Weekend Cooking: Triple Berry Jellies

You wouldn't think so if you so me chowing down on dumplings last night, but I am still trying to eat a bit healthier. That also means that I have gone back to doing the things I was doing when I lost all that weight before I stopped doing all those things and put it a lot if it back on.

So, what are the things that I was doing, stopped and now I am doing again.

On the food front, it is to watch what I eat (so make better food choices), how much (portion sizes) and, in theory, move more (exercise), although I am not doing so great on that one.  For the other aspects, I have gone back to keeping a food diary, studying (yes, studying) food magazines and diet related cookbooks. The most important aspect is planning and preparation, having some idea of what food we are going to be eating for lunches and dinners rather than having takeaway several nights a week.

Sttudying food magazines mean getting ideas for snacks and new recipes. Sometimes it is the simplest of ideas that strikes a cord. For instance, because I was a bit slack and didn't get to the shops in time, I ended up just having egg, ricotta, spinach and tomato on toast for dinner. Simple, but tasty. And something I saw in a magazine as a breakfast suggestion. Breakfast for dinner. Yes please.

This is definitely a simple idea, and one that really should have occurred to me before. I mean, when we were kids it was a treat to have canned fruit set into jelly, but because the boy doesn't really like jelly I don't make it very often. This time instead of making a giant bowl of jelly and fruit I have made the individual serves as suggested and I am hoping that will mean that,  for this week at least, if I fancy something sweet I can just grab one of these and maybe have some yoghurt with it. Or ice cream maybe.

Oh, and expect to hear more about dumplings because I had two of the best dumplings I ever ate last night and I am so going to go on a quest to eat more egg custard dumplings. You have been warned. Not part of the plan but oh, so good.

This recipe came from the January/February 2017 issue of Diabetic Living.

Triple Berry Jellies

125g punnet blueberries

125g punnet raspberries

125g punnet blackberries

4 strawberries, cut into thin wedges

9g sachet raspberry diet jelly crystals

250ml (1 cup) boiling water

250ml (1 cup) cold water

2 Tbspn strawberry liqueur (optional)

500g extra berries, to serve

Mint leaves, to serve (optional)

Divide berries evenly between 4 185ml (3/4 cup) capacity glasses.

Put jelly crystals in a heatproof jug. Pour over boiling water, stirring until jelly crystals dissolve. Stir in cold water and strawberry liqueur, if using. 

Pour jelly evenly over berries. Put glasses on a tray and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.

Serve topped with extra berries and mint leaves, if using.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Audiobooks as noise reduction

I recently went on a cruise and one of the things I realised was that if I was going to be listening to audiobooks at all, possibly I needed something a little lighter than The Passage, which I was listening to at the time.

Little did I know, that I would listen to something for a while but not quite just for the joy of the story.

I went on the cruise with my friend and her son as well as my son. The boys have just turned 18 so before we went away there was a bit of discussion about changing rooms so that they were together and my friend and I were together. Once we were on the boat pressure was bought to bear to do just that and so I acquiesced.

My friend had mentioned that she was a snorer, and so I should have been prepared, but oh my goodness..... The first night I didn't get a lot of sleep. The second night I tried to get to sleep but I was unsuccessful so in the end I decided that I would try putting on my audiobook to block out the noise.

It was a good plan. It really was. There was, however, one flaw.

I assumed that listening would block out the noise, and it certainly muffled it a bit, but not totally so I did still keep on waking up but now there was the added complication that I would wake up and hear something in the audiobook and think things like wait, who's Jack? Why is this character talking to a truck driver at a truck stop. Wait. did she just say she's married.

So then I had to contend with the thoughts in my head and the snoring.

After the second night, we swapped back. And I started listening to the book again so that it made some kind of sense.

Weekend Cooking: In Search of Sfogliatelle

For all that I talked a couple of days ago about starting to eat healthily and try to lose some weight (again), today I am posting about sfogliatelle - ricotta filled pastry shells - that originate from the south of Italy.

I don't remember hearing about sfogliatelle before a couple of months ago, but I have been watching a number of cooking series about baking and/or Italian cooking and it has come up a few times. I know I saw it in Paul Hollywood's City Bakes series, and I think one of Rick Stein's series. Actually, Rick Stein is to blame for a couple of cravings at the moment. The other day I was watching a show where he does a long weekend in Vienna and it showed wiener schnitzel and oh my goodness I have been thinking abut that ever since. Maybe I need to stop watching these shows, but I do like living vicariously through them.

Anyway, back to sfogliatelle.

Now, I am determined that I want, no, make that NEED to try one of these Italian treats. Luckily for me there is a famous Melbourne cake shop called Brunetti's that makes them so it was always just a question of time before I would actually try one. And try one I did. Actually, technically, I think I tried two and something very similar that I can't remember the name of.  Did I like them? I was surprised that they were pretty small. In theory, you could probably shove a whole one in your mouth, but I was a bit more ladylike and ate them in two bites. The crunch on the pasty was a-maz-ing, and the filling was very nice. Having said that, the one that I can't remember the name of was probably a bit more to my taste. All the delicious crunch but instead of being filled with ricotta it was topped with a custard like blob and a piece of cherry. I would be happy to eat either one of them again though. Maybe next time I go to Brunettis!

Would I try to make some? One hundred percent, absolutely not. These things take some serious skills to make as you can tell from the video below and given that I've never made pastry, there's no way I will try to make them. I will, however, continue to try them when I get the opportunity.

Do you have something that you really want to try?


  

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

The Passage by Justin Cronin - aka the book that I forgot

Well this is a bit interesting. A book related post. I'm not sure I even remember how to do this, but I am thinking that maybe I will give this blogging thing a go but on the basis that it won't be a full on reviews. Maybe just pared back thoughts about the books I am reading. It still isn't many, but it does feel a little bit more likely that I will be reading or listening to more books this year. Not to the obsessive level of years past, but I am actually okay with that. If I can find a happy medium between the 200 plus books a year that I was reading a few years ago and the less than 10 of the last couple of years then I will be a happy camper.

I am also, once again, trying to focus on healthy eating as I have undone a fair amount of the good work I did in losing lots of weight a couple of years ago, so I will most likely be posting some updates related to that.

Really, what I am looking for this year is to have more balance in my life. So, less late nights at work making myself super tired all the time, more home cooked meals. More and less of lots of things really. Lets call that my new years resolution shall we.

So let's talk books. Or maybe book. Singular.

A few years go now (well, more than 6 but who's counting!) I read The Passage by Justin Cronin. Whilst I didn't review it, I graded it 4.5 out of 5 and so clearly finished it, and loved it. I went to a session at Melbourne Writer's Festival where the author spoke because the third book in the trilogy is now out and I realised that at some point I did want to read the second and third books but it had been a while since I read this one so it was time for a reread. Yes, I don't usually reread but things are definitely not usual in my world at the moment so why not.

One of the things that I pride myself on is that I have a pretty good memory. Normally I think that whilst details may be a bit blurry I can generally remember the major story arcs. Or so I thought. It turns out that maybe that is not the case.

When I first started listening, it was great. It was like revisiting an old friend. I remembered the story about a young girl being infected with a virus that in effect allows her to live ageing very, very slowly. I remembered how the FBI found her and took her to the army to become part of a top secret trial that goes awry in a big way and pretty much destroys the world as we know it.

Really, it was after the first third of the book and as the story moved 100 years into the future where I realised that my memory is nowhere near as good as I thought it was because I couldn't remember it. Not just that it was blurry or a bit fuzzy, but I literally had no memory of any of the characters, any of the storyline. So it was kind of like visiting a friend's house and then finding yourself at a party with complete strangers.

I decided to listen to the audiobook because I had so many credits on Audible, but it is a decision that paid off. The narrator for the majority of the book is Scott Brick and I look forward to listening to the next books in the series where he is the sole narrator. And who knows, maybe even looking for some other books that he has narrated at some point. Nothing wrong with following a narrator is there!!

Overall, it was an enjoyable listening experience. I think I will listen to something a little lighter before going back to listen to the second book in the trilogy. And catch up on The Walking Dead episodes that I didn't feel I could watch while I was listening to this! It would have been way too much to be listening to this post apocolyptic vampire novel whilst watching a post apocolyptic zombie TV series.

Well gee, it appears that I had plenty to say after all.

Weekend Cooking: Apple and custard crumble

I mentioned last week that we had a lunch gathering to celebrate my son's 18th birthday and when I asked him what he wanted for dessert he very quickly answered apple crumble. Now, I have made apple crumble several times before but I hadn't saved the recipes that I had used to I went looking for a new recipe.

When I saw this recipe I thought "Of course!!" Why isn't this more common. I mean, most of the time when you have apple crumble you have custard too so why wouldn't you combine the two.

I found this recipe on Taste.com.au which used to be one of my go to websites for recipes, but I did take note of the comments and made a few changes to the recipes below. Firstly, I made double the quantity of custard. I also used brown sugar in the crumble topping instead of the caster sugar and I threw in a smattering (technical measurement) of oats as well to add to the texture.

And the result.....delicious! And my sister's mother-in-law asked for the recipe too which always makes me smile a bit because she is an awesome cook!!

Apple and custard crumble

1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
800g can pie apple
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
100g butter, softened
Double thick cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine milk and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat.

Meanwhile, whisk 1 1/2 tablespoons custard powder, 2 tablespoons caster sugar and 2 tablespoons cold water in a heatproof bowl until smooth. Whisking constantly, pour in hot milk mixture in a thin stream. Return mixture to saucepan.

Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat until custard comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Stir for 3 minutes or until reduced slightly (this cooks out the raw custard powder flavour).

Spoon apple into six 1-cup capacity dishes or one 6-cup capacity baking dish. Pour over warm custard.

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, remaining custard powder and sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine. Add butter.Using your fingertips, rub into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Scatter crumble over custard. Place on a baking tray bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with cream.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Cherry tomatoes!!

Last weekend my son turned 18 years of age. 18! Can you believe it?

For those of you who have followed my blog for any length of time, he started out as the boy, and then was the little chef but I guess now he's an adult (legally anyway) and so I should call him something else. Maybe the young man or something.

We had a family event for Sunday lunch and it was a veritable hit list of dishes that I have posted as part of Weekend Cooking over the years but there were a couple of new recipes too.

This is the menu:

Barbecue lime and chilli prawns (with lemon instead of lime)

Thai Pork Burgers with pineapple relish

Barbecued chicken (marinated in lemon and olive oil)

Sausages

Greek style roast beef

Tomato, bocconcini and spinach salad

Roasted vegetable salad

Apple and custard crumble

And my sister did another amazing job with the cake.

Anyway, the title of this post is cherry tomatoes, so I guess I should talk about the delicious red orbs that are cherry tomatoes.

If there is one thing that I love the flavour of it is cherry tomatoes. I like them in salads, not only because they are so easy to chuck in a salad (I don't even chop them up) but my favourite way to eat them though, is cooked, say in a recipe like Pasta Pomodoro but  especially roasted. There's something so delicious about taking a bite and have a burst of deliciousness fill your mouth as you get the full roasted flavour. I have been known to roast them just by themselves, but also as part of a bigger dish.

Whilst I did go back to some of my favouirite recipes for the barbecue I did also want to try a couple of new recipes and so when I saw that this recipe was for a salad that included cherry tomatoes, I couldn't resist. Because I was making a few other dishes I only did half the vegetables. 

I was trying to be very organised and not stressed for this lunch, so in the end I roasted all the vegetables the night before and just cooked the ricotta that day but I would say if you are going to do this it is probably best to also make the dressing the night before as I suspect the garlic mixes in a bit better if it is still warm. There is a note that this salad can be served warm or at room temperature.

Roasted Vegetable and Ricotta Salad

2 red capsicums, cut into chunks (peppers)

2 large zucchini, cut into chunks (courgette)

1 eggplant, cut into chunks (aubergine)

2 red onions, cut into thin wedges (red onions as far as I know!!)

2x 250g punnets cherry tomatoes

3 Tbspn extra virgin olive oil

1/2 head garlic

200g piece low-fat ricotta, drained overnight in the fridge on paper towel, covered in plastic wrap

Olive oil cooking spray

1 Tbspn balsamic vinegar

Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 190C (fan forced). Line 2 large roasting pans with baking paper. Divide vegetables between prepared pans. Drizzle over oil and toss to combine. Wrap garlic in foil and add to 1 of the pans. line a small ovenproof dish with baking paper. Add ricotta and spray with cooking spray.

Roast vegetables and ricotta for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove vegetables from oven and set aside. Continue to cook ricotta for a further 15 minutes or until ricotta is golden brown around the edges. Set aside.

To serve, squeeze garlic into a small bowl. Add vinegar and lemon juice. Whisk to combine. Drizzle over vegetables and toss to combine. Transfer to a serving platter, crumble over baked ricotta and serve.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Mini strawberry tarts

I am feeling very pleased with myself today! I did something today that I have never done before which is make a version of jam,  and it turned out amazing. A-MAZE-ING!!

One of the things that I do quite regularly when I am feeling relatively strong mentally in relation to eating properly is spend time looking through cookbooks and magazines, specifically the ones that are for weight loss or have a focus on being diabetic friendly. Often I am looking at the recipes and seeing all the same ones I have thought I might try but every now and again a new one jumps out. In this case, it not only jumped out but I also got a hankering to actually make it and make it soon. This recipe comes from the September/October 2015 issue of Diabetic Living.

The only problem was that when I did go to make the recipe I realised that I didn't buy enough strawberries and I didn't have any lime so in the end I had to improvise a little. So instead of using all strawberries I used half strawberries and half blueberries, and I used juice from a lemon I just picked off the tree.  And oops!! I also used the puff pastry I had in the freezer rather than shortcrust pasty. Only just realised this!

The other issue I had is that I have only got a mini muffin tin and a muffin tin, not the patty cake/small cup cake tin mentioned so my pastry cases were a bit littler. I think next time I am going to use bigger circles from the pastry so that I can get a more gently curved larger pastry cases. And I will be doing it again. I think I will be making these to take to work for morning tea in a couple of week's time.

The jam is actually so good, not only did I use it for this recipe, but we also had it on pancakes this morning, served with vanilla flavoured greek yoghurt. I am also thinking it will taste really good stirred through oats or through yoghurt for breakfast. The last week I have been having roasted rhubarb with oats or yoghurt. This week, it will be this jam. Luckily, there is a lot left over.

Mini strawberry tarts

1 sheet 25% reduced fat shortcrust pastry
1 1/2 Tbspn vanilla bean yoghurt, to serve

Quick strawberry jam

375g strawberries, chopped
3/4 cup Equal Spoonful (sugar replacement)
80ml (1/3 cup) water
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 large lime

To make quick strawberry jam, put strawberry, Equal Spoonful, water and lime juice in a medium saucepan. Cover and bring to a simmer over a high heat. Cook, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove lid and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 20 minutes or until mixture has reduced and thickened to a jam-like consistency. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C (fan-forced). Lay pastry sheet on a flat surface. Using a 6.5cm round cutter, cut 12 rounds from pastry sheet, discarding excess pastry. Use rounds to line 12.30ml (1 1/2 Tbspn) patty pans. Prick bases using a fork. Refrigerate for 15 minutes, to chill. Add to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cook for 10 minutes.

To serve, spoon strawberry jam evenly between pastry cases. Top each tart with 1/2 tspn of the vanilla bean yoghurt. Serve.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Party time

I finished a book!!!! Actually, I have finished two in the last 10 days. And started two more.


That is all!

Weekend cooking: Chicken Burrito Bowls

I am always looking for new ideas for lunch. Whilst I can live with eating the same thing most days for breakfast, I am not so good at eating the same thing over and over for lunch and dinner. Most of the time I will have chicken and salad sandwiches, or chicken and salad, or tuna and salad or leftovers. Rinse and repeat. So when you see something that is advertised as a lunch box idea I certainly pay attention. So it was this week when a friend shared this recipe on Facebook.


 

Not only does it look tasty, I made it today and I confirm that it was actually really easy. I had a friend around for lunch and they went away saying that they were going to try and make it themselves! I call that a winner.

I think that the idea is that you eat this cold but if you don't put the cheese in until last I am thinking that it is easy to reheat and eat warm as well. And while we are at it, there's no reason why this can't be a dinner meal. Tasty, pretty quick and pretty healthy.

I do wonder how it can be a burrito without, you know, the burritos, but whatever!!

Chicken Burrito Bowls 

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 bell peppers, any colour, sliced
1 large red onion, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
Salt and pepper
1 jar salsa
3 cups cooked brown rice, divided
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 lime, sliced into wedges
Fresh cilantro (coriander) to garnish

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F/200˚C.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil.
3. Place the chicken, peppers, and onions onto the baking sheet and drizzle with oil.
4. Sprinkle the taco seasoning evenly over both sides of the chicken breasts.
5. Salt and pepper the peppers and onions, tossing to coat.
6. Top each chicken breast with a generous pour of salsa.
7. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes. 
8. Rest chicken for 10 minutes, before slicing into strips.
9. Add a base of brown rice to 4 food storage containers. Top each with a scoop of black beans, corn, additional salsa, cheddar cheese, cooked peppers and onions, and sliced chicken. Garnish with fresh cilantro and a lime wedge.
10. Store in the refrigerator (and enjoy any extras immediately). Can be kept refrigerated for up to 4 days.


You can find the original recipe here.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Curried Sausages with Herbed Mash

I don't know why it is, but every time I say I am making this recipe the reaction I get from whoever I am talking to is I love curried sausages but I haven't had it for ages. And, to be fair, it was the same for me. I first made it and enjoyed it just over a year ago and then completely forgot about it. It was only after I spent some time going through all the magazines I had that I rediscovered the recipe and made it again Now, I want to share it here so that I can find it easily when I want to in future.


I have actually shared a couple of recipes from this particular issue (Pulled Pork Ragu and Green Chicken Curry Pie which is one of my regular dishes now). Just like with the pulled pork my son wasn't all that keen on the posh mash potato but it still tastes good with normal mash

Curried Sausages with Herbed Mash

2 tspns olive oil
1 brown onion, cut into thin wedges
375g packet of low fat beef sausages
2 tspn curry powder
1 tspn salt reduced chicken stock powder
250ml (1 cup) boiling water
1/2 x 400g can no-added salt tomato puree
200g carrots, halved lengthwise, diagonally sliced
8 brussel sprouts, trimmed, halved or quartered**


1kg low GI potatoes, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
130g (1/2 cup)low-fat Greek-style plain yoghurt
2 tbspn chopped chives
2 tbspn chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbspn chopped dill
Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon


** I can't stand brussel sprouts so I generally use broccoli cut into florets



Preheat oven to 180C (fan-forced). Heat oil in a large heavy based stoveproof and ovenproof dish over a medium heat. Add onion and sausages to pan and cook, stirring often for 4-5 minutes or until sausages are browned. Add curry powder and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes

Add combined stock and water, tomato puree, carrot and brussel sprouts to pan. Cover and bring to a simmer. Add pan to oven and cook for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender

Meanwhile, to make herbed mash, put potato and garlic in a large saucepan. Cover with plenty of cold water Cover and bring to the boil over a high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, partially covered, for 20 minutes or until potato and garlic are tender. Drain. Mash until almost smooth. Add yoghurt, herbs and lemon zest. Beat with a wooden spoon until well combined

Divide mash between serving plates. Add sausage mixture. Serve.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Will I ever read again?

So given how few posts there are on this blog, it is obvious that I am not blogging much at the moment and haven't been for quite some time. However, the problem goes deeper than that. I'm actually not reading either. Oh, I might start a book and read a couple of page then I will lose interest and just stop. It doesn't matter if we are talking about reading new books, rereading favourites, paper books, ebooks and even audio books. And this is a long term issue. My reading has become non existent over the last couple of years to the point that I haven't actually finished a book since March. Shocking I know.

I'm not sure this is a terminal problem though because even though I am not reading I am still happy to engage in conversations with people about books. Last week at work there was a conversation happening about starting a book club and I was quite keen about the concept even though I know that it is highly unlikely that I will actually read the chosen book. Luckily my actual book club doesn't really seem to care if I read the book or not. I haven't actually been to that book club for the last couple of months because I have been working late but I know when I do go back they will be glad to see me. I also know that when I say I haven't even read the synopsis the reaction will be okay and then ask if I want a party pie or sausage roll (to which the answer is obviously yes!!)

This weekend was the launch of the Melbourne Writer's Festival and despite my lack of reading mojo, I did end up buying tickets to a couple of sessions and also attended a couple of free sessions. I was reminded that bookish things are actually good for my soul and also a couple of other things.

Unlike previous years where I took copious notes so that I could blog in depth recaps of the sessions I attended, this year I have just sat and listened and just enjoyed being in the presence of authors whose books I have enjoyed previously.

The four sessions that I attended were:

Justin Cronin
YA Superstars featuring Rainbow Rowell and David Leviathan
Australia Through Time featuring Anita Heiss, Tricia Stringer and Kate Mildenhall
Wickedly Funny featuring Liane Moriarty and Rosalie Ham

All four sessions were really interesting and I have to say I was very impressed with the quality of the free sessions that were on offer. Both Australia Through Time and Wickedly Funny were free sessions and they were full houses. I only just got into Wickedly Funny even though I went and lined up half an hour before. They probably turned out away an equivalent of 50% of the crowd. The session was just that popular.

One of the things that I have taken away from this weekend is that maybe this might be a long break from reading but I don't think I am done forever and ever. Whilst I don't expect to go back to reading 200 plus books a year, I also don't expect to stay at reading less than 10 books in a year. Somewhere in the middle would be good.

I also came out of the sessions and a trip to a nearly bookstore I was reminded of a few things. Firstly, there are a number of authors who I used to wait avidly for each new book from and they have at least one and maybe two books out that I still haven't read yet. In other words my TBR list continues to grow even though I am not reading. Secondly, there were a number of books that I really wanted to read a couple of years ago that I still haven't read yet and thirdly, that there are any number of books that I wouldn't mind rereading at some point.

My reading life might be flat lining but it hasn't quite been declared dead yet. There's still a glimmer of hope. Just.

Weekend Cooking: Open Cannelloni with Pork Meatballs

We love a good lasagne in this house, but unless you buy a pre-prepared one, it is a bit of work so it is more a weekend kind of meal, with plenty of leftovers for during the week. Making it from scratch, there's the making the meat sauce, and the white sauce and layering it up and cooking it. It is something that I do semi-regularly using a lower fat recipe which is quite tasty but I have also tried a couple of different recipes for making during the week. One was a slow cooker lasagne which I don't think we need to say much more about because it was truly awful. This recipe, whilst not technically lasagne, is a fair substitute and doesn't take too much time or effort to prepare.

The recipe once again comes from an issue of Diabetic Living, but this time is from a celebrity chef by the name of Michael Moore. Now, to be fair, I don't remember hearing about Michael Moore before, but there was a bonus lift out in the March/April issue. There weren't a lot of recipes that I could try because he used a lot of almond meal in his recipes which don't work with our allergy issues but I was impressed with how simple this seemed and then when I had made it, with how tasty it is.

I would say to make sure that you spread your sauce enough to ensure that the lasagne sheets all have sauce on them otherwise you end up with some crunchy bits. Unless you like crunchy bits of course!

No idea why there is so much talk about lasagne in this post when it really isn't a post about lasagne at all!

Open Cannelloni with Pork Meatballs
Serves 6


485g lean pork mince
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1 tspn crushed black peppercorns
Sea salt
1 egg white
Cooking spray
300ml bottled Napolitana pasta sauce
350g fresh egg lasagne sheets
60g grated parmesan

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Mix mince with garlic, onion, black pepper, salt and egg white in a bowl. Dip your hands in cold water. Roll mixture into 14 even meatballs and set aside.

2. Grease a large baking dish and spoon a little Napolitana sauce over the base

3. Trim lasagne sheets into squares and place a meatball into the centre of each one. Place into baking dish; repeat with remaining lasagne and meatballs.

4. Pour over remaining Napolitana sauce to cover and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake in over for 45-50 minutes.

In other news, I had to make chocolate cake this week (yes, had to) but wanted to do something a bit different than just ice it. I made my standard chocolate cake, but rather than using icing I bought a couple of tubs of low fat chocolate mousse from the supermarket and stirred it until it was smooth and then used that as icing! Sprinkle with a crushed up Flake or grated chocolate and voila.

Have to say, I will definitely be doing that again. Easy and very tasty!!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Pulled Pork Ragu

I am trying to be a bit more organised, and if there's one thing I can do it is to cook up something big that we can have for dinner on a Sunday night and some leftovers during the week.

Last year I made this when a friend came around for dinner, but it was only as I was looking through all the back issues of Diabetic Living that I found the recipes again. I think that this particular issue (July/August 2015) is the issue that I found the most recipes I wanted to try since I subscribed to the magazine. I have previously shared a recipe for Green Chicken Curry Pie which also came from this issue and that is a recipe that I still make regularly, and I have got another recipe that I might post later.

This week though I want to share a recipe for Pulled Pork Ragu, a perfect recipe for cool winter afternoons!! When I first made this recipe I was surprised at how simple it really is. So long as you allow enough time for the slow cooking then there is a bit of work, then leave it and when you come back you get this tasty pulled pork. Yum

The actual recipe for this is Pulled Pork Ragu which is served with celeriac, parsnip and parmesan mash but the posh mash part wasn't a hit last time, so now I just cook normal plain mashed potato. Still tasty!!

Pulled Pork Ragu

1 tspn extra virgin olive oil

1.5kg piece pork leg roast, skin removed, trimmed of fat

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 sticks celery, finely chopped

2 thin slice prosciutto, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

125ml (1/2 cup) red wine

400g can no-added-salt chopped tomatoes

400g can no-added-salt tomato puree

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs oregano

Flat leaf parsley leaves, to serve.

1. Preheat oven to 140C (fan forced). Heat oil in a large heavy-based stoveproof and ovenproof dish. Add pork and cook, turning often, for 6-7 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate. Add onion, carrot, celery, prosciutto and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Increase heat to high. Add wine and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add tomato, puree, rosemary and oregano. Bring to a simmer. Return pork to dish. Add to oven and cook, covered, turning once, for 4 hours or until meat starts to fall apart. Transfer pork to a plate, reserving sauce in dish. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Using your hands, pull pork into long shreds. Bring reserved sauce in dish to a simmer over a medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until sauce reduces slightly. Stir in pork.

3. Cook mash potato

4. Divide mash between serving bowls. Spoon over pork ragu. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Vanilla Slice with Passonfruit Glaze

So we're just going to pretend like this isn't my first post in 9 months. We're going to pretend that in the last 9 months I haven't been to America and New Zealand, that I haven't been in a relationship for the first time in 15 years and then not been in a relationship any more, we're going to pretend that I have been posting all about all of these things. Oh, and I am going to pretend that I have been reading lots and lots of books.

Now that we are all caught up, I thought I would share a recipe for one of my absolute favourite things to eat....when it is done well. Over the years I have had some amazing vanilla slices, also known colloquially as 'snot blocks', but I have also had some pretty bland and tasteless slices with a plastic texture to the custard. A good vanilla slice is worth driving for miles for, and I may have taken a detour to small country towns that are famous for their vanilla slices once or twice!

I was kind of surprised when I saw this recipe in the current Diabetic Living magazine, and once I saw it all of a sudden I had an urge to actually try and make vanilla slice for the first time ever. And I have to say I am pretty damned pleased with myself. They turned out really well, and I ended up making it twice in five days! And I might make it again this weekend....maybe. (Edited to add, I have indeed made it again this weekend)

I also got lots of complements for it too which was nice. I was especially  pleased that the custard wasn't plasticky! It was light and creamy and tasty. Well done me!

This is actually a sponsored post, hence the specific brand name for the sweetener.

I would say that I didn't actually make the passionfruit glaze because I don't like passionfruit so I used the icing from another recipe, which I will include below. The first time I did only use the 9 biscuits but because my tin is slightly bigger I ended up using more biscuits the second time because otherwise the biscuits move round too much when you pour the custard over them.

Vanilla Slice with Passionfruit Glaze

 (Serves 18 apparently, or 9 big ones!!)

Cooking Oil Spray, to grease
18 lattice biscuits
1/2 cup custard powder
4 cups skim milk
1 cup Equal Spoonful
2 Tbspn vanilla extract
2 Tbspn fresh passionfruit pulp
1 Tbsnp cornflour
Extra1 Tbspn Equal Spoonful

1. Grease a 20cm square tin with cooking oil. Line base and sides with baking powder

2. Line base of the tin with 9 lattice biscuits in a single layer, leaving a 1cm border. Set aside.

3. Put custard powder in a medium saucepan and whisk in milk in two batches until well combined and smooth. Cook over a medium heat stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until mixture is very thick. Remove from heat and stir in Equal Spoonful and vanilla extract.

4. Pour into prepared tin. Spread surface to smooth. Top with 9 lattice biscuits in a single layer, leaving a 1cm border. Refrigerate for 5 hours or overnight or until set.

5. To make passionfruit glaze, put passion fruit pulp, cornflour and extra Equal Spoonful in a medium bowl and stir until combined. Cut slice into 9 squares, following biscuits as a guide then cut each squre in half to form triangles. Drizzle with passionfruit glaze and serve.


When I made the icing, I used 1 teaspoon of light margarine, 2 tbspn of skim milk and 1 cup of icing sugar and mixed until thoroughly mixed.I might try using a bit of lemon juice one time and see how that works!!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Chocolate, chocolate and yet more chocolate

I have been on something of a chocolate odyssey lately. Yes, I know that this is in direct contrast to all my posts about healthy food and diabetes friendly food but what can I say? It's chocolate, and really good chocolate is hard to resist.

This particular quest started a few months ago when I snuck over to Adelaide for the weekend to see a friend. Over there at the moment there is something of a trend towards dessert style cafes where they have speciality hot chocolates, chocolatey desserts plus hand made individual chocolates. When I was there for that weekend, I was taken to one place in particular that I still think might be worth making the 9 hours drive just to get some of their hot chocolate! It was so good!

When I came back, it got me wondering where Melbourne's best chocolate shops might be, and so my odyssey began in earnest! First step was to find a list of the best chocolate shops and then start working my way through them. This was a sound strategy. My friend and I visited a couple of places in one day, and we will get back to the list in due course.

My gauge for how good a chocolate shop is is currently the hot chocolate. I want Belgian chocolate, I want creamy and smooth and I don't it to be powdery. It is surprising how many cafes (as opposed to speciality chocolate shops) serve up a hot chocolate that tastes as though it is powdered chocolate with a bit of hot water added.

And then there is the food, usually chocolate not always! Our first stop on the list was a very famous chocolate shop called Koko Black. I ordered a home made crumpet with choc hazelnut spread* and a hot chocolate which wasn't too bad. I have been a bit obsessed with home made crumpets since I had one at a cafe back in June and it was sooo good. Unfortunately though, there aren't that many places around that do them.

                                                                                    
We may have been a bit ambitious in doing two chocolate places in one day but they are both in the same shopping centre, we did some shopping in between, we were there etc etc etc. And it turns out that this is my favourite so far. The hot chocolate at Cacao is so cool. You basically get a mug of frothy milk and a jug of the hot chocolate syrup and you mix it up yourself! I took the boy there a couple of weeks later and he wasn't really that keen but once he saw how it comes and tasted it, he was definitely converted!

Yesterday we went off list and went on a walking tour in the city that ostensibly focussed on chocolate! I say ostensibly because whilst there was chocolate in abundance we also got to sample cupcakes and macarons as well. My whole purpose of this rambly post was to share some of the photos from today.

Along the way we got to hear a little bit about the history of chocolate, cupcakes and macarons, as well as the locations where the shops were. All up we went to six different destinations. Some of them I had heard of but others were new to me. Given that we just got a taste there are good reasons to go back to some of them at least!!

*If I get round to it I will write a post about how crazy this city is for Nutella at the moment! Melbourne has gone nuts for the stuff!!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Green Curry Chicken Pie

In my last Weekend Cooking post, I talked about how I find looking through relevant magazines and cook books really helps in getting and keeping my head into the right place for weight loss. Each time I receive a new magazine I spend a long time reading through the recipes and the stories and then go through it again and again. Eventually I will actively choose recipes that I think I want to try. This is one that jumped out pretty quickly from the July/August issue, and just like last week's recipe it was one that I made twice within a few days because it was such a hit. Well, and also because I had all the ingredients on hand and only had to buy an onion to make dinner. In fact, when I had the discussion with the boy to determine what he might like to eat for this week, this was the only thing he asked for again which would make it three times in less than two weeks.

Confession time. Until a few weeks ago I had never made any kind of green curry from scratch. I recently made a recipe from the Symply Too Good to be True cookbooks which I might share another time but having made that I felt that I could try and make this version without too much difficulty. It is actually a pretty easy recipe although preparing the filling does take a little time. The other recipe is probably lower calories but I must confess that I have really enjoyed being able to have some pastry without feeling too guilty.

Green Curry Chicken Pie

1/2 tspn olive oil

1 brown onion, cut into thin wedges

1 tbspn green curry paste or gluten-free curry paste

2 tbspn wholemeal plain flour or gluten-free flour

2 tspn Massel Salt Reduced Chicken Style Stock Powder**

250ml (1 cup) boiling water

80ml (1/3 cup) Trident Light Coconut Milk

2 tbspn skim milk

250g skinless chicken breast fillet, cut into 2cm cubes

200g broccoli, cut into small florets

50g (2 cups) baby spinach

1 sheet 25% reduced-fat puff pastry or gluten-free puff pastry

50g egg, lightly whisked

40g (1 1/2 cups) mixed salad leaves, to serve

**I used the reduced salt chicken stock powder I had in the cupboard

Preheat oven to 210C (fan-forced). Line an oven tray with baking paper. Put a rectangular 750ml (3 cup) ovenproof dish on prepared tray.

Heat oil in a medium non-stick saucepan over a medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes or until onion begins to soften.  Add curry paste and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add flour and cook stirring, for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat and gradually whisk in combined stock powder and water until sauce is smooth. Add coconut milk and milk, and whisk to combine.

Return pan to stovetop and cook, stirring over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture thickens and comes to a simmer. Remove pan from heat, Add chicken, broccoli and spinach, and stir to combine. Spoon mixture into the prepared dish.

Lay pasty sheet on a clean surface. Cut 4 x 1 cm thick strips of pastry from the perimeter of the sheet. Brush rim of dish with a little egg and press pastry strips around the rim. Brush with egg. Top with remaining pastry, rolling out slightly, if needed, to fit. Trim edges. Brush with a little egg. Cut a few small slits in the top of the pastry. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.

Serve pie with salad leave.

Serves 2

There is also a suggestion that you could make a fish pie by replacing the chicken with boneless fish fillets and the green curry past with red curry paste. The teenage boy would not be a huge fan but it might be something I might try in future.

I will say that the pie actually looks huge so it isn't like it isn't a generous serving for two.

The first time I made this I stuffed up the pastry so I had some leftovers. Just because I could I made a really quick free-form apple pie using fresh apple. By free-form I mean that thing was messy, messy, messy but it tasted good. This was a hit with the boy, and during the course of the week he made himself another couple of pies. I did laugh though because, when I made it, it was some apple and cinnamon shoved in the middle of some pastry with the uneven sized edges folded in. His pie was beautifully presented with plaited pastry and looked very professional.  Then the second time he made a pie this is what he presented. I would point out that this was all for him though!!

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Weekend Cooking: Pork Nachos

My quest to find recipes that are healthy, tasty, acceptable to the teenage boy and diabetes friendly continues, and I have to say I think this recipe is a winner!

One of the things that I have noticed in my weight loss journey is that I am more likely to be successful when I am spending time looking through the Diabetic Living magazines that I am subscribed to and the cook books that I have (the ones that focus on weight loss and diabetes only) even if I am not picking recipes to make. It's almost as though it is part of training my brain to think differently. I study the magazines as soon as I receive them and then again and again. Luckily this is a magazine that I do find lots of tasty looking recipes in.

This recipe is one that I found in the May/June issue of the Australian version of Diabetic Living magazine.

I actually cooked this twice in the space of week. The first time was on a Sunday night when I asked a friend and her kids around for dinner at short notice. Everyone liked it but the 3 year old was particularly enthusiastic, even coming back for seconds. Mum was also impressed when I told her how many vegetables there were hidden in it! The second time was at the request of my teenage son. Again, I am not going to tell him how many vegies there actually are in it.

Pork Nachos

1 brown onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 stick celery, roughly chopped
1 zucchini, roughly chopped
1 red capsicum, roughly chopped
1 tspn olive oil
400g Heart Smart pork mince (very lean)
1 tbspn salt-reduced taco seasoning or gluten free taco seasoning
400g can no-added-salt chopped tomatoes
1 tspn Massel chicken style salt reduced stock powder
185 ml (3/4 cup) water
400g can no-added-salt red kidney beans, drained
80g Macro Original Corn Chips**
40g (1/2 cup) reduced-fat grated cheese
1 large tomato, chopped to serve
Coriander leaves to serve
2 tbspsn extra-light sour cream

**I couldn't find this particular brand so I just used ordinary corn chips

Put onion, garlic, celery, zucchini and capsicum in a food processor and process until finely chopped.

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add vegetable mixture and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until vegetables soften. Increase heat to high. Add mince and cook, stirring often, breaking up any lumps with a wooden spoon, for 3-4 minutes or until mince is browned.

Add taco seasoning to pan and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add canned tomato, stock powder, and water. Bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add beans and cook, uncovered, for a further 10 minutes or until mixture is thick.

Preheat oven to 180C (fan-forced). Spoon mince mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish. Arrange corn chips on top, pushing slightly into mince. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Top with tomato and sprinkle with coriander.  Serve with sour cream.

Serves 4.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.