Potato Soup

My home work was to make something for dinner. I had to help make dinner and write the recipe out. I chose clam chowder. We did not make clam chowder because Mom and I could not find clams. Here is the recipe we used.

6 tbsp (90 g.) butter, divided
300 g. diced bacon
1 cup yellow onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrots
2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk

Cook the bacon in your stockpot. Our bacon didn't have enough fat so we added 2 tbsp of the butter. remove bacon to paper towels. Cook onions on medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, and spices and cook for 10 more minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then let it simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. In a small pot, melt the 4 tbsp butter and whisk in the flour. cook over vary low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in a cup of the hot broth and then pour this mixture back into the big pot. Simmer a few minutes until the broth is thick. Add the milk and half the bacon and cook until the soup is warm again. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Quinoa Black Bean Burritos

I saw this recipe for Quinoa Black Bean Burrito Bowls and just had to try it.
I didn't change much about the recipe .... but here's what I did.

1 cup quinoa
1/2 a small red onion, minced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 cans of black beans
1 big bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)
1/4 tsp chili powder
juice of one lime
iceberg lettuce, to shred

salt

tasty (white cheddar) cheese, grated
greek yoghurt

guacamole or avocado

tomatoes, chopped

flour tortillas

Rinse quinoa and then add to a saucepan with 2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer on low.  Cover and let simmer for 15/20 minutes til becomes tender and liquid is all absorbed.  Don't let it burn!

In a frying pan, heat a blub of olive oil over med heat.  Saute onion.  Add garlic.  Saute.  Add black beans and 1/2 cup water and a handful of chopped, fresh coriander.  Add the chili powder to taste.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med low and let simmer til liquid is mostly gone.  Squeeze in the juice of 1/2 your lime.  Season with salt to taste.

When quinoa is cooked, mix in about 1/2 a handful of chopped, fresh coriander and squeeze in the juice of the other 1/2 of your lime.  Season with salt to taste.

We served ours in bowls and had flour tortillas on the side to scoop it up with.  For lunch the next day, I put it into the tortilla and made an actual burrito.  Both ways were delicious.  I would even eat this without the tortilla!  The flavors were great!

Grilled Salmon Salad

The wonderful thing about Salmon is that all four of us love it.

The same with salad.  Salmon and salad together ... for our family ... it's a match made in heaven!

This salad was such a hit!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and used it as our base recipe.
I added some stuff, changed the type of cheese and served it differently though ...

Oh, and I changed the measurements because I wanted it to serve four instead of two.

500g fresh salmon
6 cups fresh spinach and rocket (arugula)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
thin slices of red onion, as little or as much as you like
fetta cheese, to top salad
croutons, to top salad

dressing:
1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar (I didn't measure and may have used a heaped teaspoon!)
3 or 4 small garlic cloves, crushed
pinch of salt and pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Throw all of the dressing ingredients into a glass jar with a lid ... shake it up.  Add additional salt to taste.

Grill salmon.  Rory did ours on the BBQ with a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper. 

Combine all salad ingredients in large salad bowl.  Top with grilled salmon, chopped into large chunks.  Drizzle with dressing.

Australian Key Lime Pie

Ellie and I tried our hands at Key Lime Pie the other day.
I think I can pretty safely say it was a success.
We based our pies on this Martha Stewart recipe but had to change some 

things as we couldn't get some of the ingredients!

Here's what we did to make TWO PIES. 
(obviously, if you want one pie, you should halve this recipe)

1 package butternut snap biscuits
1/2 package granita biscuits
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons caster sugar
2 (395g/14oz) cans sweetened condensed milk
8 egg yolks
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons grated lime zest
3 cups thickened cream
Lime slices and lime zest to garnish

Heat oven to 375F/190C. 

Melt and cool butter.  Combine two types of biscuits in food processor and whiz until they become crumbs.  Mix crumbs, butter and the 6 tablespoons of sugar.  Put half of this mixture into each pie dish and form the base of your pie.  Bake about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Let cool on a wire rack.

Lower oven to 325F/160C.   Using your mixer, gently whisk the egg yolks, lime juice, zest and condensed milk.  Pour half of this mixture into each pie crust.  Bake until centre is set but still quivers when you give the pan a little shake.   This took about 15 minutes ....

Let cool on a wire rack.  We were in a hurry so we cooled it for 1/2 an hour on the wire rack and then put it in the fridge for another hour or so ...

When ready to serve, use the whisk attachment to whip the cream and the caster sugar together on  a medium speed.  Spoon over pie.  Garnish with zest and lime slices.  (You can probably make it prettier than I did on the pie above!!  ha ha.  I was in a hurry to serve and eat it!!)

French Dip Sandwiches

I found this recipe on Pinterest. 
I love French Dip sandwiches and I love crock pot recipes so this seemed like a win win. 
I will make a few modifications next time I make it. (as shown below)
I don't know why but my meat was a little dry and there wasn't a whole lot of juice
and the juice, while flavorful and delicious was a bit strong.
So, I will add water next time and see
if that helps that ...

2kg beef roast, boneless
1 cup beef stock
1 cup water
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
6 cloves garlic, minced

So, basically, you just pull the fat off of the meat.  Discard the fat and put the meat in the crock pot.  Stir together remaining ingredients and add to crock pot.  Cook on high 4 hours or on low 6-8 hours.

When it's finished cooking, put the roast into a big bowl and shred it with two forks.  Reserve the liquid that you are using for the 'french dip' part of the meal and then put meat back into the crock pot to soak up the remaining juice.

To make the sandwiches, scoop shredded meat into hot dog buns, top with shredded tasty (white cheddar) cheese and toast under the griller (broiler) til cheese is melted.

I served these delicious sandwiches with the dipping sauce, raw carrots with ranch, and steamed broccoli.  A yummy and easy dinner. 

We had them for lunch the next day as well and my 11 year old took it to school - toasted and with ketchup since we had used all the 'french dip' the night before ... He said that way was delicious as well.

The Salad Box!

I am so excited about this!  I've only been doing it just over two weeks but I LOVE IT!  It makes healthy lunches so much easier!  Originally, I saw the idea over on Khrista's blog.  I thought it was a great idea but didn't have the containers or the motivation to go find them.  When Shay was visiting, we were talking about a similar idea and I was reminded of the salad box.  That same day we were in the grocery store and there were some tupperware containers on sale that I thought might be perfect.  I bought them, came home and assembled the box and haven't looked back.  It is so great!  I'm not kidding, there have been days where I haven't menu planned and I'm like, what will we have for dinner and just can't come up with anything ... we have salad!

I add some beans or some chicken and it becomes a meal!  And lunches, on nights that we decided to eat out or just don't have leftovers for the next day, we have salad!  It's perfect.  It's all cut up and ready to go and it literally takes me less than 5 minutes to make a beautiful salad!  

My salad box consists of two large containers filled a bunch of smaller ones, and a box for greens ...  It isn't always full, as you can see in the photo above.  I fill it full every time I do a big shop and then it sort of lives in various stages of fullness which I like because it means our salads are varied.  Here's a closer look at what's inside it ...

Tomatoes (mostly out of our garden!), cucumber slices, cauliflower chunks, onion slices, mushrooms slices (marinating in olive oil, vinegar, garlic powder and an Italian blend herb mix).  Radishes (in water so they don't dry out).  Salad ... washed and in a separate container.  I often have a can of beans sitting in one of those tall containers ... but I had just finished one when I was taking the photos and I try not to open one until I'm ready to use it, to preserve its life in the box! 

Capsicum (Red Bell Pepper) almost gone, Avocado, Nuts, Seeds, Leftover Funky Lime pizza garlic, the end of a jar of black olives, and some dressing ...

The dressing is great!  I love having it packaged up all ready to go.  Once the salad (specifically for lunches) is ready, I just pop in one of the dressings and it's done!  Seriously, it's fast food ... only you can't get much healthier!

It has its own section in the fridge. So far, I haven't had any trouble with it taking up too much space.  Most of the things last us through the week, some things less, some things more.  We are wasting much less produce since we've started the salad box.  Probably because stuff doesn't get left at the bottom of the crisper drawer!  I look at all of it every day and use it up!

It's not just great for salad either!  We used it to make stir fry the other night and then last night we used it to make omelets!  It was awesome!  EVERYTHING WAS ALREADY CUT UP!!  I'm serious, I love the salad box!

Blood Orange Slurpees

 

So simple, so fun.  

The kids love these for a summer treat.

All you need is crushed ice and some sort of liquid.
Fill the cup with the ice, then add the liquid.  Top up with more ice if necessary.

For these we used Schweppes Agrum Blood Orange.

Delicious.

Simple BBQ Clams

I know I have been MIA around here for a bit.  Sorry!  You can pop over to my other blog and read this post if you want to know why!

Anyway, I have a long list of recipes I want to share with you.  I'm doing a bit of a re-schedule of my ENTIRE LIFE so we'll see how I go with that.  Today, I'll share a very simple recipe.  It's not even a recipe.  All you need is a BBQ and some fresh clams.

Just put the clams on the BBQ and wait for them to open.  When they open, they are done.

I ate them just like that, but I LOVE clams.  Next time I may do a simple sauce to go with them ... you might like to do that too.

I keep forgetting to take pictures of the food I'm making!!  Grrr...Wanna make this one again soon since it was so yummy and EASY-PEASY, so I'll try and remember to take a picture then.  I found the original recipe here, but made a few modifications.

Spinach Salad

serves 4-6 (with LOTS of extra dressing)

Ingredients

Dressing:
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil
sugar to taste
sea salt to taste
Optional: fresh ground pepper to taste (I left this off cause I don't really like pepper)

Salad:
6 cups fresh baby spinach (I just used one bag)

 - NOTE: I didn't actually measure any of the following...just sprinkled and tossed till it looked right, but if you like measurements...

1/2 cup chopped nuts (the original recipe called for walnuts...I had pecons and LOVED the substitute...don't think I'll ever use the walnuts)
1/4 cup crumbled feta
1/4 cup dried cranberries (the original recipe said you could use any dried fruit but the cranberries were delish, so I'll probably just stick with them)

Instructions

Put dressing ingredients in a bottle and shake well.  The cheaper your balsamic, the more sugar you'll need.  I used about 2 teaspoons and it tasted lovely, so just taste and add as needed. 
Toss spinach with nuts, feta and fruit. Give dressing another shake and drizzle over individual servings.  There was LOTS of dressing left over, but it can sit out on the counter (or in the fridge) for use on other salads.  I may never buy another balsamic vinegrette again because this one was so yummy and easy!

Sausage Apple Overnight Breakfast Casserole

I personally am NOT a fan of sausage, (what I would consider) soggy bread, OR baked egg dishes...BUT...I was looking for a quick, easy breakfast that I could make the night before and feed to a hoard of hungry boys starting VERY early in the morning - and I found this recipe (where, I cannot for the life of me remember!) and thought I'd give it a go.  It made TONS and was very filling, easy (did almost all the prep while dinner simmered), made the house smell AMAZING as everyone woke up, and got the stamp of approval from the hoard of boys! :-)  I highly recommend it...if you're into breakfast casseroles - or are feeding hoards! 

 

Sausage Apple Overnight Breakfast Casserole

1 pkg. (1 lb.) Pork Sausage Roll
6 cups bread cubed into 1 inch pieces (I had a coupon for french bread...so used that - it was under one loaf when cut up)
10 eggs
3 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 large baking apples, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
maple syrup, if desired

Brown sausage; drain. Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla. In another bowl, mix apples, sugar and cinnamon together until well coated. In a greased (forgot to grease the pan the second time I made this dish...definitely stuck to the pan!! So don't skip this step!) 9 x 13 inch baking dish, place half of the bread cubes followed by half the sausage, half the apples, and 1 cup of the cheese. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Pour egg mixture over the layers making sure to evenly coat it all with the egg mixture. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake uncovered for 55-60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve topped with a drizzle of maple syrup if desired. (the boys ate it plain and with syrup and loved it both ways)

Chicken, Mango, Avo Salad with Lime

 

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided it was the winner for dinner one night last week.  However, we had an experience just a couple nights before with an orange juice dressing that overpowered the salad so I decided to not do the dressing.  And I added chicken ... If you want the orange dressing (that looks amazing) then go check out the original recipe.  If you want to try it my way, here's what I did.

1 bag of rocket (arugula) 
fresh coriander, a handful (?) or to taste ...
1 ripe mango
1 ripe avocado
1/2 a red onion
1 lime
1 red chilli
1 chicken breast
white wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper

This was super easy.  Have your husband grill the chicken with a bit of salt and pepper, while you prepare the salad.  :) If that isn't an option, then just grill it yourself or throw it in the frying pan with a bit of olive oil and some white wine towards the end.

Thinly slice red onion and red chilli (I removed the seeds and membrane) Put in a small bowl, squeeze the lime into the bowl, add a pinch of salt.  Stir it up and set it aside.  

In a large salad bowl, add rocket (a few big handfuls, depending on how many you are serving) and fresh coriander that you have washed and roughly chopped.  Chop avocado and mango.  Add to rocket.  Pour red onion mixture on top and toss salad gently. 

Chop and add chicken. 

Drizzle lightly with a good olive oil and a nice white wine vinegar, sprinkle gently with a nice rock salt and cracked pepper.

Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

 

You will need to play with this recipe to get it how you like it.  I will play with it more next time I make it ... but the kids loved it and have almost finished this whole jar already !  They say it tastes more like Milo than actual Nutella but they are happy with that !  

I got this recipe out of a magazine.  It was an advertisement for natVia ... a natural sweetener made from the Stevia plant. 

I modified it a bit ... and then just played around til it tasted right ... you'll have to do the same to get it to your tastes !

100g raw hazelnuts, you could roast them.  I didn't.

100g chickpeas (don't throw away the liquid in the jar)

80-100g sweetener of your choice ... I used natVia and I started with 80g.  

15g skim milk powder

20g pure cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

100 ml chickpea liquid

Milk

optional ... 1 teaspoon lecithin (I couldn't find this stuff so didn't use it ... supposed to make it smoother/creamier but not essential)

In your food processor, process hazelnuts until they resemble almond meal.  Add remaining ingredients ... minus chickpea liquid.  Process and then gradually add liquid while continuing to process.  On first taste, the cocoa flavor was overpowering so I added some milk.  I just kept adding it until the flavor was nice and the consistency was good.  If it's too runny before the flavor of the cocoa is right, just use more milk powder.   I think I added a little bit more of the sweetener too ... just a teaspoon at a time until it was a sweetness I knew the kids would be happy with.

Once this is gone, I'm going to try another recipe that uses just four ingredients.  Hazelnuts, condensed milk, choc bits and honey.  I'll let you know how that one goes too ...

Repocheta

 

I have no idea how I have hitherto fore neglected to put this, my favorite Nicaraguan food, on the blog! It boggles the imagination! 

You will need:

12 corn tortillas - it's not as good with flour tortillas, they turn out too sweet

2 cups cooked red beans with cooking liquid - canned is ok

Chunk of onion

Chunk of green pepper

Queso fresco, shredded - I found it at Walmart

One med tomato, chopped

1/4 cabbage, shredded

Lime juice

Salt

Sour cream

Hot sauce (optional)

For the beans:

Fry the onion and green pepper in a little bit of oil. Add beans and cook down until the liquid has thickened. If desired, add some hot sauce. In a blender, liquify the beans until they form a thick, spreadable paste. More water can be added as necessary. 

For the tortillas:

Fry flat in oil until crispy, drain on paper towel.

For the salad:

Mix shredded cabbage and tomatoes with a little bit of salt and lime juice, to taste. 

To assemble the repochetas:

Once you have all your components assembled, spread beans over tortillas, sprinkle with cheese, add salad, a dollop of sour cream and a dash or five of hot sauce. Be prepared with many napkins to wipe the beans and/or sour cream off your nose. 

Serves 4

Jamaican Breeze

Welcome to the first cocktail I ever invented!

Jamaican Breeze
 
1 cup Jamaica Tea
1 shot vodka
1 shot Tuaca - a vanilla-orange liquour
Ice

Shake together in a martini shaker, or simply combine in a glass and stir.

Jamaica Tea

The first time I made this from scratch and not from a packet, I strayed from the recipe and ended up making, literally, buckets of tea. However, no one was particularly sad about this as it is delicious. Also, later that evening I invented a cocktail using jamaica that is also quite yum. That recipe to follow...

 Jamaica Tea

4 cups water
3/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
3/4 cup sugar
1 T lime juice
Ice

Bring water to a boil, add hibiscus and sugar, let steep for at least 10 minutes. Add lime juice and ice until cold. You may need to add a little more sugar depending on how much ice you used.

The Definitive Venison Stew

The original recipe can be found here (the part where it says it's quick and easy should be completely disregarded as laughably false), but as the cooking progressed, the recipe and I didn't agree on several points. So this is my version with important contributions of both help and ideas from Aunt Kathy and Pam.

Ingredients:

2 pounds venison, 1" cubes
1 medium onion, cut into 8 chunks
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4" slices
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
3/4 t salt
1/2 t ground white pepper (black can be substituted)
2 t dried parsley
1/2 t dried thyme
1/4 t dried rosemary
1 1/4 dry red wine
1 can beef broth
5 slices of bacon, chopped
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 t tomato paste
1 package cleaned, quartered mushrooms
2 large potatoes (next time I will strongly consider throwing in more potatoes)
1 T corn starch (as needed)


Marinade:
Remove all tendons, fat and silvery skin from the venison (removing this will help get rid of any gamey flavor). Add the venison, onions, carrots, celery, salt, pepper, and the herbs to a glass bowl or casserole dish. Pour 1 cup of red wine and 3/4 cup beef broth over the venison and marinate in the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight. Do not marinate for over 12 hours or your meat will turn to mush.

Cooking:

Strain out the marinade and set aside for later. Separate the meat from the marinated veggies. Throw the meat in a large ziplock bag with the flour, shake to cover evenly. 
In a large saucepan over high heat, cook the bacon until it turns crisp.* Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. Pour all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from the pan (Note: if you need more grease, augment with vegetable oil). Saute the onions, carrots, celery and potatoes in the bacon grease for 5 minutes, until the vegetables turn soft. Transfer to a large stock pot.

*Venison meat has little or no fat, the bacon is important.

Brown the venison in the remaining bacon grease in two batches and add to the stock pot. With the remaining wine, deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom, add in the remaining broth until heated. Add pan juice, the reserved marinade, mushrooms, bacon and tomato paste to the stock pot. Add enough water to barely cover the stew. Simmer on low for 1 hour until meat and vegetables are tender. If sauce is not thick enough made a paste of 1 T cornstarch and 1 T water. Add to pot and stir until thickened.

This recipe makes 6 to 8 servings.

Salmon and Soba and Soy Beans, oh my !

 

This is one of those recipes that I wanted to try as soon as I saw it !
I knew I would love it ... and I was right !!

This is so delicious.

My family

agrees.

I didn't dress the salad, as the dressing had wasabi in it and I thought it might be a bit spicy for the kids.  Jono (10) did try it though and said it wasn't too spicy.  But, he didn't dress his salad with it.  The kids just had straight soy sauce as their dressing.

I made a few changes to the original recipe too.  It said it served two and I was feeding four so I added a bed of spinach, cooked more noodles and did more salmon.  I reduced the amount of edamame, mostly because I got tired of shelling them, but also because one cup seemed like enough. Also, I used cooked edamame that had been frozen and thawed.  Oh, and I reduced the amount of wasabi in the dressing.  Here's how I did mine ...

1 nice piece of sashimi grade salmon, sliced

250g soba noodles

1 cup cooked edamame (soy beans), shelled

1 cup watercress, leaves trimmed and washed

2 cups baby spinach leaves, washed

6 radishes, thinly sliced

3 spring onions, chopped small

1 tablespoon wasabi paste

2 tablespoons peanut oil

sesame oil ... I just did a few drops 

2 tablespoons soy sauce

sesame seeds

Bring a pot of water to the boil over high heat.  Cook the soba noodles.  Drain, rinse under cool water and set aside.  

In a big salad bowl, mix spinach, edamame, watercress, radishes, spring onions and soba noodles.  

Whisk wasabi paste, peanut oil, sesame oil and soy sauce.  

To serve, put salad on plate, top with salmon slices, sprinkle with sesame seeds and then dress with wasabi dressing or plain soy sauce.  

So good !!!

Chicken and Beans on Rice

This was delicious.  Easy too.  I found the recipe here.  I did what she did with minor alterations like, one less chicken breast because I always find these sorts of chicken dishes have to much chicken. I also added rice and toppings.  Oh, and I mixed all the stuff together before adding to crock pot ...

Anyway, here's my way ...

3 raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (400g/15oz) can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (400g/15oz) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (400g/15oz) cans of diced tomatoes
frozen corn, I didn't measure ...
1 (340g/12oz) jar of salsa

to serve ...
avocado, chopped
grated cheese, i used a mexican blend
rice or tortillas or corn chips
sour cream or greek yoghurt (didn't have any in the house this time but will use next time)

Put chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker (crock pot).

In a separate bowl, mix other ingredients.  I just added the corn til it seemed a reasonable amount. Pour over chicken.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours.  I did the full 7 hours then turned it on 'keep warm' til we were ready to eat a few hours later.  When I stirred the mixture up when we were ready to eat, the chicken just broke into pieces! 

Serve on top of rice, or in a tortilla or with corn chips.  Top with avocado, grated cheese and sour cream ...

This was a BIG HIT with the whole family ! And it made lots.  Our family of four ate it for diner one night & everyone had seconds.  Two of us are having it for lunch today.  And there is still enough for lunch tomorrow!

Salpicon

This is a great dish to make with really cheap, tough cuts of meat. It's especially nice as a summer dish since it isn't hot and the citrus gives it a nice refreshing splash. I usually serve it with rice but I think it would be delicious on a bed of butter lettuce with a few wedges of tomato. Or wrapped in tortillas! Ok, I'm getting hungry...

Salpicon:

1lb beef in largish pieces
5g beef bouillon powder
1 small green pepper, minced
1 small onion, minced
2-3 limes, juiced
1T Worcestershire sauce

Boil the beef with the bouillon in water for 30 minutes, or until meat is cooked all the way through. Remove from liquid, let cool. With your fingers, separate the meat from the tough connective tissue. If the pieces of meat are too big, you can chop it roughly with a knife or food processor. Add remaining ingredients, adjust seasoning to taste. 

Serves 4

Tomatoey Spinach and Couscous Bake

Found this recipe on a new blog that I've recently discovered called The Naked Kitchen.  I was going to make it just the way the recipe called for but it had some specialty ingredients that I didn't have, a few steps I thought unnecessary and I thought it could use some mushrooms.  So ... here is my version.  

Ingredients:

1&1/4 cups dry whole wheat couscous

2 cups water

Panko Breadcrumbs (I didn't measure but I'd say it was less than 1/4 of a cup)

5 cups raw baby spinach leaves, (I roughly chopped mine but that's personal preference)

2 cans (400g each) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

olive oil, for sauteing 

fresh oregano, basil and parsley ... a handful or so of each, washed and chopped

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

salt, a couple of pinches

3 sliced mushrooms ... unless your kids love 'em and then you can use more.  (mushrooms are the one thing that both of our kids despise and I often, but not always, take pity on them and do half with, half without ... tonight was one of the times I decided to go half and half.)

What you do:

Preheat your oven to 350F/180C 

Saute onions and garlic in a blub of olive oil til onions are soft and beginning to be see through. Add cans of tomatoes, juice and all.  Add herbs.  Cook maybe 8 - 10 minutes, til sauce has reduced and thickened just a little bit.  Add spinach and stir through sauce ... remove from heat.  This is just to get the spinach to wilt a little bit. 

While the onions and garlic are sauteing, put the water in a separate pot over high heat and bring to the boil.  Add couscous and a pinch of salt, give the pot a little shake to stir it, cover and remove from heat.  Let sit a few minutes, fluff with a fork and set aside.  

Mix couscous and tomato mixture together in a baking dish.  Lay mushroom slices flat (if using).  Top with cheese and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake uncovered 25 minutes (or til cheese is melted and starting to brown).  Serve hot.