The Challenge - Tuesday Week 1

On our way home from Busselton, my sister and I stopped in at Spotlight in Bunbury only to find a man in a ute calling out "Free Stuff!"

Spirit Radio were giving away free bread, rolls and croissants. Well, foraging is allowed, so we grabbed a loaf of bread, croissants, a packet of Turkish bread and some knot rolls. What a fortuitous start to our Freezer and Pantry Challenge!

Another quick stop in Collie to pick my sister's vegetable garden of all it's bounty. Fresh beans, baby eggplant and some roma tomatoes added to our purchases made at the Busselton Markets on Sunday.

Breakfast
Cream of Tomato on Toast with Bacon - affectionately referred to as Cat Sick by various family members.
Serves 3
2 x ripe tomatoes - peeled & diced. (make a light cross in the bottom with a sharp knife and place in a tall jug. Pour boiling water over and let sit for 30 seconds. Refresh with cold water and then peel)
2 eggs
1 Tbs sour cream (normally I use cream, but there wasn't any in the fridge)
3 slices bacon

Fry bacon in pan, remove and keep warm. Add tomatoes to pan, season and fry. Beat eggs with cream.
When tomatoes are cooked, add eggs and stir around until cooked. Should look like cat sick.

Serve on hot buttered toast with the bacon.

Lunch
Pizza Subs

Made tomato passata with added herbs from the garden (bay, oregano and basil) in the Thermomix.
Use as a pizza sauce on Turkish bread halves. Top with diced onion, chorizo, ham, pineapple, champignons and top with a mix of grated mozzarella (in my freezer), cheddar & parmesan cheeses. Bake in a hot oven for 10 minutes.

Tea
Baked Chicken Pieces with Lemon
Serves 4


1 packet Ingham's Frozen Chicken Pieces, defrosted
1 Tbsp capers (Whew! I had some in the fridge)

 Photography by Mark O'Meara

1 lemon cut into wedges
2 garlic cloves, chopped (forgot these, not enough wine)
3 small onions, cut in half (didn't need them)
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock (I used water and 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch thyme (recipe said Lemon Thyme, but Rambo had dug it up)

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Arrange chicken pieces, in a large ovenproof dish. Top with lemon wedges, capers and garlic. Whisk oil, stock and wine together and pour over. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper and spread thyme sprigs on top.
Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour.
Increase oven temperature to 200 degrees C and bake a further 30 minutes or until chicken is golden.

Served with mashed potato, fresh beans and baby squash. Forgot the carrots sitting in the Thermomix, too much wine.

Steamed Apricot Pudding
This is best done in a Bessemer Dutch Oven. We ended up having to bake this as I used the Le Crueset Casserole Dish.

1 large tinned apricots, drained
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
1 batch cake mixture (or can use a packet cake mix if one in pantry)

Melt butter in pan and add sugar. Cook until bubbling and sugar dissolved. Add apricots in a single layer and cook a little. Pour over cake mixture and place lid on pan. Cook on top of stove on very low heat for 40 minutes or in oven with no lid if the pan has no steam vents.
Serve with fresh cream.

Purchases today: Onions and Cream - $3.80