Sunday Cookup - preparing for the week

As a full time working mum, wife , , , , , ,  i find like many of you that if i put a bit of effort in on a Sunday night then my week day rush of getting home after six and feeding the "angry birds" goes a little easier. 

So tonight when i looked to see what was available i found a container of left over mashed potato from Friday night.   If i quickly take it from the pot after serving and put it in the fridge it saves me from going back and eating it right out of the pot later - so tempting.  So i opened up the pantry and found a can of tuna and from then on i was on auto pilot.   I love tuna burgers!

I'm sure that my recipe is no different from anyone else and I'm just a cook with a good foundation in good wholesome country cooking.  Its not fancy food but it fills the hole and sometimes it rocks.

Tuna Burgers



In a large bowl (capable of getting your "washed" hands into - yes i am that kind of cook) place the following ingredients:

1 can of drained tuna - 425 grams  Try and buy Australian and support our industry (please)

Quantity of mashed potato -  About 4 cooked potatoes mashed with butter, milk, salt & pepper

If you are making this especially for this recipe i find it nice not to mash it too well.  Leave some chunky pieces for a variety of texture so the burger is not too mushy.

2 small eggs or 1 large

1 chopped small onion or i use chopped spring onions from MY garden

Fresh mint and parsley (maybe a tablespoon chopped of both) also from MY garden.

1 Chili - I used a small mild sweet variety - its the one in my banner all grown up and blushing - aren't they gorgeous and yes, its from MY garden?  This ingredient is of course optional but since my 15 yr old wont eat them anyway, i can do what i want.

Salt and Ground Pepper

Bread Crumbs - enough to make the mixture not sticky and to allow you to form into a burger. I used a about a cup and a half.

Now get those hands in and turn it all over until mixed. Adjust the bread crumb or add a little water if too dry.  You will know when it ready.  

Wet you hands when forming the burgers and the mixture wont stick to your hands. 

If you want a quick meal and and no mess then you could lightly fry these burgers with just a spray or a small amount of oil in a pan, being careful when turning but i find them absolutely scrummy when they are crumbed and then shallow fried in a hot oil.  I use a large spoon to turn them over so they don't break up.



A burger before crumbing - you can see the fresh ingredients unlike those processed bought ones.



Plain flour, egg wash and bread crumbs (in that order)

Now warning - this is a messy job and helps if you keep one hand for dry and the other for wet or you will end up with very messy hands.  Or, you could do it perfectly like i did and then when you were putting the burgers on the tray, lean too far forward and dip you left boob into the egg mix.  Lovely!


3 stages





The finished burgers



Now that just looks yummy, doesn't it?  They'll be in my lunch box tomorrow and probably in my hubby's lunch or dinner with salad    There is enough left over to freeze and use later.  I just reheat in the microwave but they are also great cold. 

So What Else?

While all that magic was happening above, in a hot oven i was roasting red cheeks of capsicums and cubed pumpkin sprinkled with a little sugar.  This morning i put a tray of of tomatoes into a slow oven for roasting over say an hour and a half.  They had olive oil, salt & pepper and fresh rosemary from MY garden.    All these will go into lunches, salads, sandwiches, or turn into a soup if not used.   At the moment my fresh market grocer has small tomatoes for $1.49 a kg so i am buying a bag every weekend and roasting them.  I keep the ones from MY garden for fresh.



A bit mushy but i like to spread it on toast with feta



Don't worry I'll get sick of it soon. I'm pretty chuffed with MY garden at the moment and if you don't know why then don't be so lazy and go back and read my posts on The Veggie Patch (X2).

The other thing on the go in the slow cooker is a couple of budget steaks stewing away in onion, bacon and crushed tomatoes with salt and pepper.  I'll box them up individually for adding to veggies or rice at another time.   

Busy girl that i am I also marinated some chicken leg meat with Moroccan spices and froze that as well for pulling out during the week.  The leg and thigh have more flavour than the breast.  When thawed just throw on the BBQ.  So thats it for tonight.  I have a 2kg tray of premium mince from the meat wholesalers for $5.99/kg in the fridge and so tomorrow night 1kg go into making pre-cooked meat balls for freezing. Hubby had some today for lunch in a ciabatta roll with salad - eat your heart out Subway -  we make our own homemade meatball subs.  The other 1kg will make many small containers of Taco meat for my son to have when he gets home from school.  He defrosts frozen wraps and adds the reheated meat and cheese.  He than wraps it and toasts in a focaccia cooker. 

Oh, one more thing, this is a call out for Shelby from Fresh Eggs Farm to send her meatloaf recipe.  We all have one but hers is so special that her husband request it for a birthday meal - it must be sensational.  So don't hog it to yourself, OK!

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