Pasta with Chickpeas

Taken from Family Circle's Fast Kids' Food

Ready to eat in 30 minutes

Serves 6

3 cups (270g) spiral pasta

1 tablespoon oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 x 425gm cans crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

425 gm can chickpeas, drained

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs

2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup (125gm) finely grated cheese

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the manufacturer's instructions. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, chickpeas, Italian herbs and sugar. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Preheat the grill.

Return the pasta to the pan, then add the tomato mixture and stir to combine.

Transfer the mixture to a large shallow baking dish or six individual baking dishes, and sprinkle with the cheese. Cook under the grill until the cheese is just melted and bubbling. Serve with some steamed green vegetables.

Nutrition per serve

Protein 15g; Fat 10g;

Carbohydrate 45 g;

Dietary Fibre 7.5 g;

Cholesterol 20mg;

1495 kj (355 cal)

Note: Borlotti or butter beans can be substituted for chickpeas if preferred.

Tonight is the first time I have tried this recipe. Having not tasted chickpeas before, I was a bit wary to give it a try. Surprisingly my son actually ate it all except for a couple of chickpeas left in the bottom of his bowl. I did add 2 teaspoons Vegeta and some breadcumbs with the cheese. Quite tasty.

xTania

Cornflake Biscuits

An old time favourite

Cornflake Biscuits

4oz butter

1 egg

1 cup SR Flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup sultanas or currants

cornflakes (I used crunchy nut cornflakes)

Cream butter and sugar till light. Add egg and beat well, fold in sifted flour and fruit. Roll balls into crushed cornflakes. Put on oven tray and bake in moderate oven until golden.

Goog's track, Mt Finke, Goog's lake

This is Goog.

He pushed the track through dense scrub and big sandhills from his farming property at Kalambi through to the north. This track has become popular with the tourists but is four wheel drive only.

(sorry for the sideways views of some of these photos, thanks to blogger)

Goog's plaque at Goog's Lake

Sideways view of memorial plaque of Goog's son Dinger. This is placed beside his father's plaque. Dinger was killed in a car accident in 1993.

Money tree near the plaques. Tourists and visitors bang money into the tree trunk.

The coins can be seen if you look hard.

The result of an extremely rough ride and somebody leaving the top of the barbeque sauce bottle too loose. Whoops!

Scramble eggs anyone?

Goog's Lake campsite.

Goog's Lake, it has no water but is one of the many salt lakes scattered throughout South Australia.

Driving the track.... Very, very rough,
and very good fun.

Wild daisies...

More of Goog's track.....

Wild peach (quandong)

Wildflowers

Whoa, camel footprint near our camp. We never saw any camels in our travels but there was plenty of evidence that they are there.

Following along...

Goog's track....

Wild shrub in flower...

We crossed this salt lake on the way to Mt Finke...

Mount Finke....and wildflowers

Some of us climbed Mt Finke, but I was not one of them.

(will post more photos from the top of the mount when I retrieve them from hubby's camera).

We had mobile reception at Mount Finke, so we sent some messages off and made phone calls to family.

The wild flowers were just lovely...

Have a nice day,

xTania

Gawler Ranges and Googs track Pt3

Sturt's desert pea in it's natural environment

Just couldn't resist this early morning photo shoot.

The "Love Shack!"

Kangaroos in the early morning light...

Old stock yards seemed to be still used...

So primitive and rustic...

Station homestead...

Skull tanks...

Gorgeous everlastings with their faces toward the sun...

Looking a lot like a fried egg...

Just so we know where we are.... and where we are going...

Long dry dusty roads...

More everlastings...

Lonely little daisy...

Flowering wild scrub...

Old "Tarcoola"

Some more dainty daisies...

After a little detour (or was that lost) we finally got to our destination.

After a long day we arrive at the beginning of Goog's track where we camped another night, this time it wasn't so cold and we slept on our swags in the back of our 4WD. A lot more comfortable than on the ground.

Have a great day,

xTania

Recipes, garden and unexpected visitor

Tuna Fettuccine

250g fettuccine egg noodles

450g can tuna, drained

1 large onion, finely chopped

90g butter, melted

300ml carton light cream

2 tablespoons tomato paste

pepper to taste

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Cook noodles in 3 litres of boing water for approximately nine minutes.

Melt butter in pan. Add onion and drained tuna, and stir over medium heat until onion is just tender.

Stir in cream, tomato paste, season with pepper.

Bring sauce to boil, remove from heat immediately.

Stir in chopped parsley.

Spoon sauce over cooked, drained fettuccine noodles.

The elephant tongues are huge this year, due to the extra rain.



The Freesia's have a lot of flowers.

And so has the stock, this plant had only a couple of flowers last year.

Lady Flo's Easy Chocolate Cake

1 cup SR flour

1 cup castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons cocoa

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

Mix all ingredients in a bowl for 4 minutes. Pour mixture into a well greased 20cm cake tin. Bake in a moderate oven (180C-200C) for 45 minutes.

(I added a little oil to this mix for extra moisture)

We had an unusual visitor to our back yard a couple of days ago. It was a very friendly magpie which we believe to be a pet of our neighbours. Cheeky thing made friends with hubby, who had the food, took a mouthful and then flew home.

Take care,

xTania

Gawler Ranges and Googs Track Pt 2

After the Pondanna Ruins we headed further down the road to Lake Gairdner where we were to spend the night.

The wildflowers were putting on a beautiful display.

At Lake Gairdner we climbed a granite hill to take in the view.

More flowers growing in amongst the granite rocks.

Granite...

Everywhere...

An active anthill nearby our camp.

The camp...

This is where we slept, in our swags. The night and morning were very cold with ice on everything when we rose in the morning. Brrrrrhh...

In the background you can see our little camp

Lake Gairdner

Sorry that there are so many photos to share with you all.

A piece of Australia that not everyone will ever get to see.


xTania

Gawler Ranges and Goog's Track Pt 1

DAY ONE

Last weekend we went on an adventure of a lifetime with some friends from Port Lincoln.

Phil had always wanted to "do" the Goog's track. Map here:

Early Friday morning we set off for Kimba where we were to meet up with our friends who were travelling to Kimba from Port Lincoln.

After having breakfast with my parents we were on our way at last.

This is the information bay in Kimba, it has a beautiful display of pictures of the Gawler Ranges.

Phil all set to go, waiting for the others to arrive outside of the local police station in Kimba.

Out into the outback country of the Gawler Ranges...

First stop for a break from driving and lunch was at the Thurlga turnoff.

Recent rains have turned the red dirt to green with lots of wildflowers. How lucky we were to be out there while they were flowering.

A sign post, just so no one gets lost!

Off we go again...

Next stop was at the Pondanna Ruins..

Lots of activity would have went on here at one time.

The old chimney in the kitchen?

Not too many rooms, only two. One for cooking and one for sleeping.

Underground tank to catch the much relied on water out here in the middle of nowhere. Not holding much anymore though.

Above and below: This little ruin sitting out by itself would have probably been the shearers quarters at one time.

I have had to divide the posts otherwise there are just too many pictures. We had lots of fun and the weather was absolutely perfect for the four days we were away. Tomorrow I will post the next section of our journey when we camped the night at Lake Gairdner. This lake is where the dry lake racing is held.

I have spent the week trying to catch up with the washing from our camping trip. It takes so long to organise to go away for a few days, not much to make everything dirty and days to reorganise everything ready for the next camping trip, which I have been informed could be the Simpson Desert! (dont know what I think about that yet!)

I think spring is nearly sprung here, as yesterday was 32C (89.6F). There were strong winds with lots of dirt blowing. It's nearly time to get the garden ready for the vegies I hope to grow, and the flowers are putting on a nice display at the moment. Sadly there was little rain following the dust storm. A few spots and that was all!

So on to my news.

I am not sure whether I have made the right decision, only time will tell. Due to becoming very stressed by different happenings in my life and a visit to the doctor to find my blood pressure was up I have decided to resign from Family Day Care once and for all. I find it a very stressful job with big responsiblilties and I really don't think my mind and body can take too much more. It is disappointing that I won't be finishing my diploma but I have decided to move on and do something else with my life that doesn't cause me so much stress. It has been a lot of things combined that has brought me to this decision. So for now I am a stay at home mum for a while. I am sure my family will appreciate that I am able to prepare wholesome meals once again and not be so tired (and grumpy) at the end of the day.

Our son has also been having trouble at the school he is enrolled in, so as of Tuesday he will be going to the only other high school in town. As parents we are concerned that the same will happen there, I guess we will have to wait and see. Bullying is a real problem at schools, as it was back in my day, but at least they try to do something about it nowadays although most times the bully still wins.

See you all soon,

xTania

Wind of Change

Just a quick post letting you know that I will be back soon. I have many photos to share with you all, these are a sample of what is coming.

I am hoping to do a big post this weekend...

There have been some changes in my life...

that I will share in my next post...

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods,


xTania

A little time out

Last weekend we went for a drive to Wilmington to pick up some new chickens. On the way we detoured to have a look at Hancock's Lookout.

You can see where Port Augusta is located on the map, right at the top of the gulf.

Some of the scenery

is beautiful and green this time of year

The dams are full

I captured these horses having a frolic in the paddock

All this just 40 minutes from home.

Sorry I haven't been around much lately, I am having a bit of a break from the computer.

My boys are not here at the moment with one being at work and the other at the local show "wharfest" with his mates. So I have grabbed a moment to do a post.

The weather has been kind with a few nice sunny days and more rain than usual, turning everything green.

Life has been busy with work and family.
I have the first part of my diploma to do which has arrived in the post. I am learning how to participate in learning sessions online which is something new for me, but so far have managed okay.

I do hope everyone is happy and healthy wherever you are, I will try to catch up on some much loved blogs soon.


xTania