Every now and then in my household we have a pyjama day. We stay at home all day watching movies, eating, playing games and taking it slow. There is nowhere to be. The only time we get out of our pyjamas is to go to bed in clean pyjamas! 

On these days I enjoy being in my kitchen preparing meals from my freezer, fridge and pantry, nourishing our insides while we rest up our bodies. As we are at home all day it’s a good time to make something that gently simmers on the stove, or slowly cooks away in the oven or slow cooker. On this pyjama day I made a beef casserole- perfect cold weather food that feels like a nice warm hug on the inside while you eat it. In our busy lives being slow, using wholefoods and taking the time to nourish and rest ourselves is a loving, easy thing to do. A casserole uses what you have and need not be elaborate. We ate this with mashed potato but you could just as easily serve it with soft polenta, pasta or whatever side you have and enjoy eating. The next night’s dinner was leftover casserole in a pie dish, with puff pastry on top, a quick and easy beef pie.

Take the time to slow down and enjoy some loving, easy food.

BEEF CASSEROLE

1kg gravy beef cubed

3Tbsp plain flour

1Tbsp dried oregano leaves

1tsp salt

3Tbsp olive oil

2 bay leaves

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced

2 celery stalks, sliced

300g button mushrooms, left whole if they are small, or cut in half if they are large

1 tin diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1Tbsp vegetable stock paste in 2 cups water

1 cup red wine
In a freezer bag place the flour, oregano and salt. Add the beef to the bag and coat the pieces in the flour

Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan and fry the beef pieces in batches until browned. Set aside

Add the onion, carrot and celery in to the saucepan and fry with the bay leaves. I like the carrot and celery slices to be quite large as they will be cooking for quite a while

Add the meat back to the saucepan

Add the tomato paste, tin of tomatoes, stock and wine to the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer

Let this cook for two hours

Once two hours is done, add the mushrooms and cook for another 15 minutes

Serve with mash potato or whatever side you like. A sprinkle of chopped parsley on top also goes nicely

Eggs. We can make them fancy, straight, sweet, savoury. They are easy and for most of us are always in the fridge. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, eggs make an easy meal that is healthy and wholesome and some days with the business of work, school runs, extra curricular activities and socialising there’s nothing better than an egg based meal which requires little effort. 

One thing we love in our family is a frittata or quiche- nothing fancy, but it uses ingredients we have in the fridge. I’d like to share a broccoli and sour cream quiche recipe with you as it is something that can be easily made for lunch or dinner, taken for lunch cold as leftovers, can be prepared easily when people pop by for a meal (especially if your guest is a vegetarian), and is one of those recipes that you can add what you like to suit yourselves and whoever else will eat it. Instead of broccoli you could use;

• Roast sweet potato
• Roast pumpkin
• Grated zucchini
• Spinach
• Peas and corn
• Sliced mushrooms

You could also forget about the veggies and just make it with cheese. In this recipe I used some grated cheddar cheese, but if you don’t have any on hand you could use feta, mozzarella or parmesan, or omit the cheese. Should you be feeling crafty you could probably also make your own pastry, but for me there are days where even I think frozen will do!

I hope you’re loving this easy food

Broccoli and Sour Cream Quiche

5 eggs

300mL sour cream

2 sheets puff pastry

1 Spring onion or the white part of a leek, thinly sliced

1/2 head of broccoli, cut in to florets

1/3 cup of grated cheese ( I used cheddar as it was what I had)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius

Line a greased pie tin with puff pastry. I needed 2 sheets to cover my tin and they overlapped at the bottom, you could use one sheet if that’s all you need to cover yours

Sprinkle the pastry base with the spring onions, or leeks. Then place the broccoli florets on top of the onion

In a bowl whisk the eggs and sour cream. Add the cheese to this, and salt and pepper to taste

Pour the egg mix over the pastry and bake for 30-35 minutes

Serve hot or cold

Herbs are wonderful things. They aren’t too difficult to grow in the smallest of pots in the smallest of gardens, they can be used as a garnish, a tea, a drink, in the bath, in a vase as a table decoration or a major component of a dish. I am left in awe by the vibrant colours, the amazing aromas and the believed healing properties of herbs. They can pick up a bland dish, and make anything you make look like its come out of a cook book. I use herbs all the time in my cooking. Some ways you could try incorporating them are;

• Parsley chopped and added at the end of a soup
• Mint leaves in a salad, gin and tonic or in a tea cup with hot water poured over the top
• Rosemary with potatoes
• Chives in scrambled eggs
• Basil to make pesto for a pasta, dip or sauce over vegies or chicken
• Coriander in a stir fry or curry

One of my favourite things to do with mint and parsley is a quinoa tabouli. This tabouli can be eaten with corn chips or lettuce cups, or as a side to meats or vegetables. Quinoa benefits from being dressed after its cooked and cooled as it holds the flavour well. It’s a salad that’s good to eat and good for you.

I hope you’re loving easy food

QUINOA TABOULI
1/2 cup quinoa

3 cups chopped parsley (I prefer curly parsley for this as it maintains its structure better)

1/2 cup chopped mint

1 diced Lebanese cucumber

2 diced tomatoes

1 diced small onion

2 lemons juiced

Salt to taste

Extra Virgin olive oil

Cook the quinoa as per packet instructions. If you’re uncertain then keep watch and remove it from the heat once the kernels begin to unravel. I used tricolour quinoa, as that’s what I had in the pantry, but white is good also. Once cooked rinse the quinoa under cold water and place it in a bowl. Add to this the lemon juice, salt to taste and a good gulg of olive oil (roughly 2Tablespoons).

The parsley and mint need to be chopped finely. I do this in my thermomix for 3 sec/speed 5. You could just as easily do this in a food processor or the good old fashioned way with a chopping knife. The cucumber, tomatoes and onion get chopped finely with a knife.

Add the parsley, mint, tomato, cucumber and onion to the quinoa and mix until the quinoa is well incorporated. Taste the salad at this stage. Add more lemon juice or olive oil to your liking.

Place in a airtight container and then in the fridge until you want to use it.