Lamb and Rosemary Shepherd's Pie

Ah, one of the great comfort meals! Good old shepherd's pie is another one of those dishes that always reminds me of my childhood as we often enjoyed it for supper. We would usually have the beef version, but this time around I decided to make a lamb shepherd's pie instead.

Bacon and Mushroom Quiche (with the tastiest quiche crust ever!)

What's for dinner tonight foodies? Today I am sharing one of my favourite week night supper recipes. It is a delicious and easy quiche recipe that can be adapted to include any of your favourite fillings. If I have a few spare minutes during the day I sometimes prepare the crust or filling in advance and simply add the egg and milk mixture just before baking, but it is quick enough to put together in the evening making it a brilliant weekday option. 

Minute Steak with Sun Dried Tomato Butter and Teresa's favourite Quick Fry Veggies

Whoa, that recipe title is a bit of a mouthful! Fortunately the name is probably the most complicated part of this dish which is very quick and easy to prepare (ready in under thirty minutes), not to mention low carb. So we are ticking a lot of good boxes here today folks! 

Saffron, Hazelnut and Honey Roasted Chicken

The past two weeks have been fraught with activity including birthdays, a school fair, dog sitting, a deadline or two, sick kiddies (and a sick me!) as well as the usual busy routine. As a result it has taken me a little longer than usual to get this post up. I made this roast chicken a few weeks ago and I know I have found a new favourite in this recipe. This dish would not be out of place at a dinner party with friends but works equally well as a weeknight supper - I hope you will love it too! It's a good 'un... 

Thin Crust Spelt Flour Pizza

It's a new month and time to get back to normal after all of the school and public holidays which have had many of us wandering around much of the time scratching our heads and trying to work out what day it is! (Or maybe that was just me?) Last week I took a little break and the family headed to beautiful Knysna for a couple of wonderfully chilled days. Well, as chilled as you can be with two small children running about. We had a brilliant time and I so enjoyed being out of the normal routine, free from the usual daily chores and away from my laptop screen! Just what the doctor ordered. 

Low Carb Chilli Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry

It is time for another "dinner in a flash" recipe  - we love those right? And this one will also, I think, be met with nods of approval from the banting crowd. This beef and veggie stir fry is a very simple but delicious meal that works well for supper or lunch. (Or both if you have leftovers.) I say simple because I usually prepare my stir fries with a homemade sauce, or at the very least a splash of soy sauce but in this recipe I have simply used a couple of aromatics to give the dish its tasty flavour with the added bonus of making it sugar free.

Spicy BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

The other day I was chatting with a group of school moms about cooking, specifically family dinners, and a couple of us (myself included) were saying how we keep soft tortillas in the cupboard for quick, fuss-free suppers when time is limited. The kids love them and they can used to make wraps, fold overs and even pizza. The other meal you can make with them of course is quesadillas!

Soy Cashew Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Quick is the name of the game today and this fabulously delicious dinner will be on the table in thirty minutes, making it a week night winner! It is an adaptation of this chicken dish and I love the addition of crunchy toasted cashews and jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk.

Beef Sliders (with hidden veggies!)

I hope you are all settling into the the new year year nicely. I for one am enjoying getting back into the regular routine, but of course that means we have had to pick up the pace at home (extra murals, social events and, very soon, school runs - you know the drill) and that means that I need delicious and healthy meals that can be prepared on the double!

Creamy Chicken with Lemon and Rosemary

After what felt like a particularly cold winter we are in full spring mode, hooray! The worst should be behind us now and I have a suitably zesty and lemony fresh recipe to get you into a sunshiny mood. If you are lucky you may even have a lemon tree in your garden with fresh lemons that you can use to make this amazingly creamy sauce. We have one which was given to us by some good friends several years ago, soon after we moved into our then new home. Fortunately it has not succumbed to drought, pests or a lack of conversation but it has not exactly flourished either. In fact, nearly six years after we planted it, I think it is roughly the same height as it was when we got it, give or take a few extra leaves on either side. So until our stunted tree can get its act together it is store-bought lemons for us! 

Spring Vegetable and Red Pesto Tart

I do enjoy a cooking challenge, and when I was contacted by the team at Faithful to Nature and invited to participate in their recent blogger competition I was immediately interested. The challenge was this - to create one seasonal, organic, vegetarian family meal using pantry products from Faithful to Nature as well as fresh organic produce. Each blogger received a voucher to purchase their choice of products from the thousands and thousands of products on the Faithful to Nature website, ordered their goodies online and then used them to create a delicious dish.

Creamy Tomato Penne with Pesto

We love a good pasta dish in our house, and this is one of my go-to recipes for a quick and delicious week night meal. The sauce is ready in under thirty minutes and can even be made ahead of time and reheated. And I have to say it again - it is so tasty! 

Sweet Potato, Butternut and Chevin Tarts

"Paddington thought for a moment. 'I think I'll start in the kitchen,' he said. 'I may make some pastry. Bears like pastry.' "

Excerpt from Paddington and the Busy Day - Michael Bond

I cannot make anything pastry related without thinking of good old Paddington Bear. At the age of one my daughter decided he was the best thing ever - so much so that he was the theme for her second birthday party. (You may remember these marmalade sandwich cookies from a while back.) Her younger brother, now almost two, has followed suit, and we would not dream of tucking him in at night without at least one Paddington adventure to send him off to sleep.

Butter Chicken with Fragrant Rice

School holidays are here and the wet and cold weather has set in - hello winter! This week's recipe is for a dish that I make all the time at home, and what better way to warm up than with a delicious curry. 

Bacon and Broccoli Macaroni Cheese

This post comes a week later than planned, and regular readers might have noticed that I was missing in action last week. The week started with a fun trip to Bloemfontein and a food demonstration (look out for another blog post about this next week) but quickly went downhill after that as I returned home to two sick children as well as having a nasty bout of flu myself! So unfortunately my regular schedule went out of the window, but I am happy to report that aside from a few lingering symptoms things are on the up for team Ulyate!  

Roasted Garlic & Mustard Pork Chops with Creamy Mash

Can flavours determine love? This was the subject of an email that landed in my inbox recently and I was instantly intrigued! New research conducted by Knorr which spoke to 12,000 people in 12 countries has shown that a whopping 78% of people say that they are more attracted to people who enjoy the same flavours as them. I can relate to this - there are very few things that I do not eat (I could probably count my food dislikes on one hand) and living with an extremely picky eater is not my idea of a good time.

Green Chilli Con Carne Tacos

Every so often I am gifted with some fresh produce from various neighbours. Everything from gorgeous cauliflowers the same size as my head to fragrant fresh herbs to the latest drop-off - a bag of green chillies! In a world where retailers bombard us with messages to buy buy buy I *love* the simplicity and sense of community that comes from homegrown produce that is grown and shared at home. Speaking of which, our turn to share has come around because in the last few days our guava tree has started producing a deluge of fruit! 

Summer Chicken Goujon Salad

Wherever you are, I hope that things that are slowly winding down and that holiday mode is setting in. Or at the very least that there is light at the end of the tunnel in the mad rush to get everything finished before the end of the year!

Spicy Mushroom Nachos

We have reached the end of the #JoinTheBlendTrend series and I thought I would finish up with a dish that reminds me of fun times with friends, feasting and general merriment. I actually remember the last time I ate nachos at a Mexican restaurant with friends - it was a rainy Cape Town evening a very, very long time ago (note to self: arrange a Mexican dinner soon!). Luckily nachos are pretty easy to whip up and enjoy at home and I am sure you will enjoy these ones! 

Spaghetti Bolognese

There are probably as many variations of this dish as there are families who enjoy it. Or perhaps even more! I love making this dish but dear husband is usually the Spag Bol King in our house and even he and I have our own different ways of preparing it. Bottom line though - it does not matter who the chef is, spaghetti bolognese is a firm favourite on the menu, and one thing is always the same - we both love to pile in the mushrooms!