A few months ago, I was very inspired by a friend of mine to try to be more “vegetarian”.

My reasons – for my long term health, for environmental sustainability, and hopefully to look and feel better (skin, body, and energy).

So twice a week I’ve been cooking vegetarian meals.

I made this curry in 20 minutes, using stuff I already had in the pantry and fridge. And omg it was so yummy, we practically licked our plates and pots clean.

Spinach and Chickpea Curry

Half an onion, chopped finely
2 tablespoons of oil
¼ cup of bottled curry paste
300mL of water
400g can of chickpeas, drained
1 cup of red lentils
400g can of whole tomatoes, juice drained1 big handful of fresh spinach chopped, or a 40g portion of (defrosted) chopped frozen spinach
basmati rice
natural yoghurt to garnish

1. Heat oil in a pan, on slow medium heat cook onions for 5-7 minutes, until very soft and golden.

2. While doing that, boil some water in another pot, and boil lentils for 10 minutes and drain.

3. Stir in curry paste ad cook for 3 minutes.

4. Add drained chickpeas, drained lentils, drained tomatoes and give it a good stir. I like to break up the whole tomatoes too. Add about 300mL of water. Turn up to medium-high heat. Cook for about 10 minutes.

5. Add chopped spinach. Stir for 1 minute.

6. Turn off heat, and serve hot with basmati rice, yoghurt and bright green vegetables.

Notes –

For the curry paste, I used Pataks , which you can buy at any supermarket.

I used tikka masala flavour this time, but you can use ANY BRAND and ANY TYPE of curry paste for this recipe. I like to use balti or rogan josh curry pastes too.

My 1 year old and I hung out in the garden.

Him, munching on his morning snack while kicking a ball.

Me, harvesting a bowl full of lettuce and skipping with glee.

I’ve been crazy over pumpkin lately.  I can’t seem to get enough of it. I love it on pizza, made into soup and dips, and especially roasted and tossed in salad.

This is my favourite dressing for Roasted Pumpkin Salad -

Honey and Balsamic dressing
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil

Whisk until well combined, then drizzle on salad :)

Despite trying to come across all super healthy and all that, I confess that I have a weakness for weird Chinese food.

And last week, I decided that since it was my birthday, I was going to eat some of my favourite foods – chicken feet with chilli oil.

Yes! The feet of chicken! It’s delicious!

(I try not to think about it too much.)

I made Chocolate Hazelnut Nutella Muffins for the kids on the weekend!

One of my favourite things in the world is CHEESE.

I could sit down with a platter of grapes, figs, nuts, crackers and A HUNDRED DIFFERENT VARIETY OF CHEESES FROM AROUND THE WORLD – and I would be in heaven.

My favourite of the lot is blue vein cheese. I can eat it by the truck load.

In fact, I will start eating blue cheese with crackers, then I’ll toss the crackers and eat the cheese on its own – so not to fill my stomach with crackers, but with CHEESE. What are the side effects of eating too much Penicillium culture? I know not. Nor do I care.

However, having said that, there is a part of my brain that I have to shut down.

Yes I know it looks absolutely disgusting.

Yes I know it is mould and is furry.

Yes I know it is the same stuff that grows on rotten lemons.

I’ve found it best to just not think about it for too long.

The other day I was in the garden, feeling a little generous. I decided to share my precious block of Bleu with my 7 year old son. I knew he wouldn’t like it if I told him what it was.

“What’s that speckled greenish thing?”

“Um it’s a kind of chopped up plant, with a kind of salty peppery flavour. It’s actually quite…

“Mum. It’s totally rotten. You shouldn’t be eating that. It’s all through the cheese! Are you crazy? You’re gonna die! Stop STOP NOOOOOO!”

He flung my plate of cheese onto the floor and it all landed with a KA-SPLAT in the dirt.

I was so mad at him.

But as I was picking up my sticky bits of cheese, my son leaned over and said apologetically, “I’m really sorry about that mum. I didn’t know that you were serious. But since you like eating rotten stuff, maybe it’ll taste even better mixed with the sand and ants?”

Last week, my husband and I checked out a rather posh restaurant in Perth, called 1907. We enjoyed an expensive meal, a glass of wine, a tranquil ambience, and a whole fine dining experience. It was classy, sophisticated, heaps of fun and just a great night out for the both of us.

But this week we decided on something a bit more – CHEAP AND CHEERFUL.

We went to a Vietnamese restaurant called Viet Hoa. It has been a favourite eating place of mine for many years. Basically it’s loud and very, very busy.

The plates are plastic. The plants are plastic. The decor is atrocious. The wait staff are rude and hardly speak any English. The menus are dog-eared and covered in a sticky grease. In fact, everything feels like it is covered in a sticky grease.

However, the food is really good and it arrives fresh and piping hot in minutes.

There’s a lot to be said for excellent and unfussy dining. I’m no snob. I love it.

Viet Hoa Vietnamese Restaurant
349 William St
Northbridge 6003
P: 9328 2127

As my life gets busier and busier with my three children, I have accepted that I can’t do EVERYTHING. It’s a big step for me, but hey, it’s reality, and I have to stay SANE right?

I used to spend DAYS AND NIGHTS, making a birthday cake, agonising over design and details, baking immaculate treats and stressing over the presentation of the catering. The results were amazing, but OH the stress!

So a few weeks ago, we were having a family celebration, I decided to test out a friend’s new cupcake business based in Perth – Heaven in a Bite.

Yes, the website is a bit clunky, but dear god, her cupcakes are amazing.

She said she had spent months and months researching and perfecting her recipes. She came over with boxes full of cupcake samples (to the delight of my children and I) and talked about consistency, moisture and texture, and I was like – babe, it’s got chocolate nutella centres, that’s all I really care about.

She and her team specialise in daily cupcakes – for entertaining, parties, casual afternoon tea parties etc. They have an amazing range of flavours like latte, strawberry cheesecake, carrot orange, chocolate mint, choc hazelnut, jaffa, pina colada and red velvet cupcakes.

My favourites were latte, chocolate hazelnut and red velvet – they were to die for!

They also cater for special occasions, like birthdays and baby showers.

So if you’re in Perth, a busy mum like me, $3 per gourmet cupcake to share with friends, is an EXCEPTIONAL STEP TOWARDS SANITY!

I’ve been told that I don’t have very “typical eating hours”.

I’m not sure what the TYPICAL HOURS are – perhaps something that fits in with the 9 to 5 working hours?

Anyway, pictured above is my after-lunch snack: Spinach, feta, tomatoes, sprouts and wholegrain mustard dressing.

My Eating Hours:

I have breakfast at 6am.

I have morning tea at 9am.

I have lunch at 11am.

I have an after-lunch snack at 1pm.

I eat dinner at 5pm.

I have another snack at 9pm.

I made chocolate waffles (with choc chips!) for my family last weekend.

When the last set of waffles were made, I threw them onto the table, and my children descended upon them like hungry sharks.

I retired to my favourite window with a cup of tea and had the most lovely 6 minutes of morning bliss.

To make chocolate waffles, I just added 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to my Basic Waffle Recipe.

Ok here’s something I don’t tell many people.

I am an utter salad lover.

Like, really. I’m a total salad nut.

I have a secret love affair with spinach and avocado.

Add some tomatoes, a handful of seeds, a squeeze of lemon juice, pepper, and I’m in heaven.

People look at me eating salad and sneer “eat some real food”… but I don’t care.

Nothing gets me excited than… sprouts.

With feta. And sundried tomatoes, chorizo, snow peas, bocconcini, mango, red onions, coriander and parmesan. Not all at once, but you get my drift.

Many months ago, I went to a café and I ate a pear, walnut and maple muffin – which turned out to be the most amazing muffin I had ever tasted. It was so good that I felt, in that moment, that if I died right then, my life would still have been complete.

So of course, I went home and googled for a similar muffin recipe.

I managed to find and test 2 recipes – but they just weren’t great. I have since tried 4 more times, changing the recipes slightly, in order to perfect the PERFECT Pear, Walnut and Maple Muffin.

The different thing about this recipe below is, it uses maple syrup instead of sugar. I did try different variations, half maple, half brown sugar. I even tried with an extra egg, less flour, less milk, more butter.

I think I’ve got it right! Hope you enjoy it!

Pear, Walnut and Maple Muffins

1 ½ cups self raising flour

½ teaspoon of baking power

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

60g butter, melted

½ cup of pure maple syrup

1 egg, beaten

½ cup milk

2 small pears, cored and diced

½ cup walnuts, chopped

Method

1. Line a muffin pan with 10 paper cases.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a mixing bowl. Add maple syrup, butter, egg and milk, and stir until just combined.

3. Mix pear and walnuts into the mixture.

4. Spoon into prepared pans and bake in a moderate oven 180C for 25 minutes or until cooked when tested.

(Pure maple syrup is a bit expensive, but it really does taste amazing!)

Paella is a Spanish rice dish that mixes meats, fish, beans, rice and all sorts of other things. But best of all, it all cooks in ONE PAN.

It’s also a lot like risotto, but you just don’t have to stir it as much – so it’s really easy. It is one of my favourite dishes to make, and my family love it!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2-3 skinless chicken thigh fillets, cut into thick strips (I used salmon instead)
1 onion, chopped
1 1/3 cups of short grain rice (uncooked)
3 tomatoes, chopped
pinch of saffron
400g can of chickpeas
150g green beans
1 red capsicum, sliced
750ml chicken stock
500g of prawns, peeled
2 tablespoons of parsley
1 lemon wedges (very important!)
Optional – 8 mussels, 1 calamari, cut into rings.

1. Heat oil in a large, deep fry pan, add chicken or salmon. Cook until just browned, remove and drain

2. Add onion to the pan and cook until soft and golden. Add rice, tomatoes, saffron. Stir for 1 minute on a medium heat.

3. If using chicken, put it into the pan. Stir in chickpeas, green beans, capsicum and stock. Cook for 15 minutes uncovered. Don’t stir!

4. Stir in salmon, prawns, and other seafood. Leave it to cook uncovered for 10 minutes, or until the rice and seafood is cooked. I like to leave it for a bit longer to get the base crisp and caramelised. Don’t stir!

5. Serve up, Sprinkle with parsley, squeeze lemon on top.

Note: One time, I ran out of saffron, and I used ½ teaspoon of turmeric instead. Then I thought, what the heck, and also added ½ teaspoon of cumin, and a pinch of cinnamon and paprika. Not very authentic, but damn it tasted good.

(This recipe is based on a recipe published by the Heart Foundation Australia)

Sometimes I am shocked, and slightly embarrassed, by how little time I have to prepare dinner.

In between dropping off one child here, running errands, picking up one child from there, zipping to the shops to pick up something, meet up with someone else for a chat, then coming home for a grand total of 30 minutes of web work, only to have to leave again to pick up the first child from school.

There is hardly any time for me to prepare a meal.

And the ironic thing is, that I really like to cook!

So I have become the master of the Throw-In-The-Oven Recipe!

This week was roast chicken and roast vegetables, eaten with bread rolls.

It’s not exactly my finest culinary accomplishment, but with three children, cooking a roast chicken in time for dinner is worthy of a ticker tape parade, if you ask me.

And the best bit is… everyone loves a simple roast chicken!

How to Cook the Perfect Roast Chicken

Season with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon, parsley and rub all over. No measurements – just throw some on! Toss with mixed potatoes, carrots and pumpkin.

And throw into a 180C oven –  20 minutes for every 500g of chicken.

Now that I think about it, it’d probably be much easier to BUY a roast chicken, but then that would spoil all the fun.

Good brownie recipes are so hard to find! And I love a good quality, well made chunk of brownie!

Jamie Oliver’s Bloomin’ Brilliant Brownie is my absolute recipe favourite to make. And eat!

Original recipe is here. I’ve halved the portions, so it filled a 18cm square pan. I also left out the cherries and just used walnuts.

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up
50g chopped walnuts
40g cocoa powder, sifted
35g plain flour, sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder
140g caster sugar
2 large eggs

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

2. Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper.

3. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add nuts and stir together.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate and nut mixture. Stir together well.

5. Beat in the eggs until you have a silky consistency.

6. Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes.

7. You don’t want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don’t want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle.

8. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares.

My mother gives me a dozen eggs every week, freshly laid by her chickens.

I team them up with a few baby roma tomatoes from my garden, a handful of basil, spring onions, chives and parsley.

Seasoned with a good portion of salt and pepper.

And we have the most delicious omelettes to start the weekend!

For Christmas I received an amazing cookbook: Delicious: Quick Smart Cook, and this was one of the recipes I HAD to try out.

I basically woke up one Sunday morning at 5am (as you do, when you have a baby) and I decided to make it. Of course I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I made a few changes on the fly (like using 2 eggs instead of 4).

The flavour of the pancakes on their own, are quite plain. So the fresh bananas and the caramel sauce is ESSENTIAL. If you’re lazy you could just use honey or maple syrup.

Banana and Coconut Pancakes with Caramel Sauce and Yoghurt

1 banana
2 eggs, separated
1 cup (250ml) of coconut milk
1 cup (150g) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
Melted butter for greasing.

Toppings (optional)
2 bananas
desiccated coconut
natural yoghurt

Caramel sauce
50g of butter
½ cup of brown sugar
3 tbs of golden syrup
150ml thickened cream (I didn’t have cream, so I used a splash of milk)

Method

1. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form, set aside.

2. Mash the banana, set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, beat together egg yolks, coconut milk and salt until combined.

4. Mix in sifted flour, baking powder and banana.

5. Fold in egg whites.

6. Brush a non-stick pan with butter, and use a few tablespoons of batter for each pancake.

7. Heap with fresh bananas, yoghurt, caramel sauce and coconut.

I made about 16 small pancakes.

For the Caramel Sauce
Warm together and melt butter, sugar, syrup and cream in a pan over low heat. Simmer and stir for about 5 minutes until thickened.

PS. The Delicious: Quick Smart Cook Cookbook is really good!

At a recent dinner party, I ate this delicious, unusual dessert, and I was amazed at how easy it is to make.

6 pears
a standard bottle of red wine
100gms of sugar
a cinnamon stick

Peel the pears – but leave the stalks on!
Cut a little away from the bottom of the pear, to help it sit up by itself.
Place the pears stalks up in a snug fitting pot or slow cooker.
Cove the pears with red wine, add the sugar and cinnamon.

Slow, slow cook for at least an hour, until the pears are so soft that you can carve the flesh with a spoon.

Serve with plenty of the sweet juices, and top with a dob of cream, or as above, with some yogurt.

Alternatives are that after the pears are cooked, you can marinate the pears in the cooling wine sauce overnight to increase the red colour, before re-warming to serve. To add more zing to the wine, you can also add orange rind, cloves, and /or vanilla.

(The alcohol in the wine is all dissipated by the heat of the cooking.)

Yum-EEE!

I’m preparing for some very hot days over the weekend. I’m also doing a bit of entertaining, so I made these ice cream and berry parfaits as a last minute dessert for kids and adults!

Bottom layer - Crumbled shortbread and mixed-nut toasted muesli.

First middle layer – Scoops of homemade ice cream

Second middle layer – Homemade strawberry yoghurt (from Easiyo)

Top layer – Mixed frozen berries

Pop them in the freezer and serve icy cold!

I was a little bored last weekend, and I happened to find an easy ice cream recipe.

Ice cream has always been in my “I’m too lazy to try it” category.

I don’t have a fancy ice cream maker. I’m not particularly interested in separating eggs, or shaking zip lock bags of ice or splitting vanilla beans. It all sounds like hard work. And I’d rather just pay $5 for a tub in the supermarket.

But this one was SO EASY! And the texture was amazingly the same as normal ice cream.

The funny thing is that I don’t usually give ice cream to my children. They probably only eat it once a fortnight, when they go out with the grandparents. They might have it when we are at a party or have it for a very special treat when we go out. So the portion I made was probably a little too much for us.

…

Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

600mL of pure fresh cream
200mL of condensed milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

1. Use an electric mixer and whip the cream until soft peaks form.

2. Slowly stir in condense milk and vanilla with a spoon.

3. Pour into an empty 2L ice cream container (or a lay baking tray lined with baking paper).

4. Freeze for 12 hours. Then ready to eat!

…

Recipe Notes

The original recipe was for a 300mL can of condense milk, but I used 200mL instead. The result was still pretty sweet. I think I might use even less next time.

This recipe makes just under 2L of ice cream. I probably should have halved the portion to make a smaller batch of vanilla, as my first test. Next time I want to make smaller portions and experiment with fruit, berries, chocolate chips or nuts.

If anyone is going to experiment with this recipe, please let me know! I’d love to see the results!