Small Steps Living

#2 Lunch #3 Dinner Recipes

Three Simple Dressings

One of the easiest things to ditch from your weekly shop is salad dressings – that’s because it is so crazy easy to make delicious dressings from staple ingredients in your pantry.

Adding good fats to salads helps you feel full and also makes them outrageously delicious.

Here’s my tangy, salty and creamy dressings for your enjoyment x

Print Recipe
 Three Simple Dressings
Three Simple Dressings
Servings
Ingredients
Tangy
  • 1 tbls apple cider vinegar (nice and cloudy – like the Braggs brand)
  • 1 tbls olive oil
  • 1 tbls raw honey
  • salt and pepper
Salty
  • 1 tbls peanut butter (make sure the only ingredient is peanuts!)
  • 1 tbls tamari (similar to soy sauce but wheat free – find at supermarket)
  • 2 tbls olive oil
Creamy
  • 1 avocado
  • Juice 1/2 lemon
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 1 tbls olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp dulse flakes – optional find at health food stores
  • salt
Servings
Ingredients
Tangy
  • 1 tbls apple cider vinegar (nice and cloudy – like the Braggs brand)
  • 1 tbls olive oil
  • 1 tbls raw honey
  • salt and pepper
Salty
  • 1 tbls peanut butter (make sure the only ingredient is peanuts!)
  • 1 tbls tamari (similar to soy sauce but wheat free – find at supermarket)
  • 2 tbls olive oil
Creamy
  • 1 avocado
  • Juice 1/2 lemon
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 1 tbls olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp dulse flakes – optional find at health food stores
  • salt
Three Simple Dressings
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#3 Dinner Recipes

Easy As Pie

This has fast become a family favourite. All family members really enjoy these little meat pies – what a bloody miracle! They are super easy to make and totally delicious.

If you use store-bought shortcrust pastry then feel free to keep making pies until all the mixture is used – my guess is you’d get around 18-20 pies. Perfect to freeze and pull out for lunches – or serve at a birthday party.

The beauty of these pies is that you can use whichever veggies you fancy (or have left in the fridge, as is the case with me).

Print Recipe
 Easy As Pie
easy-as-pie
Servings
Ingredients
  • 4 tbls broth or 2 tbls Olive Oil
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 500 grams beef mince grassfed is best
  • Chopped vegetables of choice I’ve used 1 diced eggplant and 3 grated zucchini OR 1 chopped broccoli and 2 large grated carrots
  • 1/3 cup tamari find it in the supermarket
  • 1 cup tomato paste
  • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbls coconut sugar or rapadura sugar
  • 100 g feta cheese
Servings
Ingredients
  • 4 tbls broth or 2 tbls Olive Oil
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 500 grams beef mince grassfed is best
  • Chopped vegetables of choice I’ve used 1 diced eggplant and 3 grated zucchini OR 1 chopped broccoli and 2 large grated carrots
  • 1/3 cup tamari find it in the supermarket
  • 1 cup tomato paste
  • 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbls coconut sugar or rapadura sugar
  • 100 g feta cheese
easy-as-pie
Recipe Notes

Ingredients for pastry:

Either store bought – Careme is one of the better brands or my go-to spelt shortcrust pastry recipe (http://kitchnthyme.com.au/tag/spelt-pastry/). Never fails me.

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#1 Breakfast #3 Dinner Recipes

The Brinner Cupcake

Sometimes dinner is not well thought out. Sometimes you can’t be effed with anything major and you just want something that everyone will eat. But you want it to be healthy.

Enter the Brinner Cupcake. I saw people mention ‘brinner’ on another FB page. It’s basically breakfast for dinner. I love it! And it happens often here – bacons and eggs or pancakes I can think of, off the top of my head.

My husband has told me to blog this recipe (I think so I remember how to make them again!)

Print Recipe
 The Brinner Cupcake
The Brinner Cupcake
Servings
Ingredients
  • Four small grated zucchini
  • 1 slice of bacon chopped (it’s all I had, go nuts if you’ve got more)
  • 180 g tin tuna
  • 2 spring onions sliced
  • 5 eggs
  • Tin of kidney beans
  • 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Two handfuls of grated cheese
  • Really good shake of salt
Optional additions:
  • crumbled feta
  • sundried tomato
  • chopped olives
Servings
Ingredients
  • Four small grated zucchini
  • 1 slice of bacon chopped (it’s all I had, go nuts if you’ve got more)
  • 180 g tin tuna
  • 2 spring onions sliced
  • 5 eggs
  • Tin of kidney beans
  • 1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Two handfuls of grated cheese
  • Really good shake of salt
Optional additions:
  • crumbled feta
  • sundried tomato
  • chopped olives
The Brinner Cupcake
Instructions
  1. Put it all in a bowl, reserving one handful of grated cheese, and mix until thoroughly combined. Spoon into greased cupcake tin (made ten for us) and then top with remaining cheese. Put in oven at 180degrees for twenty minutes.
  2. Serve with a salad (or not….!)
Recipe Notes

Any leftovers would make an awesome leftover lunch or breakfast the next day. Or even make a batch and freeze them to pull out for meals during the week.

How about that for a lazy dinner winner, the family devoured it.

What’s your favourite lazy dinner or Brinner??

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#3 Dinner Recipes

Pumpkin Purée

I was feeling seriously uninspired about dinner the other night.

Sausages + salad = not that exciting, right?

Until I remembered that bit of pumpkin in the fridge and whizzed up a pumpkin purée!

Wow so yummy!!

Coupled with baby spinach, avocado, cucumber, salt and pepper drizzled with olive oil.

To make the purée I used my Thermie but you could easily use a stick blender.

Print Recipe
 Pumpkin Purée – Make it Monday
Pumpkin-Puree-600x600
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Servings
4
Ingredients
  • a small onion
  • clove of garlic
  • 20 g olive oil
  • 450 g of cubed pumpkin
  • 80 g of coconut milk
  • 60 g of water
Prep Time 5 mins
Cook Time 20 mins
Servings
4
Ingredients
  • a small onion
  • clove of garlic
  • 20 g olive oil
  • 450 g of cubed pumpkin
  • 80 g of coconut milk
  • 60 g of water
Pumpkin-Puree-600x600
Instructions
  1. Cut your onion and garlic finely and cook in a saucepan with the olive oil over low heat.
  2. Once onion is translucent then add the water and coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Take it off the heat after five minutes.
  3. In the meantime steam your cubed pumpkin.
  4. Once soft, blend the pumpkin and coconut milk mixture together with a stick blender until smooth.
Using a Thermomix
  1. Chop the onion and garlic on speed 7, for 3 seconds. Added the olive oil and cooked for 2 minutes, speed 1, at 100 degrees.
  2. Add the cubed pumpkin, coconut milk and water and cook on speed 1, 15 minutes, at 100 degress.
  3. Once cooked, purée on speed 8 for 20 seconds.
Recipe Notes

Mmmmmmm silky pumpkin goodness! Pimping veggies at it’s best.

Enjoy, and let me know if you try it x

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#3 Dinner Recipes

Butterflied Chicken and Salad

Anyone else buy butterflied chicken? It’s like fast food!

PS of course the kids ‘salad’ was not mixed up like ours – deconstructed all the way for them.

How do you cook a butterflied chicken??

Print Recipe
 Butterflied Chicken and Salad
lisa-corduff-butterflied-chicken-600x600
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 zucchini
  • half an onion
  • handful of watercress (chopped in tmx speed 7.3 seconds)
  • salt
  • olive oil
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 zucchini
  • half an onion
  • handful of watercress (chopped in tmx speed 7.3 seconds)
  • salt
  • olive oil
lisa-corduff-butterflied-chicken-600x600
Instructions
  1. Bake on a bed of zucchini, onion and watercress for 40 minutes at 180 degrees. Make sure to spread it over the top with salt and olive oil.
  2. You can also make a salad of watercress, avocado, tomato, cucumber, sauerkraut and balsamic and the baked zucchini. Deeeeeelicious!
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#3 Dinner Recipes

Thermomix Basic Congee

I wanted something the whole family could eat – from the 8-month-old all the way up to my husband. I wanted something nourishing with a hit of immune boosting qualities because my son and I have been a little rundown. So I looked around at a few recipes for how to make a congee in the thermomix and came up with this. The kids had theirs plain – with some raw veggies on the side to munch on. I added a whole stack of watercress and sauerkraut to ours because I thought it needed an extra little punch.

Don’t skimp on the ginger – it makes it!

Print Recipe
 Thermomix Basic Congee
Thermomix Basic Congee
Servings
Ingredients
  • 500 g chicken mince pork is more traditional but I only had chicken
  • 1 tbls tamari
  • 200 g brown rice
  • 1200 g water/chicken stock
  • Big piece of ginger perhaps 2 inches
  • 4 cloves of garlic
Servings
Ingredients
  • 500 g chicken mince pork is more traditional but I only had chicken
  • 1 tbls tamari
  • 200 g brown rice
  • 1200 g water/chicken stock
  • Big piece of ginger perhaps 2 inches
  • 4 cloves of garlic
Thermomix Basic Congee
Instructions
  1. Mix tamari through the mince and let it marinate (the earlier the better).
  2. Add rice to dry bowl and mill on speed 8 for five second. Remove from bowl.
  3. Add garlic and ginger to bowl and chop speed 7 for three seconds.
  4. Add rice back into bowl with water/stock and cook for 12 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1.
  5. Add mince to bowl in teaspoon fulls. Little time consuming but worth it! Then cook for another 12 minutes, 100 degrees, reverse, speed 1. I let mine sit in the thermoserver for half an hour and added salt.
Recipe Notes

This was the kraut.

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Let me know if you try it x

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#3 Dinner Recipes

Hey Presto Basil Pesto

With the pinenuts I found the other day and the generosity of a friend I made a deeeeelicious basil pesto!

Thank you Iwa from Wholefood Nutrition and Wellness for sharing the basil goods from your garden!

Print Recipe
 Hey Presto Basil Pesto
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 clove garlic chopped or crushed
  • 2 handfuls pinenuts
  • 2 handfuls of macadamias
  • 3 handfuls of fresh basil
  • 30 ml lemon juice
  • 70 ml olive oil
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 clove garlic chopped or crushed
  • 2 handfuls pinenuts
  • 2 handfuls of macadamias
  • 3 handfuls of fresh basil
  • 30 ml lemon juice
  • 70 ml olive oil
Instructions
  1. Pulse the nuts, garlic and basil until you get the right consistency then add the lemon and oil and mix. Hey Presto Basil Pesto!
  2. There are a tonne of ways to use pesto – obviously as a dip (currently using carrot and celery sticks to dip in as I write!), as a topping for a salad, mixed through spelt pasta and topped with shaved Parmesan, on top of sourdough with fresh tomato and bocconcini – the opportunities are endless!
Recipe Notes

What’s your favourite way to use pesto?

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#3 Dinner Recipes

Chicken, Carrot and Feta Patties (with GF and DF options)

I had a friend with a really fussy toddler in Sydney and she loved serving him these chicken patties. I received many a text from her when she was at the shops saying “what goes in those patties again?” Funnily enough I contacted her this time to help me jog my memory – I blame baby brain. I made these so many times in Sydney but since getting thermie kind of forgot about them. I converted the recipe to thermomix last night and it worked perfectly but I have provided both conventional and thermomix instructions for you below.

Print Recipe
 Chicken, Carrot and Feta Patties (with GF and DF options)
lisa-corduff-feta-patties-600x600
Servings
Ingredients
  • 500 g organic chicken mince
  • 2-3 spring onions
  • large handful of fresh parsley
  • 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 pieces of frozen sourdough bread OR 80-100g of breadcrumbs use quinoa flakes or perhaps even brown rice flour for gluten free
  • 100-150 g of feta – leave out feta for dairy free I used Danish because I had it but Greek would hold together better
  • olive oil or coconut oil for frying
Servings
Ingredients
  • 500 g organic chicken mince
  • 2-3 spring onions
  • large handful of fresh parsley
  • 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 pieces of frozen sourdough bread OR 80-100g of breadcrumbs use quinoa flakes or perhaps even brown rice flour for gluten free
  • 100-150 g of feta – leave out feta for dairy free I used Danish because I had it but Greek would hold together better
  • olive oil or coconut oil for frying
lisa-corduff-feta-patties-600x600
Instructions
Without a Thermomix
  1. Finely chop spring onion and parsley and add to a large bowl
  2. Grate carrot and add to bowl with chicken mince, eggs, breadcrumbs and feta and use your hands to mix in thoroughly.
  3. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a frypan and heat on medium-high heat.
  4. Shape a tablespoon full of mixture into a ball and place into the pan when warm and press down with the back of a spoon to make a flatter ‘pattie shape’. (I fitted six patties into my saucepan so had to do a number of batches). Turn patties with a spatula when golden on the underside. Ensure that they are cooked through before removing from pan. You may want to turn down the heat to ensure they don’t burn.
Thermomix
  1. Make breadcrumbs by chopping frozen bread at speed 9 until a breadcrumb consistency – around 10 seconds. Remove from bowl
  2. Cut spring onion and carrot into chunks and add to bowl with parsley. Chop 5 seconds, speed 6.
  3. Add chicken mince, eggs and breadcrumbs to bowl and mix speed 5 until combined.
  4. Add feta and mix on reverse, speed 2 for 10 seconds. If not totally mixed through then just use your spatula so the feta remains in chunks.
  5. Add enough oil to cover the bottom of a frypan and heat on medium-high heat.
  6. Shape a tablespoon full of mixture into a ball and place into the pan when warm and press down with the back of a spoon to make a flatter ‘pattie shape’. (I fitted six patties into my saucepan so had to do a number of batches). Turn patties with a spatula when golden on the underside. Ensure that they are cooked through before removing from pan. You may want to turn down the heat to ensure they don’t burn.
Recipe Notes

Eat as a hamburger or with salad, or with roasted or steamed veggies. They’d be lovely served with sweet potato mash and corn on the cob. The opportunities are endless! We made enough for the four of us and then leftovers for lunch the next day.

Enjoy x

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#3 Dinner

One Pot Tuna, Quinoa and Veggies

We don’t have much in the fridge due to not getting to the market at the weekend and it being VERY close to pay day…. Somehow I do my most creative cooking when my back is against the wall and I’m making do with what I’ve got. Tonight it was zucchini, tuna and quinoa. Throw in some frozen peas and corn, a tin of tomatoes and we have a meal!

Print Recipe
 One Pot Tuna, Quinoa and Veggies
ONE POT TUNA, QUINOA and VEGGIES
Servings
6
Ingredients
  • 1 brown onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 30 ml olive oil
  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 cup quinoa rinsed thoroughly and drained
  • 1 tin whole tomatoes chop with a knife before adding and add all the juice too
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 x 185g tins of tuna in oil or spring water
  • 100 g of frozen peas
  • 100 g frozen corn
  • couple of handfuls of kalamata olives I pitted and sliced mine
  • danish fetta to sprinkle on top
Servings
6
Ingredients
  • 1 brown onion
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 30 ml olive oil
  • 2 zucchini
  • 1 cup quinoa rinsed thoroughly and drained
  • 1 tin whole tomatoes chop with a knife before adding and add all the juice too
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 x 185g tins of tuna in oil or spring water
  • 100 g of frozen peas
  • 100 g frozen corn
  • couple of handfuls of kalamata olives I pitted and sliced mine
  • danish fetta to sprinkle on top
ONE POT TUNA, QUINOA and VEGGIES
Instructions
  1. Chop zucchini into three large chunks and place into thermomix. Cut at speed 4-5 for 5 seconds. Remove from the bowl and set aside
  2. Add onion and garlic to the bowl and dice at speed 7 for 3 seconds. Scrape down bowl and add 30 ml olive oil
  3. Cook at 100 degrees, 2.5 minutes, speed 1
  4. Add tomatoes, quinoa, zucchini and water and cook 100 degrees, 10 minutes, speed 1
  5. Add tuna, peas and corn and cook 100 degrees, 5 minutes, speed 1.
  6. Once cooked transfer to your thermoserver and give it a good seasoning with salt and pepper. When serving add olives and fetta to the top of the dish. Serve with a salad if you desire.
  7. (This is going to be approximate because I cooked mine in thermie, but it’a what I’d do if I was cooking stovetop!) Dice your onion and crush the garlic. Add it to a pot with olive oil, on medium heat.
  8. Cook until translucent then add your tomato, quinoa, grated zucchini and water and once simmering, cook for ten minutes.
  9. Add your tuna, peas and corn and simmer until quinoa is tender and the liquid is absorbed.
  10. When serving add olives and fetta, salt and pepper to garnish. Enjoy! x
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#3 Dinner Recipes

Gorgeous Spicy Tomato Quinoa and Vegetables GF, DF, Vegan

Sometimes it’s when your back is against the wall that the most creative and delicious things happen in the kitchen. Or not? Ha! Lucky for me, this experiment worked and is definitely share-worthy.

Every Thursday I have a ‘kid-free’ day.  I love Thursdays and I’m not ashamed to say it. I need Thursday!

It’s only a recent phenomenon and I make the most of it to do all the things I can’t do with two kids around.  This Thursday I left home to drop the kids off in the morning and didn’t return again until after I picked them up.  It was 5pm when we got home.  Lucky I had some soup and frozen zucchini slice thawed for their dinner (does anyone else find it hard to feed their kids after a day in care???  Sometimes they are so knackered I just give them eggs on toast).

But I felt like something really tasty so looked in the fridge and got creative (in between getting kids fed and bathed – such is the beauty of the thermomix!).  I wanted a Moroccan flavour and don’t really know if I achieved that, but it was delicious and a little spicy nonetheless.  Below I’ve given thermomix and conventional directions.  And choose whichever vegetables you like – use my suggestions as a guide – it’d work with anything!

Print Recipe
 Gorgeous Spicy Tomato Quinoa and Vegetables GF, DF, Vegan
Gorgeous spicy tomato quinoa and vegetables
Servings
Ingredients
  • 100 g quinoa – rinsed thoroughly
  • 1 x red onion
  • 2 x garlic cloves
  • 25 g olive oil
  • 1 x 400g tin of diced tomatoes
  • 50 g tomato paste
  • 1 tbls tmx vegetable stock paste and 250g water OR 250g veggie stock if no tmx (you may need to adjust this)
  • 1 sp ground cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp ground coriander seed
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 medium sized eggplant cut into cubes
  • 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets
  • 1 red capsicum sliced thinly
  • 1 zucchini sliced thinly
  • dulse flakes
Servings
Ingredients
  • 100 g quinoa – rinsed thoroughly
  • 1 x red onion
  • 2 x garlic cloves
  • 25 g olive oil
  • 1 x 400g tin of diced tomatoes
  • 50 g tomato paste
  • 1 tbls tmx vegetable stock paste and 250g water OR 250g veggie stock if no tmx (you may need to adjust this)
  • 1 sp ground cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp ground coriander seed
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1 medium sized eggplant cut into cubes
  • 1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets
  • 1 red capsicum sliced thinly
  • 1 zucchini sliced thinly
  • dulse flakes
Gorgeous spicy tomato quinoa and vegetables
Instructions
Here’s what you do with a thermomix:
  1. Measure the quinoa into the basket and then rinse under the tap in a sieve. Set aside
  2. Add onion and garlic to bowl and chop on speed 7 for 3 seconds
  3. Add olive oil and spices and saute for 3 min/100 degrees/ speed 1
  4. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, stock paste and water and then add the basket into the bowl and cook on Varoma temp/20 minutes/speed 2
  5. While this is cooking add your vegetables into the varoma – using the tray for zucchini and capsicum as they will be ready before the twenty minutes is up. Make sure you move the veggies around halfway through cooking time.
  6. Once finished put the vegetables into a thermoserver then add quinoa and tomato mixture and combine well.
  7. Sprinkle some dulse flakes (available from the health food store) over the top and serve.
  8. So freaking tasty! Enjoy
Here’s what you do with pots and pans!
  1. Crush your garlic and finely slice onion.
  2. Add oil to a saucepan and heat on a medium temp. Cook onion, garlic and spices until translucent.
  3. Add tomato, tomato paste, vegetable stock and bring to a simmer.
  4. Add quinoa and cook as per packet instructions.
  5. While quinoa is cooking, steam all vegetables in a steamer until cooked.
  6. Once both are ready, combine and enjoy!
Recipe Notes

Oh – I should say that many people would salt their eggplant beforehand – I am generally too lazy to do this but I know I should – go ahead and do that if you so wish!!

And for kids, probably leave out the chill powder – it’d be a perfect kids meal without it – or if your little ones can handle it then go for it.

Lisa x

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