
Parmesan cheese, for serving

Heat oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Add onion and garlic for a minute, add rice and stir to coat the rice with oil.

Pour in water, add thyme and pumpkin. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the can of evaporated milk and frozen peas, continue cooking for a further 5 minutes.

Serve with parmesan cheese.

An InLinkz Link-up

Egg #fmy52weeksofmemories

Easter Sunday morning. Crack of dawn. Isabel came into our bed. She laid there for ten minutes, then asked if she could wake her sister. I said as long as she did it gently. As soon as Isabel quietly mentioned the Easter Bunny to her, she was up!

There was lots of  "Oh my gods" about the foot prints and chocolate treats. Although it was early, it was exciting for me too. I didn't care that their breakfast consisted of Disney chocolate and Cadbury eggs.



Mum put on a pizza night for dinner and we left with our stomachs bursting. I am still getting over it.

The following photos were taken with my camera by Izzy. She likes to use my camera, I know I shouldn't let her play with it, but she loves taking photos and I don't want to discourage her. It could be her 'thing', and I quite like the images she produces from the angle of a six year old.

Frittata love

Frittata is easy to make, plus it's healthy. I seem to be enjoying it more than I ever have. It makes a quick lunch, ready in about fifteen minutes.

I used to make the crustless quiches, that contain milk, cream or even flour.  Not to mention cheese and bacon!

Little did I know I could whip up something tasty, with fresh ingredients in half the time of the 'frittatas' I was making before. This is what healthy food is about. Simple, fresh ingredients. The only thing out of a container besides the oil,  is the egg. They come in their own natural container!

I was a little excited today, to see the first egg from our chooks we bought at the show this year.

I love my frittatas with capsicum. I use whatever I have in the fridge, like zucchini (sliced thinly), spinach or spring onions.

Fresh herbs or greens raided from the garden also get a look in.

This is a pretty loose recipe, meaning you could add what ever you like. I use at least 6-7 eggs for my 30 cm cast iron pan for a thin frittata. Add more eggs and fillings for a thicker frittata to feed more people. It will take a little longer to cook too.

I can highly recommend buying a cast iron fry pan. Our camping store sells them for around $25. Smaller pans are even cheaper, and I wouldn't mind a smaller sized one for those small jobs.

They never warp, provide a flat base, especially where frying eggs is concerned. They are heavy based, they hold heat, and last forever and a day, even longer! I find mine perfect or making frittata.

Simple frittata

6-7 eggs
A cup of diced capsicum. Or a mix of veggies.
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper

Place half the oil in a flat fry pan on a medium heat. Add capsicum to the pan and cook for a few minutes.

Beat eggs in a bowl, then add cooked capsicum. Stir to combine.

Add rest of oil to the pan, and slip in the egg mixture.

Cook on a medium low heat until the egg starts to set. It should still be a bit runny on the top.

Place the pan under a hot grill and cook until the egg is set and starting to go golden on top.

Slice the frittata in wedges and eat!

This frittata had heaps going on. Mushrooms, asparagus, feta, red capsicum and spinach.

If you are using softer veggies like zucchini or spinach for example, add them to the capsicum at the end, just to wilt down.

Things like onion, mushrooms and garlic can be fried with the capsicum.

An InLinkz Link-up

Zucchini Slice

I have never been too successful with zucchinis. I haven't had one off my plant this year because of end blossom rot, where the zucchini starts out well but slowly dies off from the flower end. I've had heaps do this, but the latest two on the plant are looking like they might be OK, fingers crossed.

End blossom rot is caused because of not enough calcium in the soil, and infrequent watering. 

Mum can grow them with her eyes shut, so I've been getting them off her. 

This is what I made with them, besides eating them with other veggies and making ratatouille, like I did when we went camping recently. 

Zucchini Slice

1-2 grated medium zucchini(about 2 and a half cups)
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup chopped bacon
1 cup grated cheese
1 cup SR Flour
1/2 cup oil
5 eggs
salt and pepper

Place all ingredients in a big bowl. Mix together well.
Grease a pie dish or cake tin.(I line the bottom of a spring form cake tin and spray with some olive oil spray).
Bake at 200 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

An InLinkz Link-up

Asparagus Quiche

Mum gave me three tins of asparagus, they'd been sitting in her pantry for a while. I'm impressed they are Australian made and owned, Cowra Gold brand from Windsor Farm Foods in Cowra, New South Wales.

This has given me reason to make Asparagus Quiche. I haven't made proper quiche for a while, I have an easy quiche recipe which has no pastry, and its quick and easy to make, which is probably why. This is the basic recipe, I have added other things like spinach, corn or different types of cheese.

Easy Quiche

3 eggs, 1 1/4 cups milk, 1 onion chopped,

 1/2 cup SR flour, 3 rashers bacon, 1 cup cheese.

Mix all together. Bake 40 mins in hot oven.

I have no idea where I found the following recipe, its in my own handwritten cook book, so I've come across it somewhere and thought it was good enough to keep. I have made it a few times before, but its not one I make regularly. When I make quiche, I usually just use frozen puff pastry. This recipe comes with a pastry recipe and it's well worth making the effort. 

Asparagus Quiche

1 cup flour

90 gr butter

1 egg yolk

1 tbs lemon juice

Rub butter into flour, add yolk and juice.
Add a little cold water if its not coming together.
 Knead lightly and refridgerate.

485 gr asparagus

2 eggs and 2 yolks

300ml cream

4 bacon rashers

125 gr cheese, cubed

Place cheese and bacon on bottom, then asparagus.

Mix eggs and cream and pour over.

Bake for 10 mins in moderate oven.

Reduce heat and bake for 30 mins.

It smells divine as I pulled it out the oven, and tastes amazing.......of course Brett ruined his with tomato sauce.