Microwave Oven Fruity Flapjacks and Mustard Potato Bake

I think I was raised on Flapjacks as a child and they were one of the first things I could cook on my own. This version is speedy to prepare and take about 4 minutes to cook...I made it in less than 10 minutes on Saturday.

You'll need....

90 grams of butter
5 T brown sugar
2 T of Golden Syrup or treacle(i'm sure honey or maple syrup would work equally well)

Put these ingredients into a microwave safe dish, I used the big Pyrex one that Marlene gave me years ago.
Microwave on high just long enough to melt the butter and mix them well.

Add...
160 gms of rolled oats
180 gms of a mixture of chopped dried fruit, nuts and seeds and stir well then...you could use apricots, apples, cherries, sultanas, currants, raisins, walnuts, almonds, cashews, pecans, hazelnuts; sunflower, pumpkin, chia, sesame, flax...use your imagination to some extra special Good Stuff to your family's diet.

Press into a greased baking dish, I used my Pyrex pie plate.
Cook on high until the middle is bubbling....mine took 4 minutes but you may need a little less or more.

Leave it to cool and cut into wedges.

Although it's quite high in sugar and butter I'm sure it's still a better alternative to the additive and bad fat filled and expensive "muesli bars" in our childrens' lunch-boxes. Oats have a proven role to play in reducing cholesterol and any seeds and nuts you've used are rich in protein, Vitamin E and zinc as well as fibre. It freezes well too.

My second recipe today is for a tender sliced potato dish well flavoured with French mustard and fresh herbs.

This is about the only time I use the food processor for slicing or grating but this dish will cook much better if the slices are even in size.

You'll need....

1kg washed potatoes, 

1 T each of butter and olive oil

2 crushed cloves of garlic

1T Dijon mustard

1T lemon juice

1 T fresh herbs, I used thyme as the new growth is particularly fragrant right now.

1/4 cup of stock

Salt and pepper

Heat the oil and butter and gently fry the garlic for 2 minutes, stir in the other ingredients and set aside.

Working quickly so that the potato slices don't go brown, slice 1/3 of them and layer them in a greased casserole dish, spoon over the mustard sauce then repeat this step twice more.

Cover with aluminium foil and bake at 180C for an hour or until the potatoes are tender. Take the foil off for the last 15 minutes so that the top can brown and crisp up.

I also baked some whole potatoes and carrots while I had the oven on and for the last 30 minutes I added Joe's pork chop wrapped in foil with balsamic vinegar and sliced onion.

I hope you'll try these thrifty recipes and enjoy them. Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sue

xx