Easy Peasy Recipes for Flatters

You may be surprised to find out how easy this really is - especially if you cheat a little bit - and your just starting out so its fine to cheat!

Get a packet of rice risotto mix - in NZ we use Diamond Rice Risotto in chicken flavour - there are heaps of others avaliable so choose something that will suit your tastebuds.

Turn on the frying pan (on the highest level if you want it done quick), put in a bit of oil - a teaspoon or two, until the bottem of the pan is lightly covered, chuck in the rice for a few minutes then add the water - look at the directions on the side of the box, depending on how many the box is supposed to serve, add the flavouring and put the lid on the frying pan.

Come back 5 minutes later and stir it so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, come back in another 5 minutes and stir again, add a cup full of veges - i usually use frozen mixed veges because I am too lazy to use fresh ones and it has been prooven that frozen veges are just as good for you :)

You can then add already cooked meat if you wish - but since we are on a budget I quiet often skip the meat and find that it is a great nutritious meal and is just as tasty without the meat.

Voila - the rice has soaked up all the water in the pan and you are now ready to eat!!

That wasn't so hard was it... to recap, put rice in pan, water in pan, leave, stir, veges, stir, eat :)

MMM I bet your going to be hungry by the end of this one!!

Home made bugers, with home made beef patties!!

The steps I write are for enough patties for 2 people so double or half the mixture for more or less people.

Get enough mince for your two patties - we make nice fat ones so use a bit, but you may prefer thinner ones. Break in an egg, 1/2 a teaspoon of beef stock, a sprinkle of salt & pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of mixed herbs, a couple of squeezes of your favourite sauce (we use BBQ sauce, you use what you like!) and a handful of breadcrumbs (you can homemake these or use premade ones from the supermarket) - get your hands in there and mix it all up then shape your patties to how you like them - remember they sometimes shrink a little bit in the pan.

Chuck your patties in the frying pan and turn them over after a few minutes (depending on how hot your pan is) - if you want an egg now is the time to put this in the frying pan (to make slighly healthier versions cook them in a sandwhich press that doesn't require butter or oil to be put on it).

Now get all your other ingredients ready - we use bap's for our buns but you can use any type of bun's you like - some people like theirs toasted in the oven for 5 mins, so get these on to start while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Suggested fillings are; Lettuce, carrot, sauce, onions, tomato's, avocado and pineapple but feel free to swap and change what you do and don't like until you have made the perfect home made hamburger for you!!

Pop all the ingredients together on your bun in an order you like and hey presto - you've just made home made hamburgers!!

To be honest I am not a big fan of spag bol, but I know a lot of other people are and it is really easy to make so I thought I would include it here.

Firstly put your spaghetti noodles in a pot on the stove with a couple of drops of oil in it to help stop the noodles sticking. Turn the noodles on and let them cook until they are how you like to eat them.

While you are waiting for the noodles to cook, place your mince in your electric frying pan and stir it around to ensure that it is all browned - no red bits - now put in your sauce (there are heaps of different ones you can buy - look for one which says spaghetti bolognase on it and choose one you think you may like, I often use plain tomato paste or just the garlic and herb ones because I don't like all the fancy stuff in some of them - so choose one you will like.)

Turn your electric frying pan down to medium to low and let the sauce and mince simmer until the noodles are ready.

Put your noodles on the plate, top with the mince and sauce and if you want cheese or sour cream go for your life them dig in!!

Mmmm,

This is one of my favourites to have for breakfast but we also have it for dinner occasionally.

Heat up your electric frying pan (told you it was useful!!)

Now break open enough eggs for the number of people you are cooking for (I use 3 eggs per person) - seperate out the yolk and whites into two seperate bowls - in the bowl with the yolk add 1 tablespoon of water per egg and mix it up until it is frothy. Now beat the egg whites until they are white and frothy, give the egg yolk and water another quick mix up as it has proberly settled a bit and now gently mix the two together - pour into your electric frying pan and let it cook.

I then pull my omelette out and put on any toppings I want - usually just cheese & ham because I don't like fancy stuff, but feel free to add things like peppers, musrooms etc.

I then place my omelette into the oven to be grilled for a few minutes so my cheese melts - be careful when you get it out because the plate will be hot - now either eat as it is or flip your omelette in half like in the picture and then enjoy!