FRUITful Saturday :-)

It was definitely an ambitious weekend which I'd planned, and thankfully almost all of it was carried out. The list was as follows:

1. To paint loft (hubby) and wall (me)
2. To finish Aina's dress
3. To make lasagna
4. To make bread pudding
5. To make tacos
6. To make donuts

Review:
1. Could not complete as hubby had to go in to work, so paint time cut short, postponed to next week.
2. Kind of completed it, but it was too small after making adjustments! Project scraped, starting a new one soon....
3 - 5. COMPLETED!!
6. Due to overload of food, item no. 6 was postponed to another week :-)

And so here is my simple bread pudding recipe which was inspired by an entry in MADE, using pumpkins. I tweaked the recipe and used croissants instead of bread, and it was DELICIOUS!

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING
you need:
2 pkts of mini croissants from Bread Story
to make caramel:
50g butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
egg mixture - whisk together:
200ml low fat milk
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 large eggs
2/3 cups mashed pumpkin pulp
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

how to:
lightly grease baking dish and pour caramel mixture on the bottom. tear the croissants in half and arrange tightly in the dish. pour the egg mixture over and leave minimum 8 hours, or overnight. Pre-heat oven to 175'C and bake for approx. 45 - 50mins, depending on your oven. Exteremely yummy served warm! :-)

LASAGNA
(using a 6 x 6 aluminium foil pan)
you need:
6 pieces instant lasagna sheets
1 pkg. pizza topping cheese OR mozarella cheese
meat sauce:
1 large onion, diced finely
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 large piece dried bay leaf
1 pkt. RAMLI minced meat
1 large tin canned whole tomatoes
1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
salt, pepper to taste
white sauce:
2 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. flour
300ml milk
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
white pepper, salt to taste

how to:
meat sauce:
saute the onions, garlic and bay leaf until the onions are soft. add in the oregano and minced beef. let the beef cook until most of the liquid is absorbed, then pour in the canned tomatoes with the juices, and stir while crushing the tomatoes. Add in the cocoa powder and seasoning and simmer about 10mins. Set aside.

white sauce:
melt butter in a saucepan and add in the flour. stir using a whisk or wooden spoon until the paste thickens and form lumps. add in the milk and whisk/stir until smooth, then add in the seasoning. taste and adjust accordingly. the mixture whould be thick and creamy. turn off heat and set aside.

to assemble the lasagna:
spoon 1/3 of the meat sauce into the base of the pan. arrange 3 sheets of lasagna over - it's okay to overlap :-) Then pour 1/3 of the white sauce and top with a handful of the cheese. repeat, finishing with a layer of meat sauce, then white sauce, and a whole lot of cheese and bake in a pre-heated 180'C oven for approx. 35 - 40 mins, till bubbly and nicely browned.

This is the Mexican Taco which hubby had been craving for, and I will not be putting up the recipe since you can buy the taco shells in a pre-packaged box complete with the spice mix to cook the beef and the salsa sauce that goes on top of it.

As for my other projects, I'll update as and when it's all done :-)
Watch this space! :-P



AM