Pumpkin Quinoa Patties

Well hello to you! (Miranda quote, of course!)  Sorry for having been so slack on the new recipe front!  Busy busy life, especially now that I'm back at uni!  I will try to do something on here at least once a month! :)  I did actually make this recipe in March (and was going to write it up asap... clearly that didn't happen) *virtual slap on the wrist* - lots of family drama and tragedy is my excuse :(

Patties, with chips and peas :D

Aaaaanyway, my Belgian friend Fien made them from a recipe book her dad sent her, we had them one night at her house when a friend of ours who was gluten free and vegetarian came over.  They were so good I wanted to make some for my parents to try too.  They sounded really bizarre when I first heard of them, they looked amazing, and the taste?  Well you'll just have to read on to find out!  *cheeky*


INGREDIENTS
1 average sized butternut pumpkin
1 tbsp olive oil
230g quinoa
470ml water
1 cube chicken stock (or vegetable if vegetarian) - use GF stock if you're GF

Pre-Grilling

170g rice (basmati or wild preferably)
110g spring onions

85g dried cranberries
1 tbsp basil 
salt & pepper to taste
parmesan cheese (grated) - optional, but adds a real depth of flavour

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 200 deg C
• Slice pumpkin in half, remove pips
• Place pumpkin halves on oven dish, and brush with olive oil
• Bake for approx. 1 hour (until soft)
• Let cool, and scoop out pumpkin, discard peel, and mash
• Mix the 470ml water with the stock cube and add to a pot with the quinoa
• Cook quinoa 10 to 12 minutes, until the water is absorbed
• When cooked, let cool for 10 minutes
• Cook rice ( using whatever your usual method is)
• Mix quinoa and rice together
• Add to the pumpkin mash
• Add all the remaining ingredients, mixing well as you go
• Form patties (this is the messy bit, where you end up with orange hands!)
• Bake for a further 15-20 minutes in oven, pan, grill, barbecue, however you want really! 
  
  (Serve hot or cold)

Several things I want to say.  First of all, while this seems like a lot of effort, a lot of steps, and preparation, and being organised enough to begin making this with enough time to roast the pumpkin, IT IS WORTH IT.  There are the most amazing non-meat patties I have ever had.  Especially with aioli on them!  The cranberries give a touch of contrasting sweetness and juiciness, the quinoa is not even noticeable, yet it is so good for you!  The pumpkin is delicious, and I can't get enough of them!!

Finished Product!

Secondly, when it comes to the final cooking stage, it doesn't matter how you do them, just cook them kind of like you would with ordinary burger patties.  My only piece of advice is, the pumpkin can get quite sticky, and can cause your pattie to disintegrate, which, if you're anything like me, will make you incredibly angry and frustrated.  I HIGHLY recommend cooking them on the smooth plate of a BBQ, or in a George Foreman-type bench top grill that has non-stick plates.  You really don't want to miss this cooking step out, because it gives the patties a nice golden edge, and makes them taste EVEN better.

The patties we had for dinner, lined up in our George Foreman grill, with non-stick tinfoil (because the non-stick surface on our grill is wearing away now, it's so old and over-used ;P )

Thirdly - THIS MAKES A LOT OF PATTIES!!! Don't fret though, because if it is more than you or your family can eat, you can certainly freeze them!  I froze my extra patties (before the final cooking stage) with baking paper between each pattie (to stop them sticking together).  Now, I have a fast food, I can get 1 pattie out of the freezer, microwave for 1 min to defrost, and then do the last cooking step (in the grill, etc.).  Healthy fast lunch = WIN!

So there you have it, my new favourite vegetarian food!  I actually ended up making a lot patties out of it, so it's lasted a while (I made them in early March, it's now mid-April, and I've still got about 6 in the freezer :D ).  Enjoy!  And I would love you guys to comment back sometime about the recipes of mine you've tried!!

Crustless Quiche

Thought I'd better get a recipe in before October is over!  Gotta have at least one entry per month! ;) No, actually this month has been insane with uni work, haven't had time to try anything new (much) or write about it.

But now I'm on study leave, which gives me a little flexibility to do stuff like this, so here is today's lunch! 

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup self raising flour

Before being cooked

salt and pepper

1/2 cup cheese (grated)
1 fried onion
Ham or cooked bacon
Veges - I used grated carrot and seasonal asparagus

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• Whisk eggs, milk, flour and seasoning together
• Add everything else to the mix
• Spread in a silicone quiche/flan dish (silicone makes it so much easier to remove at the end)
• Bake for 45 mins, until gold on top and puffed up
• Let sit for a couple of minutes (to make it even easier to remove from silicone)
• Cut up and serve hot, or cold, with relish and sour cream (optional, but delicious)

So this was a super easy recipe to make, and my mum loved it.  I'm not a super egg fan myself (as I probably said when I wrote about the crustless broccoli quiches I made back when I began this blog!) but it was pretty nice.  Would be great for lunches too.

Shout out to Jeremy, one of my best friends, who I've known since we were 7.  This was his recipe/idea.


Recipe Inspiration: http://www.grownups.co.nz/read/lifestyle/food_and_wine/crustless-quiche-recipie

Homemade Hummus

Recently, I spent the weekend down in Christchurch/Timaru for my cousins engagement party, which was a lot of fun.  While I was there, my other cousin, who is very healthy and inspirational in her dedication to exercise (most unlike me... perhaps that doesn't run in the family haha), and I got talking about food, and cooking and such.

The topic of healthy snacks came up, and I'm trying to be healthier at the moment for various reasons.  We talked about hummus, and how it was a great snack, with crackers, and carrot sticks, and other vegetables in stick form.  I complained that hummus is sooooooooo expensive and my parents (who I still live with) would never buy it regularly in the groceries because it is a "luxury good".

Then she goes "why don't you make some?".  LIGHT-BULB MOMENT! We already had some dried chickpeas at home from the bulk bins (MILES cheaper than the canned ones in brine), and all I needed was tahini paste (sesame seed paste stuff).  Everything else we pretty much had already!  Including a food processor that isn't used much... so yay!  A use for it!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup dried chickpeas (makes [supposedly] 2 cups of hydrated chickpeas)
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice (or less, to taste)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (or about 1/2 tsp pre-crushed garlic)
1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (although go lightly on this actually... it's stronger than I thought!)
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of water
parsley and olive oil to garnish


METHOD

• Soak chickpeas in lots of water in a large jug/bowl overnight, changing the water once or twice if you can
• Drain, then bring chickpeas to boil in a large pot with lots of water and a dash of salt
• Simmer for 30 mins
• Drain and let them cool, but try to make the hummus while they are still warm - apparently it blends better :)
• Put all the ingredients into the food processor (or blender) except chickpeas, oil and parsley
• Pulse/blend for approx 5 seconds to mix
• Add chickpeas
• Blend until it is the consistency you want - people usually go for a 'sour cream' thickness
• Taste and season accordingly
• Transfer to a serving bowl
• Chill in the fridge for a few hours/overnight
• Eat!

 So with this recipe, I learned about cayenne pepper.  And how much NOT to put in haha.  It came out very spicy.  Mum and Dad liked it a lot, so they ate it, and I also pawned some off to my friend... I hope she liked it... I haven't heard from her though... oh dear.  Sophie I'm sorry if the spicyness was too much, but I did write the warning in the status on FB asking if anyone wanted some really spicy hummus! ;)

I'm definitely making it again, cos it's relatively simple, and dried chickpeas from the bulk bins are really cheap... definitely cheaper than buying ready made stuff.  The only other cost was the tahini paste, but now that I spent NZ$8 on the jar, it'll last many hummus' to come.  :)

I'm really looking forward to playing with flavours.  I know they do pumpkin and kumara (sweet potato for non-NZ followers) from the brand I like, so I might try recreating it!  Watch this space!

ALSO: This recipe makes A LOT.  Great for if you're having a party.  If I was to make it again, I'd halve all the measurements.

Recipe Inspiration:  http://greekfood.about.com/od/appetizerssalads/r/hummustahini.htm

Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies

In honour of my mum's birthday yesterday, and also because I finally found the recipe I used to use all the time, I made some brownie muffins.  Really, it's just brownies, but instead of a big lump of brownie to be cut up, I make them in muffin tins because it's easier to deal with!  I love having the portion controlled for me in a muffin size! :D  

Argh why is this picture coming out sideways?  Does anyone know how to fix this?  Leave a comment if you do!

I LOVE this recipe, because it's super easy to make, and the brownies are always hugely chocolatey, and dense and moist and *drools* ok, so we get the picture, I love them.  However, they aren't the healthiest, this recipe uses heaps of butter and eggs and sugar, but oh my, it's totally worth it!  And if you wanted to kick it up a notch in the heart-attack stakes, serve it warm, with vanilla ice cream and some chocolate sauce, and you've got an amazing dessert right there!  Seriously, it's like mud cake.  

I can't rave enough about this recipe, you all just have to try it.

INGREDIENTS

250g butter

1 & 1/2 cups castor sugar

1 & 1/4 cups plain flour

1/8 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup good dark cocoa

4 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla essence, but this is optional)

chocolate buttons/chips/berries to top

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C (fan forced)
• Place butter and sugar in a microwave safe jug, cover and microwave for 3 mins (800 watts).  Sugar should not completely dissolve
• Meanwhile, sift flour, baking powder and cocoa into a large bowl
• Make a well in the centre and add eggs and vanilla
• Pour in the butter mixture and gently mix until well combined, but do not over-mix (lumpy is good!)
• [EDIT] Put into square (or round) flat silicone dish - just found out that it makes them even better than in muffin tin omg.
• Place chocolate buttons/chips/berries on the top of mixture
• Bake for 20ish mins until just firm.  Stab with a toothpick - when it comes out clean, they're ready!
• Allow to cool for 10 mins before removing from the dish

INDULGE.

Seriously my favourite brownie recipe ever.  (Thank you, Tupperware... haha!)

Nannas Chocolate Chip Biscuits (aka Cookies)

There's a bit of a funny story to this recipe.  It was a recipe my mum always used when I was growing up, making chocolate chippies to go in my lunch box for school.  When I was a bit older, I noticed that the recipe she used was written in my Nannas handwriting, so assumed the recipe was hers.  I was quite thrilled, thinking here in my hands I had a great heirloom family recipe, passed down through generations of women in my family, and that it could become legendary, because these chocolate chippies had a reputation of deliciousness. 

 

One day, when I was talking to my Nanna, I asked her about it, wondering if it came from my great-grandma.  Boy, was I wrong.  Nanna turned around and said "Ohh that old recipe?  I got that off the side of a packet".  -_-  So much for family heirloom.  *dreams shattered*  But seriously, I was quite gutted!

Anywho... this is my all time favourite, go-to chocolate chip bikkie recipe.  It's practically never fail, and for my lazy self, it's perfect with few steps, few ingredients, and maximum taste!  Whenever I make these bikkies, I always seem to give some away to friends/family, and they always say what amazing bikkies they are, and how they wish theirs would turn out so well.  Well, friends/family, now you can make some yourself! :)

INGREDIENTS

1 tsp cocoa

125g butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 & 3/4 cups self raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

100g chocolate chips

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• Cream butter, sugars and vanilla
• Add lightly beaten egg gradually, beating well after each addition
• Mix in flour, salt and cocoa
• Mix in chocolate chips
• Roll into balls and set on oven tray with baking paper
• Press with fork
• Bake for 10 minutes, or until they look done :)

So I was a bit dumb, and burned a tray of the cookies, which is why I'm only showing you half of the cooling rack!!  I'm learning the lesson the hard way to not use FANBAKE on the oven when baking cookies/muffins etc.!!!  Silly silly silly.  It bakes too fast and burns easier.  Fanbake is better reserved for casseroles and such.

But anyway, they still taste ok, they're just not that pretty, and they're VERY crispy haha.

Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies (aka Biscuits)

I didn't have the highest expectations for these biscuits if I'm going to be honest.  I thought "ooh white chocolate, that's mum's favourite chocolate, I might try this recipe"... but OMG it's going to be a new favourite recipe!

These biscuits came out SO amazingly delicious.  I couldn't believe it, so fluffy, and light and puffy.  I didn't think the cranberries would be so delicious either, as I'd never really eaten dried cranberries, but they're little nuggets of tangy chewy goodness!

This recipe was also made more amazing by the fact that one of my friends was here at my house for the first time, and we baked them together which was totally fun!

Normally when I make biscuits they go all flat and chewy, but these ones puffed up gloriously and didn't deflate after we pulled them out of the oven!

WARNING: be careful when baking them, because they go from golden to starting-to-burn-and-smoking-out-the-oven REALLY quickly.  So you want to keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't get TOO brown and your oven doesn't start to smoke.  

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup softened butter (about 150g)
1/3 cup brown sugar packed
1/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups oats
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
6 ounces dried cranberries (about 170g)
1 cup white chocolate chunks/chips

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 190 deg C.
• Combine oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
• Cream butter white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add vanilla and the eggs one at a time, mix after each addition.
• Add dry ingredients ½ at a time.
• Mix until just combined.
• Add dried cranberries and white chocolate.
• Flour your hands, and roll spoonfuls of cookie mixture and lay on a flat baking tray
• Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the cookies are just set and starting to turn golden
• Cool on a rack before eating!

I bet you can't resist eating more than one when you first have a cookie warm out of the oven!  SO gooooooood!

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.acooksquest.blogspot.co.nz/2010/06/recipe-49-cranberry-white-chocolate.html

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, Take 2

So after the somewhat disappointing results of my last lemon poppyseed muffin attempt a few blog posts ago (disappointing to me - it just wasn't lemony enough for my taste), I was on the lookout for a different lemon poppyseed muffin recipe to try, preferably using MORE lemon juice (and optional on the zest, since I don't like zest). 

Cue our family friend Cathryn and her own favourite lemon poppyseed muffin recipe!  :)  This is one she makes for her sons, using fresh lemons from her tree.  Today I gave it a go myself, because I needed to make something to take with me to a lunch tomorrow. 

This recipe makes A LOT of mixture, which is good, it made A LOT of muffins! :)  So I can take some to lunch and my parents won't feel like they're missing out on muffins haha!

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs

1 cup trim milk

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

100g melted butter (or 100mL oil) 

2 tablespoons poppyseeds

3 heaped teaspoons baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1 & 1/2 cups flour

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl
• Stir in sugar and poppyseeds
• Quickly mix in milk, eggs, butter (oil), and lemon juice
• Stir until just mixed - it is supposed to be very runny, so don't panic
• Fill muffin pans 3/4 full - don't overfill
• Bake until a toothpick poked into the centre of a muffin comes out clean (starting to go golden)

 

These muffins came out lovely!  I really like how moist they were, but alas, still not as lemony as the Starbucks ones that I have put up on a pedestal.  Hmm.  Maybe I will have to do what I've been trying to avoid, and put zest in it.  -_-

Homemade Pizza

One of my favourite weekend lunches to make is homemade pizza.  It's fast and easy.  Often we have ham, and shredded cooked chicken for during-the-week-lunches to put in sandwiches, but it doesn't all get used up.  Homemade pizza is the perfect way to use up these things before they go off, and makes a delicious lunch.  

I'm going to share with you my personal favourite toppings.  Of course, homemade pizza is so simple, and versatile, you can make it any which way you want to.  

INGREDIENTS

2 pre-made pizza bases

Topping #1: Hawaiian Wannabe

spaghetti from a can (instead of tomato sauce/puree base)

diced onion

ham

pineapple (optional)

grated cheese on top

Topping #2: BBQ Chicken

baked beans (instead of tomato sauce/puree base)

sliced red onion

shredded chicken

sliced capsicum (optional)

BBQ sauce, squirted in a lovely swirl

grated cheese on top

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C (fan bake)
• Chuck all the toppings on the pizza
• Cover in grated cheese
• Put the pizzas in the oven and bake until cheese is melted and golden
• Cut and serve immediately!

in the oven

Hawaiian Wannabe

BBQ Chicken

Delicious!

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

When I was 11, we moved to Malaysia to live for 3 years (because of my Dad's job).  While there, we (being my Mum, her friend and her friends daughters) visited Starbucks, A LOT.  I mean, why wouldn't we, it was CHEAP there, and there was a Starbucks right across the road from where we lived!  Not even kidding.  Walk out of our apartment building, cross the street and we're at Starbucks.  It was amazing.  

Anyway, Starbucks used to serve lemon poppyseed muffins.  They were so good!  The top was always crispy and delicious, and there was so much lemon that the whole muffin was deliciously tangy and lemony, and the poppyseed just added a beautiful crunch to it.  Of course, they served them warm, with butter, which was just superb.  It quickly became one of our regular orders, and they were always amazing, never had a bad muffin.

And so this inspired me to try making lemon poppyseed muffins today, with a recipe I saw on via www.pinterest.com.  I followed the recipe to a tee, just because with baking you need to be a bit more careful with measurements and things because it's all based on chemical food reactions, and I didn't want to end up with terrible little bricks.

The only things I changed was that I didn't put any zest in (because I loathe the texture of lemon zest) and I forgot to put the salt in (maybe contributed to the disappointing flavour??).

INGREDIENTS

½ cup (~120g) sweet creamy butter, softened
²⁄₃ cup sugar
2 large eggs , separated
1 ¹⁄₃ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 lemons, zest of , grated
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy
• Add egg yolks one at a time, beat well after each
• In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, poppyseeds, SALT, and lemon zest
• Add dry ingredients to cream mixture, alternating with yoghurt, lemon juice and then vanilla
• Original recipe says to beat, but in past experience, just mix/fold together gently - don't over mix.  Stir only a few times, until just mixed.
• In another bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form
• Stir/fold gently into muffin mixture until blended
• Spoon into muffin pan (if it's not a silicon pan, be sure to grease your tins first!), filling 3/4 full
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, and the muffins are golden

I was a bit disappointed with these muffins and won't be using this recipe again, but I thought I'd share it anyway.  They just weren't lemony enough!!!  I could barely taste any lemon.  I mean, they were still nice, and they density was good and they weren't little bricks or anything.  It's just they weren't tangy or anything like how I expected, even though I added over 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

I shall keep looking for other recipes to try, and hopefully one day I'll find one as good as Starbucks!!!

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.food.com/recipe/lemon-poppy-seed-muffins-100943

Banana Cupcakes

Mum bought some bananas (the teeny tiny ones!) in the groceries the other day, and they had a green tinge, which was fine cos that means they'll last a while.  But I swear, by the next day, they had ripened and were starting to go brown!!!  WHAT?!  That's a bit fast.  Of course, straight away Dad goes "BANANA CAKE!" and looks at me hopefully.

Today I finally got around to using up the bananas.  The browner, the better, so it didn't matter that it's been like 4 days since the original suggestion haha!  This recipe is one I've used my whole life, and it's in my "favourite recipe" book for keeps.  It's actually for cake, but I decided to make muffins, because our house is divided as to what the best icing is.  Mum and I love lemon, Dad loves chocolate.  So by making muffins, I could ice them half and half, and then everyone would be happy! :)

INGREDIENTS

125g butter

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 mashed bananas (or 3, if they are small)

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

METHOD

• Cream butter and sugar
• Add egg and beat well
• Dissolve soda in warm milk and mix in
• Add mashed bananas
• Lastly, fold in flour and baking powder
• Spoon into muffin trays (or if you'd rather make a cake, you can do cake tin)
• Bake until golden in a moderate oven (180 deg C)

TIP: To know if your muffins (or cakes) are ready, poke a tooth pick (or a long skewer) into the middle of one - if it comes back out clean, they're ready.  If the mix is still goopy and stuck to the toothpick, they need a little longer.
 

Ok, for some reason it won't let me upload the close up picture of a chocolate iced muffin properly - it keeps turning it sideways!  Grrrr.  But you get the idea.

Icing

For the chocolate icing, I just used a small knob of melted butter, 1 tbsp of cocoa powder, and then added icing sugar until the icing had the thick consistency that wouldn't run off the cupcake.

For the lemon icing, I used another small knob of melted butter, some lemon juice (real lemon juice, none of that lemon essence crap!), and then added icing sugar until the icing was thick enough not to slide off again.

EASY PEASY! :)

Summer Fruit

This isn't a cooking post.  But I feel compelled to write a post about summer fruit.

The reason for this?  I went to a fair today, and they had the most AMAZING cherries.  I'm not kidding.  I've never seen cherries like this.  

Me and My Box

I ate SO many my fingers got stained!

 

Normally we buy cherries over Christmas as a special treat, and this year the crop was pathetic.  They were small, not very sweet or juicy.  I was incredibly disappointed, and we didn't buy them because they were also expensive.

But today at the fair, I saw cherries like I've never seen before.  I tried one, went to heaven and back, and ended up buying a big box.  I initially just thought "Oh, I'll get a bag, that'll be enough."  Turns out the box was only $3 more than the bag, and you got 1.2kg (approx) of cherries for $17.  I was like "Dammit.  Give me a box then!".  I'm greedier than I thought, it turns out!  But look at the photos below... how could I say no?!

So, I'm very happy with my NZ$17 of cherries from Central Otago (South Island of New Zealand) and I shared them with my family and friends that I was at the fair with!

We also found a stall selling blueberries and strawberries, 1 of each punnet for NZ$20 total.  Delicious.  Blueberries are something I have been craving while ill, so I've been eating them every chance I can get.  They are so good for you, easy to snack on, put in smoothies, or bake into muffins.  They are also full of amazing anti-oxidants, which I figure will help me recover, and are healthy!  WIN!

So Dad bought some.  Yay!  He also got strawberries, which are delicious too, but I struggle to eat them raw and alone because the acidity can hurt my tongue, so I tend to eat them with icing sugar.  However, that's not the healthiest choice, but I've found that eating them with low-fat yoghurt instead also stops the acid hurting my tongue.  :)

So YAY for summer fruits!  I am so happy with our purchases today!  I hope you take advantage of seasonal fruit wherever you live too!!

Quick & Easy Nachos

Mexican food is not common in my diet.  The only time we eat it is if I cook it myself.  Until now, my limit was burritos.  Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, I love them to bits.  But I felt like expanding my Mexican repertoire, and had got Mum to buy a can of Mexican style chilli beans at the grocery store a while ago.  The can has been sitting there, tormenting me, going "You don't know how to cook me!  You don't know what to do with me!  You suck!".  Yes, cans of food have been talking to me.  (Maybe I need to see someone?)

So the other day, I thought "Screw YOU.  I AM going to cook you" and started googling easy nacho recipes.  Funnily enough, a recipe popped up using the exact can of chilli beans I had sitting in the pantry.  It was meant to be.  I asked Mum to grab some chopped tomatoes in a can (because I've used all the ones we had haha oops) on her way home, plus a few of the other ingredients. 

Making the nacho chilli was pretty easy, and there wasn't much prep, so I was pleased.  And to serve, everyone can assemble their own - always fun!

INGREDIENTS

500g lean mince

1tsp oil

420g can mild (or hot) chilli beans

420g can Mexican style chopped tomatoes

1 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp onion salt

pinch of dried chilli powder (to taste, be frugal is my advice - that stuff is POTENT!)

1 onion

1 carrot, grated and peeled

Diced capsicum (bell peppers) - I used red, orange and yellow, just add as much as you want.

Serve with:

Cheese flavoured corn chips

Sour cream

Tomato salsa

Grated cheese

METHOD

• Heat some oil in a frypan, and brown the mince, capsicum, grated carrot and onions together.
• Add the tomatoes and chilli beans, and the salts and chilli powder.  Make sure you taste as you go to adjust seasonings to your preference - I found the original recipe that inspired this meal a bit bland, so all the seasonings are my own ideas, trying to flavour it up a bit!
• Simmer for 10 mins, until cooked and you're happy with the seasoning.
• Assemble!  Nacho chips on the bottom, pile on some mince, grated cheese on top (can be grilled if you can be bothered, but the heat from the mince melts the cheese anyway - just as good!), salsa and sour cream!

Quite possibly my favourite part of the meal was the sour cream haha.   I'm a sour cream fiend!  Om nom nom.  Mum and Dad really enjoyed them, but I still wasn't 100% happy with the seasoning in the mince.  However, when all together with the garnishings, it came together nicely and was just like bought nachos (but better, cos I added more veges!  Woot!)

Again, no photo sorry, but I can assure you it looked delicious.  :D

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.foodinaminute.co.nz/Recipes/Quick-Easy-Nachos