Basil Pesto Pasta

Sharing my simple basil pesto pasta recipe today! Yum.

What you’ll need:

Basil, Pine Nuts, Olive Oil, Garlic, Salt & Pepper, Parmesan Cheese, Cream, Pasta

To make the basil pesto: Throw in the pine nuts, garlic, basil, olive oil and a handful of grated parmesan cheese into your food processor. ‘Pulse’ a couple of times until everything is broken down. Once it’s all processed – transfer it to a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Taste and add more seasoning if needed. That’s basically it for the pesto.

Now onto the pasta:  Cook your pasta as per normal. I used the Budget spiral pasta. On a pot – pour in your basil pesto, mix heat it up for a little bit and then add your cream (it’s up to you how much cream you want to put in). – I say the more, the merrier? By the way, I used heavy cream on mine but I suppose you can use regular fresh cream. Pour your cooked pasta onto the pot and mix with the creamy pesto.You can add a bit more olive oil & seasoning if you want.

Nice and easy!

Potato & Celery Soup

What better way to spend a cold rainy evening than with a bowl of warm hearty soup for dinner and maybe some Downton Abbey episodes. Hmm…sounds dreamy… Not gonna lie and say this was US last night – pre-Ada this would definitely be possible but not now. With both me and my husband working full time and no other person to help with our daughter it can get very tiring and full-on most days — but we make the most of it and we do our best to enjoy this beautiful, marvelous, and exhausting season of our lives. Key is to do things that are easy so you’re not stretching yourself too thin. I love a meal that is easy to prepare and the ingredients are readily available. This soup is delicious and filling and perfect for the colder months any season.
(Sorry for the low res photos – these were taken at night so the lighting was very poor.)

You’ll need:

• Potatoes
• Celery
• Lemon
• Onion
• Salt
• Butter

– Melt Butter in pot.
– Throw in your chopped potatoes, celery and onions
– When the veggies have softened – add water. The amount of water depends on the amount of veggies you have. I’ve put in about 2.5 cups of water in mine. I have about a cup of celery and maybe 2.5 cups of potatoes. Make sure you don’t put too much water in so you don’t end up with a watery soup. This soup is meant to be slightly thick and creamy.
– When potatoes are fully cooked – pour it in your blender and puree until you reach your desired consistency. I like mine smooth.
– Pour back in pot and season with salt and squeeze in a bit of lemon.
– Add a bit more salt if needed.
All done!

Yum!!!

I just love a good soup! Any other soup recipes you can recommend that is easy to make and delicious?

 

 

 

 

 

Veggie Muffins

Yesterday, I made Ada some veggie muffins! It was inspired by this pinterest link. It’s easy and healthy and you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry. This is great for toddlers because the size of the muffins fit perfectly in their little hands so they can feed themselves. Plus it has veggies so it’s healthy and you can pretty much use whatever kind of veggies you have at the moment. Also, it is so quick and easy to make!

(Note: am no expert in the kitchen and I practically learned how to cook from the internet! I think ‘I’m alright’ in the cooking department and I’m just happy my husband and my child appreciates my cooking!)

Here’s the recipe:

You’ll need:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• chopped or grated veggies (I used chopped broccoli and grated carrots)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk (you can use breastmilk or your baby’s formula – I just used cow’s milk)
• 1/4 cup grated cheese
• muffin tray

Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 180 deg celsius
• Spray muffin pan with cooking oil or use muffin liners
• Mix flour & baking powder
• Add veggies & cheese to mixture
• On a separate bowl – whisk oil, milk and egg
• Make a well in the centre of the dry mixture and then pour the liquid. Mix until combined.
• Spoon into muffin tray and bake for 15 minutes and you’re done!

You can make about 12 muffins in total!

Little Ada enjoying her muffin.

Tuna Rice Salad

Today I am sharing a super simple recipe that I got from You Tuber Nicko. Check his video for this recipe here! I am always on the lookout for simple, easy and budget friendly recipes that can be whipped up in just a few minutes that all of us can enjoy — this one turned out real YUM!

You’ll need:
Rice
Canned Tuna (Chunks/Flakes)
Spring Onions or scallions
Tomato
Parsley
Olive Oil
Lemon
Salt and Pepper

Nicko’s recipe called for brown rice but I just used plain white California rice because that’s what I had available. He also used cherry tomatoes but I didn’t have that handy as well so I just used a regular tomato chopped in bits. Lucky I had some left over parsley and spring onions!

Instructions:

1. Cook Rice
2. Once rice is cooked – add in the tuna chunks, spring onions, tomatoes and parsley and some grated zest from the lemon.
3. For the dressing: Mix an equal amount of olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour dressing onto the rice mixture and you’re DONE!

Nicko’s site has measurements but I didn’t include it here as I pretty much just eyeballed everything.

I made my 13 month old try this and it has her seal of approval – she had a bit of this for lunch and dinner the other day! You know a dish is a keeper if everyone in the family can eat it. We are trying this again maybe next week but with salmon instead of tuna.

Enjoy!