Healthy Breakfast Smoothie

Now this is something that will help you feel healthier after all that Christmas and NY’s celebration food!  I received a blender for Christmas and I have been making smoothies with it every morning, it’s a low fat smoothie with plenty of fruit to help kick start your day.

Serves 1 (just double the ingredients for 2)

Ingredients: 1 cup of lite soy milk, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp of honey, 2 large (or 4 small) strawberries, 4-5 mint leaves, 4 ice cubes, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, 1 tbsp of LSA mix (this is a high fibre nutty mix found in the health food section of your supermarket, constituting ground linseed, sunflower and almond kernals), 1/2 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg to sprinkle on top (or you can use ground nutmeg but it’s not as good).

Method.

1. It’s as simple as put it all in the blender and blending it till it begins to froth.

2. Pour in glass and grate the fresh nutmeg (pictured next to the smoothie) on top.

Enjoy! It will make you feel super healthy and energised in the morning.

Tis the season to be jolly!

For the first time in 3 years I was home for Christmas with my family, I couldn’t have asked for more. There was food, sun, presents, family & fun this year and one of the most memorable Christmas’s yet. Here are a few photos I took on the day that I though I would share. This is at my mum’s property near the Blue Mountains, about 1.5 hours out of Sydney. It was just a perfect day with hardly a cloud in the sky and we just ate and sat by the pool the whole day. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas?

So  it’s New Years Eve and I’m starting to think about my NY’s resolutions….3 years ago I made a resolution that I will be smarter – academically and financially. Although it has taken me 3 years to fulfil that resolution, in that time I have completed a degree at University and I now have a fantastic start at a career that will help me be more financially responsible (as we all know, this is incredibly hard as a uni student). Last year was a terribly difficult time for my partner and I as the financial crisis finally caught up with us, and we struggled financially but I feel positive for the new year and I hope it has some exciting new adventures in store for us. My new years resolutions (I have more than one) are to spend more time with family, save save save save (for a home deposit) and get outdoors more often, oh and to learn to relax!!! Uni has made me so serious which seems so unnatural for my personality.

Plans for 2012! I think these are slightly different to resolutions? Anyway, I want to move to the beach before next summer….maybe Cronulla. We need a change of scenery and a more outdoorsey lifestyle…more fun in the sun, I say!

 

What are your NYE resolutions? I’d love to know

Well Happy New Year’s Everyone! I hope 2012 brings you much happiness and good health.

x

 

Outpost – Cockatoo Island

A couple of weeks ago, I went with my boyfriend’s family to check out the  ’Outpost- Project‘ on Cockatoo Island in Sydney. A festival celebrating street art, Outpost was a great but tiring day…let me just say a lot of walking and public transporting. The sun was shining and Cockatoo Island has the most amazing views of Sydney Harbour, so with a huge showcasing of street art it was the perfect recipe.

According to the best educational resource of the 21st century ‘Wikipedia‘, Cockatoo Island is “ a former imperial prison, industrial school, reformatory and gaol. It was also the site of one of Australia’s biggest shipyards during the twentieth century. The first of its two dry docks was built by convicts and was completed in 1857″.  So there is plenty of history to explore there and as I had never been there before nor did I know anything about the Island it was like playing tourist in my own city….which I love! If you are in Sydney or visiting Sydney before the 11 Dec (soon) I recommend visiting it and best of all it’s 100% free, although I recommend packing your own drinks & lunch because food/drink prices once you get there are ‘the catch’.

In other news, I started a new job 2 weeks ago so I am enjoying being a full time working gal.  This has been the reason I haven’t posted any new blogs over the last fortnight, as working full-time hours has taken some time getting used to (I know I’m a big baby!) but I’m in a routine now which is fantastic, so I will do my best to blog weekly! I swear blogging keeps me sane and makes me feel like I’m being creative. Also, I have lots of new recipes coming soon, so keep watch!

I hope everyone is happy and enjoying the festive season…I loved all the Thanksgiving blogs posts recently, we don’t celebrate it in Australia so it’s a holiday that I have always wished we had…oh and Halloween!

See you on here very soon! x

 

 

 

 

Lemon & Thyme Chicken Drumsticks

This is one of those dishes you can throw together in 10 minutes and just put straight in the oven, then wait. A no fuss kind of dish which is perfect for entertaining, as you can just put it in before your guests arrive and you’re not spending all your time in the kitchen. Also perfect for feeding a big family on a budget. This meal can feed 4 hungry people for under $15.

This isn’t the best photo to sell this recipe (I was in a bit of a rush) but I can assure you it tantalises the taste buds and is a perfect Winter or Summer dish.

Allow 15 mins for preparation and 1 hour for baking at 180 degrees Celsius. Be sure to preheat the oven before beginning the preparation.

Also, if you can’t get your hands on Thyme, you can use fresh oregano instead.

Ingredients. (Serves 4)

2 large lemons, 8 chicken drumsticks, 2 brown onions, a bunch of fresh Thyme (about 5-8 sprigs), olive oil, 6 potatoes halved (with skin on or off).

Method.

1. Peel and slice onions into rings then spread over the bottom of the baking dish. Just to make a layer of onions.

2. Place chicken drumsticks on top of the layer of onions.

3. Halve potatoes and spread them out amongst the chicken in the baking dish.

4. Cut lemons in half and squeeze over the chicken and potatoes. Then place the remaining lemon skins amongst the chicken and potatoes.

5. Sprinkle the sprigs of thyme over the chicken and potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Then drizzle some olive oil over the dish to finish off.

6. Place in preheated 180 degrees Celsius oven for about 1 hour, but this depends on your oven. You need to check after the first 30 minutes and the every 15 minutes after that until they are cooked. You can tell they are cooked when they are golden brown and the chicken is no longer a pinkish colour.

Serving Suggestion – a green salad to share, some green beans and a maybe a glass of Sauvignon Blanc to accompany.

Enjoy!

Simply Delicious.

O

Ok so this is a very simple dish but it’s certainly something you can whip up to impress a sweet something. Perfect for those lazy Saturday or Sunday mornings that inspire one to relax, read the newspaper and enjoy good food. I just thought I would share my own recipe but there are plenty out there, I mean everyone tweaks these simple recipes to their liking but here is a starting base.

Ingredients (serves 2)

6 eggs, slightly whisked                                                                                                                       1/2 cup of full cream milk                                                                                                                    4 Slices of thick bread – I used wholemeal as it has much more flavour                                      1 punnet of Strawberries                                                                                                                    50 grams of butter for frying                                                                                                              Some icing sugar to sift over the finished meal

Method

1. Slightly whisk eggs and then add the milk in a medium sized mixing bowl

2. Dip bread in the egg mixture till it is covered, but not too long that it goes soggy.

3. Melt butter in pan (I used a non-stick grate, or grill type pan), and fry on both sides till the bread is golden brown.

4. Half the strawberries & place on plate with french toast to serve, then shift over the icing sugar.

5. Serve with maple syrup – or golden syrup. Genuine Canadian maple syrup is much better though.

Sit back, put your feet up and enjoy the sweet sweet flavours of this delicious but simple dish. I can’t wait to make it again =)

Also, just wanted to let you all know that I will be finishing uni by the end of this week forever so my blog posts will be weekly from then onwards. I’m looking forward to taking more pictures and getting back in the kitchen for some serious cooking!  I’m thinking I will do 2 weekly sections on the blog, 1. featuring snapshots of my week 2. One new recipe that is my own or one that I bravely tried out.

Let me know what you think… Till then, enjoy this recipe and the rest of your week.

x

My home is a secret garden…Part II

I hope you have enjoyed the photographs in this nostalgic collection. This isn’t where I live because I live in the city but this is the place that I grew up in and one I still call home. My mum has a seventeen acre property near the Blue Mountains about 1.5 hours outside of Sydney, just a small rural family farm.

I have been feeling a bit lost in the city over the last year and have had a yearning for a change of scenery, this is a place that fills that yearning until one day I will have my own home. It’s funny because when I lived there all I dreamt about was getting away, my mothers eccentricities and creative flamboyance annoyed me (I mean what doesn’t annoy you about your parents when you are a teenager??) and I just wanted to run away to the city, where the I thought the real culture and high life was, but now all I long for is home like the one I grew up in.

I find myself growing to love all those things about my mother that annoyed me and I become more and more like her everyday. I notice this when I visit her and see the new little projects she has going on at home, always building, gardening, creating water fountains and garden sculptures etc, & what I  used to roll my eyes at and tell myself, ‘here’s another one of mums craazzzy creations’, I now see the beauty in every single one, I respect the expression that each object and creation of hers embodies. Everything in her garden tells a story, if not about how she was feeling when she made it, it’s about what we as children remember of each little addition to our home, what memories of that time come back when we walk through the gardens that we played in for most of our lives.

Living in a poky one bedroom apartment block makes me feel claustrophobic, and the lack of fresh air and privacy in the city adds to my longing for a home away from the place that I was once in awe of.  I don’t think I will ever call Sydney home because I have been here for just over 5 years and I still don’t feel as if my heart is here. Living here has never felt like a wholesome existence or a place that welcomes you with a warm hug. I believe Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities in the world with a lot to offer, but I also see it’s shallowness, and the longer I live here the more it eats away at me. My mother said to me the other day when I told her how I feel, ‘once you have the land in your blood, its very hard to get it out’ and her comments have resonated with me. But who knows what the future holds for me.  For now though, I cling to the memories of a magical childhood in my mothers secret garden.  One day I hope to provide the same for my children, a place they can forever call home and one they will return to over and over again.

P.s. ‘The Shady Rest Clubhouse’ (what is now the old shack in the photos) was built by my mum and stepfather for a Christmas present when we were about 7-8 years old and we loved it! It had bunk beds, a mini fridge, a fold out dining table so we could have dinner/tea parties, a mini kitchen (a real one with running water), a tree swing and patio out the front that we could play on. We thought we were real grown ups! Also, the smaller picture of them all is a wood fire pizza oven my brother built, yum!

My home is a secret garden…..Part I

If you haven’t already heard this magic # – prepare to be swooned

Orange, Cranberry & Almond Pilaf with Grilled Salmon

     This is a super easy recipe that you can make within 30-40 minutes and as we are coming into Spring/Summer here in Australia this recipe will make life easier so you have more time to enjoy those sunny afternoons (or if you are in the North, its still something to enjoy by the fire place!). It’s Great for a week night dinner but also always enjoyed by guests at my place! Almonds and cranberries together in this dish is a relationship that can’t go wrong…with the citrus flavour of the orange and lemon it certainly tastes like summer. Enjoy! x

Ingredients (for 2)

2 x salmon fillets                                                                                                                                    1 1/2 cups of Basmati Rice                                                                                                                  1 1/2 cups of chicken stock (salt reduced)                                                                                        1/2 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice (1 – 1.5 oranges)                                                            1/2 cup of sliced almonds  (or as much as you like)                                                                         1 cup of dried/sweetened cranberries                                                                                             2 teaspoons of orange zest                                                                                                                   1 lemon cut into quarters to serve.                                                                                                    2 tablespoons of butter

Method

1. Rinse rice in colander, add to a deep fry-pan that has a lid (or you can use a large saucepan). Then add chicken stock, orange juice & zest…bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer and put on lid.

2. Simmer for 20-25 minutes or until liquid has evaporated into a steam and rice is fluffy and no longer hard in the middle. Turn off heat add in half the cranberries and all the almonds, leave lid on and let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Grill Salmon in about 2 table spoons of butter on each side for about 3-4 minutes each side – depending on how well you like it cooked or how thick it is (adjust timing to suit your preference).

4. add the rest remaining cranberries to rice, this way you get some that are soft and some that are still a little bit firmer. Voilà! You are ready to serve.

I sometimes serve it with a fresh baguette and good quality butter with either a salad or broccolini. Oh and of course a glass of Rose or Pinot Grigio is a lovely accompaniment.

I can’t wait to share more Summer recipes and adventures with you all!

x

Decadent Lemon Tart with Candied Orange Slices

My mum gave me about 25 lemons off her tree last week & ever since I have been trying to make everything with lemon so these delicious lemons don’t go to waste. This lemon tart recipe is one worth sharing, it was delish! I thought about making another lot of lemon butter but I’ve already done that so I wanted to try something a little different. I loosely adapted the lemon butter recipe but instead I reduced the amount of butter and added some cream instead. The technique is also similar, so I’d been there before. I must admit that the preparation took a few hours, mostly on part of the pastry. However, it is worth the effort to have home-made pastry. I used Jamie Oliver’s ‘Old-fashioned Sweet Shortcrust Pastry‘ Recipe – click here for pastry preparation.

Pastry  Ingredients                                                                                  500 g plain flour                                                                                             100 g icing sugar, sifted                                                                                 250g cold butter, cut into small cubes (I used unsalted)                         Zest of 1 Lemon                                                                                              2 Free Range eggs – beaten                                                                           A splash of milk                                                                                               Baking paper

Method after pastry dough has rested in the fridge for approx. 20mins…

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, then roll dough out into a circle about 1.5-2cm thick & big enough to cover about a 23cm base tart pan. Make sure to do your best to keep the thickness even, otherwise it might tear.

2. Once rolled out into a circle, press the pastry into the base of the tart pan then trim the edges. Place a slide of baking paper over the pastry and then use rice or a pastry weight to cover the paper so that it helps keep to the shape of inside the pan. This is to hold the pastry in shape when in the oven.

3. Place pastry on the bottom shelf of the oven for 15 minutes or until it begins to golden.  The take out & allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Once cooled you can begin the filling.

Filling Ingredients                                                                                    3/4 Cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice                                                    5 Free range eggs, lightly whisked                                                             200 mls cream                                                                                                 60 grams of butter                                                                                           1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest                                                                             1 cup of white sugar

Method                                                                                                             1. Place a heatproof bowl over a simmering pan of water and then add lemon juice, zest, butter & sugar. Wait until sugar has dissolved.

2. Once sugar is dissolved, slowly add and stir in cream. Keep on low heat and do not allow to boil. Stir continuously until filling thickens. In order to tell if it is ready to take off the heat, dip in a wooden spoon or spatula & if it is ready the filling will stick to the spoon like custard.

3. Pour evenly into the ready pastry and smooth over with the back of a spoon.

4. Place in oven at 180 degrees celius for about 20 minutes or until the edges begin to become slightly firm. The middle of the tart should still be soft when you wobble it.

5. Allow to cool. Once cool it can be served as is or it may be refrigerated.  This tart kept for about 2-3 days, but is best eaten on the day.

Candied Orange Slices – Ingredients 

2 Oranges, thinly sliced                                                                                   1 cup of water                                                                                                   1.5 cups of sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat over to 160 degrees Celsius. Then place sugar & water in saucepan, bring to a simmer. Add oranges and boil till the skin becomes tender (about 10 minutes). Then drain the liquid. Start the process again by adding a new lot of water & sugar to the saucepan. This allows you to get rid of the orange rind bitterness so that it becomes delightfully edible.

2. Once oranges are tender, cover a baking tray with baking paper & spread orange slices over the tray. Place tray in oven & then cook oranges until they become glass-like. The longer you cook them the harder they will become. I wanted them cooked in between so I left them in the over for about 20-25 minutes but continued to check on them.

3. Once out of the oven, let them cool before placing on the tart.

Well, I know what you are all thinking….It’s a very time consuming recipe and I have to admit I spent a couple of hours making it on Sunday. But it was so worth it! It tastes amazing & my family were impressed. It’s definitely something you would make for a special occasion, like a dinner party dessert to impress!

Have fun making it! I promise you won’t be disappointed. I’d love to know how you go & who you impressed

x