Beauty and food. The ultimate combination.
From: http://www.liveitdoit.com.au[/caption%5D
In late August I stumbled across a Facebook post from Live It, Do it! that caught my interest: Sugar Free September.
I didn’t hesitate. “I’m in”, I thought.
As it turned out “we were in”: My Hubby (owner of the sweetest tooth in the North Island) joined me in the challenge to not eat any food containing refined sugar for 30 days. (more…)
I stopped buying mayonnaise a couple of years ago once I discovered Annabel Langbein’s Speedy Mayo recipe – which is essentially: Biff all ingredients together and blitz it with a handheld stick blender in a timeframe that’s (nearly) quicker than you can say “Bob’s your uncle”. I couldn’t even get to my local dairy and back in an emergency to buy mayo as fast as I can make this. Did I mention that it tastes utterly delicious? As I type this I have a huge craving for a plate of crayfish, a side of this mayonnaise and a wedge of lemon. Bring on summer. My mouth is watering. But, I digress. My recipe below is similar to Annabel’s, but with my own spin on it (I much prefer my recipe, but don’t tell her that, thanks).
On another note, having got used to this homemade goodness store-bought mayonnaise tastes awful: Sweet, artificial – not my think (except Best Foods Mayo – that’s the schizzle).
All you need (ingredients aside, doh) is a handheld blender (called an immersion blender in some countries).
I love cauliflower. I reckon it’s the king of vegetables. Ever since I discovered cauliflower rice and cauliflower puree I’ve got my creative on. Some bright spark suggested on my blog’s Facebook page that I have a crack at making Cauliflower pizza base. Alright, game on! If you haven’t heard of this slightly odd sounding combo, you use grated cauliflower to make the pizza base, as opposed to using flour which is typically used. Add your favourite toppings and you are good-to-go.
My verdict? Big ups to the original person who came up with this idea – I love it! Not only is cauliflower pizza base super tasty and fun and easy to make: It’s a definite game ;changer for people who are gluten intolerant, or cutting down on carbs. It’s also great for those wanting to lose weight, or simply if you want to up your vege intake!;Those who don’t eat dairy can simply omit the cheese… It’s fair to say the recipe is quite adaptable.
I spent a long time scouring the internet for suitable recipes. There’s a tonne out there. In the end I used this recipe by Tasty Kitchen as the base for my inspiration. I think the secret is to add herbs, Parmesan cheese, sesame seeds and a good amount of seasoning to the base for flavour. Lots of recipes just call for cauliflower and beaten egg, but that didn’t sound particularly appetising to me! (more…)
Getting anything green into my son is a battle. He puts on a fuss if we introduce anything new to his eating repertoire and, if really pushed to give new things a go will gag at the dinner table. Heavens forbid we try to feed him veges. It does my head in but we solider on. I needed to share that, thanks: I feel better now.
So, with my Bachelor of Mummihood, majoring in trickery, I’ve become a master at hiding vegetables in his food. This recipe below for meatloaf with a tomato saucey topping is a family favourite that always gets groans of delight from the little fella, as well as the big fella. It doesn’t have a tonne of vegetables in it, but enough to ease me off my hobby horse and polish my halo that the kid has had something that’s nutritionally sound! This is also a good weeknight meal that you can have on the table in half an hour. I make these in large muffin tins: You don’t have to. Whack it in a loaf baking tin if you prefer (like a gingerbread loaf) and bake it for 30-35 minutes. Easy. (more…)
I put a photo of this salad on Facebook and asked if anyone wanted the recipe – a couple of you waved your hands: So here you go!
Note, in the pics, I hadn’t added the dressing yet: I’ll do that right before I demolish it (I made this ahead of time for my work lunch tomorrow!). On that note: I have made this salad with a red wine vinaigrette and this orange one: This one is my favourite. There’s something special about the flavour combo of beetroot and orange 🙂
This is such a healthy salad that provides you with lots of nutrients. The walnuts are good antioxidants and promotes a healthy gut environment. The Beet Root is great at lowering blood pressure and even boosts the immune system! All of this, plus it’s really tasty!
I adore this dish and so do all the blokes I’ve ever cooked it for, it’s definitely a ‘man appropriate salad’ and, if I do say so myself, it’s every bit as good as the salads I scoffed back on holiday in Thailand last year.
Generally I’m a massive fan of clean fresh Asian flavours, if you hadn’t gathered that already (there’s a few Asian recipes on this blog). The weather warmed up here in the Hawke’s Bay recently: Warm enough to get outside and fire up the BBQ to cook the steak! (more…)
I was a kale virgin until recently – I kept hearing about this superfood (mainly on my Facebook newsfeed from all the Paleo/Cleaning eating sites that I admire). When I saw some in my local green grocers for the grand total of $2, I thought I’d give kale a whirl. “How do you like to eat kale?” I asked my local Asian greengrocer. “As chips” he replied and he talked me through how to make them. “I’m into this”, I thought and I busted it out for dinner. YUMMM! Crunchy, delicious, healthy goodness. A new favourite food! We’ve had them three times in the last couple of weeks.
As an aside, it turns out I’m a late bloomer… Kale Chips have been on trend for years with Hollywood folk (probably as kale is a nature super-food and jam packed full of nutrients) and, more recently they’ve been applauded by clean eaters and paleo lovers. Where have I been? It’s a bit like when you get a new car, a model you haven’t heard before, then after you’ve been driving in it for five minutes you realise every other sod has one. Anyhow, I figure if I’m a kale virgin, you might be too, hence this post and, clearly if my local green grocers’ kale chip recipe has made it as a blog post, I’m a fan! So, if you are looking to get more greenery in your diet, or want low calorie meal ideas, or you were a fan of my roast cabbage recipe, get cracking with cooking kale chips, coz kale chips are every bit as good as roast cabbage. (more…)
These bacon wrapped mushrooms are seriously mouthwatering morsels of goodness that will have any mushroom fan begging for more. We have these quite regularly as a side dish, although they went down a treat when we had friends over for dinner recently when I made them as pre-dinner nibbles!
Get creative with these: You don’t need to use a cream cheese/feta mix, if you are a blue cheese lover, why not use that? Instead of using chopped fresh herbs, why not use a heaped teaspoon of pesto? Like things spicy? Add some chilli flakes to the cheese. You get the idea. (more…)