Tuna pasta bake
If it's your turn to cook dinner but you've completely forgotten to defrost any meat, make a tuna pasta bake. It's an easy meal-in-one you can put together at the last minute.

Ingredients
250g pasta, eg. penne or spirals
1T cooking oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 carrots, grated
2 courgettes, grated
1 red capsicum, diced
1 yellow capsicum, diced
185g tin tuna in spring water
500g jar pasta sauce
1/2c grated cheese
1T dried mixed herbs

Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to packet instructions. While that's cooking, heat oil in a frying pan and saute onions until soft. Add the other vegetables and stir-fry on a high heat for three minutes. Pour drained pasta, vegetables, drained tuna and pasta sauce into a deep oven proof dish and stir to combine. Sprinkle over the grated cheese and dried herbs. Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes or until golden on top.

This divine chocolate cake is so easy to whip up, yet fancy enough for celebrations. And did I mention it tastes divine?

Ingredients
2c sugar
2 large eggs
1c milk or unsweetened yoghurt
3/4c cocoa
200g (7oz) butter, softened
2t baking soda
1.5t vanilla extract
1/4t salt
3c self-raising flour
1c boiling hot coffee or water

Heat oven to 160°C and line a 30cm round cake tin with baking paper. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix with an electric beater or wooden spoon until combined. Pour mixture into prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in tin. Place in a sealed container or freeze if not using at once.

Chocolate butter icing
3c icing sugar
1/4c cocoa
3T soft butter

Once cake has cooled, mix icing ingredients together with enough boiling water to form a creamy consistency. Spread over entire cake with a butter knife dipped in boiling water to prevent icing sticking to it.