Mediterranean meatballs with tomato sauce

I was so happy when pork mince started to be sold at ALDI and for a very cheap price too - $4.50 for 500g. If you are after a budget meal that stretches a long way, this is a great one.  It makes approx 45 meatballs and would serve a large family or give you leftovers for the next two days!!

This meal varies a little from the norm as the meatballs are made with pork mince and use a secret ingredient 'cream cheese' (I guess it is not so secret anymore :)

Don't be deterred, they are very delicious and the meatballs are soft & tender.  Cooked with the tomato sauce, it is a healthy dish that I hope your family will enjoy. I actually prefer to eat it with spaghetti rather than cous cous but the choice is yours as ALDI sell both of them.

Amanda xx

Mediterranean meatballs with tomato sauce

1kg pork mince
1 small onion, very finely diced
2 cups breadcrumbs
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g cream cheese
Salt & pepper 
Oil for frying
2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 tsp sugar
½ cup tomato paste
½ tsp oregano
Cous Cous or spaghetti to serve  


In a large bowl, add mince, onion, breadcrumbs, eggs, garlic & cream cheese.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

Mix with your hands.  Form into small meatballs.

In a large frying pan over med to high heat, add oil.  Fry meatballs for 10 mins or until nearly cooked through.  Turn during cooking. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the meatballs.

In a large jug, add tomatoes, stock, sugar, tomato paste & oregano.  Stir to combine & pour over meatballs.

Bring to the boil then turn down  to medium heat.  Cook, uncovered for 15 to 20  mins.  Serve with cous cous or spaghetti. 

- Cooked meatballs, in fridge, covered for up to 3 days.
- Uncooked meatballs, in fridge, covered for up to 1 day.
- Uncooked meatballs, freeze, in airtight container for up to 3 months.

Doughnut muffins

OK... these come with a warning!  They smell like a doughnut, taste like a doughnut and are hard to stop eating! You might even have all of these ingredients already in your cupboard right now so you best get baking!

I do love a good doughnut but hardly ever eat them due to the fat content.  I especially don't like the idea of deep frying them but I think these muffins are a great alternative especially with the cinnamon sugar topping. 

I would love to hear what you think.

Cheers,

Amanda

Doughnut muffins

• 125g butter, softened
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 2 ¼ cups plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½  tsp salt
• ½ tsp nutmeg

Topping

• 2 Tbspn butter, melted
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon  

Step 1 -  Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 12 muffin pan with cases.

Step 2 - With an electric mixer, beat butter & sugar until light & fluffy.

Step 3 - Beat in egg.

Step 4 - Add milk, flour, bicarb of soda, salt & nutmeg.  Beat well.

Step 5 - Spoon batter evenly into muffin cases & bake in preheated oven for 20 mins or until cooked through. Cool on wire rack. 

Topping

Step 6 - Combine sugar & cinnamon in a small bowl. Brush melted butter over muffin tops & dip into the cinnamon sugar to coat. 

Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.  

Freeze in airtight container for up to 2 months. 

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Apple crumble

Yum!  Who doesn't love apple crumble served with vanilla icecream?  If you want to be super efficient, you can even make the crumble ahead of time and freeze it in a zip lock bag until you need it.

Apple crumble

800g tin pie apples
½ tsp cinnamon
100g chilled butter, chopped
1 cup plain flour
½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup desiccated coconut
1 wheat biscuits, crushed (weet-bix alternatives)

In a 2 litre casserole dish, add apples.  Sprinkle cinnamon over top of apples.

In a separate bowl, add flour & butter.  Rub butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add sugar, oats, coconut & wheat biscuits.  Stir to combine.

Pour crumble mixture over the apples.  Cover & refrigerate until required.

Cooking - Preheat oven to 180oC. Bake, uncovered in preheated oven for 25 mins or until golden.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or custard.

Satay chicken kebabs

For a long time I have been searching for the perfect satay sauce recipe.  The wait it over and I now have it and BONUS.. all ingredients can be purchased at ALDI!!  It is quick, extremely tasty and totally home made.  Once you try this beauty you will never buy packet mix satay again.

Making the kebabs takes a bit of extra time so for a quick weeknight meal, I would slice the chicken breast, stir-fry it and serve it with the satay sauce & rice.

Enjoy!
Amanda

Satay Chicken kebabs

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1 Tbspn soy sauce
• 3 Tbspn crunchy peanut butter
• 1 Tbspn sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour

• 1kg chicken breast fillets, diced

In a saucepan over medium heat, add oil, garlic & ginger & cook for 2 mins.  

Add chicken stock, coconut cream, soy sauce peanut butter & sweet chilli sauce. Bring to boil & reduce to a simmer for 10 mins.

In a separate cup, mix cornflour with a little water for form a thin paste.  Add into sauce & stir over high heat until sauce thickens.  Remove from heat.  

Cut chicken into similar sized pieces & thread onto BBQ skewers. Cook on a grill, turning regularly until chicken is cooked through. Alternatively, cut the chicken into strips and stir fry.

Remove from grill & serve with satay sauce. 

2 ingredient dough

I used to make dough the traditional way (flour, yeast, water, salt, oil etc) and leave for hours to rise.  This was fine until I heard about dough being made with only 2 ingredients - self-raising flour & greek yoghurt.

I was skeptical at first but to my surprise it actually tasted fantastic!  A lovely lady gave me this recipe and now I make all my scrolls using this method. 

2 ingredient dough

• 3 cups self-raising flour
• 2 cups natural greek yoghurt - that's it!!

Add together in a large bowl and knead with an electric mixer until combined.  Turn out onto a heavily floured bench and bring together with your hands. No rising time required, just roll out, pop your fillings on and bake.

You can use for your pizza bases or scrolls.
For my pizza scroll recipe please go to -- Pizza scrolls
Recipe for sticky cinnamon scrolls here -- Sticky sugar scrolls

Pizza scrolls

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a fantastic weekend.  We are having a very quiet one as sickness has struck our house and I am playing nurse.  Luckily mum is always the healthy one!

Trying to get the kids to eat something while they are sick can be tough and filling them up with fruit & veges is a priority but..   the thing they have all asked for today is 'pizza scrolls'.

These are fresh out of the oven and smell amazing! They are a regular recipe for us and  I hope you enjoy them too..

Pizza scrolls

• 3 cups self-raising flour
• 2 cups natural Greek yoghurt
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• 5 slices ham, diced
• 5 slices salami, diced
• 2 cups grated cheese

Preheat oven to 200°C.  Line 2 oven trays with baking paper.

In a large bowl, add flour and yoghurt. Mix to combine & knead into a smooth dough. This can be done by hand, with an electric mixer (using dough hooks) or in a thermomix to save time. 

On a  heavily floured surface, turn out the mixture & knead gently. 

Roll out dough to a large rectangle approx.  ½ cm thick. The rectangle should be approx. 45cm x 30cm.

Spread tomato paste evenly all over the rectangle. Spread ham & salami over the rectangle. Sprinkle cheese over the top. 

Roll up the long end of the rectangle to form a large sausage. Cut into pieces approx. 2½ cm thick.  

Lay scrolls flat on the tray. 

Bake in preheated oven for 15 mins.  Remove from oven & EAT!!

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta

This meal is super quick and very very tasty.  Even my fussy 3 and 5 year old's love this one and there are always empty bowls on the table.  Best of all, it only takes 20 mins from start to finish and is a fantastic weeknight meal in a hurry.

It is a very economical meal and of course, all ingredients can be founds at ALDI.  You can try adding semi-dried tomatoes and olives for a flavour variation but I think it is perfect the way it is.

Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta

1 Tbspn oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g chicken breast fillets
150g bacon (1 cup diced)
½ cup basil pesto 
1 Tbspn sweet chilli sauce
300ml cream
500g penne pasta

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta according to packet instructions.

In a frying pan over high heat, add oil & cook onion & garlic for approx. 3 mins.  

Dice chicken breast and add to the pan along with the bacon. Fry until chicken & bacon is cooked through.  
  
Add basil pesto & sweet chilli sauce & stir to combine. Cook for 2 mins. Be sure to stir the pesto first as there may be a layer of oil  sitting at the top of the jar. 

Add cream & stir to combine.  Cook until heated through.

Serve with pasta. 

Welcome to my blog!

If you are reading this post then I assume you have checked out my new Facebook page and blog so thanks for stopping by!

My name is Amanda and I am an ALDI shopper. Sounds like a confessions doesn't it? I love cooking and for a long time I have been working on recipes that are made with only ALDI ingredients.  It has certainly made my grocery shopping a lot easier (not to mention cheaper!!) and I plan to share them with you on this page.

I converted to ALDI almost 4 years ago and haven't looked back.

Yes.. it is a little more work as you have to pack your own groceries which can be a difficult task with a few children in tow. Trust me, you get better with practice!

Yes I know... your favourite brands aren't on the shelves but it doesn't take long to realise that the ALDI brands are just as good as the ones you know and love.

But... the best part is that you save SOOO MUCH money.  Seriously! For me, this was the clincher. Even if I had to shop at night (to make it easier without the kids), the weekly savings were such a bonus at a time when we were on a tight budget.

My main goal was to try and tailor my recipes so ALDI was the only supermarket that I needed to go to. Over the last few years I have found myself visiting 2 supermarkets every time I did the groceries and it was a real pain - wasting not only time but money as I always bought things I didn't need when visiting the 2nd supermarket.

After a lot of cooking & photographing, I am ready to share so welcome to my blog!  I hope you enjoy my recipes, cook them in your homes and maybe share some of yours with me too.

Cheers
Amanda

Me with my daughter who loves cooking but only because she gets to lick the spoon!