The Wonders of Mince (Part 2): Low-Guilt Lasagna

Well, after a very long and unexpected break from the blogosphere, I'm back!  I'm sure I haven't been too sorely missed, but I have missed the outlet of writing.  I guess I'll just pick up where I left off...

Another of my favourite "hide the vegies in the mince" meal is lasagna.  Underneath that crusty yet gooey, cheesy top, in amongst the al dente pasta and meaty Bolognese, one can hide a multitude of virtues.  In fact, one of the things I love most about this comfort food is that it actually represents quite a balanced meal - some (lean) protein, some carbs, a bit of (low-fat) dairy and, of course, lots of veg.  My dear mum has always made it like this - although the vegies are not so hidden in her version (if you know my mum, you know she likes chunky vegies!) and includes more than just the vegies I've listed below.

This is a meal best saved for a not-so-busy day, as it takes a bit longer to prepare, but it's so worth it!

Low-Guilt Lasagna (serves 6)

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
500g beef mince
1 large carrot, grated
1 large stick celery, finely chopped
1 large zucchini, grated
5 button mushrooms, finely chopped
100g spinach, finely shredded

1 bottle Bertolli Provista tomato sauce or other tomato passata
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

500g lasagna sheets

3 cups milk
2 heaped tablespoons cornflour
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Salt & Pepper, to taste

1/2 cup cheddar and/or parmesan cheese, grated, extra

1. Preheat oven to 180.  Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, then saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent.  Add mince and cook until browned, breaking up the lumps with a spoon.

2.  Add the carrot, celery, zucchini and mushroom and cook for 1 minute, then add tomato sauce and herbs. Stir to combine and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat milk in a large jug in the microwave for 4 minutes, or until almost boiling.  Combine the cornflour with a dash of cold milk in a small cup to make a smooth paste.  Add 1/2 cup of hot milk to cornflour mix, then gradually add back to the remaining milk, stirring continuously.

4. Heat the milk in the microwave again, stirring every 1 minute, until thick.  Add the cheeses and season to taste.

5. Add the spinach to the meat sauce and season to taste.

6. Grease a lasagne dish and place a single layer of lasagne sheets on the base.  Layer the lasagna as follows: meat sauce, pasta, cheese sauce, meat sauce, pasta, cheese sauce, meat sauce, pasta, cheese sauce.

7. Cover the top with extra cheese and place in the oven for 40 minutes or until browned on top and a knife can be inserted through all layers easily.

8.  Serve with salad and garlic bread, or just as is!

By the way, did you know that you can buy mince that has been snap-frozen (so-to-speak) so that you can cook it straight from the freezer?  And the best thing about it is that it doesn't cook in clumps so you don't have to stand there breaking it all up as it cooks!  I love it - especially because I always forget to take meat out of the freezer in time to defrost for dinner!

Cheesy Vegeful Muffins

These muffins are a great, tasty way of boosting your children's vegie intake!

Master W isn't a big fan of eating dinner, so I try to get as many nutrients into him as possible during the day. As he's a lover of all things cake-related, my muffins go down a treat!  Plus they're packed with vegies, dairy and a bit of protein too.

I have been asked for this recipe several times, so I thought I'd share it on the blog in case anyone else is interested.

Cheesy Vegeful Muffins (makes 12)


"This is how you grate"

"Can I help?"

2 cups self-raising flour (you can use wholemeal if you're feeling particularly virtuous!)
1 cup grated cheese
2 slices shortcut bacon, finely diced (equates to about half a cup)
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 small zucchini, grated
1 carrot, finely grated
2 spring onions, finely sliced
1/4 capsicum (red or green), finely chopped
1 cup milk
1 egg
25ml extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 190°C and grease a muffin tray.

2. Fry the bacon in a non-stick pan until browned and crispy. If the corn kernels are frozen, put them in the frying pan to defrost briefly before turning off the heat. Allow to cool.

3. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add the cheese, bacon and corn.
4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil, carrot, zucchini, capsicum and onion, until well combined.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. If you mix too much at this stage, the muffins will not be as fluffy and moist.
6. Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin holes and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before removing from tray and cooling on a rack.

To get the muffins out of the tray more easily, loosen the sides with a knife, then gently twist the muffin - it should just slide out then.

These are especially nice straight from the oven with a little bit of butter. They can also be kept for 2-3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

Another little budget and time-friendly tip: I like to buy shortcut bacon, because it has much less fat on it.  I buy a kilo of it when it's on special and freeze it so there's always some there if I need it.  I'll lay half of it flat in a single layer in a large snaplock bag, and dice the other half finely and put it in containers.  That way, it's easy to get to and ready to use for a last-minute meal! (You can cook it straight from frozen.)

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

Anyone who's had a baby knows about "witching hour": that time of the day (usually somewhere around 5pm) when bub just won't settle!  This makes it particularly difficult for a new mum to prepare dinner, especially if it involves lots of chopping, stirring and other hands-on steps.

Mum has told me several times about how her solution to this problem when we were young was to do all the preparation for dinner first thing in the morning when we were all happy.  That way, no matter what else happened in the day, at least we'd be able to eat at a reasonable hour.

I sometimes follow Mum's advice; other times I stick Master W in front of Playschool (I always think that's on at a brilliant time!) and Miss E in the Baby Bjorn and hope for the best.  Whether you're a morning person or a last-minute type, this dish is great!  You can do the prep work (which isn't that much) whenever you have the chance, and chuck it in the oven just before everyone gets hungry.

It's actually one of my favourite recipes, not just because of its simplicity, but because it's just so tasty!  And because you don't need to saute anything before putting it in the oven, you don't need to add any oil, which makes it that bit healthier.  Master W (age 2) loves olives and feta (and slurping up pasta) so he'll usually eat this quite happily.  If he's having a fussy day though, he just eats the plain pasta (it could be worse!).

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta (serves 4)

1 chicken breast (you can add another one if you like more meat in your sauce)
2 tsp/4 cloves crushed garlic
4 spring onions
6 button mushrooms
1 small zucchini
100g mixed marinated olives
100g marinated artichokes
100g marinated feta
700g jar tomato passata or plain pasta sauce (I like to use Bertolli Provista Sugo Classica)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
salt & pepper to taste
Your favourite pasta variety, to serve

1. Cut the chicken, zucchini and mushrooms into 2cm cubes (approx.) and chop the spring onions as finely as you can be bothered.  If the feta is not yet in cubes, chop it into 1cm cubes; halve the olives and the artichoke pieces (but only if they're too big).

2.  Place all sauce ingredients in a casserole dish.  If you're not too worried about the fat content, put in some of the marinating oil from the olives & feta for a bit of extra flavour.

3. Cover and bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

I like to serve this with a bit of parmesan and, if I have time, a green leafy salad or steamed green beans.  And, of course, a bit of garlic bread will never go astray!

On the topic of garlic bread - in my opinion, the store-bought stuff is not very good for the waistline: it's far too oily and there is more than is really needed for 2 adults and a toddler (of course, we'd eat it all, but don't need to!).

I like to make my own, of course!  I buy the packets of 6 crusty long rolls (I think they call them Vietnamese Rolls) from the supermarket when they are on special.  I make up a batch of garlic butter using 1 tsp crushed garlic, 100g butter and about a tablespoon of chopped parsley.  I cut the rolls into 6-8 pieces, spread with the butter and wrap them individually in foil ready for the oven.  Then I chuck them in the freezer ready for whenever we have pasta!  That way, we only have the option of having a couple of pieces each, I can control how much butter is on them, and it's a much more budget-friendly option.

Fruit & Oat Snack Bars

I thought I'd start the recipe blogging with something I know at least some people like, because I sold lots of them at the last Barn Market we went to.

When Master W started eating finger food, I discovered the world of expensive and messy kid's snacks.  Sure, those little fruit bars that cost almost $1 each from the supermarket are convenient (and I will admit to buying them occasionally when I'm desperate), but what is even in them, anyway?  Surely I could make something similar myself?

So I did some research and experimenting and developed this recipe.  It's one of my favourites because it's so flexible and serves so many purposes.  W and I both have a severe weakness for "cake" (that's anything sweet in W's language), and this satisfies our cravings.  Even better, I know exactly what is in it:  it's all healthy and all natural.  Plus, it is soft (so suitable for littl'nes) and doesn't crumble easily.

I like to have a batch of these in the fridge as often as possible so that I can just grab a bar whenever someone wants a snack.  And because there's no added sugar or fat, I don't have to feel bad about giving it to my son or eating it myself (especially when I'm trying to lose my baby belly)!

I'll start with my favourite version, the Hummingbird Fruit & Oat Bars, but I'll put recipes for the other variations at the bottom of the post.

Hummingbird Fruit & Oat Snack Bars  (makes 36 bars)
1½ cups  quick oats (or rolled oats blitzed in the food processor)
1 cup wholemeal flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon*
½ tsp ground ginger
½ cup dessicated coconut (optional)
1 whole ripe pineapple, core removed, or 1 tin crushed pineapple in juice
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup dried or frozen berries

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.  Grease & line a lamington or slice tray (approx. 20cm x 30cm). Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. 

2. If using fresh pineapple, cut into chunks and place in a food processor.  Blitz until it resembles crushed pineapple.

3. Combine pineapple, banana, eggs and vanilla, then add to the dry ingredients.  Mix until smooth.

4.  Gently stir through the berries, then pour mixture into prepared tray (and let the kids lick the bowl!).

"Delicious!"

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until slightly browned and set.

6.  Allow to cool in tray before slicing into bars suitable for little hands to hold.

The bars last 5-7 days in the fridge. 

*The potency of ground cinnamon will diminish over time, so if it's been in your cupboard for years, you might want to add a bit more.  Conversely, if you have ground the cinnamon recently yourself, you may find 1 teaspoon is too much in this recipe.

Variations:

Apple, Orange & Apricot
Replace the ground ginger with ground nutmeg; replace the banana with 1 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed, if possible); replace the pineapple with 2 whole, unpeeled red apples, cores removed; replace berries with 1 cup chopped dried apricots; and omit the coconut.  At step 2, blitz the apples in the food processor until the pieces are around the same size as crushed pineapple.

Zucchini, Carrot & Sultana
This is a great one for getting extra vegetables into your little one! Follow the recipe for the Apple, Orange & Apricot bars, replacing the dried apricots with sultanas and adding 1 grated carrot and 1 small grated zucchini with the wet ingredients.